Still crappy weather.

We got steady snow all day but the suns rays through the clouds have been melting it so it's a wash.
I got both wings sheeted and one cored out. The other is still in the shucks under pressure curing. We are planning a trip to the new hobby shop on Sunday.

Still raining.

The snow is gone except for the piles left by the snow blowers. I reported the same thing a while back. The temps have been above freezing through the night with light rain all day and night. Another storm is going to be here tomorrow.
We cut a mold for the leading edges of the foam Ringmaster cheater wing and got one piece of balsa wrapped on and drying. I should be able to get one half sheeted and cored tomorrow. Sat. I have a horseshoe tournament. I got the fuse. just about done. The engine is ready t go on and the landing gear is made and the wood is rounded and smoothed somewhat. On the forum there is a variant called the +P. It has a foam wing and I have asked what airfoil it uses. It looks like the original airfoil, thin and lousey.

Snow is melting.

It rained and snowed all day and night and day so far with the same for the next 3 days. The snow is being melted away and that's good.
I cleaned up my collection of model plans. I found one set that was 80% of the Ringmaster 576 plans. It brought the big one down to the size of the original Ringmaster. I found some foam and made templates for a foam wing. The airfoil of the 576 is light years better than the original. I am in the process of making a mold for the leading edge so I don't have any carving to do. I'm going to extend the fuselage an inch to bring it in line with the 80% plans. Should be a good flyer.

Bench trimming and stuff.

The Brodak tank I put on the Flite Streak worked well but I figured there should be more capacity. I grabbed one of the tank plugs and made a tank that holds 3.5 ounces.
I was thinking about the way the Flite Streak flew and that it has a weak looking push rod that comes with the ARF. I did a loop or two and the plane felt sluggish. I flew inverted and when I pulled out using down control the plane turned very sharp. Up control is a push on the rod and down is a pull. I held the elevator in neutral and pulled the up lead out. The push rod bent before the supplied guide and after it. That explains the less than stellar inside loops. I sanded the push rod and soldered on two pieces of wire, one before the guide and one after. Now the push rod is much stiffer. I'll give it a try next time out. I would have made a carbon tube push rod but I don't have any. It's on my shopping list.

Best weather of the winter so far.

As forecast the temps got into the high 30's with light winds. I packed up the new repaired plane and the new Flite Streak and went to the dog track. The repaired plane went first. The engine started kinda easily and ran steady for the 3 ounces I put in the tank. It needs a flap tweak but flew well. The Flite Streak only has one wheel but I had put a skid on the out board wing tip. The lines pulled the left wing down and after flying I put a skid on the left tip also. I had some trouble with the engine run on the first two flights but finally realized I was going the wrong way with the needle. After re tuning it the engine ran very well. I flew it on 54 foot lines and that seemed to be close to right. It's a smallish plane, the same size as the Ringmaster. OS .25 in the nose. The plane comes with a fuel tank but it only holds 1 and 3/4 ounces. I found a tank that's larger and flew with that. Very little room for the tank so only certain ones will fit.
I started the hot rod yesterday. First time since putting it away. The battery may be going bad as I have been charging it almost weekly and it was real low. I put the charger on it for 15 minutes and it started the engine. I didn't want to use the start feature of the charger as the Mallory ignition doesn't like high voltages. I have a voltage spike suppressor on it but I don't want to take a chance. I've had to replace two modules already. About $100.00 a piece.

The Eagle flys.

The temps today are in the low 40's and it's still windy. We went to the dog track anyway and I brought the old Eagle 63. After a fashion I got it assembled and started the engine. The take off was not straight and I had to add all the down trim and reduce power to keep the nose level. Then I realized I was doing a range check the hard way and extended the antenna. I flew it around a bit and it needed a lot of down tweaking so I landed it and put it away. It's good to know that I can fly if the winds die down. But next week has 3 days of possible snow as of now.

Warmer weather.

The temps are in the low 40's today. The wind is only half that, in the 20 mph range so flying is not possible.
I got the Eagle 63 ready to go and took it to the dog track yesterday. I had the skiis on it and the snow was 3 or 4 inches deep. I fueled it up and found lots of bubbles in the fuel line. I couldn't find the leak so I took the plane apart and headed for home. After some searching I changed tanks and lines. I ran it to make sure the leaks were gone. Later I found a hole in one of the lines that caused the leaks.
The mail brought my ball end mills and UPS brought the Flite Streaks later on. I have been working on them today changing the leadouts and making and installing adjustable leadout guides. Engine mount holes are drilled and one fuse. has the tripler installed. I had to cut the covering away to get the guides in the wing tip and I had an old piece of black covering to repair the repair.
At the auction last week I found a new hobby shop in Sturbridge,MA. I went there today and it has a lot of stuff I can use. Map Quest said 33 miles but it's really 36. Next time there I want to get a new NI-Starter, I got the squeeze kind now and I don't like it.
Hopefully the snow will melt off and the wind will die down soon so I can get in some flying.

More snow.

Just as the temps. were starting to climb it snowed 5 inches today.
I have been prepping the Eagle 63 for flight. I found some FM servos and a battery. I installed all the stuff and charged the batteries. Everything held steady and worked properly when turned on. 7 channel PCM Futaba. I grabbed the Enya .35, found the r/c carb. and got it together and ran it for about 15 minutes. It was the same engine that was last in the plane so that worked out well. I also have skiis for the plane so I may take it to the dog track when I get them installed.

Thge herd is thinned.

