Still windy.

I called the usps and complained about the missing box. I could have registered the complaint except the system was down. I was directed to the web site and registered the complaint there.
The winds have been 20 plus for several days now and I have a plane to test. It's almost March anyway.

Another plane finished.

So far nothing on the package. The tracking number says it left the Springfield, MA sorting center on Feb. 20 and due for arrival here on the 21'st. I made a copy of the tracking record and will confront the Moosup office early Mon. morning.
On a brighter note I finished re assembling the Pathfinder I started stripping on the 17th. I used Dupli-Color white and Chevy engine orange with black trim stripes and wheel coating clear. All from NAPA. I weighed it after stripping everything off and replacing the sides and got 23.1 ounces. Weight after covering and paint was 26 ounces. I always wondered how much the weight changed. Weight completely assembled is 46.8 ounces. That is about what it was originally. I added a bunch of structure under the side sheeting and installed the wheel spats. None on the nose wheel. As soon as the wind goes away I'll get in some trim flights.

Test run.

I drove the El Camino around a bit and it runs a lot better when it's cold than it did. I examined the new distributor and found the vacuum pot has a very strong spring as does the mechanical advance weights. It will be the new spare.
I started stripping the Pathfinder yesterday. I had cored the profile fuselage and that needs a lot of work to get it ready. I glued a strip of 1/32 ply to the inside of the frame work top and bottom to stiffen it. The covering from tower should be in today.
The new bearings for the glider chair came in yesterday and I r&r the bad one. The bearings are real ball bearings, sealed, and a lot larger than I thought. There is a total of eight on each chair. I'm surprised one failed.

El Camino.

I've been having problems with a cold engine lately. I tried many tricks but nothing seemed to help. Today I swapped the new distributor for the old one. We'll see if that helps.

Problem found.

I've been flying the Pathfinder as I found it's the oldest of my fleet. It has given me loose lines at the top corner of outside square maneuvers but nothing serious. For some reason I checked the alignment of the stab. to the wing and found the stab out of alignment. After a lot of cutting and sawing and shimming the parts are back in alignment. Now I have to fill the gaps.
The trees around the new field are quite high. The guy that strained a trainer through some trees a while back has another hanging in the top of a tall one. It's only a foot in diameter at the bottom and it has a good hold on the plane as it's been there through some fairly strong winds. He had a mid air with another as they were doing combat. The other one made it back to the field.

Some progress.

I ground the o.d. of the washer making a 'D' shape and it helped. All I have to do is figure how much is needed to equal the weight of the piston/rod assembly and the difference needed to equal the bob weight on the crank. Time to ask the forums.

Trying something.

I've been thinking on the bead balancer thing for my model engines and came up with something.
After watching the video on the process I took the nose cone of a plastic spinner and put some steel balls in it then glued a cover plate in the spinner to capture the balls. The plate is about an inch in diameter which gives the balls room to move. The cover is the bottom of a one ounce medicine cup. The glue is drying now and may be ready today. It would be nice to have it ultra sonic welded.


I tested the ball balance spinner and didn't get anything. I removed the spinner and ran the engine with the same feel. I've had luck with a tab on the crank end that smooths the engine so I ground a bit off the prop washer. We will see if that helps.