Ready to go.

I am in the final assembly stage of the rebuilt plane. I put the Fox on it and a tank then put it on the scale. 45.5 ounces. Had I used a better grade of balsa it would be in the low 40 range. Test flight soon.

Didn't work.

As I got ready to paint the red I sprayed a thin coat of clear on the white. It reacted. Some areas of white will stand up to the clear and some won't. All I can figure is the thinner the white paint the worse effect the clear has on it. I've done all the painting I'm going to on the plane for now.
It looks like the weight will be in the low to middle 40 ounce range. The OS engine is 2 to 3 ounces heavier than a Fox. I have both as the one I bought on ebay came in today. It all depends where the balance is as to which engine I use.
I'm listening to the Baton brothers show on a local access channel. Two guitar players that can't sing and barely can play. They are trying hard and are on every week for an hour. They are from Voluntown, CT.

Incompatible compatibility.

As I stumbled along getting the assembly sequence right on the rebuilt plane I put the white paint on. I had tested it with a coat of clear dope and it is compatible with the clear which is what I was looking for. I glued the wing on after covering it this morning. I masked off the part that was to be painted blue. There was white over spray in the area also. Since the clear didn't bother the white I didn't think twice about it. Both the clear and the blue are top flite luster kote paints. Shortly after the first coat of blue the white started to wrinkle. I hurried and wiped off all the paints and then used thinner to get more off. I sprayed a thin coat of clear on the area and then the blue again. The clear stabilized what white was left and the blue came out fair. The red paint is a different brand again that the clear has no effect on but I'm running a test to make sure it's compatible with the white and clear again. If not I'll put a coat of clear over the area to be painted red. Luckily the blue is on the bottom and not too large of an area. The color paints are probably not affected by spilled fuel but the clear will add shine and really fuel proof it.
I had just enough white covering to finish the wing and the hinges. Now I have to buy a roll to cover the stab. Then I can install that and the fin and rudder.

New development.

I talked with Merle Hawkins at coffee this morning and he is going to get me some info on an ignition system he uses on his bike. Installs easy and works good.
We went to the dog track and I got in some flights with the problem engine. It ran quite well with the bad hose fixed and moved to the tank side. As I re fuled it I noticed a tiny leak in the same hose. I removed it to test and it broke at the nipple again. I replaced it with another piece I had and it flew even better. The other hose might have been latex instead of silicone.
I hinged the elevator and flaps on the rebuilt plane and installed the wing into the fuse. I have to finish covering the wing before I can finish gluing it in place.

Started painting.

I started painting the planes today. I got the white on the re built plane and the blue on the Ruffy. I built the Ruffy last winter and found the right paint a few weeks ago. I've been using Top Flite paint and it has been very thin on pigment. Many coats to get the color right. This blue is an older can and had plenty of pigment in it. I have two more colors to put on the rebuilt plane and am trying to decide on when to install the wing.
I finally burned the brush pile as it was wet and very little wind. I had most of it covered so the pile burned fast.
I went to the dog track and got in some flights with the problem engine. I was taking it off the plane and putting another on when I noticed the fuel line had a split in it. I changed it and put the engine back on. I also got tired of the swiveling tail wheel and removed it and epoxied the strut solid in the fuse. Hopefully that will cure the problems.
I think I will change the ignition on the bike to points and condenser. I understand those.

Almost done.

The new wing is just about done. I got it to fit into the old fuse. It's a lot thicker than the old one and lighter even though I didn't use the best balsa. I still have to make a fin and rudder for it. I left a piece of center sheeting off so I can install the pushrod. I'll slide the piece in when I glue the wing in.
I went to the dog track yesterday and tried to get a good engine run with the OS .40 I put a new cylinder liner in. It runs good on the ground but then speeds up after two laps. It's not a runaway, as such. when I go inverted it goes lean but the tank is in a position that should prevent that. I figure the fuel is foaming in flight and put some more armor-all in it. I also balanced the prop. It's the only plane I have without a nose tripler. A half inch thick piece of balsa on the nose opposite the engine to strengthen the fuse. and keep vibration to a minimum.
I got another Fox .40 on ebay too. It's just like the one on the Primary Force. It comes with a spinner and is a 20 year old design or more. Probably the first of the back door engines. It has a large plate/cover on the back of the engine.

Ignition modules arrived.

All the way from Anchorage, AK. Mailed out Mon. and here on Fri. I opened the box and there were three things that I had never seen before. The modules are from a much newer system so I mailed them back to the sender. I'll keep looking.

Nice weather.

