Saturday Flying and Phoenix's Birthday Party

I was all loaded last night and ready to head out this morning for a day of flying.  After a stop for gas and one at Subway, we got to the field about 9.  Seven other flyers showed up before the day was over and we had a great time.

I sure like my new power cord, it goes to the gray and yellow box that I hook my chargers to.  It sure beats packing a 60 pound battery out there.

Leonard and Rob had their Vortex deltas out today, I got this picture of them landing together.

After flying, I went over to Barbies for Phoenix's 9th birthday party.  I was a little late, but made it in time for some cake and ice cream.  That is Phoenix in the red shirt, he has sure grown since last time I saw him.

Van was there also and in a red shirt as well.  It may be the angle of the shot, but it looks like he may be taller than Barry (in the yellow shirt) now.  It was nice to see everyone, Bud and Barb were celebrating their 67 Anniversary.

After the big day, I was nodding off pretty early, so I did not get this done until Sunday morning.

A relaxing at home day!

We talked about going flying today, but I decided against it, I just wanted a quiet day around home.  I exercised, checked e-mail, paid some bills online, did Thursdays blog.  By that time it was Noon and the clouds finally started to burn off.  I started charging some new batteries and changing the planes that were in the motor home.  I also found time to work on the B-36 today and got the elevator servo mounted, the push rod made and hooked up.

For some reason, it took 2 days for this picture to get from my cell phone to my inbox.  Lost in Cyberspace some where!

Now the elevators stay lined up!  I also got a couple of new magazines in the mail today.  Reading them got me a short nap.  It sure is a nice evening out, no clouds and stars everywhere.

Family

Today we went to Vera's niece's husband Doug's celebration of life in Centralia

There was a good turn out of family and friends.  He had accomplished a lot in his life, married and had two children and one grandson, been an Eagle Scout, served in the Air Force, been an air traffic controller, learned to fly, loved to hunt and fish, was active in his church and was really into falconry.

 This bench in the park is dedicated to him, it will have his name and a falcon on it.  That is his daughter and grandson sitting on it.

There were a lot of Vera's family there, so we got quite a few of them together for a picture.  It was a good day, the weather could not have been better, the food was great and lots of interesting and funny stories were related about Doug.

Thanks again, Mik!

First thing this morning as I was headed out to do my exercises, I spotted a baby bunny next to the driveway.  It was so cute, I went in and got the camera for a couple of pictures.

After breakfast, I decided to mow the lawn.  After I was done with it, I ran over our trails to clean them up.  Boy was it dusty, I changed the oil and filter on the tractor when I was done and headed in for a shower and change of clothes.

After my shower, I had the left overs for lunch that Mik had sent home from Monday night's feast.  They were delicious, Thank You, Mik!!!

 It was a beautiful afternoon, I took Vera out to show her the lawn and took this picture.  The twins were outside a lot today, I went over to the swing set several times to visit.

I decided to get the camera plane out and try it from the area between Jack's and Gabe's.  The grass was too long to take off, so I had to hand launch it.  It wasn't the best launch, but we made it.  I took about 9 minutes of video and edited it down to 6 minutes and put it on Vimeo.  http://www.vimeo.com/26990510

The twins got real excited watching the plane and would point at it and say "Airplane".  Lots of fun with them around.

I got lots done today!

I got lots of maintenance done on my planes today!  I changed out a receiver in the SE-5A that was glitching like mad on Sunday, repaired the covering on the Stuka where I dropped a screwdriver through it, got new batteries put into my radio controlled sky diver and got the spinner fixed on the new Lancair.  It seems like I did a few other things, but they must not have been as important as the airplanes.

The twins are spending lots of time outside and want to be in the big swings now. It went great until Ava let go with one hand to wipe her nose, she held on with the other as she slid off the seat, so it was an easy fall.

Right after I took this picture, Ava patted the seat and wanted me to sit by her, so I got up there with her.  She seemed to like the company and showed off by running over and playing with the steering wheel.  She stood up and looked over the rail at the Harper and Rielee swinging and had a big laugh about the new view.  It was a nice relaxing day!

