Today Charleston, SC celebrated the 150 anniversary of the beginning of the American Civil War.

At Patriots Point in Mt Pleasant a group of civil war reenactors camped out in a baron field and were having a great time.

Our South Carolina war fighters!

What fun…. sitting on stools hanging out and chatting.  Kind of reminds me of what I do at Oshkosh (except we have lots of beer and roasted corn!)

What I really wanted to see was the firing of the civil war mortars.  Later in the evening, the reenactors started firing all the guns (about 10 of them) in different combinations such as rapid fire, continuios fire, free firing, etc.  It was loud and fun!

You can not  see it very well, but Fort Sumpter is across the water and is what the solders would have shelled.

Bubba has moved on.   Earlier this week, Tony and I flew up to NC to check a cozy out for a prospective buyer (smart move).  After checking the rotary powered cozy out, FOUR builders emphatically told the buyer it was a piece of crap.  Fuel leaks, structural issues… a plane worthy of a chainsaw.   The buyer was faced with 5 days on the east coast with nothing to do until his flight back home, so I offered him a place to stay at my house so he could check out Charleston and more in the south east.  Make a vacation out of the trip. 

Somewhere along the way, we started discussing Bubba and he wanted to check it out.   A quick trip to the airport and an hour later I agreed to sell him. 

Two weeks late Soheb showed up with a truck and trail to move Bubba to his home in Vancouver BC. 

The engine was taken off to allow for easier handling of the fuselage.

Bubba was tilted up at an angle on the trailer to ensure it did not exceed the federal width restriction on a trailer load.

Lots of blocking and hold down straps.

Sort of looks like a modern sculpture on wheels! 

Bye Buy Bubba.  I would have loved to have flown you again but I have my ultimate airplane to build and it is time for you to go to your new home.

Gerhardt wanted to filter some more WVO for our cars….  The problem is the waste oil is cold and my propane powered heater just didnt seem to work well.  The best I could get out of was 0.5 g/m.

I decided to try an electric heater instead.  Since the oil is non-conductive there is no risk of shock.

A quick trip to Lowe’s resulted in a $15, 1500 watt 120v hot water heater.  An old extension cord was sacrificed and in 20 minutes I built a electric tank heater.

 This showes the starting temp of the tank. 

In 24 hours we went from 65 f to 137 f.   I was able to pump 4.5 h/m through the filter with ease!  What a great system.  I was able to filter 300 gal in about an hour or so.  A quick calculation showed that at the current utility rate, heating up the tank cost about $4 which means the it only cost me about 1.3 cents per gal of oil to run my car. 

All that time I wasted with making the copper propane  heater…..oya what a waste.  Maybe I can use it to make some moon shine.

Friday, I flew back to Charleston and immediately after returning on Saturday morning, Tony and I flew down to Miami to check out another Mercedes I found on craigs list.  

It is another 1999 Mercedes, E300 Turbo Diesel.  The owner held the car for me while I went skiing.   This one had 50,000 miles less than the my first one I purchased two weeks ago.   The only difference between the two cars is this one has tan leather (in absolutely perfect condition) and the first one had gray leather AND there is less rust on the the body.  

There are a number of little items I have to get checked out when I get it back to Charleston.   There seems to be a rough idle, the trunk opener doesn’t work from inside the car and both rear windows are non-functional.  Most of the stuff is easy enough to fix. 

After buying the car and leaving Tony behind to spend the weekend in Miami visiting buddys and drive it back up to Charleston, I few up to visit Jerry in Tampa.

After spending a great day visiting with Jerry and Debbie, I spent the night in the “Elvis Room” and early Sunday morning it was off to visit with Ed and Sue just north of Tampa and a quick flight back home.

Friday,  I flew to Denver to do some skiing and get away from Charleston in a NON-aviation vacation.  I had a great time and some terrific memories! 

Flying into Denver was a real treat.  I have read about the fabric roof on the main terminal but had never seen it.  What a great design!   Of coarse the engineer in me had to check out the support columns, stress points, tensioning systems, etc.  I just cant help myself.

The highlight of my trip was getting up early on Saturday morning for a 3 hr drive from Winter Park to Greeley Colorado where Lee Devlin lives.  It is a beautiful drive over a mountain pass and through the city of Denver.

