As 2022 starts and gets underway I have a new hobby.  I have started racing radio controlled sailboats.  I received a Dragonforce 65 for Christmas.  There is a new club just getting established in the Olympia area and it is quickly becoming popular.  They have been racing twice a month for about 6 months now, and they have 14 to 18 boats at each event now.

The club races mostly DF65s, but there is a growing number of DF95s showing up for the mixed fleet racing. Dan Shier is the organizer of the little RC yacht club, and he regularly lets people try out his Dragonflite 95.  After racing my DF65 for a few weeks and then trying the bigger DF95 I soon decided I wanted one of those two.  The boat is bigger and faster.  I am still very new to the DF racing experience, with only about 6 weeks with a DF65 and one day of racing with my new DF95.  But even as a newbie, I thought I would share some of my impressions about what sets these boats apart.

Let me start by saying they are both great boats.  They look very similar.  They are both available with all the radio parts installed in the hull.  All of the tedious work building the mast and boom is done.  You need to assemble the rig and sails.  Both boats are quite intricate to build and require great patience and dexterity to complete.  It really helps if you have previous experience with sailing and previous experience with miniature models.  

These are both race boats, and as such they have more sail adjustments than the average cruising sailboat.  The small scale of the boat means that many of the lines must be tied with exacting measurement.  All of the measurements are metric, so it really helps to have a metric ruler and a metric tape measure.  I found the DF95 was slightly easier to assemble.  It is a bit larger in scale, which makes things easier to see and to manipulate.  And it is a later design than the DF65, so there are a couple of improvements in the build process that make things easier to put together.  For instance, the line that ties the jib boom to the deck is adjustable on the DF95, but it is not on the DF65.  The adjustment makes the installation of the jib boom much easier.

On the water, the DF95 is a fast forgiving sailor.  It is well balanced.  Although the DF65 can be well balanced too, but it takes a bit more tweaking of the rig to get things lined up just right. I have seen it happen twice where a DF65 skipper launched their boat before turning on the radio receiver in the boat.  Both times the boat was well tuned with a balanced rig that sailed away on a true course into the wind and just kept on going!  The first time was in a pond, so the pilot just had to walk around the path to get to the boat.  The second time was in the bay, and it required a fast paddling kayak to get that boat back.

The DF65 is a less forgiving boat to sail.  It requires a tender hand at the controls.  If you over steer the boat it slows it down.  If you don't pay attention to waves, gusts, and your turning speed it is real easy to find yourself in irons, sailing backwards.  So far the best method I have discovered for getting out of irons is to sheet out all the way and wait for the boat to turn, then sheet in and sail away on the new course picked by the boat. 

It took me several race sessions to finally get the boat tuned up so that it was performing as well as others in the group.  I had a long string of last place finishes that were getting quite frustrating.  A single blade of grass on the keel acts like a sea anchor on these little boats.  

Once I had the DF65 properly tuned for our conditions it quickly became clear that I was now losing races because I lacked the skills I needed for good racing.  As long as I didn't make any big blunders I could keep up with the pack, and sometimes finish close to the front of the pack.  But then I learned I could lose if I missed one turn, or if I let the boat stall and fall into irons.  I could end each heat of racing with a short list of two or three things I could have done better.  My biggest mistake is steering too much and too often.  It is tempting to play the controller like a video game and just push the levers to their extreme settings all the time.  I have to keep reminding myself that in my full size boat I never turn the rudder hard over to the limit.  The DF65 needs the same finesse.

So the secret to success with the DF65 is to first tune your rig to match the conditions, and then sail her with a gentle touch, paying attention to all the little details.  

The DF95, at least in my brief experience, is a much more forgiving boat to sail.  Over steering doesn't slow you down as much.  It has more weight, so it glides through the turns and does not fall into irons as often.  It is bigger and easier to see at a distance.  And it is fast!  It is so fast that it become difficult to perform tasks that require you to take your eyes off your boat for even a few seconds.  Things like writing down the scores at the finish line or changing your gloves are a real challenge because in windy conditions the boat will cover a lot of distance in just a few seconds.

The two models are close enough in speed that we occasionally see a DF65 finish ahead of the DF95s.  So the DF65 is no slouch either.

