I was watching Mike Holmes fix some house when they were using a roll of fiberglass mesh sticky tape on wall board joints. There was a roll of the stuff left here several years ago and I got to wondering about it. I wanted to test just how sticky it was and put a strip over a hole in the basement ceiling. It stuck. I got the spackle and spread some on the tape covering the hole. It stayed put and is now dry. Then I started covering holes and seams all over the ceiling. One thing led to another and now the ceiling is painted and I patched the holes in the dark room ceiling too. That is drying and can be painted in a few days.
The driveway still needs seal coating. I found some sealer at Benny's for $23.00 a pail. I need the ambition first.
We made another video of me flying this morning. It came out blurred as I aimed it higher than the first outing and the camera couldn't focus. It was enough to show me where I need to work on. The overhead 8's go off center a lot.
A fun fly at Wrentham next weekend.
As with the El Camino the carb. didn't open all the way. The pedal assembly needed to be taken out and the arm slipped off the splined shaft and rotated one spline. The pedal sticks out a lot more but the carb. opens up now. Wicked power.
Saturday, September 27, 2014
Saturday, September 20, 2014
Well?
I found that several windows needed putty and paint. I got that done yesterday morning. The putty needed 2 hours before paint so I headed to the field to mow. The farmer had cut the hay the day before and I figured he would turn it that morning while I was fixing windows. We got to the field at the same time. I got the mowers hooked up and running and mowed the runway. Then I stopped the two pushers and the mower deck so I could get to the circle without messing up the hay that covered the pathway. I got the circle mowed and again stopped the pushers for the return trip to the shed. Then I went home and painted the putty and installed the windows.
This morning I looked at the cracks in the driveway and measured the square footage of the drive and came up with 1960 sq. ft. I experimented with mixing some dry sand with the crack filler I bought several years ago. I had cleaned out two of the cracks and mixed the sand/filler to an asphalt like consistency. Then I put it into the crack. I liked the way it went and went to the river to get some more sand. I mixed up all the filler with sand and filled the cracks I had cleaned out. It's drying now. I had poured the filler in right out of the bottle years ago and it is too runny to stay in the crack before running downhill out of the crack. Mixing it with the sand cures that problem. Now to see if it cures properly. I'm thinking of getting someone to apply sealcoating to the whole driveway shortly. If it looks good in a few days I'll get another jug of filler and fill the rest of the cracks before calling the "anything for a buck.ten" folks.(they raised their prices)
We made a video of me flying and I saw several areas that were bad and have been working on them. The winds are getting stronger and blowing right into the sun which is normal here in the fall and winter and spring. Cloudy days are the best for practice for a while.
The powers that be in c/l stunt have put another nail in the coffin of c/l stunt. The world has gone to ARF models in r/c and c/l stunt has made it mandatory to build your own plane for c/l stunt if you want to come close to winning. Nobody is building any more and the powers that be won't get off that band wagon. The international governing body the FAI doesn't even have a build you own model rule. Everything and everybody in this universe or the universe takes the path of least resistance which in this case is a ready built model and c/l stunt has jumped off the earth. In a few decades c/l stunt will be a thing of the past.
This morning I looked at the cracks in the driveway and measured the square footage of the drive and came up with 1960 sq. ft. I experimented with mixing some dry sand with the crack filler I bought several years ago. I had cleaned out two of the cracks and mixed the sand/filler to an asphalt like consistency. Then I put it into the crack. I liked the way it went and went to the river to get some more sand. I mixed up all the filler with sand and filled the cracks I had cleaned out. It's drying now. I had poured the filler in right out of the bottle years ago and it is too runny to stay in the crack before running downhill out of the crack. Mixing it with the sand cures that problem. Now to see if it cures properly. I'm thinking of getting someone to apply sealcoating to the whole driveway shortly. If it looks good in a few days I'll get another jug of filler and fill the rest of the cracks before calling the "anything for a buck.ten" folks.(they raised their prices)
We made a video of me flying and I saw several areas that were bad and have been working on them. The winds are getting stronger and blowing right into the sun which is normal here in the fall and winter and spring. Cloudy days are the best for practice for a while.
The powers that be in c/l stunt have put another nail in the coffin of c/l stunt. The world has gone to ARF models in r/c and c/l stunt has made it mandatory to build your own plane for c/l stunt if you want to come close to winning. Nobody is building any more and the powers that be won't get off that band wagon. The international governing body the FAI doesn't even have a build you own model rule. Everything and everybody in this universe or the universe takes the path of least resistance which in this case is a ready built model and c/l stunt has jumped off the earth. In a few decades c/l stunt will be a thing of the past.
Tuesday, September 16, 2014
New roof coming.
I checked the email this morning and found one from our realtor that was sent last night at 11:00pm. It said there would be someone to look at the house at 0945 tomorrow. That is today, 2 hours from when we figured out what tomorrow really meant. I had scheduled a roofer to give an estimate at 10:00 am. That would show the lookers that the roof wouldn't be an issue.
We went into a frenzy getting the house squared away for the lookers and finished with minutes to spare. Close to 10:00 a car pulled into the drive with two people in it. The roofers. They measured and talked and came up with a figure I liked and we signed the papers. I called the other roofer that was scheduled for 4:45 this afternoon and cancelled him.
Still no looker.I went to the realtor and had a firm chat. It's bad enough he couldn't make this showing either and it was left to us to be the guide he found a text from the other realtor cancelling after the appointment time. At least we got something accomplished this morning. Then it started to rain.
