On the way.

  After finding the colors needed for the plane down south I found some boxes and put the decals in one and the colors in another. I plan to mail them out when the P.O. opens this afternoon.

Getting things in order.

I had J&J signs cut some vinyl graphics for me today. Namely the LSU and Saints logo's. They came out very well. I also had names cut for the  Guru and Honey Bee. I found paints for the plane too.

Handle testing.

I brought a couple handles to the field this morning. The first was a wooden one made by someone in LA and I won it in the raffle. I had thin gloves on and the grip portion wasn't wide enough. I put on a wooden copy of the EZ-Just and used that for the rest of the flights. I can catch deviations  a lot sooner with the short overhang of the old design handle. The wind doesn't bother the plane half as much as with my handles and a lot of overhang. I shortened the overhang on the wood EZ-Just and widened the grip area on the other. Next time out I'll give them a workout. The plane feels different with the shorter handles too. I can get better bottoms and have more precise control. Too fast flights don't pose much of a problem either.

Nice day.

It started out in the low 30's but by 0900 it was tickling 40. I put two tires in the Dodge and Red Molly and headed for the field. Once there I stopped at the used tire bin and made a deposit.
 Red Molly has been flying well but the turn hasn't been quite right. I could have removed weight from the nose or added weight to the tail to improve the turn but decieded against both. I couldn't get any more adjustment on the handle so I made 3 or 4 new ones. I started out using one I had won in the raffles. Line spacing is 5 inches which is more than the original handle which is what I need. On the first flight I found that the handle wasn't big enough for my hand but the spacing was very close to perfect. I took another bought handle, a plastic EZ-Just, and gave that a try. Just as good as the one it replaced. I got in 4 full patterns with it before going home. Being made of plastic there is no place to put a safety strap without drilling holes. I had made a copy out of wood several years ago and brought that out of storage. The plastic one has a cable running through it and a slide to make adjustments, very crude. I put 3/16" bolts through the wooden one and drilled holes in the bolt ends for the line clips.  Now I can adjust line length with the nuts on the bolts.  I dunked the handle in Poly Crylic to seal the wood and it's drying now. This mornings flying went quite well as the winds were very light and not coming over the trees and not blowing directly into the sun.

Waiting for the covering.

 The good weather is continuing and I'm getting some flying. On Sunday I flew the Eagle 63 and the c/l planes.
  The Strega is on hold until the covering comes in. I have been molding shell for the fuselage top and bottom. I got most of the bottom covered but will have to carve the front top block.

  The pictures show the shells next to the boards I glued the foam bucks to. That makes the buck stiff for the molding process. After removing the shell from the buck I planned to glue in the templates as formers then I figured why not glue the foam in also. I had to use a hot wire to remove the shell assemblies from the boards after glueing everything together. The shells are sitting on the balsa blocks that they will replace. That would be a lot of carving and a waste of good balsa. I added some sheet to the fuse. bottom and cut lightening holes. That will add stiffness to the fuse. I will do the same to the top before adding the turtle deck shell. The kit design is that of a "D" model Mustang and the turtle deck will make it more like a "B or C" model. The picture of the mustang below the fuse jig is of an A-36 variant. It has dive brakes and was used as a dive bomber and none of the planes used in the war made it back home. Only 3 trainers that never left the states survived. There is an argument about the name of the A-36 as some believe it's called the Apache but never was officially. It also makes the color scheme easier for me. You can see the broken off pieces that connect the front and rear at the wing cutouts.  The wood was less than 1/8" thick. I glued it together several times then decieded to put the fuse. in the jig before I broke it in half. That's the old kitchen table it's sitting on.

Good weather for a while.

I got the Yak-9 flying pretty good. The aileron as a trim tab did the trick. I outlined both ailerons with 1/16" black trim tape to hide the cuts. The model has a belly scoop like the Mustang and is painted blue to match the rest of the bottom. I've been seeing the scoop and thinking it is the out board wing. That complicated the trimming process a bit. Yesterday I ordered some poly span covering and some propellers for the Strega.
 It took most of the morning to figure out how to install the cowl hold downs. The plans show a strip of ply across the fuse. and one in the cowl with a bolt to hole them in place. The plane is designed for rear exhaust engines and one is shown on the plans. The plans method for holding the cowl on won't work with a rear exhaust engine. I thought about that for several days and finally used three tabs, two at the rear of the cowl and one in front across from the needle valve hole. A lot of cutting and fitting on each tab to get  the right fit. Then to drill the holes so it lined up with the blind nuts on the tabs glued to the fuse. The center wing ribs are 2-7/8" thick at the fuse. the fuse. sides are 3-1/4" wide. That leaves a very weak strips of balsa connecting the front and rear of the fuse. I ended up installing it into the adjusto-jig for the final assembly and for safety.
This morning I fitted the flaps and built the control horn boxes. The horn is connected at the flap root by some cut out pieces of ply. Very weak. I filled the ply up to the flap surface and added 1/32" ply reinforcement pieces over the assembly. The horn is 1/8" wire and doesn't look to be easily tweakable.
 The molded turtle deck came out fine and will be installed after the wing is glued in place. I made some bucks for the top forward sheeting and have to cut the foam and wet down the balsa. I figure to add 1/16" sheeting to the top and bottom for added strength before installing the molded sections. A lot like the Sig Kougar, Kobra and King Kobra fuselages. I'm hoping for a final weight in the 50 ounce range. 59.9 will do. I thing the final result will look more like the P-51 B than the D model it was loosly designed after.

