Fall Follies

[Tim Wescott]

So, who's planning on coming?  How much rain is going to make you snug the covers up tight on Saturday morning and go back to sleep?

I'll be there at least on Sunday -- I may come on Saturday just to compete in Classic and Profile with my Ringmaster to get flights in for the Fly-A-Thon.  Unless it's coming down buckets -- then I'll stay in my nice warm bed.

[Duke.Johnson]

Tim
We would love to come down again for the contest. But we have our own Ringmaster Flyathon in Chehalis.  And feel like we should be there.

[Joe Just]

Tim, we can't make the Salem event, but the weather in Waitsburg should be in the mid 70's both Saturday and Sunday.  My son and grandson will be with me trying to fly a bunch of flights with the two planes shown here.
Joe

[Duke.Johnson]

Maybe we should move ours from Chehalis to Waitsburg.

[FLOYD CARTER]

I would like to encourage those planning on the Fall Follies in Salem, OR to also make it on Saturday and fly in OTS.  The more entries we have, the more interesting.

Floyd

[Randy Powell]

Might make it for one day. Still up in the air.

[Howard Rush]

Might make it for one day. Still up in the air.

Get that new plane
Up in that air
JCT says be
There or be square.

[Mark Scarborough]

I plan on being there,, my new plane is still a box of parts,, but the Avenger is ready,, and the Electrajet may make a suprise visit as well

[Russell Shaffer]

Once again I'll be a no-show.  We have been traveling most of the summer and now I have minor knee surgery on Oct 1.  I don't think CL would be a good idea for me (I'll probably be on dopey pills with a big dressing)  but I was really looking forward to the Follies.  Someone will no doubt comment that none of this will make any difference in my flying. 

[Joe Just]

Maybe we should move ours from Chehalis to Waitsburg.

Duke, that would be just great!  There is a brand new motel just 8 miles from my place.  Give me a call if you are really serious. Either day or both are workable from our end.
Joe

[Duke.Johnson]

I don't think I could get everyone to drive that far. But your weather report sure sounds good.

[wwwarbird]

I plan on being there,, my new plane is still a box of parts,, but the Avenger is ready,, and the Electrajet may make a suprise visit as well

 Mark,

 Don't you have a semi-scale Warbird of some sort you could bring too?

[Mark Scarborough]

Wayne,, yeah,,,, well,,,,,



no,,

[johnt4051]

Hoping not to jinx it, but the 10-day weather forecast at this writing (Sept. 26) shows weather in Salem on Oct. 4-5 (Friday-Saturday of Follies weekend) as sunny, approximately 70 degrees, 5 mph winds.  Typical Follies weather! 
  Come along for the barbecue if nothing else!  (Details and flyer on flyinglines.org).
 

[john e. holliday]

Hey the plane doesn't know it is raining while it is flying.    I remember way, way, way back at a Swope Park contest in which it was a drizzling rain all day.   I was carrier director and was soaked to the bone by the time the banquet started.   Besides, if I remember right I think John Thompson told me one year if I came out to bring a second set of clothes to change out to at the end of the day.  Just remembered pitting a Class I Mouse at the NATS one year during a light rain.   One pit stop had to have been the deepest puddle on the field.    My boots were still damp a week later.

[James C. Johnson]

I am still planning on coming... I have worked hard to finish my plane.. and now wish I could take it out and fly it before coming down.. Tues there is only a 60% chance of rain... I don't even know if I can do a pattern and it would be nice to know. My last time out it felt like I was doing fine.. take off and inverted felt great. Then my old tank went south in my Dolphin.

My plane is nose heavy and I went with a tongue muffler to lighten it ... it came in a little heavy 43-44oz... I had to re-learn a lot...  it is still not rubbed out completely.


1. Never use old used blind nuts.. throw all of them in the trash I had two strip
2. When you are in a hurry to clear coat, the weather will not cooperate..
3. If you feel like your paint will blush ... trust your gut...
4. Just when you need your tank or nose spinner that you carefully kept track of it.. it will go into the black hole
5. You will abandon the finish ... I love self justification..
6. After 8 yrs you will forget how to mount a tail wheel...
7. If you need to practice.. it will rain until the day of the contest...


One trick I did learn... I ran out of retarder and you can't buy that stuff off the street anymore (I hate drug laws  ).. even the local auto place looked at me like I was a nut... I was spraying with Dupont 3806 as my base thinner and I suffered blotches in my clear coat and was going to spray it with thinner and retarder to release the moisture.. I was not a happy guy... but the mother of necessity prevailed.... I had some Brodak Thinner which is a little slower drying than 3806... I loaded my airbrush up and sprayed it on a blotch and let it dry..  and the blotch went away.. the heavier blotches took more than one application.. you spray it on and keep it "looking liquid but not runny" and then it takes about 5 moinutes to tell if the application was sucessful.. if not do it again..

The weather looks perfect .. with predicted winds at 4-5mph... we all know this could change but it looks sunny... 50 is the low and 70 is the high. http://www.weather.com/weather/tenday/Salem+OR+97305

I may come on Friday and get some practice flights in. I need them... This will be my first contest in over 8 yrs.

http://www.weather.com/weather/tenday/Salem+OR+97305

[Randy Powell]

I won't know until Friday if I can make it. And no, Howard, the new sled will not be ready. You probably won't see it until a clear day we can fly in November or December.

