Still flying.

I took the new plane to the field this afternoon and got in a flight. The winds were not too bad but it was chilly. I want to get a light weight electric spinner for it.
I had started to sand down the Twister and removed all the covering while I was at it. The new larger and thicker stab./elevator is done. I got more sanding and filling to do on the fuselage. I don't know what color it will be yet. Lots of rain on the way for the next few days.

Ready to go.

I taped and sprayed the red on the new plane last evening. This morning I removed the tape and the lines are good where the blue tape was and crappy where the yellow tape was. Bot are fine line tape but the yellow is older. Anyway it isn't too bad and I sprayed on two coats of Dupli-Color wheel coating clear. That really made it look good. All the sanding and filling helped most.
I went to the flying field with the Primary Force/Evo .36 this noon. I hadn't flown it in over a year. It started up, being warmed with hot water. I got in a pattern and made a needle adjustment for the second flight. Too much adjustment at 6.4 sec. lap times. I didn't do anything dumb this time. I tweaked the needle and got in another pattern except fot the over head stuff as it was still in the 6.1 sec. range. I have to try some fuel with less oil. I painted a circle to stand in so I wouldn't hit the flight box or the fence on takeoff and landing. When I got home I built a stooge that is a large nail with a clevis attached for the pin to go through. That way I can move the box out of the way and not have to worry about hitting it on landing.

So far so good.

After an hour and a half of taping and masking I sprayed the blue back on the new plane. I waited longer than usual to remove the masking and tape an the paint lines are nice and sharp. I could have waited many hours longer but didn't. The only thing left is a red stripe below the blue. It ends curving up the rudder like the blue. I can't decide on how wide the end of the red stripe should be. Should get that done tomorrow.

Some progress.

I got tired of sanding and filling as I couldn't see any more places that needed filling and sanding. I put the tack rag to it and mixed an ounce of Min Wax poli crylic clear using 10 cc of clear, 10 cc of water and 10 cc of alcohol. I brushed on a coat to seal the bare balsa spots. These bare spots look good but take paint differently than the rest of the plane. The clear coat took 5 cc of the mix adding no weight at all. I tested some spray tips and got one that gave a good fan pattern without heavy lines and put it on the white Krylon can. Two coats did the job and the bare spots were sealed well. Of course the places that didn't get filled and sanded didn't show up until the paint dried. I ran some glue into the cracks, that should fill them. I'm letting the white dry for a spell and then the red and blue go on. Lots of taping for a small area of paint. So far the finish is a whole lot smoother and will be more shiney after the clear coat of wheel clear. I didn't like the way the Min Wax clear felt on the original finish. The Dupli-Color wheel coating has fared very well on other planes. I should have used it on this one but luckily I dn't. The Min Wax sanded off like it wasn't there, maybe it wasn't. But it seems to be working very well as a base coat/sealer.
Forecast is for 5 to 10 mph winds today but cool in the 40's. With the dinner and clean up I probably won't be able to get in a flight.

Windy again.

I have been sanding on the new plane and filling in dents and cracks. I finally decided to re paint the whole fuse. It should be better as I'm smoothing a lot of orange peel looking areas. The unevenness is in the base not the paint.
I went to the r/c field this morning and mowed the corner off so I can have more room to take off and land without hitting the fence. I'm planning on showing up at the next meeting. It's been a long time. Christmas party maybe.

A sight I've been dreading.

I went to horseshoes this morning and road construction had the local streets I use blocked off. I wandered around a bit and headed for home. I saw a street that wasn't blocked and took it. I got around the mess but just barely.
The winds are light so I got home as fast as reasonable and packed up for the dog track. Both entrances have been blocked by very large piles of dirt from the big pile. A good 6 feet high. No chance of getting in at all. As I turned around a state cop and a local cop pulled up but didn't bother me and I left. I headed for the old school in Oneco but the grass hasn't been mowed in a while. I drove to the field in Dayville, no one was there as usual. I set up on the runway and got in two flights and came home. I should go back with a mower and trim the corners to accommodate my planes. At best I'll have 180 degrees of mowed grass to take off and land. I'll use that on week days and the new school in Sterling on weekends. It was good while it lasted.

Scratched one up today.

We went to the dog track around noon today. I wanted to try the new plane as I renmoved the stock muffler and put a tongue muffler on. It was running too slow but should have done a loop instead of coming through the circle duffing in inverted. It took 3 hours to get the rudder back together and on the plane. I had to splice a lot of balsa back in place and run some glue into the cracked balsa. It's going to need a re paint too. I flew the Snow Fox next and got a decent pattern in with the winds. This plane really holds altitude nicely coming into the wind.
I got the bell crank installed in the Lightning wing and flase ribs glued to the foam. When I get tired of building I can start sanding. I almost got two gallons of fuel used up. One a month is what I have planned for.

