Hughes United Methodist Church - Trompette en Chamade Installation, page 1

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In April Dave McCahan took the pile of lumber and began making a windchest. Here he’s milled the lumber, cut his parts and begun the boring:

Then he began the chest assembly. Here he has the chest roughed out, and as the glue dried, he made up the metal rods to support the pipes, threading them so they would screw into the chest:

Then after the chest was complete, he began to rack the pipes. In this picture he’s fitting the skyrack to support the largest pipes on the left side. There are three skyracks, left, center and right.

Richard Alford assisted him in getting all the pipes racked and supported, and here’s the result:

The open areas at the base are access to the action, and will be covered by sliding access panels.

From further back.

This picture is as they would be seen from under looking up.

On Tuesday, May 6, 2003, the chest and pipes were delivered to the church. The church’s contractor had attached our ledger board to the rear wall and run the windline up to the Antiphonal Organ Chamber just above this location.

The ledger board contains bolts that will support the Trompette chest.

At this point we had lifted the chest over the gallery rail and up onto the scaffold, and were getting ready to put it in position. Dave McCahan is beside the ladder, and Richard Alford and Dave Selby are on the scaffold with the windchest.

One of the problems was that the chest had to go onto the bolts at chest height from the scaffold, which put the metal rods projecting out at eye level.

The solution was to get three men on their knees, flip the chest over and slide it on the bolts. I volunteered to sight the bolts and be the cameraman, so I wouldn’t have to lift anything heavy. That’s Dave McCahan on the left, Richard Alford and Dave Selby doing the work.

Then once the chest was on the bolts, washers and nuts were put on, and here Dave Selby is tightening the nuts, pushing against the chest with his shoulder.

As Mr. Lewis liked to say, “There she stands, and not a nail in her!” The windchest is attached to the wall.

Dave McCahan doing some finishing work, applying silicone seal to each of the bolts coming through the chest, so no wind can leak out back against the wall.

Next was the installation of the skyracks. As Richard Alford supports the left one, Dave Selby leans out of the chamber and screws it in place.

All three skyracks have been attached. They are hinged, so they may be adjusted as the weight of the pipes is added one by one. Here they are pulled upright, so the cables can be attached that will help carry the weight of the pipes.

Here Richard Alford has the first cable on the center skyrack, and has lowered it into position. This rack almost overhangs the gallery rail, and the longest pipes will overhang the rail when they are installed.

Here’s the windline and cable coming up into the Antiphonal chamber. The line will attach to the reservoir where the left wooden plate is now. The cable will come out of a hole in the windline and go to the relay.

The other additions in the Antiphonal include the three rank mixture in the front, the 2’ Super Octave back left, and the Unda Maris, back right.