Windy days.

I went to the Doyle's Bayou park to help get the circles prepared for the Oct. contest. We made cement pads to stand on when flying.
  My covering came in and I got the Wildcat wing covered yesterday. Today I put on some fillets and will give the fuselage a coat of primer when the fillets are ready. Shortly after that I'll try the aluminum paint.
  The winds are forecast to be within flying limits by Monday. I want to test the longer lines on the Hound Dog and a few other things before the contest this coming weekend.

Coming together.

I went to the park this morning with the Pathfinder and Hound Dog. The Pathfinder flew very well with the nose weight. The Hound Dog with the Fox .35 muffler flew well also but it always has. I'm hoping the extra weight of the muffler will help it in windy conditions. I made up a set of lines 63 feet long for the Hound Dog which will give me a bit more time on the maneuver segments. Both Nomads fly very well on 65 foot lines.
  I figured out a way to align the wing in the fuselage and set in and lined it up and glued it. The covering should be here today, UPS. I bought a can of aluminum paint and it's a metallic and could create a streaky mess, the way I do things. I was able to temporarily install  the stab./elev. and the hinges.

Nose weight = good.

After breakfast we went to Central to the bank to get some money. That's the closest ATM that doesn't charge us to withdraw funds. It's about 12 miles away. When we got home I loaded the electric Pathfinder and the Shark 610 and we headed to the park. I was happy that the Pathfinder flew much better with the 1.1 ounce .57 caliber bullet in the nose. It rattled around a bunch but the pin held it in place. The Shark started off well but within the first lap it went off the rails. The outboard wing was high causing control problems. I flew the tank out and found the wing tab missing. The tab compensates for a warp in the wing I can't get out otherwise. I picked it up for a look see and found the covering that the tab is secured to had come loose and was flopping around now that it was on the ground. At home I heat sealed the covering back  onto the wing and put cellophane tape over the seams. I removed the bullet from the Pathfinder nose and squirted some black gasket sealant in the scoop and placed the bullet back in. It's curing and should be ready in the morning.
  I got two Fox .35 mufflers the other day and one was a "tilt up" style that I've been looking for. Fox makes tilt up and tilt down mufflers but the tilt up is rare and is needed for an engine that's inverted. The normal tilt down muffler will point at the leading edge of the wing the tilt up muffler will point under the wing as the engine is inverted reversing things. I want to try it on the Hound Dog.
  Tomorrow may be too windy to fly but Thursday is forecast to be much better.

More progress.

I had to wait until afternoon as rain was falling in the morning. The wind was not too bad and I got two flights each with the .40 engines. The first had a tongue muffler and went kinda OK. The other had a stock muffler and I hooked the tank up to muffler pressure and that is the answer.
  I didn't have enough fiberglass cloth to cover the Wildcat fuselage so I made a side trip to the hobby shop. I had to settle for 3/4 ounce cloth as they didn't have 1/2 ounce which I prefer. I covered one side of the fuselage and it's drying, I'll finish the fuselage tomorrow.
  I haven't been flying the electric planes as I couldn't get any weights on the nose of the Pathfinder. The motor shaft is way too big for any of the spinner weights I have or can find. It occurred to me today that I could hollow out the fake air intake under the motor and put some weights in there. I was able to get about an ounce in and it's ready for a test flight sometime.

Getting somewhere.

The original tank cured the engine run problem in the Nomad. I ran 3 tanks of fuel with half synthetic oil to clean out the castor build up. Then I got in 3 more normal flights with it.
At the park this morning I brought the Shark 665 and 610. The .40 size engine on the 610 has been giving me problems for a long time as has the other two .40's I have. At home I installed a venturi with a smaller hole to help with fuel draw. I figure that the bigger venturi flows too much and the engine can't get enough fuel in flight. I tested it here and put in 2 ounces of fuel. It ran for 5 minutes which proves something is happening for the good. I changed a second engine and it ran for 5 minutes also. I think I'm on the right track. I'll find out for sure in the morning.
  I'm up to filling and sanding on the wildcat. I found a color scheme that was used by the Navy before WW2. Colorful to say the least.

Together again.

I managed to put the Wildcat together and see what needs more attention. Not much as it turned out. I started on the wing tips and glued the balsa skin on one side of the fuselage. I'm thinking of fiberglass cloth to cover the bare balsa. I got two more Fox .35 mufflers and two stanchions  for the Ajusto-Jig. I put one of the mufflers on the first Nomad. I changed tanks on it too and that didn't work out too good. I put the original back on. I'll bring a round tank with me tomorrow as I can't get enough fuel in this one.

Things are coming together.

