Luke Duke.

We went to the dog track this morning and I got in a few flights. As we were packing up to leave Luke Emmons came by with a new bike he just put together and wanted to try it out. The tank top is beaten in so he means business. We talked to him for a bit and he just came back from Nashville where he got 2nd in burnout and 4th overall in free style. He has been invited to CA for an event there in a month or so. He gave us his stage name, Luke Duke, and to search utube where there are several videos of his antics. He said he really likes the training area at the bike shop near the dog track but comes to the track because it's so crappy it makes him work harder. The competitions are not held where the track is perfect.
I checked the status of the flight and so far it's going on time. The volcano could really mess things up.

Wheel bearings.

I removed one of the hub bearings from the trailer axle today. It's worn out and needs replacing as does the other one. One of the bearings is readily available but the inner big one isn't. Probably would cost $100.00 to get new bearings and seals. The trailer idea is loosing ground.

Visit from Tennet Tree Services.

A pickup pulled into the yard and the driver knocked at the door. He said he is from Tennet Tree Services and they are putting in a new cable line and they are going to trim the lilac bush a bit. I said go ahead and how's Pep? We chatted a bit and he said you worked for him that summer. He's been with the Co. for 30 years now. I didn't get his name. Pep's still kicking and is 81 years old now.

Light and variable.

I flew the Padre twice and forgot the hourglass maneuver both times. It flew quite well in the other maneuvers. I brought the Vicar for some test flights with longer lines and I like the longer lines better. I did 3 short flights and one full pattern flight.
When I got home I brought out the Primary Force that had the Fox .35 on it. I did some tinkering and drilled and tapped and cut out some wood finally getting an OS .40/.46 installed. The mounting bolt holes are the same. I put a .46 on it as it's a bit lighter and took the tongue muffler off the Fox .25 and installed it on the .46. That put the balance point close to perfect and a bit nose heavy which is good. Hopefully get to fly it tomorrow. I had to put larger wheels on as the 11 inch prop hits the ground in level take off attitude.

Good winds.

We went to the dog track this morning. I got in a flight with the Padre and then took out the OS powered Vicar. The engine that gave me fits in another plane. It ran like a champ. I did 4 short flights to get the handle in neutral and the lap times right. I think I need a foot longer lines to keep the speed and lower the lap times. I have extensions made for that purpose. We went to Canterbury with the El Camino to see if the garden store was open and it wasn't. We took a tour of the back roads finally ending up on Rte. 14 near the junk yard close to the road in Westminster. It's a mile west of the Williams garage. I had to do some welding on the out rigger mower as one of the wheels was ready to break off.

Heavy winds.

The wind was very strong but the temps were in the 60's. I put the problem OS on a modified Primary Force for testing but the wind stopped me. Maybe I can get in a few flights today. I have been towing with the idea of making a trailer to carry one motorcycle. It's still up in the air.

Light winds.

Overcast and the rain stopped early in the morning. I had replaced the OS .40, that very slowly increased in rpm, with the original Fox.40. I got in 3 good flights and several short trimming flights with the Snow Fox. I made even more adjustments when I got home. I measured the engine offset on the Fox and found a bit of left thrust. I added more shims to give it some right thrust. I'll try it today maybe. I also put the problem OS .40 on another plane and will try that too. It runs just perfect on the bench.
I tried fishing as the river is down to it's normal level finally. I put on the shoes with the lug soles to give me some traction on the rocks. The soles are very hard rubber or plastic and were very slippery. I slipped off a rock and got both feet wet in the first 5 minutes. No bites either. The flood must have washed everything to the sea.

Testing complete.

The only thing that will improve the Fox .35 is to use another engine. It could use more nose weight anyway.

Rain, sun, rain, sun.

It's been raining every other day lately. Temps. in the low 30's in the morning getting up to mid 40's. I've been testing OS needle valves in my Fox .35 and there isn't that much difference. I changed tanks and got much better engine runs. The engine doesn't seem to have that much fuel draw when running. Even with a spray bar that's .030 dia. larger. More testing today.

15 to 20 on the winds.

I removed the Fox .35 from the Magician and put it on the kit built Primary Force. The engine has the worst needle valve on the market. I have 6 OS NVA's with the remote adjuster so I put one on the engine. The hole through the venturi is .160 and the spray bar is .135 so I used some Ni-Rod sleeve to shim it up. Then I found an NVA from a Fox .40 and it's the right diameter for the hole. I put it in and tested it behind the garage. Hopefully I can get in a flight with it today. I have an OS NVA of the normal type plus the remote set up to try if this one isn't right. The larger diameter closes the venturi a bit and may be too much. The others should be better for making power.

