Up and away

Pinterest is a great source for paper models.   I have found several available for download.  Another good source is fiddlersgreen.net, they have a large variety of plans available.  Not just planes, but much more.  

Over the last couple of months, I have built the models shown below. 

This first plane is a 1933 Cessna Racer (CR-3).  The CR3 was built for John Livingston who won first place in several races.  He set the world speed record for 500 cu inch engines at 204.35 mph at the 1933 Chicago Air Races. 

The Wedell-Williams Model 44 is a racing aircraft, four examples of which were built in the United States in the early 1930s by the Wedell-Williams Air Service Corporation. It began as a rebuilding of the partnership's successful We-Will 1929 racer, but soon turned into a completely new racing monoplane aircraft, powered by a large radial engine. Model 44s became the dominant racers of the 1930s, setting innumerable records including setting a new world speed record in 1933.

Piper PA-22 TRI Pacer - The Piper PA-22 Tri-Pacer was introduced in 1952 and remained in production through 1960.  Early Tri-Pacers were powered by the 124-hp O-290-D Lycoming engine.  By 1959, the Caribbean model had the 150-hp O-32O-B rated at 160 hp.  Prices ranged from $8,395 to $10,770, depending upon engine installation and the usual extra-cost options.  A total of 7,668 Tri-Pacers were built.

Beechcraft Staggerwing - Once in a while something is created that establishes a concept and all other things that follow merely attempt to capture the quality and capability of the original.  Walter Beech began the Beech Aircraft Company in Wichita Kansas in the pit of the depression, 1932.  His first aircraft was a non-retractable version.  From then on general aviation would measure all aircraft against this machine as the standard.  Besides speed, the Staggerwing offers stylish lines, a roomy cockpit, and great flying characteristics, which rank it as an "ultra classic".

The Cessna 152 is an American two-seat, fixed tricycle gear, general aviation airplane, used primarily for flight training and personal use. It was based on the earlier Cessna 150, including a number of minor design changes and a slightly more powerful engine running on 100LL aviation gasoline.

The Cessna 152 has been out of production for more than thirty years, but there are still a large number of aircraft in flying condition. Due to the aircraft's durability, many examples have flown more than 15,000 hours and over 60,000 landings and are still in regular use for flight training.

Orlando

We drove up to Orlando from Sanibel.  I am getting pretty good at navigating the back roads of FL.  We checked into the Hotel and dropped our bags.  Then we were out the door and headed over to Eric's.

We headed out for lunch and then the four of us did an escape room.  I had a great time, but it was nice to be with someone who has done one before.  Now that you see how the clues work and what to look for it would be easier.  If it was my first time by myself, I would have been stuck for a while.

The next day we hung out at Universal Studios.   We had a great time and were able to ride everything we wanted to ride.  Having some fast passes helped.

Love the Island

We got lucky and were able to spend a day on Sanibel Island just before Christmas.  I had to travel for work and then added a couple of days of PTO and hit the Island and then up to Orlando to hang with Big Boy.

Even though we only had one full day to shell, we made off with a pretty decent haul.   We stayed at a Hotel instead of a Condo and it was perfect since it was a quick visit. 

Catching up to do....

Wow, been a while, sorry folks.   So much going on, getting through the Holidays and already back to work and the month is almost over.  Wow, time is flying and we are all running to keep up.

Not even sure where to start until I go back to my pictures and see what we have been up to.

Look for a few updates coming.  Most likely in the form of photos with minimal descriptions, but will do my best.

Happy Thanksgiving

It was nice to have a couple of days off for the Thanksgiving holiday.  I have so much to be thankful for and it was nice having a break.

We did get out and walk every day.  It was so nice to be out and our weather was incredible.  In the 70's each day, so you wanted to be outside.

Candy and I went out for a little walk on Thanksgiving morning.  We didn't really see anyone so Pebbles was running free.  We caught the trailhead down the street and did a loop in BCP.  The deer were thick today, I counted six just on our street as we made our way to the trail.  We have seen a couple of nice bucks running around.  Today one was in the neighbor's backyard eating from the birdfeeder.

After our Thanksgiving morning hike, we cleaned up and got dressed to go have dinner.  This is the second year that we have gone out instead of cooking.  I have to say I am ok with it.  Don't have leftovers, but's that's OK we don't have a huge mess to contend with.

