Official simple fix.

I don't know why the police and FBI didn't fire off their shotguns into the air to end the manhunt still going on in Boston. Biden said that's all you have to do. Simple fix. And If the police had 10 round clips they would have got both perps. in the shootout. Hundreds of rounds were fired off and only one killed. If several cops can't hit two crooks with many round clips that isn't too good. A lone citizen with a 6 shooter is said to get 6 crooks. The cops should take citizen training.

Gun control works.

Mass. has pretty good gun control. Today three bombs went off during the Boston marathon. No guns. Proving that gun control works. Now what to do about bombs? Denial, that's the ticket, denial. Or more gun control.

Rain, cold and wind.

The new combo switch came in the other day. It has a hole in the mounting bracket that the steering column passes through. I called the guy that bought Richards garage and set up an appointment to have him do it. I would end up with the air bag blowing up. I got in a test flight with the P-39 and the changes worked. Tomorrow is forecast to be decent for flying so I'll get to really check them out. I enlarged the holes in the cowling on the StregA-36 and changed to an Xoar 13 x 6 prop. It's a first for me. I should get some APC props too.

Mickey.

We went to the field this morning. I took the big ringmaster and the P-39. I had changed fuel tanks from a square Hayes tank to a round tank on the ringmaster. It didn't like the round tank so I put the Hayes tank back on. The engine ran very well. The P-39 has been troublesome in that the turns are quite different. I ran out of handle adjustment but was closing in on the problem. When we got home I set the P-39 controls to exact neutral. I had built in a hole that I could insert a pin through the bell crank and lock it in neutral. I set the controls to be neutral in the beginning but something has changed. I have a mark on the fuselage that is on the extended chord line so I can set the flaps in perfect neutral and the flaps were 3 turns of the clevis low. The elevator was correspondingly high and I brought that back down a turn below neutral, which is what all the "big boys" suggest. Now I had to reset the lines at the handle to neutral and we will start over. I have a plastic clunk tank so I can put an ounce of fuel in it to quickly check the control response. On the way home from the field we stopped at the Roadside Diner for a coffee. Yesterday I sent an application into Yankee Gas for a change over to a gas furnace. Our neighbors had changed to gas a few years ago and could be a source of info. As we entered there they were. I haven't seen them there until today. I talked to him about the gas service and got the number of the plumber that did his work. I'm waiting for him to return my call. With the oil tank gone I would have room for another plane or the work bench. The old furnace doesn't owe us anything. They have sold their house to one of the Hoyt girls and will rent it from them while their new house is being built. And they had to put up a security deposit. The closing is this week.

Light winds.

I noticed that the winds were forecast to be under 10 mph today so I got some planes ready. I took an ebngien off one of the full body planes and put it on the P-39. Today I took that plane and the big ringmaster to the field. I got in 4 flights with each plane. When I got home I loaded up the StregA-36 and went back. The engine has been running funny and with the warmer weather the problem stood out. The cowl is too close fitting to properly cool the engine. I removed it and found that it hot starts quite easily. A couple flights with the cowl off and some handle adjustments has it flying quite well. I added almost 2 ounces of castor to the low oil fuel that is recommended for the engine when I got home. I will run out the gallon I have before using the low oil fuel that's on order. It should be broken in by then. The plane really glides after the engine quits. It's kinda easy to get a good landing with it. Tomorrow may be good for flying too.

Almost spring.

I got a reply from Brodak's magazine Control line World and they will publish my article on the plywood handle. It's the equal of the carbon fiber handle made by the famous guy but mine is much less expensive and faster to make. I've been flying with one and it's working very well. I finally bit the bullet and scoped out the steering column on the Dodge. Three screws hold the plastic pieces on. I removed them and the top came off easily but the bottom piece is held on by the tilt lever.. I called Wholesale Mopar and ordered the combo switch and asked the guy how the bottom piece comes off. He said the tilt lever is screwed on so I should be able to unscrew it. I'm going to wait until I see the mounting bolt pattern on the new piece, I may not have to remove the bottom piece. I found a bag of quick crete at the dump. I figured I could add it to the square pilot circle in the middle of the circle and make it round. I set up forms and mixed the bag and poured it into the forms. The next day I stepped on the new cement and it crumbled. It wasn't thrown away for nothing. Today I went to the local lumber yard to get some cement. Their web site said they opened at 0700. At 0805 still nobody. I ended up at Lowes. I mixed the two bags and now the square circle is round. I got in some flights with the big Ringmaster. This afternoon the winds were still light and the temp is in the high 60's. I grabbed the StregA-36 and went back to the field. I had increased the elevator throw and sealed the hinge gaps since the last outing, which was the first, and made some adjustments on the handle spacing. The changes worked well and I had to take some space out of the up and ad some to the down. The engine ran OK for one of the flights and I got in a full pattern on the second flight. On the third flight it was running good and then went rich. Seems to be the norm for a plane that has sat for a while. I did get it to fit into the El Camino by turning it 45 degrees to the center line of the bed. I have been adding nose weight to the big Ringmaster and the Banshee. Each plane has responded favorably by being more stable in flight. I have spread the line spacing at the handle to get the turns back and that is working too. Kinda scary. I put a weight on the Ringmaster engine last night and then figured I should check where the balance point is compared to the plans. Somehow the balance is where the plans say it should be. Funny how that works. The Banshee has been modified a lot and the balance is about an inch ahead of the plans, which is where the guy that modified the Twister in the same manner that I modified the Banshee said it should be. Another lucky guesser.

Early flights.

The forecast is for strong winds and cold. It was calm at 0830 so I headed for the field before the winds hit. I got in 6 flights before the fuel ran dry. Then I figured it was time to burn the spruce cones on top of the stump. I split a bunch of old lumber and had a good fire raging for a few hours. I got rid of all the cones and have to wait for the fire to go out to see how much of the stump has burned away. There appeared on the hill a large pile of leaves. I dragged that off to the compost heap. Then I took the mower out and put the charger on the battery. After 15 minutes I hit the starter and it fired up right away. Then I ran over the remaining leaves and mulched them up a bit. An engine de gunking was needed after sitting all winter seeing that I had the hose hooked up incase the fire got away.