A day to paint

When I saw the weather report I knew it was time to paint the El Camino. I got out at 0600 and started to sand the body. The rust inhibitor was really a rust fertilizer and it took 4 hours to get it all off. And I didn't have to do the hood or fenders. I had bought 2 quarts of epoxy primer and mixed 2:1 with the hardener gave me 3 quarts of paint. I didn't have all the parts to my pressure regulator so I partially closed the shutoff on the hose to reduce the pressure. It must have worked. I got one coat from each can of paint so I had the exact amount needed for the job. During the touch up at the end I managed to spray myself in the face making a mess of my glasses. I had to use thinner to clean them and Palmolive dish soap to clean me. I left the car to dry overnight and have to put all the stuff back on for the trip to Groton for a windshield and exhaust system. And a radiator, someone put a sheet metal screw in a hole. It works with the cap on loose.

Time to paint

I bought some epoxy primer for the El Camino and hope to get it primered this week. The rust preventive I applied several weeks ago didn't work and I have to sand it all over again. I figure on doing it one small part at a time. I can use a smaller gun and not waste too much paint. $40.00 a quart. $60.00 when you add the hardener. I went to the defunct dog racing track and flew one of my older planes yesterday and today. It's the one with a maple core fuselage. It flies quite well but I made the leading edge of the wing too sharp and I have to be real carefull in hard corners. Rather don't do hard corners. I learned from the visit to Brodaks contest that I've been flying my planes too slow. I zipped this one up to 4.5 to 4.8 second laps and it made a big difference. The dog track parking lot must be 30 acres and all the light poles have been taken out so there isn't any obstacles to hit, only asphalt. No more flights until I get the car painted.

Bad day at the pits.

My horseshoe pitching has been poor for about a year and a half now. At a tournament Sun. my bad skill continued. It rained hard for an hour before my class pitched and the clay was real sloppy. Others in my class were doing well pitching well over their average and their best games against me it seemed.
I have to get some primer for the El Camino as my primary parts store will be closing in the near future. It's a family owned store and not aligned with any name brand store. The owners are at retirement age and a new Advance auto parts will be opening soon about a quarter mile away. The parts store has been open since about 1967. The only job the family has had. One kid left and went to work for E.B. in Groton but the other is still there and must find another job.
I got in a few flights on Sat. Not the plane I wanted to fly because my grandson wanted to see the plane with the star. It's a semi scale P-51 mustang. I flew it and ended up making trim changes for two hours when I got home. The hinge gap sealing tape restricted the control movement and had to come off.The controls didn't quite move the same up and down and while changing that I made a new pushrod. A wheel got tweaked to straighten it and the muffler got bigger holes drilled in it. It flew quite well as it was. The Primary force is 98% complete. I got some checkerboard stuff and finished the covering and sprayed clear on the fuse. I figured out why this can of clear was a lot older than the rest of the cans on the shelf at the hobby shop. It's flat clear. I didn't read the label until after spraying the plane.Too late. Any way, I'll probably get a can of gloss clear and hit it again. Final weight is 32 ounces. Real light for a kit built and I added and ounce or two in extra balsa for vibration control.

Progress on the El Camino.

I finally got the front fenders, grill and bumper on the car. It looks like a car again. It still needs a bunch of stuff to get it road worthy. I attacked the bumper with steel wool and coarse polishing compound to get the shine back. Not to mention Super Clean. I have to get front shocks too. It's getting near. After all the stuff from Richards gets done I'll give it a coat of red primer to hold it until final paint later on.
The Primary Force is nearing completion too. I got some transparent blue covering at Brodaks hobby shop last week and covered the wing and stab. I painted a white stripe along the bottom of the fuse. and red along the top. The Twister will get red transparent on the wing and stab. I'll probably leave the fuse. natural to save a little weight. Both powered by Fox .35's. Seeing as how I've modified the kit shape I think I'll name it "lil Hobo". I tried to get in a flight today but some one was working on the entrance to the field gate and the grass hasn't been mowed either. School ends this week so I'll have more choices by Friday.

Brodaks

The pictures below don't do the contest justice. The blue scale model of a Super Tucano is built from plans by 23 members of the team from Brazil. Each member built one, not all worked on this one. It is a stunter that flew very well. They were powered by 2 strokes and 4 strokes with one on a tuned pipe. The facility is in the back yard of John Brodak and lasts for 7 days. Old time stunt, AMA stunt,( 4 classes), carrier, speed limit combat, and some novelty events. Some of the ringmaster models were built so light that the wings folded in flight. Other pictures can be viewed on www.clstunt.com www.stunthangar.com www.brotherhoodofthering.info. Look for mention of Brodaks or stuff by Elwin Aud or Bill Mohrbacher. Bill also goes by G.WillyFox. And also PhotoJoe has some shots.

Brodaks fly in

Brodaks' fly in 2008, Carmichaels PA.

I spent two days at the largest control line contest in the world 6-12 and 13-08. Temps in the low 90's and very light winds.