Arceenut

A couple of summers ago I went to a float fly and took my boat along to take the kids water skiing after the float fly. I fell ill after I got home so I did not get a chance to properly clean up the boat. The boat was left as is over the winter and when I decided to get the boat ready for the summer, I discovered a half bottle (plastic) of fuel in the bilge, covered in bilge water and oil. I thought I should just throw it out, but just on a chance put it in my test stand tank and tried it out on a Saito 90. It ran fine , idled great, transition good. I Hated to throw out the fuel if it was still good so i took it flying and put it in an old trainer so if the engine quit or otherwise gave me problems, I had half a chance to 'dead stick' it home. NO PROBLEMS. So, gaining a bit of confidence used it in some of the other planes. No problems. I finally used up the fuel and I am now puzzled how abusing the storage didn't ruin the fuel?

I use mostly Futabas as I seem to have an abundance of Futaba horns left over from earlier purchases. Also by sticking to a certain brand I don't have the worry of using the wrong arm and having it slip due to the wrong spline count. I can't be bothered to research the other brands to see which are compatible as to arms.

The oil keeps the air (oxygen) from the work surface so the aluminum does not oxidise and prevent the solder from sticking.  I've not used this method myself but at one time hot peanut oil was used to melt and 'flow' solder on printed circuit traces to 'tin them.  Peanut oil was used as it did had a very high 'smoke temperature'.

Durafix is great stuff but is a bit of a b1tch to work with.  One cardinal rule for using this stuff is MAKE SURE THE ALUMINUM IS CLEAN.  Also take care with the heat so that you don't melt the metal you are trying to weld