Mercy! Mercy! That Dang Nabed PERCY!

Using the Overhead Projector

Using the Overhead Projector.

Today I worked on my model airplane, the one that will supposedly fly better in the wind. I am building the wing right now. To do that I trace the top view profile on a piece of paper and trace it on a thin sheet of plywood.

“Where do I get the plans?“ you ask.

“What plans?” I reply… “Do you mean the ones I draw?”

I have an unorthodox method for designing my RC model airplanes. Often in RC magazines or on line are pictures showing plans that are too small ever to be useful.

“Don’t be so fast in your assumptions,” I caution. Here is how I get my plans. I take a picture of the side view of the object I want to blueprint. That is the most common view and for a model airplane that is really all you need. I then take this side view picture and put it in my printer scanner, with a piece of that clear plastic overhead projector film. When the image comes out on the film, I put the slide on my overhead projector. Then I tape a piece of white paper on the wall. Once this is done I turn it on and begin playing with the focal length…. Moving it in and out until the image on my wall is the size I want my RC model to be. Then I take my sharpie and trace the pattern.

Sometimes there are the standard three views on a thumbnail set of plans. The top view is particularly useful for the wing template and the front view show you the curves missing from the first two. Once you have this completed you are ready to start building your RC flying model.

I usually combine the attributes of two or more airplanes I have come to admire. I take the best of the designs and pull them together into a composite. Anyway that is what I have been working on today.

Around lunchtime we went to Wisconsin Rapids and bought the weeks groceries. Linda cooked me a nice ham for supper and then we went for a walk and watched the sun set. Already it is beginning to feel like fall and tonight promises to be good sleeping weather.

Tomorrow we are going to Wausau to a “Fly In.” Linda and I will be walking around looking at the models and watching the activities. It’s something to do and we get to spend some quality time together. Right now we are talking a lot about our trip to France in October. My brother and his wife will be going with us and we will be visiting the small village we lived after WW2, when my father was assigned at Rochefort.

When we were taking care of our parents in their last years we resolved to go back and visit some of the places that hold fond memories. How cool is that?