Pizza, Quads and Yard Work

James came up this afternoon and we did some yard work.  Earlier, Barry took me out for a birthday pizza, something we have been doing since I retired.  After we got back home, we got his quad out and he put in a flight on it.  He did great, just a few more minor adjustments and I will be shipping it down to him.  My Richard Sherman tee shirt showed up today, I will be well dress for the Super Bowl.

Wednesday and Thursday not much went on around here, Vera went to class Wednesday, I got in a flight on the ECO8 while she was gone.  Then I charged the battery and got another flight on it later in the day.  The GPS flight controller for the quad showed up today and I started getting it figured out as it is a little different than my other one.  By the time the evening was over, I had it hooked to the laptop and got the drivers installed so I can program it.  Thursday  I did more work on Barry's quad, mainly tuning the flight controller until I ran the transmitter battery down.  I got the Seahawks Conference Champions tee shirt today, several of my tee shirts were getting a little frayed so I threw them away and have ordered several to replace them.  I have high hopes of ordering a Seahawks Super Bowl Champions one next week.

A helicopter day!

We walked this morning, then we picked up the mail and headed home.  After I finished with my emails, I went out to figure out a battery mounting system on the ECO8.  My first idea didn't work, so I went to plan "B" Velcro straps similar to what it had before but heavier duty.  Even though it was sprinkling, I took it out for a short test flight and it flew fine.  Later I put a second flight on it after making a few adjustments to the pitch curve and it flew even better.

I came in the house and Vera was making bread again, it was time to go let Sam out but I made sure I wasn't late for lunch!  First I had the heel with butter on it, then a slice with butter, nothing better than warm bread and butter.

Then I had dessert, warm bread with butter and Mik's homemade raspberry jam on it.  I had to keep moving after that, because if I sat down it was going to be nap time!  After lunch I put a flight on my Thunder Tiger Cobra and a couple on the little Red Bull BO-105, it was a good day!

All Gone!

I had the last of the cheese bread for lunch today, boy was it good!  I woke up this morning with my knee aching and the tendon feeling sore, so it was pretty easy to decide not to walk.  I spent most of the day installing 4 new servos in the ECO8 helicopter.  Of course, I got them all in and the tail rotor servo quit working.  After much messing around, I found another digital servo in the drawer and it worked great, same size so I didn't have to drill new mounting holes.  Then I installed a new receiver and spent several hours programming the 3D-H controller.

I was going to surprise Vera by washing the Blazer, but she spotted me and came out to help.  After dinner, I went out and neatened up the wiring on the helicopter.  I just have to put a new battery hold down in and it will be ready for a test flight.

Another nice day!

We went to church this morning and had a great time.  During the service Pastor Pam and Bill sang a duet that was really moving.  After we got home and had lunch, I went out to do some flying.  In the picture is everything I flew today.  Barry stopped by while I was flying and I gave him lessons on all the quads.  The one on the left is his, I have been planning on giving it to him for the nice time I had in Arizona.  I have a little more to do on it and then I will ship it to him.

I ran this picture from 1960 through Photoshop and cleaned it up yesterday.  It is my sister Pam and I with my MGA Coupe.

It Flies!

I got the new quad all done today.  I neatened up the wiring, mounted the controller and receiver, got it all setup and made a test flight.  I think it flies better than my first one.

Vera made the best cheese bread for lunch today.  She made the dough from scratch, spread cheddar cheese and bacon bits on it and folded it together.  We had it for lunch and dinner it was so good!  I put a few flights on the little Red Bull helicopter this evening trying out some new batteries I got for it.

 James and Savannah are at the Winter Ball tonight, this is what he was earning money for last week.  They sure look sharp!

Making headway

There is what remains of our mock orange bush, it was trying to take over the area.  We could hardly see the rhododendron behind it, so I have been planning on cutting it back since last summer.  Tuesday when James was here and we were walking around the yard I got to thinking about it again.  Thursday, I went out to get some pellets for the shop and when I finished, since I already had a heavy shirt and gloves on, I got the loppers and attacked it.  It put up a good fight, it was wound around other bushes and really spread out, but I won.  I had worked up a pretty good sweat by the time I got the pile of brush to the compost pile.  Barry stopped by for a short visit in the afternoon, it was nice to see him again.

A bunch of parts showed up for the new quad today, I was out in the shop working on it when Vera came out and asked why I hadn't answered the phone.  After I got done on the phone, I started checking it's ringer volume and ring tone.  Just as I finished with it, I realized my P-51 phone Michelle got me years ago hadn't been ringing.  It is loud and I can hear it fine since it is the sound of a P-51 starting, flying and then shooting it's guns, much easier for me to hear than the high pitch tinkle of modern phones.  After changing out the corroded batteries it is working fine again and I will be answering calls regularly again.

