toto

Maybe I am misinformed. I thought attaining Solo was a path to letting an individual fly safely to progress and practice/ perfect their personal skills towards passing an A cert. I'll looki into it as far as my clubs rules go ..... thanks for raising that Toto

Thanks Cuban8 I think you have my mark. You are absolutely correct in saying that the scary moments are becoming fewer and far between ...... but my experience is .... that now and again ...... I still .... and probably always will ..... still have them. I am trying not to take the opinion that I am beyond " the box " because I know that I am not. I think I have 95% of the time the ability to fly safe ....... if not pretty. What I am trying to gauge is just what the datum line is. I don't want to push my mentor into a premature " release " ..... I have absolute confidence in his judgement and want to stick with that but also I'm trying to work out what I am heading towards. I have never enjoyed what I am doing as much as what I am now. I am the luckiest student going with the learning programme that I am on but need something to mark myself against. Things are most definitely moving in the right direction and my enthusiasm has never been higher. Unfortunately around 4 to 5 months were wasted during to weather and technical issues at the start ....... I'm looking to make up for that and start getting somewhere. Hope I don't sound to hungry or impatient. Toto

Bank Holiday Monday ( forced I may add ..... much rather be earning ) and no further flight prospects ..... Booooooooo .... so the best I will manage is a day in the shed .... if I'm lucky fixing the new hinges on my Beaver repair. Hmmmmm ..... better than nothing. It's all down to next weekend and I'm crapping it to even think of looking forward to it because we seem to be getting a bit of flying consistency in the weather ..... very probably just jinxed it now ....... I hope not as if there was any chance to progress and nail the possibility of reaching solo anytime soon ........ it has to be now. I'm not saying that it should be now ..... I am happy to go by the judgement of my mentor and will follow his judgement religiously but I think I can smell it. The aim is not to be perfect but to be safe enough to be flying alone working towards perfecting your craft towards the A cert. Please correct me if I am wrong. ..... my focus has never been so good ( always with room for improvement ) but I'm wondering what is the level of attainment that needs to be achieved to get you on your way. Happy to be tied to the buddy box but need to know what I am aiming for. Toto

Well just back from the field. A good day had ..... five flights all between 7 and 8.5 minutes and still plenty reserve left in the tank. On average between 30 - 40 % battery power still left. There was a very slight spit of rain to start with but it came to nothing. A slight gentle wind that all but disappeared. Sky was a bit overcast but visibility good otherwise. My main point of focus today was take off's and landings as always ( can't really do without them ) and once in the air, normal circuits to get going then circles followed immediately with procedure turns and more of the same. A couple of intended aborted landings. Definitely performed better than last week probably due to the absence of any real wind which without a doubt hindered me quite a bit last week although not to the point of not flying at all. Progress, I think, is definitely creeping forward and things are really looking good. Happy camper ..... toto

Well I hope the rain clears up for you. I have a Manfrotto tripod and monopod for my Canon 7D camera which I haven't used for a few years now. It has video capability but I have never ventured into trying it. ...... One day maybe. As long as you have a mobile phone or a pad, they seem to be as good as anything for a reasonable amateur video that can give a decent display. good luck tonight and the rest of the weekend. Any videos ..... get them up good Sir. cheers for now Toto

Thanks Aidan. just off the phone to my mentor. We will be meeting up at around 11 oclock tomorrow regardless and take it as it comes. There is a thirty percent chance of rain from about 11 until around 1 oclock then it tails away a bit .... so I like the odds. A 3 - 4 mph cross wind which is nothing really. If nothing else .... its a coffee and a chat .... better than sitting in the house ...... or worse still ..... decorating, shopping, walking the dog, speaking endless crap with SWMBO .... etc ... etc ....😄 hope the weather is with you as well ..... enjoy the holiday weekend. toto

Batteries on charge ....... forever the optimist .... fingers crossed toto

Well ..... battery charge was delayed until tonight. Not that it matters as there is a pretty good chance of rain tomorrow with some wind as well so have serious doubts that there will be any flying happening anyway. Not completely ruled out but ..... I have a serious gut feeling here. I will charge the batteries regardless and keep my options open right up to the last minute. Toto

Looking good for batteries tonight and possibly the hinges on the Beaver. Fingers crossed that SWMBO has no big ideas. Toto

Hi JR Man Thanks for pointing that out with the finishing resin. I was not paying attention there at all. The strength in the " wing join " will mainly come from the tight fitting ( epoxied ) wooden dowls that were forced into the predrilled holes in the foam. The micropore ( or whatever ) in my opinion is just a secondary means of joint strengthening. However, now that it's been pointed out, I will make sure that I use full strength 30 minute epoxy for the hinges. Thanks for catching that as it was indeed a mistake on my part .... the intention was to use 30min epoxy. Another senior moment I fear. Cheers Toto

No shed activity tonight. Expecting visitors ..... booooo Looks like tomorrow .... a double hit .... hinges and battery charging. Until then ..... Toto