Although there was snow on the ground, the temperature of Greeley was in the 60’s.  It was amazing how comfortable it was.  Lee has the most incredible house with a huge solar panel on the roof.  Lee told me he hasn’t paid an electric bill in over 2 years. 

Of coarse we had to visit his project to see how it is going.  Nice work Lee.

A great meal at a TexMex restaurant, lots of margaritas Saturday evening, and early Sunday morning it is back to Winter Park to prepare for skiing on Monday.

I finally made the decision to buy a new Mercedes to replace my trusty old 1981 diesel.  I was getting tired of the creaks and groans of a 30 year old car.  Besides,  I wanted to be sure I had lots of safety features a any car I was driving.  I figured since I am retired and on the gov. dole,  I wanted make sure I have every opportunity to live a long, LONG life to get my more than fair share from Uncle Sam coffers.

I started looking on Craigs List specifically for a 1999 E300 Turbo Diesel since it is the absolutely last model I could buy which could still be converted to cooking oil.  I finally found one in Crystal River, Florida which was at the right price point and condition.  It had 249,000 miles and appeared to be in fairly good shape.  The interior and body was in terrific condition.  I talked the owner into holding it for me long enough for the weather to clear as I knew it would quickly sell.

Tony and I flew down to Florida, I checked the car out and bought it on the spot.  Tony drove it home on Wednesday.  The car wasnt driven at all on Thursday.  On Friday, after getting new tires, and on the way to the DMV, it caught fire and was totally destroyed.  I had a total of 18 miles driving it during the 2 days I owned i.    What fun it was driving it!  The acceleration was just fantastic!

I had flames coming from the center console to the ceiling.  Amazing!  Diesels are not noted for catching fire.   As I told the fireman, “that was the quickest $6000 I have every lost….except for the stock market!”  He asked if I had insurance….  I think I did as I had called USAA prior to the purchase and discussed it with them, but had not called to confirm the purchase…..

Totally trashed….   Can you imagine, I was driving the car with flames shooting up the windshield!

Fortunately, USAA said the car is covered completely!  They paid for all my costs so I am not out any money.

I have started my search on Craigs list once again for another 1999 Mercedes.

I just returned from the 2 pm show of  Aluminum at the Performing Arts Center.

A while back, I saw an advertisement for Aluminum inthe papers and have a secret  love for the metal.  I enjoy it as much as using fiberglass.    I like aluminum because it shiny, easy bend, holds it shape, inflexible and unforgiving nature and the creative easy to work, forgiving, complex to work with, high tech BUT difficult to fabricate nature of fiberglass.    I would love to build an RV aircraft someday.

The news paper add showed a shinny round tube of Aluminum with two legs sticking out (M? or F?)    Quite a visual image!   …. heck, why not go I thought.

I had no idea what I was getting into when I purchased the ticket.   This week a short  article about the show appeared the Post and Courier.   I quickly scanned the article and in one sentence the story could be summed up as: 

A BIG tube of aluminum drier hose which gives birth to a tiny baby drier hose THEN the parents and baby tube get separated THEN begins the quest of reuniting the baby (which has many interesting adventures with new friends) WITH the sad, lonely, distraut parents aluminum tubes who are desperately searching everywhere for their missing young one. 

After reading the article,  I scratched my head and I thought “WOW, how lame is THAT?”     I can watch the CBS nightly news and see the same story line.  Heck wasn’t it this week a woman who was living in New York and stolen at birth was reunited with her biological parents in Alabama or am I just imagining it?  It was a big deal on TV (I think?)     

Now I am going to see a bunch of aluminum tubes with the same heart breaking problem.  Got the ticket…got to go.

While I was walking up to the PAC with ticket in hand I happened to notice TONS of kid.   Kids everywhere.   Chatting with to a couple of parent I found they too had no idea of what the show was about.  The  kids were bringing them in tow.    Hum, I guess I am not alone in blissful ignorance.    Surprise me Aluminum I thought. 

And surprised me it did. The creative use of small and large aluminum tubes made of mylar was just amazing.   The blend of “human” and “human hybrid tubes” and “mechanical puppetry” was incredible.  This show just works. 