Barry stopped by again today, I had mentioned to him that I had cleaned the electronics bench one day.  He noticed that it was pretty full of projects, I told him clean only lasts for one project.  I got the quad's motors all mounted after 2 trips to Bredfield's, I got the wrong sized screws the first trip, but I now have a good supply of 3 mm x 6 mm screws.  I also made an extra trip for mail, I didn't notice the pickup slip until I got home.  Then there was a trip down for the Blazer door hinge pins that came in at NAPA, for a total of 4 trips today!  I got the motors rotation checked and the lights installed before calling it a night.  I think this quad is going to show up much better than my other one, if that is the case, I will probably put the same arrangement on it.

Up on the Roof Top Again!

James came up after school and helped me get the antenna's that had blown down off the shop roof.  Vera felt better about me being up there with some help, because she came out and took pictures of us.

The job sure went better with some help, James got to go by the edge and lower the antennas down.  The two meter antenna wasn't hurt, but the TV antenna has a few bent but unbroken elements.

Of course James and I had to take cell phone pictures while we were up there.  I was glad to get that job done!  I got a couple of flights on the new helicopter today and I made a repair to the mCPx and flew after dark in front of the shop under the lights.  I also put the game camera back out, I put it lower this time to see what small animals come by.

Blog book and Heli

We walked again this morning, it was much nicer than Monday when it was raining.  This afternoon, I checked the tracking and my blog book for 2014 was at the post office along with the helicopter I had ordered.  I have been eyeing this helicopter for a long time, but I did not want to pay $200 for it.  I got an email the other day and one hobby shop had it on sale for $69.95 and I couldn't pass it up.  I got the transmitter setup this afternoon and put the battery on to charge.  I got a flight on it this evening and it flies great!

James came up after school and worked for me to earn some money for a dance this weekend.  I had him clean up the trails and blow off the driveway.  Some bigger stuff had come down on part of the trails and we had to get the chainsaw out and cut them down to a size we could handle.  After he finished up the trails and tested my new LED headlights on the mower, he came in for a piece of cake Vera had baked for us.  As he was leaving I showed him the blog book and he looked through most of it before he left.

Now I see!

We walked this morning and this is how the sunrise looked as we were waiting for Pastor Pam and Don.  It was hitting the top of the fog, but not getting down to where we were.  Shortly after we got home, I got a call that the new lens for my glasses were in at Kaiser, so we headed down to pick them up.  I lucked out there, I told them I was there, sat down opened a magazine and they called my name!  The optician installed the new lens and I was on my way.  I went back to bifocals rather than No Line lens because it is sometimes hard to get focused on my planes.  I could tell a difference right away looking at distant objects.  We stopped at a new store we had seen a sign for called "Amazing Garage Sale", we didn't find anything we couldn't live without and the prices were higher than most garage sales.

On the way home, we saw this rainbow at Exit 49, so we pulled into the Park and Ride and took a couple of pictures.

I went out and got the game camera today, not a lot of activity, deer, coyotes and me.  This deer picture was just before sunrise so it is clearer than others, but still infrared.

The camera also got a picture of me when I took the quad out around our trails.

Seahawks!

We went to church this morning, I think over half the people there had on Seahawks gear!  When we got home, I started watching my recording of the Seahawks game.  The first half did not go well, at halftime Steve brought over a plate of Seahawks cookies that the twins had tried to deliver while we were at church.  The cookies were good luck as the Seahawks started doing better, but it did not look good until there was just a  few minutes left in the game.  I had caught up with the broadcast by then so I watched the the last part live.  What a finish, it made my whole day!  To celebrate, I got up and had a cookie!

That's it!

Got the mail, went to BK for burgers, cleaned the desk and watched TV!

More Pictures from Arizona

Mik sent me some pictures he had taken in Arizona.  I used a couple for the day we left Barry and Mona's (you can go back and check).  This picture was in the Phoenix Air Port as you come down the escalator to the baggage claim.

 This one is as I was trying to see what was wrong with the tail rotor of a little helicopter Barry had.  I couldn't find anything really obvious, so Barry pitched it into the garbage.

I slept in this morning, then spent some time cleaning up paperwork in the computer room, then I went up and played with Sam, he sure loves to chase those tennis balls.  This evening I got the tail and main rotor blades back on the ECO8 heli and got the wiring all fastened down.  Now I just need to do the final setup of the linkages and it will be ready for a test flight.

Lots of editing today!

