The plumbers cometh too.

We got a call late last night and found that the plumbers would be here early in the morning. They got here on time and have been doing plumber things for 6 hours now. I was going to mow the field this morning but now it's put off until they finish up and leave. I had to remove the black board as the furnace is on the left side and not the right where there was enough room. The vent and air pipes go through the wall into my space and then out the small window. I didn't find any treasure behind the blackboard. All it is is a piece of sheet rock painted with black paint of some kind.

The gas man cometh.

We went to the field this morning. I put one plane up and the engine ran real strange. the fuel pick up line had fallen off the brass tube inside the tank. The second plane fared a bit better but still ran away hot at the end of the flight. I moved things around when I got home and fixed the tank. As I was mowing the lawn this afternoon I saw a gas co. truck stop across the road. I stopped and talked to him and we decieded to put the meter near the milk room end. I had to move the window blocker from the end window to the side window. The plumber was happy to hear about it too.

Progress on the furnace front.

After getting no response from three plumbers after they looked at the job to a plumber that can't go fast enough. Almost pushy. I put the service contract and the installation contract with 50% down in the mail early in the morning. That afternoon we got a call from the plumber saying he was bringing the stuff the next day. He came on time and dropped off the furnace and the half built piping board. It will take some time until the gas company comes and installs the line and the plumber will come and mount the board and furnace in his spare time. I measured the wall where the board will go and there is a half inch clearance between the board and a pipe that goes through the wall there. The vent pipes will pass through some walls and exit out the small window near the oil tank. I checked ebay for an update on the hub caps for the Dodge and they left Denver on the 24th. Pay Pal now has a waiting period when payment goes through the checking account. Makes sense. The latest plane is taking shape. With the crappy weather I'm getting some quality building time. I've been flying some of the full fuselage planes and getting them ready. Not much trimming. I got the field mowed on Thursday and tried to mow the lawn yesterday but it started raining soon after I started and I had to stop. The rain has kept on going though. The Dodge will get a new cat back Flowmaster exhaust on Wed. along with a serpentine belt and maybe spark plugs if he has time.

Maybe, finally.

We haven't been having any luck getting a plumber to install a gas fired furnace. I got a 30 day extension from the gas company on the service installation contract so we could find someone willing to do the work. I called a number we found in the paper yesterday. It sounded like the others but we held out hope.. This morning the plumber arrived and I showed him the site. He had pamphlets and gave me a price that is reasonable. I have to board up a window or two so the vents will be away from windows to suit the code. I have to fill and seed the tire tracks near the milk room so the gas company will have more choices to run the line. Nothing that can't be done in a jiffy. The plumber is supposed to be mailing a quote and will install the furnace and then when the gas line is installed come back and finish the job. With no more profile only contests in the area I removed the engine from the P-39 and brought out the Honey Bee. That's the one that I used to win the Mass Cup and then remodeled it. I had flown it a few times after the re work and it flew better than it had. With the new nose the engine was closed in more but I didn't think that would matter. I flew it yesterday and the engine wouldn't run steady. Mostly too fast no matter how I set the needle. Changing tanks didn't do anything so I removed the engine and installed it on the P-39. It ran perfectly. So I figure it was getting too hot in the new nose. I made some cuts and other wood removal things to open up the engine to the air. I installed the engine from the P-39 into the Honey Bee and should be able to test it in the morning fog. With the too fast maneuvering the nose had developed cracks and the glue joint on the wing had come loose also. A few more corners and it would have torn off. I added some ply over the cracks and filled the loose joints with super glue. It should hold.

A plan comes together, accidently.

