See you all this morning!

Marc

Guys, the photo gallery workings here on the site are a little difficult but I think I figured out a few ways to quickly view the latest Blue Blaster photos. First off, here is a link to the newest shots this week from Phil Lampman.

http://thunderboats.ning.com/photo/photo/listForContributor?screenN...

Another way to find them is to go to the “Galleries” bar on the home page and find the “1977 Atlas Van Lines Restoration” gallery (on about page 3). When the page comes up, click on any of the thumbnail images. When the larger photo appears, click on the “View Photos” above the photo. You should then see thumbnails of the latest photos. Be sure to have the “Sort by” button set to “latest.”  Then you should be able to view all the photos in reverse order as they were added.

As far as our progress on the boat goes, next weeks photos should show the dramatic “turn over” event we have planned for next Thursday. We spent this week getting the boat ready to flip over including a new stand to hold the boat solid and level while it’s up-side-down. Credit goes to Gail and Randy for engineering the stand system which should work great. We now just need to mount the turnover fixture to the front of the boat and we will be ready to go.

I also wanted to see if I could add photos to these posts, so here are two shots of the Blaster taken about one year apart. They show the boat last January when we first got started removing the deck, and last week. Although they look similar, what went on over the months in-between has been a huge project. All the light green colored parts are the new honeycomb, so you can imagine that the boat had to be disassembled to replace those parts. 

UPDATE - Feb 3, 2011 by Don Mock

It could not have gone better......today’s turnover of the Blue Blaster. I first want to apologize to several people for moving the time we flipped the boat up an hour or so. We had originally planned for it to take place around 2pm Thursday but by noon we had everything in place and after a short test lift, we decided to just go for it.

Our new turnover bar worked perfectly as did the transom bar and reinforcement plate the guys made yesterday. The boat lifted very easy and did not hardly flex. We quickly slid the jig out from under the boat and with everything clear we began to pull the Atlas around. It rotated on the shafts very easily even thought the left side of the boat is a bit heavier due to the off-set engine stringers and the extra material around the skid-fin area. Once all the way over we lowered it back down onto its new stand and landed very solid and level.

The crew went to work right away disassembling the jig and started in on the rear non-trip bottoms removing old bolts and aluminum strips. We’ll concentrate on sanding the entire bottom next week getting it ready for the .040 doubler sheets that will cover over the seams and repairs to the first 10 feet. Then we’ll let the Mr. Router loose to mill out the honeycomb along the bottoms of the airtraps to add the wood inserts.

Also today, right after we got the boat turned over, David and Parke returned from the museum storage area at Ken Muscatel’s shop with an amazing load of artifacts including photos, driver suits, uniforms and books. Nearly forgotten and in storage for several years,  David set one particular box on the back of the Atlas containing what we think is Bill Muncey’s actual driving suit, lifejacket and helmet he wore in 1981. The box also included some of Chip’s outfits including a Squire Shop driving suit that was cut off of him following one of his accidents. It looks to possibly be the suit he was wearing when he blew over the Squire on Lake Washington testing prior to the trip to Mexico in 1981.

Seeing all those amazing items topped off the day which was indeed a milestone for the Blue Blaster project. Finally seeing the bottom of the boat gave me, and I’m sure the other guys on the team, a renewed dose of enthusiasm after a long year of working on the top-side of the Atlas. And for me, today was also a huge relief. Not from the job of turning the boat over, but from finally seeing for the first time the airtraps and bottom. Things look surprisingly good and straight. The non-trips are dead flat and our new curved bottom looks like it did 35 years ago. I can’t thank the guys on the team enough for all their dedicated work. Over the past two weeks, gearing up for today, most of our “A” team guys put in lots of hours. Kent drove over from Ellensburg last week. Phil, Marc, Gail, Randy, Rich and Bob were there for most of the work days. John Leidle was back this week doing real well following his recent heart event and hospital visit. Wheeler is on a big-time trip to Africa. But we’ll draft him back on the job when he returns next week.  And as always, thanks goes to David and Parke and the other museum staff and to Mary and Steve Compton for the past, present and future wood needed for the boat.

The fun continues next Wednesday when we will kick up a cloud of dust sanding the entire bottom.

