RE: Picco P-zero 0.8cc
Do not use compression fittings on brake line, only double flared ends allowed, for a good reason, the single flare and compression fittings will leak and fail.
Posted on: 9/5/2009 3:50 PM by Author "planebuilder66" in the forum ""1/2 A" & "1/8 A" airplanes"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9071958

RE: Kit building table?
Wax paper or if over time you have old rolls of monokote that you find is useless, you can steel the clear backing film from the roll and use that, I've never had anything stick to it. Just be carefull when gluing, especially around pins, sometimes the glue will seep down the pin and glue the whole shabang together, including the board.
Posted on: 9/5/2009 9:00 AM by Author "planebuilder66" in the forum "Kit Building"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9071339

RE: 2stroke vs 4stroke
Oh-man, we started the fuel debate again,.......just find a fuel that runs the engine well and fit's your preference and budget. I'll burn a gallon a day running about 8-9 flights on my skybolt or TF P-47, so cost per a gallon is important, on 40 sized planes, performance is more of a factor, so they get the better fuel because I can get twice the number of flights out of a gallon. All my fourstrokes have been treated normally, I forget to put afterrun oil in them every now and then, I try to mix the little bit of old fuel with the new gallon and when I run out of 15% I will run it on 10% for some of my other planes, I just realize that it's not going to run the same as the other fuel and tune it accordingly. I'm more interested in flying on the wing rather than the prop so that is where I stand on tweaking engines to get every last drop of power out of them. The wear of an engine can be offset by running a lower nitro, if compression decreases the lower nitro will make the engine run cooler, this will keep the interfearence fit between the piston and cylinder tighter, hence extending the usable life out of a worn engine, also adding castor will help seal the fit at top dead center. So with that bit of knowledge, if you normally run your engine on 15-20% nitro and decide to run on 10%, imeaditaly, plan on breaking it in again because the fit will be tighter due to the lack of thermal expansion.
Posted on: 8/14/2009 12:08 PM by Author "planebuilder66" in the forum "Beginners"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9016017

RE: Engine piston wont cycle
generally, the backplate being on wrong causes the crank to stop on the down stroke, it actually makes the piston skirt hit the backplate, that is why some are machined for piston skirt clearence. If you remove the head and back plate, rotate the assembly and there is no lock up, then install the back plate and try it again, if it still rotates fine, then your problem is lack of head shims or the rod is the wrong one. The only thing you changed was the rod and as long as everything else was put back together the way it came apart, then the rod is wrong. I would almost bet the design changes between the g-75 and sk-75 included a different rod, this is more than likly a wrong part issue than a internal issue else where. If you want to verify it, remove the new rod and line them up one on top of the other, they should be identical except for the defect in the old rod, any slight difference resulting in a longer rod will be an issue.
Posted on: 8/14/2009 11:49 AM by Author "planebuilder66" in the forum "Beginners"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9015984

RE: engine
Yes asp engines were popular a while ago, they are made in the same factory as magnums, just under a different label. So the quality is the same and yes they are much cheaper through the hobbycity deal. As far as I remember, the parts supply wasn't that great but that's why most people figured out it was nothing but a magnum and just bought the magnum parts to fix them if needed.
Posted on: 8/14/2009 11:35 AM by Author "planebuilder66" in the forum "Beginners"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9015951

RE: Help me convince Hobbico to reissue...
Lanair and goldberg had excellent kits that fly true, I would buy a bucker jungmann and an extra on the goldberg side, even thou I already own a jungmann kit complete right now. As far as lanair, I would buy the pitts challenger, the taylorcraft and the cap kits. But if this is for just a head count reason,.....put one of each on the extra and jungmann. Maybe add a poll to the top and just tally the results.
Posted on: 8/13/2009 11:38 PM by Author "planebuilder66" in the forum "Kit Building"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9015015

RE: Lanier RC still around?
My bad, I'm stupid, I posted in the worng thread, but any who, I loved lanair, the pitts challanger, the taylorcraft, the extra and the cap kit. Too bad they got 86'd.
Posted on: 8/13/2009 11:38 PM by Author "planebuilder66" in the forum "Kit Building"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9013474

