Sure Fire Investment

The Pilgrims had fled to the shores of this unsettled land to escape persecution and find the freedom to worship God as they saw fit. Their first year was extremely difficult. Disease wiped out over half of the original colonists. Its hard to imagine the emotional and physical challenges they faced daily. Yet as they gathered their hard-won harvest in the fall of that first year, they took the time to give thanks to their Creator. Im not sure I could be so thankful if I watched family and friends die. Im not sure I would have been thankful while breaking my back just to survive. But they knew that even in the face of hardship and grief, they were blessed. They had more than they needed. The Pilgrims arent the only ones who have led thankful lives. More recent generations have struggled through hardship of their own, including two world wars and the Great Depression. Those living in those times knew what it was like to do without.

Yet they were thankful for living in the greatest country on earth. How times have changed! The only reason we miss a meal nowadays is because were on a diet. Many buy new clothes just to have the latest color or style. The national savings rate is at an all-time low and spending is up. What lessons can we learn from our founding fathers and our grandfathers that will help us achieve a better balance in our own lives? First, we have to stop defining wealth by our quantity of material possessions. Its an old saying, but there are many things that money cant buy: love, health, family, and friends. When is the last time you measured the value of those kinds of assets? Second, we need to refocus our investments.

I dont mean investments of money, of course, but investments of ourselves: our time, our attention, our love. Ive been doing just that. Earlier this year, I made the decision to give up my nice office in town and start working from home. This wasnt done for financial reasons, but from an inner conviction that I needed to spend more quality time with my wife and children. Many children dont get to spend much time with their grandfather. Often its because his time and energy are invested in urgent activities. He is missing the opportunity to leave a legacy that is far more important then money.

Three ways to build model airplanes

There are three ways to build any of the above model airplanes:

Get a Kit
The most popular and the easiest option to build a working model airplane is by using an aircraft kit. The kits contain all the parts you need plus detailed instructions what to do with them. Some kits are called almost-ready-to-fly which means they are, well, almost built. You just can't go wrong with them! Well, you can, but it takes some talent.

If you have never build a flying model airplane before, using a kit is the most recommended option.

Use Plans
What, building with a kit is not challenging enough for you? You are not alone! A lot of people prefer to build everything themselves. They only need a detailed plan since they are not aviation engineers. Many plans can be found online for free and some are sold for just few bucks.

How hard is to build an airplane like that? It depends on the model complexity, the material and your experience.

electric wheelchairs

There are also some dual electric wheelchairs, which are fit for both indoor as well as outdoor use. Some criteria required for this kind of electric wheelchair, in addition to the guidelines for indoor electric wheelchairs include the following:
1. Users must have adequate field and acuity of vision to be safe on public roads.
2. Users should have the ability to comply with DVLC requirements for motor vehicle drivers concerning epilepsy and other causes of loss of consciousness.
3. Users should not require accessories, modifications or special seating outside of the range supplied by the powered chair manufacturer.
4. Users should comply with the manufacturer's recommended occupant weight limit for the chair.
5. Users should have a residential environment, which is compatible with the use of a dual-purpose powered chair, and which includes a suitable storage area and power supply for battery charging.
6. Users should have a local outside environment that is accessible by a dual-purpose powered chair and compatible with its use.
7. Users should have the capacity to derive significant improvement in their independence and quality of life through use of a dual-purpose powered chair.

They dont look exactly like training wheels, but training landing gear parts can provide the same extra stability for a beginner pilot of radio control helicopters. Though this landing gear doesnt have any effect on the flight of the helicopter, it can be a true equipment saver when you are learning to land.

So what is this gyro thing mentioned when discussing the number of channels you need? Remember in school physics when they taught you that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction?

When the main rotors on radio control helicopters spin, the body of the helicopter wants to spin with just as much force in the opposite direction. The tail rotor provides the necessary force to keep the body of the helicopter facing in the direction you want. Wind and other factors will also try to spin your helicopter, making constant adjustments necessary on the speed of the tail rotor.

What a gyro does is takes these extra forces into account to control the tail rotor adjustments for you. Most pilots of radio control helicopters wouldnt hit the skies without their gyro.

radio control kits

While you may hear that a 4-channel radio is the absolute minimum and will work, using this type of radio requires you to combine the link throttle and collective pitch onto one servo. Having at least 5 channels allows you to put these on separate channels and greatly increases your helicopter's capabilities and fun factor!

In my opinion,if your radio control helicopters or kits dont come with a radio transmitter and receiver you need to know the basics you will be looking for in a radio. While you can use many airplane radios for helicopter flying, youll get the best control and enjoyment if you have a radio specifically designed to work with helicopters. These have a few helicopter specific utilities such as mixing functions to give you more control over your radio control helicopters.

The next question is how many channels will you need? The radio used for helicopters should have at least 5 channels: throttle, collective pitch, tail rotor pitch, fore-aft cyclic control and left-right cyclic control.

But if you are going to buy a radio, you should go ahead and pay the few extra dollars for at least 6 channels. This will allow you some room to grow and add accessories to your radio control helicopters. And if you plan to use a gyro this 6th channel is a must.

What types of batteries do radio control vehicles use?

There are a few common types of radio control batteries:

Zinc-carbon This is the technology of inexpensive dry cell, non-rechargeable batteries such as AA, AAA, C, and D. Zinc and carbon serve as the electrodes while an acidic paste serves as the electrolyte.

Alkaline This is the technology of the more expensive dry cell, non-rechargeable batteries. Duracell and Energizer are two of the most popular manufacturers of alkaline batteries. These batteries have zinc and manganese-oxide as their electrodes and an alkaline compound as the electrolyte.

NiCd Nickel Cadmium radio control batteries are rechargeable with nickel-hydroxide and cadmium electrodes and potassium hydroxide as the electrolyte.

NiMH Nickel-metal hydride batteries are also rechargeable. They have a nickel hydrogen and a hydrogen absorbing alloy as the electrodes and potassium-hydroxide as the electrolyte.

Lithium polymer These have lithium nickel cobalt oxide-based and carbon based electrodes with a polymer biphasic electrolyte. (Say that ten times quickly!)

keep the running temperature of the engine

The lubrication in the fuel can also help keep the running temperature of the engine desirably low. But you cant rely on too much of a good thing.

While more oil may keep temperatures even lower, it also lowers the ratio of nitromethane in the fuel, which is responsible for the actual amount of power transferred to the vehicle. But putting in too little oil to make room for more of the nitro can result in overheated, worn down engines in which extra power wont do much good.

The nitromethane content of a fuel is what it is generally rated on. This is the fuel that results in power in the vehicle.

Typical radio control car gas has a nitro content of about 10% - 20%, but many enthusiasts experiment with their own levels to achieve the mixture of power results and long engine life they are looking for. Larger radio control cars may benefit from higher nitromethane ratios, but remember the warning about too much of a good thing.