A few years ago I lost a hub cap/wheel cover off the Dodge somewhere between here and Baton Rouge. I finally got around to looking for a replacement. Wholesale Mopar wants $100.00 for a new one. The local large junk yard doesn't have one so I looked on ebay. There were several to choose from. They had the right part number and everything. I put a 40 dollar bid on one and got an out bid notice a few days later. While waiting for the sale to near the end I found another up for bid. Not wanting to mess it up again I waited for it to end today. While waiting I noticed there were 4 in the offing from the same seller. No bids. I waited on the first to end and got it for $19.99. On to the second and got that one for the same price. I looked at the final for the one I got out bid on and it went for $41.00. HA HA. I have the new P-63 wing built and the fin and rudder also. I started on the fuselage this morning and got it ready for skinning with 1/64 ply. The P-63 is related to the P-39 and has a different shaped fin and rudder. I have to look up the other changes. Flat green and flat light blue right up my alley.

Finally figured it out.

The off and on rain has put a stop to my flying. I've been looking at the engine I got off a plane from the pawn shop for quite a while now. It's an OS .46 FXi r/c engine. Ball bearings and larger all around than the .46LA's I've been using. The hole for the carb. is 9/16 while the LA is 3/8 so getting a venturi for it is a problem, until today. Just for grins I removed the carb. and tried fitting K&S tubing into it. As luck would have it the 1/2 i.d. tube slipped right in with a snug fit. I took a 1/2 nylon spacer from the Dorman racks at Tractor Supply and that fit the tube really nice. The spacer had a 1/4 inch through hole so I drilled it out to .300 and cut one end at an angle for a smoother in flow of air. Then I drilled through the engine block and tubing and nylon spacer for the spray bar. The fuel exit hole wasn't centered so I drilled a new hole and soldered shut the original. Then I tested it behind the garage and it ran very well. I don't have any plane that will accept this engine as it's wider and a half inch longer so I got out some paper and started drawing another P-39 fuselage. Trike gear and flat colors what could go wrong. Time will tell.

A bit of good news.

I've been having trouble getting the Banshee to fly wings level. I had a tab on it but removed it in favor of twisting the wing flat. That didn't work and I added another tab and it finally flew wings level today. A few years ago I bought an ARF Nobler. It didn't fly well at all so I put it away. Then I stripped all the monokote off and put it away. Then I re worked it to be more like the original version from plans I had and put it away. Then I covered it. A while later I put some paint on it and re assembled it. Then I installed the engine and it was ready for a test flight. I didn't have to many hopes as it didn't fly well in the first place. I was surprised when it flew very well. I may have something here. The second plumber came and looked at the job this afternoon. He didn't seem to be as overwhelmed as the first one. Now we wait for his estimate.

Another "oh shit" moment.

I backed the hot rod out of the garage to scrape some of the pollen off. Before closing the windows and shutting the doors I always test the hidden get in locks. They didn't work. Today I started to trouble shoot the problem. Both doors didn't work and there is a circuit breaker somewhere in the car. I removed the dash and found everything I was looking for. They all tested good. I really didn't want to remove the door panel but I had no choice. I removed one solenoid and tested it. Worked perfectly. I attached it to the wiring with jumpers and it worked. Bad grounds. I had a bitch of a time getting the solenoid back in and wired but I did. I stuffed all the wiring and hoses back together and closed the dash. The right side doesn't work and I'll get to it some day. I went to Groton this morning and got the new combo switch installed. The exhaust needs renewing from the cat back. That's on order.

Late arrival again.

UPS delivered on time today and the USPS delivered a few hours later, 4 days late, again. The tracking showed that the boxes took a long time to get out of Baton Rouge then back and out again. Anyway all boxes arrived today. There was some breakage in the box in a box. The do it yourself spray paint can glass cup was broken and the outside box took a severe beating. The layers of tape held it together. The UPS box had barely a scratch. I ran out of fuel at the worst place with the P-39 yesterday. At the top of the circle at the end of the clover maneuver. i ran and got control at 3 feet and saved a complete wreck but the fuselage was broken just behind the wing. Some carpenters glue, clamps and other reinforcement later I flew it this morning and it flew well. Then I painted the repaired areas. Good weather so far.