Chris's Senior Telemaster Rebuild

 These pics span from July '07 through April '08. Chris had this Telemaster powered by LiPo batteries. An accident with a plug shorted 2 batteries together, and started an instant fire. Chris really loved this airplane, as he had built it from reject and scrap assemblies when he worked for Hobby Lobby in Tennessee. Robert Vess tried to extinguish the fire with a CO2 extinguisher, but it would flare back up. Chris pulled it away for safety, and let it burn out.

Despite looking so bad, we took it to the workshop and began a rebuild. We cut away all of the burned wood, then coated the remaining structure with "Killz" to seal in the soot. It was so smutty, you couldn't touch it without getting dirty. "Killz" solved that.

After the rebuild, Chris built 9200ma of A123 power, and wired it for that. It was AMAZING! On the first flight, Chris and I flew it for 48 minutes, and brought it in to check the batteries. There was still a lot of power left. On another day, 5 of us lined up chairs on the flight line, passed the radio back and forth, and flew it for over an hour. 

Here's a few pics, in no particular order...

Brandon's ModelTech Magic

 This is a Model Tech Magic that Brandon got from the late Jim C, after a crash. We took it in the workshop and gave it a complete rebuild. Here's a bunch of pics of the project, in no particular order...

AMA Life Membership...

 I type this, as I sit in the waiting room at the hospital, awaiting my last eye surgery to remove cataracts. I've been inactive for a while, mostly due to the inability to see well enough to fly safely. 

I've been looking forward to the day I could return to the hobby I love so much. I recently walked to the mailbox and found an envelope from the AMA. I knew my membership was due for renewal, so I opened it and found a beautifully engraved gold card inside that stated "Life Member". I was speechless, and thought it to surely be a mistake. My oldest son, Chris, sent this to me. Wow, I was even more speechless! 

I'm a tightwad penny pitcher. This was a very emotional moment for me... I will carry this until my last day. Here's a pic...

Vintage bits for the collection...

I got these vintage R/C bits from my friend Yates Millis to add to the collection. Some of this was from the early 1960's, and still look good. Here's a few pics and a link to the collection slideshow. 

https://wb4iuy.net/phprc/phpslideshow.php

In the slide show, you can run it in auto, or tap the pics to jump from pic to pic.

Getting ready...

 Finally!! Beautiful weather is here, things are warming up, and I'm prepping my gear to go flying. All of my equipment has been in hibernation since last November. I was a little concerned about moisture and insects, but when I popped the hauler open, all was well! 

I'm charging, shrinking monocote, running engines, etc. I won't be long now!