Saturday, September 20, 2008

A Belated Update from volunteer Dick Perry

August 29th, 2008

"The road appears to be essentially complete. The equipment was being moved out this morning. The pads for three aircraft (B-52, B-29, F-105) are all poured. The B-52 and B-29 pads have the forms off and the excavations are backfilled. The F-105 is finished, but the supports for the pole and the top forms will not come off until next week. The forms for the A-7 are set, and the rebar appears ready to be installed. The fill on the bottom of the forms needs to be built up and compacted before the rebar goes in. You'll see from the photos that the concrete is set quite low in the ground for the F-105 and especially for the A-7. There is a "hill" in that area of the outdoor exhibit park that still needs to be leveled. When that is complete, the pads will be at the correct height relative to grade -- they promised! I have confidence. If the hill remains, we will likely have a pond on the south side of the building when we get a good rain.

For those who have not been to the site in the latter part of this week, I offer the attached photos. The windows are in except for the one closest to the entrance. Insulation is going up on the roof and walls, and it looks as if the first of the HVAC equipment in the ceiling is being installed in the entry area. There is plumbing appearing above the floor -- looks like the start of restroom drains.

The drains around the inlets have been excavated (adjacent to the settling pond, at least), and there are the beginnings of forms and rebar for the inlets along the road and in the staging area. Let's hope we don't get too much rain this weekend."

The photos referenced will be added to the photo page today, in addition to some great shots of the limo - now under restoration! More blogs to follow! check back!