Hello Ian!
On 01 Oct 97, Ian Macaulay wrote to Rich Lockyer:
 IM> Hell man you are crazier than I am.
Well... I DID pour a 6" slab for a tool shed.  The she was originally a 6' 
traffic signal cabinet. ~8-)
 IM> I was thinking along the lines of 2
 IM> inches mixed with shale.
Can you get it smooth enough?  How big are the slabs you're pulling out of 
the mine?
 IM> years back I was talking to Joe Sangemino on this topic and he suggested 
I
 IM> look for some used belts from one of the rock crushers that abound in 
this
 IM> area.  I have had leads on two of them so far but they are narrow and 
full
 IM> of rips and tears.  It would cost a bundle to get them hauled out to the
 IM> field.
Ya... if you could get some new ones that are wide enough, they'd make a 
great semi-portable strip.
 IM> The ashphalt rigs would have the same problem but may be the best bet in
 IM> the long run.
I wasn't thinking about using a road paver... I was thinking more along the 
lines of bringing in a few dump truck loads of cold patch.  It's not as 
strong and won't last as long as a hot-laid surface, but strength really 
isn't an issue as long as you're not putting anything heavier than a person 
on it.
I'm just a bit cautious of grass fields... I have a hard enough time landing 
a taildragger on a hard runway without nosing over.  I've seen grass fields 
destroy retractable landing gear.
 RL>> Ever consider building a scale carrier, using a scale catapult
 RL>> and tripwire recovery system, and only building Navy birds?  The
 IM> Yep but you gotta remember that I only have a small pond:-)
We'll call you Captain Hazleton and you can christen the ship "Ian Valdez" 
~8-)
Seriously, I've seen control line carrier clubs that only built the boat from 
the waterline up on dry land.  I didn't mean a scale MODEL of a carrier... 
just a flight deck.  Perhaps something similar to a hi-start for launch.  The 
arresting system would have to be more complex... you could still use 
surgical tubing, but there would have to be some kind of sensing mechanism 
that senses when the plane has stopped pulling on the tube and releases 
tension (quickly) lest the plane repeat the flight backwards.
Of course, if you really want to go crazy, you can build a lower deck, 
complete with an elevator, and buy a bunch of Tamiya Clodbusters for R/C 
towing vehicles.  Only problem is going to be finding a crew of 1/8 scale R/C 
airmen (seamen?) to refuel and clean the birds.
 RL>> for their recon drones.... a verticle net is hoisted into the air
 RL>> and the plane is flown into it.  It has horizontal members at the
 IM> This is a good one. I will think on that for a while.
I wouldn't recommend it for fine scale birds, or something with a very light 
wing, but it should be fine for anything with a foam core, especially 
ssed.
C-ya! Rich
--- GoldED 2.40
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