It's been a while...

It’s been a while since I’ve posted anything; but I figured I may as well. Our old office was closed, due to a number of things - and the new office isn’t going to be ready for another couple of weeks, so I get to work from home. During the olympics. With my HDTV easily viewable.

I also managed to score a $1300 ergonomic work bench/table for free, and it’s where I’m actually doing my work from now.

Yeah, times are good for the moment. I’ve added a new helicopter to my stable - a Synergy N9, which is a .90 sized machine. It flies like a dream - if only I hadn’t more or less destroyed the engine within 3 minutes of starting it for the first time. I didn’t check the needle valves - figured I’d start with the “factory settings”. As it turned out, the needles on the carburetor were all completely closed. After those three minutes, the engine overheated and quit.

And then it wouldn’t start. After much fiddling and work, I tore the engine apart, and found that I had destroyed the piston, ring, and sleeve. The ring was seized in the piston, and all were heavily scored. After replacing those parts, re-installing the engine, setting the needles correctly, things went much better.

The N9 flies like a dream - it was as smooth as silk on its first flight, and performs really well. I’m quite happy with the machine. If only I were able to fly it more often... oh well.

I’ve also taken up canopy painting for the helis - though I’m sure it’ll take a while for my skills to form. But it’s something to do when puttering around in the garage...