I got sunburned!

While I was getting ready to mow by tipping the tables up so I could mow under them Vera took some pictures of the cloud formation.  It looked kind of threatening, but nothing came of it.

Here I am ready to mow under the tables, when I got that done I put the roller on and mowed the runway while Steve mowed around the building and mowed a new race track for cars.

We ended up with eight members out there today and it was perfect flying weather.  I got in thirteen flights.

Vera asked me to hover the V-Hawk in front of Mt St Helens so she could take pictures, this was my favorite.  She also took pictures of just about everyone who flew.

Since the Convergence will hover, she had me do the same thing with it.  I ended up with a whole bunch of pictures and it was hard to make a choice.  I did end up with a sunburn, my neck and cheeks feel pretty warm right now.  This was the best day of flying so far this year.

The building on Dougherty

I was out in the shop early today and finished sheeting the top of the nose.  I hope there is never any problems with the speed control because it is hidden now!

We made a mail and grocery run and I remembered to take the camera to get a picture of the building on Dougherty Drive that has been falling down for years.  Last year I couldn't see it because of the berry briers and thought it had completely fallen down.  The heavy snow had smashed down the berry briers and I can see it again.

After we got home Vera went around taking more pictures of the Easter Lilies (Trillium), this is a bunch over by the pink dogwood tree.

The primroses are sure hardy, I have ran over them with the Blazer and trailer, mowed them but they still look great every year.

It looks like the bees are liking the daffodils. 

I decided to go up and spray the flying field this afternoon when the rain quit.

Having the spray booms sure makes it an easy job.  I could only spray going North because of the wind, going South I would have been traveling right along with the mist so the job took a little longer than usual.

Vera spotted the rainbow and took a bunch of pictures of it.  After I was done spraying I stopped by Mrs. Herren's to check on her lawn which we also mow.  I had a nice visit with her and I will go up next week to mow and spray.

They are back!

The first thing I saw this morning was a deer outside the kitchen window.  I didn't want to scare them so I took this picture between the blinds in the bedroom.  We have not see the deer for quite a while, we think it is the twin fawns from last year.  I went to the "Coffee with the Pastor" this morning and it was the biggest turn out that I have seen.  We had nine people there and lots of good conversation.  I had a call from Jackie that Cora had taken her first steps plus she is saying a few more words.  Just as I finished the call our friend Jeff showed up, we talked airplanes and model club for a while and then we went to the shop so I could show him the P-39's progress.

The wheels for the Airacobra came this afternoon and the nose wheel turned out just like I had hoped.

I got the right side sheeted and did some sanding on the joints.

I started sheeting the left side before calling it a day.  I wetted the balsa with hot water and then glued the seam with all the pins.  The water makes it easier to bend, tomorrow when it is dry it will hold that shape.  Then I can lift it up a little and glue the rest of it.  The new nose wheel retract is working out really well, I made a tapered plate to go under it so I would have the forward rake like the real plane.

A step back!

Vera was out today taking pictures of her Lenten Rose, thanks Michelle, it was a stay at home day for us and the left over pizza tasted great for lunch.  This evening Vera made me French toast for dinner, it was sure good with peanut butter and honey on it.

We have a lot of Easter Lilies (Trillium) starting to bloom.  We never pick them so we have some pretty big bunches.

I was working on the sheeting around where the nose wheel retracts and the retract unit I had mounted in there quit working.  I tore it all apart and checked everything but no luck.  I started looking in my drawers and found this Springair unit I had gotten at a swap meet that is going to work great.  It retracts with air pressure and extends by a spring when the air pressure is released.  That makes it failsafe if you run out of air or a line breaks.  I never did get that piece of sheeting on, it was clamped there to dry since it bends much better when wet.  I looked at the plans and discovered I had left out a piece under the back of that area, I got it glued in and it is drying overnight.

Grandkids make for a great day.

I got off to a slow start today but it turned into a busy day.  I had a text from Jackie and she sent me this picture of Cora.  She is standing up now and lets go with both hands once in a while.  A little later she texted me that Cora had said "I want"

Then while I was sorting old VHS tapes to throw away James stopped by.  We had a good time talking about the NFL and his trip to Reno.

This afternoon I started sheeting the fuselage of the Airacobra after adding some carbon fiber reinforcements.  You can see some of the carbon fiber above the sheeting in the front.

I had gotten a text from Debbie wanting to know if we wanted to join them for pizza with Bev, of course we accepted.  We had a really nice time at Papa Pete's getting caught up with everyone.

More P-39 progress

We went to church this morning, it was a very nice service and I had a good time afterwards visiting with a couple of church members.

Here is the left wing after being taken off the building board today and the edges trimmed.  I just have to add some supports in the wheel well area and it will be time to join the wing halves.

I got the modifications to the nose gear strut done, I had to shorten it by 2 1/2 inches, glue in the adapter and tap holes for the set screws.  Then I discovered I didn't have any wheels the right size but they are on order now.  I also got the rest of the stringers installed on the front half of the fuselage so it is ready to sheet.

The motor fits

I sheeted the bottom of the left wing this morning and forgot to take a picture of it.  I finally found the motor I was planning on using under a piece of paper (Paper covers Rock) and started building a motor mount.  It went pretty fast and fit way better than I expected.

When I quit this evening I had the motor and speed control mounted.  I checked the motor rotation and got it right the first time, it will not be easy to change once I finish the sheeting of the fuselage.  The P-39 should be fairly fast as the motor is capable of 2.3 horsepower the way I am setting it up.

