New Sofa

After 17 weeks of waiting our new sofa finally made it from China and was delivered. I was given a 7 hour delivery window and of course it came during the 30 minute period that I was on a conference call :( Anyway - it's here now and looks great... just need to keep the cats off it now!

J's 40th - in Cornwall

To celebrate J's 40th birthday, A and I went to Cornwall for the weekend. There was much celebration (once we left Newquay) and some near death experiences (for A) when we tried some land-kite-surf-boarding on a nearby beach. Despite the near death a good time was had by all and there was even some sun to enjoy our Rick Stein fish and chips with. More pics linked in title.

Merc - new brakes

Yay - it's been ages but I finally got round to pulling a car apart again. OK, no massive modification here - just a straightforward brake replacement - but nice to get my hands dirty anyway and saved ~£150 compared to having Merc do it for me!

Vibram Fivefingers KSO

Well, if there are good enough for Sergey from Google then they're good enough for me. Going to try these as my next set of trainers and see what they're like. Downside - needed new socks too!

Nick and Britta's Wedding

Just got back from a fantastic wedding. The rain held off (long enough) and we even managed a BBQ in the evening. N&B had a great time - photos linked in the title...

Walkera V120D02

Whilst my 4G6S is in repair I've ordered one of these - it is flybarless which means more simple to fix and more fun to fly. The best bit is that it shares most of its parts with the 4G6S and uses the same transmitter. Should be here later this week...

4G6S Rebuilt (again)

Another crash and another rebuilt later. This time I borrowed some parts from the V120D02 bin, which gives a nice red canopy and more importantly, a taller tail fin to stop those tail strikes. Ready for flying this weekend!

MBK

Went for a great late afternoon ride today - highlights include a 32mph 'both wheels fully locked' skid nearly missing a tree on a newly found patch of downhill, and a great mile long downhill path on the way home... made it up 'Impossible Hill' too :)

McCulloch M53-675 DWA

Having used M's petrol mower for the last few weeks I've decided it is time to buy my own. Found this nifty little 4-stroke with a load of cool features such as auto-mulch and self-priming easy start. Also has a plastic box (not fabric) so won't rot. Next question - can I modify the electronics of a Roomba to guide it autonomously...?

Barnes Rugby

Had a great Sat with Thomsons watching the Rugby at Barnes. The day got better as they won 43-12 automatically promoting them in the process. Lots more pics linked in the title...

Heli Flying...

Had a great day flying at the park. Starting to get the hang of it too. Had some amusing crashes though - hit a tree twice, and went through another set of blades and tail gears. Batteries charging ready for tomorrow... more pics linked in the title.

BBQ

It was hot. We had charcoal. There was cold beer. BBQ :)

Canon Pixma MG6150

My old HP ran out of ink again, which was the perfect time to get a new printer :) The MG6150 is faster to print, can do duplex printing and is totally wireless - plus it gets rid of all the HORRIBLE HP software from my computer!!!

4G6S Back in action!

After a late night rebuild my heli is back in working order. It took an hour to put everything back on, and another 15 mins to balance it all out. Am now looking forward to my next crash...urg, I mean flight!

Mini DV Camera

Check this out - 5cm tall, 19g weight and takes 480p footage direct to mini-sd card. Perfect to try and capture some of these crashes from on-board the helicopter... should also be useful filming my mountain-bike crashes... available for £13 now - link in title!

CRASH!

Oops - was getting a bit too brave and got disorientated - heli came down upside down fast and missed the grass, hitting the tarmac. I reacted badly by slamming the throttle wide open. The resulting crunch followed by a little 'funky chicken' was somewhat painful to witness. I've broken the tail boom, tail drive, main gears, lower chassis, canopy and a set of blades - total cost - £22 in P&P :(

E-Flite Blade 450

Am getting used to the smaller helicopter now - so time for something a little larger - and more capable in the wind. My decision was made just in time to pre-order the newest 450 size heli on the market - the E-Flite Blade 450 (link in title). It is about 2.5 times the size of the Walkera and a lot more powerful. Spares should be easier to find too. It should be shipped in a few weeks...

Nitro Heli

After a long hibernation J tried to coax his nitro heli into the air - it didn't quite make it... :(

First flight of Walkera 4G6S

So, after much simulator practice, and several hops around the floor of the house I finally took my helicopter out for a proper fly. It was a bit windy - but I only crashed it once (luckily not caught on camera). It is much more stable than I was expecting and coped with the wind well. This was the last flight (of four) so the batteries are starting to go...

New Mouse - RAT 9

I bought a new mouse today having seen it in WIRED magazine. The RAT 9 is totally customisable to your hand...and looks, well, like some kind of robotic snack :) The base station also doubles as a charger and weight carrier (yes, weights so you can alter the feel of the mouse). Totally OTT - I love it!!!

Broken Tail Gears

Second flight - stripped the tail gears out - making flying a bit dizzy... Luckily this was a 10 min fix - have to order some spares now :)

Walkera 4G6S First run

So - here it is spinning up for the first time. Nothing dramatic and I am taking it very slow! Made a couple of hops... but no serious flight yet... to be honest - am not sure if it is set up properly yet - have lots of reading to do!

Walkera 4G6S - RC Helicopter

Been wanting a rc heli for several years - but the technology just wasn't able to provide what I wanted. Well, at last I found something suitable after reading a Wired ad. It's small, electric, fully articulated and way WAY less than the £1200 I was looking at a few years back. I got a pack with 5 spare blade sets and bought some training gear :)

Tree Disaster!

Disaster - it appears a tree has fallen over and crashed through our fence at the back of the house.... Luckily there appears to be nothing hurt other than the fence panel. Am now wondering how to remove said tree without causing any more damage...

New Android Blogger App

Thought I'd test it...