Fine weather.

While waiting for the temp. to go up we went to the movies to see the new True Grit. We have never seen the original. I've seen parts of it on TV but only a few minutes worth. The new one is pretty good.
We got home close to 1300 and packed the truck with the Twister and Padre. I flew the Padre first and it flys better than before the tail mods but needs some trimming. It hunts a bit but I was flying over large patches of snow and bare ground. I did get a full pattern out of it on the second flight. When the Twister took to the air I could tell how much better it flys compared to the Padre in it's present condition.
I'm told that the magazine that is running my article is out. I'll get my copy next week at the earliest.
The lightning is back on the front burner. I have to get some tail wheel wire. I plan to cover the fuse with paper to cover the planking on the turtle deck. After that I plan to scratch build a Twister into ARF condition and mail it out.

First flight in a year.

I put the clear coats on the Padre this morning. I hooked up the controls and installed the landing gear and engine. We checked out the new school on the way home from Lizzy B's this morning. Not much snow on the grass. I loaded up the Eagle 63 and support stuff and went to the field in Dayville. Not much snow on the runway or pits. I had to carry from the Bolmet parking lot as the snow plow blocked the entrance to the field. I poured hot water on the engine and it started first flip. I got the plane off the ground and it is underpowered but flew around a couple of circuits and I landed. I wanted to see if it still flew before the new years day first flight. The old Enya .35 won't run on the control line fuel and wants 15% nitro. Forecast is for 40's on Sat.

Did it again.

I took the Padre that I flew to many victories in the last two years and cut the tail up to add thickness and an airfoil to it. I expect it to fly as good as the Twister. Before I got done I had cut the rudder and fin off, made a new one and sanded the paint off the fuselage. I put the LIghtning on the shelf while I'm finishing this one.

Another one ready to go.

I just finished the Ringmaster 576. I stripped the paint and removed the covering. Lots of filler and primer but it came out nice and smooth.

Cold again.

I had a blood test at the VA early this morning. Got a good parking spot and only a 30 minute wait. I stopped at Shady Acres to see if Earl Hopkins was there or Everett but no one that I knew was there.
I've been working on the Lightning and painting the Ringmaster 576. I stripped it a few weeks ago and spiffied it up a bit with new monokote and paint. Base color, white, is on and blue maybe tomorrow. The lightning is in the stab. installation stage. I've had to cut most of the formers away to get push rod movement. The plans are not the best for parts making but adequate. Maybe before it's too late I'll add some length to the stab. Can't hurt. I talked with someone yesterday and he had some info on the border patrol agent that got killed. It seems he was a part of a special unit that tracks the bandits. And not to be mean or anything they are armed with the newest and greatest bean bag guns. It's bad enough to bring a knife to a gun fight.

Two for one sale.

I had put up a for sale sign at the field for the Astro Hog and the Scratch built ugly stick. I got a call this morning and had an interested person. I started to gather the parts to get the planes back together and found just about all I needed. I had the Trainer 60 too and figured if I sold both planes I would throw in the Trainer 60. They came and bought both and got the other free. It was the same guy that bought the clipped wing cub years ago. Fred Foshay's son in law Brian Dalby.
I got the Enya .35 running in the Eagle 63. It took 15% nitro fuel but it runs good.
I went to the school and got in 4 flights with the Twister. 35degrees and cloudy, ready for some slight snow tonight.

Carb. trouble.

We packed a plane in the El Camino and headed for the Woods' to bring a gift. The car was running rough at idle. It ran well above idle so we went to Oneco. It started hard and we returned home and transferred things to the truck. I got in two good flights and one roofer. A too low pull out from the outside square loop. Broken prop and a scratch on the canopy. I replaced the prop and flew again without a problem.
I checked the float bowls for capacity and found the rear bowl was full and flooding the engine. I removed the carb. and removed the float bowl and everything checked out fine. I had a spacer from Burlington, VT show and put that on while the carb was off. It went on hard and I drilled the holes a bit bigger but could have gone even bigger. I started the car and it ran fine.

Cold but light winds.