It is a HIGH energy, energetic music  show with great performers and creative use of props.  Visually stunning Aluminum is simply an over the top production.  A fantastic unusual show which will delight you.    Easily, this is one of the best shows I have EVER seen at the Performing Arts Center.

I was drawn into the story, was dazzled by the imagery and thoroughly enjoyed the non stop action and surprises.   Aluminum is definitely a stage show which should be featured at the 2011 Charleston Spoleto Festival.   It would be the must see, most talked about, killer show of the year.    

Here is a Youtube link for the Aluminum show

If you EVER get a chance to see this production GO.   Definitely, GO!   Get a seat dead center about ten rows from the front.  You WANT to be right up front so you can get involved in the audiance interaction, the characters and props.  You’ll have a blast! 

Take the kids (5 yrs old on) and your parents if they have even a minimal abount of motor and cognative skills (basicly they are still breathing).   Both young and old will have a fantastic sensory experience none of you will never forget.

Copyright 2011
Nick Ugolini

The car’s conversion to cooking oil is almost done.  This weekend, I found a reasonably good dash panel at the junk yard to modify.  I didnt want to mess up the good one in the car.  This way when I sell the car I can put the unmodified one back in, remove the WVO system and the car is stock again.

After designing the panel in Acad, I printed out the template and drilled the holes in the panel.

Next it is lettering the panel.

Finally it is installed in the car’s dash.  I really like the look.  Simple and unobtrusive.  It works great in all modes. 

The last and final step in the car mod (not really necessary but nice to have) would be installing water heated fuel lines and hooking up the tank heater to the car’s coolant system.  No hurry.  I’ll do it by next winter if I dont have a another car by then.  I am actively looking on Craigs list for a newer diesel.

Twas the week before Christmas and all over the house,
The blue tarps were flapping, the soffits in place.
Up on the rooftop, could be heard a click, click, click. 
Could it be Santa reindeer or homebuilder St. Nick?

The pitches had been changed, the rafters redone
all without help of warm Charleston sun.

Late one night, the rain, the wind made such a clatter
With a start,  he sprang from his bed to see what was the matter.

The drips and the drops, they damaged the ceilings
soon the project became much less appealing

Through cold and rain, and frozen toes
the project’s challenges seemed to grow and grow!

Finally when the shingling could begin,
St Nick’s face turned from a grimace to a grin.

Air gun in hand, he stopped for the night
from the high on the roof everyone heard him exclaim a hearty Ho Ho Ho
Merry Christmas to all and let the roof be tight.

Doug bought over some more dirt today.  Four huge truck loads of fill soil to be spread out in the yard.  I am planning to use a rotary laser level to do the final spreading of the soil to make sure the slope of the yard is correct for good drainage which was why I couldnt use this part of my yard in the past.    The rain would collect in a low area and the ground would turn to mush.

Lots of work ahead!

I took my heater to Gerharts to try out.    Boo hoo, it didnt work exactly as planned.    I was focused on having lots of surface area (60 ft of 3/8″ tubing) to raise the temperature of the oil.  I found out the temperature increased nicely, but the second part of a good design is adequate flow rate.  I considered this, but thought the oil would get thin enough to easily flow through the tubing.   It doesnt. 

The flow rate is about 1.1 gpm with a 40 f temp rise.  The temp was fine if you want to spend a couple of hours twiddling your thumbs waiting, but I know I will eventually rebuild the heater using 1/2″ tubing to increase the flow rate (I hate when something is right).   Right now the overall system is good enough to last through the winter.  Next fall, I’ll tear the heater apart, sell the copper and change it over to larger tubing.

The panel is being reworked too.  I wanted each light switch position illuminated with a blue, green or orange LED.   In order to match the rest of the panel and since the LED’s are very small (T-1 type)  I decided to use light tubes with the LED’s positioned behind the panel.   Each hole had to be very carefully drilled on the milling machine.

A white LED light is shined behind the switch to see how they would look.   Awesome!

The panel will be sent back to Aerotronics to have the label replaced with a new one which corresponds correctly with the new LED lighting.