Johnson sucks.

I've had good luck flying this weekend. The planes that I fixed up have flown quite well. The weather has been almost good with decent winds and temps in the 40's. I pondered how to warm the engine for the first start and figured a generator to power the heat gun was too expensive, a hose from the car exhaust would take too long and look strange, the propane torch is too dangerous and blackened the nose of the Pathfinder. So, in desperation, I heated some water, put it in a hot cup and at the field poured it on the engine to warm it up. Worked like a charm.
The Snow Fox is the best plane in the wind. It goes up wind without changing altitude. All the others climb into the wind. It corners good too.

More findings.

I got home from horseshoes around 1330. We packed up and headed for the dog track. I brought the Pathfinder that hadn't flown in a year or so and the Snow Fox that I had the sticky ball link on. I flew the Pathfinder first and it flew well but the handle spacing is too wide. I'm using the same handle for all planes at the minute. It ran out of fuel early and the fuse. was a mess so I think there is a leak in the tank. When I hooked the Snow Fox to the lines and tested the controls I could feel a drag on the lines. I flew it anyway and got a full pattern out of it in spite of the draggy lines. When I retrieved it I worked the leadouts and could hear a squeak when the lines moved. At home I cut into the wing and had to cut 4 ribs for the back leadout and 6 ribs for the front leadout. I had to cut holes in the leading edge sheeting but they got covered with trim kote. A large patch on the wing and it's ready to go again. Rain and wind for a couple days though.

Light and variable winds.

I made the most of the weather today getting two planes trimmed pretty good. The new plane and the PT-23 fly well now. I changed to a tongue muffler on the -23 and it's tight corners came back. I installed a tongue muffler on the new plane when I got home. It turns OK up but slow down. Just the opposite of usual. The c/g change should help as it did on the -23.
During the flap tweaking sessions I was going too far each way. I could feel the leadouts rubbing on the wing tip slot and the plane would wander up and down because of it.
Some asshole deposited the old carpets and installation crap near the big dirt pile last night. I'll try and remove it on Wed.

One gallon used up.

The weather yesterday and today has been perfect for flying. I finished off the first gallon of fuel too. I flew the new plane today and it's a good flyer. I need to trim the wings to level but that's it. It could need tip weight or a flap tweak or a tab I don't know which. I got in a full pattern with it this afternoon and the wings are level in upright but outboard wing high inverted. That gives me loose lines doing outside maneuvers. I'll try tip weight first as I removed a half ounce between sessions. The Evo .36 is running nice with a bigger venturi and a fatter NVA. The small venturi ran nice but didn't have enough to peak the engine. Light and variable tomorrow.

Another finding.

The transmission in the El Camino has always shifted OK but not right. I have tweaked the modulator now and then with scant results. When the temps got lower the trans. really got finicky. Shifting at 2200 rpm and higher when warmed up. I tweaked and tweaked and it shifted higher no matter which way I turned the screw in the modulator. I know it's hooked up right, I got full manifold vacuum to the original metal pipe. I called Richard and he suggested getting a new modulator and to be sure there was enough vacuum. What does he know. I looked on line and the site said no or low vacuum signal causes late hard shifts. Sounds like my problem. I pulled the hose connector off the manifold and tried to blow through it, I removed the hose from the modulator. The metal pipe is plugged or bent closed somehow. I took the pipe off the engine and in the end at the manifold a mud daubber had filled the pipe with mud. The opening is necked down to 1/16" dia., must have been a midget bug. I cleaned the pipe, washed it out and replaced it on the engine with new hose ends. Shifts great now. The rubber connector at the modulator was the one that was on the car when I got it and was cracked badly to boot. But with no vacuum getting through it didn't matter. All good connectors now.

Smoky basement.

The washing machine finally died yesterday afternoon. I had put in a wash and shortly after something burned up in the machine. Probably the control circuits. The curcuit breaker didn't pop and the outlet still has juice in it. I syphoned the water out and we went to the store and bought a Whirlpool side loader to be delivered Sat. With all the wind we have had lately I opened the doors and windows to vent the house but the wind had stopped. It took a while for the smoke to clear without the wind. Nothing else damaged. The machine had stopped working before I found it but it's a good thing I was home to un plug it. I got my plane storage rack in that room under the black board.

