Facetmobile, James' Car

I went out this morning and finished putting the new windshield in the Facetmobile.  The I got the transmitter, bound it to the receiver and programmed the transmitter.  I am all ready for the next flying session.  After lunch I went out and repaired the fender liner  on James' car.  It turned into a bigger job than I had planned on when the new one would not fit so I used part of the new one to fix the damaged area on the old one.  I made a couple of flights with the quad to video the brush pile burning, the SD card is still in the shop so no pictures today.  Now I am spending the evening watching the Seahawks and some other games I recorded while eating the great Cocoa Mounds Vera made.

Deck, Parker's and Facetmobile

This is what I got done after flying yesterday, there is quite a difference between the way the new wood looks after Thompson's compared to the old growth cedar.

I got two of the three posts for the step railing installed today.  I also got the trim boards on the edges of the step installed.

After I was done with the deck and had put everything away I got the Tarot 250 out for a flight over Parker's place.  I had been over there this morning when I saw Parker and Steve looking things over so I knew the septic tank was in.  Just as I took off it started raining lightly, the Tarot is not waterproof but I kept going and the video turned out good as there was hardly any wind.  While dinner was cooking I installed two windshield braces in the Facetmobile.  After dinner I went out, got them painted so tomorrow I can put in a new windshield and it will be ready to fly again.

Flying Friday

Dan was all setup and flying when we got there.  I got my stuff setup and took this picture to post on Facebook.

Trying the delta again was the next thing I did and this flight went a lot better than last time.

Dan volunteered to take pictures for me and got this nice one of it coming in to land.  I flew around making trim adjustments until the ESC cut the motor off.  I was pleasantly surprise when it glided great with no power and I made a pretty good landing.  It needs more right thrust in the motor as it is pulling to the left really bad under power.  When I tried a loop on the second flight it really showed up.  We had a pretty good turn out, counting Vera and I there were thirteen people out today.  I made twelve flights today, all of them good except the last Bird of Time flight.  I had the transmitter on the wrong model which made the elevator backwards and I ended up crashing.  The plane is repairable so now I have another project to add to the list.  I got really warm out there so I packed up a little early and headed home.  I also wanted to put Thompson's on the new deck before it rained this weekend.  The job went pretty good and I was done before dark.

A Busy Day

Early this morning I heard from James that he was going for a ride in an Extra 330 acrobatic airplane as part of his birthday celebration.  Shortly after that we headed for Longview.  The first stop was Lowe's for more Thompson's Water Seal and end cut stain for treated lumber.  I left Vera in the car with the radio playing since the walk in Lowe's was a little too much for her leg.  When I came out the car wouldn't start.  I was about to call AAA when the guy in the pickup next to us came out, I asked if he had jumper cables and he did.  After loading his stuff he moved over to where we could hook up and we got it started.  I took Vera to Kaiser for her appointment and then went to Art's Electric for a new battery.  They tested the alternator, starter and battery, the battery failed the load test and hydrometer test so they replaced it.  I made it back to Kaiser just as Vera came out from her appointment.  The doctor gave her exercises to do and with any luck it will clear up in a couple of weeks.  We stopped at Arby's for a lunch of our favorite Market Fresh Roast Beef and Swiss sandwiches.  After we got home I decided to put Thompson's on the front decks.  It went good and I was done in about three hours.  The parts for the rest of the railings came today so I am getting close to having this job done.  I made a flight over Parker's place with the Tarot 250 and took some video.  Then I went in the shop and did some repair on the Facetmobile, it will be good to get it flying again.

James sent me this picture tonight, he looks like he is having a great time in Los Vegas.

Parker's and Thompson's

When I came out of the house this morning I heard activity over at Parker's so I wandered over with the camera.  They had the poles in the holes and were starting to fill around them.  I asked the guys if they put the poles up by hand and they had.  Those tall ones have got to be 24 feet, I would not want to put them up that way.

By noon they were all up and the septic tank crew was filling the perk test holes.  I worked on the delta and finished it up while I was waiting for it to warm up outside.  It is in the motor home now ready for another test flight, hopefully this one will go better.  After Vera got home from bible study we did a little organizing of Marie's stuff in the cargo container.