RE: 2stroke vs 4stroke
Fours produce more useable thrust from tourqe, two strokes produce torque at a higher rpm when you enter the power band curve, but unfortunately, the prop slip will eat thrust when that happens. The most efficent prop is going to be a slower turning high pitch prop over a high speed low pitch prop. As far as the four stroke debate, they all operate in the same principal, the only one's that deviates from this traditional setup is RCV and HP, Hp used a rotary valve for intake and exhaust, called the VT series, and RCV does the same thing, but spinning the cylinder to acomplish it. RCV made a early design that ran off the cylinder or as we americans call it the "camshaft" that runs the valve train, but since the port for intake was the cylinder rotating, there are no camshafts or valve's, just a spinning port. The latest design is the same, but they use the crank as a output like a conventional engine, and I have one in my skybolt, it runs like a top and is very reliable due to the plug being shielded from fuel and oil till it's ready to fire via the port timing of the spinning cylinder. The low profile design is a perk but the weight is a negative, alot heavier than an conventional 4 stroke engine. Adding excess oil to a fourstroke prolongs life, but kills plugs and causes loading-up issues, running too low a nitro will not produce enough heat to keep engine at running temps, nitro adds heat, keeps elements red/white hot and since there is a longer duration between combustion cycles, the more heat the better it will stay lit for the next cycle. Generally low nitro will cause idle issues and loss of rpm, extremely high nitro will cause predetonation and excess heat buildup that the engine can't and wasn't designed to get rid of. Most 4's will run fine on 10% and much better on 15% nitro, only power junkies really see the difference using 20 to 30 % nitro. For most field flying, 10-15% will suffice, another aspect that I'm not looking to start a fire on is oil, I've been running everything with a little castor oil in the fuel or at least 50% castor, I look at it this way, if I have to wipe it off the plane, then it's lubercating the engine, if it vanishes, it was burned off in combustion and provided little or no help to the engine.
Posted on: 8/13/2009 11:30 PM by Author "planebuilder66" in the forum "Beginners"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9014991

RE: tuned pipes
I see no one chimed in, pipe liength determines when the exhaust pulse will hit the end of the pipe and travel back to the exhaust outlet, shape, diameter and obviously liength play a role in the pipes "tune". Hence, the nick name called "tuned pipe", generally the reverb of back pressure pulse is to add back pressure but still allow the exhaust gasses to leave efficently. Consider it exhaust timing fine tuning, so if the exhaust takes longer to hit the end and travel back, it will let the engine flow better and increase RPM, too short will choke the engine and lead to plugs blowing and super sensative needle setting. The rule of thumb is buy a decent long pipe, start by getting a header and coupler that is long as well, now make marks on the coupler and pipe, run it long, and shorten it by 1/4-1/2" each flight till you see peak RPM's start to rise,...this is the base start point. Now keep trying shorter leingths till the needle get's unstable and sensative, back out the leingth a setting or two. Very short pipes produce more torque, this is why you see them on R/C cars.
Posted on: 8/13/2009 10:54 PM by Author "planebuilder66" in the forum "Beginners"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9014344

RE: Is this fixable
Yes, remove the covering over the broken section about 1/2" on either side of the wire rod, then you just twist the rod back into shape so the alerion is flush and the two rods are parellel, then apply the epoxy to the rod and wood , let it cure, then sand it flush, don't go nuts, just get it close enough and put some same color trim tape over the repair. center the controls and go fly again, have fun, just keep in mind, trainers are going to get beat up all the time, just make sound repairs and keep it flying.
Posted on: 8/13/2009 10:49 PM by Author "planebuilder66" in the forum "Crash & Rebuild"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9014900

