New Zealand to Hood River.....the mast has arrived!

Bus is to my right, mast to my left, here I am.....stuck in the middle again.

Here's the disheveled interior of our bus  in route heading west into the Columbia River Gorge towards Hood River.

The boom is laying on the floor resting on two sheep skin seat covers. The blue jug was full of water in case the engine over heated, the chest and two tool boxes were brought along just to make me feel better and the ladder was used to help is clammer atop the bus.  

Incidentally, this model bus is the identical model used in

 the movie "speed"

I looked just as nervous as Sandra Bullock

"Speed" Trivia:

A special bus was used for the bus jump scene. This bus was modified so that it could reach a speed of 70 mph and it was equipped with powerful shock absorbers. The driver seat was moved back 15 feet so that if something went wrong the driver wasn't ejected from the bus. The seat itself was a suspension mechanism between the ceiling and the bus floor to avoid the driver from suffering spinal compression on impact.

Share this

For the bus jump sequence, a ramp was built. The bus was started from about 1 mile back and accelerated towards the ramp. When it hit the ramp it had reached a speed of 61 mph. The bus traveled 109 feet and its front wheels reached an altitude of 20 feet from the ground, which was higher than anyone had anticipated. Because of this, the cameras were not placed correctly and the top front part of the bus goes out of the frame when the bus reaches the maximum point of the jump.

Share this

At least 12 different buses were used during the shooting of the movie: - 2 buses for exterior shots - 2 buses that were blown up - 2 buses for interior shots - 2 buses for action sequences and "hitting things" - 1 bus for the jump sequence - 1 bus modified so that it could ride on 2 wheels during the sharp right turn sequence - 1 bus slightly raised so that a man in a mechanic car could fit underneath. It was for the sequence in which Jack Traven tries to deactivate the bomb. - 1 bus with an extended platform in front so that a filming crew could shoot the driver from the front. The filming crew referred to this bus as the "pope-mobile".

Share this

"The severity of the climate having compelled them to batten down and caulk their abiding place."

Here's a raucous attempt at  bonding the fore deck hatch seal gutter in place.  Can you pick out the clamp that is just fooling around?  You got to watch those clamps, before you know it they're clamping themselves all over the place. 

This photo shows a bit more detail about the situation. The white portion is the edge of the deck itself after the foam was hogged out and replaced with a high density mixture of epoxy and micro balloons.  Below that, you can see a thin grey joining line.  This is a 1/8 in strip of divnycell foam that was slather both sides with epoxy and cabosil thickener.  This will lower the inner sealing edge so that a 1/4 inch thick rubber seal can be placed around the under side of the hatch. If it all works out as planned, this rubber seal can depress itself about half way and cause the hatch to sit flush with the surrounding deck when the "hatches be batten'd down". http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/56700.html

Hatch seal assembly

Forward deck hatch gap

24 individual pieces of foam

fitting the water capturing gap seal.  Once all the pieces are 

glued together, I'll pull the assembly off and vacuum bag glass and epoxy over the hatch seal then bond it in place beneath the hatch.  The one inch "gutter" will contain a tube which will allow any rain or sea water to drain outboard.