I finally go tot maiden my long-brewing Higgins F-20, and it was GREAT!

I bought the kit from John back in 2007, I think? A long tome ago, in any case. I had quickly sheeted the wings and made a laminated tail (1/16" balsa, 90-degree 1/64th ply, 1/16" balsa, glassed) and then, as my projects often do, it started to gather dust. Oh, glued on bass tips and oak LEs to pretend I was making real progress. I sanded out the LEs up on my rooftop deck when I lived in Pacific Heights, enjoying the views and drinking a beer to "keep the dust down".

Then life began to get in the way. Without going into too much detail 2008 worked it's magic on our lives much as it did to a bunch of other people.... We moved out of Pac Hts and found an apartment that wasn't bad- I did get a building room out of it.

I got tired of just looking at that forlorn Higgins F-20. I sat down one night and opened up the fuselage cut enough to slide the wing in, and I think that set the hook. Suddenly it began to feel like it had some "life". I placed the fuse/wing on my bench where I saw it every morning on my way to work. Hmm. Wouldn't take to long to cut out the tail slit, would it? I dug out the dremel and a cutoff wheel- sssszing. Now the tail was in it. I could feel some sort of momentum building. It felt like it was downhill to the finish.

I scheduled a week off from work, and took the wife to her job on Monday morning. I picked up a coffee from 7-11...Continue Reading

Well, I finally got two weeks off. It's Tuesday, I have three planes scattered in pieces around the kitchen, I'm snow blind from looking for pinholes on a white primed wing, I smell like Kilz Primer, and I'm in the middle of a Seth Penery-esq *BUILD FRENZY*

At the moment I'm closing out the ailerons on my Higgins F-20. Made some torque rods with 4/40 hardware. Got the tail mounted on it this morning after taking the wife to work. I can't stress how much I hate cutting ailerons- is it just me? Actually, If I could just force myself to sit down and do one part of the build from beginning to end these planes really go together quick- but I can't seem to get more then 10 minutes a night at the bench when I'm working.

I'm also doing some cleanup on last summers Rodent- I figure it's time to paint it. Basic white primer is sub-optimal in the fog days of summer. I bent the nose off of it at the Higgins-fest, and I've managed to do all the repairs- now it's just a matter of the cosmetics. Probably go with a Rustoleum white and some high-vis patterns on the wings and tails. I also need to hinge ailerons with E-6000- that makes a strong hinge.

I'm also getting two NSP Hillbillys repaired and back in the air- they're cheap fun, and loaded up fly quick and have a nice moldy whistle. Three full size servos too, which makes them a candidate for some recycled gear.

"Drop your sticky scissors.." the DJ on KOZT said "And go outside!"

I was cruising north on Hwy 1 near Manchester beach in Mendocino County CA, checking out the trees waving in the wind. It looked like about 20-25 mph NNW. I knew a spot.

I pulled into the parking lot of the Navarro Bluffs County park and the wind had picked up. The Navarro Bluffs sit just north of the Navarro River, and form a 'wind cheat'- the wind climbs over the bluffs rather than make the sharp turn into the mouth of the river.

I picked up my Performance Composites Starling and my Alula and walked to the lip. It was *going*. It was good. I should have left the Alula in the car... The 50' cliff drops straight off into the Pacific Ocean, and there's only a tiny beach over to the right to bail out.

I plugged in the Starling and wiggled the sticks- deep breath. It's going to be OK. I walked to the edge and glanced over. 6' high waves crashed into the rocks. I chucked the Starling out, and it shot up in a solid band of lift. Even though the wind was NNW the face turned the air WNW, and made a really nice stack of lift that seemed to go up 250' or so.

OK- half pipes. The air was a touch rough down low, but the half pipes were big and effortless. Loops, rolls, a loopchevak or two.

Landing approaches are a bit touchy- drop below the shear and your plane rockets ahead. Fortunately the LZ is huge- a hundred yard square.

If you're in the area and the wind gods are in your corner- try this spot.

This is NOT a for sale/wanted thread, but are you like me- do you have that que of planes in your head that you want to build, maybe*again*, and the kits are long gone?

Here's what slopemeno would like to build again, or have stuffed in the rafters for a rainy day, or be able to hand off to young Alex, his nephew:

Another TG-3 kit or two (or three) :That was the VW Microbus of slope soarers back in the mid to late 90's. The first one I was was owned by Phil Lonz. It was such a cool, simple idea that I had to have one. Mine flew great- it would hang with the CR Climmax in light lift, but would dive so fast it was ridiculous. I flew it in every kind of condition from flat-field off of a high start to 40 mph at the coast. I finally gave it to a kid I met when I was flying on a slope in Oakland in the late 90's. I hope he got some use out of it.

