How is "Lockdown" going for you?

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Martin
Posts: 744
Joined: 16 Feb 2018, 14:11
Location: Warwickshire

Re: How is "Lockdown" going for you?

Post by Martin »

Regarding the "do you know anyone personally that's had it?" question, the numbers mean that it's unlikely for most people, so far.

With a reported death count of about 20,000 in the UK out of a population of 70 million, that's only about one person dead out of every 3,500. And the number of people who're sure they've had the disease (tested positive) is about 120,000 - so that's still only one person out of every 600. And remember, the hot spots for the breakout are London and other big cities, so if you live away from those, the fractions in your area are even lower.

So unless you number your personal friends, relatives, and colleagues in the hundreds or thousands, you're unlikely to know a victim personally, yet.
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PaulJ
Posts: 598
Joined: 16 Feb 2018, 19:01
Location: Ipswich, UK

Re: How is "Lockdown" going for you?

Post by PaulJ »

jackdaw wrote: 19 Apr 2020, 14:57 Anyone on here know of any cases first or second hand? What are your thoughts.
Yes...... There are at least two cases in our village. One is the father of one of the kids at my granddaughter's school, I don't know the other. I'm told that at the beginning of last week there were five cases in the Care Home in the next village. One is a lady we knew slightly before she went into the home. Apparently she is expected to recover. I also know a couple living near Brighton who both had it at the beginning when Brighton was a "hot spot". Both recovered but said it was just a really nasty bout of flu.

So I can assure you this thing is real........

Paul

UPDATE: I have just been informed that a former work colleague (not someone I have kept in touch with) has died of Covid 19.
Last edited by PaulJ on 21 Apr 2020, 14:52, edited 1 time in total.
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_AL_
Posts: 160
Joined: 17 Feb 2018, 01:09
Location: Sydney Australia

Re: How is "Lockdown" going for you?

Post by _AL_ »

I happen to work for a large logistics company so to say we are busy would be an understatement. Jobs are still looking at risk but for now flat out. My team looks after the city of Sydney & the Eastern & Southern suburbs so right in the heart of the bulk of Covid cases for Australia, just to make it more exciting.....

In answer to the "do you know anyone with Covid", I know 3 people who have been infected. Thankfully one was completely without symptoms, one had mild symptoms & the 3rd was hospitalised but on the mend now.

I did manage 4 days off recently & made the most of it by fixing an 80s sailplane (Tbird) that had a nasty landing when the lift died while flying atop a 700m high mountain. A 2m span glider is mighty hard to see more than 1km away down in the valley & the landing was less than perfect resulting in a lot of damage.

Also repaired a newly acquired 3.5m sailplane from the same manufacturer. These were the ducks guts in Australia in the 80s.

I'm still deciding whether to build another Tomboy after the fly away or whether to build something else. I'm not sure what my next Balsa build will be.

Al
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Launching on the fateful flight. Landing way down below.
Launching on the fateful flight. Landing way down below.
Tbird before
Tbird before
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Wayne_H
Posts: 810
Joined: 17 Feb 2018, 05:26
Location: Temora, NSW. Australia
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Re: How is "Lockdown" going for you?

Post by Wayne_H »

Aahhhh Al, Ralph Learmont kits - great Aussie home grown products! I have 2 Learmont 1/4 scale Kestrels - one from an early kit with all the mechanical birdcage mixers and my home built Ace Silver 7 (circa 1979-80), which still flies a real treat & a yet to be completed late kit destined for modification to the Slingsby 19m version.

The Manilla hill is a beauty - I've never flown R/C from it but have soared it in my DG (after all the HG's had departed and there was nobody at the launch point). How many persons launching a model have slipped on that carpet & gone A over T (or base over apex) I wonder, & how far did they go before they stopped? :shock:
Cheers,

Wayne
Once a Retrobate, always a Retrobate............ ;)
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Sundancer
Posts: 122
Joined: 07 Jun 2018, 09:28
Location: Limousin, France

Re: How is "Lockdown" going for you?

Post by Sundancer »

How is it going? Surprisingly well actually; once the logistics concerning food supplies were sorted out via the local Intermarche "Click and Collect" system and we got into a routine we were able to adapt to the new reality; our lockdown has been extended to May 11th and although obviously missing some of our usual activities in our situation out in the country with a big garden and reasonable weather we are so much more fortunate than most. As for knowing anyone who has contracted the bug, thank God no-one amongst our friends here in France or family and friends back in the UK has reported sick so far. So far so lucky, but there is no way we will be taking risks once the restrictions start to ease, this thing is no joke and we have no wish to become statistics. However, I have to say I am looking forward to hopefully getting back, with appropriate precautions, to the flying field.

Having a hobby which can, to some extent, still provide occupation during the restrictions is a great help, without my modelling and Ali's photography we would have found it all much more difficult. The little "Lock Down Special" I designed and started building at the start has proved to be a great success and is now being flown regularly from the garden when conditions permit. It came out at 4.5 ounces RTF and delivers ten minutes of pleasant flight with a 320 2S lipo. Landing, of course, in the very restricted and tree infested garden is inevitably a challenge and the "hit" score so far is one garden chair (careless) and one tree (depth perception) but I am getting better and most flights now end on the grass. It is fun and is at least keeping the thumbs in trim. To add to this I have embarked on a more major build, a Fokker DVIII from a vintage Veron kit. With it's complicated struttery this is quite a time consuming build, ideal for the circumstances. Here is the Lock Down Special static and in action and the early stages of the Fokker. I am into the heavy wirework and soldering today - not my favourite part of a build but - hey, nothing else to do!
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bluejets
Posts: 316
Joined: 19 Jun 2019, 04:09

Re: How is "Lockdown" going for you?