I had been wanting to take a can of marker spray paint and the tape measure to the field and mark my circle in the un mowed grass to see where it goes. I also have been wanting to have copies of the Twister plans made and kept forgetting to do both. Today I finally got it together and did both. I got in two flights on the Twister and marked the circle at 70 feet and 55 feet from the center of the flying circle. It takes in the whold Heli pad and curves around to the end of the runway. Not bad now but in the summer the alfalfa will be in theway if the whole bunch isn't mowed.
I stopped at the new Staples in Dayville and got two copies of the plans made. Now I got one to cut up I got the flaps for the Lightning made and carved. I installed a plywood mount in each flap for the joiner wire to fit into and a piece of tubing in each so the wire is snug and the flaps are removable. I have to mount the wire joiner and then I can install the wing. My biggest problem is coming up with color schemes. The Tower hobbies book has real fancy designs with all curving lines and I want simple stuff with mostly straight lines.

Got the tree.

I waited until the temp. got above 30 and went to the Allen hill tree farm. This is the first year I was allowed to drive down to the tree lot. I was home in 45 minutes.
After that I packed up two planes and went to the field. After 2 flights with the Primary Force I flew the Twister. What a difference. Just plain steady. I'm mulling building another from scratch with the new tail and sending it down in pieces like the P. Force. I have an extra box that the Vector came in for shipping.
The Lightning is coming along. I'm building the flaps so I can install the wing in the fuse.
The castor oil came in today too. I have enough to last me a couple years.

Fast action.

Cold as a bitch today again. Windy too.
I started on the last of the scratch built planes today. More like started to assemble it. I have the wing, tail and small things built and only the fuselage needs to be put together. So that's what I did. Just about ready to trial fit the wing into it.
I started to write an article about the Twister I modified. That was yesterday. I started over this morning and got it together along with a drawing of the new stab/elev and a picture of the completed plane. I e-mailed it to the magazine Control Line World printed by Brodak in PA. I got a response almost immediately. They want to print the article in the January issue that is going to the printers tomorrow. I had to give permission to use my e-mail address and send a mug shot for the article. The mag. only comes out 4 times a year so I caught them at the right time.

Getting cold again.

Mid 20's all day and windy.
Got an update today. An upstream O2? sensor has failed. The down stream sensor was replaced not long ago. Worries about cascading failures abound. I wonder about the cat. being plugged if at all. An easy fix though. Pricey part.
I went to Lowes to get a can of Krylon and they don't carry it at all. I went to Benny's and got some that looked like the right color but it was too light. NAPA had some that came closest so I'll go with it. Top Flite Luster Kote paint is so thin it never covers. Only good for transparent stuff.

Gloomy day but usefull.

While at coffee this morning I noticed the winds were much lighter than forecast. I packed the Twister and headed for the field. I did a short flight to see how the wing twisting worked out and it looked fine. Then I got in a full flight with a respectable pattern. Temps. in the high 40's but dark overcast clouds that look like rain any second.
The right side mirror on the El Camino got trimmed and now I can use it to see in back of the car instead of the road side. Year One gave another one because they have others with the same complaint. The new one is the same as the old one but if I really ruined the old one I had a spare. I still have a spare. I used the die grinder and a small pointed burr to enlarge the hole the ball fits in.
UK update. The AAA came and gave an opinion on the car. It's running on 3 cylinders and the extra gas has plugged the cat. I think the fools that replaced the wiring harness in the engine compt. left a plug wire off or mixed two up. Could be a dead spark plug too. More as it comes in.
With the new year coming up I figured I would get a real r/c plane ready for the first flight shin dig. I took the Eagle 63 down and put wheels on and changed the tank and the trans. and battery are getting charged. The engine is an Enya .35 that has a messed up carb. and runs at half throttle and up. A short hop is all that is needed.

Great flights.

Generally at the school the winds are stronger than other places as the school is on high ground. Today there was no wind to speak of and the temp. was in the low 40's or so it felt. The Evo .36 ran well but I don't think it needs less oil as the run was the same either way. Needs a little tweaking. The Twister flew great. Level flight is stable and it corners very well with the larger elevator. Coming out of a corner the plane stays put where before it would bobble and climb a bit. I tweaked the flaps and got a full pattern on the second flight. I flew another just to be sure. I twisted the wing and ironed the wrinkles out so I can put the flaps back straight. Hope it worked. After the first flight with the Twister I found the tail wheel at the start point. Didn't really need it I guess. I put a 11 x 3 prop on the Evo for the next outing. After the last flight I was winding in the stooge string and the oil smoke was still in the air. First time I've seen that.

Light winds today.

