Back to Basics

The Kadet has at last got its windscreen and side windows fitted. The blue tissue trim was a lot of fun(?) and took a lot longer than I had thought. As the long drawn out build approaches the final stages, I'm kept awake at night trying to find a believable excuse to avoid the final act of flying it. This might seem odd, but a succession of "real" and "almost" crashes have made me a bit nervous. Perhaps I'll get to Cashmoor early one morning when, apart from John Bannister, there'll be nobody about. Comforting to know that JB is really good at finding bits of missing models.

You can always ask a certain member if he will maiden it for you. Then you will know if it is down to YOU or the IDIOT in the cockpit. :lol:

That would be taking the easy way out Phil. I think that as long as the "nut" that holds the stick isn't "tight", the first flight of an "easy to fly trainer" shouldn't be a drama. It'll be on low rates with at least 20% expo..

This morning it took me a long time to realise that it wasn't raining and there wasn't enough breeze to stir the trees, a good time to do a bit of model building in the garden. Finally I put out the building board and got down to doing a bit more work on the Kadet. The underside of the fuselage is now covered in blue tissue, I made a start on completing the side trims, but realised I need to have the cowl in place to complete it. The OS FS .40 was duly bolted in and the plumbing was connected. Fortunately I'd left the fuel and vent lines a bit long, so assembly was easy but as usual, extremely fiddly, especially getting the fuel line onto the carburettor nipple, not much room between the bearers and the front bulkhead. The job was made a lot easier by using ex-NHS artery forceps. Previously I'd planned to use an OS FS .52, unfortunately I'd cut the cowl, even more unfortunately, the .52 has its throttle controls the opposite side to the .40, so I had to make a new hole for the main needle, and think about ways of patching up the original cut-outs. Finally I offered up the cowl and temporarily fixed it with four screws. It was a relief to find that the original fitting was OK and the spinner lined up quite nicely. Of course I had to make a mistake. I'd been perching the fuselage upside down with the wing fairing over the edge of the building board., this allows the fus. to sit nicely on the wing seating. That's fine as long as there isn't an engine bolted on to the front. I put the upside down model on the edge as usual, and it came as a bit of a shock when it promptly dived off. The windscreen didn't survive. The latest photos show the new screen pinned and with the glue showing as white streaks, they'll vanish as the glue dries out.

The Kadet isn't finished, I was within reach, but fate intervened and I had to take a trip to IKEA Southampton. A good thing to do if you've designed a new kitchen on IKEA's free software. The resident experts looked over my proposed design, seemed to approve, but suggested a couple of changes and additions. That was OK until I realised that it almost doubled the original price. It took two more trips to sort things out. By now it was almost November and outdoor building/finishing was no longer possible. It took a few days to get over the sudden cramp in my wallet when I paid for the kitchen stuff. Then it took a couple of days to clear the old kitchen to prepare for the new build. The past few weeks have been a confusing time of re-plumbing, re-wiring and re-plastering. I started to feel a bit unwell, it has been diagnosed as IKEAITIS. Hopefully, when Spring finally comes around I'll have regained my sense of humour and I'll get to finish the Kadet. I hope you've enjoyed reading about my adventures on the building board, in a way it was to lift the gloom of lockdown as well as to entertain and inform. In the meantime, Happy Christmas to all my readers and fellow club members, stay safe and lets all look forward to being free from the virus. Keep watching the Forum, I'll announce when the Kadet will attempt its maiden at Cashmoor, and keep an eye out for the first instalment of the Moonglow IV build.

Best of luck with the Kitchen - as you know i'm no stranger to those diversions from modelling