Yeah, yeah, I know...
See, its like this: I finally had enough time to collect my meager thoughts. The new car was running nicely (and still is), work was humming along, the family stuff was on an even keel...
I even got to take a vacation. What happened after that? See the title to this post...
We're a small shop at work--we do with five or six technicians what other shops won't touch unless they have at least ten people available to work the job. We schedule things pretty tight, too--remember what I've said in the past about the empty hangar not making us any money? With things packed nose to tail, everything has to pretty much run like a Rolex (by the way, did you see the Rolex 24? More later...) or the whole schedule turns into a logjam. Yep. You guessed it. Unforeseen problems with parts, unexpected findings, and some aircraft sales issues clogged the pipeline a bit. As a result, we're trying to unburden ourselves from said pile of airplanes. We have two in the hangar, two on the ramp, and two stashed in various hangars around the airport to keep them out of any inclement weather that might move in. And, get this--we have two more on the way early next week. So it kinda goes without saying that we're working overtime. Lots of overtime. As in seven day a week overtime. The money's good, yes, but you have to be alive to enjoy it. Fortunately, we're on schedule to deliver one by the close of business Monday, and another a day or so after that. But we're still up to our eyeballs in aviation fun...
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To add to the array of spinning plates, my mother is again in poor health. She was improving when we saw her in December, then she suffered a pretty significant setback, one which the family is dealing with. Lots of issues there, not least of which is I'm going to have to carve away some time to visit. Or clone myself. Or both.
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All isn't gloom and doom, though. I have actually tried to get back to the workbench and get some stuff done. I broke my vow of not starting anything new until the backlog was done and started on the new Airfix 1/72 scale Folland Gnat T.1. It has been a relatively quick build, and I hope to be able to get some color onto the model shortly. There were a few minor issues. The fit of the wing to the fuselage can be tricky--be careful once you get everything ready for the glue. If you don't get a good, tight fit where the wings meet the inlets, work on it before you get out the glue brush--if you don't, you'll wind up with a slight gap that could set your wing askew. I'm speaking from experience, here. Also, watch the part numbers when you build the slipper tanks--I didn't and got the left top on the right bottom and vice-versa. By the time I noticed, the tanks were permanently fused. I had to trim and shim to get them to fit. I hope that those of you reading this take heed and learn from my ignorance.
I'm gonna build this one up using the kit decals. I figured it would be a good slump-buster, and I was right--were it not for all the overtime and other things, I'd have it finished by now.
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Other things, you ask? Well, in addition to the family stuff, the court date for the guy who caused the accident in November came up a few weeks ago. I think I told you all at some point that the man is 82-years old. Well, when I saw him enter the courtroom, it reinforced what I had been thinking--he's indeed 82, has two hearing aids, two canes, and glasses with lenses thicker than any I've seen on a pair of glasses. How this man--a fine man, I'm sure--can hold a driver's license evades me.
Anyway, he wanted to speak with the judge. The way traffic court works in South Carolina starts with your ticket. If you pay it and take the points, your case is removed from the docket. You also have the option of holding the court date and speaking with the law enforcement officer who cited you. At that point, the two parties usually work out what amounts to a plea agreement with reduced fine, you pay the fine and take the reduced points, the case gets closed, and all is right with the world. If you either don't want to speak with the LEO or don't like what he or she is telling you, you appear before the judge. This session was to start at 10AM. The trooper was in a jury trial and was not going to be able to appear until just before the judge was ready to take the bench. By the time the trooper showed, there were about five minutes left before the judge entered the court. An interesting conversation took place:
"I want to talk to the judge. I want my ticket throwed out."
"Sir, I doubt the judge will do that, especially since there are several witnesses to the case present in the courtroom today."
"I wasn't speedin'. There was other cars passin' me like I was on flypaper."
"Sir, you weren't cited for speeding. You were cited for driving too fast for conditions."
"But them folks wuz speeding!"
"Sir, I run traffic stops there all the time. I understand what you're saying, but I didn't cite you for speeding. We weren't running a speed stop that day, and while they may have been exceeding the speed limit, that's not what you got the ticket for. Traffic was stopped, and by your actions, you damaged seven vehicles."
This went on for a while. Then, he changes the subject:
"My van was totaled! They gots to get one of them lit signs warning about congestion or sumpin' on the road. I've been driving for seventy two years, and ain't never had anythin' like this..."
"Sir, I understand you vehicle was totaled--so were three others. As for the signs, the judge here can't help you. All he will want to hear from you is guilty or not guilty of the charge of driving too fast for conditions."
He pressed that issue for several minutes. Then, another quick sidestep:
"My brakes musta failed or my foot musta slipped."
"Sir, we tested your van's brakes--even with all the damage, the system was intact and you had a firm pedal. But that's also something the judge isn't interested in..."
The trooper had to explain this to the man at least three times before he switched tracks again:
"The hospital cut me loose and I wuz still hurtin'!"
"Sir, You'll need to take that up with the hospital. This judge won't rule on that. All he wants to hear is guilty or not guilty to the charge."
