I have had the "Almost Ready to Fly" kit for almost a year now. Cleared out a bit of junk and crashed a few old ones so it is time to assembly this airplane. As with all such airplanes there are yet things to do. And the instructions are less than specific, that is they seem to ignore certain construction requirements. Almost Ready to Fly (or ARF) literally means the airplane has its cover, the skin, installed/ That means all the structure is completed. One needs to glue on the "tail feathers," install servos and receiver, battery and engine. One must rig the airplane make sure the servos are going the correct direction, and the balance is correct. Sometimes one has to move things around or even add weight to achieve the correct balance.
The ARF usually comes with landing gear, fuel tank, control rods, hardware, wheels and so on. This is usually matched stuff for the kit. Sometimes it is first class hardware and sometimes it is cheap stuff. For the most part this is first class stuff.
But, and there are lots of buts, the fuel tank is a tiny affair, not of sufficient capacity for the selected engines. It is basically a six ounce tank, and I need eight to ten or even eleven ounce capacity. The internal structure is sized to accommodate the little tank but there is plenty of room. So I will have to go for an after market tank. And the tank is situated quite far behind the engine firewall. That is a no no. Generally, the engines do not have fuel pumps and rely on pressure from the exhaust system and gravity to feed the fuel to the engine. The engine does not always have sufficient draw to pull the full forward. There are several systems to fix this but they are sometimes hard to keep up. So I may resort to a pumped engine. I just do not need an engine that powerful for the airplane but . . .
The landing gear is two pieces, one for each side. This is rinky dink and not the best solution so I may have to get an aftermarket landing gear. I have found one but it is pricey. Probably will go for it.
I have the receiver and the servos from previous aircraft. One tends to build up inventory of those things. Same is true of landing gears and fuel tanks but not of them will work or at least no work well.
So ARF it may be but it will take some time, thought and maybe modification to get it airborne. But when it does get there it will be a work of beauty.
Sunday, February 26, 2012
Friday, February 24, 2012
Pterygium Revisited...
Since Judie has got her Thyroid under control, that is she is on hormones and the Thyroid is more or less dead. Radio Active Iodine treatment killed of the out of control Thyroid and the synthetic hormones are now prescribed and in control. This allows her to resume her eye treatments.
First visit back and the doctor says her Pterygium has returned and needs to be again removed. A Pterygium is a growth on the eye, on the outside of the eye ball but can distort the lens and disrupt good vision. And she has little to no vision in her right eye.
So the doctor removed the Pterygium last week. It is a painful operation but she was under some numbing so felt little if anything. Doctor said that she had the worst scar tissue he had seen and requested permission to take photos of it. And he was granted permission to do so. At any rate it was extensive and requires a donor patch to cover the removed area. That resulted in some few stitches, which are in Judie's case very irritating.
So she is suffering though with Vicoden ES for help. I also apply a salve, which is a combined antibiotic and Cortisone to enhance healing. She returns Wednesday and maybe they can remove the irritating stitch. If not, then another week of eye drops every 20 or 30 minutes and perhaps more healing salves or drops.
Once she gets by this then she can have PRK to help regain some vision. She also received a cancer treatment for the Pterygium, it is not a cancer but the treatment inhibits regrowth which is common (and has happened to her already). That topical drug should deter regrowth.
After the PRK, he says he can do no more for her. So we hope this does the trick this time.
Mean while she suffers through it all. In my case, they skipped PRK since my right eye was improving. Hopefully, with time my near vision will get a lot better. Right now it is 20/30 in the left eye and 20/50~30 in the right eye. The right eye is dominant so need it to read well. I can read the newspaper but with effort. I am told this is an excellent exercise for the nerves and will lead to better vision.
And we grow steadily older. . .
First visit back and the doctor says her Pterygium has returned and needs to be again removed. A Pterygium is a growth on the eye, on the outside of the eye ball but can distort the lens and disrupt good vision. And she has little to no vision in her right eye.
