Model planes 2000-2009

1 Mid 2003 Trivial Pursuit I build a new model but I'm a bit rusty. After stealing Ted Fancher's designs for so many years, I finally name this for what it is: a Trivial Pursuit	2 Mid 2003 Trivial Pursuit It is powered by my trusty old PA51 and it weighs around 62oz.	3 Mid 2003 Trivial Pursuit It is not one of my better finished models as this picture shows.	4 Mid 2003 Trivial Pursuit It had a very short life. In an early practice flight at KMFC, the DOWN leadout got stuck in the leadout guide causing full UP control and it crashed after takeoff. The reason it stuck is because of heat shrink tubing around the connector. I no longer use heat shrink tubing.
5 Mid 2003 Trivial Pursuit The crash effectively ends my flying and I quit almost entirely. I am still far more interested in my motorcycles. Building and flying is a bore. I find that, at this moment, I build and fly because that's what I do. No commitment. No passion. In a rut.	6 2004 Vintage Stunt Contest - Tucson Arizona In March 2004 I visit the VSC again, mainly to visit Bob and Jan Whitely. I don't take a plane with me but the faintest stirrings of interest start to rise within me.	7 Me and Bob Palmer at the 2004 VSC I have the very great pleasure to meet Bob Palmer again. He has since left this mortal coil but is fondly remembered by all who met him.	8 Me and Bob Palmer at the 2004 VSC Bob lived with his daughter on a farm in Montana and whenever he came to a VSC, he was treated like the living national treasure that he was. This was more because of his humanity than anything he did with model aeroplanes. He was a fine gentleman.
9 Late 2004 Nobler On my return from the VSC, I decide to build a take apart Nobler for the March 2006 VSC, a little under 2 years away.	10 Late 2004 Nobler Something goes wrong with the dope and the finish cracks and splits. It is a total mess. The dope had gone a dark honey colour and was supposed to be nonshrink but it wasn't and it did.	11 Late 2004 Nobler I put the Nobler up in the roof and leave it there for over a year. This picture was taken in August 2006 after I make an unsuccessful attempt to restore it. It's now up in the roof again out of the way. The engine is a quite magnificent Aero Tiger 36 made by Randy Smith.	12 March 2006 Thunderbird at the VSC By now, I am 65 years old and retired from the work force. For my retirement, Jenni and I decide to do a world trip and time it so that we can go to the VSC and then go on to Spain for the MotoGP race in Jerez, Andalucia.
13 March 2006 Thunderbird at the VSC I decide to resurrect my 8 year old Thunderbird and to take that rather than mess around with the Nobler. At least this plane flies OK except for a tendency to porpoise in level flight. I had fitted a 'Plasma' ST46 and the engine run is superb.	14 March 2006 Thunderbird at the VSC Bob Whitely watches it fly and says "Do this, this and this" which I dutifully do and suddenly it is a beautiful stable aeroplane and a complete joy to fly. For the first time in 8 years I am enjoying flying again.	15 Me and Bob Whitely at the 2006 VSC Bob is a long time and very close friend of mine. He hasn't aged as gracefully as I have though.	16 Me and Masaru Hiki at the 2006 VSC Masaru is well remembered by Australians for the time in 2005 when he came to Sydney and won the Australian Nationals. He came a creditable fifth in the VSC this year.
17 The Thunderbird at the 2006 VSC On the final day, the wind blows like mad and half the field drops out. For some mad reason I fly and get through it. Here I'm on an adrenilin high reliving the flight with Lou Wolgast. Masaru is cleaning my plane for me. Notice the bandage around my hand?	18 Me and Lou Wolgast at the 2006 VSC Lou is a long time friend of mine. I met him when Brian and I went to the USA for the 1984 World Championships. Without ever having laid eyes on us before, Lou gave us his car to use while we were there; an amazing gesture.	19 My purple heart award at the 2006 VSC Ted Fancher presents me with a Wounded in Action award - which still hangs on my wall at home. Americans are a lot like Australians in that it's fun to take the mickey out of you.	20 Thunderbird at the 2006 VSC I have so much fun, I decide to leave the plane with Bob Whitely and to return next year. My interest is fully reignited.
21 2006 Fandango Two major things happen in a few short months after the VSC in March 2006: my interest in model planes is reignited and I decide to stop doing track days on my sports bike. So, I sell the sports bike (my beloved Fireblade) and phone Ted Fancher.	22 2006 Fandango I spend about an hour on Skype talking to Ted about the design parameters for a plane suitable for a Plasma ST46. I am determined to stay away from pipes and big engines. Besides which, the ST46 had performed flawlessly in Tucson.	23 2006 Fandango Ted worked out the numbers over the phone and the Fandango is the result. ST46 powered, weight 52 ounces, 620 sq ins.	24 2006 Fandango I experiment with quite a few engines including: PA40 Lite with pipe and without, OS46 VFR with pipe and without, and a PA51 with muffler. The PA40 on pipe showed a lot of promise but the heavier engines upset the balance too much. I return to the ST46 as the most suitable for the design.