Clark and Kirsten joined us this year.  We had dinner at the Cheyenne Mountain Resort.  They put on a spread with everything you could want and more.  Oh boy, it was awesome and I am confident that we all ate way too much.

Friday morning we headed out to do another hike.  Clark came with us and we had planned on doing St. Mary's Falls but the parking lot was jammed.  So we drove over to Captain Jacks.  Hadn't been on this one for a while.  We hiked up about 1.5/miles and then back.  It warmed up quickly.  Pebbles was happy and ran free for most of the hike.  We did come across a couple of mountain bikers who were hauling ass down the hill.  After our hike, the three of us went out and had a little lunch.

I spent the rest of the day working on steampunking another Nerf gun.   For this one, I repeated the same process as the last.  Took it apart, painted everything black, applied rub and buff in the colors I wanted for each part and then reassembled.  For this one, I added a flashlight to the top and a copper T for side sighting.

Saturday we headed out again for another hike.  Clark joined us again and this time we did twilight canyon.  The first part of this hike is a steep climb up the side of a ravine.  You work your way up to the top and then across the spine of the mountain.  Clark showed us a fort that he had come across

before.  Not sure who built this but boy they put some work into it.   It is pretty awesome and chances are you couldn't find it unless you knew where it was.  Just off the trail, but you cant see it.



Once we got to the top of the mountain then we started working our way down the other side.  You follow a small creek that may or may not have any water in it depending on the time of year.   Once to the bottom, you run into high drive.  then just hike back along the road.  It's a 4-mile loop, but that first mile is a killer.

After our hike, I had to run over to the shop.  I am letting a friend store his car in my shop while he paints the Ranchero for me.   I guess this is good collateral as I would want this back in my garage if it was mine.  67 Chevy Corvette.  Looks pretty good sitting next to my 61.  He left me the keys and said I could drive it if I wanted.  The only driving I would do is back it out if I needed to move something in. 

More Steampunk Fun

Last week we took Pebbles to PetCo to get a bath, but mainly to have her toenails trimmed.  While we were waiting we stopped into Ross and looked around.   Found a bin with Nerf guns in it and they were cheap.   I grabbed one with the idea that I would see if I could steampunk it.  Seen several videos where people have done so and they looked pretty awesome.

This was a fun project.  I took it all apart and then painted all the parts black.   I then used what is called Rub and Buff, found it at Hobby Lobby and you apply and the buff and it gives it an aged look.   Came in the colors I wanted.  Once dry, I reassembled and then tested.  Still works great and looks good in my office.  I will be looking to do a few more of these as I think they would be cool gifts and it was easy and fun to make.

Making Changes

I am slowly getting my home office going.  I found a desk a few weeks back.  Found it online and Candy I went and checked it out.  This is what I was looking for as it has the industrial steampunk look that I am going for.  Not a fan of the blue drawers and may change out the color in the near future.  Love the polished metal look and that fact that it is all metal.  It was a challenge for Candy and me to move and to get it up the stairs and situated where we wanted it.

Then I found the style of chair that I wanted.  Again found it online and went and checked it out and bought it.  Found both the desk and chair using the facebook marketplace.  Pretty excited to now have a place to work at when I work from home. 

Once the desk and chair were in place I started working on my equipment.  I am going for a steampunk look and you can see what I did to my monitor.   I painted the base of the monitor and then used gold duct tape around the screen.  Had some old gauges at the shop and added them to the top of the monitor.   Used e6k to glue the gauges to the monitor.  

Added a strip of tape to my laptop as well as my keyboard.  While I was at it, I also made some changes to the paper shredder.  You can see what the shredder looked like when I started.  Also in the picture is the base of my monitor.  I taped off the top and the plastic window and then applied a couple coats of paint.   I added some handles on each side, just to give it a different look.   It came out really nice.  I was able to do this project in an afternoon, with most of the time waiting for the paint to dry.

Next on the list is to do something with the back wall.  I have been looking at removable wallpaper.  Candy turned me on to the idea and after doing some looking around I think we are going to go with a brick.  This may be a Christmas break project.

53

I guess I am getting older, so they tell me.  I don't feel older and if you asked me I am still 18.   It's all the head folks, live like a kid and have fun every day.  Stay off the news and all the bullshit on FB and Twitter and I am sure you will live longer.   Block those assholes you can't stand.

