How I do it, cheaply.

Handle holder.

Home made line winder.

Wait is over.

The new mower came on time Monday. I noticed marking on the deck that wasn't what it should be and then I saw that the mower wasn't the right one so I refused delivery. The right one came today and I got to work installing the fittings so I could tow two push mowers like the old mower. It took some welding and drilling but I got things installed and it's ready for the first mowing when the grass recovers from the freeze. I brought the new Pathfinder and the re-controlled Legacy 40 to the park this morning. The Pathfinder flew well but was really touchy on the controls and a bit ligt in line tension. Pretty easy fixes. The Legacy really improved all around. Not much to adjust on that one. I took a strip of clear trim sheet and painted it to match the wing tip bottom where I cut the hole to fix the leadout slider. That looks much better than the patch of blue tape. I also installed a larger fairing over the hole I cut for the external pushrod. The wind has been higher than usual lately and messing things up. Generally around the equanox the wind is stronger than the rest of the year.

The waiting game.

I finished the new Pathfinder two days ago. Ready to fly weight is 52 ounces just like the old one. The weather has been cold in the morning so we have been doing other things instead of flying. Yesterday as I was mowint the lawn the 23 year old Cub Cadet's mower deck broke apart from rust. I scrambled to fix it so I could finish the lawn. This morning I looked up mower dealers and what they have on hand as I need another riding mower for next week. I foound that Lowes carries Craftsman mowers and that the price wasn't too bad. After a trip to the Apple store we stopped at Lowes and bought one. I'vehad two other Craftsman mowers in the past and they gave me good service so why not get another? It is scheduled to be delivered Monday afternoon. I removed the fittings that held the two side push mowers and will install them on the new mower. I figured on going to the field this afternoon but the wind wasn't playing along so I will wait until tomorrow. I'm anxious to test the revamped Legacy 40 and the new Pathfinder.

Yet another screw up. (make that plural)

On my Evo .52 powered Legacy 40 the elevator had a lot of slop. I have been trying to zero the controls but the slop kept me from doing it properly. There was only one cure and that is to run the push rod out of the fuselage side and install a new control horn. T get the push rod routed to the outside I needed a 3/4" hole drilled at an angle in line with the path the push rod would take. That path ended up being 6 inches long. when I got it drilled, with a piece o sharpened brass tube, it extended well beyond the stab. leading edge into plain sight. I had to cut a 1.250 hole in the top of the fuselage so I could get at the front end of the push rod to free it from the flap control horn. There I noticed I had put the rod into the wrong hole so I could fix multiple errors at the same time. I was able to cover most of the exit hole with trim kote and the hole in the fuselage top with black trim that kinda looks like the checker board on the wing. I also weighed the plane and it's 66 ounces. There's nothing I can do about that error. The other Legacy 40 weighs 53 ounces. I went way overboard on the paint o the other one. The controls are nice and not sloppy and I want to test fly it if the wind dies down. Before I cut into the fuselage I had trouble with the leadout guide. I had to cut into the wing tip, on the bottom, and during that repair I managed to break the guide off and had to fix that. During that repair I managed to glue the slider to the plywood guide. During that fix I managed to break the guide off it's mount again. I was more careful with the glue this time. The new Pathfinder got clear coated this morning. It's drying now and hopefully will end up close to 52 ounces ready to fly. That's what I figured anyway and that's what the old one weighs.

Getting there.

I've been working on the new kit of the Pathfinder. i've got all the major parts built. I deceided to cover the parts before final assembly. I had some silk span left over from the last bilds and covered the stab., elev., flaps but ran out before I could cover the wing. I had some "doctor paper" so I used that. I have to cover the wing in four pieces. I got three pieced installed but the last section gave me a lot of trouble. I removed the fourth piece of covering 4 times before I got it right. Anyway I'm in the process of doping the covering before final assembly. It's much easier to get the base layer of paint on while the parts are small. I have a paint scheme picked out so I don't have to wait until I think of one.