Finally got some.

I spotted an ad on a forum for parts that fit my Evo .60 engine. It's not being made anymore so parts are hard to come by. They arrived yesterday and I found the spray bar would fit the ASP .52 so I swapped it with the one I got from the machine shop that made the venturi for it. I'll give it a test flight in the morning.
   I built a plane a few years ago and it wouldn't fly right. I put it aside for a while and tried it again with the same results. I put it aside again and yesterday I installed an engine and set the controls to level. I flew it this morning and it flew quite well. I'll try it again in the morning. I may have to refinish it some day.
  My son sent the transmission from the SRT-10 Ram to be rebuilt and he has been collecting new parts to put it back in the truck. Yesterday he got the rear main seal, new flywheel, clutch disc and pressure plate installed. By the time I arrived it was time to put the transmission in. Using a floor jack to support it we guided it into place. After everything was bolted into place he started the engine and shifted into gear a few times and took it for a test ride. To the beer store. This particular truck has the V-10 engine from the Viper in it. Dodge made them for three years, 04, 05, 06.

A success and a few "Oh Shit" moments.

I got in two short flights with the Evo .52 powered P-39 this morning. The engine pulled the plane nicely and ran well doing it. I may change propellers next time out.
  Now for the news. In today's paper here in southern Louisiana there are some stories that caught my attention. One from eastern Massachusetts about road rage. A woman jumped out of her car ripped off her top and attacked another motorist brandishing a knife. Too bad the other motorist was an off duty policeman.  A teacher from Oklahoma did a cartwheel, wearing a long skirt that wasn't long enough, in front of a "choir" class. It seems she forgot she wasn't wearing any under ware. She can't teach for two years, indecent exposure, but she doesn't have register as a sex offender. A Connecticut man got two years for cutting a pet fish in half during a domestic argument. You can't make this stuff up.

Another change.

I got in some flights at the park this morning and kept an eye out for the bird. I heard his call a few times but he must have been shut in.
   I've been going to swap the ASP for the Evo .52 and today I figured out how to accomplish that without swapping. I've been looking at some of the other profiles I have and decided on using the P-39. I've had it for a while now and it's been flying well with the OS .46LA engine. I had to pare some wood off the motor mounts as the Evo is a lot wider than the O.S. engine. To help I made up some mounts that the engine would bolt to and then the mounts would bolt to the plane. It took a few hours but I got it done in time for tomorrow. It sticks out a half inch more than the O.S. but that shouldn't hurt things too much. I may need longer lines. I hope the grass got cut today.

A friend in need is a bird brain.

https://youtu.be/eJiD0301Zq8

We went to the town of Livingston to check out their parks for a flying site. No good. Then we went to North Park and walked around there for a while before checking with officials. They said we could fly in the driving range or ball fields but he didn't tell us that. Then we went to South Park where I usually fly to check and see if the grass was cut. Nope. I brought out the plane anyway and got in two short flights to check the engine run. It seemed to be running properly so i was getting ready to put up a full flight when I saw the Pea standing next to me. I was surprised he would come that close. It took a lot of persuading but I finally got him behind a fence so I could get the flight in. AS soon as I landed he came over to the plane again checking it out intently. I walked to the truck and he followed me and then wouldn't let me leave. We had to corral him behind the truck and speed away. I put some seeds in my box for our next meeting.
  The ASP ran very well with a different glow plug and the normal needle valve assembly on 2% nitro home brew. 4 ounces gave me 15 laps after the clover.

Back to where it was.

I got in 3 short flights this morning. Enough to see that the remote needle valve set up wasn't going to work. At home I removed all the stuff and put the original stuff back on. Some ground runs to get the rpm's in tune and it's ready to go. I tried 3 other glow plugs during the test and found one that worked a lot better than the others. That should help it a lot. When I'm satisfied with the way the ASP runs I'll change it out for the Evo .52.

Trying to improve the ASP .52.

The ASP is designed for r/c use and came with a carburetor and a remote needle valve bolted to the back of the engine so new people wouldn't be so apt to get their fingers in the propeller. Control line engines only use a venturi and a neeedle valve. I bought a needle valve from the guy that made the venturi for the engine and it doesn't work like I think it should. I tried to put a different style valve in but they are too short. I figured that I could use the original remote needle valve and another brand spray bar, that passes through the venturi and puts the fuel into the engine. The bottom picture shows the O.S. remote set up that comes on the LA series of engines and the longer one is an O.S. needle valve that is of a normal design that fits through the venturi and is long enough for what I'm trying to do. It has a hole all the way through the spray bar and that needs to be closed off and a new fuel exit hole drilled so it's in the center of the new venturi. The center picture shows the soldered up end of the spray bar and how close it is to not being long enough. The top photo shows the remote needle valve installed pointing up so I can get to it easily. The engine is mounted on the side of a profile plane which is the normal way to mount an engine on this type of plane.  I went to the park this morning and flew the new set up and it worked pretty good. The engine didn't like drawing the fuel over the top of the engine but ran well once it did. It started kinda hard because of that. Once home I turned the set up around so  it's at the same level as the fuel tank. Now the needle is under the engine and near the muffler. I had to make some changes to the extension that's in the needle, visible in the top photo. I ran it and got the rpm's in the ball park and made final adjustments to the extension so there is some travel for adjustment of the rpm. I may have to go to a smaller muffler, time will tell. I also changed propellers so the engine could run at a higher rpm and not fly the plane too fast. It's not a control line engine and should run faster. We will see.
After some thought I removed the stock muffler and installed a tongue muffler and added one .010 head shim as the compression is pretty high. I made a bit longer needle extension while I was at it. The needle is a lot easier to get to now. I ran the engine and re set the rpm's for the new set up. Flight test in the morning weather permitting.

Finished with the Strega.

I put a bit of red trim on the new rudder and sent a picture of it to the column writer of the AMA magazine. That should be the last thing to do with the plane. Final weight is 77.2 ounces. The kit plane was 11 ounces lighter but didn't fly as well. It required a lot more control input to get a decent turn. It's in the dump now anyway.