What a difference a month makes.

To say we have never experienced anything like this lock-down is an understatement. We are lucky to live in a nice place, with lots of space, so we should be ok. Even if this madness takes a lot longer then the official guestimates that our gov’ment now spreads, I will keep myself entertained.

Saying that, I managed to mess up my back (again) which sorta restricts my movements at the moment. Hence the lack of stories.

I have finished drawing the metal parts for the SA-750, and are waiting for the nice laser people to cut them for me. Obviously my parts are low on their list of things to do, they likely have other more immediate pressures on their business. Never mind, lots to do.

Last year I hardly flew the DG800, mostly because our field was dry, so unbelievable dry, that the stake I use for the bungee did not hold. I once had that metal spike flying in my general direction, and that was once too many times. I’ll try to think of a better solution for tying down the end of the rubber. I probably need at least a double stake, and most likely longer and heavier. And that’s the pita I want to avoid, I don’t want to drag all that stuff to the field. I’ll have a think about it.

At the moment the field looks fine, I could use the single stake, but you guessed it (or not if you read this in years to come) we are closed for business due to the Corona virus. Sad as it is, we are a sport, and all outdoor and indoor sports have been banned. It does not seem logical to us, but the gov’mnt does not have the time to look at each sport in detail to see if it makes sense. So, everybody stay at home, no exceptions.

So, do some maintenance. I knew I had a flat tire. Sorted that by inserting a length of silicone tubing inside the wheel. (I know, I could have bought a new one. No Fun). Then, since I have them, added some bearings to the wheel, that never hurts. I also wanted to make a mudguard, just to see if I can.

wheel with bearings, the original plastic one did not survive my ‘homecomings’

The plan is to print the form (positive) slap on some fiberglass and see if it looks like something I want to use. Right now the vacuum pump is doing it’s best to maintain -0.6Bar. I lost the manual for the little thingy that decides when to turn on and off, but it seems to work, so will look for that later.

made a form
and the result..

I would be better off giving the walls a slight angle, so that it is easier to pop of the form. With this version I had to split it to get it to loosen. But in the end, no harm was done, and it looks good enough for now. If it survives, and this lockdown continues, and if I am getting bored, I’ll do another one. This one is approx. 8 layers of 25 gram and one of 225 gram. I have miles of the thin stuff, I use it to get a nice surface. (It was nice until I had to split it in half to release form the form 😉