Once it warmed up I started putting Thompson's on the back deck.  I got it all done and did a little on the front decks before I ran out of Thompson's.  After I put things away we ran down to Panera Bread for dinner, then I did some cleanup in the shop before coming in here.

Flying

We went flying today, the weather was great and Mt Rainier looked awesome.

Thanks to Theresa for taking some pictures of me flying.  I was having a great time flying, mainly because I can see the planes so much better now.

I only got three planes out today because we had to leave early so we could take some papers to the lawyer for Marie's estate.  I had planned on putting Thompson's on the deck when we got home but when we got there I decided it had been a big enough day.  I did a little work on the delta, then went in and got my blog caught up.

Deer, Bunny and Moon

Friday the 21st this doe and three fawns wandered through the yard.

We haven't seen many rabbits this year, but this one is out eating in front of my shop just about every evening, I took this picture of it Saturday afternoon.  James came by this afternoon and visited with us before leaving for Los Vegas to celebrate his birthday with his dad.

I have really been enjoying the evening sky's since having the cataract surgery, the stars and moon are so nice and sharp.  I took this moon picture as I was coming in from the shop.  I have not taken many pictures lately, Vera is having a problem with her sciatic nerve so I have been trying to help her by doing some of the cooking and cleaning.  She might be getting a little tired of Burger King.  I did take her to the 49er one night.

Flying the Tarot and Parker's building

They started drilling the holes for Parker's shop this morning.  I went over to watch and took this picture of them starting the first hole.

Steve came over just as they were starting the second hole and took some pictures also along with this one down the first hole.

I loaded up the trailer with the old lumber from the deck and we took it to Waste Control.  On the way out we saw these tin people hanging on the scale booth.

This afternoon I got the Tarot 250 out and checked out the holes at Parker's site.

Then I went out in the back yard and used the rest of my batteries flying through the trails.

Quad Pictures

I started out to put the rest of the screws into the step I repaired.  That went great and pretty soon I had the belt sander out sanding the tops of the two benches on the deck.  Then I got the Thompson's Water Seal out and did part of the back deck so I would have a place for the furniture as I did the rest.  I was going to spray it but the new Thompson's is too thick for that so I rolled it on.  Since it was National Cheeseburger Day Vera made them for dinner and they were great!

This evening after I got everything cleaned up and put away I got out the Tarot 250 quad and made three flights.  The pictures are screen captures from the video the quad recorded.  The top one I wanted to show the rebuilt deck from a different angle.  In the second one, I just barely show sitting on the shop porch.

This is an overall view from the back yard.  The elevated deck that sticks out is where I put the Thompson's and also I rolled it on under the little white roof.

Of course I had to check out Parker's progress he has dug ditches for the water and some power lines he is running.

Deer, Deck and Moon

When I got home from a run to the post office the two little deer were in the orchard again and same as last time only one was left when I got the camera.  I should have a bunch of game camera pictures of them when I check it as it is setup by the pear tree.  I rebuilt the step onto the deck today, now it wouldn't be like stepping on a diving board.  It was kind of an uneasy feeling when it sagged down under your weight.

Of course I didn't remember to take a picture of it until I went out to see if the rings of Saturn would show.  The pictures of the rings didn't turn out that great, I needed a tripod but didn't feel like going in to get it.

My moon pictures turned out pretty good, I moved around until a fir branch was in one of the pictures.  It took several tries as the camera kept focusing on the branch, leaving the moon blurry.

Saturday and Sunday Pressure Washing and Deer

Saturday morning Barry came down to pick up his mail and we had a nice visit.  While he was visiting the others I ran down and made one last check at the post office and there was one more for him.  After he headed home I decided to pressure wash the decks.  I got all set up, went in the shop, put my boots on and as I came out the door it started to rain.  I went back in, put my raincoat on and started in.  It rained the whole time I was out there doing the front decks.

Sunday was much better weather as I did the back decks.  I looked up once and there were two deer down in the orchard by the pear tree.

I went and got the camera, by the time I got back one was gone and one was laying down in the grass.  I took some pictures of it until it got up and wandered off.  They are sure cute little things.  I have all the decks done so now I wait a couple of days for them to dry and I will spray them with Thompson's Water Seal.  This evening I watched a couple of today's NFL games I had recorded.

