Thoughts Aloud

Archive for the ‘Hobbies’ Category

It seems the Iowa Hawk and I share an affinity for T-Bucket Hot Rods. Perhaps I can entice him to come have a look at mine:

Click on the picture to learn about the Pismo Derelicts, one of my other websites. The Iowa Hawk is now in my must read folder. ◄Dave►

OK, Scott, I had to take that ignoble pile of balsa out of the Jeep yesterday to go shopping. I got tired of looking at it this afternoon, so I stripped it. The aluminum prop adapter was tweaked; but I guess that saved the motor shaft, because the motor itself is fine and runs true. The motor controller, receiver, and all the servos are undamaged. I suppose that one of the additional advantages of the new 2.4 GHz radio control system is that I don’t have to worry about a faulty VHF crystal now either.

The cowl was history, but the canopy was unscratched. That, the magnetic hatch, carbon fiber spar, and misc. hardware was all I bothered to save. Even though everything aft and one of the wings was perfect, I just don’t have room for saving spare airframe parts anymore. It is just as well; back when I had a garage full of them, I rarely used them. Now all I need to do is glue up the new model, and reinstall all the electronics. I am on it, buddy; but don’t expect to be ready by Sunday. L

Btw: The problem we were having last night with the laptop was the mapping software desperately trying to get a GPS fix even though I had unplugged the receiver to bring it out to the picnic table. I am glad it happened, for I had been blaming Vista in my mind for my ever-busy and thus power hungry processor, and certainly don’t need to load it when I am sitting still. I also download a new Vista compliant driver for the touchpad which I hadn’t bothered to do yet because I use a wireless mouse on the desk. The sudden shutdown at the end was just a depleted battery, which Vista recovered nicely from. I guess we spent more time viewing Adams’ animations than I had thought. J Meanwhile, I have added some additional remarks on the subject to the forum debate on it HERE.◄ Dave►

I am back from a pleasant day of model airplane flying with some old friends I haven’t seen in over a year, even though their club field in Paso Robles is only 50 miles north of my home base here at Pismo Beach. I lived in an Amazon world for so long during my Montessori preschool days, and had forgotten how much pleasure I got from the male bonding opportunities the modeling club offered when I took up the hobby several years ago. I have been basically living a hermit’s existence for the past year and need to get out of that rut. I look forward to my travels this spring and summer.

Unfortunately, I did crash my newest airplane, which my friend Scott had generously given me for the only Christmas present I received this year. I liked the way it flew so much, (before my dumb and/or rusty thumbs pulled when they should have pushed while it was inverted too close to the ground to recover) that I stopped at the hobby shop and bought an identical replacement kit on the way home. That should keep my pen out of trouble for a few hours at least here and there as I put it together. Too bad Scott was there to see me auger it in, or he wouldn’t know the replacement wasn’t the original he gave me.

I also stopped at a Barnes & Noble and picked up a copy of Neil Boortz’s latest book “Sombody’s Gotta Say It” on Troy’s recommendation so we can discuss it in the forum. Speaking of libertarians, I invited a libertarian flying friend I reconnected with today to visit here and hopefully participate. I do hope you all are inviting any simpatico minds to join us here to create a nice group dynamic. They don’t have to be libertarian as long as they are thinkers, not emoters. It is only the tyranny bound bed wetters, hand wringers, and bible thumpers I hope to avoid. ◄Dave►