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<\/a>Phantom Flash #11 at the end of the November contest<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>#11, after repairs, on its way to a triple-max and fly-off at the December contest<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>My Comet 5-cent Miller Racer flying high<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>my Miller Racer – very high – a 10″ span model with a 3.5″ prop<\/p><\/div>\n
The 2021 flying season seemed to “fly by” (haw!) but it was not without its rewards.\u00a0 I won plenty of events and got to fly at Muncie three or four times (but that’s never enough).\u00a0 I even did really well at the AMA Indoor Nats (I was the FAC High Point Champ).\u00a0 Two of my new large outdoor models did really well (Hep Cat and Holy Ike).<\/p>\n
<\/a>my 2021 AMA Indoor Nats results<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>me launching my Hep Cat – on the way to winning the FAC Old Time Fuselage at the 2021 AMA Nats – Don DeLoach photo<\/p><\/div>\n
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<\/a>me (yellow shirt) launching my Holy Ike to win the SAM\/FAC OT Stick Mass Launch – Eric Specht photo.<\/p><\/div>\n
Looking back, the entire year seemed rushed.\u00a0 It is almost like recovery from the COVID cancellations caused me to lose the rhythm of flying at contests.\u00a0 (Speaking of COVID, we were back in masks yesterday since COVID rates are at an all-time high in Michigan.)\u00a0 It seems I no longer have time to get all the flights in that I want.\u00a0 What has happened?\u00a0 At neither Indoor or Outdoor contests, I can’t seem to find the time.\u00a0 I don’t know how I flew so many flights before.<\/p>\n
I did purchase a new laser cutter this year.\u00a0 I had to, as the old one crapped out on me.\u00a0 I could argue that this was long overdue – the new laser performs much better and is about 3 times faster.\u00a0 I do have a hard time etching on light wood, but I hope to figure that out.<\/p>\n
<\/a>my new laser cutter<\/p><\/div>\n
Speaking of “not enough time”, I feel like all I do is cut wood and pack orders.\u00a0 Yet my records show that I have had busier years.\u00a0 This is literally an every-day job and any time off taken is rewarded with a growing backlog.\u00a0 Even if I don’t ship everyday, I have to pack orders every day so that shipping can take place every other day.\u00a0 For example, I shipped on Wednesday, but didn’t have any orders packed for yesterday (Thursday).\u00a0 And yesterday was contest day, so no work during the day.\u00a0 I was pretty tired coming home (it’s a 2+ hour drive each way), so I didn’t pack any for shipment today (Friday) so I will need to work hard today and tomorrow morning in order to catch up from all that slipped time so I can ship on Saturday.<\/p>\n
Postal rates have increased.\u00a0 You may not know it, but the post office hiked rates as a temporary seasonal adjustment back in October.\u00a0 About half of my orders (and all of the orders shipping to the west coast) are now costing more than the flat rate that I charge.\u00a0 I am absorbing that loss in hopes that the post office is true to their word and drops prices back down after the new year.\u00a0 If they don’t, I’ll be forced to bump up my rates.<\/p>\n
This brings up a pet peeve for me.\u00a0 I actually feel guilty about charging for shipping and even more so for charging more than the actual cost.\u00a0 In general, my charges were about $1 more than it costs me for postage.\u00a0 Frankly, that really doesn’t cover the actual expense.\u00a0 “Why not?” you might ask.\u00a0 If I get an order for a single item, it takes at least 5 minutes to pack that up and prepare it for shipment.\u00a0 That’s probably closer to 10 minutes, if you include the computer time to weigh and print postage.\u00a0 “Five minutes?\u00a0 That’s nothing.”\u00a0 Until you consider that any order with multiple items increases that packing time and packing multiple orders multiplies that time.\u00a0 It generally takes me 3+ hours to pack the daily packages.\u00a0 Now, imagine HIRING someone to do that work.\u00a0 Could you hire anyone to pack orders for less than $1 per package?\u00a0 I’ve hired myself to do that work and that is apparently the rate I work for – I pack orders for less than $1 per package; well that was the rate before the USPS raised their rates.\u00a0 Now, I pretty much do that work for free.<\/p>\n
Of course, I do most of my design work for free, and any of my machining and assembly work for free.\u00a0 The prices I charge are basically for the finished product, not including labor.\u00a0 If I charged for labor – and I think this is the same for most of us small Free Flight suppliers, the retail cost of the times would be much, much higher.\u00a0 Consider this a labor of love.<\/p>\n
Periodically, I reconsider ordering items I sell.\u00a0 I no longer offer many items that I used to sell.\u00a0 I’ve considered selling even less, but then I wonder where you, the modeler, will get stuff.\u00a0 On the other hand, I’ve stopped some items because I just cannot get them any longer.\u00a0 Czech props are gone and I only have a few left.\u00a0 Esaki tissue is gone (remember that large and final lot<\/a> – I ran out of the last of it last month).\u00a0\u00a0 I once felt I would stop selling tissue altogether, but I know there is a demand for it, so I’ll be restocking tissue from Asuka.<\/p>\n As for upcoming kits – this is what I really like to do.\u00a0 I’ve got several in the pipelines already and am looking forward beyond that.\u00a0 I recently asked for interest in some of the ones that I have built and flown but not produced (Holy Ike, Stallion Jumbo, etc) but received no response indicating interest.\u00a0 This is always a question as I work on plans.\u00a0 Most of them, I do because I want to do them.\u00a0 It’s not important to me if no one else wants them.\u00a0 So I won’t invest my time in finalizing the plans to make them production-ready.<\/p>\n Here’s a thought I have had – and there might be interest in these.\u00a0 I recently (with the help of Archie Adamisin) released the Comet 20″ Dimers.\u00a0 These were not built and the plans not redrawn – we just laid out the parts per the plans and produced cut sheets.\u00a0 As you are likely aware, this is not my typical method – I like all products to be successfully built and flown.\u00a0 But there is another series (of three) that I would be willing to undertake if there was significant interest:\u00a0 the Comet 54″ Free Flight models:\u00a0 The Taylorcraft, the Aeronca Chief, and the Aeronca K.\u00a0 I have the first two kits in my possession,so I can use them for parts reference.\u00a0 I don’t recall ever seeing the Aeronca K in 54″ span, but had an interesting thought on that one:\u00a0 Comet did the K with floats in a much smaller size – wouldn’t a 54″ K WITH FLOATS be interesting?\u00a0 These also would probably not be built and tested, but just laser-cut parts based on the plans. \u00a0 In addition, they might not even come with plans – I don’t have a printer capable of producing such large drawings – and all the plans are available for download already.\u00a0 Any thoughts about this?<\/p>\n Regardless, I’m hard at work developing more short kits.\u00a0 I make a list ever year about this time for future projects.\u00a0 There are always new items added to the list during the year and ones that have been on the list, just waiting, for several years.\u00a0 One final comment regarding kits:\u00a0 according to my records, I’ve produced over 100 different short kits and sold more than 5,000.\u00a0 That’s a surprise to me, too!<\/p>\n Happy holidays.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Well, yesterday was the last contest (for me) in 2021.\u00a0 I flew in four events and won one of them – and I “could” have won all four.\u00a0 I almost feel like karma followed me to Pontiac yesterday:\u00a0 I’ve been … Continue reading