RE: Which full house radio?
I second airtronics/sanwa, I've flown jr,futaba, and hitec, even my RD8000 and rds 8000 are so much easier to use and program than all of the others I used. Plus the recievers are cheap and they will still operate the recievers all the way down to 2 volts, so no brown out or midair lock-ups. Not that your servos would work at that voltage but it's a piece of mind trait. I use to consider airtronics inferior, but now that I tried it, I'm happy with it. Go for the new 10, and never look at upgrading anything for a long while.
Posted on: 8/13/2009 7:37 PM by Author "planebuilder66" in the forum "RC Gliders, Sailplanes and Slope Soaring"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9014400

RE: what about these?
I love my tigre's they all run good, but the last one I got (china made) had been assembled with a piece of shaving between the cone and hub, this caused me to guess my spinner truness, but for $3 in parts, it was a cheap fix to buy a new drive cone and hub. Almost all of them after break-in require a quick prime and only a snap action on the spinner to fire off and run, good reliable engines once you get use to the tuning charicteristics of them.
Posted on: 8/13/2009 7:28 PM by Author "planebuilder66" in the forum "Beginners"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9014371

RE: Teach me how to sheet a wing with Alaphatic resin.
I almost got busted stealing sand from the beach in california, it was over-flowing into the parking lot, so I scooped it into a bucket. I had a state cruiser in front of my pickup in about 2 minutes flat. He never said put it back, but he told me to pack it away and get lost.[:)][:D]
Posted on: 8/13/2009 6:37 PM by Author "planebuilder66" in the forum "Kit Building"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9014252

RE: Teach me how to sheet a wing with Alaphatic resin.
That would be funny to get busted for stealing playgroung sand, just picture the paper headline,...." Modeler in sticky situation stealing sand for a sticky job at hand"[:)][:D]
Posted on: 8/13/2009 1:34 PM by Author "planebuilder66" in the forum "Kit Building"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9013486

RE: An ARF Nation
Yes you still can buy a 4*40 kit and yes they still sell hard to build kits that are craftsman kits that you still have to cut out the parts, they're sold by sig mfg. Arizona model, balsa usa and a handfull of other manufactures along with kit cutters will keep you plenty busy fitting, cutting and sanding away at balsa to keep your heart content. But seriously?! as long as we have a love for the hobby of model flight, I really don't care if you fly an ARF, RTF, kit or scratch, just keep promoting the hobby and pass it down a generation or else this hobby is doomed. I fly bolth, but I prefer to build and be a craftsman, I teach people to fly and I donate planes and equipment every year to keep it flowing and to inspire people to keep the dream alive. My life is hectic, between work the G/F and all the winter and summer toys,.....I barely have a few minutes to relax, but when I find free time, I spend it on a hobby, weather it's boating, 4-wheeling, building cars or R/C planes, I do that rather than sitting infront of the TV of cruizin the net. I support people on the bench and people at the field, as long as they are doing what they want and wish to do inside the hobby. for me that's all that counts.
Posted on: 8/12/2009 10:59 PM by Author "planebuilder66" in the forum "The Clubhouse"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9012145

RE: An ARF Nation
Yes, I have a nephew that is like that, it started with ebay and his instant gratification of selling pokemon cards at the ripe old age of 10, now it's the next level in a ps3 or x-box game or worse, which girl to pick up next, he's 18 now and life is not right unless he has everything right now. I tried to teach a friends son to build, he wanted the corsair, he started the kit, I guided him through 50% of it and his desire to build fizzled out because it was taking too long, so his dad is finishing it for him. His son is 19 and works part time at a golf course, so time wasn't an issue, it was just lack of interest, I actually recommended not building that plane as a first, but he insisted he would see it through. I geuss that has alot to say about current work ethics, if it seems too overwelming and tough, just give up and move on. I see people take shortcuts all the time at work and almost none pay off. Some shortcuts cost 100,000 + dollars in repairs. But I'm not saying this is the general attitude amogst most americans, but it does contribute in some ways.
Posted on: 8/10/2009 8:21 AM by Author "planebuilder66" in the forum "The Clubhouse"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9004270

RE: Postal Plane Project
what's the current list look like, just curious when it's coming around to my stop.
Posted on: 8/9/2009 8:52 PM by Author "planebuilder66" in the forum ""1/2 A" & "1/8 A" airplanes"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9003174