-Don Mock

Work on the bottom of the Blaster got underway this past week. After getting the boat turned over last week, we’ve already got a lot of important items finished up including routing the bottom of the right airtrap and installing the wood insert. We had originally planned to rout the old wood out of the left side but once we got a good look at it we determined it was in great shape and decided to leave it.

All we have to do next week is add the new angle strips on both sides and and the row of distinctive round-head bolts along the bottom of the entire non-trips. This will finish up the rear portion of the hull.
We also decided that it was not necessary to cover the front part of the bottom with aluminum sheeting. It makes more sense add doubler strips similar to the several original ones glued to the bottom back further. So we now have those plates fitted in place and will glue them on next week.

So with the bottom of the boat likely finished next week, we’ll turn all our attention to constructing the sponsons. With the drawings, lots of photos and pieces we removed from the boat, it should be challenging yet straight-forward project. I’m sure it will take several months. During that time we’ll also start to bring together the parts for the wings and cowl and the many hardware items we’ll need.

Last night at the museum as we were cleaning up, Jim Lucero dropped by to see our progress on the boat. Jim had only seen the boat once since we began the restoration and you can imagine I had just a few hundred questions for him and was also pretty nervous about him seeing what we’ve done to his boat. He had lots of positive comments about the project and answered several questions, and thought the boat looked real good so far. I’m sure now that we are beginning the most difficult part of the project, building the sponson surfaces, we’ll be talking Jim into dropping by a lot more often.

Here are a few photos from the past two weeks of the project taken by Gail Richardson and Phil Lampman. We’ll be doing a little work tomorrow (Sat) during the Roger Newton Memorial R/C Model Boat show at the museum. Hope to see you there.

-Don Mock

Here's more of the photos........it wouldn't let me post them all at once. See update below............

Although it might not look like it at first glance, we got a tremendous amount of work completed this past week. For the first time, we worked on details that “show” on the outside of the boat. We added the aluminum angle trim pieces along the inside and outside of the airtrap bottoms. The Blaster had very distinctive rows of philips-head screws every three inches along the outside bottom edge. We were able to track down exact replacements of both the screws and the blind-nut inserts originally used on the boat. It was a tedious job mounting the strips and 125+ screws. Gail and I drilled and filled the holes with Hysol while Bob and Randy teamed up to add the inserts and screws (which they “clocked” the same by the way) It looks pretty cool and will look perfect when painted white.

On Wednesday we also got all the doubler-plate strips glued and riveted over all the repair seams in the bottom. John got the holes drilled and counter sunk then came the glue team with the four 6” wide strips. We used abut 200 small countersunk rivets which gave us a couple of nightmare hours as all our air-and arm powered rivet guns kept getting jammed. We think the rivets were defective although Rich got them all in with pure will and a few words I can’t repeat here.

So I’m happy to report that the bottom and both rear non-trips of the Blaster are finished and ready for detailing and painting. Getting the bottom out of the way now allows us to concentrate on building the sponsons. We’ve already got the ball rolling by talking with our “wood angel” Steve Compton about the ash, oak and mahogany we’ll need. Next week we’ll get the sponson airtraps trimmed to their final shape and add their wood inserts. Also, doubler wood strips get  glued and screwed to the airtrap sides to support the sponson plywood sub-floors.

That’s it for now. We’ve really missed Phil this week as he has been attending to his wife who has been hospitalized with an infection in her foot following surgery. But he should be back next week not wearing any white cover-alls...............yet.

-Don Mock

(.....a few photos from Gail)

Wow, what a job. Truly sorry I wasn't there to assist. I can't believe how badly I want to get back to work with you fellows. Please slow down so there's something left for me to do when I return.

BTW, no longer a need for white coveralls. I saved all the paper ones I had to wear every time I went into my wife's hospital room. They don't fit well, but they're very lightweight and I don't care if I get Hysol on them. I've written "Atlas van Lines" on the back using Q-tips and some weird sort of soap I found in her room. 

Phil

Chief Fabricator of small seldom used parts

Assistant torch guy and adhesives spreader

Member, "Team Hysol: - WE STICK TOGETHER

As we begin constructing the sponsons on the Blaster, I thought I would toss in a few inspirational shots for the restoration team. Here's some photos from early 1977 thru 1980. The crew made a few minor changes to the sponsons over the years but the basic shapes remained the same. 

