NEW HINTS
If you ever have a problem and you are not sure how to do it – call a member and see if he can help. Don’t do something you might be sorry for later.
1 Ever have a problem trying to get a Quick Link apart on your plane – especially one link that just won’t open easily? Well, you probably reach for a little screw driver if you have one then struggle trying to get the driver into the link – or break a finger nail. Then you have to spread it and sometimes…oops! Too much force! Anybody got a spare link?
Below is a little tool I dreamed up from some aluminium moulding or door handle to something. It is shiny, hard and easily opens links. One end is slotted and the edge is bevelled to allow you to spread the link without too much force since it is small.
More importantly, if you want to unscrew it to lengthen or to shorten the rod, then just slide the slot into the link ad turn. Easy. You can make one too -- or for a buck, I will give you one. See the photos below.
2. Ever want to drill a hole through the firewall or a bulkhead and your drill bit is too short, and the longer ones are too large? The motor is mounted and you don’t want to remove it again!
Don’t have an extender? Neither do I. There are other answers but not here and now.
Well, here is what I do. (Except now I have found some long bits going to some tool shows). You must have a small round file. (Files are usually longer than your drill bit say for a 1/8 dia. Or smaller) You can get them in different diameters.
Pick the one closest to the size you want – depending on whether you are using just a push rod or a nyrod with the outer casing and the yellow smaller one inside.
Place the file into the chuck of your electric drill. Sometimes you may want to use the handle end to start a hole. Here is the secret. Put the drill in reverse. If you leave it turning clockwise, it will bite into the wood and stall or race into the wood and maybe hit something. It is called
“damn!”
By going in reverse, it will penetrate without using extra force and you can guide it slowly where you want it. Afterwards, you can use the drill in forward to make it bigger.
3. Ever want to remove some unsightly scratches from your canopy? I find I usually scuff them a bit. I have not really got an answer, but I tried some Soft Scrub or the cheap brand of soft scratch less cleanser. I rub a little on the spot or area with my finger then wipe it off with a soft cloth and wash it. It does clean it up a bit but does not eliminate it.
MAKE SURE YOU TRY IT ON AN INCONSPICOUS PLACE FIRST. Maybe on the clear plastic bubble wrap from something in your workshop.
4. Sometimes I glue my canopy onto the fuse with some fancy clear silicone products, but often as not, I mess up and once the canopy is on, you don’t want to lift it off for fear of making more of a mess. Besides, some of these products smear and look worse and are hard to remove.
The big plane builders use screws to hold the canopy on. The problem I found was that the fuse sides are balsa and the screws won’t bite in to hold or loosen off. If you think ahead, you could glue a backing of light ply so the little screws have something to hold onto. Or, if you forget and the fuse is done, I put the canopy in place and carefully mark where it is going. Do this more than once. You can easily get into trouble if you do not hold the canopy down with masking tape, rubber bands etc.
Wherever you want the screws, cut into the balsa and insert a ¼ x ¼ or larger lite plywood plug. Make the cut-out the same size as the little plate you are going to install. Glue it in with CA. Put the canopy back in place and lock it down. Now drill holes for the screws through the canopy into the ply.
If you want, you can now mask the canopy on the INSIDE leaving about ¼ inch all around. Use your special colour paint and paint the inside. Now you have a nice border. Stick your screws into a piece of scrap balsa to hold them and paint the heads. Now the screws will almost disappear in the border.
5 Finally, what do you do when your canopy screw holes tear out and the nice hole you made is now a rip? See the photo below. From a piece of plastic from packaging make a sleeve to fit over the hole. In the photo I used the edge that held the cardboard backer and cut off about ½ inch long. I guess you could bend your own. Carefully put a little thick CA into the groove and slide it over the hole. Wait for it to dry. (If you use too much CA it will run all over and ruin your canopy and also stick your fingers and leave your prints where you don’t want them.) I know, I have done it many times.
6 I supplied the club with my idea of cleaning really fouled up motors and mufflers by boiling them in Trisodium Phosphate. I just tried to clean a slightly burnt-on oil residue on a small 4 stroke muffler. I used a rough cleaning cloth or scrub pad and some (Ajax) cleanser. Scrub, scrub scrub and off most of it came. I then wire brushed the rest but this left some scratches. I put a cloth polishing wheel in my drill and polished it and voila! Like New.
Well guys, that is about all the simple ideas I can come up with. Probably you are saying to yourself, what a jerk! I knew that.
BUT- maybe you have a better idea or some hints to pass on? Why not send something to the newsletter or to the website.
See you at the field. Murray Berman 8255L