For my Birthday I went camping up in the mountains.   It was cold, but I had a great time, hiked and fished, drank too much each day,  and pretty much just let the world go by without me.  I loved it.  2.5 days with no email, no phone, no drama, it was great.  I only caught one fish a small trout about six inches and just threw it back.  Got some good hiking in as well as practicing my shooting and hatchet throwing.  I am ready for the Zombie apocalypse or whatever shit comes my way.  Ready to go back.   

Below are a few pictures I 

Birthday Time

Happy Birthday, Clark!  On Friday evening we went out for dinner to Red Robin and had burgers.  On Saturday Clark had a party at his house and invited us old farts to join.

I am guessing there were about 30 or so of his friends that showed up.   He cooked up burgers and brats and we brought a cake.  Had a really good time, even though Candy and I were twice as old as everyone else in attendance.

This was the first time that we ever played beer pong.  Instead of using beer they just used water in the cups and you would just take a drink of your own beer.  That's the way to do it, cause I wasn't going to drink anything out of the cups.   We didn't win our first match but only lost by one.  Not bad for a couple of newbies. It was actually a lot of fun, kinda like indoor horseshoes.

Later that evening everyone sang happy birthday and we had some cake.  We left shortly after so that we would cramp his style.  He has a lot of nice friends and it was a great time.

Empty the Camera Role

I promise to get better about providing updates.  They are really more for me so that I can have something to leave behind for the future Robinson's.

What have I been up to since the last post?  I don't think I can remember it all.   Was on the road for a while and now back for a couple of weeks.

So let's see, we had an eclipse, old news now.  But Candy took a picture of the shadows during the eclipse and you can see how they were all moon shaped.  Very Cool!  Guess we will be waiting a few years until the next one comes around.   I was working from home that day and actually made a pinhole box so we could look in and see the eclipse as it was happening.   Remember don't look at the sun our you can burn your eyes and go blind. 

I spent a little time working on my sewing table stand.  I have no idea what I am going to do with this when done.   We have no space in the house for it and I am at of room at the shop.  I am rethinking the top and may just find a piece of marble to use instead of wood.  If I do go with wood, I am thinking about doing a barn quilt design on it.   Will give me something creative to do this winter.

Let's see so in the last month I was in Chicago, Boston and covered most of the state of FL.   Candy flew down on a Friday to meet me in Orlando.   We spent the weekend and was able to hang out with Eric and Shannon.   We had a nice dinner Friday evening, Saturday we spent all of the day at Disney's Animal Kingdom.   Had a blast and rode most of the rides and saw all the animals.   We got lucky and were able to get fast passes to the new Avitar ride.  I can't remember the name, but it was pretty cool.   That evening we had a nice dinner at one of the park restaurants.  Eric was able to get us 40% off.

Sunday morning we met up for breakfast and then took the boy out shopping for some new threads.   Got him a couple of work outfits so he will be looking good.   After shopping, we dropped him off and said our goodbyes.   Then we made the drive down to Sanibel Island.  

Our plan was to be there through Sunday but thanks to Irma our trip got cut short.  The boys were supposed to come down that weekend but ended up staying home because of the hurricane.  That was a real bummer.

I did manage to get a little fishing in and caught a few that I threw back.   We spent a good portion of our 2.5 days on the beach hunting for shells.   Even though our trip was short we still had a decent haul of shells.

I don't know why shell hunting is so addictive, but we spend a lot of time doing it, while we are there.   After the first day you are so sore from all the up and down trying to grab them before the wave pushes them away.  You can see I have my shell bag and my grabber net, so they don't get away.  We would be out at both low tides as that is usually the best time to find them.  To get the bigger ones, you can just float in the water and run your hands across the bottom.  If you feel something sticking up chances are it is a shell and you just do a little digging.  Problem is, most of the time when you find them, there is something living in them and you have to throw them back.  I am sure we will make another trip soon.

This weekend Candy was out with some friends so I had time to myself.  I went to the flea market and then spent the rest of the day at the shop.   I scraped together some old wood I had and decided to make another cufflink display holder.  Instead of sitting on the shelf this one hangs on the wall.  I cleaned up the wood and then drilled all the holes.  Once done I sanded and then covered it with some fabric we had.   I used decoupage to add the fabric to the wood.  Came out really nice and looks good on the wall.