On the Beach 26

[Riley Smith]

The wind has clocked from South to North after the front. And it's still blowing a decent amount; chilly under a bright sun. There were tornadoes all over the state and the red line of the front extended from the Gulf to Tennessee, but the rain was good for washing the pollen down. One of those dry springs, where the pollen doesn't get washed away, is miserable for my allergies. But so far so good this year. Mississippi is very rural and nobody died, thank Goodness.

My wife had shopping and I'm no match for a professional. Afterwards, we arrived on the beach and I sat on the porch for a long time feeling the warm sun and listening to the wind blow through the live oaks. And just rested there looking out over the water; there is almost always a good seat somewhere outside at the Labrot House. I saw a monarch butterfly sailing and then another visiting wildflowers on the lawn, so the insects are waking up. And eventually a young eagle up very high, sailing the shoreline against the wind. I caught it with the camera and we zoomed it to be sure it was an eagle. The hook of the beak was unmistakable.

The water is a mixture of clear and brown making me remember the blue of the Atlantic mixing with the brown of the Escravos River, half a world away. I could see a fish splash occasionally but resisted the urge to break out the fishing rod. Sonya and her cousin joined me on the porch talking about an upcoming wedding, but she refused a request to use the old house for the reception. We've had experiences before with receptions, and a wedding is ok, but the party afterwards is more trouble than it is worth for us. Besides, parking for too many is a problem.

This time of the year is the least active there as far as wildlife goes. No doubt the slug of fresh water coming down the river will reinforce that. The wind was too strong for boating and the water too fresh to expect a fish, so I sat and soaked up the sun and listened to the quiet. Yes, pretty nice, even so. I journeyed down to the swing by the shore with the camera and got a couple of ducks way out. Later the photography will be more accommodating but right now there are slim pickings. The duck pictures were only mediocre.

I looked back at the house atop the bluff and wondered where it all will wind up. Sell and be done with it, or soldier on and continue to enjoy the benefits? I make no illusions and don't pretend to be something I'm not, so the whole experience has been wonderful for one in my circumstances. Everyone is getting too old to work on the place and I'm only one person. And feeling a lot older myself lately. I don't feel like doing a damn thing anymore and feel guilty about it, but that's the way it really is. And I remember that part of the rite that talks about receiving blessings "lest we faint not" and was encouraged a little. I'm gonna fight for it as long as I can. You know, my life, my fortune, and my holy actions. I hate the thought of not looking across that water from the porch and feeling the breeze there. We're the only ones that take advantage of it and those things have sustained me for a long time.

Soon the temps will go up and the grass will need attention. The fishing will pick up and the photography too. And I'll enjoy them all as long as I'm able. Things change and I can sense it coming. Make hay while the sun is shining. And there will always be chores. No matter what else. I think it came with Creation.


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[Riley Smith]

In keeping with my ambition of not doing a flippin' thing, I decided to tinker with some foam board signs I had nabbed from the service station guy. Tinkering isn't the same thing as doing something with an end in sight, because this tinkering can go on for a whole lifetime and still not be complete. So basically it's a science/engineering experiment. And the foam board was....interesting. It was covered in some sort of treated paper and very tough. Light and tough...two requirements for aircraft material.

You see, I've been jonesing for an R/C glider. A sailplane. And I love tinkering; it makes me look busy to my wife and she won't give me an actual job. So I decided to see how light a structure I could build with it. More specifically a wing and just feel and reason my way through. I have plenty of light strong stuff around, including some PALM leave stems I've milled on the table saw. Mylar sheeting. Foams of all sorts. Epoxy glue and cutting apparatus. Exotic woods and metals. Plans, airfoils, and plenty of reading and looking in the cranium.

 So the first attempt is on the way with this experiment in materials. If you don't know, foam board is used to make crude looking flying models, with a emphasis on quick design evolutions and repair times. It don't have to LOOK the best but it has to WORK. And be easy to fix. Perfect to tinker around with.

 Maybe I should have split the bamboo skewers in half for the wings leading edge I've already found out. Learning as I go, so that's one thing. The first boat I built was nice but the second would be much improved! So it's best to get construction methods down BEFORE one commits money. I've found out I need a drafting table too, once some of this gets dialed in and I start shooting for quality. All these years and back on the board again. The possibilities are endless and it can even be used to develop orange peel structures when I get that far. So, I'm tinkering in the shop and listening to classic rock on the Rocket. Mr. Bean is over in the corner chewing on a piece of wood and life is good.

And besides, I hear the vacuum cleaner running and I do NOT want my hand holding the hose.