-Don Mock

Randall, you a right about the sponson change. Probably around 1980, they widened both sponson outside secondary's by an inch or so by steepening the sponson non-trips or sides. You can see in photos that the secondary recoveries got wider and they may have widened the ride surfaces a bit too. It probably helped the boat in corners and certainly must have helped it get on plane easier too. We see the evidence of this modification in the sponson frames. We were trying to figure out why there were so many weird shims and blocks added. Didn’t make sense that those things were original. I don't think they ever tried dihedral/anhedral primary angles on the Blaster like on the '82 and '84 Atlas'. Both sponsons used the same traditional dihedral angle.

So our dilemma now is; which sponsons do we make while restoring the boat? The original 1977-79 versions or the widened ‘80-81 ones? Knowing how hard these hulls are on Merlin’s, we’re opting for the later versions to help get on plane easier. Visually, the difference is slight unless you know what to look for. By the way, we asked Jim Lucero about the mod but he did not remember the details. But at that point, Jim was a lot more involved with the Turbine Pay ‘n Pak than the Atlas.

Thanks,

-Don Mock

It’s a good thing Phil taught me the correct spelling of “battens” cause today was a full-day of Blaster battens. We test-fitted every single 1x1 ash batten used in the boats sponsons. We’re not far off now from attaching the plywood.

Yesterday Marc made some great custom fitting blocks for the chine/sheer junction while Randy and Pete sanded the battens rounding over the sharp corners. This morning Phil, John, Randy and I laid out the locations of the side battens and continued leveling and sanding the shims and blocks glued to the honeycomb frames. The sheer lines and chines are nearly finished. We made a few more shims for the forward battens and more blocks for the sponson plywood sub-floor.

Wheeler and Pete showed up for the evening shift so we went ahead and fit and drilled all the forward battens. The Blaster has a bit of a complicated maze of battens outlining the forward sponson bottoms. Five on each side that support the sub-floor which has a slight bevel for the outside secondary recoveries the forward six feet or so. Once the plywood is attached and fiber-glassed, new battens are placed on top that create the final recoveries and primary ride surfaces. Aluminum sheeting gets screwed down to those battens. Next week looks to be a busy one of gluing and screwing all the battens in place.

Below are some photos of the progress taken by Phil. They include a shot of Tim Clark from Maryland who was in town and spent a day working with us on the boat. We've also missed Gail who is on an RV adventure for a few weeks. Bob Burd has also been gone for a few weeks traveling but look forward to Bob and Gail both getting back next week. We have sanding blocks with their names on them.

On Saturday, Chip and Edward Muncey dropped by to see the boat. We have so many photos and videos of Edward as a little kid hanging around his dad and the Blue Blaster. Almost weird to see him now standing next to the boat. But he was thrilled with the progress and really looks forward to seeing it complete. Edward has become a very intelligent and articulate business man heading up marketing and promotions for the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He was in town for the sold-out event at Key Arena.

Edward and Chip are two of the most important people in the legacy of the Blue Blaster. When talk came up about running the boat, it was clear that Chip, giving Ed a ride in the Blaster, would be a very meaningful and emotional event, to say the least. One that makes our mission of restoring the boat all the more significant and exciting.

-Don Mock

Great progress report, as always, Don. I suspect though, you may have overlooked the real reason for Edward Muncey's visit. As an executive with the UFC, I suspect he may perhaps heard from Chip about some of the "friendly" discussions we've had on the eventual configuration of his father's most famous ride and possibly have thought he may have had the makings of one of those "free-for-all" over-the-ropes WWF-type bouts with the winner getting to choose the final layout and then toss you into the crowd over your never-ceasing demands for complete accuracy and homage to this project. As one of a number of volunteers who have been working alongside you for well over a year on this restoration, I am constantly amazed at how well you have managed to guide us along, using but some old photos and a few ancient loftings.

Seriously, though, I think if the people following this project knew how little we have had in terms of plans and drawings to bring this icon back to some semblance of original condition - probably better once we're done, actually - they would better understand what a difficult job this is and how hard it would be without the enthusiasm of the team you lead so well, yet still harbor the idea of tossing you over the ropes in a UFC match.

