Model Forum / Radio Controlled / Air Models / September 2009

Hey a suggestion... you do not need a belt sander, just the belt and a
block of wood that it fits tightly around.   I have a belt on a piece
of 1" thick hardwood (probably aspen but almost any decently hard wood
would work) cut to fit tightly inside the belt.   It is easy to
handle, lasts forever (as compared to regular sandpaper) and is quick
and very accurate to use.    My memory of using a belt sander is of
taking waaaaaaaaay too much wood off in less than a second of
operation when trying to sand some 1/8" hard birch plywood.
Bob

On Aug 31, 8:07 pm, "Fubar of the HillPeople" <fubar1@(DieSpammers)
socal.rr.com> wrote:

"Thus Spake Zarathustra" is the most commonly remembered piece.  As I
recall, it was playing when the ape/human threw the bone skyward and
they cut to the space station....

OH, how awful!

I'm glad that you survived and were able to
repair the damage to the fuse ...

                Marty

Oh ouch!  And I don't mean your injuries, either.

I can't recall building mishaps of that magnitude, but since picking up
this hobby after a long layoff, I don't think I've gotten a plane in the
air that didn't get some sort of crash repair before it was completed.

(although the worst ones have been self-inflicted -- I'm a design
engineer, and I like to build unique things from scratch.  But working
out everything in detail ahead of time gets to be a lot like what I do
for pay.  So sometimes skip doing the detail design first and I just
start building.  I'll build myself into a corner, then cut out a bunch of
work, then start again.  It's not the "least work" way to get an aircraft
done, but it can be the only way to get started, at times.)

Oh I hate the pain and agony of serious hangar rash before you finish the
build.

I framed up a Midwest Super Stinker that sat in the shop for a year while I
figured out how to prevent the flutter that was mentioned on almost every
page of the manual.  When I engineered the solution, I was covering the tail
feathers and heard a knocking.  I asked my 6 year old what he was doing and
he told me he was driving nails.  He was using the leading edge of the lower
wing for a hammer.

It took another month to repair that damage and the bird flew well enough
that I was able to land when it shed the top wing.  It flew again after
that.

Jim Branaum
AM 1428

Wow, a double whammy!  I have to think that story the prize, but I have one
that might be entertaining, in a way.

Back quite a few years ago, I started to try to learn to fly RC.  There were
no nearby clubs, but after a few failed attempts to teach myself, I found
one, and committed to the drive to get someone to teach me to fly.

I was a building contractor at the time, and carried my ugly stick type of
trainer in the back of my big van along with all of my tools.  There was
plenty of room for both, I thought.

Nearly every trip to the field seemed to end in some minor flying mishap
that required a little repair to my airplane, but sometimes only after a few
good hours of fun.  I would return home for the usually quick repairs, and
return in the next week or so for more lessons and flying, still a happy
camper.

I was getting better, and felt that soon my solo flying was going to result
in a full day of flying AND returning home with an intact airplane.  I was
sort of right.  One day I flew for hours, and finally had to return home,
but this time the airplane went into the van with NO damage, ready to fly
again the next time.  I was on cloud nine, all the way home.  Until...

I got to an intersection a few blocks from home that involved a slow sharp
turn with a big deep dip in it, which always rocked the van pretty hard.
This trip was no exception, but this time, my 3HP, 20 gallon tank
construction air compressor came loose from its tie down, and flopped over
on its side, right on top of my airplane.  CRAP!

The damage was much worse than all of my minor flying mishaps of the
previous weeks, put together!  My wife loves to tell that story, of the
complete and utter dejection I had on my face when I walked in the door.
She knew that something bad had happened to the airplane, but she had to
keep herself from laughing when she found out how the damage had taken
place.

Needless to say, the next time I went to the field, I had the airplane
stored in the van in a new place.

Hanging from the ceiling!   <ggg>

Nor have I, but I have read it in one of the forest products papers, and
that was well researched.

Probably not much strength is needed, which is why I said that I hoped that
there was "sufficient surface area to hold", and there probably is, even
with a less than optimal glue joint.

Adding a little triangle stock is another good way to add strength to a nose
joint, and it probably has that feature added, as well.  I would add it,
even if it was not specified, in this case, as I usually do in all my noses.
I hate a nose falling off, if you know what I mean! <g>