Hatz Biplane Association

Looks great, guys! Can't wait to see it in the air!

Just to enliven the conversation, I am sharing this picture: On first look, it would seem that it is out of focus, and I would agree. The focus was sucked out of the photo by the builder, intently focusing all of his (limited) mind on the weld puddle...
Notice how the builder is so focused on the task at hand, that he totally got into it. He is almost one with the fuselage.
The head tilt is at a precise 37.685° to the builder's right, to help with the process.

Is that a Micco Midget from the TinMan? (Referring to the torch, of course, not the welder

Yes it is.

Love my Micco

Looking good. Where did you learn to weld? I took the EAA course. I have brackets to weld,but that's it until the wings are done (in a couple of years maybe).

I am not sure how one can say "looking good" about such an out of focus picture, but to answer your question, I took a community ed class years ago, and then when I was getting serious about the hatz I got an expert to show me how it's done.
I then bought 10 pounds of scrap tubing from Wicks, and practiced until I was happy with the results.
Takes a while, and I am still improving.
A good read is this article:
http://www.airbum.com/articles/ArticleZenWelding.html

HI Hatzer's

Last Friday we passed flawlessly the final inspection by the BAZL (Swiss sort of FAA)! The first inspection by the EAAS authorities was on April 12! You see our mills are working slower than yours!!!
Just a few unimportant things, small discrepancies between the AFM and the labeling on the plane....
Anyway, We think on Wednesday we will receive the written permission but are not allowed to fly by our own: We have to make an appointment with our test flight authorised person for the first flight. Sam will do the job and me hoping the best on the ground.... Any subsequent flying has to be performed under his eys and we will have to keep in the airfield's surroundings. However for our annual EAAS fly-in to be held in August, we can ask for a permisiion to participate. On the flight to this airfield (about 25 miles away) we will have to make some flight tests in order to get permission to leave the test airfield region.
You see, you have this task much less burocratic than we and this is the reason, why I (Hans) personally don't fly alone anymore in this country, but have my son Sam as my personnel pilot...
Take care to the comfortable situation you have in your country and enjoy!!!
We will keep you posted about the event of the first flight!

Best regards
Hans & Sam, H.C.#78, Switzerland

Thank you for reminding me of the freedom of flight we have here in the U.S. We have much to be thankful for, and much to fight for to preserve. looking forward to getting the news of a successful first flight!

Thanks for the update, good luck and don't forget the picture of the "Hatz Smile" when Sam returns from that first flight!

Jeff Moore