P-39 and Company

Dan, one of the flyers in the Lewis County Club came by this morning to return some DVDs I had loaned him.  We had a nice visit and I hunted up some more DVDs and some model magazines to send home with him.  Today I worked on the linkage for the nose gear steering and got it all installed.

Then I modified the motor hatch to provide clearance for it and the retract unit.  I also installed a floor above the nose gear to put the battery on.

Yard Work

I did some clean up in the yard this week.  Tuesday I cleaned up the cascara trees branches off the lawn.  That was two trailer loads stacked really high that I hauled to the compost pile.  I have also been working on the P-39 all week but keep forgetting to take pictures.  Wednesday I went to the coffee session at the Vault, the biggest turn out so far, seven people showed up.  Vera had her bible study and her group was smaller than normal.  Today I worked on the limb of the dogwood that came down in the first snow last year.  The picture above is the before shot.

 This is the after picture, I still have to rake up the small pieces but it was starting to rain a little so I quit.  This was another two load job but they were not stacked as high as the cascara.  The spot where the limb broke off really shows in this picture, I hope the tree recovers OK.

A little road trip with a little flying.

I had originally planned on flying today but the forecast changed to a chance of rain so I decided to stay home.  We had gotten a letter from Marie on Saturday that she needed some things, so we decided to run up today after seeing the forecast for Tuesday was rain.  I have really been wanting to try the V-Hawk in the airplane mode so I threw it in this morning just in case it was nice.  Marie wasn't home, so the staff opened her room and we left the stuff there for her.  After a quick stop for lunch we got to the field and Horty, Leonard, Audrey and Gene were flying.  All the planes were under the table when we got there as a shower had just went through.

 I got the V-Hawk out and made one flight because I only have one battery for it but more are on the way.

Off it goes on its first complete flight.  The transition to airplane mode was way easier than the Convergence and it is very easy to fly.  I looped and rolled it, made several transitions and landings, it looks like a keeper.

The clouds were looking kind of threatening so Vera took some pictures of them.  It wasn't long until it started raining and we headed home.

This evening I got the motor hatch frame for the P-39 done and separated from the body.

I have started making the wheel well liner for the left wing, I got the one straight piece glued in and after soaking them in hot water I have the curved sections drying over night.

This is the right wing with the wheel well sanded down to match the wing contour, you can also see one of the carbon fiber rods I put in to reinforce the landing gear.

Sunrise and Church

When I went in to fix breakfast this morning I noticed the sunrise was looking like it might be a nice one.  I grabbed the camera and went out to get some pictures, I was disappointed as it never got the brilliant red it does some mornings.

When I turned towards the house I noticed the moon was still out.  It was only 29 degrees out so the sky was really clear.  I ended up leaning against the wisteria arbor to steady the camera and took a bunch of pictures of the moon.

They all turned out but I liked this one the best, it was centered in the frame and seemed a little brighter.

Saturday we did a bunch of shopping as we were providing refreshments after church today.  We must have provided more than normal as we got several comments that they would not need lunch when they got home.

I was in charge of coffee and juice.  It was fun visiting with the church members as they came through the line.  I also passed out most of the DVDs of the talent show to the people that were in it and the last of the DVDs of the church play.  We had lunch and dinner from the left overs and if anyone wants a cookie, stop by, we have quite a few.  I worked on the P-39 Saturday afternoon, evening and this afternoon.  I have the right wing up off the building board and I started on the left one today.

The Rain returns

One day of nice weather and we are back to rain and I got lots of building done today.  I did get three flights in today, as soon as I got up I went out and flew the V-Hawk before the rain started.  The adjustments I made last night helped and it hovered better.  I also flew the little FPV quad a couple of flights in the house and did much better, yesterday's practice outside sure helped.

Under that pile of magazines and weights is the right wing for the P-39 getting the sheeting glued on.  I spent most of the day putting a liner in the wheel well so I could do the sheeting this evening.

I also figured out a new way to mount the nose gear retract.  I wasn't happy with the way they did it in the kit, the pieces the gear was to mount on had notches in them which looked to me like it weakened them a lot.  My new ones are one piece clear back to the F3 former.  I texted with James and he had a good trip down to Reno.

What a nice day!

Fedex, UPS and USPS all brought us things today.  My new fan for the F-4 showed up at the post office along with my new plane.  I had to make two trips to the Blazer because the box with the plane in it was so big I couldn't carry anything else.  UPS brought the nose gear for the P-39 and Fedex brought Vera her new knitting needles.  I had made some adjustments to the hexacopter so I gave it a try after getting the mail.  It is still not right and I managed to run into the oak tree and break part of one propeller off but I landed safely.

I got the V-Hawk put together and tried it this afternoon.  I checked everything out in the shop, got my ace photographer out there for the first flight and it would not arm.  I don't know how many times I unplugged the battery and started over but it finally armed.

It flies great, very stable and easy to fly.  I didn't try tilting the nacelles down for forward flight, I will try that at the flying field where there is plenty of room.

Vera does a great job taking pictures for me, she took 57 pictures today while I was flying and all of them were good.

James came up to visit before he left on a spring break road trip to Reno.  He is going down to visit his friend Aiden and Aiden's girl friend Katie.  I hope I spelled your name right Katie, James said you check the blog, have a nice day.  I went out this evening to work on some sheeting for the P-39's wing but I ended up adjusting the nacelles on the V-Hawk.  If you look at the picture closely you can see that the front ones are tilted back a little.  I have them pretty well matched now and I hope to get in a test flight tomorrow morning before the rain starts.  It was a great day, I got in eleven flights today, one on the hexacopter, eight on the little FPV quad and two on the V-Hawk plus I got the pile of brush cleaned up South of the shop.