Things to ponder

Why, with all the speeding penalties on pit road, don't nascar drivers use a GPS unit for speed information??
And another thing; You can lead a liberal to water but he will never understand why.

Trimming and weed killing.

I made some changes to the Snow Fox and went to the dog track to test them out. I brought 2 gallons of weed killer/plant food for the weeds growing between the cracks in the pavement. I added some bleach to the mix and brought the clorine granules I found in the stuff I cleaned up. The changes were a bit better and I sprayed about 5/8 of the circle and spread the granules over the rest. We will see how it works out.
I made some more changes when I got home and went back to the dog track a few hours later. The latest changes helped some too. I made even more changes when I got home. Maybe test them tomorrow. Great weather, temps in the 70's dewpoint in the 40's a little windy but not too much.

Morning flight

I got to the dog track at 0800 this morning and tested a new tank design using an old ringmaster. It went fairly well but didn't go as well as I had hoped. I put in a flight with the Padre and went home. Next contest on Aug 12.
I made up a horseshoe stake and went to the Jogues club to fix a stake on pit 2. It has dropped 4 inches since opening day of the league. I dug up the old one and it was driven through the wood block. I drove it back out to where it should be and put a board with a steel plate over the end to keep it from getting driven down again. I had fixed all the pits a couple years ago and this one has needed attention again. I didn't need the stake I made up after all.
I changed the oil and filter on the Dodge when I got home. 12000 miles since the last change.

Oil is here.

I changed props on the Padre to get the c/g back so it would turn harder. The change removed 1.1 ounces off the nose and the plane did turn better. The temp. was rising fast so I only got in 2 flights. UPS brought the oil early this afternoon, the check should get there this week.

East Coast Sturgis.

I heard about this motorcycle rally today after flying and found it's web site. The interesting part is they have a demolition derby on motorcycles. 7th annual this August.

Flying in the morning.

We went to the dog track around 8 am and I got in two good flights with the Padre. Richard Wood stopped by with his grandson and we chatted for a while. When I got home I went over the fleet that had plastic tanks and re-set/secured all of them.
I saw the pictures of a Jeep Cherokee and then saw one on the road and I had an idea for the rocker panels. Rustoleum flat black from the bottom of the black plastic door protector to the bottom of the rocker panel. No worrying about matching color that way.

I think I got it.

I've been working on the poor engine runs for a week. We went to the dog track this morning and there was no improvement. I tried the big ringmaster with another Fox .40 and the engine quit inverted twice. I hadn't put any metal strips on the rudder, canopy or nose and they got ground up a bit. I adjusted the tanks and installed them more securely so there isn't any chance of fore/aft or up/down movement. I shortened the fuel clunk/pickup a bit on the ringmaster tank to keep it clear of the back wall and repaired the damage with lite ply and aluminum strips. We then went back to the Sterling grammar school and flew both over the grass ball field. Both ran like they should up right and inverted.
I got a call from the owners of Richoni's lounge and we will meet them at Riverview for dinner. We went out for fathers day two weeks ago to avoid the crowds. I may have to mention that fact as the resturant was packed earlier today.

Warm weather.

I went to the dog track this morning with 3 planes. The OS NVA equipt engines ran steady but I couldn't get the right setting. Either too fast or too slow. I added nitro and the results were a bit better but didn't cure the problem. Try again tomorrow. I will change engines on the Padre if this don't pan out.

More testing.

I've been fighting poor engine runs again. This time the engine would go lean after take off and then cycle between full lean and full rich. I cleaned the NVA and no change. Then I figured I could use the remote NVA's I had left from converting the OS engines to regular NVA set ups. After some tweaking and mount filing I had one installed on the spare Fox .40. It ran the best it ever has. Very steady rpm. I couldn't put one in the Fox in the Padre as it has been modified for a newer Fox NVA. I did manage to put one of the standard OS units in though. I havent been able to test it in flight as the winds were way too high. Today should be good enough to fly. I took the weed wacker to the dog track and cut the weeds that didn't die from the weed killer/plant food I sprayed on them 2 weeks ago. I even mixed it stronger than suggested. Even at the house the grass I sprayed hasn't died yet. Anyway, I have two Fox .35's in planes and they run like crap. I took my NVA idea and installed an OS remote in the .35 in the Magician. Again it ran very well and will be flown today. I also noticed that a lot of fuel was escaping out through the crankshaft bushing between the prop thrust washer and the case. I has a lot of crank end play. I cut a spacer from aluminum and put it over the crankshaft and almost eliminated the end play. It's down to about .001 now. OS uses a spacer on it's engines too.

A little sun today.

