Badland Part 103 Pilots and Builders Forum

(1) With the help of a electronics buddy, we were able to finally pull the Polini 303 from the engine. According to the USPS Chris should have received it yesterday (7/11). He will "certify" that it is bad and send it to Polini for replacement. Hopefully I get the replacement in about a month ... fingers crossed.

(2) With nothing to really work on, I spent yesterday running down cowl paint. I made the 30 mile drive to my previous duPont Imron auto paint source. Under new management, the guy took my Fokker Red sample and said yes they could do a match. It would take about 10 days and the cost would be $675 per gallon (minimum charge for color matching). CRAZY. A couple of years ago I had the same done IN STORE (for a quart of an orange color match) for under $40. I then drove to a nearby PPG paint store. The guy there was very helpful for automotive acrylic urethane color matching. He found a stock red VERY close to the Oratex Fokker Red. However, he had none at his branch store (Mesquite, TX). He called around and found the paint at one of the Dallas stores. I drove an additional 30 miles across Dallas and was rewarded with a gallon (minimum volume) of the red and a quart of retarder/hardener for $54. Long drive back home to more frustrating news ...

(3) On return home, I checked my PC for any postings on this site (I have two unanswered Private Message posts still in my Outbox ... for over two weeks ... about my Polini No Spark problems). I also had no further communications from Chris either about the CDI or the Oratex order. Chris is preparing for Oshkosh. He hopes to be able to "snag" enough of the heavier Oratex 6000 Fokker Red to do my wings and horizontal stabilizers, as he'd been informed that production of the Fokker Red has been delayed. I then checked the Oratex Facebook BetterAircraftFarbic Group site where Janina Tescher (moderator) replied to my post that there is no production run planned as yet. NOT GOOD NEWS.

So the frustration is mounting. If my painting skills were A LOT BETTER, I might more seriously consider the Stewart Systems solution. I have covered a MiniMAX 1103R with Dacron and painted with exterior urethane latex house paint. Not too bad, but not what I'd hoped for. However, I will probably go back to the Stewart Systems site today for a refresher on what that entails.

ksatter26 wrote: ↑Wed Jul 12, 2023 12:09 pm
(2) With nothing to really work on, I spent yesterday running down cowl paint. I made the 30 mile drive to my previous duPont Imron auto paint source. Under new management, the guy took my Fokker Red sample and said yes they could do a match. It would take about 10 days and the cost would be $675 per gallon (minimum charge for color matching). CRAZY. A couple of years ago I had the same done IN STORE (for a quart of an orange color match) for under $40. I then drove to a nearby PPG paint store. The guy there was very helpful for automotive acrylic urethane color matching. He found a stock red VERY close to the Oratex Fokker Red. However, he had none at his branch store (Mesquite, TX). He called around and found the paint at one of the Dallas stores. I drove an additional 30 miles across Dallas and was rewarded with a gallon (minimum volume) of the red and a quart of retarder/hardener for $54. Long drive back home to more frustrating news ...

(3) On return home, I checked my PC for any postings on this site (I have two unanswered Private Message posts still in my Outbox ... for over two weeks ... about my Polini No Spark problems). I also had no further communications from Chris either about the CDI or the Oratex order. Chris is preparing for Oshkosh. He hopes to be able to "snag" enough of the heavier Oratex 6000 Fokker Red to do my wings and horizontal stabilizers, as he'd been informed that production of the Fokker Red has been delayed. I then checked the Oratex Facebook BetterAircraftFarbic Group site where Janina Tescher (moderator) replied to my post that there is no production run planned as yet. NOT GOOD NEWS.

So good news on the paint. Costs have gone up on everything, and sometimes to the point of forgetting about it. Glad you found something that willwork.

As for the private messages on the forum, there's confusion on how the messaging system works. I had to figure this out the hard way. The private message(s) will remain in your outbox on the forum until the receiver logs into the forum and reads the message. Yep, the outbox is more of a hold box. Email to other members is not sent through the regular email system. Once the person that the private message is addressed to reads the private message, then the post will end up in the sent or read folder. It's confusing, but that's how it works. If the other user never logs in again, they will never see the private message. I asked the makers of the forum about this. They said they don't use email from user to user because it opens up a possibility for spam and email flooding. I can understand the reasoning behind that, however it is confusing until someone tells you how private messages are handled but the forum.

Todd

I understand the outbox and email. I imagine Scott is a really busy guy. It was great hearing from him in the web meeting. Thanks.

ksatter26 wrote: ↑Wed Jul 12, 2023 6:53 pm I understand the outbox and email. I imagine Scott is a really busy guy. It was great hearing from him in the web meeting. Thanks.

Good deal. That private message system and the message being stuck in the outbox was very confusing to me when I first set up the software. It took me a few days to find an explanation on the forum software support site and a bit more time to wrap my head around it.

Yes, agreed on Scott being on the virtual Fly-In. I enjoyed his participation very much. I think we all saw his enthusiasm for the engine and its potential.

Well you might not get into the air for a short time, but with this heat here in Dallas, I can't see flying to be enjoyable. I remember riding my street bikes in heat like this. Even with a windshield, it was more of a blast furnace than an enjoyable ride. It looks like we're going into another heat wave! I was hoping the temps would just stay normal, but no luck with that.