Howdy, again!
The leaves on the dogwoods are turning, the mornings have become cool and crisp, and that tells me that the seasons are again changing. I love this time of year. It was especially nice when I worked in the hangar, as it meant that the sweltering furnace days of summer were once again departing for a while…
***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****
About 15 years ago (and it seems like yesterday!), the shop I was working for gained a new technician. The boss called us all into the office to let us know what was going on. See, the new technician was a woman. He wanted to remind us to be on our best behavior. As the line from the commercial goes, he wanted “no fussin’, no cussin’, and no backtalkin’”...
When she started, I asked her about her experience. And boy, did she have a lot of aviation experience—I think she held most every certificate that was available. She held an A&P IA, DME, pilot commercial multi-engine, both land and seaplane, sailplanes, you name it. She owned her own shop for a while, too. She was also very cool—she fully realized she was a lady in a man’s world, but that didn’t faze her. She was put on one of the install teams initially, working on Cessna Citations back in the day when we were retrofitting them to comply with the Reduced Vertical Separations Minimums (RVSM) requirements. The mods were simple, really—we replaced the air data computers, re-certified the pitot-static systems, and did flight tests after the fact. Like me when I started at this shop, she had a lot of rust to knock off, but once she did, she was working at the same pace as the rest of us.
All the while, we were careful to mind our p’s and q’s. We tempered our language—we kept a pretty “clean” shop as it was, but every now and then someone would utter an expletive. We also tried to mind our manners—no rude noises, etc. So far, things were going well.
About three or four months into her stint with us, we brought a Citation in for more than just the RVSM mods—we were also going to update the ancient radios with new Garmin units, which meant a lot more work. Unlike most shops in the region, we removed the old wiring that wasn’t going to be retained (usually, that meant the output wiring to the navigation indicators and the autopilot), and that meant some tedious picking and choosing, looking at wire numbers that were less than 1/16” tall on small gauge (22 American Wire Gauge—AWG), so it takes some time. At first, you feel as if you are walking in mud, but once you get the hang of it, it moves quicker.
There are pitfalls. One of the other technicians dared to remove all the bundle ties on a bundle, and then started tugging wires out of it. That creates some chaos—like putting the toothpaste back in the tube, it sometimes becomes difficult. Sure, all the wires came out of that bundle, but the bundle was tied on a harness board, so all the wires weren’t necessarily the same length. He got the bundle re-tied, but in the process, the bundle was shortened. He did his best to re-connect it to the bulkhead feed-through connector.
Our new girl started to do the next phase of the work. She asked us to come and help her find landmarks, and as we were standing there looking at the feed through panel, she noticed the re-tied bundle. Now, she was all of five-feet nothing, and very quiet and polite. Until now. She looked at the bundle (which was tight as a banjo string), looked at each of us in turn, then pointed at it and exclaimed “What in the fuck do you call this?!?”
After that, the gloves were off. We found out her father was a Marine, and that she could cuss better than all the rest of us combined. We all got along famously after that.
She became the shop crew chief in 2004, and briefly managed the shop. I loved working with her, because she worked as hard as we did. If we were working overtime, she’d be there with us (unlike the manager she replaced, a guy who had no clue what avionics were let alone how they worked). More times than not, when we were required to work weekends, she would make breakfast for the crew. When I say she would make breakfast, I mean exactly that—she would cook breakfast in her own kitchen and bring it to us. No sack of Egg McMuffins or Bojangle’s biscuits would do, not from her…and she would go far over and above. For four technicians, she’d have pancakes, waffles, fruit, toast, omelets, grits, and some form of juice. Like my mother, she would make five times as much as she actually needed.
I think the push from upper management created too much stress (I found this to be true when I managed the same shop after she left), so she resigned when the FAA offered her a Safety Inspector position. She’s been working for the FAA since 2006.
Speaking of ladies in the hangar and rude noises, I’m reminded of a more recent story, which I may tell you at some point…
***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****
The new job is going swimmingly. Of course, it has created a need—I need a new computer. And there is nothing I hate more than buying a new computer. Why? Because I know the machine I buy that is state-of-the-art today will be obsolescent in a month…
Like buying a new car, you go into the deal knowing that the model you pay out big bucks for today will not be worth a tenth of that in a week. Oh, well, it is a necessity, and I think I have found a decent machine that will do what I need. Of course, I also need to get a couple of large displays to make my life easier, too, and I think I found a pair that fit the bill.
