I watched the whole thing, all one can realize is "WOW".

Boy I'll say Rick...........thanks for the vid............incredible job.

Glad y`all liked it.
Say, the SLIP is one heck of a maneuver. When I had my 1/3 CUB that was the one that showed the SLIPS most clearly. With a light wind I would position the model about 50 foot high just short of the runway heading and slipping it to either side would come down vertical and hit the numbers.
The larger the model the better the maneuver shows.... need to say that I had added FLAPS on the CUB and that "vertical" was sustained due to them AND the wind....fun fun maneuver

RICK

I`m thinking helicopters took all of that away since they now come down vertical by themselves
PS the picture was taken minutes before the maiden flight.....I cut the flaps in later on and the plane "changed" radically !

Rick....I used to slip my AeroStar .40 in for fun because I thought it looked cool. Sometimes, I would fly in heavy cross wind so I could practice crabbing it in as well. With this F-16 and only having tailerons/elevator, it's possible but HARDER.

It took me all flipping DAY to make ONE hardtail strut (left side). The cutting and drilling of 1" octo bar stock proved to be a bit more intense than anticipated. When I get done, I think my bench drill press motor will be DEAD because I had it smoking a couple times. The good news, the left strut fits perfect and is extremely STRONG. The bad news, I gotta make the right side yet and I'm NOT 100% sure my equipment will survive it. I'm cutting the bar stock with a sawzall and today I used 14TPI instead of 18TPI hoping it would shorten the time required to cut. I couldn't really see much of an improvement. Tomorrow, I gotta pick up more sawzall blades and a couple new black steel 1/2" drill bits. Mine are bad enough now, I cant re-sharpen them. Quite a job for sure. Stock shock length is 13.5" center hole to center hole and you cannot buy struts at stock length, they are shorter to lower the rear of the bike by as much as 4" and I dont want lower. Long day.

I got the struts installed. They aren't really noticable unless running across the yard.

Lookin' Good Vic.................hard tale for real Bud

After getting the CORRECT belt for my drill press and a good nights sleep, things went a lot better allowing me to finish the fabrication. Tomorrow, they get a paint job. Those struts started off life as a 48" crow bar from Family Farm and Home. They turned out as good as you can get with basic tools. Oh yeah....it's a HARD tail alright, need to bleed 5lbs off the back tire I think. Other than that, I think she's there. I can buy a weld on hardtail for the frame, but I dont have the welder that would be required for that. I'd have to pay someone to do that job, a bit much for me anyway.

Barry....weather break so you coud fly? We've been windy and I've been in the bike anyway so I'm good. Grandkids start school Tuesday, things will be a bit quieter around here during the day. Taking the wife to Red Lobster Tues for her birthday that was 26 Aug. We've been to busy and loaded with kids to do it, nows the chance. Later all....

Oh yeah............a little rest and presto.. :O) Yeah, the weather got nice about 2 pm....but I was prepping the floor for the new flooring.........but tomorrow my friend.....my little German foamy will bust bugs again....lol
Well Happy Birthday to her Bro.......mmmmmmm........lobster and all the fixin's ......you guys enjoy.
later

NAWWWWW....they're running a special on shrimp, we're all over it. Its as addicting as ice cream or popcorn. Wont be doing lobster for a while. I had it about a year ago, I'm still good. A nice NY strip sounds good though.

Glad ya got to fly. Weather hasen't been very R/C friendly here for a few days.
Put the kids on the mini bike today. I'll tell ya, they smile the whole time they're zooming around the property. I expanded the riding area so they can open 'er up and they do it too. The wife was freaking out, she thought they were going to fast. Nope....they know the limit and I trust them. There's places they can open it up, and places they gotta slow it down, and they all know where those places are at.

Man........I just love seafood period....kinda raised on it. Yep, "Surf & Turf"....works for me...lol

Supposed to have decent weather for a few days now........I burn all I can. I bet they're having a ball Buddy......ain't nothing better that to see the kids enjoy.

The mini bike was something I wanted to do for them that I never had. We had a go-cart when I was a kid, but they're not near what a min-bike is for FUN FACTOR.

10-4.....my Dad was a welder and he built my brother and I a minature "Indy Car"....it was sweet but he didn't want us on two wheels either...lol

Here's a sure sign you're getting bad vision or old. Turns out that the OEM shocks on the harley are 13.25" center eye to center eye (13.0" with a normal weight rider), I made them 13.50" and when I discovered I made the mistake, I wasn't very happy. How I noticed was looking at the rear fender clearance to the rear tire....I had MORE. I took them off and made the mods to correct. Now I have 12.75" eye to eye, a change of 0.50" shorter than stock. It looks TONS better now, but when I rode it to put gas in it the ride didn't improve....LOL. It rides like the kids mini-bike...rigid frame. When the pavement is good, I cant notice the change between shocks or struts but if you hit the patch fills on pavement....you know it. So for right now, I'm satisfied with the struts and they look great. The springs on my seat now actually serve a purpose and they work. When the shocks were on, the seat springs hardly cycled, now they work all the time with the struts.

No R/C, just messing with the bike. Kids go back to school tomorrow and the wife and I can REST up.

Your a braver man than I Buddy.....my ol back wouldn't fair well ....LOL. Oh yeah, kids back to school.....a little breather.....maybe you two could sip some vino and relax a bit. :O)
Hope to maybe fly once tomorrow.....got all the trim primed and painted.....kit floor is next...soon as I pull up the old base board.......crap...I'm tired already....lol
later

Barry, there's LOTS of work needs done here too. Two bedrooms need re-drywalled, front door needs trimmed in, hall closet needs built (just a hole in the wall right now), water lines in the house all need replaced (just a few examples). Never ending story I guess.

Man...the house is still HOT from today. Hope it cools down before bed time.

TRY to get some VIDEO if you fly tomorrow eh? That would be cool.