-----Original Message-----
From: Fergus Kyle [mailto:VE3LVO@rac.ca]
Sent: Thursday, 13 September 2007 11 58
To: EUROPALIST
Subject: Quandary
Say,
I thought I'd share a story with you - you, who have the original
trailer.....
It's been so long in the build, and the trailer was at home, I
thought to see
how well the stabs sat in it, with the fuselage aboard - perhaps even a
photo
opportunity.
On they went, slick as a whistle.
However, on retrieving the pair, the fascinating little black plug
that ends the
tube holding them was missing. Can you guess where it hides? Yes, in the
bottom of
the stab hole.
Any suggestions as to the recovery of the little black plug would be
gratefully
received here. In the meantime, take all rational measures to prevent
another loss.
Cheers, ferg
Wiring, wiring
Hello,
....to those of you who may have read of the original 'Quandary'
(and/or have a Classic mono trailer). Above, a review of the trouble.
First a thank you to the various creative suggestions sent to me in
reply. Some I tried, some were not possible. The fact that the stopper
jammed beyond the outer bearing precluded TNT, the vacuum cleaner and sundry
other modi operandi.
I thought you might want a success report.
I had produced a 3/16" hole in the tip of the stab, concentric with
the 1-1/2" stab axle hole. Its purpose was to permit wiring an AA battery
inside the end and wires to a bright LED which curved around the top of the
tip to illuminate the vertical fin - airline-wise. I should have mentioned
this.
A word in praise of British Telecom is in order. They came to a
sultry corner of Devon several (many) years ago and clipped about half a
mile of beautiful 4mm Copperweld wire from adjacent poles, and tossed it
into a 'kip' (movable garbage bin).
Happening by, I casually asked whether it was going straight to Hades in a
handcart and the reply gave me an immense coil of it. How it got to
Burlington, Canada is a boring story, but it sat grinding its teeth in my
basement.
That is, until I realized that 4mm goes into 3/16" very handily. I
cut a metre-long piece, spent some time straightening it and slid it down
the little hole toward the cowardly stopper. When it stopped against the
miscreant, I bopped it with my little hammer and that rotated the stopper to
a diametric stance across the outer bearing.
Retrieving the wire, I then applied the electrical pliers to bend a sharp
180 in the end, and then clipped that to a nasty point with the nippers.
With Jenny holding the flashlight (torch) above the inboard end of
the stab axle hole I cannily slid the hook past the wall of the stopper,
rotated 90 degrees, yorked upward to set the hook and then wrenched the
@#$%^& free. It bent obediently to the task and actually flew across the
room with hardly a whimper.
By this time the trailer, having been left to its fate outdoors, had
collected several inches of rain down the spout and required suction,
alcohol and used motor oil to stop the incipient rust. The stopper was
applied and I washed my hands.
Thus endeth the lesson.
Cheers, Ferg
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