July 1st, 2008
When you need to cut deeper than 1 inch, single-edge razors won’t reach. Nor will a typical hobby knife blade.
You need a box cutter, one with a slender snap-off-blade that extends out to about 3 inches.
(A single-edge razor reaches only half an inch. A #11 hobby blade has a 1-inch cutting depth.)
I noticed that Butch, the Boomer guy, regularly uses a slim utility knife, AKA box cutter, for carving jobs.
So when I decided to carve out a battery bay in the nose of a foam Wild Wing, a box cutter was my tool of choice. It’s long enough to slice out the bottom of the pocket, no problem.
Tags:
Tools,
Wings.
Posted in Elsewhere | 1 Comment »
June 26th, 2008
We have reached a peak in our pursuit of the perfect combat plane.
The perfect candidate can float slowly in the air, then zip forward, up or down for a lightning strike or getaway. It can loop in a heartbeat and speed straight to a target. It laughs at wind and spins in a tight victory roll after bashing an opponent.
Our quest has taken us through Mini SpeedWings, Boomers and hacked Wild Wings. We’ve looked at other wings, too, including HyperFleas and even Strykers.
The Great Meadow is our laboratory and we’ve had altogether too much fun conducting this research.
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Tags:
Airplanes,
Baylands,
Combat,
Flying,
Photos,
Wings.
Posted in Baylands | 5 Comments »
June 22nd, 2008
Here are a hundred or so more pictures from Saturday’s spectacular Baylands Battle of the Bay event.
See Slow Sticks of every hue, dramatic crashes, focused competitors and exotic contraptions.
I’ve posted brief captions which you’ll see in slideshow mode.
Not sure what this is all about? Read Saturday’s BBOB report, and enjoy even more pictures.
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Tags:
Airplanes,
Baylands,
Combat,
Flying,
Photos,
Slow Stick.
Posted in Baylands | 1 Comment »
June 21st, 2008
The longest day of the year was also one of the hottest: 101° at Sunnyvale.
But the heat didn’t deter determined flyers, who packed the two proximate Pickleweed Place parking bays by 8 a.m.
After all, today was the BBOB: Baylands Battle of the Bay, Pete Lane’s annual celebration of the Slow Stick.
Last year in The Baylands Battle Bash, I wondered why the word “Bay” occurs twice in the title of the event. This year I learned the reason: so Pete Lane can call it “BeeBob,” as he did several times during the day. I had thought it was “BeeBeeOhBee,” which is much less cool.
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Tags:
Airplanes,
Baylands,
Combat,
Flying,
People,
Photos,
Slow Stick.
Posted in Baylands | 6 Comments »
June 18th, 2008
Looks like the park workers planted lots of squirrel seeds this past winter: suddenly the path just north of Pickleweed Place is aswarm with at least a trillion baby California Ground Squirrels (Spermophilus beecheyi).
Wikipedia tells me that California Ground Squirrels belong to a family of rodents that also includes marmots and prairie dogs. Some are big and some are small. Most can rise up on their hind legs and rest, standing erect. They tend to be more gregarious than other squirrels. Many live in social colonies.
Their enemies include snakes, eagles, raccoons, red foxes, badgers and weasels. On Monday I saw one of our Red-Tailed Hawks fly by carrying a little Ground Squirrel. At this baby stage, they’re easy to spot and catch.
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Tags:
Baylands,
Photos,
Snakes.
Posted in Baylands | 3 Comments »
