The Beer Garden

Rather to both of our astonishment, since I only ordered it yesterday, the Gee Bee arrived about 3:30 this afternoon.  Mr. Empire took care of the tiny bit of assembly required (put on rudder and landing gear) while I charged the battery — a li-poly, for which the recommendation is someone be right there, preferably with a fire extinguisher, while it’s charging.  (Remember those Dell laptops all the batteries were recalled on?  Li-polys.  Good capacity, but very touchy!)

Need to get 8 AAs for the transmitter — something else that was going to be done yesterday but didn’t get accomplished.  I’m not sure when we’re going out to the field to test-fly it, but tomorrow wouldn’t surprise me a bit!  If so, I’ll report on how it went, of course.

Mr. Empire got the water pump changed, with very little need for my help — for which the gods be thanked!  I did him a favor in return, cleaning the dog droppings out of the yard even though he’d already missed one turn.  Not as big a thing as he did, but I figured I owed him, since I was able to use the time for doing some hand laundry and sewing instead.

There are still some necessary but relatively minor things needed to complete the job.  We have to replace the antifreeze we lost, soon (tomorrow, if anyplace in town has it this early), not because of freezing temps, but because it acts as a water pump lubricant, which is essential.  Replacing the thermostat (no longer working) and radiator cap (had to be gutted to relieve the pressure so we could get home at all tomorrow) aren’t quite as urgent, but will need to be done fairly soon — call it before winter sets in.  Sooner on the thermostat, preferably, since that affects gas mileage, but we do have an elderly radiator cap that will work for now.