The Kaman property has been sold finally.
We went into a frenzy getting the house squared away for the lookers and finished with minutes to spare. Close to 10:00 a car pulled into the drive with two people in it. The roofers. They measured and talked and came up with a figure I liked and we signed the papers. I called the other roofer that was scheduled for 4:45 this afternoon and cancelled him.
Still no looker.I went to the realtor and had a firm chat. It's bad enough he couldn't make this showing either and it was left to us to be the guide he found a text from the other realtor cancelling after the appointment time. At least we got something accomplished this morning. Then it started to rain.
The Kaman property has been sold finally.
Sunday, September 14, 2014
It is winter again.
45 degrees this morning. If it was Feb. that would be warm. I'm waiting for the temp. to get up into the 50's before heading to the field.
I flew before the high school class last Friday morn. The battery for the trainer took a long time to charge but I had the big Ringmaster which didn't want to start until I used the starter. I got in two flights with that before the battery was charged. Things went well. The class is progressing rapidly building their planes. A lot faster than last years group.
The left hand taps came in and I finished the pushrod. I aim to install it in one of the kits that are on order. Probably the P-40B profile as I can adjust it easily and figure out what needs improvement for the full bodied kit.
The Polynesian has been plagued with bad engine runs since it was new. I changed engines, tanks and fuels with no change. I built it with an r/c motor mount as that gives me a big bay for the fuel tank which allows me to use any kind of tank. It also removed the beams in the motor crutch that are 9 inches long and run from the spinner to past the wing leading edge. Which removes all the stiffness in the tank area allowing the fuel to be whipped into a frenzy. I made some pieces of 1/8" light ply to fit into the tank bay joining the firewall, fuselage sides and second former together just like the crutch would. I got in a few test flights and all went well. I'll fly it again today.
The contests so far have been good. I've placed third in both which is good. Of note is that 'many' people tell me that my flying is great, even the judges. But the scores don't show it. One judge gave me a 38 out of 40 for my takeoff and level laps( he said he gave me 40) and the other gave me 30 for the same maneuver. The only thing I can figure is that after the third lap when the maneuver is over ,and the judges stop judging that maneuver, the low judge saw me climb the plane to see where if I was standing in the circle. Nats judge my ass. My second flight had even judging by the same two but not good enough for second place.
At the next contest I was the only entrant in old time stunt and had changed props and not test flown the combo. I ended up pancaking it on the vertical eights. Still came in first. The first weekend in October is the next contest here.
I flew before the high school class last Friday morn. The battery for the trainer took a long time to charge but I had the big Ringmaster which didn't want to start until I used the starter. I got in two flights with that before the battery was charged. Things went well. The class is progressing rapidly building their planes. A lot faster than last years group.
The left hand taps came in and I finished the pushrod. I aim to install it in one of the kits that are on order. Probably the P-40B profile as I can adjust it easily and figure out what needs improvement for the full bodied kit.
The Polynesian has been plagued with bad engine runs since it was new. I changed engines, tanks and fuels with no change. I built it with an r/c motor mount as that gives me a big bay for the fuel tank which allows me to use any kind of tank. It also removed the beams in the motor crutch that are 9 inches long and run from the spinner to past the wing leading edge. Which removes all the stiffness in the tank area allowing the fuel to be whipped into a frenzy. I made some pieces of 1/8" light ply to fit into the tank bay joining the firewall, fuselage sides and second former together just like the crutch would. I got in a few test flights and all went well. I'll fly it again today.
The contests so far have been good. I've placed third in both which is good. Of note is that 'many' people tell me that my flying is great, even the judges. But the scores don't show it. One judge gave me a 38 out of 40 for my takeoff and level laps( he said he gave me 40) and the other gave me 30 for the same maneuver. The only thing I can figure is that after the third lap when the maneuver is over ,and the judges stop judging that maneuver, the low judge saw me climb the plane to see where if I was standing in the circle. Nats judge my ass. My second flight had even judging by the same two but not good enough for second place.
At the next contest I was the only entrant in old time stunt and had changed props and not test flown the combo. I ended up pancaking it on the vertical eights. Still came in first. The first weekend in October is the next contest here.
Thursday, September 4, 2014
Stealing another idea.
At the Lee contest I saw a guy adjust the elevator push rod with a wrench through a small slot in the fuselage. I asked about it and he showed me what it was. The pushrod has a right hand thread on one end and a left hand thread on the other just like a turnbuckle. It just so happens that Du-Bro makes a 1/4 scale turnbuckle. I bought a package with 2 in it. The thread is 4-40. After looking at it for a while this morning I took a Dave Brown arrow shaft pushrod set and tapped the end plug 4-40. The left hand thread 4-40 tap I found on Amazon and ordered a set. I'll tap the other end plug left hand and It's ready to go. The plastic will act to prevent the rod from turning in flight. I figure some flats on the shaft for adjustment or some holes to poke a rod in to turn the shaft like a windlass.
After watching videos made by a person flying alone I figured out how to do it. We set the camera up a few feet outside the circle on a tri pod set at it's lowest position. The video came out very well just missing the very top of the overhead maneuvers.
After watching videos made by a person flying alone I figured out how to do it. We set the camera up a few feet outside the circle on a tri pod set at it's lowest position. The video came out very well just missing the very top of the overhead maneuvers.
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