My new Favorite

I slept great after the big day of flying on Sunday.  I did some charging of the batteries I used yesterday.  Our blueberries are getting ripe, so on each trip to the motor home, I would stop and have some.  I heard noise over at Dianne's so I went over to see what was going on.  The twins were just finishing lunch, then they headed outside.

They were real excited to get out to the fort and play in the sandbox and do some sliding.  Dianne went with Macee, Parker and Rielee for one game of badminton.  Boy, were Steve and I busy keeping then occupied while  Grandma was gone.

Earlier Michelle had invited us down for dinner, Mik was cooking a turkey.  I did some more battery charging until it was time to leave.  The meal was Great!  Mik had soaked the turkey in a brine, smoked it all day and then cooked it.  I think it was the best turkey I have ever eaten, moist, and the flavor was outstanding.  Mik had also cooked asparagus and zucchini on the Traeger, using the same recipe he did for the asparagus last time, Yum!  We also had rice, salad and a watermelon for dessert.  Need I say that I went back for seconds.  Then we watched the Mariners extend their losing streak and headed home.  Not sure if the turkey or asparagus and zucchini are my new favorites, probably both.

The Good, Bad and the Ugly

The Cowlitz Valley Radio Control Flyers had a Warbird fly-in today.

This is part of what I loaded up and brought, 3 or 4 more are over at the bench.  It was a great day of flying, with light winds that were right down the runway.  By 4 it was getting pretty warm.  We had a good turn out of pilots and planes.

This triplane was so cute, I had to include a picture of it.  It is made from Blue Core insulation foam.

That was the good today, this is the Bad!

This is the cause of the Bad, the speed control burned up and it is pretty Ugly now.

It got so hot that the solder melted and all the wiring fell off.  I had made it almost back to the runway and was only about 20 feet up when it rolled over and went straight in.  Boy did it stink afterwards, we had to put it down wind of us for the rest of the day.  All these planes have an expiration date, we just don't know when it is!  Even with this crash, I had a great time! 

Wedding

We were headed to my nephew Charbo and Kelly's wedding in Stevenson at 10:00 this morning.  Michelle had offered us a ride, which I quickly accepted.  We met at their house and transferred the 5 boxes of cupcakes we're hauling down and our chairs to the Expedition and left right at 10:30 like Mik had planned.  Nice not having to drive and being able to look at scenery. 

It was a beautiful day for a wedding.

It made it extra special when they included their kids in the ceremony.

Kelly's face never showed in the pictures I took during the ceremony, so I included this one.

 When we headed back, Mik asked if we wanted to take the Oregon side and the girls did.  We stopped at Multnomah Falls and walked to the first viewing area to take pictures.  The knee held up great and I think it would have been OK walking to the bridge.

It is a great place for taking picture and the sun was just right to highlight the falls.  We stopped in Troutdale for Caramel apples, ice cream for me and candy.  It was a very nice day and we had a great time at the wedding and during the ride to and from.  Thanks Mik and Michelle!

Our big Haul!

After a leisurely morning watering plants and checking email, I checked the tracking on my Monokote for the B-36 and it was at the Post Office.  Vera had heard there were lots of garage sales, so we took her list with us and headed out.  I took a wrong turn so we missed one and ended up at one on Schaffran Rd, where I got some good cookies!  Then we tried the one I had missed and it was one we had been to before and didn't buy anything so we skipped it.  After I picked up my Monokote, we went to several sales in the Castle Rock area.

This was our haul for today!  After we unloaded, I put up the wind chimes and plaque.  Then I started messing with the Weedeater I bought.  It took a little while, but I got it running OK.  I noticed Steve had the twins out by the sandbox, so I headed over and joined the fun.  After that, I glued on the elevators of the B-36.

Big elevators on this thing, would you believe they are almost as long at the Lancair wing!

I also loaded some more Warbirds into the motor home for the Warbird Fly-In this weekend.  After our slow start, it turned into a great day!

A surprise this morning!