750 pictures take quite a while to go through and then edit the ones I want for my blog.  Having the pictures is a good reminder about what we did each day as I write.  I worked most of the morning on them and my blogs.  After Vera got home from bible study and we were done with lunch, I took a break and exercised Sam.  Then it was back to the pictures and blogs.

I even got to go out and work on the helicopter for a while, I got the flybarless controller mounted, then I gave my friend Bob a call and had a nice visit with him.  I came in after that and wrote some more on the blogs.  When I publish this one I will be all caught up.

New Boots!

I got unpacked this morning and got my emails pretty well caught up.  Vera washed all the clothes I had used, so everything is back to normal.  About noon, we went to Longview to order new lens for my glasses, I had an appointment last Wednesday and the prescription had changed quite a bit.  I have been seeing two planes when I fly and I could see better without my glasses.  I also got a got a pair of 8 inch boots to give that sore Achilles some support.  So far today, it feels like they are helping.  I spent the evening editing some pictures from the first day in Arizona.

Headed Home

It was another nice morning and we sat out on the patio visiting, I got up to get a little exercise and got this picture of Barry and Mik.
We made a run into Casa Grande to see if we could find any Super Bowl shirts, but did not have any luck.  We went to lunch at Tom's BBQ.

Barry gave Mik a demonstration of the fire pit on high, it was putting out lots of heat!

Mik took this group picture of us just before we loaded up to leave.

Mik and I both took pictures of Barry and Mona as we were leaving for the airport.  It was kind of sad to leave when you have had so much fun, but I was missing Vera.

I took this with my cell phone as we left Phoenix, it worked much better at night than my Nikon.  Our flight went to San Jose and we had a 40 minute layover before heading to Portland.

This is as we came into Portland, the Columbia River is the dark area with Vancouver on the other side.  I am sure glad Mik was there to guide me, I may have been a long time finding my way out of the airport.  Since all we had eaten since leaving was airline snacks the first thing we did was stop at a Wendy's for burgers.  Vera had a surprise for me when I got home, a fresh carrot cake with cream cheese frosting.  I was kind of full so I just took a small piece but then I had to go back for seconds it was so good!  I downloaded my pictures and looked at about 200 of the 750 I had taken before getting tired and heading to bed.

Casa Grande Ruins

What a nice sight to start the day!

Barry took me out to the Casa Grande Ruins today.  The main structure is a 4 story building built in about 1350 by the Hohokam Indians.  I was amazed by how straight all the walls are and how square the openings were.

3000 tons of caliche, a concrete like mix of sand, clay and limestone were used to build the walls which are 4 feet thick at the base.

From the Ruins, we went to Florence where my friend Dick spent winters before he pass away.

Barry checked on a steel cactus he likes at this shop and I picked up a little gift for Vera.

I had been seeing these white piles and asked Barry what they were, cotton seed he told me, it is hard to imagine how much cotton it takes to make that much seed.

Mik and James are always talking about In n Out burgers, so I requested them for lunch.  These are our Double Double's, Barry's on the right and mine on the left.  They are good, but you have to put some serious effort into getting your mouth open for a bite.

Barry had a buy one get one free coupon from Culver's which was just across the street from the In n Out, so we went there for dessert.

On the way home, Barry drove me around showing me some of the houses they have looked at and took me through the college grounds.  I spotted this hillside of cactus and had him stop so I could take pictures.  This looks like scenes I have seen in movies of the West when I was a kid.  It has been a long time since I have watched a western.

Barry and Mona are fixing dinner, Barry fired up the barbecue and cooked beef and pork which we had with baked beans, potato salad and rolls.  It all tasted great and I had several helpings.  We watched TV for awhile and Mik came a little later in the evening.  Once again I had a very enjoyable day.

Casa Grande

After breakfast this morning I wandered around the back yard taking pictures.  This is Barry's John Deere Cultivator.

Barry and Mona had a couple of stops to make, this nursery near their place was the first one.  They were having a Saturday Market there today, lots of interesting things to look at.  There are more kinds of cactus than I ever imagined.

Barry took me out to see the Casa Grande RC Flyers field.  It had about a mile of washboard road into it and a shooting range across the road that would get on my nerves after a while.

They took me to the Robson Ranch Grill for lunch, it was a really nice place and the fish and chips are great!

This is a view of their house from the Southwest I think, I had a hard time keeping directions straight down there.  I could probably get lost pretty easily without a GPS.

Can you tell which rock is covering the propane cylinder for the fire pit?  I may have to get one for ours!  I spent part of the afternoon out back taking pictures of the plants.

We sat out and enjoyed the fire pit and the nice evening.  We were treated to a beautiful Sunset before we headed in for the night.