Sunday Afternoon: Mild and cloudy, 22C. It's been a lot cooler and very windy, so I haven't been flying much, just once last week.

I have been getting on with the Spanish steet project, the first roof is complete and looking very authentic. Each of the tiles has been handmade and for each tile on the top, there is another underneath facing the other way just as on a real roof..

Earlier in the week I made the railings for the balconies, which has added heaps of atmosphere.....

The "room boxes" can be placed in either building and currently I have the "bar" in this one. Seen here with Tammy for scale.....

Sunday morning: I haven't updated my blog for a while, so briefly...... The last month has continued to be exceptionally warm, it did cool down to the mid 20's for a few days, but last week was in the low 30's again then suddenly it rained and got a lot cooler, yesterday was only 22C and it felt a lot colder than that!

I have been getting on with the Spanish street and the bar/bodega and have continued to enjoy some flying sessions, mostly at sunset, although in the last week I did fly during the day as there have been some really calm periods.

I have ordered a Bixler, which is a powered glider perfect for in flight video cameras (FPV) ((First Person View)) and recently got an HD WIng Cam, so the combination will be nice....

As for the "other things", situation remains ongoing.....

Monday Night: It got cooler for a few days, but has slowly been warming up again, back to 30C.... It's so nice when it's cooler.....

I fixed my flycam, which is a video camera for my models, had a problem with getting a battery, but I converted it to use the little heli batteries instead. here are a couple of Video's I shot this week .....

Friday Morning: It rained a little yesterday evening and there was thunder and lightning, but the storm passed to the west of us more inland and later another front passed to the east out to sea..... We woke up today to a cool 20C, nice..... it's still about 27C inside though.

On Monday we had our first real rain since Febuary,  we got over 50mm in 30 minutes, I had to go and help a couple of plants that were just colapsing under the weight of the water, I was up to my ancles in water becasue it couldn't flow away fast enough. The driveway was scoured out and you can see the stoney remains of small "rivers" all across the road. It may have just happened in time, so many almond trees looked really sick.

I noticed the grapes looked really plump too, and when I tried one it was so juicy and so very clean and fresh in it's flavour, it just exploded in my mouth.  I can honestly say these are the best grapes I have ever tasted in my life!

We bought a tablet PC the other day, it's only a cheaper version, not an IPod or a Samsung, but it does what I wanted it for. It has a front and back camera which can also be used to take video, I have installed additional memory which has all my favorite music video's, .my Disney classic movies and all the pictures from my xanga folders since 2005, I will also add some music today. It hooks up to the TV with a mini HDMI and the quality of the video playback is stunning.

I intend to carry this with me when we go out, probably in a small satchel which extra pockets for phone etc, it only needs to be slightly bigger than the shoulder bag I always carry now. Funny a few years ago I wouldn't be seen dead even holding a "handbag", but these days with all the documents, cards, phone, camera, etc I feel naked when I go out without my bag!

Sunday Night: August and no post, well the reason was a month with every day at least in the mid 30.s, when the computers keep overheating and the operators can't be bothered anyway......

The month has been really hot hot hot, Daniel came out for the fiesta and stayed a fortnight.

Chrissie and I are festares next year and this is considered an honour, we had to go into the church and were presented with our cake and flower, people commented "muy bien" whic is very good....

Daniel got to go out a few times, we both went to the sea with a canoe with young Maria's husband from the restaurant and that was good, then on his last day we went for a swim in the sea at a little sandy cove on the Benissa coast, we had goggles, it was so clear and so warm! We could see the fish swimming around the rocks, so many too, not the slightest bit bothered by my presence.....

During the first part of the month Daniel and I sat in the Naya some days, he was building his palne and I finished half the roof for the Spainish street, I still had to make 75 more tiles and have only just done those....

There have been lots of fires, this has been the hottest, driest summer for decades, even here.We thought this fire was on the side of the Bernia, but it turned out to be the mountain behind Benidorm. Saddly two fire fighters were killed in this blaze.....

This is Simba seeking some relief from the heat on the marble floor in the gold room....

