Blast from the past!

The Ringmaster flies! Today my father and I flew the ringmaster for the first time. It was a blast! We shared a few good laughs over the nostalgia of such an old time RC type of modeling.


Today I was able to spray the second, darker blue color on the hornet. I'm a little disappointed in the color because it turned out a bit too grey. I post-shaded the color and that helped a bit. I'll post shade the lighter blue tomorrow to see if I can't make the colors a little more accurate.




SLICK

Spanish is finished...time for an update

Just finished some spanish homework, so I thought I would post another hangar update. Today I was able to mask the black, then spray the light grey. After that I masked the plane yet again and sprayed the lighter blue for the aggressor colors.


My father covered and sprayed the white on the Ringmaster. It's gonna be a blast to fly!


My father also mounted a new variable pitch prop onto the Slowdicator. Hopefully the weather will be as nice as forcast tomorrow so we can do a lot of flying; both models and full scale.


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INTENSE!!!

Yesterday I completed my latest aviation music video. The video showcases EAA Airventure 2008 through fairly intense editing and fast pacing. A link to the youtube video can be found here (Don't forget to watch in high quality):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZc6bqTX83A&feature=channel_page

Tonight I worked in the hangar with my father. He completed some more work on the Ringmaster while I finished masking and sprayed the second color on the hornet.




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Redo!

Obviously the pictures show exactly what I mean by "redo". The previous paint combination (the norm...painting lightest to darkest) didn't work out very well because for some reason the anodized aluminum color didn't stick. So I started over with the zinc yellow, then I'll paint black...then the aggressor colors and finish the entire model with the metallic paints.




Above is a picture of the Tomcat canopy in its current state. The next step is to mask and then spray the inner and outer colors again. That's it for tonight.

SLICK

A Change of Pace

Today was a change of pace (literally) as far as flying is concerned. My father and I pulled out the Clipper and flew around the patch for about an hour. We went over Lake Granger, did a low approach at Taylor, and landed at Bird's Nest. We also replaced the Pitts fuel indicator tubing.



We also worked on the Hog Bide, and I was able to paint a little more on the Hornet. I also took a few pics of the Ringmaster in its current state.



This weekend I was also able to upload to youtube some arrival and warbird videos that I finallygot around to putting together.

SLICK

A Productive VD

Another productive day in the airplane factory. I was finally able to start work on the new canopy for Dave's tomcat. So far so good...knock on wood. Hopefully tomorrow I'll be able to start repainting. After going to the hobby shop this morning I was able to start the paint work on the hornet while my father continued work on the Ringmaster. The weather wasn't the best today...it was cold...hopefully tomorrow it'll warm up a bit to make aerobatics just that much more enjoyable!



SLICK

Friday the 13th update

Although today was very busy at school, major tests and all, I was still able to do a lot of work in the hangar as well as fly the Pitts for the third time in a row. The weather has been beautiful this week. No wind, and clear skies! Lately I've been flying a pretty fun and laid back airshow style routine. Although, today I jumped back into the intermediate competition routine and it's a lot slower paced and more precise than the airshow routine...but it is in no way boring! My father had the day off and was able to knock out a large portion of the "Ringmaster" u-control model. There have been a lot of new projects in the airplane factory lately.



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Saved by....the Canadians?

Well the canopy...or rather, the kit that happens to include the much needed tomcat canopy, arrived from Canada today. I will now be able to finish the massive project I call "Dave's Tomcat" and get it out of the way. Three years of work on a dust collector is way too long.



I also did some work on the air data probe of the hornet. Painting should begin soon.


Lots of updates lately...SLICK

A hangar type of weekend

With the less than desirable weather this weekend (high winds both days, low ceilings today...storms moving in) it gave my father and I a good chance to get some work done in the hangar. We were able to complete a few more major portions of the upper wing on the Hog-bipe. Hopefully the construction of the bottom wing can be started later on this week.



My father was able to finish covering the fuselage of the Howard DGA this weekend. The model looks even larger with the fabric on! It's hard to believe it only has a nine and a half foot wingspan.


During some breaks in the building of the Hog I was able to make a bit of progress on the hornet. I masked the inside and outside of the canopy and finished the cockpit and add the flight data probe to the nose.



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2009 X-Wing Flyout Calendar (Tentative)

Here is a link to the 2009 X-Wing Flyout Calendar. Of course we won't be able to make every event, but it's just a quick reference list of some fly-ins and airshows in the Central Texas area that may be of interest to our flyout group.

http://slick.grizzlyworks.com/2009xwing.htm

SLICK

A very busy week

With the start of track season this week I have been very busy and unable to update the blog as much as I would like. The night shift has become much shorter. However, that doesn't mean I haven't been able to do some amount of work in the hangar. To start off I'll post some pictures from the application of my aileron gap seals:





















I've also been working on another dust collector just to relieve some stress from the almost completed tomcat build. It's a Hasegawa F/A-18A Hornet. The model fits together remarkably well and will be completed...eventually...in a surprise scheme.








As if enough projects weren't already underway, I have also started the Sig Hog Bipe that I received for Christmas. My father and I have been building the upper wing, and so far it's been a very nice kit..and looks to stay that way for the remainder of the build.








As far as the Pitts is concerned we did a little maintenance this past weekend. We removed the top of the cowling and the right forward boot cowl in order to add brake fluid, trim up some of the edges and do a general inspection and little clean up of the aircraft. I also flew the Pitts over the weekend, and completed one of my longest aerobatic sessions so far: 40 minutes. I was able to fly two complete 2009 Intermediate Known routines as well as practice some individual maneuvers before taking the box for a mini airshow-type routine. It was a blast and I'm hoping the weather holds out this weekend in order to try my new intermediate free sequence.

















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