Thank you for your leadership, your talent and your amazing ability to find the resources to keep this effort going.I even forgive you for all the shirts and jeans and jackets I've managed to glue together or otherwise destroy as a result of your assignments.

Looking forward to getting back to work next week. 

Great report, as usual.

Marc

June 2011 Update.

Over the past several months the Blue Blaster restoration team has been busy building the sponson surfaces. Over the original sponson frames, we’ve added all new chines, sheers and internal battens. Then we added 1/4” plywood and fiberglass over everything creating the sponson sides and sub-floors. The past several weeks we’ve been focusing on the primary and secondary riding and recovery surfaces which are built on top of the sub-floor using additional ash battens, which the final aluminum sheeting is all screwed into. This has been the most serious aspect of the Atlas project. We’re determined to get the shapes and angles exactly right.......not only for esthetic reasons but for safety sake too.

We’re very thankful for all the advice and words of wisdom from some of the top hydroplane people on the planet. These include some of the Atlas’s godfathers such as Jim Lucero, Jim Harvey, Dixon Smith and Norm Berg. Also, Ron Jones and Ed Karelsen have been a huge help.

One of my goals for the Blaster is to set the boat up for safe exhibition speeds..........but still look cool too. I’ve drilled everyone I could about how to set-up our museum boats to run nice and level with big roostertails at 130mph, not original race speeds of 180+. And for the Blaster, a boat powered by a Merlin, a set-up that gets the boat on plane easily and is gentle on the engine. I’m happy to say that some of the experts I mentioned are now thinking that way too and have offered lots of great ideas. These include making small tweaks to strut and primary angles of attack, props and overall boat balance.

Below are some photos from the past month taken by Phil Lampman and Gail Richardson. By the end of the summer, we should have all the aluminum on the sponsons and the bottom of the boat sanded and ready for primer. And soon after that it will be time to flip the boat back over to add the systems, deck, cowl and wings.

We have a wonderful and talented group of guys on the Atlas team. Come on down to the museum this summer and hang out with us. Heck, just having some coffee and hearing Phil’s jokes and Gail’s police stories are worth the trip.

-Don Mock

August 2011 Update

Here’s the third progress video about the Atlas restoration. It was produced for the museum’s recent auction event and shown on a screen near the boat in the shop during the cocktail hour. It documents the entire 18 month project so far. One of the goals of this year's event was to raise much-needed funds to complete the Blaster. Many of the attendees saw the boat and video including some of the principals involved with Muncey and Atlas when it raced. These included Jim Lucero, Dixon Smith and John Walters. It was great talking with John, who knows as much or more about the Blaster than anyone. He is also the only person to drive the boat several times including at an exhibition on Whidbey Island. We hope to get John more involved as we progress.

With the sponsons now nearly finished, we have set the end of September as our goal to finish sanding, detailing and shooting primer on the entire bottom of the boat so it can be turned right-side-up. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1o2VoF4_b1k

Don,

 Excellent video as usual. Looking forward to getting back to the project at hand. See you next Wednesday.      Gail

April 11, 2012 Update

A quick update on our recent progress. First off, welcome to you new members of the “Blue Blaster” group. And a special thanks to the members of the Blue Blaster Booster Club.

Two great things showed up at the museum today. One, was our new rear cowl which was fabricated by Scott Raney and his U-11 crew. They did an incredible job including adding a core material to the fiberglass which add lots of strength and will help the cowl float if it ever ends up in the water. One of our first jobs with the cowl is to add the iconic air scoops that were on the sides from 1977-79.

The other great thing that showed up at the museum today was Phil Lampman. Phil’s been stuck in a care facility following his bout with the mrsa virus which landed him in the hospital for a week. He still has a few days left to serve at the facility but he snuck out today to come to the museum for an hour of so. Great to see him.

As far as progress goes on the Blaster, today we sprayed primer in the cockpit so it can get painted before the deck and cowl get added. We now have all the interior compartments painted and most of the systems and mounts finished off. Over the next few weeks we’ll begin making and hooking up the maze of hoses for the fuel, ADI and water systems. Then it will be time to start fitting the deck battens. Our wood angel Compton Lumber, delivered beautiful milled 1”x 1” and 1”x 3/4” 16ft spruce last week. Gail, our wood expert, is chomping at the bit to start laminating the battens into full length pieces.