Window of opportunity.

It started raining around 0530 Sat. morning and continued until early afternoon. I watched the radar and saw the end of the rain very close to town. The wind was nil but forecast to be real strong by 2 pm. We headed for the dog track while we had the chance. I got in 3 flights in calm to very light wind and no thermals. What a joy flying in near perfect conditions. By 4 pm it was getting windy.
I took out the Nobler ARF and put a tongue muffler on the engine. I had 3/4 ounce on the tail to balance the plane and with the lighter muffler I removed the weight and it balances right where it should. Next time out I'll try to fly it again. The engine is inverted and can be hard to start that way. I may need a different stooge design for planes with inverted engines. One I just set the plane down in instead of the string around the tail. Putting the string around the tail when the engine is running is a challenge. Using the starter generally works on the inverted engines though.

Still windy.

I brought 2 planes to the dog track this morning and the bike guy was there again. The police stopped by and talked to him and left. He came over and we chatted a bit. The police just wanted him to stop as he was running the police dog and to resume when he left. I found his name it's Luke.
It was too windy to get much done so I just tested the OS engine runs. They are doing pretty good and I'm hoping for lighter winds so I can get some full patterns in to check fuel mileage.
The plan for this afternoon is to go fishing with Kyle. He ends up throwing stones into the water shortly after putting his line in the water.

Caught in the rain.

I did some errands early today. I got gas in the Saturn and some in a jug for the mowers and went to the dog track with the weed wacker. I cut off all the grass and weeds growing through the cracks in the asphalt inside the flying circle.
I started to mow the lawn and the wind was down so I went for coffee and then to the dog track. I took the El Camino and the speedometer worked perfectly. I think it's even accurate. I went to test a plane I hadn't flown in a while. I had found an OS .46 while looking for a tongue muffler for the Fox .40. It flew with a wing high and It started to rain so I headed for home. I made changes to the plane and then got the idea to put an OS on the Padre that I have been flying with a Fox. I went through all kinds of trial fits and drilling holes in aluminum pads before I found that the plane was originally set up for an OS. I slapped it on and finished mowing. The rain and wind were history so I headed back to the track. The wind there didn't get the memo so I got in two short flights just to test the changes and engine change. The motorcycle guy was there again but left before I finished.

Show at the dog track.

We went to the dog track this morning and there was a red pick up by the dirt pile. I set up and started to fly and the red pick up unloaded a Jap bike. He then roared up and down the parking lot doing all sorts of things with the bike. Front and rear wheel stands, legs draped all over the bike, standing on the seat, standing on the seat arms in the air as the bike pivoted on the rear wheel, plus the usual tire burning stuff. We asked about the tricks and he said he competes doing them. He said the Versus network is having a special on this sport and he is the second one up.
After that I dug some worms and went fishing. Zip. Next time I'll go catching as going fishing don't work.

Catching up.

It rained most of the night and half the day plus being windy. We went to Richoni's for lunch and a visit. I set up an appointment to get a new exhaust system on the Saturn.
I took out the other Flite Streak and set it up like the southern one. It took 2 3/4 ounces in the nose to get the cg in the same place. I widened the line spacing on the handle and hope it flys as good as the southern one. I had a tongue muffler for a Fox .40 and spent some time looking for it. After finding an OS .46 LA I bought a few months back I found the muffler. It's quite long and I may have to get a normal one from Brodak as the long one will rip the cylinder off if I land hard on a profile. The lawn grew a bit and needed cutting. It dried off around 2 pm so I got to it. It will take a couple more cuts to get it back to normal. The mowers don't cut every blade in the front tire tracks which looks funny. Now I have to figure which plane to put the spare engine on. The box I mailed out on Sat. arrived today too. What a difference.

Going home.

We have been in LA for 10 days and are heading home early Sunday morning. I got in several flights with the Primary Force and the Flite Streak and Ringmaster 307. All flew very well and I'm really impressed by the Flite Streak.I assembled it when I got here and it flew well right off. I did the complete pattern with it after a few flights. I did get to fly in the rain too. My son and I cut off the offending limb and made flying in the yard much better. I bought some bug spray and the bugs just love the stuff. I'm almost out of fuel from 3 years ago and bought another gallon at the hobby shop. I hoped to finish the old fuel off but the wind and rain stopped me from doing it. We will be back in October with the Harley for the contest so I'll burn it off then. I went to a giant scale fly in today and the wind was blowing hard but they were flying anyway. No crashes. My flying buddy, Gil, wrecked his pick up and he's waiting for the adjuster to look at it. I mailed some extra plane stuff home, I have 3 planes that fly well here now.