RE: An ARF Nation
funny ted, but seriously I have enough projects to keep me busy for a while, between all the kits and the arf or two in the pile, the cj-7 and the boats, I've plenty of stuff to whittle away at. I just got done doing house chores and laundry along with some nice downtime scritching the cats and putzing away cleaning the car canopy out so I can bring the cj home from the parents garage where it's been stored forever.
Posted on: 8/9/2009 8:39 PM by Author "planebuilder66" in the forum "The Clubhouse"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9003143

RE: All I see is boring planes and boring helicopters
Holy crap BarracudaHockey! you fly next to a nuc plant! if so I give you nads, they would 50 cal ours out of the sky if we tried that here in CT. I'm hoping that's a landfill plant.
Posted on: 8/9/2009 7:44 PM by Author "planebuilder66" in the forum "The Clubhouse"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9002972

RE: An ARF Nation
See, it can be a good thing, as long as we all collectivly enjoy aspects of the hobby this is fine, I actually envision the old days when I think of this hobby, good old dad at the field with a pipe in his mouth holding that creation he called his own that took him months to design and build, but it sure did fly great. I may not have such a classy past as him, but I still remember going to the field and hanging out with the old wise men and listening to thier stories and enjoying the company of all. hat is what the hobby means to me, kinda like the coleman comercials, the originators of the first sociual network, this hobby was mine outside of parental guidence and within. I enjoy almost all aspects of it and above all,....the people, technoligy has advanced, and RCU is great to an extent, I can have a debate or conversation on it, but it's one notch below a phone call, there are alot of things written in text that are taken the wrong way when read in an fourm. They are just words, and unless we start writing alot better to convey emotion, I find it hard to diferentiate between a sympathetic reply and a agressive reply, it all depends on your mood when you read it. If your miffed in the first place, the reply will come across as negative, but when your in good spirits, it may be read in a positive manner. So I ask myself to read each reply in a good meaning mannor, unless they are flaming me beyond reason, then I stomp back, nahhhh, your entitled your oppinion as well and I respect that, isn't this country great?
Posted on: 8/9/2009 7:30 PM by Author "planebuilder66" in the forum "The Clubhouse"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9002943

RE: An ARF Nation
Now bob is someone I admire, a single dad who had no choice but to do it all himself, if more people were like him and his morals, this country would be a little better. I hate my cell phone, but it's a necessity at work, so is the computer at work, but things were much nicer when the internet didn't exist and cell phones were for rich people. Once it became mainsteam, it enabled people to become isolated and unattached. Somehow it seems great that my parents use to kick us out of the house to go play in the yard and not watch tv, I have 2 large TV's now, but all day, they've been off, I'd rather clean the basement than watch it.
Posted on: 8/9/2009 6:37 PM by Author "planebuilder66" in the forum "The Clubhouse"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9002803

RE: An ARF Nation
I remember talking to a competitor about how it was in his company, he had been there for 20 years in a union company, his view was that everything was perfect, I asked alot of questions about medical, pay and benifits, all seemed alright, I didn't tell him how much I made, but he gave me a rough number of what I could earn if I joined thier company, I just told him no thanks, I already made almost as much as him and I did more than he did. The number he gave me was half my pay according to the union scale at the time, so this is what I'm getting at I guess, seniority plays a huge part in unions, I'm not for or against unions, I just chose to be non-union because of my beliefs. There are 2 accounts I go to that the places hire us and them, bolth of them say that when they think of our company, they view us as get it done company, the competitor is viewed as a beuracratic company that has too many policies and takes a long time to finish a task. I'm in and out with a job complete where they have guys for each procedure. Unions can protect an employee but also cause a enormous loss of jobs, just look at pratt and whitney engines, they hire, and layoff more than most change underware, and the sad thing is the poeple who earned money there got use to the high pay and took out huge home loans, bought new cars, boats, waverunners and every toy imaginable, then had to give it all up due to a government cut in spending that laid them off. I can't say much more about unions besides from talking to union workers, some good but some bad, I'll personally take my chances on the outside and make my own way without the backer of a union saying I have a job and then be laid off the next week due to contract downfalls. I now make more than the guy I talked to about 2 years ago, and he is now worried about being laid off due to ecinomic reasons, my company is currently and still is hiring people because we get the job done and work efficently, which cost less overall. Plus we offer a factory support that no other company working on our equipment can supply.
Posted on: 8/9/2009 6:28 PM by Author "planebuilder66" in the forum "The Clubhouse"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9002787