If you haven’t visited the museum yet to see the Blue Blaster project and the other great things going on, come on down. In fact, if you come in the next day or so you will see an amazing sight..........the 1973 “Wing Wonder” Pay’n Pak is returning to Seattle tonight and will be at the museum for few days. The boat was purchased by Ken Muscatel from Dave Bartush and will be restored back to it’s famous white and orange Pak colors. The boat will be parked right in front of the Blaster which will mark the first time these two legendary hydroplanes have been together in over 30 years.

Bill Muncey purchased the Pak team in 1976 which included the “Wing Wonder” and the new Jim Lucero cabover hull just being completed. When Muncey made the decision to make the Blaster his primary race boat in 1977, he sold the “Wing Wonder” to the Miss Madison team. The boat had a long career in the 1980’s as the U-6. Ironically, the Miss Madison, with Milner Irvin driving, was involved in the accident in Mexico in 1981. Muncey was killed after the Atlas blew over while leading the final heat.

Photos taken today (4-11-12) by Gail Richardson of the Atlas with is new rear cowl. Phil Lampman with uncle Bob Burd and Randy Meuller.

-Don Mock

Can’t wait to see the new cowling. I will be in Thursday AM, for sure.

Two photos from Thursday by Gail Richardson. Atlas cowl with air-scoop plug test fit. And the arrival of the Pak/Madison at the museum. 

June 27,2012 Update

As we begin our third summer with the Blue Blaster project, a lot has been accomplished on the boat the past several months. Most of our attention has been working on systems installation in preparation to add the deck. Along with fitting the deck battens, we’ve finished up the wing supports and the Blaster’s distinctive sponson-to-non-trip deck gussets. We’ve also installed the ADI, fuel and oil tanks and have almost all the pumps and filters mounted. Last week the crew began the big job of making and fitting the numerous hoses. All the compartments are now painted and work continues to finish the cockpit components.

Special thanks to Keith McGowan for doing an outstanding job upholstering the drivers seat. Since we could not locate the original seat, we fabricated a new one out of plywood and fiberglass. Keith took the bare shell to his workshop and in about two weeks returned with the beautiful finished seat. It’s extra roomy to fit different drivers and includes removable seat cushions of various thicknesses. Another addition to the cockpit are the foot petals. As with most of the Blaster’s hardware, the original petals were re-used in the ‘82 Atlas so Rob Wheeler fabricated two new petals for us. Andrew welded up the mounts so both petals are ready to be fitted in the boat.

Now that we have the seat and it’s mount in place along with the steering and foot petals, all that’s left to do is have Chip, David Williams and any other potential driver sit in the boat so we can final fit the components. We made things fairly adjustable so anyone who drives the boat should be comfortable.
It’s interesting when people climb in the cockpit how low they are seated, almost like driving a go-cart. You don’t notice in photos how close to the bottom Bill Muncey sat and how high up his feet were. The Blaster has a very high-lift and shallow bottom under the cockpit.  One can speculate that being in this “seat-of-the-pants” position added to Muncey’s ability to fly the boat so precisely with his only control being the throttle and rudder.

By the end of the summer, we should have the deck on the boat and the front cowl glassed in position. I’m sure we’ll be spending a lot of time sanding and fairing the deck as we add several layers of fiberglass cloth over the 1/4” plywood. We’ll also be able to turn our attention towards the rear cowl and wings.

In my next report I’ll give the details about the engine, instrumentation and driveline progress.
I know the entire restoration crew joins me in a special thanks to everyone who has joined the Blue Blaster Booster Club. And a huge thank you to the amazing Compton Lumber who have supplied every board, sheet and stick of wood for the entire project. Without them we would still be stuck in line at Home Depot with them trying to convince us it could all be done with drywall and 2X4’s.

Above in additional posts are photos by Phil Lampman and Randy Mueller taken the past few weeks.

-Don Mock

See report below photos.........

Great report, as usual, Don!

It is really taking shape now that the battens are all fitted in place. Great to see that Detective Richardson is back on the case. I’ll bring the doughnuts on Thursday.

