What is that blue Stuff?

No picture Thursday, so here is one of James on May 30 1999 at the Goble flying field with my friend Dick Evans' Aeromaster.  We walked Thursday, then stopped and picked up a roast on the way home.  Vera made a gravy with it using a Kindle recipe.  We had it over roasted vegetables and mashed potatoes, that recipe is a keeper, I hope she can do it again.  Most of my Thursday was spent working on the P-51B.

This is Fridays lunch, Vera made them from another recipe on her Kindle.  Boy did they taste good with the left over gravy from Thursday.  Friday, no one else showed up, so we headed out on our walk.  About half way, we met Pastor Vonda coming the other way.  She had been late getting back from her bicycle ride, so she went backward on our route until we saw her.  Then she turned around and walked back to the church with us.  I did a few more things on the P-51B getting ready to fly it on Saturday.

This the strange stuff I was talking about, blue sky!  I mowed the lawn this afternoon and really enjoyed doing it in the sunshine.

Almost Done!

I made lots of headway on the P-51B today, after a slow start, it was after lunch before I went to the shop.  I have one more link to make for the outer gear doors and the wing will be all done.  I got the speed control mounted, hooked up and checked the motor rotation.  With any luck, I will be able to test fly it this weekend.

We have not been seeing many bunnies this year!  Last week I saw one on the other side of the driveway, tonight as I was coming in from the shop one was sitting by the trailer.  It didn't run off, so when I got to the porch, I took a couple of pictures.  They sure do blend in with the gravel.  It stayed there long enough that I was able to come in and get Vera so she could see her first bunny of the year.

Busy Day!

Just Vera and I walking this morning, we were about half way when it rained for about 5 minutes.  I had brought the umbrellas, so we did not get wet.  After we got home, Vera wanted a picture of this flower she got at bible study.  It is sure unusual with the three small petals and two big ones.  I went over to see the twins when we finished that, my timing was great as they were just finishing frosting cinnamon rolls, they tasted great!  I took my nap blanket over to show them because I have been telling them about it having airplanes on it.  Harper was really excited when she found some green planes.  Later, Harper came up with her order pad and asked what I wanted to eat.  I said, a cheese burger with fries and a chocolate shake.  She said they did not have those, or several other things I tried, I finally got to order broccoli and water!  They are so much fun, I never know what to expect.  I went home and told Vera about my visit and then got back to work on the P-51, I had mixed a batch of 15 minute epoxy and I was in the process of sliding the two wing halves together when my cell phone rang.  I ignored it and finished up joining the wings.  I had just cleaned the excess epoxy off the wing and washed my hands when the house phone rang.  It was Audrey wondering if they could stop by since they were in the area.  That was not a problem and I had some club stuff for her.  We had a nice visit with them and I got to show off the new F-4 before they left.  We got several calls while they were here but since we were visiting, we ignored them.  It turned out the first cell phone call was from Jackie, but she was not there when I returned the call.  Later I talked to her and heard about JP's tumble down the steps.

The second one was Bev, then she sent a text message that she had a broken leg.  Debbie and Josh were taking her to the doctors and they did not know what was going to be done yet.  I worked on the P-51 some more while waiting to see what would happen.  I got the retracts and gear doors installed before running down to Debbie and Josh's to see Bev.

I picked up a Papa Pete's pizza on the way down, Bev said she had not had pizza since my birthday.  Because it had swollen up quite a bit, they splinted her leg and Bev goes back next week to see if she gets a cast, or a boot.  My day ended with a nice long nap and a little TV.

Memorial Day

I slept great last night, by 9, I was all done with breakfast, emails and was heading towards the shop when Vera asked me if I wanted an omelet.  She was dicing up tomatoes to put in it and it suddenly sounded like a great idea, she also added bacon bits and cheese, it tasted great!   I finished up the left wing of the P-51 today, so I should be able to join them tomorrow.  At 4, we headed down to the Johnson's for Cale's graduation party.  There was lots of family there and we had a good time.  In the picture Cale is opening cards while Ty writes down what he got.  After we got home, I downloaded all my pictures, edited some and then got caught up with my blogs.

Time to catch up!

Friday the 24th. was a pretty laid back day for Vera and I.  We made a mail run, Vera read and I worked on the P-51 a little and messed around with the computer.

Saturday the 25th was more of same, except when we made the mail run, we saw Steve tending his fire.  After picking up the mail (my new Servos came!) we went for a ride to check out the fishermen by Lions Pride Park and we ended up at the Kelso Safeway.  Pepsi had a sign that said "Buy Two, get Three Free", so we got 10!  We took the frontage road all the way down, then came back over Pleasant Hill road.  After that it was more reading for Vera, planes and computer for me.

