What goes around comes around.

We went to the school this morning and The clover grabbed my lines on the first flight. Luckily the plane stayed on the ground with the prop hitting the ground in several places before the engine stopped. No damage. I moved to the ball diamond infield and resumed flying.
I went to the r/c field yesterday and measured off a new place to fly. Today I returned and gave away most of my r/c equipment. I kept the best set as it's in the Eagle 63. I noticed that the grass was long yesterday and wondered what happened to Charley Henrickson? I found out today that his back is hurting and he's not mowing any more. I've been looking at the mowing position since starting to fly there. I offered to take over the chore and will be able to cut a new circle the way I want it. The club has a mower at the field. Tomorrow, Monday, I'll mow the new part and get in some flights. I have to remove two sections of safety fence but they are portable anyway. I've shortened several props flying off the asphalt and the clover at the school will need cutting so I'll make the move. I'll keep the field at the Oneco town hall for week end use.

Still summer.

I've been able to get in some flying every morning and am just finishing up my 7th gallon of fuel for the year. The brew I'm using now comes from methanol I got from the blasting community. Pretty good stuff. I brought out the Padre because starting the full fuse. planes with the inverted engines can be a pain. I put a different fuel tank on the Padre and it didn't work well at all. Old one is back on. The Padre is my oldest plane that started out with an Ugly Stik wing. I removed it and built a wing using Cardinal airfoil with flaps then later on made a larger stab. and the plane is the best flyer in the fleet. I've only lost one plane so far this season so there isn't any need to build anything. The r/c field is up in the air with the test hole and pipe just off the runway and in my circle. I have plans to dig up the pipe and smooth the gravel hills.
I vacuumed the a/c in the hot rod and put two cans of r-134a in. So far so good. The El Camino gas pedal has been giving me fits. It didn't open all the way so I drilled another hole for the cable but that didn't feel right. I drilled another hole between the two and used a spacer in the cable at the pedal to get the full throw. I may have to put a hole closer to the pivot.
I played horseshoes against the gov't inspector that worked at Kaman and BST in the league last night. I've been watching him this season and he has been pitching well. His partner is not as good as mine. So far this season we have played the same teams up to this point which is not usual. So being one game down to his team promised a good match. My team won the first game handily, lost a fairly close second game and beat them soundly in the third game. That means we are tied for first place but my team having beat his team two games puts my team ahead of his. There is a third team that may be tied with us if they won all three games last night. I have to play that team next and his partner is much weaker than mine so we should do all right.

Joe Val

Search youtube for "Joe Val and the New England Bluegrass Boys". Something else.

Bluegrass and berries.

I saw an ad for a bluegrass show at a blueberry farm in Thompson, CT this Sat. afternoon. I did a search on youtube and found Blackstone Valley Bluegrass band playing at the Joe Val festival in Framingham,MA. I listened to a few Joe Val songs and,,,, well,,,,, don't sell daddy any more whiskey looks pretty good. I thought Joe had a Groucho Marx mask on but he didn't. The other band is pretty good. The Joe Val festival is held in Feb. every year. I searched that and found the listing of 2011 performers. A bunch of them. Might be worth a trip.

Obstacles in the works.

I went to the r/c field and marked out a circle. It ended up real close to the first spot. The gravel and pipe are 10 feet inside the circle. The pipe can't be pulled out. I went back to the field after supper and found the club president and others shooting the breeze, just like old times. I found that the gravel is part of test holes dug to check the ground for construction. The pipe is a mystery but may be to warn the farmer of the gravel pile hidden in the grass. I plan to go there again soon and dig around the pipe to loosen it and make it removable and see what I can do from there.

Summertime and holding.

Our new seats at NHIS are really good. I timed the shadow from the overhang and at 1330 we are in the shade. The temp was in the 90's for the race but the shade made it bearable.
We stopped at the flying field to check on the mowing and the hay has been removed. Making a circle there is going to be a challenge as a small pile of gravel is messing up the first spot.
When we got home I got busy and mowed the lawn then loaded up the mowers and a plane and went to Oneco and got that mowed. I flew the Twister with a modified Fox .40 and it ran very well. For some reason the Fox doesn't like being on muffler pressure. It runs best with a uniflow set up. Turning a 12.25 diameter prop is nothing for the engine. I've tried both OS remote NVA and standard NVA and the standard works best. Too many restrictions in the remote set up I think. I flew at the new school last week and shortened two good props. The first was at the bottom of the vertical eight, did a touch and go, the second was on take off when the handle got snagged on the stop watch cord. I hope they mow the clover soon.
I'll check out the r/c field to see where the best spot for a circle is. I may have to move the fence when I fly.

Summer is here, I think.