We went to the dog track today and I got in some flights with the big ringmaster. The engine has been giving me trouble but some cleaning and a new plug helped a lot. It still don't like the tank or any tank for that matter. Nice lap times but screams in inside maneuvers and slows in outsides. This is new and I have another tank to try.
I cleaned up the Pupster fuse. and cut out for the new wing. The old one weighed 23 ounces. A real porker. I got some balsa from Lee's in Groton and it is heavy like Balsa USA stuff. The wing is drying as I wet the sheeting to form over the leading edge. A few more things to put in and it's ready to take off the jig. The new stab. is half the weight of the old one. I'm hoping for low 40 ounces. It was over 50.
The new radiator is working well.

Building season.

I had the wing rib patterns from the stuff Gil sent me and I've been looking at the Pupster wing for a long time. It is a Ugly Stick 20 wing that I turned into a control line wing. It has all the r/c stuff still in it and is heavy. I made the decision today to make a new wing using the templates I got from Gil and put it in the Pupster. I got the wing framed up on the jig today. It should be a better flyer even though it will be about 40 sq. in. smaller. Maybe not as I plan to put flaps on this wing.

New wires.

I remembered some big high Voltage wire I had in the pile of stuff. I needed some solid core wire for the bike just in case the wire I had on it was bad. It's made by Rowe Industries in Toledo OH.I googled the name and they are still in business. This stuff it 3/8" diameter with 14 ga. silver coated copper wire. I uses the coil end boot and a Rajah terminal for the plug end. How many remember Rajah terminals? That's the two piece thing above the wires. I had to trim some of the insulation diameter to get it to fit into the coil tower and the terminals black plastic part. I've had the Holley wires on my hot rod for 11 years now and they are still good. But they are resistor wires.
If you click on Aug. 18 2009 there are pictures of the El camino and 2007 August 22 is a picture of the hot rod.

'78 Super Glide waiting for a transplant.

Here it sits broken hearted, Came to shit but never got started.
Sitting in my walk in basement where it's warm and dry.Mostly stock. It still has the original Kehin carb. Close to 70,000 miles on three speedometers. Three or four burned exhaust valves on the front jug. But no problems since having the bronze valve guides replaced with cast iron many years ago. The local Harley dealer put in the bronze guides but I don't know why. I do know why he's no longer in business.

Making headway.

We got back from Nashua, NH around 0930 today. I checked the bike forum and the test procedure for the electronic ignition module was there. I went to the bike and re set the air gap and hooked up the battery and the Ohm meter. I got 12 Volts when I should and 1 Volt when I should. That means the module is working as it should. I put a metal rod in the plug wire and turned the engine over and got a spark. I turned it over again and got nothing. It went that way for about a half hour. At times the Voltages were not right either and at times they were. I'm going to re install the original module and try it. It looks like I need a new ignition set up either way. The poster on the forum gave me the brand of a good set.
I went to the dog track with the Still and Magician. I did the complete pattern with the Still and it flew good. Still needs some handle tweaking to calm it down a bit. The Magician and newly tuned Fox .35 flew good also with the engine purring nicely, growling is a better description. It ran steady too which is better.

Tortured by Harley ignition problem.

Early in the spring I had the bike running and put it away. i took it out in mid Sept. and it wouldn't start. No spark to the plugs. It's been in the basement for 2 months and there still is no spark. I got voltage in the right places, the proper resistance in the right places, and an extra coil and electronic module that didn't help. I re took all the measurements and wrote them down and registered on a shovelhead forum. I'm waiting for the e mail that tells me I'm on. I hope someone there can figure this out for me.
I ran the low rpm engine this morning and now it's the same as the other one. A steady 4 cycle at 9000 rpm. Learning has taken place. Wind is still about 25 to 30.

Fiddling on a windy day.

I haven"t been happy with the way my hemi Fox .35's have been running. I got the idea to drill out the hole in the spray bar in hopes to be able to control the fuel flow better. I asked the question on one of the forums and set about to make changes. I enlarged the hole a bit to .055. Then I noticed that the hole the needle screws into wasn't the same diameter all the way through. After a bit it came to me that the needle closed off the fuel at the diameter change and not at the 'dump hole'. Making the hole bigger probably wouldn't make any difference. I remembered that Marvin Denny had written that the needles with a flat were made to better control the flow of fuel but were discontinued in favor of a straight taper. I sanded a small flat on the taper and took the engine outside for testing. I like the way it ran. Quite steady and breaking between 2 and 4 cycle at 8500 rpm. Not being happy I took the other hemi .35 and did the same thing to it's NVA. It being mounted on a plane I brought it out for testing. Again a steady run and in 4 cycle at 8900 rpm. I can't figure that out unless I have more head shims in one engine than the other.
Back at the forum several people were saying not to mess with it because the changes would ruin the NVA and mess up the engine run. As the Old Philosopher would say "too late". The real test will come when it flys. They always run good on the ground for me.
The truck will need a new radiator in the near future. It's got plastic ends and the lower drivers side is weeping a bit.