I got to the auction site early but the ones that got there yesterday were in better shape. I put three planes in the swap shop and one in the auction. By the time I finished the paper work the three in the swap shop were gone. The one for auction was on a table that didn't get used until late afternoon. I studied the way things were going in the auction and cut the reserve price in half. My plane was third from last to get to the block and went for just a bit over half what I originally wanted. I brought home $225.00 after sitting for 6 hours. Most of the things went for half or less than the reserve and the radios didn't sell at all. That's hope and change for you. I'm sure a lot of the stuff will be at the WRAM show next week and sell for twice what it was bought for today.

Thinning the herd the easy way.

For some reason I started cleaning the R/C pattern planes I have in the store room. Then it occurred to me that the NCRCC auction is this weekend. I continued cleaning and ended up with 4 planes to try and sell at the auction. Only one has been flown and that is the Eaglet 50 I found in the dump a few years back. The Boxer needs only a tuned pipe and it's ready to fly. The Deception is covered and needs engine and radio. The oldest is the Panzer D-20 I got from somebody at the club years ago. Both the Deception and the Panzer are legal for the Senior Pattern Assn. events that are only down south. I'm including my 9 channel Futaba and my last YS .60 with the Boxer. It should have new batteries installed and a new rx. battery too before trying to fly it. They are both very old but still hold a charge.
I should have ordered a tonneau cover for the truck long ago as it would be easier to transport the planes. I put some boards across the bed in the places made for them and laid a 4 x 8 sheet of particle board on them. I can put the wings under it but the fuse. wont fit, they will have to go in the cab.
I haven't been to this auction in a very long time. Must be over 20 years.

Crisis averted.

After coffee this morning I went to the dog track and braved the snow and picked up the new mail box post. The wheel is full of concrete and was a bit heavy to lift into the truck bed. I cut about 6 inches off the steel post and welded a flat base on to hold the wooden base that the mail box is secured to. In it's original capacity the post was painted bright yellow. I gave it a coat of dark gray primer, screwed the box on and put it where it has always been.
The temps today are in the high 30's but the wind is strong and snow covers the ground confounding my attempts to get in some flying. It's better than high 20's.

A crisis in the mail.

It snowed most of the day yesterday, Sunday, and it only amounted to a few inches of wet snow. At night it snowed about two more inches of drier snow. The plows ran all night and the splash off one of the plows knocked my mail box over. It's been there over 20 years and rust had taken it's toll on the steel tube post. I cut a piece of spare tube and stuck it into the ground tube piece and put the top half over it as the box is again usable. I know the plow didn't hit it because the news paper tube is before the mail box and would have been hit and knocked over too.
Last week when I was walking at the dog track I spotted a steel car wheel with a steel pipe welded to it to make a barrier stanchion. I wanted to take it but didn't. I didn't have a use for it until now. I will grab it very soon and put the mail box on it.

Score two on ebay.

The auctions ended quietly with no other bids. Each end mill sells for over $40.00 new. I will wait for an invoice as the seller will combine shipping. His loss, my gain this time. Now I can alter the size of the combustion chambers to suit me, with no real reason for doing so.

Got my stuff today.

The mail man pulled into the yard so I knew my stuff had arrived. I got busy fitting the landing gear to the new plane and installing the new needle valve. I had wire gear on the original and this one is sheet aluminum. Final weight is 45 ounces and the balance is within the range I put on the fuselage. The temps are forecast to be in the low to mid 30's for the next 7 days so a test flight will have to wait. I have bid on two ball end mills on ebay and the first is ending in a few minutes. So far I'm the only bidder but that can change.

Stuff should arrive next week.

I got an e-mail from Leonard Neumann and he never got my first e-mail through his web site.We got things straightened out and the parts should be here by Sat. or early next week.
I found some ball end mills on ebay starting at $2.99 so I bid $3.25 each on a 3/4 and a 15/16". Because of the crash I have a spare head to work with.

Waiting for Leonard.

I left a note on the forum Leonard runs hoping that he would see it and reply. Nothing yet. I will call him tomorrow and if I don't get him I will try elsewhere. I've seen others try to get hold of him on the forum too. No way to run a business.
I ran the OS again today and it started well enough and then went lean. I opened the needle but no change. That means dirt in the line someplace. I took the needle valve apart and hosed it out with brake cleaner spray. It ran well after that.
I put that engine in the new plane and made a hole for the new needle valves if I ever get some. The fuselage side had to be carved out to fit the muffler too. 41.5 ounces with out the landing gear. I think it's lighter than the first time. I got 3 APC props from Tower when I ordered the new engines. 10.5 X 4.5.
I almost made it from start to finish on the new fuselage without getting cut. I took the OS muffler apart and was drilling the exhaust outlet and putting more holes in the baffle, that I generally remove, and ended up with a cut finger. If I'm not bleeding I'm not having fun.
I got a picture of the plane without landing gear and before I installed the engine.

Finished painting today.

I applied the tissue to the new planes new fuselage yesterday and applied 5 coats of dope on top of the tissue. Two more coats of dope this morning and a coat of primer. I sanded most of the primer off and using the last drop of paint I applied 2 coats of color. When that dried I masked off and painted a black glare shield. When that dried I gave it 2 coats of clear. I'm going to let it sit until tomorrow when I'll glue the canopy back on.
I'm waiting to hear from Leonard Neuman. I ordered some needle valve assemblies and landing gear from him. If I don't hear by tomorrow afternoon I'll give him a call. I can use the landing gear from the Vector if I have to. The weather isn't going to be good enough to fly it for a while anyway.