The Millicent Chronicles; two foot roof raise, big tailgate

[timbuk]

always thought those caddys should have 5 wheels were they true spokes? man i love that car/bike timbuk

[Elliot Naess]

Monthly update.

Nothing to report. Been on the road, trucking for a living.

Over and out.


Now.... If I had it to do all over again -- the Millicent Roof Raise, I mean -- I would seriously consider dragging this thing home -- which I found in Tehachapi, CA, on my last trucking tour.



It has "the real jetliner look", yet it is relatively small. In fact, it is TOO small -- only a bit over six feet wide. But it could be split down the middle of the roof and widened, just like we split walls and raise bus roofs. If anybody is seriously interested, talk to me. The exact price is uncertain, but it is definitely available for something on the order of scrap metal value. For more info, it is a British Aerospace Jetstream 3100.

Am I planning to grab it if I can negotiate a cheap deal? No... I'm about to ask my neighbor to hogtie me to a chair so I don't.

[Elliot Naess]

Update on the airplane idea.
I've e-mailed with the owner. It's a Jetstream 31 (same thing). He is very friendly and fun-loving. He is still using it for R&D in his avionics business, but he is open to donating it to me when he is done with it. So I guess I'll start saving up $$$ for transporting it home sometime in the future -- heaven help me!

[Griff]

YOU'RE SICK, ELLIOTT (. . .I like sick. . . )

Can't wait to see what ya do with that!

[Elliot Naess]

Mongo like being sick. Bwahahahahahahahah!

Burning Man Mutant Vehicle. Tiny stubby symbolic wings, like a cartoon plane. Pig snout. Flying Pig, yes. Burning Man 2009. :P and so forth.

[pete c]

elliot,

are you thinking of making it into a KS or maybe strapping it down to a bus frame?

[lapeer20m]

elliot you are a mad man! .....in a good way

[Elliot Naess]

Originally Posted by lapeer20m

elliot you are a mad man! .....in a good way

Ohhh... Now I'm disappointed. Only "mad"? I was led to believe I was "sick".

Seriously, yes, I probably am a bit less than entirely rational, because I really cannot afford to do all the stuff I dream up. So sometimes I walk around in alarmingly "well broken in" shoes. But I have no dependents, and no mortgage or rent, and I can always... deign to work a bit more to catch up on the electric bill, so whatta hey!

If/when the J-31 becomes mine... well, by then I'll have six new plans for it. And I'll be looking for a DC-3. But at the moment I'm thinking ...

EDIT:
Update! Never mind the car chassis. A conventional pickup truck front axle with steering at the front of the wings, nicely faired in right where the wheels belong, and a MOTORCYCLE (minus front fork) in the tail for propulsion and "tail-dragger" wheel. I think the flared skin panel at the front edge of the wing could even be moved forward, to help weight distribution while keeping the wheels flared in. And I may have access to a perfectly good 1978 Honda Gold Wing that's been sitting unused for years -- how appropriate that would be!
End edit.

That would be for Burning Man. The J-31 has this exessively long snout, and the tip of that is missing, so I might lop off the long nose and fab a pig snout -- instant Flying Pig.

But it is also tempting to use it to raise the roof on a bus. I wouldn't do it on Millicent, since she's already done, but it could go on an other bus. That is, I would discard the original bus roof and install the upper half of the J-31, widened. (Come to think of it -- that would leave me the bottom half of the fuselage, which could be flipped up-side-down and...

But right now I need to spend a couple of hours making a living. I'm doing more writing and less truck driving, which is a very sane thing.

[the_experience03]

Flying pig a la Pink Floyd? You would then be my idol...well...more so than you already are.

[Elliot Naess]

I wasn't aware of that connection, so I guess I don't rate More So yet.

We'd be expected to play a lot of Pink Floyd records onboard, then, wouldn't we? ""...just another brick in the wall" -- is that them? That would be quite OK.

[Elliot Naess]

Drove over 600 miles last weekend and calculated 13 MPG! Not sure about the accuracy of that, so will calculate the next few fill-ups also, for a more accurate average.

Update:



Grille looks proper now that the bus-front parts behind it are flat black.



I had all kinds of plans for clever latches, and even started building one. Then sanity returned:



Countless vehicles use this simple spring loaded hook -- from Ford model Ts to Jeeps. Available at any NAPA store. Bottom of grille rests on rubber pads on top of bumper bracket, made from old tire. Rear of grille rests agains body with plastic "door edge guard" on the edges of the grille to prevent squeeking. Latches at an angle seem to provide adequate tension in both directions. K.I.S.S.!

[Griff]

That's just too cool, Elliot! I love it!

[lapeer20m]

she's lookin' cool, but when ya gonna paint her?

[Elliot Naess]

Regretably, paint keeps getting put off in favor of other projects and gainful employment.

My excuse is that I hope to find a budding artist who wants to paint the murals if I pay for the materials. And I do have one such offer, but the guy lives 300 miles away.

I could certainly do the roof. And also make the front all one color. Soon.

[Abbott]

I enjoy seeing all of the tinkering Elliot!

[Elliot Naess]

That's exactly how I proceed -- I tinker and putter with Millicent whenever I feel inspired to do so. That's one of the reasons she is not painted yet -- I do not yet have a clear picture in my mind of how it should look, so... no hurry.

More puttering and tinkering and thinking.... After our weekend outing to the Klamath Falls, OR, Kinetic race last weekend, I have started thinking about rearranging the interior a bit, making myself a better bunk; maybe even giving up some cargo space for a "master bedroom". (Me Master, ugh! ) Originally, I had myself placed in the only ground level bed, but that bed became Jerri's when she and Peter started a family. So now I'm tinkering with what I thought was the perfect floor plan for us.

Still, some deadlines are necessary. We really must get the plumbing and air conditioning all installed for Burning Man.

[Abbott]

I look forward to the days when I get far enough along to use my bus enough to start up the tinkering.

[Griff]

Originally Posted by Abbott

I look forward to the days when I get far enough along to use my bus enough to start up the tinkering.

Hear! Hear! Well spoken, Abbott (and Elliot)!

[whymcycle]

Hey Elliot! Millicent has a nice, old London Double decker bus look going now!!
The grille could be 6" or 10" narrower and we could paint a faux upper windshield
with Hobart and a kinetic chicken or two peeking out. I'll paint the roof this weekend,
early, before the temp hits 95.....

[Elliot Naess]

Fake upper windshield.... Great idea! But would require some serious painting skills to look realistic. Hey... we do have a photo to use as a guide:



That's Peter (Whymcycle) relaxing in Millicent at Burning Man last year.

Of course, Peter lives in a town where there is an old London double decker in daily service!