Crisis averted.

After coffee this morning I went to the dog track and braved the snow and picked up the new mail box post. The wheel is full of concrete and was a bit heavy to lift into the truck bed. I cut about 6 inches off the steel post and welded a flat base on to hold the wooden base that the mail box is secured to. In it's original capacity the post was painted bright yellow. I gave it a coat of dark gray primer, screwed the box on and put it where it has always been.
The temps today are in the high 30's but the wind is strong and snow covers the ground confounding my attempts to get in some flying. It's better than high 20's.

A crisis in the mail.

It snowed most of the day yesterday, Sunday, and it only amounted to a few inches of wet snow. At night it snowed about two more inches of drier snow. The plows ran all night and the splash off one of the plows knocked my mail box over. It's been there over 20 years and rust had taken it's toll on the steel tube post. I cut a piece of spare tube and stuck it into the ground tube piece and put the top half over it as the box is again usable. I know the plow didn't hit it because the news paper tube is before the mail box and would have been hit and knocked over too.
Last week when I was walking at the dog track I spotted a steel car wheel with a steel pipe welded to it to make a barrier stanchion. I wanted to take it but didn't. I didn't have a use for it until now. I will grab it very soon and put the mail box on it.

Score two on ebay.

The auctions ended quietly with no other bids. Each end mill sells for over $40.00 new. I will wait for an invoice as the seller will combine shipping. His loss, my gain this time. Now I can alter the size of the combustion chambers to suit me, with no real reason for doing so.

Got my stuff today.

The mail man pulled into the yard so I knew my stuff had arrived. I got busy fitting the landing gear to the new plane and installing the new needle valve. I had wire gear on the original and this one is sheet aluminum. Final weight is 45 ounces and the balance is within the range I put on the fuselage. The temps are forecast to be in the low to mid 30's for the next 7 days so a test flight will have to wait. I have bid on two ball end mills on ebay and the first is ending in a few minutes. So far I'm the only bidder but that can change.

Stuff should arrive next week.

I got an e-mail from Leonard Neumann and he never got my first e-mail through his web site.We got things straightened out and the parts should be here by Sat. or early next week.
I found some ball end mills on ebay starting at $2.99 so I bid $3.25 each on a 3/4 and a 15/16". Because of the crash I have a spare head to work with.

Waiting for Leonard.

I left a note on the forum Leonard runs hoping that he would see it and reply. Nothing yet. I will call him tomorrow and if I don't get him I will try elsewhere. I've seen others try to get hold of him on the forum too. No way to run a business.
I ran the OS again today and it started well enough and then went lean. I opened the needle but no change. That means dirt in the line someplace. I took the needle valve apart and hosed it out with brake cleaner spray. It ran well after that.
I put that engine in the new plane and made a hole for the new needle valves if I ever get some. The fuselage side had to be carved out to fit the muffler too. 41.5 ounces with out the landing gear. I think it's lighter than the first time. I got 3 APC props from Tower when I ordered the new engines. 10.5 X 4.5.
I almost made it from start to finish on the new fuselage without getting cut. I took the OS muffler apart and was drilling the exhaust outlet and putting more holes in the baffle, that I generally remove, and ended up with a cut finger. If I'm not bleeding I'm not having fun.
I got a picture of the plane without landing gear and before I installed the engine.

Finished painting today.

I applied the tissue to the new planes new fuselage yesterday and applied 5 coats of dope on top of the tissue. Two more coats of dope this morning and a coat of primer. I sanded most of the primer off and using the last drop of paint I applied 2 coats of color. When that dried I masked off and painted a black glare shield. When that dried I gave it 2 coats of clear. I'm going to let it sit until tomorrow when I'll glue the canopy back on.
I'm waiting to hear from Leonard Neuman. I ordered some needle valve assemblies and landing gear from him. If I don't hear by tomorrow afternoon I'll give him a call. I can use the landing gear from the Vector if I have to. The weather isn't going to be good enough to fly it for a while anyway.