Done! Well almost!

I got started fairly early this morning and got the last two sections of railing cut to size, stained and put up.  I still have a short section to do over by the heat pump but that can wait a few days.  I sure felt good about the progress today.

We made a run to Longview early this morning so I could look for a pair of winter shoes, something with a little more room for the toes.  We got a call from Josh that he needed a babysitter at eleven thirty, we told him no problem we would be home by then.  We made a stop at Fred Meyer for a couple of things but no shoes, they are in the middle of a remodel and the shoe stock was not that great.  We had time for a stop at the Sportsman's Warehouse and I found a pair of Keen's that feel great.  We made it home in plenty of time to watch Jordon.  He is so much fun, smiling and giggling a lot.

After Josh picked him up I went out and got the first section of railing put up.  The second part of the shipment came today so now I have everything needed to finish the deck.

Deck, Delta and Jordon

After the picnic Sunday I mainly rested up and put a few things away on Monday.  Tuesday I made some repairs to the delta and decided to add a rudder to help steer it while taking off.  That kept me busy for a while figuring out a way to operate it since the whole vertical fin and fuselage top comes off to change batteries.  I got a call from Josh asking if we could babysit for a little while Wednesday and of course I said sure.

He sure likes playing on the airplane, he pushes the buttons to start the propeller and then reaches right down and stops it.

It turned out things had changed and Josh's appointment had gotten changed so we had a nice visit with him getting caught up on what was going on with the truck and trailer.  I should have taken a picture because he had his new truck with him today.  Part of the deck railing had gotten delivered today so I got it cut to size and stained it.

Work Party and Picnic

Sunday the Lewis County club had a work party to put stuff back up after the threshing bee.  Brian brought his tractor and used the bucket to push the safety fence posts in.

The ground was dry and hard so a few posts needed a little pounding by Steve with the sledge hammer.  There was a good turn out so all I did was take pictures.

The safety fence is almost all up in this picture.  I got there early so I could have all the planes put together before the work began at ten.  I was able to get in several flights before they started working.

Steve did a great job of cooking on the new barbecue after they parked a couple of cars and put up the tarp to block the wind that was keeping it from heating up.  There was a nice turn out of flyers and family, I counted 30 people there during lunch.

I sure appreciate the pictures someone took while I was flying the B-36.  This was it's last outing for this year, I put it away for the winter when we got home.

Pterodactyl and a crash

We had an appointment in Chehalis today so I loaded a couple of planes in the car and stopped at the field to fly.  Leonard, Audrey, Jim and Theresa were there flying.  Jim had his Pterodactyl today and I had never seen it fly so I was really interested in it.

Jim's wife Theresa has only been flying a little while and she is a great hand launcher.  Some of the flyers are having her launch their gliders.

The Pterodactyl looks awesome in flight, the sun shining through the transparent covering is a nice effect.

I had brought the delta along for a test flight.  It wasn't steering good on takeoff since it does not have a rudder so I lifted off too soon and it torque rolled into the ground partly because I had the ailerons on low rate.  The crash wasn't too bad, a broken prop, spinner and a crack in one wing so it will fly another day.

Watching Jordon

I got to watch Jordon today while Josh went to therapy for his back, it is still sore from the wreck.  Jordon made several trips over to the window to look for Dad after he had left.

We went over for a visit with Steve and Dianne but they were getting ready to leave for Steve's second eye surgery so it was a short visit.  Dianne sent us home with this little ride on airplane that plays music, the propeller spins and it has a storage compartment.  Jordon loved it and played with it most of the time he was here.  I was on my own because Vera had bible study but everything went great and I had a good time playing with him.

This evening I went out and finished up the delta.  I took it out for a taxi test on the driveway and Vera took a couple of pictures for me.

Time to do a little catching up!

It looks like I will have to do some serious cleanup when I am done with the deck.

I was determined to get the last of the deck boards down on Monday.  Luckily the weather was not too warm so we were able to work longer.

I was really happy that we can use the door again.  The boards are just held down with a few screws but it is safe to walk on.  I wouldn't have gotten this far without Vera's help.  The UPS lady already left a note saying she liked the new deck.  Today was just a day of rest for both of us.