Good day for a flight test.

I installed the rebuilt OS .40 on the new plane and went to the dog track. Temps. in the low 60's and 0 to less than 5 mph winds. I flew the P. Force with the new NVA and I like the way it works. It can't be any worse than the original NVA. I brought out the Still and put 1 and 1/2 ounces of fuel in the tank and started it up. It flew quite nicely but the right wing was high. I tweaked the tabs on each wing and tried it again. Still not right so I tweaked some more. This time it was level and I did several simple maneuvers to feel it out. It likes to jump off the ground but I think I can get used to it and hold it down a bit longer. It weighs 43 ounces which is where I hoped it would be. It turns a sharp corner and is quite stable in level flight. I can probably add some nose weight without hurting anything. A spinner would be nice. I didn't try any overhead stuff and that will tell the story.

Name change.

I was checking stuff on the new plane when I spotted a stencil name I had made last year. So I decided to use it instead of having a new one made up.
The UPS truck stopped and delivered my needle valves and castor oil from Fox, then the mail brought the piston and liner for the OS .40. I installed one of the NVA's and ran it. Much improved. I hope to fly it tomorrow. I installed the other one too. I added the gallon of castor to one of the jugs of methanol and stirred it up. Then topped it off to the 5 gallon mark from the other jug. That should give me 5 gallons of FAI fuel with 20% oil. I can mix it with the nitro fuels to get the usual 2.5% nitro.
I installed the new piston and liner and will put it in the new plane for it's first flight soon.
I also made up some leading edge molds for Gil and sent them out this morning. I made copies of the ribs and now I can make a wing from them. He says the airfoil is really really good.

I got the Vicar covered and painted today. I'm starting to get it ready for test flight.
We went to the dog track and I got in 3 flights with no wrecks. I figured out how to carry two planes in the El Camino. Some long bungee cords hold the second plane off the other one. I can't get three in there.

Cool and windy.

My order from Tower came in yesterday and I started covering the Vicar today. I got the wing and stab. covered and installed into the fuse. I need to get some masking tape to get it painted. The weather is forecast to get warmer for the next few days so I will get in some more flights.

Just in time.

We went to the dog track yesterday and my first flight ended in an upside down landing again. I pulled out the Pupster and got in a fair flight with the engine not right. At home I decided to enlarge the stab on the Primary Force. I put 3 inches total to the stab length. The goal is to make it turn sharper. I went out this morning and got in a few flights and the extra stab. and elev. made a tad of difference. I got out the Pupster and the engine wasn't right. I made changes, still not right. I had added a 2 inch piece of tubing to the muffler and it was causing all kinds of havoc. I removed it and the engine ran quite well. Hard to believe.
The sky was getting darker by the minute so I packed up and headed for home. Shortly after getting everything put away it started to rain and hail quite hard. Fall in New England.
I noticed some fuel on top of both plane wings. That generally means a leak in the tank. I pressurized both in water and found and repaired the leaks.
I ran the latest engine from ebay and it was harder than normal to get running. I took the back plate off and saw rust on the crankshaft so I dissasembled it and cleaned the rust. I noticed that the clyinder liner plating was coming off so I ordered a new set from Tower. Other than that it's in good shape.

Cool, windy and spitting rain.

The day started off fine enough but by 11;00 it was windy and cloudy. It started spitting rain by noon and stayed that way all day.
I took the Pupster out of the basement and installed a Fox .40 on it. I don't know where the balance should be so I set it at 25% of the chord. I had lowered the compression on this engine and after final adjustments I took it outside and ran it for a few minutes to set the needle. It weighs 52 ounces as I didn't use any light building techniques when I built it. Hopefully with the changes I made it will do the whole pattern. I found it had a little up thrust and a little left thrust. I fixed both things.
The Primary Force is on it's last legs. I don't think it will survive another belly or roof landing.
I ordered 2 new needle valve asm. from Fox today. They have stunt tuned the .40 engine and have changed the timing on the cylinder liner, a new venturi and the NVA. Fox also has castor oil for $20.00 a gallon. I've been paying over $10.00 a quart. I ordered a gallon. Should have got two now that I think of it.

Three flights two props.

At the dog track yesterday I roofed the Primary Force at the bottom of the outside square loop. It looked just like Gil's Nobler sliding along the hard top. It didn't break anything off so I put it up again. It didn't feel right so I flew out the tank. The leadout guide was loose and flopping around, some ribs are cracked, pieces inside the wing. I got it repaired and will give it another try soon. It's getting close to retirement for this plane. I added some metal skid strips to the plane and to the Vicar.
Fox has a new needle valve asm. for the .40 and .45. I think I will get one and try it out.
I should be getting the OS .40 I got off ebay soon.