The Zipper: That was a fun little plane- I'd probably go for the 48" version though, and the other airfoil- the less pitchy one- this time please. I'm putting servos in the wing of the next one too. I need a canopy if anyone has one.

The Bowmans Ruffneck/Commanche. Not fast- not even super maneuverable, but they were fun. I picked one up off the want ads a few years ago but I'd like another. I'm surprised someone hasn't copied it with a more modern airfoil and issued it, like Skyking, or L2 etc.

The original Zagis- made from white foam with no EPP. They were cheap, thin, fast, and flew like nothing we had...Continue Reading

So Neil Walker got me thinking..."Lets do a Goat Rock deal"

If you haven't flown Goat Rock when is blowing, you're missing out. It has a DS groove, as well as some serious front side compression. I've flown my Higgins plane there and been freezing, with my nose and eyes watering, and not wanting to land.

Anybody up for a Goat-Fest in, say, March of 2011?

The site about 1 hour north of the Golden Gate Bridge in Sonoma County, CA, just south of where the Russian River empties into the Pacific Ocean, just off of Hwy-1. Landing is fairly easy, and the site is friendly for everything from PSS to foam. It's about as close to a park-n-fly as you can get. Neil also made the suggestion that we take over a campsite somewhere where we can barbeque after the shin-dig.

It'd be nice to get all the Bay Area locals out to one flying spot at one time. Who's up for it?

More perfect days at the Civic Center slope...

I was driving out to tick when Joe Strakowski called me and warned me that the fog was in at the coast. He said that he and Bruce were going to head up to the Civic Center slope. I wasn't up to climbing that thing today...or so I thought.

So I headed out to Tick, and the fog was heavy. I hung around and though.."Hmm. Do I want to freeze in the fog, or hike up Civic Center?"

I headed to Civic Center. We've been talking about a new route up that would allow you to carry a few more planes than the little trail will, but take less time than the single-track "Canary" trail would. I parked at the new trail access point, saddled up and headed out...Man this hill is WINDY today. The new route keeps you cooler with almost constant wind blowing across the trail
and a lower grade than the "Joe" trail. The walk was about 1/2 hour...man I brought too many planes...My Me-109, my Miraj, Shredder, and Mini-Acacia.

Up at the top I could hear Bruces "Cloud Climber" TD plane screeching around on the front side. That plane makes more noise than a 737. I wheezed up and dumped all my gear and took a break to get my wind back.

The wind was cool and coming in at about 10-15 mph, and lifty. I started out with my Mini-Acacia, and jumped right into the DS groove- man this this thing is *stable*. After a bit Joe put his Destiny up and really put on a show ripping up the groove.

I flew...Continue Reading

I got the chance to see The Breeders at Slims here in SF last week. Simply brilliant...

I've seen them four times previously from 2001 on...twice at Slims, the Fillmore (amazing show) and at 19 Broadway in Fairfax. Lineup changes, addiction, rehab...none of it matters. They ROCK.

Did I mention I shook Kim's hand?

Well, as usual, Reed was right. At the Jartfest, we started talking about work, and flying, and the big days.

"It should be a Mavericks style call-out" Reed said. "Drop what you're doing and get to the slope".

We had a bit of a dry run at Vollmer and Rattlesnake on Thanksgiving. We had some decent winds, but I thought it might be light so I brought a Gentle Lady rather than my Higgins plane...big mistake. It was rockin'. The lift was huge. Infopimp took some good video, and I think the die was cast.

So we got some good south winds, and I PM'd BillO, Checkenbach, and a few other guys. This spot is an under-the-radar-special, but i figured these guys could keep it under their hats, and had the chops to fly at a really good spot. Unfortunately, the wind sorta clocked around to the SE, which makes this spot less-than-stellar, but we all got some good high-speed passes in. Best quote of the day was BiilO, as I came blasting through the compression-zone with my Alias "..don't hurt me Tony"

Then new years day rolled around. I headed out to Tilden but I brought some heavier planes. I flew my Shredder at Vollmer, then BillO called from Rattlesnake..you could hear the wind blowing in his phone. I put away the Shredder and scurried down to Rattlesnake. It was blasting and freezing. It was amazing air. I flew my Destiny, and my Starlight there, but the starlight was in reverse the whole flight. I kicked myself...I should have...Continue Reading

SO, who was the guy who was taking pics of his wife with the planes covering her..bits? I heard he started his own site or something? Enquiring minds want to know.

Well, three days off is a treat. I flew Saturday and Monday, but I slept most of Sunday away.

