First flight day.

I finally figured out what to paint the Jameson and the Flite Streak. I used butyrate dope on both. After painting the base white and red and orange trim colors I had to wait for a dry day to spray the clear. I had my chance and got it done without too many problems. Now they are ready for test flights. I should get a picture or two also. While waiting for a day to paint I took out the Nomad 4. The engine ran well and the takeoff was pretty good. As I pulled into the reverse wingover the outboard stabilizer broke. I didn't see it and when I pulled out inverted the corner radius was way too large and the plane scuffed the ground inverted. The prop and needle valve were broken too. It's fixable. I removed the engine and installed it on the Mo' Best that was to be in the raffle April 4th. I have a few flights on it and it flys better than with the lighter .46 engine. I had to put an ounce of tail weight to get the balance right and the extra weight seems to help. The club has announced a fun day to fly tiny planes. Engine size is to be .049 cubic inches. I built the yellow and red plane for that engine but it's a wall hanger and can't be used, so I'm told. I found another kit at the hobby shop and built that while waiting for a dry day to paint. It went together fast and was ready for paint along with the other two when the dry day came along. The kit said the plane pictured on the box was painted all grey. I didn't have any grey but I did have white and black so I mixed up some grey and painted it. I have to use the engine on the yellow and red plane though.

Usable stuff.

As I was building the Ringmaster I built the small plane in the other post. I've been flying the Ringmaster and it's going well. I've had a fuselage and wing I built and threw the wing away. The fuselage has been around just waiting for me to figure out what to do with it. I built a wing for a Jamison and changed the fuselage to resemble the Jamison fuselage. I installed the wing and stabilizer and set it aside. Now that I figured out what to do with the unbuilt plane It's almost ready for paint. While that is sitting waiting for me to figure out what color and trim scheme for it I remembered I had an old Flite Streak ARF doing nothing. It's useless for contests as you have to be the "builder of the model" to get appearance points. Without that you have no chance of a podium finish. In order to make the plane "legal" you have to build at least the wing or fuselage. I saved the wing and am building the fuselage and tail feathers. It's a profile model. The closest contest is in late August so I may have it done by then.

Long ago and far far away.

In the early to mid 1950's I had acquired a plastic model airplane one Christmas. It came ready to fly with a small engine. The Fuel destroyed the plastic in a few weeks leaving me with an engine. The next town over had a Western Auto store and they had some model airplane kits. Much like the picture here. I somehow got the $1.50 +.05 tax and bought one. I was able to build it and get it into the air once or twice. A historic accomplishment for the time.A few years later the Cox engine ,like the one on the plane, came along. It had the fuel tank attached to the engine greatly simplifying the building process. Since then the whole hobby has grown and improved. This is the first time I scratch built one of these models. Very basic assembly instructions to go by, no dimensions and a fading memory. I planned on flying it but it's a wall hanger now. The wing span is 18 inches, the engine has .049 cubic inches. The wing span on the planes I build now are close to 60 inches.

Flying well.

I have 9 short trimming flights on the Ringmaster and two full tank flights. 4.5 ounces of fuel gives me 6 min. and 30 seconds of engine run time and that's enough for the pattern. I changed lines to .015 x 62 from .018 x 62 as the plane doesn't pull that much. I had put a small ball of putty on the right wing tip before the first flight just to be safe. During the test flights the plane was a bit light on the lines when maneuvering above 45 degrees. Before the last flight today I put another small ball of putty on the right wing tip and now the line tension is acceptable. The weather has been a bit windy and the air is turbulent making any flying a chore. I do what needs to be done and head for home before anything bad happens.

Almost painted.

I had real good weather for spraying the clear. I'm in the middle of trying to figure out what design to put on the wing bottom.

Batteries and other things.

I've been having problems with my batteries not lasting long enough to complete the pattern. After many attempts at fixing the problem I asked for help on the forum. It seems my way of charging the batteries is causing the problem. i have been charging them right after the days flying session and topping them off before the next session. I found that that's the wrong way to go about it. Only charge them right before the flying session. I also learned that the charger has a lot of other functions. Like charging each cell evenly up to the limit. The directions don't say to do this only how to make the charger do it. I haven't found anything in the directions that say how to charge anything just how the charger works. Anyway learning has taken place. I got the conversion cylinder for the revolver and then couldn't find bullets for it. I ordered a box from the same place I got the cylinder and another shipping charge. The cylinder fit like a charm and the bullets fit also. I did find out that using anti-sieze on things would have prevented the cylinder pin from sticking. I'm finishing up the plane kit I got. I am using an engine at the top of the recommended size chart and not electric so I had to fuel proof the fuselage and use dope paint instead of the Rustoleum I have been using. This engine the Evolution .52 is the same size an the Evolution .60 but the plane won't be heavy so I don't think I will need the bigger engine. I had to order some striping tape that will go around corners for the trim paint. At the auto parts store it's over twenty dollars a roll. I found six rolls on Amazon for less than twenty dollars. They came in yesterday and I masked the plane and sprayed the trim on the fuselage and wing. Probably tomorrow I'll turn on the dehumidifier and try to get the clear coats on the fuselage. It's very important to paint in very low humidity. Yesterday we went to the Birdman Cafe for a snack. Take out only but there are tables on the patio. The river is still over flood stage. We couldn't get within a mile. Today I'm going to bring all the contest stuff, tables, pins, banner and scoreboard back to the Zachary field. I think the ground had dried out enough.

Still flying.

That's about all that's going on here for the last month. The second and third contests in this area have been cancelled. The next one is in Georgia in late August. That one has a chance to happen. The big one at Brodak's in Pa. in June is cancelled too. No word yet on the national contest in Muncie, Indiana in July. I have the new Legacy flying pretty well along with the old Legacy. I think I have the battery thing figured out. I got the power down to where I like it and started watching the charging a lot closer. The chargers are not that good. I have to put each battery on more than one station to get the voltage up over 16.92. When I charge to 16.93 or better the thing works like it should. South Park is still operating normally, almost. I bought a kit from one of the cottage kit makers that attends our contests. As usual I'm stalled trying to figure out what colors to paint it. I tried to work the cap and ball revolver and it had stuck again. I broke the cylinder pin and had to take the gun completely apart in order to get it out. After that I ordered a conversion cylinder for it and now it's a .45 center fire cartridge gun not black powder.