abufletcher

Not long before we'll be reading about YOUR maiden flight!

Sandmann_AU

So what now for your Snipe Don? You've done the nerve wracking bit of making sure she's perfect for the photo shoot and recovered from a rudder bingle... do you go on getting her more and more perfect? Do you call her "done" and fly her every other weekend? Does she become a museum piece/hangar queen and only come out for static displays and shows? She's too beautiful never too be seen, but I could understand why you might not want to risk her as a daily flier too.

So where to from here, for you and your bird? And if she IS finished, what's next?

abufletcher

Well, the next step is to get the struts repaired and the wires tightened up. Then, I need to get some in-flight video and some in-flight photos for myself! No plans to ever compete with it...that just doesn't fit into my present circumstances. I can't imagine myself hauling it around Japan (much less overseas) and don't really like the whole concept of scale competitions anyway. I'm glad other people enjoy them and I love to see the photos, but it's just not my thing.

Already the Snipe is starting to seem like "old news" to me as I spend more time thinking about and working on the DrI and CI projects. I definitely won't be working on the Snipe anymore. In fact, I'm not sure what else I could really do on it. I can see ways that I could take the next model to a higher level but the Snipe is what it is and there's no point in sticking on a few more details here and there. I've never really been in this position before, since I've never really had a scale model of this quality before. But I don't see any reason just to hang it up and let it start collecting dust. I suppose I could strip out the RC gear and donate it to a local aviation museum but really flying models ought to be flown. It would be almost sad to see it "caged up" in a museum.

So, I'll continue to fly it...unless someone someday appears at my door and offers me a big wad of cash for it! Barring that unexpected event, I'll just keep flying it on nice days. It really is a very pleasant flyer and I look forward to learning more about how it performs. I'm sure it'll have a lot to teach me.

And eventually, like most flying scale models, it will meet its demise. And that's a fine and fitting ending to any model.

abufletcher

BTW, I love the wording of this email from the editor who worked on the Snipe article:

"Your model will appear on the cover of our magazine on March 2010 issue.
Please look foward to seeing it."

Sandmann_AU

Yay for "engrish".

abufletcher

It's starting to be easier for me to understand than 'strain."

Sandmann_AU

It's scary... I got back from a few months in the US during which I'd spent a little time in Louisiana and had to learn to "speak yank" just to be understood. When I got home to Oz and the customs guy said "welcome home mate" his aussie accent sounded nasal, slurred, and disgusting... it took me a couple of days to stop noticing it. I guess we all adapt to our environment. I have to admit, I did enjoy the few days I spent in Japan, it was nice to be able to see over everyone's heads for once.

abufletcher

Lis'anna? I don't bulieve they talk English aTALL dan thea.

Sandmann_AU

hehehe I must concur about their version of English... when I rang to book a hotel in "Nyorleens" the hotel clerk couldn't understand me even when I put on my best fake american accent, so I put my american girlfriend on the phone. He couldn't understand her either, so I didn't feel too bad.

The Cajun food was great, the Budweiser was cold and tasted like bat's urine but got me hellishly drunk and gave me the worst hangover of my life. The French Quarter was outrageous and I've never seen so many breasts in one place. My new year's eve was complete.

Tango Juliet

I work in Houma, Lousyanna, and you're right, they don't. It's not the type of southern drawl you'd here in Savanah, GA, either. It's terribly bad Cajun French mixed with streetwise hip-hop slang Ebonics/English. I'm originally from New Haven, IN, but I've been living on the Gulf Coast since '98. I try my best to correct people, politely, but at times I catch myself using slang also. Y'all don't be hatin'!

CTDavies

What? Took me a week to get this far

abufletcher

As DP says, once you've got it framed up, you're exactly half done! I think I had my Snipe completely framed up in about 3 months...then spent two more years on it!

CTDavies

Yeah, two more years sounds more like it . Although it would be nice to have it ready for that CD-Scale fly in we're having this summer.
Tried some metal panels tonight. Although the Snipe I want to do had painted panels, I thought it wouold be nice to do natural metal panels with a bit of artistic licence - we'll see. Parts fit isn't perfect yet and the cowling still needs the Allan Flowers treatment.

abufletcher

The March issue of Rajicon Gijutsu has finally been "revealed" on the website. It's still not in bookshops yet though:

http://www.rc-tech.co.jp/

Teus

Your model looks perfect on the cover. It could be real!

Can't wait to see the other photo's.

Teus

allanflowers

Congratulations! The model looks GREAT on that cover. I bet you have ordered a few magazines....

abufletcher

The editors are going to send me 3 copies and I'll buy a couple more myself. But at about $11 a shot, I won't be buying piles of them. I'll get one into the mail for Chris.

abufletcher

Here it is!

abufletcher

And, yes, there are a few small errors in the text. Not surprising considering the language barriers involved! [sm=bananahead.gif] [:'(]

CTDavies

A shame we can't read it but the layout and everything else looks top notch. Great pictures also. A fitting conclusion to a long saga. Maybe not the conclusion (yet) as we hope to see and read about the Snipe enjoying a long service life with lots of successful flights. All in all, you've done an incredible job. I raise my hat .

allanflowers

What a fabulous article! Wow!

Chris, you better get ready for a bunch of orders. I hope you can ship to Japan.

buzzard bait

Congratulations; what a fitting cap on a magnificent project!

Interesting that they do the title in Romaji.

Jim

abufletcher

Japan has often been called a "quasi-lingual" (vs. bilingual) country since daily life seems to be awash with English yet few people seem to actually use English. It's rare to fine a single package in the store that does have at least some English written on it. And of course RC Japanese is about 1/3 English terms anyway (usually written in katakana).

buzzard bait

It was a little bit like that in 1961 when I was there. Train stations signs had Romaji characters (thank goodness!) and a few commercial items did too, like movie ads. I don't think you would have seen it in magazines though.

Jim

abufletcher

The photographer mailed me a CD with hi-res versions of some of the photos he took. He sent me the raw images and I've cropped them here. The last photo is me with my son, Ryan.