Stripping.

I bought some acetone to remove the paint from the Banshee. The paint didn't loosen like I figured. I had to let the acetone soften the paint and then scrape it off. That caused some divots that I'm now filling. Cured Rustoleum is rugged stuff.
  I got the 610 trimmed pretty good and it flys quite well. Only 3 full flights so far.It turned out heavier than I had figured but it's quite light without the battery. Engine powered planes are weighed without fuel in the tank but electric is with the battery ready to fly.
  I got in a few trim flights on the 665 yesterday and managed to get a full flight. The engine quit at 3 laps so I tweaked the needle and tried again. It was a bit fast but I got some usable information and made some changes when I got home.

Building and flying season.

I got the two planes built and the electric 610 sq. in. has 3 flights on it. I'm still trimming that one and the bigger 665 sq. in. is ready for a test flight. I get out before 0800 to fly and then into the shop to make changes. I will strip the paint off the big Banshee and re paint it. It flys well and I can use the extra appearance points here. New England contests don't give appearance points so my crappy paint didn't harm me. In the south and lots of other areas they do give extra points on how nice the planes look.

Started to paint.

I got the covering today and covered the 610 wing. Then I sprayed a coat of primer/sealer on the fuselage and tail. Tomorrow I'll spray the white.
  The club has a new field to call their own. It's the same place that we saw the kids that were victims of attempted murder. Their parents were not so lucky. It's further out than the old spot but it's a place to hold the contest.
I got the new lift supports in from Craftec and put them on the El Camino tonneau cover. I'll start using it to go to the park in the mornings.

Slow going.

The balsa order arrived just as the band saw blew a tire. I tried to fix it but the spray glue wouldn't hold. I ordered two new ones and the other one split. I can't cut the fuselage parts until I get that fixed.
I've been working on the 610 wing halfs and I skinned the 610 fuselage with balsa just to keep things moving. My back is coming along now that I figured out what is really causing the problem. My bed is too soft so I put some boards under the mattress. This is making me miss a lot of good flying weather.

Wrong calculations.

It seems that my way of figuring things wasn't quite right. The wing area I was hoping for won't come out using my 109 figure. The person that designed the original I was trying to enlarge says my figure is 665 sq. in. not 610.. He agreed to lazer cut me some parts for the right size and sent me the plans. While waiting for them to arrive I started on the larger model. The plans answered some questions on where the parts go and how the wing should be constructed. Anyway I have the wing half built and the tail built and some of the nose pieces. I need some 1/2 inch balsa to make the fuselage and that shipped today.

At it again.

I got to the park to fly every day this week. Almost, Sat. I went to a friends house to fly. I took the electric plane out this morning after some trimming. I put 2 ounces of weight in the nose and it flew quite well. I made a change to the lead out location after getting home. I flew the Shark a couple times. At home I got the plans out and went to Office Depot and had them enlarged 109%. That should give me 59/59 inch wing span and a bit over 600 sq. in. of wing area. It builds very light so my usual engines should have no trouble pulling it around. The Mo' Best is that size. I ordered some wood and forgot to get some 1/16 plywood. I have enough balsa to cut the ribs out.
  I ordered two more batteries for the electric plane. That will help.
  The weather has been great all week and is forecast to turn windy and warmer shortly. I'll have to get an air conditioner for the shop pretty soon.

El Dorado weekend.

It started raining about 70 miles from El Dorado. It stopped mid morning the next day but the wind was strong. The coast of La got over a foot of rain and there was over 5 inches at our house.
  I managed to tie one of the best flyers in the south in the warbird stunt  event with my own design P-39 and had to fly again to break the tie which went to the other guy. I'll take a second anyday. Late in the day Sat. the winds died down and we got in the flying that was delayed in the morning. On Sun. I got the Hound Dog out and got some very good scores with it but not enough to get a prize. I got two gallons of fuel in the raffle, I wanted a kit.The GPS and WAYZ took us over to Monroe then down through Natchez, Ms to home. Nice country, even has hills.