Still windy.

I got tired of waiting for a pilot head so I painted the inside of the canopy silver and glued it on. To clean the installation up I used some silicone sealant as a fillet all around the canopy glue joint. Now if the winds will ever die down.
During the lull in flying I located a binding ball joint on the PT-23 and fixed it. As I found out with the Flite Streak any rubbing of the controls will lead to level flight problems. I went through the fleet and found other areas of binding and fixed them too.
Today I drilled out the other two venturis I got with the Evo. .36 and installed an OS spray bar in one and a Super Tiger NVA in the other. Both venturis are the same as the other engine got two smaller ones. Anyway the two units are different in diameter and will give different fuel flow rates. I have to choose the best one for power and fuel economy.
I had to order some balsa for the Lightning 20-10 as the stab. has a core sheet and other pieces added to the top and bottom. Ribs top and bottom too and it tapers root to tip and front to back. That will be a lot of sanding and carving.

Bad weather.

It snowed last night. over two inches of "there may be a wet flake or two overnight". And it rained to make slush. Windy too.
I took out the engine I won in the raffle last month and drilled the venturi to accept an OS spray bar. It would run about 5 minutes on 4 ounces of fuel in it's original condition. It used a spray bar with a nipple sticking into the venturi. Now there is a .136 bar going all the way through the venturi. I put 4 ounces in the tank and ran it to see the changes. 10 minutes on the 4 ounces now. I removed a Fox .35 from the Magician and the Evo .36 bolted right on. I removed the 2 ounce weight as the Evo is 2 plus ounces heavier than the Fox. I assembled the 3 ounce furl tank I won in the raffle and strapped it on the plane. With the snow and wind it may be a while before I can test fly it.
I searched the house for a doll head to put on the new plane but came up short. I sealed the cut outs and final assembled the engine and plumbed the tank so it's ready to go except for the canopy.

Findings.

I flew the PT-23 and the older Snow Fox yesterday. both wandered up and down in level flight. I remembered the Flite Streak doing the same thing and that I found the leadouts rubbing on the ribs. After an hour of looking and taking the control system apart I found the ball link that is on the bell crank was binding quite a bit. It should be loose. I loosened the nut on the bolt that holds it to the bell crank and all is well. A dab of super glue hopefully holds the nut on. I relieved the wood around the leadouts at the wing tip and put some grease on the leadouts as they pass through the leadout guide. I went through the fleet checking for binding and greasing the leadouts. I could feel some improvement on the planes. This should make level flight more stable.

I spent the morning assembling the new plane. Lots of holes for the muffler and needle valve were drilled and I didn't make a mess out of it. Although I should have cut the holes before painting. I did make longer landing gear, 1/2 inch. Now there is clearance for the 12 inch props.

Rain stopped for a minute.

I've been working on painting the new plane during the rain. The forecast said the raain would slow during the day and the wind forecast went up to 10 to 20. While it was sprinkling I noticed the wind was calm. I waited for it to stop and headed for the dog track. I had made some minor changes to the PT-23 to try and get it to be stable in level flight. I got in two flights and it was more stable than it had been but that may be because of the light winds. Anyway I measured the thrust line and found a bit of up thrust. I added a .015 shim under the front lugs of the engine. Now I need to test that change. I almost put in one of the new needle valve asm. but kept the OS unit. I did clean the in line filter.
I got the new plane painted in the scheme of Prettner's Calypso. The wing will be different as the original pattern doesn't fit with a control line plane.
I started the snow blower to see if it would still run and it started on the first pull. I have to put some air in the tires of the old one and get that running too.

Got a lot done today.

I removed all the signs before sun up. After breakfast at Lizzy B's I loaded a bunch of stuff on the truck and brought it to the dump. On the way home I stopped at the gravel pit off Rte. 12 at Hopkins Hill and got a ton of loam to fill in the ruts left by the logging truck. The truck weighs 5350 empty and I got 2670 pounds of loam and we used it all to fill the ruts. After that I went to the dog track and got in 3 flights with the PT-23. I brought the old wooden plane stand I made for the r/c stuff to hold the plane inverted so the engine is upright so I can warm it up easier. Starting it cold inverted is a pain. This works very well. I got in some horseshoe practice after that and tried some suggestions I got at the indoor league Tues. More of a back swing to stop the short shoes. It worked. The new plane is coming along. I am making a removeable section at the tail of the fuse. so I can get at the elevator push rod. Figuring out a way to hold it on is slowing things a bit. Tomorrow I get the new cap for Mr. Happy Tooth. Rain is forecast.