it is possible to fix a bad drill hole… but it involves a welder, grinder and possibly messing up the strength of the tube with the heat effected zones 
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Nice reclamation. I know that it’s about a year off, but have you decided on what color your helicopter will be? The Pitts is gorgeous. Damn, I going to find a garage project tomorrow. That looks like too much fun.
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Car or boat?
At this point it’s a very good thing I don’t have a garage myself…
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I like the idea (i know it sounds terribly stupid) of taking a half built project and finishing it. Phoenix from the ashes.
I get offered loads of this sort of thing and if the right one comes up i wouldn’t mind rescuing the right thing.
Just last week i was talking to someone that was selling a Chevron 2c32 motorglider for absolute peanuts. It didnt need a lot and had a frankly intriguing 2 stroke four cylinder “radial” but not in the traditional sense. If it had been a metal frame rather than wood i would of took it for the novelty factor. I bloody LOVE 2 strokes. But thats the sort of thing im after. Something interesting that needs rescuing rather than a new build. I like old tired crap.
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Thanks for the complement on the Pitts. The cowling and rod gear legs were done by a friend who bought the WolfPro rights from Steve Wolf. She’s such a lovely thing. The helicopter will probably be solid blue. If you browse the rotorx website, there’s a blue one somewhere and I find it striking. Just solid electric blue.
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That would look stunning next to the red Pitts. 
The kids wore out the headset and rear axile bearings on their electric scooter last fall. I’ve been procrastinating doing the job, because the workbench is covered with patio furniture cushions. Don’t get me started on how pointless I feel that cushions on patio furniture are in the South, with the incessant pine pollen. I will easily go off on a rant the likes of Nero. My wife, for all of her many talents, is obsessed with patio cushions and bed pillows!
So, the end game of restoring the scooter bearings is really a catalyst for a general garage organization. All this talk of tools and aircraft building has left me feeling like I’ve ignored the garage. My only refuge from estrogen fueled behavior that goes on around here!
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They all are Dan. They all are 
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I’m sure there’s a lengthy Faulkner-esque analysis (who’s the Faulkner of the Carolinas? And no, I wouldn’t say it’s Conroy) about our struggle against the inevitability of the seasons, and our need to feel as if we’re exerting some form of dominion over nature.
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I’m giving a nod to Bill Hoffman. I knew him pretty well growing up without ever even considering to read his work until after he died ten years ago. And, no, still not the Carolinas. But his home in Charlotte Court House was maybe 15 miles from the state line.
Wait…that question was rhetorical, wasn’t it? Sorry. 
I’m not familiar with Hoffman - I’ll have to look him up.
Also, how could I forget that Maya Angelou was from here?? I think that covers it, though I don’t remember her writing anything about The Pollening. I’ll have to check.
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Faulkner’s would be impossible shoes to fill, but as a Charlestonian, it’s hard not to put Conroy at the top of the list. I don’t like everything he’s written, but can identify with much of it, good and bad. We also have a common upbringing as sons of fighter pilots who for most of their lives were forward leaning.
By his writing, one would think that his life was less optimistic than mine. But against that, I will say that while living as an ex pat in Europe for five years, I could easily return to my roots in the pages of a Conroy novel whenever homesick.
James Dickey might be on the list, but I found little humor in his work. He was also born in Atlanta, but spent much of his life in the Carolinas. Reading Deliverence as a college sophomore was probably the moment when I realized how much of an existentialist I am.
Without Conroy, the list is a short one for sure.
Did you read the two novels Doug Marlette wrote? I would argue he’d be up there too, if he hasn’t tragically died when he did- especially when you add in his prolific cartoon work (his son is now working for the Observer, in the family business).
The old story goes that when his mother was seeking a divorce from his father, when the judge asked about cause, she held up a copy of “The Great Santini.”
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That made me laugh. For anyone interested in the origins of Santini, look no further into the eulogy Pat Conroy wrote for his father.
https://www.usna63.org/tradition/history/Eulogy_Conroy.html
I have not, but will look for them, thanks.
If your beautiful wife serves beer while we build, I’m onboard! 
Autogiro? Is that a flex torque tube to the prop?
What could possibly go wrong?
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It was a masterpiece of lightweight and flexible engineering 
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Today was a prelim for tomorrow’s drilling. Sanded the table and immediately found that should never have been able to live without it. I may need to add a 2nd layer of plywood in order for it to handle the stress of a vice and a drill press.
I put the caps on the skids. That proved to be a tough job. Violence with a rubber mallet is excellent for stress relief. Everything on this helicopter hinges on the engine mount which I hope to drill in tomorrow. It has to be perfect. Today I set it up by leveling the square tubes laterally and longitudinally and centering the mount with a plumb-line.
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Drill straight and true my friend!
OMG, I have to stop looking at this thread … it gets me too excited.
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