Today is Geri Stingers 60th birthday!!!! Yea!!!

She is a wonderful woman, still works a full nurses shift and has the love of God in her heart!

I wish I could buy her all sorts of 'stuff', but her world revolves around other non tangible things. It would be lovely if we could afford to retire now and go the places we've talked about, but we still owe, owe, owe and need to stay employed.

I never dreamed I would get the opportunity to spend time with such a warm, feeling and totally giving woman as Geri. My personal blessings have been almost overwhelming at times as we live and grow together.

Yes, it is her birthday today, but I am the one who has the best present!!!

I began serious photography in the late 1970s after moving to Grants Pass, Oregon. I involved myself with clubs and individual riders throughout the Rogue River Valley, and joined the Choosey Beggars M/C, sponsored by the president of the club at that time. I moved to the San Jose, California area in the early 1980’s and continued professional photography as well as my own imagery pursuits.
I was looking through a few slides I have had these many years and decided to begin scanning them to digital, and began with the many motorcycle related images in my collection, captured back at that time.
Scanning and saving to digital file are many of my biker lifestyle experiences, and many of those I was close to then. Since I moved around several times since leaving Montana back then, I didn’t develop long lasting roots any particular place.
The images represent many that I called ‘brother’ and ‘sister’, and rode with, partied with and developed relationships with.
I am sorry I did not keep closer tabs on many of them.
My life now is pretty subdued compared to that of the 1970’s and 1980’s when I lived pretty fast and loose as a Harley riding single guy.
Please view this collection here:
http://family.webshots.com/album/575028756eTQJco

Haven't posted here in some time. I HAVE been posting to my Facebook account fairly regularly, and most of my recent pictures are at Webshots. Geri and I have had a full summer of riding, as often as out time off together will allow.
Some of the many places we have visited include Yellowstone Park, Beartooth Pass, Virginia City, The Big Hole Valley, Idaho Falls, North Cascade Highway, Puget Sound and more. We are looking forward to more 4 plus days off together so we can travel further. Geri is still providing nursing care with St. Patricks Hospital Dialysis unit and I am still with Big Sky Motorsports here in Missoula, Montana.

Breakfast Ride to Lochsa Lodge

We took a nice leisurley ride up to Lochsa Lodge for breakfast today. Geri, her sister Donna and husband Jim along with our friend Doug on his K-Bike left Lolo around 10AM for the ride up over Lolo pass and into Idaho, where the lodge is located. We waited in Lolo for other SMBC (Sundy Morning Breakfast Club) members to ride out from Missoula, but the weenies never showed. There are usually several of them on Beemers. Maybe the rain scared them off. It did rail quite heavily in the night, but was all done by the time we got out of bed this morning. We had a few very light sprinkles before we left, but the sun was out and skys clearing up by the time breakfast was over at the lodge.

This was Geri's first ride of the season.

Where the HELL is Spring?

We are waiting for Spring…. And waiting…. And waiting ! ! ! !
The taxes are done and I am done building the ‘Fun 51’ airplane. I think it came out looking pretty good, but will it fly? I am betting that it will fly quite well, thank you!
Geri helped me ‘field test’ the plane around the back driveway this past weekend. I fired up the engine and got it warmed up, then taxied it around the driveway a little bit. Of course it snowed a little more later in the day!
I attended my first meeting last week with the local R/C airplane club, the Missoula Thunderbirds. All of 9 pilots showed up! So, I am assuming there will be sparse activity at the air strip come time to fly!
I will be getting my old P-51 Mustang project back on the building table soon. Would like to get that plane finished up and possibly flying sometime in the Spring as well.

I will post a few photos of the George Preddy ‘Crips A Mighty’ here.

In the bones

...the term used to describe a model airplane stage just prior to covering. The 'bones' being the loosely assembled structure with all the wood, ribs, rudder, elevator and so on all visible.

This is the Tower Hobbies 'Fun P-51'. It is a simple kit really, and my second one. First one flew in 2000. It eventually suffered a very hard landing the broke the fuselage. I saved all the hardware, radio equipment and the main wing. This new one is using the salvaged wing with ailerons.

A couple of close-up shots of the custom wing root fairings and the antenna wheel assembly in the wing. The radio antenna will come out of the 'canopy' then back to the top of the verticle stabilizer.

Should be getting around to covering it sometime in the next week to 10 days.

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Resurrecting an old hobby…

I got permission and encouragement from my wonderful lady to redo the 2nd bedroom from contemporary guest sleeping quarters to semi modern hobby room. I spent the last couple weeks rearranging, unpacking tools, wood and supplies I had in storage since packing up in 2005. Yea, so far, I found everything in spite of having move 3 times!!

I sorted through a wheelbarrow full of old computers (yes, THEY got moved 3 times, too!!!!) and decided to give them to charity! This helps downsize the lot in the garage and room for newer stuff, whatever that newer stuff turns out to be….

I finally got a chance to work on some airplanes. I finished stripping off the rest of the old covering on the Fun 51 wing and considering rebuilding it again. It is a smaller plane but a lot of fun to fly. It was my usual choice of plane to use at contests put on by the club I flew with in Wisconsin. These ‘Fun Fly’ events usually consisted of aerobatic skills and timed events. The Fun 51 was the first build airplane I had, and I won this kit at one of our monthly meetings. The fuselage finally broke in two at the end of the last season I flew, but I managed to hang onto the wing. I ordered another kit the other day that I will build and copy the fuselage out of, then I will have two Fun 51’s ( or one F-82??? HHHhhhmmmmmmmmm…).

I am charging several batteries in hopes that they will be serviceable in the upcoming flying season. Receiver, transmitter, glow driver, starting and backup batteries all need to be charged and discharge tested for quality. Several of these are several years old.

I got one of my oldest and most enjoyable planes out to refurbish, the Kyosho Stearman. It suffered a breakage during the move out here from Wisconsin. The left front part of the horizontal stabilizer cracked but did not break through completely. I stripped back the covering and drilled a long hole longitudinally through the leading edge wood and epoxied a stiffening rod through it. I pin pricked the leading edge balsa and soaked it with thin CA as well, and the cracked wood is stronger that it was before. I recovered it with the old covering and looks as good as new. I reprinted and replaced some of the graphics as well.

My long range plan is to complete the North American P-51D Mustang I started several years ago. This long term commitment will be completed but may be delayed by the profile style Fun 51 project.

Anyway, here are a few pictures of the Stearman and the ‘new’ shop.

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