I went to the VA this morning for a blood test. I got there 15 minutes before the office opened and the waiting room was almost full. Some had got there 30 minutes early. I waited 45 minutes and got called before the guy who was in front of me when I got there. The sun peeked through a high thin cloud layer most of the rest of the day and the flying was good. After trying to fly off long grass at Wrentham yesterday I put bigger wheels on the Padre. It seems to me that the plane is more stable with the bigger wheels. I'll give it more testing and will keep the wheels on as all the contests around here are off grass but not as long as Wrentham. One of the guys at Wrentham had a model called the "Shark"made in Eastern Europe some place. The Yatsenko Brothers build and finish and build the engine then assemble and trim the plane in flight. There are no adjustments that can be made to the plane as none are needed. It flew very well, it should for $3800.00. And it's a take apart plane and all fiberglass, fuse. and wing and tail. They make the props and the handle too. Put the right length lines on it and fly.

Cloudy and good flying weather.

I looked the strange running Fox engine over very carefully this morning. I remembered the best way to find out the problem is to change one thing and test it then try another thing if the first didn't fix the problem. I removed the tank and pressurized it under water and found no leaks. I put it back on with two rubber bands instead of 5. I removed the needle valve and spray bar and disassembled it. I sprayed brake cleaner through it and de-burred the exit hole. I re installed the spray bar and rotated the exit hole up a bit from about 5 o;clock to 4. Then I found an old glow plug in the spare Fox .40 and put that in. I went to the dog track to test the "change" and on the first flight I timed the third lap after take off and again on the second lap after finishing the pattern. Identical times. Same thing on the second and third flights. So it must have been the glow plug after all. The best part is that the plane was turning high 5 second laps with calm to very light winds and holding line tension so I could do the entire pattern. I tweaked the needle before each flight and the 3rd flight was in the 5.4 sec range. A real nice speed.

Good flying weather.

We went to the dog track early again today and it was a no wind situation. I got in 4 flights and each one the lap times increased slowly from start to finish. I timed a one second increase from the third lap to the last lap. I changed to muffler pressure and ran it at home and it was fine. I tried it in flight and it sped up again. The only changes I made prior was to put more rubber bands on the tank. I removed them and next time out I'll bring another tank and a new glow plug. I'll change one thing at a time. The weather channel isn't showing the local weather on the eights anymore. I don't know why but it's a pain not to know the forecast.

Strange weather.

We went to the dog track early this morning because the weather has been so unpredictable lately. I got in 4 flights in pretty good conditions. It stayed decent until about 1 pm when it rained for 10 minutes. I did some weed wacking and threw some horseshoes as a big black cloud rolled in. It started to rail and then hail. Another 10 minutes of rain and pea size hail but no thunderstorm. Hail is generally associated with one. The temp. dropped to 52 degrees but is climbing back into the 60's now.

It's the battery.

I went to the dog track early this morning as the winds were forecast to be 10 to 20. Not soon enough. The winds above the ground were going in a different direction, wind shear, and I couldn't compensate for it so I went home. Then I got the idea to get some weed killer and sprayed 2 gallons on the crap growing up through the cracks in the pavement. I sprayed some ivy here at home too. I made some jumper cables for the bike and hooked the lawn tractor battery to the bike. The voltage was 12.48. It took 2 kicks and the bike was running. I measured the voltage and got 14. something so the charging system is working properly. That's a good sign.

Very warm and humid.

I re read the manual and performed a second resistance check on the Harley's stator. It should be .2 to .4 Ohms at the pins. I set the meter to 200 Ohms this time not 20,000. I measured the lead wires and got .4 Ohms in them. Between the pins I got .7 Ohms so it should be in good shape. It is possible that the dead battery is the problem. Alternators need some voltage to operate, not like a generator.
The weather has been very humid lately and the winds are very tricky on top of it. I brought the mower to the dog track and cut the weeds in my circle. The weed killer I sprayed a month ago seemed to agree with the weeds as nothing was killed. I'll have to mix it stronger than required next time.
Marriot's house just down the street is going up for auction in a week or so. That should take the wind out of the house across the street that is on the market for $169,900 and has less land. The owners paid $160,000 for it a few years ago. And I found out that the Kaman property may have a buyer.

It runs.

I finally got around to moving the Harley to the back of the garage today. After some kicking it started and just as I was backing it to the door I had to shut it off and hurry to Groton to attend grandson's fathers' day thing at his school. I got back home 2 hours later and got the bike started again. I backed it out and when I put it in gear the clutch wouldn't release and the engine stalled. I found the chain case full of oil and got enough of it out that the clutch would release. I got it started again and drove it to the garage where I let it run. I put a voltage tester on the battery and found that the alternator isn't putting out anything. I also retarded the timing a bit as it was kicking back too much when I tried to start it. I'm a little bummed out over the charging system. But the tiny charger puts out enough to get it running and the battery is good for 10 minutes or so. I loaded up the El Camino and headed for the dog track but the wind is real gusty so I drove to Oneco to loosen the thing up. Got to get the hot rod out soon too.