We’re gradually getting ready for Oshkosh. Thursday evening I inspected all the camping gear, just in case something needed replacing or had gone missing. Everything looks ready to go.

We’ve sampled a bunch of Ontario craft beers, looking for the perfect offering to take to Chuck Swain’s beer coffin. We settled on Hoptical Illusion from the Flying Monkeys Brewery.

I had hoped to wax the aircraft this weekend, but I dropped that plan once I realized how hot it was forecast to be. Terry offered to help me, but I didn’t relish all that work in the predicted stifling temperatures and humidity. The aircraft actually looks pretty good after the wash I gave it last weekend, and that’ll have to do for now. I’ll try to wax it some time later this summer, and next spring I’ll do it again before things get too hot.

The tailwheel steering has been acting up quite a bit lately - it is very prone to disconnect from the rudder control and go into full swivel mode. It worked perfectly with the original double-sided control arm supplied by Van’s. I started having problems after I switched to the JD Air Parts tail link. I discovered manufacturing issues with their original control arm that probably explained why it wasn’t working very well. I reported the problems to them, they acknowledged other problem reports, and a manufacturing issue with the early control arms. They sent me a new arm, which looked somewhat better, and it worked well for a little while. But, it seems to need very frequent maintenance, so I need to find a better solution. I note that JD Air Parts has switched to a different design control arm from the one they originally sold me. I’m assuming they made this change because of issues with the original design. I’ll see what I can learn at Oshkosh.

This morning I disassembled the tailwheel lock/unlock mechanism, inspected and lubricated it and put it all back together. I couldn’t go flying to check it out, as the airfield was closed for the annual Ottawa Valley Radio Control Aircraft Fun Fly weekend. The Smiths Falls Flying Club, which runs the airport, makes quite a bit of money from this event, so they are willing to close the airfield for a weekend every summer. This year I helped out selling food for the morning. It gave me a chance to see what the model aircraft folks were up to, and I was quite amazed to see the huge variety of aircraft. There was everything from small aerobatic aircraft to large multi-engine aircraft to large jets. You can see some pictures from a previous event at this photo gallery.

I’ll go back to the airport very early tomorrow morning to do a test flight before the airport closes for day. If the tailwheel steering is still acting up I’ll switch from the single-sided control arm to a modification of the double-sided control arm that was originally used before I switched from chains and springs to the JD Air Parts tail link.