1P = 1000W

....where P is equal to Picture and W is equal to Word(s).

Building an engine -- or an airplane -- there are times when I fail to
provide a lot of detail, partly because I ASSUME everyone KNOWS those
pesky little details. Which makes me something of a fool.

How much black-powder makes a safe load.

Rig-stitching uses a net-knot.. or a seine knot, the SAME knot you use
to make the net for a basketball hoop. Or a laundry bag. Or a
grocery bag. Or an abalone bag... And I grew up assuming EVERYONE
knew that stuff because I knew it, as did all the kids I grew up with.

Melting lead to make bullets.

Figuring out how much Wheel-Weight Lead you had to mix with Plumber's
Lead to get a bullet that would be hard enough to NOT lead the barrel
of your Springfield, for which you paid all of $17.95 from Monkey
Ward. (How? You cast your alloy into a .50 cal. BALL then dropped it
from a height of seventy-two inches... then measured the width of the
flat spot. Soft, as in pure lead, your flat spot was as wide as it
could be. Hard, as in pure wheel-weights, your flat spot was a LOT
smaller (Why? Because they add antimony to the lead to give it more
structural strength). So you melt a five-pound slug of Plumber's lead
[which you usta be able to buy at any hardware store] then you add
freshly scrubbed [and DRY!] wheel-weights to the pot. Used your Lymen
ladle to cast a couple of .50 balls, dropped them onto the top of the
anvil [rig a piece of water pipe as a 'bomb sight' so the ball starts
out centered on the anvil]. )

Didn''t EVERYONE do those things?

Apparently not.

Because I get messages asking... How do you...do this...or that.

And I tell them. But sometimes it takes a LOT of typing to tell
someone how to do something because there is never a straight line
between "How do I..." and having the guy actually DO IT.

Hand-propping an engine, 200cid or less... Mother's milk! Meaning
even BABIES can do it!

Welding. You only need a teacher to tell you when you've got the
flame just right. There it is! Just like that! Look at it! How can
you NOT remember it? It's the ONLY flame that does.... THIS... to the
edge of your practice coupon... Okay? And in fifteen minutes OR
LESS, he (or SHE! ...some of the better weldors are females. I don't
know why, they just are ).

See the puddle? Golden little pool. Watch how your perfect flame
creates and maintains your perfect puddle. You are in control of the
UNIVERSE when you can make that puddle, because once it is made, it
can be moved and married and made larger or smaller. RAISE the
perfect flame and the puddle cools... LOWER the perfect flame and the
puddle becomes a crater, is liable to erupt or do other strange
things. ANGLE your perfect flame and see Katrina right there in front
of you! Angle the flame and you've got Tidal Surge! The puddle is
the Eye of the Dragon and you are its master.

How long? Another fifteen minutes or so. Okay, sure; some people,
you show them once, they never forget. Other people, they learn it
like climbing stairs, needing a lot of little steps but that's the
Basics: Flame + Pool. After that, it's just a matter of Practice.

Doing just one airplane? Prolly take you about two weeks, working
full-time.

-Bob