Then the guy's wife starts chiming in:
"Can't you reduce the fine?"
Ma'am, the fine is $81.88 and two points, the lowest traffic fine we are allowed to levy on this charge. The judge will not reduce the fine lower than that."
"You really think not? My husband's a Veteran and everthin'."
"Ma'am, even if the judge thought your husband was the finest man he'd ever met, he can't, by law, reduce the fine. He could be a Saint, and the law still applies."
Finally, the couple decide that maybe it is best to pay their fine, take the points, and move on. Much to my delight and to the delight of the other witness. Of course, by the time they decided this, the judge entered the courtroom. We did the polite thing and sat until the trooper and judge dismissed us.
There's several hours of my life I'm never gonna see again. But if he made his appearance with no witnesses present, the case would have likely been dismissed. So, I did my good deed for the day, and got a few hours away from work on top of it all. Sometimes life is like that...
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During one of the lulls in the action, my wife and I paid a visit to one of the smaller hobby shops in the area, one that we hadn't been to in quite a while. When I say small, I mean it in size, mainly--what the shop lacks in size is usually offset by some of the stuff held within it's walls. We poked through the stacks, and I noted that the owner must have bought parts of a collection. One man's trash (or SIDNA) is another man's treasure (or future SIDNA, depending on how the stars align): I snagged a Fujimi 1/72 scale HSS-2B Sea King in JASDF markings for $12 and a Hasegawa 1/72 scale F-111F for about $20 and some change. Not bad, considering Hasegawa is pricing the kits of the Pig that they do re-release at nearly double that. I also noticed some HO scale/gauge Proto2000 Atlantic Coast and Florida East Coast locomotives priced nicely--I didn't get them yet, but will soon do so. It pays to shop local, doesn't it?
The Fujimi Sea King is a nice kit that can be difficult to find. It had most of the detail differences included (sponsons, short and long horizontal stabilizer, ice shield) in the box. I'd like to have some fun and maybe build this one as one of the CH-3B's that the U. S. Air Force used to resupply the Texas Tower radar sites or to recover drones. Eventually, I will build a Navy version or three, but the Air Force titles on an engine gray and orange helo intrigue me...
As for the -111, I may again break my vow in order to do something I've meant to do for years. Stay tuned.
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On our trip to Florida, we stopped by the usual haunts and came up with a few hits. I bought the wife a copy of the new Kinetic T-45 Goshawk. It is a nice kit--she has already finished the model, and it looks quite nice. I also managed to snag a Revell Germany issue of the 1/72 scale MPM A-20G kit. Just as nice at half the price. Really.
She found one of the new Academy 1/48 scale F-4B Phantom II kits, which she promptly wrapped and gave to me on Christmas. Personally, I think it is a superb kit regardless of the hubbub on the 'net. Mine is destined to wear the Top Hat of VF-14...
She also was directed towards a Zvesda 747-8 kit that I had spied for an oh-so-nice price. So she's got that going for her...
Before we left on the trip, she had pre-ordered a couple of the new Meng 1/72 scale F-102A kits. All I can say is that if you are a Century Series fan, get one. Or two. Or a half-dozen. Yes, they are that nice...
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The 51st running of the Rolex 24 at Daytona is history. Scott Pruett won for the fifth time, tying Hurley Haywood in the most wins in "Daytona's twice 'round the clock classic" department. Let's say that I'm not Scott's biggest fan, but I do appreciate the achievement. Winning once is a lifetime goal of so many people, so to win it five times is truly remarkable. And I'm glad that Charlie Kimball was on the team for this race--Charlie races in the IndyCar series even though he has Type 1 diabetes--he carries a Novo Nordic FlexPen in the car with him, and he's done quite well for himself on the track. He's also a nice guy, and I'm happy that he now can say he was on a winning team in Daytona. Wayne Taylor Racing and their new partner Velocity Worldwide was on the second step of the podium this year. The BMW's were the class of the field, so Wayne's Corvette DP just didn't have the muscle to keep pace, even with Max Angelelli, Ryan Hunter-Reay, and Wayne's son Jordan sharing the duty. Last year's winner, Michael Shank Racing's #60 car, finished third but was later fined and stripped of all the winnings and most of the points because of a rules infraction. Part of the fines go to Camp Boggy Creek...
In the GT ranks, Audi and Ferrari came to play, and play they did. Audi Sport/AJR took first, AudiSport/APR took second, and AIM Autosport/FXDD took theird in their Ferrari 458. And, the new GX class had mixed results--the three top finishers were all Porsche Caymans. Three Mazda6 GX entries met with misfortune early on, all of them dropping out due to engine and mechanical problems after 50 laps.
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So there you are. We covered a lot of ground this time--some work woes, some family woes, some interesting disorder in the court, some plastic tales, and some racing. I hope that holds you for a while.
And I hope to be back sooner. Can't make any promises, but I'll do my best to fill your head with useless trivia, questionable knowledge, and goofy tales from back in the day.
Until then, thanks for reading. Be good to one another, and I bid you Peace.