Made out at the contest raffle, again.

We started for Tulsa at 0500 Friday morning. 700 miles later we arrived, a bit pooped and mad at the Waze and GPS systems.
At the contest Saturday I managed a third in the profile event and my Gypsy engine used up a lot of fuel and ran short both flights even though I put in more fuel for the second flight. There was three kids flying in beginner all from the same family I think. I told the mother to stay for the raffle as I always get a large box and with the Hyundai having 3 planes in it I will give it to the kids. As I predicted I won a large box with an ARF plane inside. I gave it to her. A few minutes later I won a plane all built and ready to fly that I gave her too. Others gave the planes they won so the kids are well stocked for a while. Or until grampa runs out of engines. To top off the raffle I won another plane scratch built by the late Mike Donovan. It's another Gypsy and painted not monokoted. I was stunned and managed to put it into the car. I won a bunch of other items that are usable and some that are not. I did get more than my moneys worth.
  We took a shorter route home but the time was the same. 685 miles this time. A two day trip up and back next time.
  I took the hungry engine out of my Gypsy and installed it into the new one. I used the fuel tank that came with it and it had a lot of black stuff in it that clogged the filter. It took a while to clean the stuff out and do some other trimming work on it for the first flight here soon.

Needless to say.

You must use the proper amount of epoxy hardener or it will stay a bit soft.
  I sprayed some primer on the plane and sanded followed by some filler and more sanding. Then, just for the heck of it, I did some more sanding. Will it help? Not the way I do things, no.Tower Hobbies has a sale on covering so I ordered 6 rolls. I'll cover the wings and stab. and things when it comes in.
  I got in some flights with the Hound Dog and Nomad at the Zachary field on Sat. I felt that the 63 foot lines were not what I had hoped and changed back to 62 foot lines at home. The Nomad seemed nose heavy so I made a handle adjustment and that helped. I noticed that I had a muffler that is 2 ounces or so and that I had put some tail weight to compensate. At home I put a tongue muffler on and removed the tail weight.
The balance didn't change so I left the leadouts where they were. I got in two flights this Sunday morning and it flew very well. I flew the Hound Dog this morning with the shorter lines and it is ready for the contest as well. The Gypsy is still flying well and I put larger wheels on as the grass grabs the 2 inch wheels. Another flight with that one to check the line adjustment and wheels and it's ready to go. Two bolts and the Hyundai rear seat back comes out and the planes can go in. No war bird event so I only need 3 planes.

Almost there.

I had thinned some Poly Crylic with water and alcohol to try on this plane. I used it to apply the fiberglass cloth to the fuselage. Two coats where I usually use three coats of un thinned stuff. Then I thinned some Spackle

with the same thinner and brushed a coat on the fuselage followed by a light sanding and a third coat of Poly Crylic. Then I installed the fuel tank and wiggled the nose gear in place. The engine went in fine as it has been in  before but without the muffler. I lined all the holes in the nose that take the needle valve and tools and screws with pieced of brass tubing. That protects the wood and paint from abuse. I weighed it and got 46.9 ounces before covering and paint. So it should land around 55 ounces.
  I tried a different formula for the epoxy and micro balloons fillets.The 5 minute epoxy I always use set up a bit too fast in these warmer temperatures and the 30 minute stuff is way too slow. I tried adding 25% 30 minute hardener to the 5 minute hardener and was able to do one wing root all the way around and the stabilizer on both sides with time to spare before it set up. Just for giggles I used the 30 minute resin and 5 and 30 minute hardener mixed as before and got the same results on the other half of the wing root. I figure the only difference is the hardener. Now I need to spray on a coat of primer and fill the low spots before covering the wing and stab and final color paint.

Progress on the new one.

I've got most of the building done and it's up to filling and sanding. Lots of sanding. No flaps or elevators in the picture. It's a full fuselage version of my Nomad design with trike gear. I'm thinking of naming it Super Nomad.
  The club has been getting together on Saturdays for the last month. Lots of flying and talking. I'm not used to others being around when I fly so I set up in the other circle and use the stooge rather than haul the plane, with wires attached, to the circle, fly and haul it back to the pits.Today there was 4 circles in use. The two with the paved centers and two all grass circles. All kinds of planes flew. I've never seen this kind of activity in control line only r/c.

Fuel tanks and other screw ups.

A few days after sending the second wrong fuel tank back I got the one that I ordered. Luckily? it doesn't fit the plane. Just great.
   I got ahead of my building the new plane again. I don't cut the fuselage to install the wing. The wing has the bellcrank to flaps pushrod sticking out of the wing. The wing opening in the fuselage isn't big enough for the pushrod to slip through so I remove it, install the wing and re install the pushrod. In order to do that I need access to the top of the wing. I had sheeted the fuselage top over the wing. I had to cut it off before I could install the wing. I hate to ruin good balsa as it's pricey. I need to remove the engine from the Shark and install it in the new plane so I can start carving the nose and the removable cowl.
   I went to the club field this morning with the big Shark and the newly fixed electric Pathfinder. The Shark engine ran quite well and the Pathfinder held the batteries on board. I had put an ounce of lead in the nose a while back but with the larger batteries I don't need it so I drilled it out.
 I mixed up a new 5 gallon batch of fuel and will give it a try tomorrow.