Sm Tall alk C
an you believe it? Already we’re coming into the Fall of the year; how can that be, it seems like Sum- mer just got started? But in this neck of the woods fall makes for some terrif- ic flying days—cool mornings, light winds, and only an occasional chance of rain. What more could a guy ask? It also means that the winter building season is fast approaching as the cool mornings turn cold, and for those in the northern regions the blacktop run- ways will turn white with snow, so it won’t be long before the wheels and pontoons give way to skis—at least for the adventurous type.
It also means that it might be time to straighten up the shop. During the flying season, when the main function in the shop is repair rather than building, things do tend to get a little disorganized. Personally, I can’t deal with clutter! I’m okay with a lit- tle dirt, but clutter is my Achilles heel; it just drives me nuts, and if I have to hunt for a tool or part for more than about three sec- onds, it’s time to take a minute to halt pro- duction and straighten things up. And there in lies the advantage of a small shop. When nothing is more than three or four steps away, cleanup is quick and easy. With all the tool benches, caddies and peg boards well organized it takes all of about three and a half minutes to put everything back in its place, so when I do reach for something, it’ll be there. Sweeping the floor is optional, though there is a level of things crunching under foot that ultimately does need handling.
And depending on how things are going, just about once a year the shop gets a full cleaning. All of the tools come off the bench- es and go outside to have the sawdust blown out and wiped down. The benches get the full treatment, scraps are sorted and much of the “maybe I can use that some- day” overflow from past projects gets elimi-
by pat tritle You can reach Pat Tritle at 10313 Snowheights NE, Albuquerque, NM 87112 or via e-mail at
patscustommodels@aol.com
PHOTO: DAVID WAGNER
David Wagner enlarged the Bill Hannan BD-6 to a 20-inch span and finished the model in tissue with acrylic colors and a modified Peck Polymers propeller. Look for the construction article in a future issue of FM.
nated. Then once the floors are swept and mopped it all goes back together and we’re off and running again. The downside to that is that when the shop is that clean I al- most hate to dirty it up again, but we per- severe and off we go in preparation for the next full clean-up.
But character flaws aside, the easier it is to find the particular tools or parts you need to do any job, the smoother and better the job will go. And now that fall is nearly upon us, there’s two ways to go: we can fix those worn veterans of the summer flying season now so they’ll be ready for next year, which will be here sooner than you think. After all, look how fast Spring turned to Fall! Or, we can slide those repairs till Spring and dive right into our first winter build. Either way, a good cleaning will render the shop usable and ef- ficient, and will go a long way toward mak- ing any project a whole lot more enjoyable.
And from the readers’ shops The mail has been hopping this month with some great stuff from the readers. We’ll begin with Richard Tacklind’s 55-inch span enlargement of the old Comet Sparky. The 16-ounce, 3-channel model was built from the PCM Short Kit and is powered with an AXI 2208/34 outrunner motor and a 910 mAh 2S Li-Po battery. The model is covered with Polyspan and sealed with nitrate dope. Color coats were applied using Sig Butyrate dope. The model is beautifully built, and could be big trouble when the lift gets good. Staying in the vintage vein we have quite a story from John Linke. It seems that John broke his right arm in two places and spent nearly a year in recovery. During that time he taught himself to use an X-Acto knife with his left hand while supporting the work with the cast and brace on his right arm to hold things in place. And in the eight-month
PHOTOS: PHILLIP AGNOLETTO
Phillip Agnoletto finished his 1:8 scale Luscombe Silvaire(above) in the colors of a locally based full scale airplane. Phillip’s model finished at 14.5 ounces and is reported to fly beautifully. The 32mm spinner (at right) adds a bit of class to the already classic lines of the Luscombe. The cowl is attached with magnets to eliminate the need for those unsightly screws used to hold it in place.
54 OCTOBER 2013
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