I've been going to the new school in the early morning to fly. Yesterday as the day before I could feel the tops of the clover tickling the lines during takeoff. On my third flight a clover bud caught the lines and the plane flew across the circle and straight out to the end of the lines. The lines broke at both ends on one line and one end on the other. The one break line was still attached to the handle and the plane, now free, hit the ground shortly after. The prop didn't break and the engine is still good but the plane got junked. The 1/8" post the bellcrank is suspended from bent in the middle, the elevator pushrod pulled off the flap horn. I made up anew set of lines.
I went to the school around 0815 and got in one flight when I noticed I was being watched. The guy came over and introduced himself as the principal. We chatted a bit and I may get to do a demo for the student body some time. A horribly windy day to be sure. And possibly start a class for those interested in modeling. At least the principal said he would get the grounds keeper to mow the clover. I was flying over the asphalt track. I noticed a oil spray pattern on the tar that looked like a plane made it. I haven't flown on the tar in a year or more so it can't be mine. I use a mat to control the oil spray when flying on the track.
The mods I've done to the Fox .40's works very well. I installed the second one in the Twister today and hope to fly it soon. I got a dentist visit at 1000 tomorrow and it will be to warm after that to fly. I hope to get to the Oneco field soon but it has to be in the late afternoon if it cools down by then. I'm mowing it on a regular basis anyway.

Still summer.

I got 3 cans of R-134A at NAPA and set up the gauges for charging. First the charge hose wouldn't poke through the can seal. I ground off the extra metal on the knurled nut to let the hose seal against the can. Still no puncture. I found the puncture thing in the hose came out so I soldered an extension to it . Now it punctures the seal and seals against the can. The puncture is so small and the extension is plugging the hole to boot. 2 cans take a half hour to half empty. The engine is running and the 4 core radiator kept the temp steady at 190. I got the idea to unscrew the puncture tool in the hose leaving it caught by a half turn. Then installing the hose on the can with the puncture tool doing max damage to the can seal. With the tool backed out and plugging the hole in the seal I hold the knurled nut and turn the can which screws the puncture tool in and out of the hole letting the stuff flow freely. The 3rd can emptied in a minute. I should get another can and put that in too. I think the hose is for a bulk container and not a small can. Or it was for a bulk container. Still it's nice to close the windows and be cool.
I got the mowers ready and the wind has picked up mostly from thermals. I'll still bring a plane when I go to mow.

It is still summer.

The temps rise quickly into the "get into the shade" range that flying after 9 am is tough. With the late sleeper in Oneco and me not wanting to make noise before 9 there I've been going to the new school. The winds are not as tricky early in the day. It isn't mowed too often which will be troublesome shortly. I'll probably mow the Oneco field this afternoon and get in a flight or two after that.
I've fixed the run trouble I've had with my Fox engines forever. Intake leaks and poorly made/designed needle valve assemblies were the problem. The venturi is way too big and I've stuffed it with brass tubing that is .250 i. d. just right for the OS nva I installed. They don't like muffler pressure either for some reason. The less fuel in the tank the less effect the pressure has on it causing the engine to lean out and run faster.
I hooked up the a/c gauges to the unit in the El Camino and to the brake booster vacuum line. I installed a Tee in the line and the gauges under the hood and use the engine vacuum to pump down the system. I'll get some R 134A from NAPA and give it a go today. The full directions really helped.

It is summer, again.

The fixes I've figured out for the Fox engines are working quite well. Finding the air leaks and sealing them plus using the OS needle valve assemblies and installing a .250 insert into the .290 Fox venturi brings the package into vogue. I'm using an APC 12 x 4 prop and the engine has no trouble turning it. I tested one of the engines on the bench with a Top Flite 11 x 4 power point wood prop and set it for 10,000 rpm. I installed the 12 x 4 and the engine reved up lots higher with the APC without changing anything from prop to prop. I richened it up a bunch to get the rpm back to 10,000.
We checked on the r/c field this morning and the grass still hasn't been cut. Some of the fields near by have been cut so maybe the farmer is going to cut this one soon.
We went to Roy's this afternoon and the first selectman's secretary told me of a conflict with a local because of my flying in the morning. He is a d. j. and sleeps late, or used to. I'll have to go in the late afternoon or use the school field.

Got tickets.

I was looking at the Fox .40's and started thinking about intake leaks. I figured out how to pressurize the intake to check for leaks. Leaks from the hold down screws and through the venturi boss. I slopped on some Plumbers Goop and hopefully cured a problem. I flew one of the engines this afternoon and it was better. I have to try more nitro next.
I went on line to get tickets to LA yesterday and made the mistake of checking the skymiles box. I couldn't get any further even though I had selected seats and wanted to buy the tickets. This morning I called the airline and they got me back on the right track and told me to do it without checking the skymiles box. Everything went through as normal. Will arrive on Sunday the 9th leave on Tuesday the week after.