25 2006 Fanfare I'm now in continuous building mode, what with not having to waste time earning a living. Fanfare is the next off the production line. There are some small changes to the first design like slightly larger wing and a foam stab/elevator but the design remains essentially unchanged.	26 2006 Fanfare The original engine fitted was an ST46 and it ran quite well but I was starting to feel the need for more power. I had an Aldrich-Jett 60 in storage in the roof of our house that I retrieved and shoe-horned into the model.	27 2006 Fanfare The Jett 60 is one of the best engines I've ever had and I can tune it for whatever kind of break that I want. The plane weighs 55½ oz with the Jett 60 in it and it now runs on a late model 3 blade prop of Brian's.	28 2007 Vintage Stunt Contest I'm back at the VSC. I've retrieved my plane from Bob Whitely's house and I'm still enjoying my flying. On this trip, we are accompanied by John and Mary Elias.
29 2007 Vintage Stunt Contest I meet Jon Standingbear. John is a genuine, grade A, Native American. Following Crocodile Dundee's lead, I should have asked him what tribe he was from; but I didn't.	30 2007 Vintage Stunt Contest Jon is one of the most hilariously funny eccentrics I've ever met. The Thunderbird performs flawlessly again and goes back to Bob Whitely's house after the event.	31 2007 Vintage Stunt Contest Ted Fancher was there as well. We drive back to San Francisco with him and Shareen and spend a couple of days with them.	32 2007 New Thunderbird I build a new Thunderbird with the intention of taking it to the 2009 VSC. Fairly obviously, it has a removable wing. It also has a removable fin/rudder.
33 2007 New Thunderbird This was one of those builds where nothing goes wrong. I don't even rub through the tissue or dig my fingernail into it.	34 2007 New Thunderbird It was originally built for a PA Lite 40 with rear exhaust and a muffler, hence the extra bubble under the cowl.	35 2007 New Thunderbird With the muffler ahead of the CG, the plane is nose heavy so I decide to fit a ST46 with a clip on muffler instead. This improves the balance quite a bit but it still needs lead in the tail.	36 2007 New Thunderbird With the ST46 and trimmed ready to fly, it weighs 48 oz. This is quite a bit heavier than Bob Palmer's originals but it has plenty of wing to support that weight.
37 2007 New Thunderbird I used Photoshop to make this picture. It's probably the best finished aeroplane I've made to date	38 2008 Fanfare 2 I really don't need any more planes, especially as I'm still not interested in competitions, but I really enjoy the art work. I build another Fanfare.	39 2008 Fanfare 2 This doesn't go quite as well as the previous model with rubbing through the tissue and numerous other minor repairs required along the way.	40 2008 Fanfare 2 The masking for the first colour takes a week.
41 2008 Fanfare 2 On a computer, I draw my first ideas for a paint scheme and send them to Claus Maikis for comment. He says the design is OK but the lettering has "All the charm of an income tax statement".	42 2008 Fanfare 2 Claus then hand draws some lettering for me in his own unique style. I convert his drawings to computer graphics and cut the stencils.	43 2008 Fanfare 2 I was so impressed with the Jett 60 in the previous version, that I buy a RO-Jett 60 for this plane (before the Oz dollar crashed). This is a more recent version of the Aldrich-Jett 60. Unfortunately, the plane weighs 3 ounces more than it's sister ship at 58½ oz but it flies very well.	44 2008 Fanfare 2 Currently Fanfare 2 uses a rear exhaust muffler but I'm pretty much convinced that tuned pipes work better for me. So I'll probably build a pipe tunnel and fit a pipe. I really don't like the splash of colour that dives down the fuselage and finishes near the cowl. I'll sand that off during the reconstruction for the pipe.
45 2008 Fanfare 2 I can't stand the wierd stripe any longer so I sand it off. I also decide to leave well enough alone and not convert the plane to run with a pipe.	46 2008 Fanfare 2 It looks better but I can still see where the graphics need improvement for next model I paint.	47 2009 VSC XXI Practising on one of the grass circles, Bob Whitely assisting.	48 2009 VSC XXI My model attracts some favourable attention. Kneeling is one of my favourite people, Gordan Delayney from Salt lake City UT. Another of my favourite people looks on, Jim Hoffman from Phoenix AZ.
49 2009 VSC XXI Official flight Thursday Round 1	50 2009 VSC XXI Official flight Saturday Round 3	51 2009 VSC XXI Official flight Round 3, coming in to land.	52 2009 VSC XXI After the event with RJ. Jeff's report card: Needs to concentrate more. Can do better.
53 2009 New model This is the 2009 version of the Fandango, designed to run on a Stalker 60. The green tinge is from proper aircraft nonshrink dope and it's a joy to use. The green actually tells you when you've sanded enough off.	54 2009 New model Damn! I rubbed through the tissue underneath as I learned the limits. I also dug my finger nails into the balsa in a few spots. I finished up removing the covering and retissuing the wing; this set me back about a week.	55 Whittier Narrows L.A. It's November 2009 and I take a quick trip to the US. While there, I fly in a contest at Whittier Narrows in Los Angeles. I come a very pleasing 6th out of 18. I then bring the T'bird back to Oz with me.	56 2009 New model After the quick trip to the USA, progress resumes and I start applying the graphics - my favourite part. These tail graphics are the most complicated I've done to date.
57 2009 New model Ya gotta have wheel pants. The "10" means 2010 because it won't be finished until then.