RE: An ARF Nation
Yes, it is, it's a toy in the end, who's going to say different, even when the dollar amount exceeds 20,000 dollars, it's still just a toy.
Posted on: 8/9/2009 5:54 PM by Author "planebuilder66" in the forum "The Clubhouse"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9002727

RE: An ARF Nation
It's not glorious, the last hospital I worked at I had to cut open the chiller with a plasma cutter, remove the componet, fix it and weld it back up in a days time, the room is about 105 degrees and the machine runs at about 300 degrees on the the part I had to fix, so it's covered in heavy fiberglass insulation, now you can picture the sense of lunicy on my part, would you knowingly subject yourself to a hot room, work on a extremely hot piece of equipment that's going to make you very itchy for the next week or so? I must be crazy, but all that sits in your mind from the time you hit the stop button on the machine till the time you hit start again is "hurry up, so they don't have to evacuate the hospital", in the end it all works out, but you do the job and things are better because of it. I still have a nice burn on my forearm from where I hit the 1/2" steam pipe last friday while tightening the bolts down on a unit. But the facility had cooling within 1 hour after opening. I try and that's what counts. Thanks for the kind words, most of the time they are angry because it died and when all is better, they want you gone because it costs them money.[8|]
Posted on: 8/9/2009 5:27 PM by Author "planebuilder66" in the forum "The Clubhouse"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9002677

RE: What the heck is the
Yeah, kind curious about that too, anybody at RCU want to explain this score thing? Is this some sick way of rating us on a rcu moral level?[:)] if so I guess I should have a negative symbol before that number on mine.[:D]
Posted on: 8/9/2009 5:08 PM by Author "planebuilder66" in the forum "The Clubhouse"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9002639

RE: An ARF Nation
Swagger is something I do while leaving my porch after drinking 1/2 a 30 rack.[:)][;)] Hmm, I don't blame you for getting flustered about the generalzation of arf builders, spend time with your boy, time flies and so do planes, teach him something to remember you by, quality time spent with my dad is something I will always remember. Ejnoy the scampi, don't forget the lime juice, gives it a little zing! I of course work for a company that thier equipment is in 1 out of every 2 buildings in the USA, HVAC is very important in this country, so the next time you go to the hospital for medical treatment, think about the operating room where tempatures and air cleanliness is extremely critical, that's my job, not only to keep that room correct, but the entire place at the correct tempature to avoid health issues, along with universities, collages, corperate buildings, and even manufacturing facilities. Process cooling for manufacture, heating for schools, the list goes on and on, the only difference is the size of the equipment, a chiller for cooling the hospital is about 1000X's bigger than your typical home a/c system, same for the boilers too. So my field isn't glorious but serves an important role in socety, I'm content and it pays the bills.[;)]
Posted on: 8/9/2009 4:52 PM by Author "planebuilder66" in the forum "The Clubhouse"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9002607

RE: An ARF Nation
Yes very true, infact my brother is the senior engineer at APS technoligies, they make the snake drill head for oil companies, that steer under ground to find the pockets of oil froma single point on the surface. Not too shabby, there is alot of inginuity in this country, finding a way to make it profitable and reliable is the challange, I remember him at WPI trying to make lab projects work, his design would work, but then his professor would say good, now make it with 3 sensors instead of 8, so back to the drawing board, alot of brainstorming between the two of us many a nights. So not all is lost, it will come around where the countries we do business with will start charging more as thier econimy becomes more like ours, where they need more to raise the bar of welth. But that is going to take a long time, many of us may never see that come about. Currently, I'm doing what I can to rid my debt and save money but not participate in a recession, I still fill the tank in my boat and go out, buy planes and spend money that I have in a actual bank account on parts for my jeep cj-7 project. I refuse to let this economy keep me from doing what I need and want to do because some idiot told me over the radio that I should save my money and invest in gold. My gold is golden balsa wood, my investments are tangable, and functional as well, they drive, fly and float,...that's all I need.
Posted on: 8/9/2009 4:43 PM by Author "planebuilder66" in the forum "The Clubhouse"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9002578