I’ll probably pull the trigger later this week. Then comes the joy of configuring it and getting it to gee and haw with the remote desktop
***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****
On the model front, the majority of the backlog cabinet is done. Some call this the "Shelf of Doom" for some odd reason--I simply look at it as a collection of models that needed some time to percolate while I solved problems. In other cases, they were long-term projects from the start--vac-form kits, especially, tend to need more thought and engineering than a standard injection-molded plastic or cast resin kit. Rather than push the issue, I merely put them aside to give me time to hash out the details.
***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****
The Aeroclub 1/48th scale Gloster Gamecock is in need of serial numbers, a final clear coat, and some small details. It was a fun project—my first vac-form kit since 2001, my first rigged airplane since 2000, and my first biplane model since 1995. Frankly, I wasn’t real happy with it before I rigged it and started adding all the little bits and bobs to add detail. I’m actually now quite pleased with the result. Is it accurate? I don’t know, maybe 97%. Is it to scale? Hell, no, but that’s always the way—we make certain trade-offs in order to make a model look right in the end analysis.
***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****
Also complete is a Reheat Models 120mm SR-71/U-2 pilot, a figure that was sitting in the display case three-quarters of the way done, has been finished. Honestly, all I needed to do was add the completed air conditioner pack, some hoses and small details (photoetched bits, some fine wire, and paint), and do some minor touch-ups. I don’t recall what the hold-up was—perhaps the flag? That was perhaps the easiest part—I used a decal from an old Liveries Unlimited sheet…
***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****
I also dusted off a Bluejacket Shipcrafters’ 1/192nd scale USS Monitor. I shelved it a few years ago when the turret did not come out the way I had hoped. I tried to salvage it, but in the end, I decided to scratchbuild one. I also used .020” styrene sheet, suitably scribed, to replicate the deck, and will use varying thicknesses of primer to do the same for the hull plates. I also have some good photos of the actual turret under restoration, so I want to add some of the more prominent details there.
***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****
The 1/12th scale Ernst Udet bust I started as a face painting demonstration is also finished. Again, a few hours with some paint, and it was done. It had been sitting on the bench for several years, and I would pick at it every now and then. Funny how that works.
***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****
The last one in the queue is a Reheat 120mm figure of Neil Armstrong on the moon. I had assembled it when I lived in Florida, and it had been sitting ever since. In the interceding time, I learned of some discrepancies on the figure, especially some of the details of the A7-L suit Neil wore. The more I looked, the more I found. Fortunately, they were all fixable
The legs are particularly bad-Reheat modeled four cargo pockets on the suit. Rather large cargo pockets. On the Apollo 11 A7-L suits, the shins had no pockets, only reinforcement panels. The right thigh had a flap that covered the Urine Collection Device and medical ports. And the left thigh had a flat pouch for checklists. The fix? Sand and cut away all the fictitious things and replace them. In this case, all but the left thigh pockets were sanded flush—I tried to retain as much of the fold/crease detail as I could. The left thigh pocket was sanded down, but not totally away. Then, I broke out the Apoxie Scuplt epoxy putty.
The putty was mixed and rolled thin between sheets of wax paper. The sheet of epoxy putty was then cut into shapes and placed onto the figure. Some pressure from my fingers pushed the putty into shape, then a toothpick and a scribe were used to work the various shapes onto the figure and to continue the fold/crease detailing. Water was used to keep the putty pliable and to prevent it from sticking to the tools. Once everything was as I liked it, I used a brush and some Aves Safety Solvent to smooth everything out. After curing overnight, the figure was buffed with a Scotchbrite pad and primed.
***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****
That leaves only one model in work, and it will remain is stasis for the time being. It is a 1999-issue of the Minicraft Models 1/144th scale C-32 (Boeing 757-200) that I initially began as part of a decal review. The more I looked, and the more the airliner modeling community examined the kit, massive issues came to light. The trailing edges were too thick, the vertical tail was too short, and the wings were misaligned—one sat higher than the other by a not inconsiderable margin. I had started to thin the trailing edges and figure out a solution to the misalignment when I lost interest in the project. However, in recent months Zvesda from Ukraine has produced a gorgeous new kit of the airplane, and rather than practice bleed using the Minicraft kit, I will build the Zvesda example. Whether I use the decals I was initially reviewing is still up in the air, but at this point the Minicraft kit will become a paint mule…
***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****
Of course, I still have my buddy Rick’s SIDNA kits (a Fujimi A-7B and a pair of Hasegawa F-16's in 1/72nd scale) that are in various stages of construction, and I have pondered dragging them out after these few remaining kits are checked off the list. But the fact that my personal backlog is empty (or nearly so) is a big deal—at one point, I counted a dozen projects in work, and this was over and above the projects for the RIPCORD diorama…
That’s all I have for now. Thanks for reading. Be good to one another, look after one another, and, as always, I bid you Peace.