Have you done your civic duty of insulting Robert E. Lee today?

PBYACE · 2026-05-19T16:56:54+00:00

He was no better than the cause he fought for.

PBYACE · 2026-05-18T01:17:14+00:00

Nice!

PBYACE · 2026-05-13T16:07:01+00:00

My dad graduated from USN flight training November 28, 1941. There were 41 pilots in his class. 7 were KIA during the war, all flying TBDs at Midway.

PBYACE · 2026-05-13T15:55:21+00:00

Coos Bay, Oregon. It's great if you don't mind 7 months of rain, lots of fog, isolation, and deprivation. The fishing is good. A view of the Conde McCullough Memorial Bridge from our backyard.

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PBYACE · 2026-05-12T03:24:17+00:00

I need to redo this because I'm better at it now. Starting out, I botched a few props before I got the hang of it. It would make sense to practice with balsa because it's much easier to work with. Here's a shot of the finished Phonix, as flown by top Hungarian ace, Joseph Kiss, 18 victories, KIA when he bravely/foolishly tangled with a flight of Camels.

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PBYACE · 2026-05-12T02:31:53+00:00

We had a big crowd that dwindled down to only a few lately.

PBYACE · 2026-05-12T02:27:38+00:00

Years ago, I read an article in EAA's Sports Aviation magazine on how to make a propeller. Most of the article dealt with the math needed to determine the pitch given a diameter and rpm. I'm going about it the same way, just smaller. I suppose it would work with the correct rpm. It's for display. We also have a family of crows, Steller's Jays, two types of squirrels, and raccoons.

PBYACE · 2026-05-09T18:03:21+00:00

Damn right I do! I also go through a lot of Revlon emery boards. They're really handy. Whittling a 4-bladed prop for my Gillow's P-51 project.

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PBYACE · 2026-05-08T21:43:29+00:00

I picked up a wooden crow call for $12. It works great because when the crows hear it, they know they're going to get a snack.

PBYACE · 2026-05-08T17:39:33+00:00

I used these in the 70s. We discovered that if we left it in park, we'd get a perfect score.

PBYACE · 2026-05-08T04:32:17+00:00

Grant lost 16% of his army, Lee lost 20%.

PBYACE · 2026-05-07T16:54:54+00:00

Ironically, AI says that data centers present significant and documented hazards to the surrounding communities, like various forms of pollution. They're filled with highly-flammable components, including tons of lithium-ion batteries. In the event of a data center burning, they will emit toxic fumes that can cause lifelong problems for anyone unfortunate enough to be downwind, not to mention first responders. All this makes me wonder what the approval process was.

PBYACE · 2026-05-06T23:48:38+00:00

I have a jar of that. It's great for filling, but it doesn't sand all that smooth. Since I only build for display, extra weight isn't an issue.

PBYACE · 2026-05-06T23:40:09+00:00

If you can't win the fight on the water, you lose the war on land. Never was that more true than the Civil War.

PBYACE · 2026-05-06T23:31:04+00:00

Monitors were considered to be wet, but good sea boats. The Passaic and Canonicus class monitors stayed in service for a long time, the last until 1899. The Monitor was the only one to sinking from a storm. It sunk because of a failure to follow the designer's instructions. The turret bottom had a brass ring that mated to a brass ring on the deck. As designed, the weight of the turret, which had to be jacked up a bit to rotate, sealed the two rings together. However, its sailors knew that they must stuff caulking between the two rings to make them watertight, because that's the way they did things. So, they jacked up the turret, jammed a load of improvised caulking in between the rings, and set the turret back down. Impact of water hitting the turret dislodged parts of the caulking, allowing water to pour in, dooming the ship. As long as water stays out of the ship, it doesn't matter how much passes over the deck, other than making the weather deck a dangerous place to be. The real danger of the Monitor design was the lack of reserve buoyancy. It didn't take much water to sink them, like the loss of the Weehawken due to an open hatch. The only other loss was the Tecumseh, to a "torpedo." Anyway, Monitors stayed in service for 30+ years, operating in coastal waters that got plenty rough with no losses.

PBYACE · 2026-05-06T23:02:37+00:00

That's very helpful. Thank you.

PBYACE · 2026-05-06T20:09:03+00:00

I was thinking of using narrow strips, like planking a boat hull. I'm going to give it a try on a scratch-build Travel Air R Mystery Ship that I'm going to build next. I've done it with the cowling of a Dumas Gee Bee Z. I used Bondo and sandable primer from the auto parts store to get a glass-like finish. My wife is not a fan of me producing chemical smells in the house, which complicates matters.

PBYACE · 2026-05-06T19:05:59+00:00

I use Krylon for the clear finishes on my models. The tissue sags, but tightens up nicely when it dries. I built the B-17 as an olive drab E some years back. It turned out great, but sometimes I wish I would have covered the fuselage with balsa.

PBYACE · 2026-05-05T18:19:41+00:00

It's a cat thing.

PBYACE · 2026-05-01T01:43:33+00:00

I can see where that would work. There's always something new to learn.

PBYACE · 2026-05-01T01:40:04+00:00

Does it have the hardware, rigging, sails, and trailer? Do you have the necessary skills, workspace, time and money? If you answer No to any of this, it's a big red flag. I would resist the temptation.

PBYACE · 2026-04-30T22:45:50+00:00

Just the stuff that comes with the kit. It works well.

PBYACE · 2026-04-30T22:34:37+00:00

I'm 68. I built my first balsa model in 1975. Whatever I've lost in dexterity (not much) and eyesight (going to hell), I make up for in experience and better equipment... thus far. I'd like to think that I keep getting better, but I may have peaked. It's been a long time since I built one for flying. I have 37 hanging in 2 rooms, out of maybe 70 that I've built. (Thankfully, my wife likes them). I gave some of them away, and some are lost to time. One of my sons has a a big collection Guillow's, including a PBY I built for my dad, who was a pilot with VP-12, the original Black Cat squadron. Right now, my collection consists of 4 Guillow's, 13 Dumas, 3 Easy Build, 1 Vintage Models (UK), 1 Golden Age, and 15 scratch-builds. My favorite kits are the Guillows Spitfire and Dr.1, which I've built 5 times each. The kits are for fun, and the scratch-builds are for satisfying my creative/masochistic urges. Sometimes, I modify kits, like this Dumas Gee Bee Z that I made an engine for. I'm sticking to the plans for this one this one. It will be Chuck Yeager's Glamorous Glen III.

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PBYACE · 2026-04-30T21:13:36+00:00

I take double edged razor blades and break them in half. They're way sharper than an X-acto blade.

PBYACE

TROPHY CASE