Yup, I'm still alive. Just not posting much, as it's 9°F outside, which makes it too cold to participate in two of my main hobbies. ;)It's not too cold to game, though, and I am gaming, still playing Dragon Age - on my second play-through of the… more »

I'm waiting on a package from China. Ok, well, technically Hong Kong, but still. China. Most R/C pilots use batteries from Hobby City in China. It's literally a choice between buying one battery or buying 2 or 3 (sometimes 4). Kind of a no-brainer,… more »

Motor and ESC mounted. Elevator and rudder horns installed. Just need to mount the aileron horns, install all the linkages, install the receiver, then do control throw setup, install the cowl and landing gear, then she'll be flyable!Of course, I'm… more »

That's the inner box. :D That comes inside 2 other outer boxes - these things are packed VERY securely. Opening that box reveals this: a 3D Hobby Shop Extra 330SC! Well, in ARF form anyway. That's what she looks like all dry-fit togethe… more »

Hey, whoa, I changed my mind! Amazing eh? /sigh. Anyway, I'm re-entering the R/C flying hobby - and since I sold everything, I get to re-buy everything! Yay! Heh. At least I kept my high-end Hyperion DUO charger, so I don't have to go with a cheap… more »

... other than just general "stuff."It's too cold and windy to ride, so we're not able to do that. It's also too cold to paint, so I've got no new awesome rocket pictures to show. I'm working on getting back into R/C flying, but the items haven't a… more »

I haven't written a lot this week as there isn't much to write about! It's getting cold here already, so hobby activities tend to slow down. I've got finish painting some rockets, but I've been waiting on a > 60°F day to do it. Looks like I'm not… more »

I began construction last night on 3 rockets. I was so anxious to get going, I forgot to get any pics. I'll try to remember to get some as the builds go along. The pic above is a terrible, iPhone-shot picture taken this morning before I left for work.… more »

So there's a new member of the PM ratpack: Alberice, L45 Bruiser. The magic of collection quests had him from 1-44 in about 2 hours (takes a while to buy up and double-click all those collection items!), then some rampaging with Grace in Nek had him 45… more »

For our past 3 or 4 car loans -- and this dates back to around 1999 -- we've rolled forward a not small amount of negative equity. It was fairly small at first, but gradually got pretty big, and needed to be taken care of. We'd decided it was time to… more »

So I started on the assembly of the Omega. I started with the soldering tasks, as there are quite a few. I didn't have much time so I figured I'd take care of the included battery pack, plus the ESC/BEC first. Armed with a new soldering iron tip, and… more »

Got a HUGE box in today from Northeast Sailplane Products. My Omega 2.5 has arrived. Here's some photos from the unboxing: Fuselage. Gel-coated fiberglass. The assembled V-tail. SUPER light! The wing panels. Again, amazingly… more »

Now to explain the pictures. ;) The first one is a prototype of sorts of a rocket launch pad constructed of PVC. It's about 16 3" lengths of PVC that I cut, joined by various T-connectors, 90° elbows, and 4-way connectors. The black object in th… more »

For now, just 2 pictures. I shall leave you all wondering what they mean. more »

Yeah, I haven't been writing as much lately. Mainly, because I figure the people reading this blog don't want to read a bunch of "yeah, we rode another 10 miles today and it was awesome!" type of posts. :D Well, we have been riding a lot. We've even… more »

That's how many miles we got in on our bikes over the long weekend. ~20 miles on Friday, then 10 each on Saturday and Sunday! That may not seem like any big deal to anyone that's been biking for a long time, but for us, it's amazing. And the thing is,… more »

Ok, well, we'll just call it a "failed experiment". I had Ubuntu 9.04 all installed, configured, and customized as the only OS on my machine. The desktop was highly customized, with AWN, conky, and screenlets all setup and such. Sound was working, I… more »

Ok, so, go figure, I changed my mind on a plane! Amazing eh? But at least this time I did it BEFORE I bought it! I decided against the Taylorcraft for various reasons and instead ordered (from the LHS, so I will have it tomorrow) a Great Planes Fokker… more »

Yeah, going back to work after a week off SUCKS. Suck suck suckity suck. Anyway. I'll be getting a new Mini Ultra Stick in the air this week -- this time with the full quad flap setup for all kinds of fun tricks. Should be fun. It'd be in the air… more »

Haven't had a chance to write in several days; was a busy 3-day weekend for us. Started by taking Friday off to attend Hoosier Hills Fiber Arts Festival. It was a fun road trip, and a lot of fun wandering around and seeing all the ... stuff ... for… more »

That little bit of comedy gold above is courtesy of Chad. :D Anyway, it's true. The Helios is pure win. It's beautiful, big, and flies like an arrow with a rocket bolted to it: super straight and FAST! It's over-propped currently, due to our misint… more »

Weather's been wonky lately, so not a huge amount of flying going on. Typical Midwest Spring weather. It'll threaten rain all day, rain off and on for 5 minutes at a time... makes flying a pain. But I have gotten several flying trips in. Flown mostl… more »

So, I hadn't flown at all this week, due to stupid random off-and-on rain/thunderstorms typical of Spring in Indiana. There were 15-20 mph constant winds. And, it was training night at the field. But flying had to happen! So I drug out my war-battere… more »

NEWS FLASH: THIS JUST IN: Chad isn't selling out of the hobby! Thank the gods (that don't exist)! Woot. That is all. Film @ 11. more »

I haven't posted in several days, mainly because there isn't much worthy of posting about. I'm waiting on several shipments which comprise all the stuff I need to get the Helios in the air -- all that stuff will be here by Friday. Weather has been not-… more »