The temp. is supposed to get into the high 30's today. I have 2 planes to test and will head for the Sterling school this afternoon. The modified Twister and the Primary Force/Evo .36. I put another NVA in the Evo and want to try it. The Twister is the unknown item. I hope the new tail will help it hold steadier out of corners. I have to mix some fuel for the Evo as it runs better on less oil.

It's done.

I finished putting the Twister together this morning. The paint lines came out better than usual and I put spats on the wire landing gear to hide the wires.

Getting there.

31 degrees and gusting to 40 today. Bad all week.
I sprayed the orange this morning. I went to NAPA and got 2 cans of clear and a roll of fine line tape. $15.00 for the tape. 1/8" wide. I taped off the blue trim areas and applied the masking. That took 4 hours. I sprayed the blue and removed the masking leaving the fine line tape for after the paint dries. Maybe tomorrow morning. I'll use the heat gun to warm the tape before and during removal. Clear coats after horseshoes.
I was informed that my son in law bought a 1969 Camaro supposedly an SS. $12,000.00. He got miffed when I said he paid top dollar for it so I added fuel to the fire when he said it had a 10 bolt posi rear I said I had a 12 bolt. He said it has to run on Cam-2 gas I said bullshit, let me have it for an hour and I can straighten it out. I think the engine has been changed as well as the trans. It has a 5 speed now. Orange with white stripes. I have been looking at decoding VIN's and like the El Camino there isn't a lot to prove it is an SS or not. The build sheet or protect-o-plate. Brother Roy traded his truck for a Subaru car and really pissed off his wife. Richard figures he can sell the Camaro for a profit. Before or after he sells the Trans Am.

Cooler yet.

1130 and not 40 degrees yet.
I started the painting process on the Twister this morning. I got the canopy painted white and I'm trying to wait until it's dry enough to mask off and paint the next color. I may not succeed. I need a low tack tape and we have a lot of post-it note papers. Those may be the right thing to use as the tape always pulls off some base color. I'm still working on the final color design.
I'll go to the field in a bit to see what's going on as the wind is very light. I got some shopping to do at Wal-Mart in Putnam and at NAPA in Danielson.

Too cool.

I almost headed for the field when the grandson wanted to go fishing. I dug some worms and we went to Porter pond. 10 minutes later we headed home. Too cool and windy to fish and fly.
I started to cover the Twister. I got the flaps and elevator back on and working. I keep finding/making dents and filling them. I put half ribs between the ribs to better hold up the covering at the leading edge. I must have cracked all of them so far. I saw a big rig on the way to LA in Oct. that was painted orange with silver and blue trim. It really looked good so I am using those colors on the Twister. I also have those colors on hand.

Test flights.

I loaded the new plane and the Primary Force into the El Camino and headed for the old field. I had mixed 6 ounces of fuel with lower oil content for the Evo .36 and I wanted to check the new hinges on the new plane. I also shortened the elevator horn for more of a turn. I gave the engines the hot water warm up treatment and first up was the new plane. Very hard corners. I lowered the horn when I got home. The fuel mix worked a lot better in the Evo .36 but the winds are too strong to do much. I think it wants a different fuel tank as it speeds up as the flight progresses. It did it on the other fuel too.
I tried to check the trans fluid level when I got home but the chrome dip stick is useless for this. I had an original for the TH-400 but it's too long. After some filing and brazing it is now just right. I lowered the cap and rubber seal to match the 350 dip stick. Not hard at all. Now I can see the fluid level.

Bad weather.

I changed the hinges on the new plane. I went to monokote hinges and left them a bit loose. There's more travel in the elevator now and the gap is sealed.
I called Year One about the right side mirror on the El Camino. I doesn't articulate enough to let me see behind. I put it off for a long time but got to it today. They are sending me a new one, no charge and I don't have to send the old one back. They have had other complaints about the same thing on these mirrors. It will work fine on the left door. I also tried to get a new speedometer drive gear from TCI. They want the number of teeth on the output shaft. I will have to take the tail shaft housing off to get that info. I don't think they are right as GM wouldn't use more than one type of output shaft for no good reason. The same number of teeth on every shaft would make manufacture a lot simpler. I put the old gear back in. I have two more numbers to call when I get to it.
The Twister is coming along. I removed the flaps and will make new ones as the covering made a mess of the wood when I removed it. I'm still filling and sanding the fuse. Instead of building new planes I can re build and re paint the old ones.