Bob Talir is a private pilot and retired engineer with an M.S.E.E. degree in control systems. He worked on the Navy F-18 flight controls including the autopilot and automatic carrier landing system. Bob built and is flying a Flightstar II ultralight trainer. He is currently building a GlaStar that is nearing completion.
Last months installment in the Composites series detailed how to do vacuum-bagging of parts at home. This month author Bob Fritz discusses how to inexpensively build one critical component in that process: the vacuum pump.