Post by bluejets »

5 projects on the go here...tend to jump from one to the other.
Had to work today which put the mokkers on progress but back to the shed tomorrow.

First is a foam sheet model of a CH701 STOL aircraft. Just a little one for the park out back. Fuse done and start on the wing next week. First attempt at foam and it came out ...mmmmm ...ok I guess.

Next is the little sensitive drill for doing very small drilling maybe down to 20 thou.
Variation on the plans from Jerry E. Howell.

Next is a coil winder that has been sitting in the back of my mind for a couple of years now.
Primarily for having an attempt at ignition coils. Currently use GY6 and assoc circuits but would like to have a go at doing the coils myself.

Then there are the miniature Oled gauges for my mate who is building a scale diesel hydraulic loco.
2 gauges, one for engine coolant and the other as a rev counter.
Both based on the same display arrangement and working well.
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Shaun
Posts: 1049
Joined: 15 Feb 2018, 21:49
Location: West Yorkshire

Re: How is "Lockdown" going for you?

Post by Shaun »

This is what happens when I decide to tidy up the workshop. I get distracted. I found these early Windy Kreulen Tx's in the workshop.
The gold one (valve) was in a dire state so I just had to refurb it. I built a 35mhz replica of this a number of years ago before I got my hands on the genuine article. 1 hr later, resprayed and looking something like. Now time to get back on with tidying up. Oh.. further distraction. I can smell BBQ. Time for food😀
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PaulJ
Posts: 598
Joined: 16 Feb 2018, 19:01
Location: Ipswich, UK

Re: How is "Lockdown" going for you?

Post by PaulJ »

Not much change from last week....... or the week before. Except that the Easter Holiday has finished and home schooling with my granddaughter has restarted :cry: . For the first couple of weeks there was a certain "novelty" to home schooling but now it has become a real drag. I was never cut out to be a teacher, particularly when the weather is nice! We have settled into a routine and life seems to have slowed down considerably. The roads are almost empty and there are just a lot less people around, it is almost like going back to the 1950s..... Our exercise routine consists of either a walk or cycle ride and instead of ignoring eachother, people actually say "hello" and some even want to chat, albeit from a distance of 2 mtrs away! I fear for the economic implications of what is happening but the lockdown does seem to have forced people to slow down and take stock. I think life will definitely change post virus and in some respects, for the better.....

So we press on, irregardless......

Paul
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Sundancer
Posts: 122
Joined: 07 Jun 2018, 09:28
Location: Limousin, France

Re: How is "Lockdown" going for you?

Post by Sundancer »

Paul is right about the change to a "1950's pace of life". It is, in normal terms, pretty quiet around here anyway but over the last 6 weeks we have become used to not seeing a single car pass on our lane and when we see someone out for a walk we tend to go out on the terrace and call a socially distanced "Bonjour" to them. The other really notable thing is the almost complete absence of con trails in the sky - being on one of the main airways south to the Med the sky, at this time of year, is usually laced with them. It might be bad for the economy, but must be good for the environment, as a glance at the pollution maps on the internet will confirm compared with the same time last year; it does pose the question, can we actually afford to go back to the "normal" situation of chasing constant economic growth whilst potentially destroying the planet?

As for modelling; the horrendous wire work of the Fokker DVIII has been accomplished as well as the tail surfaces, I am now on to the wings whilst waiting for the motor and ESC to arrive. Also, thanks to evening calm weather, I have had several more outings in the garden with the Lock Down Special and have solved he problem of landings - I simply let it glide into the six foot high softly receptive hedge. Works a treat, rather like "barrier" landings on an aircraft carrier, but without the damaging outcome.
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jackdaw
Posts: 165
Joined: 16 Feb 2018, 20:30
Location: Wet and Windy North Wales

Re: How is "Lockdown" going for you?

Post by jackdaw »

Well for me its not as quite. I live in a development house on the Southern edge of Abergele in North Wales. My neighbours are in the age range of 30's to early 50's and of a different generation with no interest in modelling/construction hobbies etc. So, although they are now around during the day we still do not speak. But, the noise level has increased considerably as they all undertake garden tasks and projects. Unfortunately I can't even join in and make my own noise as my arthritis in my knees, hips, spine and hands seems to be rapidly getting worse, so much so it may well make model flying undesirable in the near future.
At the bottom of my back garden is a stone wall which is the boundary for urban to country but I can't even fly out of the garden. Reason: I'm on the side of a hill and the garden slopes up towards the wall. Plus, beyond the wall is woodland rising up to the top of a 600ft hill. Near the rear of the garden I am higher than the ridge of the house so could easily launch and clear the house but would be flying over houses/the town - definitely not acceptable.
We may all be giving up if Bruce Simpsons video about the impending changes in NZ are a portent of the future attitude towards model flying there and in the rest of the world:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZB7l_tqoWw
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