I was doing my e-mails this morning when in walks James and Parker.  They had gone to see Harry Potter last night and James spent the night with Parker afterwards.

Later, I was out in the shop and heard the kids riding a Powerwing in the driveway. I went to see if James wanted his Powerwing and there was Auna and Ava headed for the road with Ava carrying the chalk.  After I got James' Powerwing, I went out to watch and play with the kids.

Every time Harper would make a mark, she would do a celebration.

After the chalk, it was off to the swings.  Ava was wound up rocking her swing back and forth until she had Harper laughing.  Auna has been teaching them to bump fists.  I got a cute video of them swinging, hopefully I will be adding a link to it here soon.  Here is the link!  http://vimeo.com/26753057

I did some testing on the motors of the B-36 today to see what size props I would need.  No one makes a 3 bladed propeller the right size, so I will have to use 2 bladed ones.  I got the rudder installed this evening and the hinges glued in to the horizontal stab.  I had to clean the bench until I found the linkage for the rudder, because not having it was holding me up.  I wonder what else I might find if I did some more cleaning.  A person does not want to rush into that kind of thing, too much like work!

Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday

Monday

Get up, do exercises, shower, breakfast and read e-mails, now I am ready to go.  Vera wanted some weeds cut off, so I got out the Weedeater.  Boy does it do a lot of cutting on a tank of gas. I did the weeds, all around the house and shop, but there was still lots of gas left, so I quit.  One thing I learned, don't wear shorts, the clippings hurt like heck when they hit your shins.  Then it was time for another shower and change of clothes, it threw grass and weeds all over me.  Most of the rest of the day was spent messing around in the shop.

Tuesday?

What the Sam Hill did I do Tuesday?

OK, the first line of Wednesday reminded me that I made a canopy latch for the Lancair.  On the first flight Sunday, when ever I would go fast the canopy would lift up in back.  The magnets were not strong enough.  I ended up making a tongue in front that goes into a slot and a latch in the back that I can turn to take the canopy off.

Wednesday

I worked on the Lancair, touched up some glue joints with paint so they did not show as much.  After lunch, I loaded up the sprayer onto the 4 wheeler and started spraying weeds.  Goofed again, 10 gallons was way more than I needed.  I sprayed all kinds of trails getting rid of that.

While I was spraying, the bugs followed me everywhere, so I decided to hunt up our bug zapper and put it up.  The first one I found wouldn't light up, then Vera found this one and it worked, but needed a serious cleaning.

I noticed there was no wind this evening, so I got the Champ out and shot touch and goes on the driveway.  I got reminded once not to fly over the heat pump discharge. because a 1.5 ounce plane thinks it is a hurricane!

When I came in after doing some cleaning in the shop, the sky was beautiful.  Strange not to see clouds!

51% Chance of rain

Saturday was spent making sure everything was in the motor home for Sunday's LCRC club picnic.  Sunday morning we were up early and headed out, arriving at the field about 8:15.

After we helped set up the club equipment, we got our area arranged.  To start I had planes sitting every where, but the drizzle never let up so they ended up under the pop up with us.

This is how things looked at 10:30, there were 42 model airplanes, 4 helicopters and 20 flyers signed in.

Bill did the cooking, in addition to Hot Dogs and Hamburgers, we had lots of good side dishes and desserts.  At 1:00 they had the raffle drawing in the heaviest rain of the day.  Because of the rain, most of the people left after that.  By the time everything was put away the rain stopped. so the few remaining flyers flew some more.  After we got home and unloaded, I was putting the motor home away when Auna told me the twins were spending the night.  I had just collected my camera from the motor home, so I went over to visit for a while.

They can sure stack these block good now, she was careful to pick out two peg blocks for the stack she was building.

I am not sure which way the Barbie Doll is going.  Just as I was leaving, they had a dancing session in the kitchen that was so funny to watch.  I had a hard time keeping my eyes open while I was watching TV.  I missed a big wreck, so Vera convinced me it was time for bed. 

Mowing at LCRC

We planned on mowing the club field today so it would be ready for the picnic Sunday.