So the doctor removed the Pterygium last week. It is a painful operation but she was under some numbing so felt little if anything. Doctor said that she had the worst scar tissue he had seen and requested permission to take photos of it. And he was granted permission to do so. At any rate it was extensive and requires a donor patch to cover the removed area. That resulted in some few stitches, which are in Judie's case very irritating.
So she is suffering though with Vicoden ES for help. I also apply a salve, which is a combined antibiotic and Cortisone to enhance healing. She returns Wednesday and maybe they can remove the irritating stitch. If not, then another week of eye drops every 20 or 30 minutes and perhaps more healing salves or drops.
Once she gets by this then she can have PRK to help regain some vision. She also received a cancer treatment for the Pterygium, it is not a cancer but the treatment inhibits regrowth which is common (and has happened to her already). That topical drug should deter regrowth.
After the PRK, he says he can do no more for her. So we hope this does the trick this time.
Mean while she suffers through it all. In my case, they skipped PRK since my right eye was improving. Hopefully, with time my near vision will get a lot better. Right now it is 20/30 in the left eye and 20/50~30 in the right eye. The right eye is dominant so need it to read well. I can read the newspaper but with effort. I am told this is an excellent exercise for the nerves and will lead to better vision.
And we grow steadily older. . .
Monday, February 13, 2012
Up Close and Personal...
We were in Baton Rouge at LSU to attend granddaughter Amanda Grace's "White Coat" ceremony at the LSU Veterinarian School of Science. The white coat symbolizes the completion of formal classroom studies and now moves the candidate on to hands on clinic activity. There they will put their learning together with actual patients under the supervision of Doctors of Veterinarian Medicine. I gather it is much like an medical doctors internship.
Every two years on the even year two white coat students are selected to be Mike the Tiger's trainers. his care takers. They do receive pay for the job but it is quite a long term challenge. Trainer is not the proper word, for they take care of Mike 24/7. There are two of them so there is time for them to do their studies. So over those two years they rarely get to leave the campus usually not more than a few hours at a time for they are on duty all the time, at least one of them is nearby at all times.
Amanda, as are all the Vet students, are well aware of those two individuals. So Amanda asked her friend, one of the trainers, if we could have an up close and personal visit with Mike.
Well we did just that. We met the trainer at Mike's Habitat and were led back into the rear area through a locked gate with very high chain link fence around it. Then we were conducted into yet another locked door into the rear of Mike's habitat. This was his night time living area, where he is fed, weighted, attended to and kept at night. His area consists of two areas, one about 10 by 10 feet, automatic water bowl and a door of steel, about four by four feet into another area that had 10 or so inches of wood shavings on the floor. This area had a door to his outside habitat at one end and door that led to his travelling cage on the other end.
Mike activily roam from room to room very restive. He was being "fasted" in that he had not been fed his daily ration of food. This was done so that the next day, a lure of food was placed in his trailer and the door opened to allow him into his trailer. This it was said, worked nine times out to ten to get Mike out of his habitat into the trailer. He really does not like to leave his habitat.
Mike is never ever proded, poked or coersed into getting into his trailer and out of his habitat. He must be lured and he must make that move on his own.
Mike currently weighs in at 455 pounds. He has weighed as much as 500 pounds but they watch his diet closely and work to maintain his weight close to the 450 range.
He is fed once a day, gets 25 pounds of horse meat with vitamin suppliments. He is constantly treated for Ticks and Fleas and is a very clean animal. He is also fed a frozen ox tail every night. The idea is that the ox tail will help keep his teeth clean. But Mike takes the tail and dunks in his water bowls and sort of defrosts it and then eats and plays with it through the night.
We we warned that Mike is not a pet and thus do not stick ones fingers through the chain link fence that separated us from him. He was quite aware of the visitors and his keeper, his friend. He was of course, miffed at not getting his supper but treated us well. Laid up against the fence and there were a lot of photos taken.