[Duke.Johnson]

Love the Oriental!

[Michael Massey]

I wont' make it this year.  I leave Friday to take my wife to No. Calif. so she can visit her kids and friends for a couple of weeks.  I will return home the following Monday for "my vacation."

[Paul Walker]

I won't make it. The picture is where I am at this very moment.

[Howard Rush]

Looks like you have a serious erosion problem at the Ranch.

[Paul Walker]

I won't make it. The picture is where I am at this very moment.

[Paul Walker]

Looks like you have a serious erosion problem at the Ranch.

Yeah, the rain was bad!

[Steve Helmick]

I'm planning on being there Friday early-mid afternoon. Should be there in time to help Jim and Mark with their practise and trimming flights. If I can borrow a modified Twister to fly in Profile, I'll enter that on Saturday, Tim.    Steve

[Tim Wescott]

I'm planning on being there Friday early-mid afternoon. Should be there in time to help Jim and Mark with their practise and trimming flights. If I can borrow a modified Twister to fly in Profile, I'll enter that on Saturday, Tim.    Steve

For profile I'm either going to fly the Banshee that Randy gave me, or my Ringmaster (acuz it's the Fly-a-Thon).  So I may have a plane for you.  You'll say the lines are too long, though.

[Steve Helmick]

Tim...I'll bring along shorter lines...sigh... Steve

[Tim Wescott]

Tim...I'll bring along shorter lines...sigh... Steve

At your peril -- I like the way it flies.

[James C. Johnson]

Well I test flew the plane... first handle had too much spacing... engine was so so.. but even inverted so the tank is fine... looks like 5.1 sec laps with 3 1/4 oz keeping under 8 minutes ... moved the lines forward, I didn't like the tension .. plane was feeling mushy and not crisp... flew a second flight... a little better and I threw on the heavier muffler...  something didn't feel right... I thought maybe it was too much nose weight.. 3rd flight ... maneuvers didn't feel good at all... plane didn't want to stay out on the lines... landed great... started looking over the plane and noticed one side of the elevator had come completely "unhinged".... I used taffeta over and under to seal the hinge line... it sat for 10 yrs... hum? I guess I won't be using this method with this material ever again... plane is getting new hinges right now... I'll be there to fly about 1 pm Steve... I had the jitters flying but managed some loops and out side squares ... I need practice ...

Jim

[Steve Helmick]

Jim, you dodged a huge bullet there, and are lucky to get the plane down in one piece. Don't expect any of your previous adjustments to mean a darned thing, except maybe the line spacing! Bring extra mufflers, spinners, lead weights, etc.

I'm going to visit my 94 year old Aunt in Portland on the way down, but I should still make it to Salem Muni by early afternoon. Drive safe, everybody!  Steve

[Mark Scarborough]

I should arive around 130 or so,, ( with any luck sooner,, but who knows),,
see ya all there,, save some good air for me will ya

[wwwarbird]

 Hope you all have a great Fall Frolic, and please make sure and get us some photos! 

[James C. Johnson]

Bird is all fixed and seems fine... I still want to change out the engine... that takes about 15 minutes.. I have 3 0r 4 new OS 35S'... could just break one in and use a Slimeline muffler... I only have two that are drilled through the case.. for my Big Art and Tongue mufflers .. JJ

[johnt4051]

To whet your appetite, photos and reports of PREVIOUS Follies can be found on flyinglines.org, click on the News Archives link.

 

[Howard Rush]

Weather report now looks nice for the whole weekend, including the traditional light and variable winds.

[Tim Wescott]

The weather was certainly good today.  All went without incident, except for the plane that I loaned Steve Helmick which lost half the "visual pun" muffler when it came unsoldered (soldering aluminum mufflers -- bad).  The muffler stayed with the plane, but it swung on the pressure line, punched through the covering on the bottom of the right wing and took off a chunk of covering on the top of the wing bigger than my hand.

Sorry Steve.  I won't loan out questionable equipment again.

[Russell Shaffer]

It ain't your fault, Tim.  STEVE broke it.  Hope you had some of that magic tape on hand. 

[Randy Powell]

Have fun, guys. I won't be making it. but I'll be thinking of you.

Mark, how the E-jet flies great!

[Tim Wescott]

Well, if you didn't come you missed a really nice contest.

Alice Cotton-Royer came and flew it Old Time.  It was nice to have her back with us.  I flew Old Time mostly so I could put up a couple of flights with a Ringmaster for the Fly-A-Thon, but it was fun to go out there not caring how I'd do (I got last place! Oh boy!) and fly my very first Old Time pattern.

On the bottom-feeder front, Mark Winz and Jerry Olsen both put in very good flights in Intermediate and Beginner respectively -- they may have flown unopposed, but they earned their trophies none the less.

I moved up to Advanced so I don't count as "bottom feeder" any more -- I took 3rd, Mark Scarborough took 2nd, and Floyd Carter took 1st.  In my opinion Floyd deserved a trophy simply for naming his airplane the "Thunder Geezer".  The other Advanced flyers all did well, too.

