Finally found the leak.

During the summer I noticed the coolant in the El Camino was going down. I searched and found drops on the lower radiator hose and tightened the clamp. Yesterday I checked again and found the coolant low again. I ran it around to warm it up and parked it in the garage. Today there was a puddle near the right front tire. No smell to the liquid and it was oily feeling. The oil level is up and the brake fluid is up. I started it and backed out of the garage and let it run for a bit. I noticed droplets falling to the ground and finally figured that the water pump is bad. Or at least I hope that is the problem. I could wiggle the fan and pump a bit too much so while the engine was warm, 32 degrees today, I removed the pump. With the engine running the pump sounded like it has a broken ball bearing. NAPA didn't have one in stock and a new one will be in Tuesday morning.
 We finally got the electrician and he will be here Monday morning to start wiring the basement properly. New outlets in the bedroom floors too.

Quick test flight.

The winds were down and the temp. was acceptable so I loaded the Stuka up and headed for the field. It took a bit of doing but the engine got started and the needle set where it belongs. But not before several kick backs against the chicken stick and prop loosenings. As I tweaked the needle I managed to get my thumb nail into the back of the prop. Something whizzed by my cheek lightly touching it. I looked at my thumb nail and it was shorter but not ripped off into the quick and not bleeding. I continued the flight and landed. I found that the trailing edges of the prop were missing and that must have been what touched my cheek. A few very minor cuts that barely bled. The plane flew pretty good with the damaged prop. I tweaked the flaps when I got home to level the wings.

One down, more to go.

I finished the Stuka Stunt model I bought in June at the Brodak Flyin. The winds are too high today and higher tomorrow so the first flights will have to wait. It's for old time stunt.
I was ready to start painting the Polynesian when I noticed the gloss white paint I had was lacquer and not enamel. That's on hold for now.
The high school class is going good. Someone finally got a minor cut last week. I was getting worried. The radios and engines have been ordered and should be in shortly. The covering is going well and I have been able to keep waste to a minimum. I bought 200 single edge razor blades and that has helped the covering process. I also made templates for the fuselage covering pieces to reduce scrap and that is working too. The injuries will come when the electric motors are connected to the batteries for the first time.  I will keep the propellers hidden from them until everything is working properly and the class has been properly warned.

Ran short.

I got some monokote from Tower and figured I had enough of a trim color to finish the plane. Nope. I put an email out to the club members and got enough to finish the job. I sprayed both planes with the first coat of primer this morning.
 I met one of the donors at the field and I had the P-63 with me. Just as I was about to flip the prop he drove in. I did get in a flight and near the end the plane was banking when I moved the controls. After landing I saw that the outside flap had pulled away from the wing. All the hinges were loose causing a large gap between the flap and the wing. I glued them in again and will install a pin for good measure.
  In the latest issue of Control Line World the center fold has a reduced set of plans for a model stunt plane. .46 size. I brought the center fold to Staples and they were able to enlarge it 395% at one shot. I put them in the barrel as I still have the Bearcat kit waiting.

A 4 day vacation.

  I found out today that there isn't any school on Monday and Tuesday. This is the longest I've ever gone to school and not had an absence. The planes are just about built with one still being assembled. I had a lot of trouble  fiberglassing the wing center joint using the schools epoxy. I think the shelf life is showing up and the 2 to 1 mix isn't strong enough to cure it. I mixed another sample 1 to 1 and it cured. By then I had fixed the stuff with another type of epoxy they had. Mounting the servos as shown on the plans is going to be a problem as the screws needed are 1/16 in diameter. Last years  builders used the servo arm hold down screws to hold the servos down. One of the teachers mentioned using two sided tape but I didn't think that would hold. Then I remembered that the servos in the Sig Kobra were held in with two sided foam tape. That will solve a big problem. The money for the covering and stuff has been approved and we should be getting the stuff in a week or so.
  I have the Stuka framed up. I'm using an OS .25 and the plans show a Brodak .25 which is 3/8 shorter than the OS. I didn't figure that out until this morning. That brings the engine real close to the fuel tank outlets and running the fuel lines will be a problem. I bought the kit at the Brodak flyin in June. I still haven't come up with a scheme for the scratch built plane yet.