Sunday the 26th, we went to church, out front they had a remembrance cross that had flowers that were put on by church members in memory of loved ones.  It was a nice service and we got to visit with several friends.

After church, Michelle brought James and Dalton up to work on mouse trap cars for school.  They will get points for how far it goes and a report on the building of them.  The picture is James' car, he wanted a burnt look, so he attacked the side with a butane lighter.  There is also a big burned spot on the bottom where things got a little out of hand.

Half way through the project James found my stash of smoke bombs.  After a lunch break, they finished up their cars.

Here is James' friend Dalton test running his car, for some reason, it wanted to turn hard left!  James had made a couple of test runs on his earlier.  The first run was about 18 feet, then he put a different string on it and it went 33 feet.  Both runs were uphill, so on level ground it should really go!  After running them to the show, I did some more work on the P-51 before calling it a night.

49 and counting!

We made a trip to Costco today as part of our 49th wedding anniversary celebration, it was fun wandering the aisles just looking at things.  Of course, by the time we were done, we had a cart full.  Then it was off to Harbor Freight, I knew I wanted something there, I just did not remember what!  It finally came to me that single edge razor blades was what I wanted, by then I had a bunch of other stuff in the basket.  Boy, was I surprised when we ran into Eddie Roller there, we had a short visit with him before heading out for lunch.  On the way to the sea food place Mik had told us about by Ridgefield we took a detour past Birdland on 179th.

This is Uncle Chris and Aunt Marge's house, better known as Birdland, we had not been by there in years.  It looks about the same except the bushes and trees are a lot bigger now.

This the place Mik had recommended and showed us once, I managed to get there without getting lost.  We both had Fish and Chips and they were excellent!  We headed home from there, the rain had let up a little so it was a fairly relaxing drive unless we were passing a truck!  After we unloaded and put things away, I went back to hunting for my lost servo, I finally found it in another plane.   I took it out and will use it in the P-51, I am putting a little bigger one into the Sukhoi as the elevators seem to get blown back at times.  This evening we went out to dinner at the 49er, I got to thinking about it after we got there and it seemed right celebrating 49 years together at the 49er!  It has been a great 49 years and I am looking forward to many more!

It was nice to see Barry!

After our walk, Dale from the Lewis County club came down this morning so we could check over his helicopter.  He had everything set up, the only change I made was to the gyro gain in the transmitter.  I sent him home with a bunch of airplane videos to watch.  Barry had called this morning and wanted to know if this was a good day for my birthday pizza.  The timing between Dale and Barry worked out great.  Barry showed up a little after noon and we went down to Papa Pete's.  I sure enjoyed getting caught up with what he had been doing and we made short work of a Meat Eater's pizza.

Jackie sent me some pictures on the phone today, they were small, so I joined three of them in Photoshop.  From the looks of them, he is probably keeping her pretty busy.  I got out to the shop for a little while this evening.  I started making a modification to the tail pipe of that new F-4, when I had gone as far as I felt like tonight, I looked at the P-51 and discovered I am an aileron servo short.  I will probably get that ordered after I finish here.

Sizzler

We walked this morning, then picked up the mail and headed home.  We puttered around there until it was time head for the Sizzler and meet Bev for a mothers day lunch.  Debbie was working and we ended up in her section, so we got to see her also.  We had a nice long visit, getting caught up with what Bev has been doing.  Afterwards, Vera got her hair cut, we did a little shopping at Fred Meyer and dropped Michelle's camera off.  Then we headed home, had a nice relaxed afternoon and spent the evening watching some racing.

Time to catch up!

We walked, then I spent most of the rest of the morning catching up with the blog.  The lawn was in serious need of mowing, this looked like the last good day of this week, so I started mowing after lunch.  When I finished, it looked pretty good, so I got the camera out and took some pictures.  The Rhododendrons by the shop are all bloomed out now.

I was looking at things in the motor home and discovered some play in the flybar linkage of the ECO 8. I brought it into the shop and found a couple of loose screws, so I put on fresh Loctite and tightened them up.  I will have to trim it out the next time we go flying.

Spring Picnic

First thing this morning I had to check for the Daily News article from Friday's interview.  It turned out pretty good, this is the picture they used.

We got to the Toledo flying field for the club's Spring Picnic at about 8:20 this morning, three guys were there and gave me a bad time about being late!  The weather did not look too promising and it was not long before I started adding extra layers of clothes.  As the morning went on, it got nicer and more people showed up.

Just before noon, James and Michelle arrived.  We got James settled in Michelle's chair with a foot rest until after the club meeting and lunch.

Then I got out his favorite plane and checked it out, one aileron was backwards, so I reversed it in the transmitter and took off to test it.  I had reversed the wrong one and it crashed out in the field, Michelle ran out and got it for me.

