RC Model Airplane Flying Over New York

RC model airplane flying over New York City. Here is the link (http://arstechnica.com/gaming/news/2010/12/how-a-rc-airplane-buzzed-the-statue-of-liberty-with-no-arrests.ars).

Demise of My F-6F Hellcat Model

It only lasted for four flights.

It was a small, made out of foam; scale model of the US. Navy's F-6F Hellcat from World War Two. It was a gift from several radio control modelers that I know trying to get me back into the hobby again. Electric power, four channels (throttle, rudder, aileron, and elevator) for control. I never got around to putting any numbers on the fuselage side (like that shown with the accompanying photograph here), just the "star and bars" on the wings and fuse.

The first three flights were really little hops. The speed controller kept over heating and shutting the system down. The resulting crash landings were repairable. The last flight with a different battery acted like it went suddenly tail heavy. Two minutes later with the Hellcat looping all over the sky finally impacted the earth and the foam wing exploded and the fuselage crushed up like a beer can.

Only thing now is to salvage what parts I can from the wreck. Wait until I can save up enough money for a new model - and do it all over again.

The thing about RC model airplanes is that you cannot be afraid to crash them. Your goal is to "put" off the crash for as long as one can get away with. Sometimes, it happens on the very first flight. Then sometimes, after ten years of faithful service, you sell the model to somebody else; and they crash it on their first flight.

Thats just part of the hobby I guess.

More Construction of LOTS Battlefield

Here are some more new construction pictures that I took today. We focus mainly on digging out the harbor section and moving the freshly dug earth over to the "mountains" to extend a road to make a more gentle sloping road that leads from the tunnel.

Soaking the ground with water first, and then running a tiller (with a brand new engine on it) over it. From that point on, its using a shovel and a wheel barrow.

Also, with the aid of some photo software, I can now show how the "harbor" will look like. The harbor is on the north side of the model "French" port city we are building.

(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yy2SNonKsek)

.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9SSUYKIGLp4.

.

.

Buildings and Roads for LOTS Battlefield

L.O.T.S. = Lubbock Oddball Tankers Society.

The fellows have asked me to showcase some of the progress that has been made over the past 3-4 weeks. The pictures here are of the roads/footpaths being poured. Some more images of the bridges and some of the buildings that have been built so far.

From Top to Bottom-

1. Ricky's bridge going over the main river.

2. Tim near the center of town with his 'tavern' to the left of the main road and Ricky's 'store' to the right of the road and near the future center of town where there are plans to have a little fountain.

3. The forest made from old artificial Christmas trees.

4. My 'farm house' made out of foam board and Popsicle sticks for the window coverings and door. Still under construction.

5. A very simple small bridge I built using two center tile blocks and garden paving stones for the bridge and garden edging stones for the bridge sides.

Commemorative Air Force Airshow Images

Just some images I finally got around to posting from the Commemorative Air Force (CAF) airshow in Midland, Texas, back on October 9, 2010. It was good to see the B-29 FiFi flying again! All the pictures I'm posting on this blog are ones that I took that day. By the way, that is me standing next to the business end of the A-10 Warthog!

Top 10 Low Pass Flybys of All Time

The title says it all.

Star Trek Phase II-What it Would Have Looked Like

Star Trek Phase II - the tv series that never happened. Someone has now done some cgi work of what that U.S.S. Enterprise would have looked like.

This is the YouTube link (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-at54tjZzw)