Vortex Cowl

This is a really nice picture of Barry and Mona that Mik sent me after he was down there last weekend.

Jackie sent us this cute picture of Cora on her new bike.

It has been a laid back week here, just our normal stuff.  I have been working on the Vortex cowl, sanding, filling, spraying primer and sanding some more.  This morning when I checked the last coat of primer I decided it was good enough.  Now I am sanding on the wing getting it ready to cover.

Vortex

This is how the cowl looks after cutting the motor hole out and mounting it temporarily.  I have some sanding to do on it before painting it which will have to wait until I have decided on a color scheme.

I epoxied on the plywood wing tips and I am using the tape to protect the wing as I sand them down.

Vortex cowl

I put a second layer of fiberglass on the cowl this morning, this is how it looked this evening after taking the balloon off.  It was not completely cured yet so I left it where the pellet stove would blow on it overnight.  The wildcard games took care of the rest of the day.

The highlight of our day

The highlight of our day was when Debbie and Jordon stopped by for a visit.  Jordon wanted to look out the window so Vera opened blinds for him.  I took this picture as he turned around and when I opened it in Photoshop that the digital picture frame had a picture of Debbie and her soccer team after a win in Vancouver.

The airplane is one of his favorite toys to play with.  He is starting so say more words, I bet it wouldn't be long before he is talking.

Later I went out to the shop to put a layer of fiberglass and epoxy on the Vortex cowl plug.  Then I blew up a balloon and pushed it down over the plug, it holds the fiberglass to the plug and gives it smooth finish.

I also got the trailing edge pieces glued on before calling it a night.

Blog Book and a Selfie

This morning I got the book of last year's blog edited and ordered.  This afternoon Vera had an appointment to get her eyes checked.  We left early and had dinner at Freddy's Just For the Halibut before going to Kaiser.  While I was waiting I noticed my reflection in the window and decided I could use it to take a selfie.  Then I helped Vera pick out her new glasses, which was really easy because the lady that waited on Vera was very friendly and got the process done quicker than we expected.

This evening I looked  up online the manuals for two flight controllers I just got and saved them.  One has an auto hover and return to home modes so it will be interesting to try them in a plane.

Update: 1-4-2018

I had planned on using these pictures of the Amazon order in yesterday's blog and forgot.  I was expecting an order of some flat head screws and a piece of music wire.  Vera came in and said it was an awful big box for screws after UPS delivered it.

Inside was the little bag of screws and the piece of wire, no packing or anything else in the box.  We did a lot of shopping for Christmas at Amazon and we have been commenting about size of boxes they use at times but usually there was a ton of packing to fill them up.  It sure made it a guessing game as to what had arrived.

New Years Day Flying

We went to Toledo for my annual New Years Day flying.  We got there about 9:30 and the lock on the gate was frozen.  I got my new Mr Heater Jr out and thawed it out.  Then the first thing I did was get all three propane heaters going.

I made my first flight at 10:10 AM.

When I landed I discovered the windshield was covered with ice along with all the leading edges on the plane.

It wasn't long until people started showing up.  Ken and May have been bringing warm cinnamon rolls to the New Years Fly-In for several years and they tasted great, I know because I had two.

Vera made up a batch of Cocoa Mounds to take and we didn't have too many to take home.  Brian had a generator running that was powering a space heater and coffee pot both of which were really popular.

I got two of the deviled eggs Audrey brought that she made from eggs given to her by another member Diane.  One member Dan passed out home made relish to anyone who wanted it.

Guy (on the left) brought his portable Traeger and provided hot dogs for anyone who wanted them.  They tasted great and both packages got eaten.

This is Ken eating a hot dog while Roger is having a cinnamon roll.  We sure ate good today!

The fog finally cleared off in the afternoon.  We had a good turn out, Vera counted twenty one people.

The Flying W is strange looking, but it flies great.  Leonard had a big grin on his face all afternoon while flying it.

I got in ten flights today if I count the one made at 12:05 this morning with the quad on the front porch.  This picture is during my last flight of the day and was taken by Theresa, Thanks!  We stopped at Betty's on the way home and had their fish and chips which are quite good.  It was a great start to the the new year and we are looking forward to the rest of 2019!

New Years Eve

Once the fog lifted it was a pretty nice day.  I spent most of it getting things ready for my annual New Years day flying.  Vera made up a batch of Cocoa Mounds to take along and of course I licked the bowl when she finished.  The fireworks started going off at 8:00 and continued until Midnight.