It wasn't damaged, so I got the reversing straightened out and James flew it a couple of times.  Then I got the F-15 out and he flew it, followed by Turbo Bee.  Then I got a little pattern plane out and after flying it twice, his comment was "Sweet", I think he has a new favorite.  His knee was starting to bother him, so they headed home.

Vera counted 35 people at the picnic, 18 of them flew during the day.  I flew and visited all afternoon and had a great time.  I think it was getting close to seven before we left, once we were home, I hooked up the power to the motor home and took care of a couple of things before settling in for a little TV.

I hope it clears up!

It was my week to mow at the Toledo flying field, I never got a chance all week, so I planned on doing it today.  The weather did not look too good, but we headed up.  When I got there, Leonard, Audrey and Ken were flying, I was going to fly and then do it when they finished, but they offered to mow the pits and parking area while I did the runway.  The grass was a little damp, but it mowed pretty well.  With everyone helping, we got done a lot faster, Thanks for the help!  I flew one flight on the Sukhoi to test the radio I had put into it and called it a day.  I spent the rest of the day getting ready for the club picnic tomorrow.

James' Surgery

This is James after his arthroscopic surgery today, he is reading the cards from Ava and Harper.  We took down a Papa Pete's combination pizza for him, and Dianne sent down cardamon bread.  He was in good spirits and the nurses said he was a good patient.

This morning, Tony from the Daily News came up and interviewed me about radio control airplanes and the Cowlitz Valley Radio Control Flyers club.  I guess the article will be in the Sunday paper.  The last time we flew, the radio in the Sukhoi was acting up, I decided to get a new receiver for my newest radio and put into it.  Wouldn't you know it, I got an ad that morning for a complete system with two of the receivers I wanted for $10 more than just the receivers alone, it came today but all I had time for was to put it on charge.

Busy as a Bee!

No me, the bees going after the rhododendrons around my shop, they are finally coming into bloom, so I took a walk around taking some pictures of them and happened to catch this bee.

A few more days and the shop will be looking good on the North side.  I did some cleanup in the shop since I was expecting company.   I called Barry, he is in Medford now and they will be heading North in a few days, it will be nice to see them again.  I ordered some different servo paddles for the helicopter to tame it down a little.  While I was doing that, I discovered I had left out a piece, so I went out and installed it.  Maybe that is all it needed, if that is the case, I will have an extra set of paddles.

It is done!

I finally got the Sukhoi 29 done tonight.  Vera and I went down this afternoon and got the clear paint I needed to finish the cowl.  I got the mower and all the stuff I used to treat the two flying fields unloaded and put away this morning.  Vera came home from bible study with a couple more plants, so we found pots for them and got them planted.  Vera made the best biscuits and gravy for dinner tonight, I had to go back for seconds.  It was a good day, I got quite a few little jobs taken care of.  Now for a relaxed evening of reading, I got three magazines today.

A great day of flying!

We were up early again this morning and headed up to the Lewis County field to treat it for weeds and moss.  It is a little smaller than CVRCF, so I was all done in about an hour.  The sun was starting to break through, so it was time to try out the table tent.  It went up without any problems and it sure shades the table nicely!  Not long after I got set up, people started arriving, the flying was great, light winds all day.

Vera was taking pictures of my planes today, and she did a great job!  This is my F-15 on a fly-by.

We were surprised and tickled to see Bob show up!  He had a new Skyraider that he wanted me to try.  It flew great and I ended up flying it twice.

This is just before I packed up for the day, the only plane missing is the Sukhoi.  I flew the Sukhoi once and the elevator servo started acting up, so I guess a new digital servo will join those aileron servos I put in the other day.

On the way home, we stopped at the South Lewis County Park and had dinner.  Then we went for a walk down to the dock and I took some pictures of the ducks and geese.  Jackson Hwy and Barnes Drive was our preferred route home again and it was really relaxing, I think we only met two or three cars on the way home.

Planting time

Right after breakfast, we started planting Vera's Mother's day flowers.  Now we just have to wait for them to fill out and it will look really nice out the living room window.

Our timing was great, we finished and were both in the computer room when I thought I heard rain.  I pulled back the curtain and sure enough, it was raining, I told Vera and just as she went to look, it really came down.

We were wondering if there would be a game the way it rained at times, but it cleared up later in the afternoon.  James pitched the first two innings and then played first base the rest of the game.  In the picture, I think James had just been walked and Mik is coaching first base.  It was a long game, we did not get out of there until 10.  We made a quick stop at Safeway for lunch materials tomorrow at Toledo and then it was home to warm up.

Mother's Day!

After church this morning, Vera and I were looking at the flowers and noticed our first water lily of the year was in full bloom, so it was picture time.

