Ursus Volans Parachute Co

Packing and Loading

2011-04-15T21:48:00.020+01:00

Having had an early start at work in-order to have a second and successful at installing a new UTM device (The first attempt had to be rolled back due to a setting in one of the other switches, which hasn't been a problem before, reacting with the new UTM device causing two VLANs to be able to see each other and resulting in both DHCP servers shutting down), I was home by lunchtime and with a couple of hours I had the van packed for this weekend's Jolly Up.

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Year 2 Day 37: Good news, bad news (potentially)

2011-04-14T10:13:00.001+01:00

Dropped the van of at the garage this morning and it obviously went straight into the workshop as I was barely into the office before the phone rang. The good news is that despite what the handbook says the problem isn't the Lambda sensor, however the potentially bad news that it is a low output warning from the Cylinder No. 1 glow plug and if they need changing thats a couple of hours work and £10 a piece for the five plugs. The fault has been cleared off of the ECU and hasn't immedialtely come back but the mechanic is going to give the van a bit of a drive to see if it does come back, however their thoughts are that it is due to the van only being moved a couple of metres up and down the drive way that has caused the problem and the engine could do with a good thrashing to clean out any deposits due to it no having reached proper temperature for a while. Fingers crossed it will only cost me for the read of the ECU and a drop of additive to aid the cleaning process.

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Year 2 Day 36: I haven't been idle.

2011-04-13T20:27:00.000+01:00

Its been nearly 10 days since I last blogged, I haven't been idle but there are only a certain number of times that you can say that you have been varnishing, anyway for the most part that has been what I have been doing, apart from a few days off as a result of a cyst on my back flaring up (I missed Streatham common the first Kite Festival of the season as a result).

Year 2 Day 27: Still varnishing

2011-04-04T22:01:00.009+01:00

I'm still varnishing and will probably be doing so for the rest of the week, this evening I got the requisite number of coats on the back of the cupboard doors. Tomorrow I will hopefully complete the varnishing of the fronts meaning that subject to finding my 1" wood bit I will be able to install the doors on Wednesday.

Year 2 Day 26: Cupboard Doors

2011-04-03T20:24:00.000+01:00

It being Mothers' Day I was only afforded a short time working on the van. In fact I didn't do anything in the van rather I got the fronts cut for the cupboard doors first thing then surreptitiously through the afternoon I got the fronts adhered to the frames I adhered to the backs yesterday. So I now have a complete set of cabinet doors ready to varnish and fit next week.

Year 2 Day 25: Varnishing and doors

2011-04-02T20:37:00.000+01:00

A major milestone today, I have now been physically converting the van for one year, and we are not that far off completion, as shown by the fact that near enough my sole task for the past few days and at least the next week is varnishing. With just about everything that can be taken out the van that can be taken out, I have completed varnishing the seating area, including the ceiling, the galley is varnished apart from the ceiling, but I got the trim on the join in place so varnishing can start tomorrow. I also started on the nearside wall which has received one coat of varnish (4 more to go).
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Year 2 Day 24: More of the same

2011-04-01T21:40:00.037+01:00

Yep, it was back in the van varnishing again to night getting the third coat on the cupboard and the front wall, hopefully I will get the last two coats on these areas tomorrow. The in was onto the front section of the ceiling, having filled the pin tack holes and fitted the trim strip that covers the join, it was just a case of sanding down and rolling on the varnish.

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Year 2 Day 23: Varnishing

2011-03-31T19:17:00.000+01:00

I think today's title just about sums up this evening's work, which was to put a second coat on everything I varnished a couple of nights ago

Year 2 Day 22: Bits, pieces and sewing

2011-03-30T22:07:00.044+01:00

The cupboard door catches arrived to day as did the plastic mouldings for the shoe locker, so I have no excuse for not cracking on with the cupboard doors and the locker, other than the fact that we have a couple of weekends away coming up and I need to get at least the front curtains made before we go but so that we are not continually putting the curtains up and down I want to get the varnishing in the living area finished first. To this end I bought another can of varnish today and I had forgotten just how expensive a 2.5l can was.
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Year 2 Day 21: Sanding, varnishing and cutting fabric.

2011-03-29T21:43:00.000+01:00

The first job of the evening was to sand down where I filled the pin holes last night, after that is was on with the varnishing, I'm going to have to get another can of varnish for tomorrow. It didn't take too long to get a first coat onto the cupboard fascias and the top section of the cab partition after that the van was put away for the night.
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Year 2 Day 20: Edging, trimming and filling

2011-03-28T20:14:00.001+01:00

Its amazing how big the living room appear to be now that the fridge has gone, but you don't notice that its in the van. Checking the solar regulator despite the fridge running all day the regulator is showing the batteries to be on the cusp of full charge: the third red LED is flashing as is the charging LED. This is quite satisfying since the panel only get direct sunlight first thing in the morning when the sun is low in the sky and for the rest of the day the panel is in the shade. All things considered it looks like we will be self sufficient in energy once the van is out in the sun for most of the day.