(Mark and I took 2nd and 3rd in every event we competed in.  I managed to edge past him in Profile, probably because he's flying a newly reassembled Jet Thingy (what do you call that, Mark?).  He took 2nd in Classic and Advanced.)

The only unfortunate incidents for the whole contest were my fault, due to the Muffler Debacle mentioned above.

I have to admit that I didn't pay attention to who placed in Expert other than Howard.  In the absence of Paul Walker, Howard did a pretty damned good job of putting up two "you gotta watch this" patterns.  To the extent that I watched, all the other Expert fliers put up good flights as well.

One of the interesting things about the Salem meet is that we seem to get the most interested spectators -- the circle is right on a fairly well-traveled road, and the story I hear over and over again from spectators is either "I was driving by and I had to stop", or "I came by earlier and I had to get the kids and come back".  It's cool that CL gets that positive exposure.

Results will be up on Flying Lines soon, I'm sure.  There's already a nice picture of Mark Scarborough's Avenger posted: http://flyinglines.org/.

[Russell Shaffer]

Somewhere I saw a reference to a "much improved Tim Wescott".  That was before this contest which seems to have cinched it.  Congrats on your placings and thanks for the update.

[Randy Powell]

Wish I could have been there. Next year you should see me a lot starting with VSC.

[john e. holliday]

No matter what class/event you fly, if you don't enter and fly, you can't get the hardware.  I've seen guys that can fly circles around me that just don't want to compete. 

[Tim Wescott]

Wish I could have been there.

You should have come.  Particularly because the plane that got beat to death by its own muffler was the Banshee that you gave me.

(
I decided to make a real tongue muffler, that actually looked like the body part that it's named after.  Lacking a Heli-arc machine, I tried soldering it together with aluminum solder.  The muffler held together for two flights -- Steve's first official in Expert Profile was the third.  The muffler body broke loose from the header, and the muffler pressure tubing was just the right length for it to swing back and hit the covering just behind the leading edge.  It poked a small hole in the bottom covering, and started a rip that took off about half a square foot of covering from the top of the wing.  It's normal to see airplanes being flown while bits drift down in the combat circle, but not in stunt...

It may be possible to solder up something like that and have it work, but my skills are not currently up to the task.  Dang but I want a Heli-arc machine!
)

[wwwarbird]

 Were there no cameras at the Follies? 

[Tim Wescott]

Were there no cameras at the Follies? 

Lots of good pictures on Flying Lines: http://flyinglines.org/follies.13.html

[Steve Helmick]

For whatever it's worth, I always refer to the contest as "Fall Fallies". Always a great time, tho I do recall a time or two when the weather was a tad unkind.

Some years ago, we arrived to this contest under bluebird skies (high pressure, well over 31" of mercury) and temps in the high 20's. Bruce Hunt pulled out his little weather station, and reported that the Density Altitude was more than -1,000' below sea level. Most had trouble getting enough fuel aboard to get the pattern in, if we could even get the engines to run. This being prior to the electron revolution, Gerald Schamp became the savior of the day, with Ronson Lighter Fluid to the rescue.

This year, it was foggy and high 30's. Mark Scarborough expected short engine runs with his SSW Magnum .53 powered Avenger, and got all of that, with his engine quitting during the OH8. Dave Royer-Cotton stepped up and drove to the nearby K-Mart and got a liter bottle of Coleman Lantern/Stove fuel. Mark had about 3/4 gallon of 10-20 SIG fuel and on Dave's instructions, added 2.5 oz of the stuff. BINGO! Rule of thumb: DO NOT put more than 4 oz into a gallon of glow fuel. Dave says it lights off easily, and is one of the major reasons he gets 1 flip starts with his Merco .61 powered Humongus.  Good info is worth the trip, unlike aluminum soldered mufflers!  Steve

[Brian Massey]

For whatever it's worth, I always refer to the contest as "Fall Fallies". Always a great time, tho I do recall a time or two when the weather was a tad unkind.

  Steve

Hey Steve; it's just a tad further to the Golden State .  Haven't seen you here in a few years; why not! I'll personally blacken a hot dog for you if you make it down . You won't even need Coleman fuel to complete the pattern.

Brian

[Howard Rush]

I made the same suggestion to Steve last evening.

[wwwarbird]

Lots of good pictures on Flying Lines: http://flyinglines.org/follies.13.html

 Thanks Tim.

[Mark Scarborough]

Thanks Tim.

they got a few of my Avenger,, none of the 109 since it did not make the trip

[Steve Helmick]

I made the same suggestion to Steve last evening.

Unfortunately, as you know, my only sponsor is SSA, since my retirement. Coincidentally, my wife works for the SSA, so as of now, she's working without pay, pending some sort of a compromise by the a$$holes in DC. I have been instructed to keep spending to a reasonable level, unlike the above mentioned a$$holes in DC, who seem to think their money supply is infinite. Therefore, no long distance contests in the near future.   Steve

Edit:  http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/daily-ticker/dear-congress-want-money-back-161139636.html