RE: An ARF Nation
I don't attack ARF builders, I just state why I like to build and if it were a simple task of glue this to that, it would be easy and it is, but the last kit I built required quite a bit of extra work to make it fit and finish well, much more than just gluing parts together, infact I recut a bunch of parts due to poor quality of parts. So I guess to each thier own, if you have time for building then great, if not, that's fine, as long as the hobby still exists and people enjoy it. I don't believe that CEO's deserve the money they get, nor do I agree with rush's pay either, but some fool was talked into paying that much for his over the top pay. They say that health care profit is 1%, and it doesn't sound like much but on a large scale, that is billions,......yup 1 % is billions in profit, some say that it should be lowered to less than .5%. There should be a cap on CEO pay I believe, but keep it reasonable. Funny how the Big Three went to get a bail out and they got chastized for flying in on private jets?! and now the current administration just O.K.ed the purchase of three- $65 million dollar lear jets, funny huh? You make the decision of what seems fair and right, obviously if you don't someone else will for you. Outsourcing jobs is a $ decision, companys can make more money by building overseas, and we tolerate it to an extent, because we are a comsumer nation. The only area we excell in at technology and development is the medical field, we find and do more for the medical field than the entire world combined, the last 10 years of major research awards has been handed to the good old USA.
Posted on: 8/9/2009 4:06 PM by Author "planebuilder66" in the forum "The Clubhouse"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9002504