Traffic on Saturday was pretty light considering the Bay Bridge was closed for retrofit. The lift was a waiting game. I got to Four Corners at noon, and ran into Joe S. Tick Point was in heavy, slow moving fog. We talked for an hour until the wind came up, and I flew my Star-light for about an hour. The lift was mediocre at best. Finally- the fog cleared at Tick, so we jumped in the cars and went down there.

At the coast, the wind was barely moving, and it was super hot. I was able to fly my Starlight and Shredder, but landing the Shredder was a chore since there was nearly NO wind coming across the slope to help you slow down. I flew some loose formation with Dr. Dan and his Katie 2. Dan is primarily a gas/electric flyer, but we wont hold that against him....will we? It was fun showing him the fast line in some light air. I left a little early since I could feel a good sunburn coming on. Bashed the tail of my Sparrow getting it out of the car...gotta make a new tail for that plane.

I cut out the pallet for the fuse servos on my Miraj, and adjusted the pushrods to make sure they were close to fitting. I'll have to fill up a BUNCH of holes in the sides of the fuse from the previous owner making what looked like a few attempts (four, and I guess he was happy on the fifth, since there were no less than TEN holes in the left side of the fuse) to get the pallet...Continue Reading

Had a GREAT weekend of flying.

Saturday 7-20 I went out to Tick to find it ducking in and out of the fog...I flew my Slope Scale Me-109 for about 1/2 hour until it diappeared for about 10 seconds in the fog. I guess grey was the wrong color to paint it. I flew my Destiny for a bit until the it too did the Houdini thing on me. I though...I wonder how Civic Center is today...hmmm, winds out of the north, thats good...and I was on the road. From the coold fog of Tick Point to the sizzling inland temps of Civic Center.

man, when I stepped out of the car at the parking lot at the top of Oakdale, you could just *hear* the heat. Bugs buzzing, water evaporating...I took my Shredder and Starling in my wing bag, and carried my Destiny and Star-light in my hands. Man...(panting...grunting..) that hill never gets any easier. i should have brought some water. It must have been 90 degrees in the shade going up the Rubicon to the landing zone. I took my time and got there in about 20 minutes, with a couple/dozen breaks on the way up.

I tell ya, there is NO BETTER FEELING in the world than breaking out onto the fire road at this place. You're soaked in swaet, your legs are super pumped up from the climb, and you step out onto the fire roadand that cool breeze coming up the slope hits you like a blast of A/C. Ahhhhhh- thats MUCH better.

I flew my Star-light first, since its the lightest. I figure if anything will fly, this one will. I soon had it up about 1000' over...Continue Reading

well, take it from me...A whole glass of Diet Coke will mess up your keyboard.
Cant they put a sneeze-shield on these things?

May 20th 2007. Bright sun and strong winds at Tick Pt today. I flew my CSD ME-109, My Hillbilly, and my Destiny. The highlight of the day was John Higgins dropping by and chewing the fat for a few hours. It's always nice to see John and hear what he's working on.

For those of you who dont know who John is, he makes the "Rodent" sloper, which is a ply sheeted fiberglass bullet of a sloper.

Mach Dart in action

Willie in Reno. Great show- if you havent seen him...GO!

No, seriously, lets talk about this for a second.

What IS it with the Maura Tierney/Kim Deal/Picabo Street look? I dont freakin' get it..Why would three people be able to play either one of each other in a made-for-tv-kinda way, yet be totally unrelated?

Sometimes I wonder.

You kids under 25 just go back to reading the devilscries thread, you'll find it more entertaining...he speaks to your demographic.

Anyway, yeah, its like you could have Maura Tierney play any one of these three, including herself, and, I suppose Kims twin sister Kelley.

How many good days do you get?

I was kinda struck with this though today as I was flying at this amazing slope with Longdollar, Joe S, and SSCB. Figure 52 weekends in a year, plus a few vacation and, uh, "sick" days, so lets say 104, plus, lets say 10, so 114 flying days in a year. You probably didnt start flying until you are 20, and lets say 70 is a nice round number of years, so 114 x 50= 5700 days? And out of that how many are standout?

Today was one of those. The spot we were flying in Marin was SUCH GOOD AIR it was beyond description...but here goes: Joe Strakowky's Mach Dart was a missile... He came screaming down from about 1000 feet and slashed past the DS groove out into the still air in the backside...127 mph on the front side! He would whip a 180 and come rocketing back out onto the front side at about 110 mph.

I ds'd my Destiny and Starling...slowly..carefully. I got my Destiny specked out, and got up to 117 mph diving and whipping back into the backside...Gotta come up with a catchy term for this...slingshotting er sumpin'.