I've got the major parts for the Wildcat cut out and mostly glued together. The wing is up to leading edge sheeting and the fuselage is ready for skinning. The tail pieces are made and hinged. I may have to use a 3 inch bellcrank instead of a 4 inch as the hobby shop is out of 4 inchers.
 At the park this morning the winds were about perfect except for being variable in direction but not too much. I got the handle and lines on the Hound Dog set and the Nomad+ is flying very well. I removed the restriction from the muffler to up the power a bit. I snagged the release line on the first landing with the Nomad and that pulled the tail wheel off. I used two elastics to put it back on and fixed it good when I got home.

Change is good.

After flying the Bearcat I knew some changes had to be made. First I removed the 1 degree shim under the engine then I moved the elevator push rod to a higher hole to cut down the elevator travel. I took a set of 63.5 foot lines and put them on the Hound Dog. After flying with the longer lines I put 62 footers back on. The Hound Dog likes the shorter lines. The Bearcat responded to the changes very well. It didn't hunt like it had and handled the rough air quite well.
   The balsa order came in yesterday afternoon and I got started on the fuselage right away. Today it's ready to be skinned but I'm holding off so I can remember to do something before closing things up. Ribs and tail pieces to be cut out yet.

Beating the Easter rush.

I headed to the park early so I could get ahead of the soccer kids and Easter kids. Most of the field was marked off but I had enough room to fly in the soccer field area. I got in 3 flights with the Hound Dog and by then people were showing up fast. I got in 3 more flights with the Bearcat and by then a car was driving around placing cones by the road side. It was time to leave. I made some changes to the Bearcat, removed the down thrust shim and less elevator travel when I got home.
 I went to the hobby shop and only got some landing gear wire, tail wheels and a tip weight box. They didn't have a 4 inch bell crank or an adjustable leadout guide. Still waiting for my balsa order.

Chipmunk is resting.

The club got together at the field this morning. I was there early and managed to get in three flights with the Chipmunk and the Hound Dog. Eventually the flying gave way to the obligatory bull session and it was time to leave anyway so I did. At home I cleaned the planes and took the engine off the Chipmunk and took down the Bearcat. I found all the pieces and managed to get the engine back in the Bearcat. I drilled 5 more holes in the tongue muffler just because I could. Some cleaning and then I sealed the hinge gaps. It's ready for flying in the morning. I added a foot to the lines for the Hound Dog so that will be another test flight. I have the P-40-B waiting in case the Bearcat doesn't work out. I have 4 events to fly in at the El Dorado contest. Classic with the Gypsy, profile with the Nomad, warbird to be determined and stunt with the Hound Dog. The contest is the first weekend of May so I have time to prepare.

Chipmunk and Dale.

I put the Chipmunk on the balancer and found it to be tail heavy which I suspected. I had a 2 ounce hub on the big Shark so I took it off and put it on the Chipmunk. That brought it real close to the balance point on the plans. We went to the park this morning and the Chipmunk flew a lot better. A few changes to the handle and it was better yet. I had a plastic tank on it so I could get short flights for the test. I'll get in some full flights in the morning and see how it goes.
  I went to the other Office Depot to get the plans printed. As luck would have it the lady doing the printing was the same one that worked here before the flood. She got things going and soon I had two copies of the plans. Something was a bit off. When I got home I put a ruler on the 12 inch scale on the plans and it measured 12 1/2 inches. I figure about 1% larger than it should be. I'm going with it anyway. I managed to make the engine mount out of aluminum channel instead of maple. Time will tell if it was a good idea. The balsa was shipped today and should be here mid next week. I bought some tracing paper and marked up the tail pieces so I wouldn't have to cut up the plans this time.

Running good.

I went to the park early to beat the forecast winds. I got in three flights with the Nomad and the fixes I made worked. The fuel burn is back to where it should be and still getting 10 laps after the pattern. Next time out I'll reduce the fuel load some. I brought the Chipmunk and tried to get in a flight but the winds had picked up and the controls are over sensitive. At home I drilled another hole in the control horn and reduced the elevator travel about 75%. I can increase it to get it flying like I want.
 I stopped at the Office Depot and got their email so I could send them the pdf files of the new Wildcat plans. This plane can be used in two events, profile and warbird. I was waiting for the designer to make a set of plans for engine power vs. electric and got them sent to Office Depot. I'll check on it this afternoon.
 I finally got around to trimming the bushes near the fence so I can get through with the push mower without getting scratched up. I filled 4 trash bags with the branches. Three bags fit into the trash can.

Another fix.

