Fixing screwups.

As careful as I can get I applied the name of two planes on the wings. They really looked good until I realized that I put the names on the wrong wings. They should be on the left wing. After a while I figured that putting a second name on the other wing would balance things out. I contacted the graphics guy and he made me two more sets plus another set for the full fuselage version.
  I flew the Twister with the new engine and it ran very well. I had to use lines from another plane as I forgot to bring the right lines.
  The electrics that control the motor speed and run time acted up on the second flight. I tried to re program it but couldn't. I sent it back for repair. I did fly the other electric plane and it's flying very well. It has pote

ntiometers and is easier to adjust.

I got a haircut an an engine.

Before going flying I went across the street for a haircut. The retired barber used to fly models but is getting rid of them. He found an engine in the pile of stuff and saved it for me. An older O.S. .30 r/c engine. The carb. is broken but I had a c/l venturi that fit. I put a few drops of alcohol in the engine and it loosened up nicely. I put a propeller on and clamped it on the saw horse engine running stand. It started after I got the right needle valve setting and ran well. Then I took the Fox .35 off one of the Twisters and installed the O.S. in the nose. As of now it's ready to fly but I still need to use up the batteries as the wind was blowing into the sun and I left after two flights.

Ready to fly.

After much searching I copied the paint scheme on my Nomad 5. I had the paint and something to go by so it worked. I put it back together and set the controls again and the paint has had a chance to cure. I charged the batteries for the electric planes and they are next up so the Mo'Best will have to wait a bit.
  The new engine parts came in from Japan late last week. I have 3 smaller engines that share common parts with the larger engine I'm building. I only ordered the missing parts needed to build two complete engines. The crankcase, the cylinder head and the piston pin. I had bought the piston and liner years ago from Tower Hobbies and I have 9 spare back plates not counting the ones on the donor engines. Anyway, I got both engines assembled in a couple hours without hurrying. I made hex socket head bolts for the head and they were ready for use. The stock bolts are Phillips and strip easily.
  I've been running engines on boards clamped to anything handy and that is getting old. I won an engine test stand in a raffle and I mounted it on a 2 x 6 and still had to clamp that to something. Yesterday i checked the saw horse supply at Home Depot and found a plastic one for under  $20.00. I bolted the 2 x 6 to the top of it and ran the engines. Much easier. I'll put one on the Shark 610 and the other on the Bearcat.

Moving right along.

With the adjustments working on my profile planes the Mo'Best is getting a make over. I removed the paint with thinner and stripper and scraping. Now it's filling and sanding. I never liked the paint scheme but it didn't fly well enough to put all the work into the new finish until now. Now I have to find a design I like and can easily copy.
  I found that the manufacturer of the engines I use has a stash of parts for them. They discontinued the engine a while back and complete engines are scarce and getting quite expensive. I ordered two crankcases and heads as I have all the other parts to make two complete engines. The parts are coming from Japan so it may take a while.
  I have decided on a diet for my engines of full synthetic oil fuel after every 15 flights to clean out the castor oil residue that fouls the engine and causes erratic running.
  The first contest I can make is in El Dorado, Ar in early May. The next is in Dallas in early June. Another in Canton Ga in Aug.

All that glitters is not goldfish.

With the success I've been having with the leadouts I tried it on a plane with a full fuselage (not a profile). It didn't work. I figure the round shape of the fuselage, in cross section, allows the air to flow over it more evenly than the slab sided profile. Also there is little to no engine offset built into the full fuselage and I use offset shims on the profiles. Today I'm going to try the Chipmunk. That plane is the poorest overall flying plane I have. I moved the leadouts forward like the others so I'm hoping it helps. If not it will go into the raffle in our October contest.
   I got the title from an old cartoon show "Rocky and Bullwinkle". There was a segment called "Fractured Fairy Tales" in it one comment at the end of the skit was what I used for the title.