Blue Blaster Atlas Update         Part 3

Only a week ago I was stumped on what we were going to do with the huge amount of stuff on, under and around the work bench and under the boat. A restoration like this generates tons of left over materials which include unusable original parts from the hull. We plan to surround the boat with a plastic curtain to protect the rest of the museum from the inevitable dust cloud and paint over-spray coming as we finish the boat. To do this, we need to clear out the workbench area and move the boat over to make room for the curtain. I mentioned the problem to David Ginder who, along with his wife Marie, have been volunteering for a year or so. Dave works for a company who rents and overhauls shipping containers and a few months ago, arranged for the museum to use one of their 40 ft containers. It was filled to overflow capacity in only a few days with an array of parts, tools and general museum stuff. I asked Dave if there was any way we could get another small container for all the Atlas stuff. The next day, a great 10 ft container showed up on the back of a truck (painted blue of course). A huge thank you to Dave and his company Haulaway Storage Containers.

One of the themes of the Blaster project has been Bill Muncey’s famous saying in 1979: “Older is better.” In reference to his little feud with the younger Steve Reynolds. Most of us on the crew are now older than Muncey was when he died. Uncle Bob Burd is our elder statesmen and at 92, is there every Tuesday and Thursday morning ready to help in anyway he can. And if you need any info about unlimited racing, Bob is the guy. He’s been doing this stuff for a long long time and is one of the most well known faces in the pits.

But we do have one member who is a little younger. His name is Andrew Jaeger and he’s in his early 20’s. It’s guys like him who are the future of the Hydroplane and Raceboat Museum. Andy usually works with us on Saturdays and has a great feel for the tools and techniques needed to build hydroplanes. He studied boat building and welding in college and was instrumental in arranging to have his uncle Paul Jaeger donate a complete welding system to the museum. Andy has done a lot of welding for the Blaster including the steering wheel/dash and petal mounts.

This week we’ll cover up the final compartments with the last section of deck. This will include the non-trip panel where everyone who has been involved with the project has signed their name. And for those who were not able to get to the museum to sign the boat, we’ve added your name.
Maybe in the distant future, some restoration crew just like us will pull off the deck revealing the names of those who brought the Blaster back to life in 2012. I mentioned a lot of the names in this report, but there are many more who deserve a lot of credit for donating time to work on the boat. And on the wall next to the boat are listed nearly 100 more names of people who have offered their support to the project by joining the Blue Blaster Booster Club, which was organized by museum legend Bob Senior. Every name signed in the boat and on the BBBC wall will be printed on a plac mounted in the cockpit when the boat runs.

-Don Mock

Blue Blaster Atlas Update         Part 2

A few months ago, we got a jump on the wing assembly by restoring the two vertical fairings and the A-frames. They were fairly easy to finish and now are ready to be painted. But the wing was another story. I said from the beginning of this project that “if you build it....they will come.” Meaning; needed items for the boat might hopefully show up once word got out that the Blaster was being rebuilt. Sure enough, all kinds of things, some I still don’t know from where, started to appear. Skid fin mounts, struts, wing mounts and several other parts were donated by collectors, crew members, owners and fans.

One day several months ago, a vehicle showed up at the museum’s shop door. I don’t remember his name, but he was there to see if we had any use for a wing.........not just any wing, but a Lucero solid honeycomb Winston Eagle wing that was the exact size we needed for the Blaster. (in case you didn’t know, the wings from the Blaster, when it was restored after the crash, were “borrowed” for the 1982 Atlas project when we were under the gun to finish the boat for the Tri-Cities event in 2003.) It was amazing timing because we did not have a wing and were about to figure out a way to make one from scratch. The Winston wing was super light but it had one problem........it was broken in half. No big deal. We felt that it would not be too hard to fix and make good as new. Wrong. It was a battle for two months repairing and straightening the wing. One day it would be dead straight, and the next, it would be bent again. Drove us crazy. Thanks to the patience of Kent Snowden, who sanded, filled and sanded some more, got it perfect and is now also ready for paint. We also finished the support struts and adjust rods for the wing assembly. Rich Matkin, who was a vital crewman during the ‘82 Atlas restoration, helped figure out the wing hardware and placement. Thanks to our friends at Breedt Production Tooling and Design for their fine waterjet cutting and welding.