I was pondering how to reduce the area of the muffler exit gracefully. The rubber hose didn't work. I took one of the original mufflers and that has the right size exit hole and the outside barely fits into the Fox muffler exit. I cut off a short piece of the stock muffler end and with a little persuasion got it into the Fox muffler. Now it's got the right size exit hole and it won't burn up. I'll give it a try in the morning before the wind picks up.
 My next project is going to be a profile version of the Grumman Hellcat. I have to get plans made from pdf files first.

Fixed vibes.

I tried the plane with the Fox muffler attached and the engine ran well. I put the tongue muffler back on and the engine went wild again so I put the Fox back on. That changed the balance so I made the proper changes and added an extension to the muffler to redirect the exhaust away from the plane. I also put a restriction in it to reduce the opening. I used gasoline rubber hose of 5/16 i.d. I flew it this morning and was getting 30 laps after the pattern. I reduced the amount in the tank to an unheard of 3.25 ounces and still got 15 laps extra. At home I removed the head and looked things over. Nothing seemed out of the norm. I took the extension off and it looked good. I put it back on and then off again and removed the reducer. The inside end had burned and closed up some, I figure, causing the extra run time. I have the head and bolts soaking in Castrol Super Clean to remove the burned on castor oil and will reassemble it in a few hours. Test flight tomorrow. First time I flew the engine with the Fox muffler I couldn't get enough fuel in to complete the pattern. Oh well the vibration problem is solved anyway.

Bad Vibes.

At the park this morning I flew the newer Nomad. The engine was vibrating  a bit and just after lift off it went into high speed. This has happened to other planes in the past so I'm pretty sure it's because of the vibration. I checked the prop balance and it's good. I looked at the other profile planes I have and all run  well and all have a normal muffler. Thinking that the extra weight could control some of the vibration I removed the light tongue muffler and put a 2.5 ounce muffler on. The winds are above limits again so I have to wait until tomorrow morning to test my theory. I have a rubber diverter that redirects the exhaust and that ads a bit more weight and I have the stock muffler which is an ounce heavier still. The first Nomad didn't have this happen and it has the same tongue muffler. I may swap engines with that plane.
  There is a couple carnival trailers left at the park still. The grounds keepers were filling ruts yesterday.

Got it.

We went to the park this morning and the carnival people were still there. The end of the field they are on is torn up by their tires and not usable for model planes. I went to the soccer fields across from the carnival and got in some flights. As I left I dropped one of the log books I keep on each engine so I can fuel and tune it the same each flight.
  At home I drove back to the hardware store with my 5 gallon pail and got 5 gallons of methanol. $3.50 a gallon at this store. That brings my cost per gallon down to $9.50. I now have enough fixin's to make over 30 gallons of fuel. If I win some fuel at the contest raffles that will reduce the cost a lot more.
  Back at home I noticed that the log book was missing. I coupled a trip to Home Depot with going to the park to retrieve the book. That worked out as planned.

Wasted trip.

After buying methanol from the carb. shop I still needed 3 gallons to be able to use up all the castor oil I bought. I had called the hardware store and they had some. I bought 15 gallons from them several years ago and had no problems with it. I fixed up 3 one gallon plastic jugs and drove to the store. I asked for 3 gallons of methanol and was told that there was a 5 gallon minimum. RATS!! I went back home and figured out a way to use one of the 5 gallon pails I already have. I poured the methanol from the big jug into the 5 one gallon plastic jugs I had in the shed. Problem solved.
I took a chance and went to the park with a couple planes. The carnival was breaking down and packing up but the far side of the field was flyable. Very little standing water to worry about unlike the place the carnival was in. Which is now rutted with tire tracks.
 The Nomads I built use the Legacy 40 wing. Brodak Mfg. sells the kit and the already built planes. Called ARF, which stands for Almost Ready to Fly, and ARC, Almost Ready to Cover. I bought laser cut ribs for the second plane which reduced the amount of work required to build the wing. The other day I wondered if Brodak has already built wings from the ready made kits for sale. That would really speed things up. I'll call them later today. The ARC version would be perfect as it's bare wood structure.

Fuel testing.

I started to use the new fuel mix in my biggest engines and so far they are responding quite well. I used to use fuel with 10% nitro in those engines which is more costly. My mix runs longer on the same amount and produces as much power. These engines are old school and newer school and limited production engines. All from Europe, Japan and China. Doing this has made me make some changes to a plane built in China and that made it fly very well. I made the same changes to the plane that I built from a kit of the same plane. Of course the winds are too high and the carnival is still at the park but by the time the winds calm down the carnival will be gone. I looked over the park this morning and there is lots of usable space to fly away from the carnival stuff. Maybe if I can get out early enough before the winds pick up I can test the last of my .60 size engines.