May 4th Update

Well it's been a while since posting here but I figure why post often with nothing. Better off waiting a while then filling you in.

As you can see by the picture to the left, I finally finished building my F-117A Stealth fighter. As you can also see by the accurate design I knew my flying skills would be put through the test.

The first 2 attempts at launching it was a disaster. I believe my tail may have been a hair off. (not noticeable to the naked eye) But the plane kept wanting to torque roll to the left immediately after launching it. This resulted in nosing it into the ground but avoided any major damage. I went home scratched my head and came up with nothing. So I took it back the next night and tried again. This launch was successful but the plane was still rolling left and I fought it the entire time. I landed the plane and was so happy I launched it again only to meet the same fate as the first two launches. This time the battery ejected through the front and it needed some repair work. I had extra foam so I repaired it back to the condition it was before ever flying it. I decided I did not want to wreck it so I took a step back and trimmed the plane so if anything it would roll right countering the left torque roll. There was no way of telling if it was to much or to little with out flying it so it made my flying fleet for tonight. God must have been smiling on me because the adjustment was perfect. There is no way I could have guessed that well. It left my hand and sailed perfectly up and out. After patrolling the dangerous skies over LCCC looking for enemy aircraft I brought it in for a perfect landing so it will make the fourth of July airshow.

Also today was a great day as the Ruby throated hummingbirds returned to our back yard. It was only one I believe but it was a male. That was the first male I've seen in our back yard. We always have several females but I've never seen a male until today. So with any luck he'll set up shop and stay even after the others arrive.

I also saw a Yellow Rumped Warbler, A ruby crowned Kinglet and a white throated sparrow. So the migration is in full swing and it will be a great time to watch your yard as you may see some birds you won't see any other time of the year.

If you watch the new I'm sure you've heard that Continental will not be merging with United. This "SHOULD" be good in terms of keeping my job. It's amazing that they feel comfortable enough that the do not need to merge because they feel they are strong enough on their own, yet they can't find it in their budget to return the $2.60 they took off me along with hundreds in other benefits in 2005. Oh well if god lets me live 11 more years I'm taking my 30 years in the form of a buy out and getting out. I've had enough. The sad thing is I honestly believe that I will be making less money then than I was in 2005. CEO's (Especially airline CEO's have had a field day these past eight years) I pray every night that our next president no matter who he or she is puts an end to the madness but I'm not holding my breath.

Tomorrow May 5th is Chocolate Cheese 3rd Birthday. I'll pick him up a cupcake and bone on my way home from work. He still acts like he's 3 months old.

Toni the guy I fly with says he remember you and Chuck. He graduated the same year as you from EC. His name is Chris Raynak. His wife also home schools their children and I gave her your blog address. She never seemed very personable but seems to be coming along lately so you never know. Perhaps she'll show up on your blog one day.

If you have not been by the bird blog you may want to stop by. I made a decision on keeping it up for a while as well as stated how often and when I will be posting.

So I'll end the update here and come up with a plan I can stick to as to when and how often I'll post here. That way you'll know when to look and I'll work it out so I have something new to post each time. Until next time thanks for stopping by.

A Long Winter Of Building, Now Comes The Time To Fly

div>Well after a really crazy start to this year, spring has startted to show it's face and I have started flying planes once again.

<>My goal this year was to take my flying to a new level and start flying my true love, military jets. So I thought I would start with this beautiful angel to the left. The F/A 18 flown by the US Navy and Marines. You will also recognize it as the plane of choice for the United States Air Force Blue Angels. I'm proud to say that I have flown this plane succesfully a couple of times this week. It truely looks like one of the blue angels is flying around the flield at LCCC. The plane is fast yet handles nicely. If there is a down side to it the flight time is only about 6 minutes. However that seems long as you are flying by the seat of your pants.



The second plane of the winter building season was the F-15 Eagle flown by the US Airforce. This is the number 2 fighter plane of all times second only to the P-51D Mustang. It has a perfect record in battle. 113 planes shot dow, 0 F-15's lost. A pretty impressive record.

I managed to fly this airplane 3 times this week. It truely handles like a dream. The first two landing were a bit scary as this plane carries allot of weight. It's speed is not as impressive as some of the other planes I fly, yet it's one of the biggest birds I fly and is very impressive flying across the hostile planes of LCCC.

The next part of my private war is the F-16 Falcon. This is my second favorite plane in the world next to only........you guessed it the F-14A Tomcat. I've yet to find one to build so for now this is my favorite RC plane.