This afternoon, we went down to Mik's brother Jim's place for a mothers day dinner.  Ell wanted the training wheels taken off her bike, so Mik volunteered to do it, then the tire was low, so he added air to it but it went right back down.  Ell was getting pretty good by the time we left, I bet she is riding in a couple of days.

 Vera and James sat and visited for quite a while before we ate.  Dinner was great, corn done on the BBQ, some great beans and salad, and pork roast.  Later, Kim brought out dessert, it was great!  When she offered seconds, James and I hopped right up.

 This is Michelle and Vera as we were leaving, it was a nice relaxing afternoon.  This evening I downloaded my pictures from the last three days, edited the ones I wanted for my blog and started on them. It took a couple of hours, but I am caught up again.

It was love at first sight!

We hit the road this morning just before eight and stopped at Subway to pick up sandwiches for lunch today.  Our next stop was Del's farm store for weed killer and ferrous sulphate.  We arrived at the Goble field about nine and were the first ones there.  I got everything unloaded and started spraying so I could get it on before it got too hot.  When I finished spraying, there was no one else there yet, so I hooked up the spreader with my Red Neck hitch (two "C" clamps) and started in.  I hope you can see it in the insert at the top right of the picture, it worked great!

Just as I was spreading the last load, people started showing up.

Before long we were all flying, this is our friend Dave flying his Quad.  It was amazing, he could just throw it into the air and it would level its self and go into a hover, it also has lights and he flies it at night.  I flew the Sukhoi that I put the digital servos into and I really like the way they work!  We ended up having 10 members there for the meeting and got some summer activities planned.  By two, it was hot enough that I was uncomfortable out in the sun flying, so we loaded up and headed home.  We made another stop at Del's for more ferrous sulphate for LCRC, then headed home on the Pleasant Hill Road.  As we came to the Pleasant Hill nursery, I asked Vera if she wanted to get plants for the deck.  She thought that was a great idea, so we went in and ended up with a couple of dozen plants.  After we got home, I unloaded, hooked up the power, covered the trailer and headed in for the night.  I was messing around on the computer thinking about doing my blog when there was a knock on the door.  It was Jeff and Tina on their way home from a swap meet.  After we visited for a little while and heard all about the swap meet, Jeff wanted me look at a helicopter he had gotten.  He opened his trailer, got the helicopter out and I looked it over, it was nice one, then I noticed an F-4 Phantom buried in there also.  Jeff got it out and it was love at first sight for me, we worked out a trade and I now have another Phantom.  What do you think of the surprise Bob?

Don't I look happy!  It was a great end to a busy day.

Getting Ready

After our walk, I spent most of the day getting the sprayer mounted on the tractor.  To test it, I ran down and did the lawn of the renters.  It worked fine, so I got everything loaded up so I could spray for weeds and spread ferrous sulphate for the moss on the CVRCF field at Goble.  The club also has a meeting scheduled for noon tomorrow, so I hope to get this done before it.  I also got my batteries charged so I can do a little flying.  A few episodes of Duck Dynasty and I was ready for bed.

Another Win!

This is James at first during the Babe Ruth game tonight against Clatskanie.  They ended up winning 7 to 4.  We had a good time watching and visiting with Michelle, Dianne and Steve.

I was a slow starter after our walk today, I came home, finished checking my emails and spent most of the morning just messing around on the computer.  After I finished off the rhubarb pie for lunch, I went to the shop and got lots done before game time.  I changed the aileron servos in the little Sukhoi, I took out analog servos and put in digitals, it will be interesting to see if it flies any differently.  I repaired the servos that I took out, they both had dirty pots.  As I was doing the servos, I was spraying primer on the cowl of the big Sukhoi and letting each coat dry.  After I had it all covered and it had dried for an hour of so, I sanded it out and gave it a couple coats of white paint.  When that was dry, I slipped it on the fuselage, and discovered it was not glossy enough, so I gave it a coat of clear just before we left for the game.  We took the Delameter Valley road to and from the game, it is a nice relaxing drive.  It might have been fun to do it in my MGA again, I made many a run over it back when I had it.

Mowing!

I put a couple of flights on the helicopters this morning.  After Vera got home from bible study, I headed to Longview to pick up James after school so he could mow for us this afternoon.  I left early so I could do a little shopping and I ended up having time to get a haircut.  On the way home, James called in a pizza at Papa Pete's for an after school snack and dinner for us.

I forgot to take a picture today, this is James and I on the mower in 2000!  I went around with the string trimmer while he mowed and the lawn looks great!.  After the lawn was done, he went up with me to exercise Sam.  James did all the throwing today and Sam was dropping the ball pretty good for him.  Then we had another bird incident and Sam took off towards Gabe's again.  We both hollered for him and pretty soon he came back.  James threw the ball a couple of more times for Sam, then coaxed him into the house with the ball and we headed home because Michelle was there to pick up James for baseball practice.