Somehow, after making the trip from Vashon Island to Chelan then back to the museum, a beautiful machined aluminum mixture handle ended up on the workbench. Another gem from the shop of Rob Wheeler, it will get mounted as soon as the cowl is glassed in place. Wheeler also fabricated the great foot petals along with several other items for the boat.

And if we only owned a Lear Jet....... We would use it to fly Tim Clark back and forth from his home outside Washington DC. Tim is a talented and energetic “long-distance” member of our team. He recently made his third trip to the museum since 2010 to work on his favorite hydro, the Atlas. Tim arrived on Tues evening and grabbed a hotel in Kent. He got up at 6am and walked the 3+ miles to the museum and was there ready to rock when the rest of us arrived Weds morning. Tim did an outstanding job sanding the front cowl and deck. He is a huge student of the sport and his enthusiasm is addictive. Wish we could have him working with us every week. Chip was so impressed with my description of Tim he wanted to meet him. So on Tim’s last night, several of us met up with Chip for dinner.

Blue Blaster Atlas Update Oct 21, 2012         Part 1

(site will only allow 4000 words, so this report is broken into three parts with three sections of photos - Don Mock)

The month of October has been very productive for the Blue Blaster restoration. Not only has the regular crew put in a lot of hard hours, we also had help from some out-of-town guest-star volunteers. During the first week of the month we got the fire system, that Patrick Gleason had acquired for us, installed. Then Jim “Flash” Johnson ran the wiring for the pumps and is rounding up all things electrical for the boat. Pete Klein has become our hose-making guru and continued making and mounted several more hoses. Museum engine expert Peter Orton was called on to rebuild the pumps for the fuel and ADI systems. Peter delivered them last week and they look brand new.

Following a successful test of the water cooling system and a final check of the steering cables, we decided the time had come to start adding the deck. Like all of the wood used in the Blaster project, the high-quality 1/4” marine plywood was supplied by Compton Lumber.  A lot of credit goes to Randy Mueller and Gail Richardson for cutting and fitting all thirteen of the deck panels. Phil Lampman, John Leidle and Marc Connelly spent hours sanding and multi-coated the undersides with epoxy. Laying out the screw pattern and drilling followed. Then with a final check of the battens, and every compartment, we mixed the first batch of West System epoxy and got to work screwing down the deck over the sponsons.
The honor of adding the first screw went to Phil who has been on the project from the beginning. He was also selected because we knew he would find a way to make the event entertaining........and he did. The first screw to hold the new deck on the Blue Blaster went in perfectly crooked. So after the fun of embarrassing Phil, we got down to business gluing and adding the 1000+ additional screws.

One person, that I hoped would be a part of the Blaster project is Roland DeSteese from Tri-Cities. Roland is a top-notch scale hydro designer, builder, engineer and painter. I raced in R/C Unlimiteds with him since the mid ‘80’s and every boat that I won races and championships with, was either designed by, modified or painted by Roland. The first 1/8th scale boat I built was from his plans and was a mini Blue Blaster........which he painted for me. Roland has always been my go-to guy when it comes to masking and painting any of the three Atlas hulls and he has agreed to help with the masking of the “real” Blaster.
Roland came over to Seattle last weekend to spend some time working on the boat. We worked late last Saturday night establishing the shape of the windshield fit to the front cowl. We were able to use the broken off left-side piece of the original cowl which is normally kept safe in the Muncey display case in the museum. The piece, salvaged from the crash in Mexico, has part of the windshield and Bill’s name on the side. Roland also made the distinctive deck-trim strips which were added to create a wood surface for fiber-glassing the sponson to the center section decks.

For me, working on the historic Blue Blaster since the project began has been an incredible learning experience.  After spending a few years on the Hurricane restoration I was 'hooked', but when the opportunity arose to work with these 'new fangled' materials (honeycomb aluminum) my interest peaked.  It has been an amazing transition from my 'wood' comfort zone, imagining what the original process would have been in developing the new techniques needed to utilize these 'space-age' materials.

What a satisfying adventure it has been to arrive at what she looks like today, knowing that we have a fully sound structural hull that will actually be running in 2013!