RE: An ARF Nation
I understand bolth sides of the spectrum, some like to build and some just like to fly. I enjoy bolth, but since I grew up with parents that taught me to try and fix and do things yourself that's where the love of building came from. I believe that most that love to build grew up with the same background, why pay someone when you can do it yourself and learn how to fix it. It also tends to be the people that are always thinking of how things work and are put together that perfer to build, now-a-day's most people don't bother working on thier own cars, fixing thier own washing machines or even setting up thier own entertainment systems. It's kinda installed in your brain these days to buy it and use it until it breaks and then use the repair tech to fix it ASAP. Which brings up the other point this is all driven by, follow me on this it doesn't sound logical until it comes to facts. Inflation, yup, inflation,....I had a conversation a few days ago in my fathers garage with my dad of all people, I was changing tires over for a friend (yes he owns a tire machine, and it's in his home garage), anywho we were talking about boats and he went on about his Hemi powered hydro boat he had back in the 60's and how he called in favors from keith black for a crank and pistons and a few other well known people, infact he ended up getting the actual pipes off the hawaiian dragster and put them on the boat, I made the comment to my friend that there's a erea that's gone, personally getting stuff from big name guys because you do favors for each other. Now it's all about money, back then that hemi costed him 1500 buck to build, his 64 vett new was 3800 bucks, then I asked him how much he bought his house for and he said 25,000 but over time he spent another 25,000 for the pool and the 3 car garage and addition on the house. His mothers house bought back in the 40's costed 15,000, now the fair market value of the lake house is 215,000 and his house is around 700,000. Back then peoples incomes were good in relation to cost of living, houses were 2 or 3 times your pay, cars could be bought outright if you saved for it in a years time. But that same hemi that was in his boat would now set you back 15,000 to build, so here's the problem, cost of living and inflation is taking it's toll on everybody, houses cost 10X's + your yearly income cars cost more than a years pay, good furnature cost thousands of dollars and we all feel the squeaze of the dollar. So we all have to work harder and longer to beable to afford the things we need and want. For many people they just don't have much free time to build because they are swamped with trying to just stay afloat with the family and work to be bothered. They might want to but realize it would never get finished, I build not because I'm well off and have tons of money and free time but because I find the time when possible, I do own a few arfs, but they were for getting in the air, not for the like of thier quality. I build for the fact that I enjoy it, it's nice to just be a modeler and perform a craft and be know as being a craftsman. I try to encourage people to build for the skill's they learn while doing it, to make them slow down and enjoy the process rather than sprint to get in the air. The last time this country had a market for kits was in the early 90's, after that, the kit's faded away to arfs being the benchmark of our hobby, or should I say industry. Between all of it homes, cars, clothing, furnature, education, food and toys,....it's all alot more money in proportion to our incomes. As far as the education part,...........I'm impressed and disgusted all in one, I'm impressed when I see my much younger cousins or nephews in 6th grade speaking two languages already, but on the same token, I'm very disappointed in the current status of our public education system. One day I came home and my nieghbor was getting his son and daughter out of the car and his son was wearing his baseball uniform, I asked him who won, and his dads response was they all win, what the F! now they don't even let the kids know if they are doing well or not, it's all in fear that it might hurt some feelings and actually make the kids try harder to do better next time. That's the way it was for me growing up, if you lost, you tried harder next time, simple as that, I have another friend that his daughter is reading a level higher than her classmates, but the teacher told my friend that she's going to make her read the lower level books so his daughter doesn't make the other kids feel slow, now that's a complete crock of poop. It's even extended all the way to collage, football, if the team is so good they must stop before 50 point lead or else they could be penalized and not play for a game or two. The whole society and general thinking is askew in it's policies, we want every person to dream big and try hard to achieve it, but don't make anyone feel that they are a lesser of your knowledge or skills, so they just tone down the tests and the standards to make everone feel good by passing, heck I heard now they have a pass / fail scoring in lower grades, you don't know how well your doing, just the fact that you passed or not? Pathetic I say. But in a round about way it all links together, encourage to do better, but everyone is equal, work hard get into collage and get a better job to make more but the student loans are going to take 15 years to pay off, you work too much to pay for the over priced education, house, car and food to live and if you have anything left over, you can treat yourself to a plane, but the tools to build cost money and the arf is predone, well, life is hectic so just buy the arf and go fly. I draw the line there, it's a hobby, hobbies are something you do for enjoyment, not a cost effictive decision, it may cost more money to build or break even sometimes, but hobbies are done for fun not the cost. Sorry for the ranting but this is they way I've been collecting all the information over the years and processed it to be, I guess I think too much and link too many things together to come up with a string of events that relate to how we got to here from there years ago, but it makes sense to me, thanks for reading. Ray R.
Posted on: 8/9/2009 3:44 PM by Author "planebuilder66" in the forum "The Clubhouse"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9002160

RE: An ARF Nation
Maybe, but if I could only find my great,great grandfathers money that disappeared in long island long ago, I'd be rich, if only al capone didn't shoot him while playing a card game things would have been different, his name was Arnold Rothstein. But I digress, try your hardest and do better than last time, it's up to you on how well you do, I also don't work for a union company, I like the fact that I can get paid according to how well I do, not a scale of years in the company or when the next guy up retires and I can move up the ladder. In the last 3 raises, I've seen 4 to 5 digit increases because I work very hard, find the problems and fix them, I don't settle for O.K. in anything, work, home or hobbies. Some call me a perfectionist, but I call it devoted and refined. Someone actually said I have a disorder and was serious because I admitted that I recovered a plane 3 times because the finish wasn't right 2 of the 3 times, I was just being a craftsman.[:)][:D] Maybe he was right?! ADDED,... I don't have any connenctions to the K street lobbists, but if I had to chose, I would have rather seen a war veteran in the oval office rather than the current left wing nut we have, but that's all I'm going to say to avoid making this fourm a political statement.[;)]
Posted on: 8/9/2009 2:06 PM by Author "planebuilder66" in the forum "The Clubhouse"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9002265