Bill,

Thanks for the good wishes to my Dad. He's better, but still has a way to go before he's well.

My main idea for the starter box is twofold. 1) To make it safer as far as reaching around to miss the spinning prop during start-up, removal of the glow plug heater and tuning of the engine and 2) To add longevity to the starter.

One of the guys said he thought his starter was going out because of the Summer heat. Our runway is black asphalt. I was thinking that placing the thing inside a wood box, painted white, raised off the ground somewhat and adding ventillation holes would contribute to longer life for the starter. Maybe no. 2 is an unfounded concern.

As far as flying alone, the starter box could be used for that too, but I wasn't thinking quite that far ahead. Right now I'm just trying to learn well enough to finaly get to solo in maybe a few months.

I commented to my instructor that I thought he was pulling me along pretty fast, but he said it's because he sees that I can handle the pace. So far he's shown me that he knows what he's doing, and the more he trusts me the more I trust him. I know I need to learn a lot about finessing most of what I've already experienced, but I'll leave the timing for that up to my instructor. I'm sure there are a lot of RC pilots that flew solo in less outings than I've had. In fact, my instructor is self-taught. He said he ruined 3 planes learning.

I think I mentioned he's also a certified flight instructor for a major commercial airline. I was hoping to get a flight simulator for a few hundred bucks. He said his simulator cost $30,000,000. Yep million!

I definitely don't intend to take the starter box/ flight box out with the plane to try a solo before my instruction is finished. I'm trusting in my instructor's judgment, not my ability to learn on my own. The more instruction I get the more I realize how badly I need an instructor. My styrofoam plane taught me that I can't learn without help. In fact, the Eagle, as nice a plane as it is, has taught me the same thing.

And if I think about it, I guess flying is like some other things, hunting, fishing and swimming where it's wise to use the "Buddy System."

Thanks for the tips and encouragment,

elad