Making the best of it.

The wind has been in the way lately. I've gotten in some flights with the Yak 9 and am having trouble getting the wings level. i cut into the glued on flap today and made an aileron for a trim tab. hopefully that will work.
 I picked up some angle iron bed rails at the dump and made railings for the trailer. I used the wire feed welder for the job. It hasn't been used much at all since I bought it about 4 years ago.
 The Strega is coming along. I got the engine on Tues. and got the fuselage put together and the cowl made.  Instead of carving large blocks for the fuse. top and bottom I'm going to mold a turtle deck and bend some wood for the rest. I thought the wing was over built but the fuse. has a bunch of parts for no good reason. The nose has air tunnels and vents in the sides and top. What was the designer thinking? 38 ribs in the wing. I should have removed every other one and used them for a second plane. A while back I got some .018 cable from Mcmaster-Carr and went to make another set for the Strega but the lines were curled and unusable. Too bad.
 I'm flying Red Molly and it's doing well.  I have to get some vinyl letters for the planes I built and rebuilt in late summer. They both fly very well. Not to mention graphics for the LSU/Saints plane.

Latest build.

I applied the red star decals this morning plus installing the engine and tank. The plane came out real nose heavy and I had to remove the spinner and APC prop and put a wood Zinger on plus 2.5 ounces of lead on the tail. I built the kit just as it came because I wanted to use it in old time stunt. I made a mistake by bringing the plane up the stairs for the photo shoot and ended up breaking the rudder and part of one flap off. A 2 inch long tear in the covering on the bottom of the wing is being repaired with glue. After fixing the damage I used the walk out door.
  I went to the Brooklyn field yesterday afternoon to get the transmitter impound rack and bring it home for repairs. Some of the members were flying  and helped me load the thing onto the Dodge. I used the electric drill to remove the long wood screws and cut the broken leg and the other leg to match. I re-installed the base and finished it before dark.

 I hope to get in some flying this morning and get the rack back in place. A first flight on the newly repaired Yak-9 is in the plans. OS .25LA.

Hinge pockets made easy.

Get a piece of balsa half the thickness of the item to be hinged. 1/4 inch thick flaps use 1/8 inch firm balsa. Cut 4 strips at least 1/16" wider than the hinges to be used. Cut the same width strip off the flaps or elevator leading edges. Cut a 6" strip of coarse sandpaper that is a bit wider than the hinge. That will give you some wiggle room when assembling the parts to it's mating surface, flap to wing or elevator to stab. Lightly coat the sandpaper with spray glue and stick it to a flat surface.  Mark the hinge locations on each pair of balsa strips and mark the sides to be cut so you end up with mating parts in the end. Place the balsa strip on the sandpaper with the hinge pocket marks straddling the sandpaper. With some downward pressure push the balsa back and forth three times, or back twice and forth once, three passes over the sandpaper. Use a flat item and place it on the balsa and holding downward pressure make one more pass over the sandpaper. This evens out the depth of the pocket. Repeat that procedure for all the hinge locations on all 4 balsa strips. Using a straight edge glue the balsa pairs together so the cuts align into pockets all along the strip. Now glue the strips to the flap or elevator. A little sanding and your done. I use a fork shaped slotting tool to cut the pockets into the wing or stab.

  To get glue in the pockets I attach a pointed tip from a cya bottle to a tube of "Quick Grip" "all purpose permanent adhesive". I got it at a "Benny's" store. It's clear and dries fast and stays a bit rubbery. Sticks to everything. Using the tip as an injector needle I squirt some glue into each hinge pocket and install the hinge. I glue the hinges to only the flap or only the wing at a time not both at once. You don't have top work as fast and you have time to straighten the hinges. Once the glue has cured you can final assemble the two items. You don't have to worry about the hinges moving around while you work.

Waiting for the engine.

I ordered the engine shown on the plans for the Strega. The person who sells the Double Star engine only does business through the mail or fax. It's a bitch not knowing if the engine is in stock or in transit.
 I've been working on the wing and tail pieces in the meantime. This airfoil reminds me of the EU-1A wing. It's 2 7/8" thick at the root. Huge. On top of that I think the designer has a rib fettish. 38 of those buggers. 1 1/2" rib spacing. After sheeting the center section I still had to apply 60 cap strips. The wing tips are blocks. I roughed them out on the band saw then carved them to shape. In order to hollow the blocks I sawed them in half chord wise. After some die grinder work I glued them back together with a 1/32 ply spacer to take up the saw kerf and add strength. I cut 4 pieces of 1/8" balsa and sanded slots for the flap hinges. Then I cut the flaps and glued the hinge slot pieces to the flaps. I am leaning towards using Poly-Span for the wing covering.
 The Yak 9 old time stunt model is coming along nicely too. I opted to use Jap tissue instead of monokote on the wing. It takes paint better. I couldn't find a picture of the plane in anything but camoflage. So I'll try that. I got a jar of light blue for the bottom and will go with grey primer for the top with a cream color for the camo. OS .25LA for power.

  With the snow,rain and wind I figured it would be a good day to hit the hobby shop. 37.6 miles to Hog Heaven from here. Luckily most of the stop lights were set to blinking yellow. I got some 4-40 blind nuts,some 4-40 threaded solder on ends for the push rod, the blue paint, some 4-40 threaded rods and 2-56 stuff that I didn't need after all. Just for giggles I wrote the number for the fuel tank down and did find it at the shop. That saves a shipping charge from Brodak.