The Middle o’ Feb. … ALREADY!

February 26th, 2010

MY, my, how time do fly!  ‘Mus’ be cause I’ve been busy!

I got th’ idea that I needed a lower work surface than my bench, which is just ideal for most of what I do.  But it’s too tall to allow me to work DOWN into a fuselage, especially once th’ landin’ gear is on.

So, using some chipboard BFF had left over from a project she did, and some, as yet un-used trim wood and various bits an pieces from th’ scrap pile, I set out t’ build a table.

That was 2 weeks ago!  At 1st I was havin’ a ball, cuttin’ an’ hackin’, sawdust flyin’ everywhere, progress bein’ made.  But I soon ran into a wall; th’ ol’ one-armed thing again.  When y’ can’t HOLD somethin’ and drive a big, heavy-duty DeWalt saw at th’ same time, things get… difficult.  ‘And RISKY, too.  An’ th’ LAST thing I need is a power-tool accident, an’ while I’m here alone at that!

I quit an’ went back to it several times.  ‘Screwed it up, fixed th’ screwup, goofed and fixed that way more than just enough.  By now this thing was gettin’ t’ be an Albatross ’round my neck.  Th’ ol’ thing about, “when you’re up to your neck in aligators…”

But as of yesterday, th’ thing is DONE!  ‘Not real WELL done, mind you, but use-able, which was th’ objective all along.  BFF’s got some casters I’ll stick on it and I’ll prob’ly add a bunch o’ wood glue to tighten it up; but f’ now, that albatross is off my neck an’ I can very handily “work down” into th’ fuselage.

The OTHER big deal this week… requires a bit o’ “preamble”.  I’m a member of RC Universe ( http://www.rcuniverse.com ) and of RC Groups     (http://www.rcgroups.com ) and for years have jus’ “lurked”, as it’s called.  I finally, in “Lefty” had somethin’ to actually POST, an honest t’ Harry THREAD o’ my own!  So I did.

One o’ th’ guys saw my thread an’ noticed I was doin’ it one-handed and sent my a link to a thing he’d found somewhere on th’ web called a “Wobblestick”.  And, t’ make a long story short, he and a machinist friend conspired, make that “collaborated’, sounds nicer, to set me up w/one.

Th’ li’l “Gizmo”, as I call it, has one function, to enable me to FLY ONE-HANDED!  Now how’s THAT for a gift?!  Yep, GIFT; neither one of ‘em would take a cent!  And they even threw in adapters for my simulator’s radio!   Now I don’t have to wait thru my whole re-hab process ’til I can fly!  Can we all say, “WONDERFUL”, boys an’ girls?  I can’t come up w/enough superlatives to express what this means to me.

I wasted no time mountin’ th’ Gizmo on my DX-7, and it’s a near-perfect fit.  I’ll have t’ fly sittin’ down as th’ Gizmo gets in th’ way of a strap; but sittin’ down is one o’ th’ things I do best, an’ we DO own a lawn chair.

The ONE hassle I’ve run into is w/my computer; it won’t run my sim program.  I’ll need to upgrade my video card in order to get th’ visuals.  What a bummer!  But I’ve got more time that I have good sense; it’ll happen when it’s time t’ happen.

Meanwhile, here’s some pix; one of th’ Gizmo on my DX-7, an’ a pair of th’ table project.  See what I hath wrought!

Mounted on my DX-7
A couple ‘r 3 winter shots.

More Winter stuff

Believe it or not, this is a color shot!

‘Shot out o’ my garage door.

This is what I spent nearly 2 weeks on.

Can you believe 2 WEEKS t' do THIS?

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Introducing “Lefty”

January 25th, 2010

I’ve mentioned here off an’ on that I’m building a 1/4 scale Aeronca Champ.  I finally decided on a name for th’ li’l beastie;  as of a few days ago, she’s “Lefty”, as she was built entirely w/my L hand.

I’m headin’ for th’ home stretch on this build; got struts, th’ control rods and the engine an’ fuel system t’ go.  Well, there’s a bit more, but not much.