Last week we went to Valencia hospital again with Beccie for an appointment, they kept us waiting over 3 hours, so I got really hot and on th way home it was was 39C outside the car ......we had to close the windows and it was still cooking (can't use it anyway but the air con doesn't work either)

I've been been doing lots of flying in the evenings, Pioneer 2 is especially nice when the air is still and thick..... I put the lights n the hughes 300MD too and that looks really good flying in the evening light....

Here's my new profile picture, just for fun with Beccies hat....

Saturday Night: Hot today and humid, it was at least 30C most of the day,  I had to have a few dips in the pool to stay cool... I spent the best  part of the day watching the olymipic mens cycle road race on TV, mainly becaue it was routed through the lanes and villages I used to cycle through when I was a kid... It was really nice to see a lot of both Byfleet and especially Pyrford as the race went through........

This evening as the sun went behind the mountains, the wind dropped and the air was really thick, there are no better conditions to fly a model plane..... I asked Chrissie if she would mind taking a few pictures of the new Pioneer 2 model in flight, even the fact that she joined my for the flight greatly added to the enjoyement..... The reason there are so many pictures is statement enough that the photogropher did a great job.....

Capturing the late Edwardian Era, the Pioneer 2 looks every bit the part in this picture. As far as it's flight characteristics, well it scores 10/10 for flyng like the perfect model..... if there is such a thing......

Take off, this is the models second flight after the test flight. I have made a number of adjustments and this evening the model climbs away perfectly into the still thick evening air...

Climbing out to the north , this shot was taken after turning to the south, look pretty realistic agaibst the Bernia......

Flying in from the north again after a circuit......

Closer in the model looks every bit the part..... Great photo's Chrissie...

Looking like she is on the "Dawn Partol"

The Pioneer flys in the last light of the day.......

Getting darker.....

Chrissie captures the landing......

Howzat.... at my feet

Friday Night: Hot today 31C and very humid..... it's cooled down a bit now. We had to go out this morning, I had to go to Javea to meet with Antony, then later I spent a few hours doing the finishing touches to the Pioneer 2.

The Pioneer 2 ready for the "dawn patrol". I have decided to leave the model as it is and not add any insignia, this way it will retain the look of the "Pioneer" it is suposed to represent....

Little Saffie waiting patiently to join me on the terrace and fly, unfortunatly it was too windy tonight....

I added a little cockpit detail to enhance the "scale" effect.....

Thursday Night: Very humid, 27C, felt a lot hotter.....  Yesterday was clear and snny and 27C. I spent the afternoon covering the model in the lounge, took me well into the evening to do that......

Today I went to Ondara to get some screws to fit the rigging wires, but the AKI shop was closed for a fiesta, 20 miles for nothing, but I went back through the valley's and found the exact screws I needed in a shop in Jalon.instead.  I spent the afternoon fitting the horns and making pushrods, gluing the hinges, fitting the tailplane, all the last bits. I also had to solder all the lugs on to the new speed controler, bind the new rciever and programme the radio for this model.....

As a model builder, I find myself bound by 2 age old laws that states a) you don't photograph a model that is ready to fly before you fly it and b) the model should also remain incomplete in some way, even if you only intend to add some more detail to it.

I am pleased to say that the Pioneer 2 has now flown for the first time (It's gorgeous too) and I have added some more "deatil" being the rigging wires.....

So I am pleased I am  now allowed to take a picture of the "almost complete" but test flown -  Pioneer 2 model.....

Tuesday Night: Ready for covering.....

Sunday Night: Today was cooler at 26C but the house is still hot and humid inside at around 29C...... The last couple of days have been a little more cloudy, but the sun still seems to shine most of the time and it was still in the lower 30's yesterday.....
 

I have been getting on with the Pioneer 2 model, but more slowly, there's no hurry. I have found everything I need to complete it here do far except i need to buy some silver spary paint for the nose. The model is built now and all I have to do is to cover it and finish it with insignia and rigging wires and hook it all up with the controls.....

So as to use only materials I have available, I have decided on a WW1 Bulgarian insignia (black iron cross) the model will be white, with the open wood structure ans silver nose section. The model sort of resembles an Eindecker, so will look a little like a "real" plane....

All up weight is a little over 2lb, so far so good, looking forward to this.....