We got there about 9:30 and I started unloading the mower.

About 10 minutes after we got there, Leonard and Audrey got there.  We had made arrangements earlier in the week for them to come down and help.  Leonard started mowing the pits and parking area, once he had the edges done, Audrey took over.  Leonard then got out his Weed Eater and did around the fences and restroom.

I mowed and rolled the runway and around the building while they were doing that.  It sure goes a lot faster with two mowers.  The last time I did it alone, it took 5 hours.  We flew for a little while after we finished and then Vera and I headed for home.  Vera did a good job with the new camera, providing me with pictures for here and the club forum.

After we got everything unloaded and put away, I went out and worked on the Lancair.  I got the aileron servos and linkage installed, hooked them up to the receiver and fastened the wings on.  It is ready for it's test flight, maybe Sunday at the picnic.

My leg is getting bigger!

After my exercises this morning, I was laying with my legs propped up and noticed the left leg is almost the same size as the right.  Favoring it all those years, it had gotten smaller and weaker.  Since the knee replacement, the exercises have built it back up in strength and size.  Vera had an appointment today, so we headed out to Longview this morning.  After the appointment, we stopped at Fred Meyer and got the food for the club picnic this weekend.

This evening I worked on the Lancair some more and got the wheels, cowl, prop and spinner, receiver and speed control installed.  I checked motor rotation and got everything hooked to the receiver, so just the aileron servos and it will be done.

Not a good way to start the day!

I was up fairly early and did my exercises first thing, as I was cooling off, I checked my Facebook account and discovered that Vera's niece had lost her husband to the Hantavirus yesterday.  I told Vera and let the girls know.  While Vera was at bible study, I messed around on the computer and made a visit to Dianne's.

After lunch, I went out and worked on the Lancair.  I got the motor installed and all lined up.  Vera and I discussed how to tell Marie and decided to run up there.  We did not want to break that kind of news on the phone.  When we got there it turned out she had gotten a call this morning and knew already.  We visited a while and headed home through the worst cloud burst I have seen in a long time.

After we got home, I went out and got the servos and linkage hooked up in the Lancair.

This is one of our roses that I was sure we had lost last year.  It was nice to see it coming up from the roots.

Another easy day!

Boy, did I sleep good last night!  I woke up feeling great and headed out for an hour of exercise.  Sunday I threw the football with James and Josh and I did not have one bit of soreness from it.  Maybe these exercises are helping.  I headed out just before Noon to visit, I went to Michelle and James' first (Mik was gone to an appointment) and we had a nice visit while James played Xbox and listened with one ear.  He doesn't miss much!  Then I went to visit Bev, Debbie and Josh, Bev was in class, Debbie was in Vancouver and Josh was not home, so I left the CD of Debbie's Graduation party slide show on the porch.  After a stop at Suburban Propane to fill a motor home tank and a stop at Sears for a mower oil filter, I headed home for a Prime Rib lunch that Mik had saved for me.  I warmed it up and had some potato salad with it, talk about a great lunch, that was it.  I worked on the the Lancair several times today and watched a podcast about radio control this afternoon.

This evening I went to the NASA site to check on the Atlantis's mission.  If you have never been there, it is great, with some nice high resolution pictures (like the one above) of each day that you can download.  This picture is over the Bahamas as it approached the ISS for docking.

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/multimedia/index.html

A day of Rest!

We took it pretty easy today, no mail run or anything like that.   I did put the Pop-Up shades and a couple of chairs back into the motor home.

I heard the twins outside so I hustled out to watch them on the slide.  I had been trying different settings on the camera last night and forgot to set it back, so all the pictures and movies today were really dark!  I had the camera set to under expose 3 stops.  I opened a couple in Photoshop and lightened them up, but they don't look as good as they would with correct exposure.

Harper rolling the ball down the slide, then she would want it handed back by Grandma.  Steve had removed one step out of the ladder so they can not get up there unattended.  Seeing Ava do the hop-scotch was really a treat.  We had leftovers for just about every meal and snack today, Yum!