Well .... back from Sellafield today. Not had the chance to hit the shed to check the repair as yet. Had some accounts that I needed to tidy up when I came back. Now just opened a beer. I may still get into the shed yet but if not ...... then it's tomorrow and looking at the fitting of the hinges. I'm looking at filling in the slots left from the previously fitted hinges as well to add a bit strength back into the edges of the foam. We'll see. Cheers for now Toto

Seen as progression. ..... hey ..... you may even get someone asking for advice ..... now ..... there's a scary thought.... the blind leading the blind. Toto

Eh...... I think you mean shoes, jeans, shed floor and anything else that could possibly get in the way .... .... oh and my very best M & S Teeshirt. Never mind .... it looks so much more convincing down the field when you have some clothing with war medals on them. Paint , glue, burns etc etc..... a proper modeller. Toto

I thought that it would run down into the puncture marks that I made through both the micropore and the foam. Also I brushed the whole of the surface of the micropore with the same mixture and did not want a big thick heavy coat. Just an idea ...... I'm full of them .... Toto

Checked the repair .... drying nicely. Still a little tacky but expected due to the fact the epoxy was diluted with IPA. Should reach its full strength by late tomorrow or certainly by the time that I have returned from Sellafield on Tuesday evening. Hopefully a nice strong repair. Fingers crossed. Toto

Will do Ron. I like to keep a mixture of lotions and and potions for every eventuality ..... Toto

No worries good Sir. It's all pinned and glued now and the outside given a bit support / protection. Hinges next. Stay tuned Toto

Don't count your chickens just yet. I still have the hinges to go yet .... Confidence is high though. This should have been attempted before noe but I was not really happy tackling it before now. Today I developed a sloppy so wot cavalier attitude about it and just got stuck in. .... in for a penny ....... Once all the strengthening and hinges are complete I may be able to tackle the cosmetics to at least pass the 3 metre rule. .... although I'm not to fussed about that as once in the air .... its all more or less out of sight. Toto

Just thinking .... the hinges will have to be midweek at the earliest as I am off to Sellafield tomorrow not returning until Tuesday evening at the earliest. .... never mind .... no rush at it won't be in immediate use or any time soon that I can see so no drama's. Good to get it back into a serviceable position though. Cheers Toto

Hi Grump, No worries ..... diluted epoxy was used. The micropore will do the job. The repair will always stand out to a certain extent even once painted. The main thing is strength and fitness for purpose I suppose. I have completed the application of the epoxy and will let it fully cure ... I'll give it at least 24 hours before tackling the hinges. As you can see, a good soaking ... As I mentioned, it will hopefully take a light sanding and a bit coverage with white paint once finished. It's not quite as messy as the camera makes it look. Next....the hinges ..... tomorrow for that .... so far so good I think ... for someone that was crapping it to have a go. Not the most cosmetically sound job but I think it will have the required strength. Cheers Toto

OK..... I've went with micropore ..... wrapped around the piece with the fracture centred beneath it ..... And ..... And ...... You get the picture. My next step was to make a series of puncture marks all over the surface area of where the micropore covered using a sharp scalpel. ..... not digging holes .... just puncturing the micropore and just into the foam. The idea being to let the diluted epoxy ( which is what I am going to go with ) penetrate the micropore into the foam to help key the materials together. The diluted epoxy ( diluted with IPA ... Isopropyl alcohol ) will run into the puncture marks through to the foam for a better grip. We will see what the end finish is like and if necessary, the surface may be good enough to take a light sanding. The epoxy will be brushed on then left to set. This will just leave the two pieces to be mated with the hinges. More later. Away to mix the epoxy. Toto

Next up is looking at strengthening the surface cracks. I have found the micropore to be a bit on the thick side although not ruling it out. I hade thought of some kind of bandage or gause impregnated with CA or watered down epoxy using IPA to thin it out. The bandage ( typical first aid box variety ) is really just a sort of thin netting to take the adhesive ( whichever variety ) and bridge the surfaces giving a hard finish a bit like cataloy. ..... Not sure. If I applied the bandage ( whatever ) I would put little pin pricks through the bandage into the foam to give channels for the watered down expoxy somewhere to flow and grip the foam ..... ideas on a psotcard .... another 5 or 10 minute intermission. toto

What a time for the laptop and the camera to have a fight. OK here is what I have done .... rightly or wrongly. Using .... Apologies for the slanty photos. I'm using my pad for the first time and have not quite mastered it in termsof changing photo orientation. Still .... I'm sure you get the picture. Back soon Toto

So, I have drilled two initial pilot holes really just as it will be easier to penetrate the plastic with a thinner drill for the first time. I will have to redrill them with a thicker drill to match the chosen wood section diameter. I could maybe get away with a third hole. I'll think about that. maybe one at more of a diagonal attitude. To give an idea how far the drill has penetrated .... and the other. I will need to go an see what other drills I have as I want the wooden sections to be a comfort fit once the glue or epoxy has been applied. ( still undecided ) I am still leaning towards the epoxy since I dont have the gorilla brown glue. more as it happens. toto.