Randy, just watching you work on the Blue Blaster from the beginning has been a great learning opportunity for me. I suspect many reading your modest comments will never realize how truly skilled you are. I appreciate your help and humor as we continue to try and bring the 'blaster back to life.

That said, I hope that anyone thinking of becoming a volunteer at the museum doesn't get the idea that experience on the order of your artistry is required. You and the other members of the team have turned me from a long-time desk jockey into a very proud restoration kinda' guy. Still lots to learn, but that's part of the excitement and fun of these projects.

What a terrific team we have and with work yet to be done, we could probably use a few more volunteers to help, don't you think? Working in the Restoration Shop is one of the great opportunities available at the Museum.

Cleco Boy

Amen on Randy, Phil. He is very skilled and flexible. You forgot the all important ‘flexible’ word in there, so I felt the need to add it. He can squat down for extended periods of time without the slightest regard as to how he is going to get up again. He just stands up, without even groaning. That blows my mind. I feel like applauding.

That, and I have grown quite fond of his dog, Mr. Gustafsen. He’s a good ol boy.... Never meanin’ no harm...Beats all you never saw...been in trouble with the law...since the day he was born.

Dang, sorry. I got off on a Waylon tangent there for a second.

Just sayin’

Happy Thanksgiving, Atlas Crew!

Marc

Blue Blaster Update - Nov 21, 2012

A few photos from yesterday and today...........We had a bit of a milestone week. Got the wings and cowl mounted and were able for the first time to step back and see a nearly finished Atlas. Well, at least it's overall shape. Still many hard months to go but a nice resting place for this Thanksgiving week. Special thanks and congratulations to all the team.

Hey Don, whats the latest ? Have you had your Deck glassing glue party yet ?

Blaster Update - January 19, 2013

Randall, we did have a fiberglassing party and have been sanding ever since. The first shot is the boat prepped for glass. The next two are laying out and wetting the two layers of cloth at once. The last is a shot of the boat today after the top resin coat was sanded. Up next we're rolling on some sanding primer to get the deck perfect before we start on the 18 deck hatches.....which will be a big job.

Looking good, Don. Rolling the epoxy primer is the way to go, it's really good at filling in the pinholes.

Saw the primed hull this past Saturday, looks great........as always!!!

Great job team, there is nobody more passionate and dedicated than the volunteers who make these dreams reality.

Well, Don- Must be close now?

Very nice - can't wait till the blue windshield is in place !

Will bring a tear to the eyes of a lot of people when this hits the lake again for the first time. Looks beautiful from what I can see............

Amazing as always!!!

I suppose Don will yhave to try and wrestle away the 1984 Atlas Van Lines hull at some point down the road, huh?

Might be easier to try and find that last original screw left in her, might be all that's left of the original hull anymore.

:)

WOW! Does that ever look cool! This is for me, hands down, the most awesome unlimited hydroplane of all time. Thank you all so much for your hard work to bring the AVL back. What a beauty!

These pieces are proudly displayed on my desk at work.

Its very frustrating following the progress on the Blaster living so far away in Ohio,  especially since that's what I do for a living... repair and restore boats.  I so wish I could be there to help.  Don it was great talking to you last week..... I'd love to meet you in Detroit this summer and the Blaster again, once I compose myself and stop sobbing like a child when I get to see her again....

Don, thanks for letting me see it while I was in town, hope you make Seafair The Paint is beautiful.

Don, it would be interesting to see what it weighs now, John Walters told me it only weighed 5400 lbs.brand new !

Wonderful work everyone. Congratulations! on your "Blasterpiece". Everyone agrees that in a perfect world she  would've been the center piece at Bayfair's 50th. Too bad the timing's a bit off. Regardless, she's the jewel of the fleet and you all deserve a big pat on the back for your dedication and sacrafice. "Warm Wishes and Happy Hydroplaning!"

Check out the PDF about the Blue Blaster Restoration DVD which is now available.  -Don Mock

BlueBlasterDVD.pdf

Here are some photos from this years Gold Cup in Tri-Cities. The first is a split shot showing the Budweiser driven by David Williams and the Blue Blaster driven by Chip Hanauer. Below are the same two boats in 1980 with Dean Chenoweth and Bill Muncey.

The next shots by Chris Denslow show the Blaster's improved boat ride following last winters sponson modifications.