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Year 2 Day 19: Ikea

2011-03-27T21:43:00.001+01:00

Well with the clocks going forward this morning we were all late getting up, and with the temperature outside still fairly cold we decided not to join the GOKF at Ferry Meadows. Instead we popped over Ikea at Milton Keynes, as I wanted to have a look at their shoe racks before buying similar parts from BK Services.

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Year 2 Day 18: Fridge and another fascia

2011-03-26T20:27:00.001Z

Much to Leng's joy the fridge finally made it out of the living room and permanently into the van this morning. To my relief it started as soon as it was powered up and was soon down to temperature. The compressor seems to be very quiet, and reminiscent of flowing water, hopefully its not going to sound like a raging waterfall when we get to sleep in the van with it.

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Year 2 Day 16: Cupboard Fascia

2011-03-24T19:31:00.000Z

Over the past couple of days I have been gluing battens to the rear of the cupboard fascia and the results can be seen in today's first photograph. The piece of hardwood ply that can be seen in the upper section is a template which has hopfully ensured that the holes in the panel will be identical in size as well as being square and correctly spaced.

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Year 2 Day 13: Vanity Panel

2011-03-21T22:25:00.000Z

Having spent last night varnishing the panel at two hourly intervals it was already to install today, so this evening I pulled the van forward and screwed it in, so we are all set to install the fridge in its final position as soon as we get the time. I have included before and after shots, plus some shots of the table which I didn't include at the weekend.

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Year 2 Day 12: Black Mold

2011-03-20T20:02:00.000Z

Having got the flooring done I made a start this morning on the vanity panel which closes off the area under the sink and hob which houses the water pump and could eventually house a water heater and provides the side wall to the fridge area.

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Year 2 Day 11: We have a table

2011-03-19T19:11:00.000Z

With only a short amount of time available to work on the van I finished fitting the table and gave and adjacent section of wall its final coat of varnish. In theory we now have all the required items in place to apply to have the V5 changed, however I think I shall wait until we are totally finished.

Year 2 Day 10: Flooring and wasted time.

2011-03-18T18:15:00.001Z

My last days holiday, we have a use it or lose it policy at works so I needed to use up my final day be for the end of the month, plus I needed to wind down after the stress of yesterday's ISO accreditation audit. The first job of the day was to finish trimming the flooring.
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Year 2 Day 5: Shopping and resting

2011-03-13T17:29:00.022Z

I made a run over to Stevenage to Been 'n' Queued to pick up some angled chequer plate to go around the door step, some grey sealer and some stainless steel screw and cup washers. However by the time I got back home I just didn't feel up to working on the van, it seems that despite my best efforts I have come down with the cold that the rest of the household has been suffering from for the past week. Yesterday's exploits on the Heath probably didn't help.

Year 2 Day 4: Hello Kitty, Flowform and Flooring

2011-03-12T20:44:00.000Z

The original plan for today was to install the flooring in the van, however have done the weekly shopping, and laid out a protective sheet in the back garden for the flooring, I decided that the weather was so perfect that we should take Hello Kitty and the new flowform over to Therfield Heath to get the Kitty's bridling finished and to trim out the flowform.

Year 2 Day 3: Oven and Extinguisher

2011-03-11T17:01:00.000Z

With a day and a half of my holiday allocation to take before the end of the month I took this afternoon off, which gave me the time in the daylight to fit the oven. Having applied five coats of varnish to the cupboard under the sink the oven was just slid in, wired up to the 12V dc system to power the internal light and igniter, plumbed into the gas and secured with screws.

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Year 2 Day 1: Parcel and Covers

2011-03-09T22:47:00.003Z

It must be the kid in me but I do love receiving and opening parcels even if I do know what is in them and today there was a steady stream of them. First to arrive, just as I was leaving for work, was the table top and leg, though I nearly didn't get table top. The courier had the leg in his cab and came to the door with it, and it was only when I pointed out that his handheld device was asking me to sign for two parcels that he went back and looked in the back of his van and found the table top.

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Day 365 - One Year On

2011-03-08T08:00:00.001Z

Our first anniversary, we have now had the van for a year, whilst it still not finished we had regular use out of it last summer, partly why it isn't finished yet. Anyway here is a slide show of the year's work.

Day 364: Yet more Varnishing and Expenditure

2011-03-07T21:13:00.000Z

For the first time in nearly five months I worked on the van on a weekday evening admittedly it was only for an hour or so but it means I am back on a roll. The only task in the van tonight was to get a coat of varnish on those areas which received less than five coats over the weekend and this was completed in reasonable time.
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Day 363: Still varnishing

2011-03-06T16:59:00.000Z

With clear skies and a good wind I had hoped with test fly the new lifter and finish bridling Hello Kitty. Unfortunately Leng is laid up with a cold and bridling something as big as Kitty is not something I want to attempt single handed., thus it was that I ended up varnishing again.

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