This plane you have to see to believe. If you know me you know that my nerves are not the best and they were not in great shape as the time approached to take this rocket into the air the first time. I've had this plane built for over a month now and not a day has passed that I have not looked at it and wondered what would go wrong to destroy my dream of flying one some day. Well that day was yesterday. A friend of mine who I met through flying was there. His wife is not as understanding as Lori and really puts time restrictions on when he can fly. The winds were less than perfect (14 mph realisticly they should be under 7 mph) so I flew a couple plane I was familiar with. I took up the Spitfire MKIIB and the F-15 from up above. CHris never saw the F-15 fly and it was a thrill for him to witness.

It was now 7:50 pm and he had to be home at 8. I informed him that this was the second time I brought the F-16 and I was going to fly it. Worse case I would wreck it and have to build a new one. Chris said he would see the launch then had to go. So push the throttle to full and the engine was screaming. I took a couple of steps and let it fly. Folks the take off was perfect and to keep you out of suspense the entire flight was. This plane has a max speed of around 90 mph and is a complete rush to see. I kept reminding my self that it was the first flight so be easy on the throttle. The plane sliced through the air at about 60 mph most of the flight and from time to time I would light the after burners and let it scream. Chris stayed for the entire flight and I could not stop thanking him for sharing it with me. He said it was one of the nicest flights and planes he has seen. He should my hand and thanked me for letting him be there. I also flew a security mission over LCCC this evening for Lori. All she could say was the speed is sick on that plane. She had a grin from ear to ear when I landed it.

The next couple of planes are still being worked on in my area 51 hangar. The first is this gem to the left. This is the F-86 Sabre. It was introduced during the 1950's and was developed to counter the Mig 15 developed by the Russians.

It was flown during the Korean war and had an impressive kill record. The americans did not own the skies over Korea until this plane came into service. Once it came in I believe it had a 15-1 kill ratio over the Mig and from there we won the war.




Next is the A-4 Skyhawk. It was flown by the Navy during the Vietnam war. It had a less than stellar record and was the plane John McCain was flying when he was shot down over Vietnam. He spen the next 5 years there as a prisoner of war.

The plane was later used at Top Gun at NAS Miramar along with the F-5 to use to train the F-14 fighter pilots. If you get the chance to watch top gun it's the plane that Viper and Jester was flying against the F-14 pilots. Top Gun later replaced the F-5 with the F-16 again featured above. One final note on the A-4. It was also flown by the US Navy Blue Angels prior to switching to the F-18. If you google A-4 blue angel pictures you can see what they looked like.



This next plane is really one of my favorites. I had the the chance to fly it for the first time this week and it by far is the smoothest flying plane I own. It's the US Navy T-28 Trojan. It was used to train pilots through the 1950's for jet flight. It was even still being used by the south Vietnamees during the Vietnam war.

If is arobatics you want, this plane performs them gracefully. It has a ton of power and really is poetry in motion while in the air. Hopefully if I get the chance to fly some planes for any of you this summer I'll have this gem with me. It has a brushless motor and you'll be amazed by how something this powerful can be so quiet. While the jets scream you can barely hear this plane.

I still have an F-117 Stealth fighter to build once the other two are completed. I will not bore you with more posting of planes, but I'll share some pictures of my others. Sorry for the long lay off here but I promise to do better keeping everyone informed of how things have been going. Enjoy the planes by clicking on them and seeing them in full size.

P-47D Thunderbolt

P-51 Mustang (No1 fighter ever)

Spitfire MKIIB The fighter that saved England

F-27 Stryker C (an 80 mph screamer)

Jenny JN-4 (WWI Era)

Aerobird 3

A-10 Warthog (Used in the gulf war right now)

Cessna 110 (This little plane weight 6/10 of an ounce)

Super Cub (my first plane)

Super Slinger (70 mph+ flying wing)


F-117 Stealth (This is a small version I built of the large one to come)

Where does time go ?

Sorry for the long lay off. I've been busy at work and doing things around the house. I do check pones blog a couple of times a week but that's been about it.

What plane is that you ask? That's an F-15 eagle which I just ordered today. It's a great plane and I look forward to flying it. I'll update you through here with pictures as I get it built.

I bought a new high defenition TV this week and sold my 60 inch to Todd. He and Rob picked it up today and I drove it over in my truck. That was the easy part. Getting that beast up to Todds apartment was a nightmare. It took all three of us as well as three guys who live down stairs from Todd. I told him to let me know when he's moving so I can be out of town. lol

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Wish I had more to report but hey it's winter and I really have no life right now. I was glad to see football end tonight. I've had enough of the African kick ball league. Not it's on to spring training and warmer temperatures. Before you know it I'll be emailing everyone to remind them to put their humming bird feeders, which by the way is tax day April 15th. Also I look forward to the last week of April to the first week of May to take a trip up to Crane creek near Toledo to check out the migration. Pone your my southern eyes in the sky. You should be the first to see them migrating back. I'll be waiting for that first email in March or early April telling me the blue birds are back.