I had a choice for Christmas between either the DF65 or the DF95.  I favored the DF65 for two reasons.  There were many of them being raced in our local club, and the price was affordable.  When it came time to make the order the DF95s were out of stock, so I went for the DF65.  I recently picked up my DF95 because a club member accidentally ordered an extra one.  I was able to pick it up from him even though the supplier was sold out again.  I scored.  Having raced both boats now, I can say that I would recommend the DF95 as your fist boat if it is in your budget.  It is almost twice the price as the DF65, but it is easier to sail, which makes it easier for beginners (like me) to learn with.

On the other hand, starting with the DF65 will force you to master the fine motor skills and finesse needed to make that boat sail well, and those skills will pay off with many victories when you advance to the bigger faster DF95.

When I raced the DF65 I had some real challenging days, days that made me want to quit and go do something else.  On my first outing with the DF95 I started finishing well on a consistent basis.  The only person who beat me consistently was Dan, our club organizer and an experienced club racer.  That may have just been a good case of beginners luck.  Time will tell.

Both of these boats are awesome.  I see myself using the DF65 when portability and size are important, such as traveling long distance or carrying it on a boat.  I will use the DF95 when I want to be a little more relaxed and focus on the fun more than the technique.  With one design racing it will always come down to racing the same kind of boat that your friends are racing.  And now I am ready for both.

What a wonderful summer!

It has been a fun summer!  We had two nice cruises aboard Tya.  The first trip was 10 days long and took us as far north as Poulsbo, WA.  The second trip was 21 days long and took us into the Gulf Islands of Canada. We circumnavigated Salt Spring Island, enjoying marvelous Canadian hospitality all along the way.

Our favorite anchorages on the Canadian adventure were Tod Inlet (behind The Butchart Gardens), and Port Browning on North Pender Island. We soon discovered that almost every private marina in the Gulf Islands has a pub at the top of the dock.  The pub at Port Browning served my wife the best nachos she has ever had.  It was there that I discovered I liked “Dark Matter”, a dark, sweet, roasted malt beer that was very delicious.

The best fish and chips of the summer were found at JJ Fish House in Poulsbo, WA.  We will be returning there on our next trip through the area.  Very delicious fish!

Thank You Amazon!

I started writing my first book to fulfill one of my life goals.  Before I knew it, I was writing my fifth and sixth books and I was making a pleasant income from my writing.  I have now earned enough from my writing to buy a small yacht that I have named “Tya”, which stands for Thank You Amazon! 

I have decided to share my insights and experiences for writing and self-publishing with a video blog as I write my next book.  If you would like to see what my process is for self-publishing and technical writing, please follow me on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/larsenbooks or on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwdTbJVzChAjGLdpooZCCNg.

The Joy of Self Publishing

There is joy and a sense of great accomplishment in publishing a book. The fascinating tale is not always in the book itself, but in the story behind the making of that book. My most recent publication of More LTD Stirling Engines You Can Build Without a Machine Shop is one of those tales.  It was three and a half years from start to finish, and for a long time it was at the top of my list of unfinished projects. Finishing this project not only created a book, it also feels like completing a chapter in the story of my life.  My readers and the marketplace will now judge the value of my contribution.  But regardless of that outcome, I have experienced the joy that comes from managing a long, complex process and seeing it come to life.

The book you publish is almost never the book you started writing. I discovered an easy way to make very successful bearings using Teflon tubing, and went to town and designed at least a dozen engines that used the new technology. It seemed feasible at the time to put them all in the book.  The scope of this idea was far too broad to be practical. Most builders probably only want to make one motor anyway.  But I want my readers to find value in their purchase, so I maintained an approach to publish a collection of designs, but downsized it from 12 to 4. The 4 designs are all very similar, and the final product of these projects is a traditionally configured motor. The aim is to provide the builder with several choices for building a conventional looking motor.

It is hard to guess what will be relevant when writing for a small niche market. The first rule is to make it relevant to yourself. The second rule is to make it understandable to your audience. Financial success occurs when you are able to connect your audience with the book.  And that is the role of marketing. Good marketing puts your book in front of your potential customers so they see it as one of their choices as they invest their time and energy into the same subject you are writing about. And if they choose to buy it, they find it relevant and understandable. That success will lead to positive reviews, broader discussions, and more sales.