On our way out, the trainer said Mike seemed to like us. He usually pee'd on all his visitors but did not do that to us. There was no roaring or nastiness. The trainer said Mike was sort of in transition from a teenager to an adult. He was five years old. He is expected to live 19 or 20 years. Were he in the wild his life span would probably around 10 years or so.
It was said there is probably no Tiger in capitivity that got treated as well as Mike does. None has such a fine habitat with swimming pools and an adoring population to admire him. He gets first class treatment. And he belongs to the Athletic Department and his fans.
Mike does not always make all the home football games. He never stays for the game, just the pregame activities. Mike is always placed very close the the visiting teams door so that they have to pass by him on to the field for the game. His trainer said he never missed a big game, an SEC game but often did not attend the out of conference home games. He seems to sense the difference and the importance of attending the game.
As we left the area we saw him watching us closely as we were near his food supply. He was hoping we would get him dinner. But he did not fuss, just watched us very carefully.
It was great visit with a great and noble animal.
Geaux Tigers!
Every two years on the even year two white coat students are selected to be Mike the Tiger's trainers. his care takers. They do receive pay for the job but it is quite a long term challenge. Trainer is not the proper word, for they take care of Mike 24/7. There are two of them so there is time for them to do their studies. So over those two years they rarely get to leave the campus usually not more than a few hours at a time for they are on duty all the time, at least one of them is nearby at all times.
Amanda, as are all the Vet students, are well aware of those two individuals. So Amanda asked her friend, one of the trainers, if we could have an up close and personal visit with Mike.
Well we did just that. We met the trainer at Mike's Habitat and were led back into the rear area through a locked gate with very high chain link fence around it. Then we were conducted into yet another locked door into the rear of Mike's habitat. This was his night time living area, where he is fed, weighted, attended to and kept at night. His area consists of two areas, one about 10 by 10 feet, automatic water bowl and a door of steel, about four by four feet into another area that had 10 or so inches of wood shavings on the floor. This area had a door to his outside habitat at one end and door that led to his travelling cage on the other end.
Mike activily roam from room to room very restive. He was being "fasted" in that he had not been fed his daily ration of food. This was done so that the next day, a lure of food was placed in his trailer and the door opened to allow him into his trailer. This it was said, worked nine times out to ten to get Mike out of his habitat into the trailer. He really does not like to leave his habitat.
Mike is never ever proded, poked or coersed into getting into his trailer and out of his habitat. He must be lured and he must make that move on his own.
Mike currently weighs in at 455 pounds. He has weighed as much as 500 pounds but they watch his diet closely and work to maintain his weight close to the 450 range.
He is fed once a day, gets 25 pounds of horse meat with vitamin suppliments. He is constantly treated for Ticks and Fleas and is a very clean animal. He is also fed a frozen ox tail every night. The idea is that the ox tail will help keep his teeth clean. But Mike takes the tail and dunks in his water bowls and sort of defrosts it and then eats and plays with it through the night.
We we warned that Mike is not a pet and thus do not stick ones fingers through the chain link fence that separated us from him. He was quite aware of the visitors and his keeper, his friend. He was of course, miffed at not getting his supper but treated us well. Laid up against the fence and there were a lot of photos taken.
On our way out, the trainer said Mike seemed to like us. He usually pee'd on all his visitors but did not do that to us. There was no roaring or nastiness. The trainer said Mike was sort of in transition from a teenager to an adult. He was five years old. He is expected to live 19 or 20 years. Were he in the wild his life span would probably around 10 years or so.
It was said there is probably no Tiger in capitivity that got treated as well as Mike does. None has such a fine habitat with swimming pools and an adoring population to admire him. He gets first class treatment. And he belongs to the Athletic Department and his fans.
Mike does not always make all the home football games. He never stays for the game, just the pregame activities. Mike is always placed very close the the visiting teams door so that they have to pass by him on to the field for the game. His trainer said he never missed a big game, an SEC game but often did not attend the out of conference home games. He seems to sense the difference and the importance of attending the game.