Longdollar flew his Eagle F3B plane that screams like a 737 going around the DS circle. He let me fly it on Saturday and I have to say thats the most accurate flying plane I've ever flown. REALLY precise and placeable- If you fly it into a bank and leave it there it holds that andle as the energy state decays slowly...amazing.

This was a great weekend.

Well, heres whats up with my P/O so far (thanks for the kind comments, btw)
I called Kaiser and they got me in to see a Dr. pretty quickly, considering how stupid I was. Dr Virk was very cool, and told me some stuff I didnt know about P/O-such as: It actually makes your blood vessels leaky, which is why you leak yellow fluid from the really bad areas ( I had one blister behind my ear that I could HEAR oozing- yeah, drrrrrrip!) And then theres the whole histamine thing, so they put me on two allergy medications, and a course of steriods for a week, The steroids started working today when I took the first batch this morning. My face was pushed out 1" on the right side, and that went down in about 4 hours. My eyes are still red though. And I have this hump on the inside of my right arm that looks like its fluid.

All told: DID NOT lose the Shredder, so thats a plus.

Paid: $31.00 for co-pay and drugs.

Lost two days of workd-paid sick time: BONUS-

So It was windy today but I resisted the urge to head out to Tick Pt and fly. Instead I drove over to San Leandro and went to my favorite cheap-n-cheesy Chinese food place "Jasmine's" (in the Floresta Plaza). Pot Stickers, Hunan Pork, and chicken fried rice, with a 32 oz diet coke for $7.00

I used to live in the Eastbay, so its always a little wistful and bittersweet (hey, is this the freakin' Eastbay he's talking about? Yes, yes it is..)to go there. I moved down there with a company I worked...Continue Reading

Yeah, you know the story...

I was flying at Eastside Four Corners, minding my own business, enjoying a weak but workable thermal with my Shredder (what an amazing plane.. Mark Grand is a GOD!) and, so what do you do when you have five-hundred feet of altitude at your fingertips?! Dive! Speedrun! Buzz the LZ! Hey, its kinda sinky down here, uh, crashing on the left...

Well it was all over before you could think about it, so, collapse the antenna and go searching. I spent about 45 minutes below the lip, around the tree thats down the hill, but no Shredder to be found. My boots are starting to fill up with wood debris and my hands are bloody from raspberry vines (ya hate 'em, right?). No plane. I walk over to the hard left of the hill. No Shredder anywhere..

Roger Jennings (aka SSCB, or "slopestud crybaby") called me on the cell phone and said " I see it!". The Shredder had somehow followed the contour of the slope all the way to the far, far left. If you know the hill (Homestead Hill on Google Earth) theres a damp/dry creekbed that runs north from the left-side LZ. Its overgrown with what must have been dormant PO. I struggled downb to it for about 15 minutes, and got the Shredder. No damage, thank god.

NOW- here comes the tricky part. I tried to go back the direction I came, but it was just too overgrown and steep. I made it about 50 feet and had to pause. I was making such slow headway it would take me an hour to emerge. The only...Continue Reading

Back to my blog...
Man, lots of great scores lately. I got a bunch of CR stuff. Contender, Turbo and Climmax fuses. I need to get a bunch of cores cut so I can build them, so I guess its time to get Les Hovarth on the phone..

My sisters husband, Allan Dey died at age 49. He left two children, Alexander 6 and Christine, 9. He's been in and out of the hospital for years with heart problems, but it finally caught up wuth him.
I went to the funeral last Sunday, and ran into a bunch of my friends from the old days. In a way, I miss the hell out of those people, but on the other hand, I'm glad I moved out of that area. The methamphetamine use had done a number a bunch of those folks, and a couple in particular were shells of their former selves. The region I used to live in seems locked into a downward spiral of white-trash townie behavior. The best thing that ever happened to me was getting out of that area...I guess I miss what those people used to be, but I didnt miss what they had become.

On a much funnier note, I used to work with a friend, and he used to cap on one of the speed-addled charachters I just descibed. Doug loved to come up with a new bit every day about some of these poor suckers. I was talking to one of the funeral-goers who had been a close friend years ago, and hes said something that made me laugh so hard..."Mmmmm Bud, you 'member my Aunt Creepy?..."

Doug would have rotated at about 2000 rpm in his grave over Aunt Creepy.

Aunt Creepy..geezus, I couldnt laugh about it then since I had just stepped out of a funeral but h my gawd I laughed so hard about that today at work... Aunt Creepy? AUNT CREEPY? Bwahahahahah. I havent laughed like that in YEARS!

So, all in all it was a really bitter-sweet experience. I had been feeling nostalgic for the old days and for the people as I had known them- then.
I miss them for what they were, but to see them now, wow, glad I moved out. Really glad I moved out.