Successful self publication is much more complex than it first appears. Think for a moment about the tasks a publishing company performs with and for an author as a book is developed. The publisher may provide editorial direction, proof reading, editing, formatting, illustration artists, cover design, market research, marketing plans, advertising, press releases, book tours... It's a long list, and it keeps on going. When the book is finished and ready to sell, the work is about half done. It has been my experience that I can invest as much time and effort into promoting a book as I spent writing it.

If you are going to write and publish a book yourself, and if you want that book to be successful, you need to become the manager of the publication process and address all those tasks that a publishing company would do for you. You may want to do it all yourself, but few people have all the skills needed to produce and market a good book. That is why even independent self publishing authors routinely solicit help from others.

Nothing illustrates this better for me than proof reading. I have already fixed a few typos and spelling errors in this article, and chances are I will not catch them all. No matter how many times I read through my own work, I never catch all the mistakes. So for me, effective proof reading means that it must be read by someone else.

For my first endeavor, I recruited five friends and gave them each a copy of the book.  I did this after I did multiple read-throughs myself, and I was pretty sure it was near perfect. The results of that effort not only brought me lots of good feedback about the book, it taught me a few things about proof readers.

My book, it turns out, was far from perfect. One of my proof readers was very skilled in the art of grammar (it is an art form, you know) and gave me incredibly good advice that improved the book. And he didn't have to read the whole book either. He told me "make these kinds of changes throughout the book" to improve readability, and he was right.

Among the other proof readers, one was reluctant to write in the book for fear of defacing the book or perhaps didn't want to appear overly critical. A couple of them said they didn't really understand the technical subject matter and were reluctant to finish it.  Each time that I have used this social networking approach for proof reading I have found very valuable feedback from one or two of them.

I simplified my process with this most recent book. I first did several cover-to-cover readings myself.  When I knew I had caught all the mistakes I could see myself, I asked my wife to read it. She is not into this technology stuff like I am, so her feedback was very good at finding places where I needed to simplify and clarify my approach. Then, instead of recruiting five friends, I just went to one of my previous volunteers who had done a good job before. I gave him a galley proof of the book with a $100 bill as a book mark, and told him he could keep the book mark as a souvenir for his efforts. We negotiated a timeline and he was done in a couple of weeks. He didn't have as many changes this time (I must be getting better) and I have confidence that my $100 investment is well worth it for the peace of mind I get in return.

Self publication doesn't mean that you are doing everything yourself. You may have to become your own project manager at times. You will always improve your product if you recruit help from people who have the skills that you lack.

Quadcopter Pilot's Flight Log

Now available at Amazon.com!

Whether flying for recreation or for certification, it is the best practice to always log the flight. Logging the flight provides a record of experience for the pilot as well as a record of the flight time on the aircraft. This journal is intended to create a record of the key events that define every flight outing.

Quadcopters are sometimes referred to as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), or drones.  This log book provides 100 pages with prompts to help track the time, location, and duration of your flying experience, as well as other significant events that occur.  It also creates a maintenance record for the aircraft.

Building the H6082 Heirloom Guitar Kit #1 Curly Maple

I purchased the Grizzly Curly Maple Heirloom Guitar Kit H6082 on 11/28/2013.  I completed construction and played it for the first time on 10/15/2014.  I am very pleased with the results.  I made a few minor mistakes along the way, but I was able to compensate for them each time.  My next one will be even better!

What's in the kit.

The first thing I did was dress the frets and slightly round the edges of the fret board.  The fret work is done well, but the ends of the frets were a little sharp and not comfortable to slide against your hand. I had to so some minor sanding to the neck joint to get it to fit.  Being a little too tight from the factory is better than being too loose.  The neck joint is shaped so that it will only go in at the proper position.  That is a plus.

I attempted to do a high contrast finish by staining the top black, sanding off most of the stain and then adding a color dye.  This is when I learned that the curly maple is just a thin veneer.  I caught the problem before it was too big, and did my best to camouflage my mistake with some artistic application of wood dyes. Looking at the cross section of the body makes one think that the maple top is at least 1/4 inch thick, but this is not the case.  Had I known that, I never would have tried the two tone color technique with all the sanding.

