S, & all,

the plane is looking good. sounds like a lot of work left to do so that means a lot of fun left too.

i know you heard about one guy trying to talk his friend into quitting smoking. the friend wasn't ready for it just yet and was telling the guy about his uncle who smoked cigarettes and cigars almost incessantly, who drank a fifth of whiskey before breakfast every day, who chased wild women all the time, and gambled away a fortune and lived to the age of 110 years. the friend said, "yep but it finally got him didn't it?" ha

well, lets see, i quit smoking entirely cold turkey over 35 years ago quit alcohol over 25 yrs back, haven't caught a wild woman in a long time, set a $2.00 loss limit on all my gambling, which eventually caused me to quit gambling because a $2.00 loss limit is not much fun, and it hasn't killed me yet, so i guess it would be ok for you to cut back on the tobacco a little if ya like or even totally quit if ya really wanted to. but be warned,,, do it at your own risk. ha

the computer,,,,, i got a laptop when i took it to my cb radio repair shop when that was still in operation. i don't need it for that anymore, and could just put together a few boards at the correct angle for viewing the screen, and hold the screen up with a rubber band. i know that sounds like a duct tape or servo joke, but i could live with it.

i've been thinking about getting a desk top computer. my family could use it for their own purposes and i could get it built with all the latest goodies including extreme 3d graphics, or whatever is needed, for the sim. i sort of believe the sim could be some help in learning to fly, and while i realize it's not just like flying a real rc plane i am certain i could crash several simulated planes a lot cheaper than crashing just one real one. after all i do have the real mc coy, the eagle 2 to train on for my days of real live flying. mostly, until i get into plane kit building, the sim would be taking the place of my winter building project.

none of the sim packages i've researched have the eagle 2 included, but each has some sort of high wing trainer, and various other planes with mid or low wings. some have helichoppers too. i won't need that, but it might be fun to try.

tom,

i won't get to fly this weekend. the days are 75 to 80 degrees and the nights are in the mid to high 50s. it will be sunny with winds mostly under 10 mph.

elad