A different bike.

We went to the turkey farm on Ekonk hill Sun. and a group of motorcycles pulled in right behind us. One of the Harley's had a trike set up but retained the original rear wheel. Two other wheels, like training wheels, were attached to the rear end using some kind of bracket. Commercially available it had molded fiberglass fenders and all 3 back wheels were on the ground at the same time making a 4 wheel trike. It has AZ plates so I figured it may be normal. That evening while leaving a restaurant in Guilford I saw another 4 wheel trike go by. I think it's a movement. Just thinking about it gives me one.

Maybe summer again.

I took the Fox .40 to the field this morning and made several short flights trying to get a decent run but failed. I tried different needle valves but the same results.
We went to the hobby shop and got 4 gallons of 15% fuel. The Fox ran better on higher nitro but the OS ran a lot better on the same mix. I'll be flying the OS engines for a while. I believe the trouble is related to the warmer weather. The engines ran well this spring.
I may have to mow in Oneco very soon. I have a mower ready to go that has adjustable wheels so I can do the whole circle low down.

Barely spring now.

I was showing the grandson how to use a bow and arrow the other day. I noticed what looked like a small washer in the grass and figured it might come in handy some day and picked it up. It wasn't a washer. It is a round nut that holds the instruments in the bracket on the Harley. I lost it years ago while changing handle bars or trying to stop the vibration in the bracket. I cleaned it up and mailed it to LA. It's designed to be used with fingers only.
I think I have got the OS engine running right. It needs more nitro. With the very slightly warmer temps and humidity the 2% fuel I mix just isn't doing the job. I put in some other fuel with a higher nitro content and the engine ran perfectly. A possible contest in Lee, MA in late August.
I may swap engines around and install the trusty Fox back on the Padre, the OS .40 back on the Ringmaster, and the OS .46 back on the Pathfinder.
I've burned a lot of fuel lately as the winds have been right in my skill range. On one outing last week I burned a quart. That's the first time I used that much in one outing. That's about 10 flights. In r/c you use that much in 3 flights.

It is winter.

Low 60's, cloudy and a little wind.
I changed the venturi in the Ringmaster 576 engine to one from a .25. It and the OS needle valve asm. work very well on the .40/.46 engines. I also removed the spinner and put the heavy hub on. In case the spinner was getting in the way of the air flow. Then on a whim I tried a higher nitro fuel. It worked. 3 flights with perfect engine runs. I tried a tank of the regular fuel and it acted up. For some reason the engine in the Ringmaster needs higher nitro but runs fine on low nitro in other planes.

Sucessful trial run.

The piston swap didn't work as hoped. It did run better but still ran away when the tank neared empty. I removed the engine from the plane and from the Twister and swapped them. I installed a new head on the bad engine to raise the compression back to stock levels. Then I installed it on the Twister. Test tomorrow maybe.
It started to sprinkle around 1100 so I loaded up the mower and headed for Oneco. I pushed it on the truck at home and drove off the drive at the field and pushed it off. I parked the truck and drove the mower through the gate onto the field pulling the outrigger mower behind. I hooked them together and lowered the mower deck and holding the tape measure at 75 feet started enlarging the circle. I took 3 trips around until I was on the original circle and then started the other mower and raised the deck to match it's cutting height. I don't need real short grass outside the takeoff and landing area. By now the rain is heavier but not to bad. I kept going as stopping was out of the question. It took an hour to finish and I went over the low cut area again to blow the cuttings off the circle. The town crew that was mowing yesterday didn't mow in the circle as I had hoped. My grass was shorter than his newly mowed grass but there was a bunch of tall spike weeds starting to grab the lines so I mowed them down. I did find a baseball and a golf ball in the grass.

Summer is here.

I flew the 576 this morning and it flys better with each change. The longer lines and slightly less nose weight did the trick. The workers were starting to mow the section I was in so I left after 3 flights. I tried to change piston and liner as the compression was low on the engine but the other liner was stripped of chrome or nickle plating. I changed the piston only and the compression is better. I put on a metal tank and ran it for a bit at home. I noticed a spray of fuel coming from the venturi. I rotated the spray bar quite a bit until the hole was in the 4 o'clock position and twards the rear. I don't know where it was before.
I went to Tractor Supply and the inner tubes for the mower were there. They were supposed to call. I installed them into the tires and got them ready to go. About 4 pm the phone rang and it was Tractor Supply. I told her I had bought them a few hours ago. I asked about the 5 ounce syringes and she hasn't got a call back from her supplier.
I started to fill out the wish sheet for next years race tickets and for the heck of it I called and asked if they had any end seats. I exchanged the tickets for 2 end seats in section NE row 44 seats 1 and 2. I had to mail them back before they will complete the swap. Hopefully I will get the new ones in a few weeks. I said the VIP section would do in a pinch and she started laughing. I said that don't sound good. She said don't push your luck. People in the good seats are holding on to their tickets.
I think I found a spot to offload the mower at the Oneco site. I tied the ramps together and will use the metal car ramps to raise the wood ones if I have to. I couldn't find any anti-skid at Tractor Supply maybe Lowes or Home Depot next time I'm in the area.

Making progress.

Around 0700 I received 5 gallons of methanol. I mixed up a pint batch of fuel and headed for Oneco. The new fuel ran as good as the other fuel.
The nose weight in the Ringmaster did the trick. The plane settled down nicely. As I figured it now needs more elevator travel. Once home I removed the 2 ounce hub and put on a 1.7 ounce spinner. Then I installed a shorter elevator horn and played with the elevator travel until it was equal both ways. I went back to Oneco and got in 3 flights using the rest of the new fuel. The plane flys very well. I have to try it on 63 foot lines next.