And since th’ paint job is real close t’ done, here’s a few pix of ‘er w/all ‘er clothes on.Aeronca 7AC

My Aeronca 7AC Champ

Now how’s THAT for an ol’ one-armed chump?

There’s still stuff yet t’ do, like I said, but I’m lookin’ @ th’ homestretch…

…An’ LIKIN’ it!

RD

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OK, So It’s a New Year… So WHAT!?

January 6th, 2010

Call me a cynic, or whatever springs t’ mind f’ that matter.  I couldn’t be brought to care for a salary.  Jus’ ain’t “into it”…

We, m’ BFF an’ I, did our, now traditional trek, to NH for the holidays. ‘Twas COLD!  This global warming thing isn’t just about th’ “warming” half of its title; it’s also about EXTREMES of weather.   An’ we sure had it up there!  An’ f’ that matter, here before we left!   We got right around a foot th’ night before we were t’ leave. Travel actually got easier, th’ farther north we went.

Th’ mornin’ we left, I HAVE to mention, Her Majesty was askin’ if she should go out an’ “stomp down” the end of our drive t’ make it easier on th’ car t’ get out. I told her not t’ bother; if th’ car wouldn’t do it, we weren’t goin’ ’til it thawed.  So we jumped in th’ car an’ backed out of th’ garage, into a very nicely plowed driveway!  Our neighbor across th’ street had used his sno-blower an’ cleared us out!  What a guy!

Xmas mornin’ in NH, I was given a fistful o’ books, so I spent lots o’ time buried there-in.

My in-laws don’t allow smoking in th’ house; Sis’s in th’ middle of a risky pregnancy, so I have no problem goin’ along w/that.  But that 1st pipe in th’ mornin’  nigh-on knocked me down, an’ I’m still not that steady on my feet anyway.  But, bein’ a die-hard addict, I rustled my rusty-dusty out onto th’ back deck, into th’ cold and wind and occasional rain every mornin’ for my wake-up smoke.  And w/o fail, I got just as dizzy as a kid w/his 1st cigarette.  Scared me the 1st time, ’til I figured it out.

But we had a good visit w/all th’ folks, and naturally brought back a cold apiece.  (He warned us; but what’re y’ gonna do?)

One bright spot in th’ trip; I suggested on th’ way up that we stop somewhere an’ get a li’l point-an’-shoot camera, seein’ as mine’s “down f’ maintainance”.  Her majesty concurred and we stopped in Nashua (I think) @ a Costco and got a $400 Nikon CoolPix for $200, no sales tax in NH.  Decent deal and it kept me sane durin’ it all.

Th’ D-80 will go in th’ shop soon and th’ CoolPix will then be “her” camera.   In the meantime, I’ll try t’ post a few here t’ show what th’ li’l bugger can do.  It’s really not too shabby!

Hmmmm… seems I’ve got t’ resize ‘em first.  I’ll be right back!

Now, we’ll see…

"Icefall" down th' roadside rocks

@ my Bro.-in-Law's

A small "prong" off L Winnipesaukee frozen over

Currently in a Fla. Hospital but recoverin' well.


What would normally "weep" out of th' rock freezes.

Meself w/one of several books I was thankful t' receive.

Still one-handed- a real hassle on Xmas Mornin'. :O)

Well, that worked reasonably well.  So now you can see what can be done w/a CoolPix.  I was pleasantly surprised.  It’s got a bigger sensor (12MB) than my D-80 (10.2MB) but of course hasn’t the glass th’ big boy’s got.  But for what it’s for, it does well.  I’m pleased.  I still miss my D-80, tho.

Got a bunch o’ work done on my Champ kit around th’ holidays, mos’ly paintin’.  She’s now Cream an’ Red.  Pix to follow as I finish ‘er off.  Then it’ll be engine mountin’, time an’ control mountin’ time.  Lots left t’ do, but not as much as this time a year ago!  We’re gettin’ close t’ havin’ a flyable Champ!

RD

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