[Riley Smith]

Oh, eventually I'll use the thing on a plane. Right now I'm feeling out the different combinations of light and strong. The foam board has good strength in one plane and nice flexibility in the opposite. And it's actually not foam but a plastic tubular structure covered with maybe paper. High tech material. So I've used a combination of foam airfoils glued to it as a surface, and then concerned about weight, cut lightning holes. Everything is ALWAYS overweight in design.
 I've used a bamboo spar but already I'm looking for that old derelict fishing rod for material. Lighter. Stronger. Carbon fiber is even better but I'm tinkering, not spending money. We'll see. Meanwhile I'm gluing and cutting, and learning. You MUST get your hands dirty to really learn.
Note to self: a constant chord wing is MUCH easier to build than a tapered one. Guess which one will make the final cut?

And so the first crude iteration is sort of complete. Enough to say it was a fun exercise but there are improvements that can and are necessary to be made. I've begun to learn the results of several different techniques of attempting to build something out of nothing. Have refined my thinking on the spar and fought with quality. Learned HOW to cut the material, and mark and measure it too. A sailplane is a work of art and there's a long way to go. But dreams are powerful and if pursued, can sometimes be captured.

There is a jig to build and bits and pieces to find. The second attempt is on-going and already shows the result of experience. I haven't done any covering yet but may use the first to have a go at it. I've got some old monocote from twenty years ago in the corner. I'm sure I'll learn something. Some may question if there is any use in such tinkering. Well, if the hands are busy the mind can take a break, and if you live inside MY head, you need one.

...So I'm still tinkering and watching the sunshine. There isn't any wind or else I might consider a sail. I'm really not up to such though, and need one more halyard besides. The damp and chilly weather have Arthur knocking on my knees and shoulder. He can just take his "ritis" butt elsewhere!

[Doug SC]

You probably already know this, but when cutting carbon arrows, I use an abrasive wheel cutoff tool not a saw to keep from splitting off fibers and cracking. The dust is very harmful so wear a mask.

[Doug SC]

Here is the tool I use to give me square cuts on the arrow ends but a Dremel with an abrasive wheel would work to just make a cut.

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[Riley Smith]

Cool little machine there! Got any scrap arrows? There are sure to be some bowhunters about with some, so thanks for ringing those neurons I'm checking out old fishing rods too. I always loved to bow hunt but finally had to give it up because of the neck bones. That was NOW a long time ago but shot a bow all my life up until then. I never used a release and just before I gave it up I tried one. Oh man, it set the bones at a five alarm fire for some reason. Not gonna do THAT again! Anyway I'm having fun which is a decidedly better use of time than doing chores for my wife. I am beginning to fall in love with my shop as the weather warms up some. It allows me to ESCAPE  Spring may have actually sprung here although the stupid robins refuse to leave. (which is one of those signs). The Azaleas are getting started and the carpenter bees are buzzing!

[Doug SC]

I got into archery for hunting when young. It has been a major part of my life. Progressed from longbow to recurve and then compound bows when they came along. Used peep sights and pins and a release. However, all that took me away from what I really loved about the history and the simplicity of stick and string. In 91 decided to go back to recurves and longbows. Didn't shoot in tournaments until then. That was to drive the need to improve my shooting which it did as I practiced year-round.

I have wood, aluminum, and carbon shafts. I hunted with wood, then fiberglass, and then aluminum for many years. When I started shooting in the primitive division at traditional archery tournaments, I could only use wood. I shot a yew English longbow I made with horn nocks and cedar arrows. These days hunting I use a modern longbow and carbon arrows. These last few years the days I spend afield and the days I practice have diminished. I don't have the drive like I use to.

A large part of accuracy is due to matched sets of arrows properly tuned to the bow and shooter. I gave close attention to those details. But of course, there is more to being accurate than the proper arrows, but they make a difference once the archer becomes proficient.

I look forward to your aeronautical creations.

[Captain Kidd]

My brother-in-law was quite the hunter and a craftsman to boot. He made some beautiful wooden bows. Unfortunately I was never a recipient or buyer (or a hunter for that matter). Seems I have a picture of one somewhere. After a quick search didn't turn up anything.

[Riley Smith]

Heck cedar arrows were as good as I could get back in those days. Nowhere close to the same thing each time you shot. You'd have a couple of GOOD arrows, and then a few run-of-the-mill soldiers. And compounds were only a dream. We'd hunt rabbits in the woods nearby and shot targets too. And snakes. There was ALWAYS a snake to shoot. I never had a really nice bow but it was still fun. And I borrowed one of my friend's nice bow during PE one year and put 4 in the bulls eye from 30 yds. The first missed the target completely due to it being a much more powerful bow than I was used to.

[Riley Smith]

Those aeronautical creations go in fits and starts, depending on mood, chore load, and inclination. And material and tools. Right now I've all but abandoned the spar technique in favor of a  h-beam load bearer. Which may get refined again once #2 has been enacted. Much more complicated but that's what it takes to make art out of nothing. I've also decided the covering is MUCH easier with two people and so that means involving some human trafficking and getting Sonya to enter the shop for a session. A good person would ask. A great one will lead with bread crumbs

The shop has been reformed in a big way and there's room to do jigs and drafting. I still need to sweep but maybe those bread crumbs will lead to a broom too