Stained and masked, ready for lacquer.

 

I had hoped to apply lacquer slowly over the winter months, but the garage was too cool for lacquer most of the time, so the project went on hold until summer.  I had pretty good results by hanging the guitar and the neck outside on the back porch and spraying it there.  Another mistake I made was failing to fill the open grain mahogany on the back and sides of the guitar.  It looked very smooth after sanding, but the grain opened up quite a bit as the finish went on.  The porous surface looks nice, but it is taking a lot of scrubbing with water and a tooth brush to get all the polish and wax out of some of the pores.

Lacquer is starting to look good.

 

This was my first lacquer project.  I wet-sanded the guitar starting with 400 grit and working up to 2000.  I used a little too much water during the final sanding and some seeped in through the bridge mounting holes and raised the surface with some slight swelling.  I noticed it right away and stopped, and the swelling went down after I hung the guitar back on the drying rack for a few days.

The final assembly went very fast after all the finishing work was done.  The intonation did not require much adjustment at all, and so far the truss rod has not needed any attention.  The guitar has been tuned up for several days now as I fiddle with the setup.  I plan to put new strings on it as soon as I have the setup close to where I think it will stay.

Starting to wet sand.  Note the visible pores in the wood.

 

The nut is close to perfect.  I may take it to a luthier to have the slots filed down just a tiny bit.  (I would do it myself but the files cost $90.) It is close enough to specs to be played as is. 

My only complaint so far is the bridge.  The hardware did not exactly match the spacing of the posts on the guitar body and was difficult to install.  The tight fit makes adjustment a little challenging, but still possible.  It does not look like a high-end bridge.  I also noticed that the string spacing does not match the pole spacing on the pickups, but they still seem to work well.

After wet sanding and polish it glows.

The instructions had a couple of places where they didn’t match the kit.  I knew it was going to take a while to build, so I did an immediate parts check when it arrived.  The parts list indicated a set of screws that I didn’t have, so I sent an email to Grizzly and they sent them to me right away.  Well, it turns out that the instructions were wrong, and those screws are not used anywhere in the kit.

The other disagreement I had with the instructions was the ground wire to the bridge.  The instructions tell how to install it, but the hole for the wire is absent, and there is no wire included for this.  I remember the ground wire being important on other guitars I have had, so I drilled a hole and added the wire from the tailstock post to the ground on the electronics.  That was a simple addition and it works.

The finished guitar in its happy home!

The pickups sound great.  This is my first humbucker experience, and so far I think they are real sweet sounding.  They have more drive than the single coil pickups on my Stratocaster.  This guitar also has excellent sustain.  It is really noticeable at high gain that the notes will ring for a long time.

Grizzly’s description says that this guitar can be played professionally when finished.  I would agree.  I paid $395 for the kit ($459.93 with shipping).  Finishing products probably cost me another $170, and I paid $108 for an Epiphone case. My total investment was $738.  If I could have done a little bit better job on the finish it would probably be comparable to a guitar of that price range in the music store.  However I have the added pleasure of knowing I play a hand crafted one of a kind instrument that I made myself!

Runner's Training Log: 2014 - 2015 Two Year Training Journal

Find it for sale on Amazon.com for only $9.95. It is also available in the UK and Europe.

This is the ideal journal for creating multi-week training plans and recording training progress. The journal layout matches the format used by today’s best training plans, such as those promoted by Hal Higdon or Runner’s World. Every day of the calendar has space to write the plan for that day, and additional space to record actual training (for those days when things change). This allows you to flex your training days while accurately recording your progress. The convenient layout makes note taking quick and easy.

The calendar-style layout of this journal puts your whole week in easy view. The training week runs Monday through Sunday, and with the large 8” x 10” format you always have 8 weeks in view.

The Runner’s Training Log contains extra features that will be useful to those who include racing as part of their training routine. Countdown the weeks to the next race on the training calendar, and use the special pages to set goals and record progress at racing events. Create run plans for 5k, 10k, half, and full marathons. Create contact lists for all of those names and numbers that keep you running.

The Runner’s Training Log is a 26 month training calendar that begins on 11/1/2013 and runs through 12/31/2015. That’s more than two years for the price of one!