Found a stress reliever!

John Pollman

Member
Messages
1,332
Location
Rochester Hills, MI
Hi folks!

I hope you are all well and had a great holiday season. I tried to enjoy mine but it was pretty tough. I haven't been around here much lately. Although I've got a lot of time on my hands at this point, I just haven't been online a heck of a lot. Since getting home from the hospital I've been under a lot of stress worrying about the length of time I'm going to be off and such. I'm doing much better physically, but mentally I'm still struggling a bit. Although lately it's getting a little better. Keeping my fingers crossed that trend continues.

I've found that keeping your mind and hands busy when you're stressed can really help a lot. About a week before Christmas, I bought this kit at a local hobby shop. I figured it may help keep my hands busy and my mind off of some of the stress I've been going through lately. I didn't start it until yesterday afternoon. Geez, I wish I'd started it a long time ago. It really does help!

Corsair1.JPG


Gotta go, the glue is dry. ;)

John
 
Fun things, those airplanes!

Looks like a nice laser cut kit you have there?

They sure are fun to build and fun to fly :thumb: :thumb:
 
Oh ya, another expensive hobby. A neighbor got my son into the RC airplanes when he was about 12. Ended up I built them he flew them. Great fun. I later got into the RC Sailplanes and really enjoyed them more then the gas ones. But I was never a good flier, get too nervous. My son went on to flying F-18 Superhornets in the Navy. Still doing it.
 
I can't remember if I ever posted these pics here or not, but here's a boat I completed a couple years ago. It was very time consuming but fun to build. The hull is two layers. First layer is plywood strips glued to the frames, the second is mahogany strip. The decking is the same way but those white stripes are actually inlaid strips of plastic between the mahogany strips. Talk about time consuming! It was a challenge but I think it came out pretty nice.

cobra1.jpg


cobra2.jpg


cobra3.jpg
 
Those kits and planes or boats are also another way of woodworking, and as much challenging as any furniture project or maybe more.

I did build a couple of gliders when I was a teenager and the only dissapointment I got was that one flew so well that I lost it, it just soared up and up and dissapeared and it was on its first inaugural flight.:(

The other one crashed into a thousand splinters after weeks of fun.:(
 
Those kits and planes or boats are also another way of woodworking, and as much challenging as any furniture project or maybe more.

I did build a couple of gliders when I was a teenager and the only dissapointment I got was that one flew so well that I lost it, it just soared up and up and dissapeared and it was on its first inaugural flight.:(

The other one crashed into a thousand splinters after weeks of fun.:(

I've lost a glider the first way Toni. Not sure what way I like losing them better, Having them fly away never to be seen again, or crashing in a thousand splinters!

No matter what though, it's an act of faith each time you launch a plane. You never know if it will be it's last flight....
 
I've never had much luck flying them, but I too built a couple of those two-meter class gliders. They are a ball to build! I just wish I was better at flying them.

I don't know, I think if I had a choice of it going up, up, and away never to be seen again, or crashing to the ground in a million pieces, I'd take the up up and away. It's much more comforting to imagine that something I spent so many hours constructing just flew away to glider heaven and is soaring effortlessly for all eternity. Much more palatable than pile of splinters. :rofl:

John
 
when I was a kid, I used to build the estes rockets.
the little 4 dollar kits were daily launches.
Once in a while Id launch a rocket that took me 3 months to build and very costly.
The problem was, after launch, it would go so high, the winds would carry them miles from my home, and once it crossed a highway, it was gone for good.
Very frustrating.
Id be crushed if I had a remote controlled plane I made and I crashed it on a landing. Too frustrating, it would drive me nuts.
Hope you took some flying lessons before you put it on the runway. Dont forget to take some video.
looking foward to seeing the final product, hope you feel better soon.
 
John, a long time ago I used to get those "Jetco Models" Balsa wood kits. When my older kids were young we made a "thermic 18" kit that was the best glider I ever used. We got flights of 100's of yards out of that little plane and I have many fond memories of the kids getting tired out chasing the little bugger all over a big field near our house.

So.......a few years back before I retired I drew up a large version of this kit on AutoCad and plotted out a print for a clone with a 25"+ wingspan. (something about fringe benefits for working as an engineer) Reading your post reminded me of this and I found the box in the basement. Looks like we'll get to putting the new one together.

With the original model I reinforced the structure and painted it to reduce drag. Man did that little glider fly!! :D
 
It's a Dumas kit. It's from their "Walnut series", it's kit #213.

http://www.dumasestore.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=137_60&products_id=654

It's only a 17-1/2" wingspan and it's rubber powered. I was more interested in just building it as a static display but it's not that hard to install the rubber band. ;)

I've never done a laser cut kit before, but they are awesome! The notches for the 1/16 square stock for the ribs and such fit nice and tight. I've found that it's easy to just assemble the parts and when they fit correctly, just hit them with a small shot of the "JET" CA to hold them in place. When I get a few joints done and they're dry, I just use a toothpick and a little Titebond wood glue to reinforce the joint and it's nice and strong.

John
 
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It's a Dumas kit. It's from their "Walnut series", it's kit #213.

http://www.dumasestore.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=137_60&products_id=654

It's only a 17-1/2" wingspan and it rubber powered. I was more interested in just building it as a static display but it's not that hard to install the rubber band. ;)

I've never done a laser cut kit before, but they are awesome! The notches for the 1/16 square stock for the ribs and such fit nice and tight. I've found that it's easy to just assemble the parts and when they fit correctly, just hit them with a small shot of the "JET" CA to hold them in place. When I get a few joints done and they're dry, I just use a toothpick and a little Titebond wood glue to reinforce the joint and it's nice and strong.

John

Looks like a great project! That should be a neat looking plane once you get done with it!
 
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