As we left the area we saw him watching us closely as we were near his food supply. He was hoping we would get him dinner. But he did not fuss, just watched us very carefully.
It was great visit with a great and noble animal.
Geaux Tigers!
Monday, February 6, 2012
Getting Ready . . .
Getting ready, at least getting ready mentally, to go to New Roads and then to Amanda's "white coat" ceremony at LSU. Amanda has reached that point in her drive to obtain DVM degree where she will be seeing "patients." While I am sure there is still study work to be done, she will be under a sort of "hands on" tutelage now until she graduates.
She has been doing work at places like Pets Mart where she has been spaying dogs and cats and other minor vet kind of actions. She has been a Vet Technician for years and worked for various vets in the Flower-Mound area. So it is not an unfamiliar role, but it is under supervision and guidance of her teachers at LSU.
Saturday will be an open house at the School of Veterinarian Science. So we will attend that too.
Plus we will get to see Mark and Richard and Paul and have a little Tiger Drive In food to boot. Or maybe it will be Morels or Not Your Mama's or some new New Roads eatery. Maybe we will sojourn across the river to visit St Francisville and dine there. Zachary maybe?
Next trip will be back to New Roads for the Morrison Farm, Inc visit and business meeting. We always get a fine meal at that soiree.
Then things will be all quite for a while until our summer visit to Madison, WI. Or another short trip to New Orleans to soak up some early fall eats and see the town.
Until then . . .
She has been doing work at places like Pets Mart where she has been spaying dogs and cats and other minor vet kind of actions. She has been a Vet Technician for years and worked for various vets in the Flower-Mound area. So it is not an unfamiliar role, but it is under supervision and guidance of her teachers at LSU.
Saturday will be an open house at the School of Veterinarian Science. So we will attend that too.
Plus we will get to see Mark and Richard and Paul and have a little Tiger Drive In food to boot. Or maybe it will be Morels or Not Your Mama's or some new New Roads eatery. Maybe we will sojourn across the river to visit St Francisville and dine there. Zachary maybe?
Next trip will be back to New Roads for the Morrison Farm, Inc visit and business meeting. We always get a fine meal at that soiree.
Then things will be all quite for a while until our summer visit to Madison, WI. Or another short trip to New Orleans to soak up some early fall eats and see the town.
Until then . . .
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
High Rise #2
I found ant high rise number two. It was out back and the light was next to a small Oak tree we planted a while back. It was the same designed light, we have several different designes but I'm guessing the other designes are not to the ants liking.
I noted that there are holes in the bottom that provide a path for the ants to get into the structure. The others do not seem to have these holes thus there is not access for the tenants.
I have washed this one out. I will get both batteries out and charge them up and reinstall the units. And I will use a dab of glop cement to close off the entrance way and that should forestall any reuse.
I do not know why the lights are attractive. I do know that fire ants like to get into electrical stuff. But there is usually a hum attraction, like transformers situated on the ground. The ants make their way into the transformers which provide some warmth to them in winter.
But the lights are like the transformers and have no moving parts. So I guess it is the magnetic field that attracts them. Your guess about that is as good as mine.
Got to stop those guys from moving in.
I noted that there are holes in the bottom that provide a path for the ants to get into the structure. The others do not seem to have these holes thus there is not access for the tenants.
I have washed this one out. I will get both batteries out and charge them up and reinstall the units. And I will use a dab of glop cement to close off the entrance way and that should forestall any reuse.
I do not know why the lights are attractive. I do know that fire ants like to get into electrical stuff. But there is usually a hum attraction, like transformers situated on the ground. The ants make their way into the transformers which provide some warmth to them in winter.
But the lights are like the transformers and have no moving parts. So I guess it is the magnetic field that attracts them. Your guess about that is as good as mine.
Got to stop those guys from moving in.
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