I have had a lot of activity on my youtube channel lately. The IKEA assembly videos provides a good number of visitors, but these visitors comes here just to check out how to assemble something. They do not stick arount and become subscribers to my channel. So:

1. My pliers video has become a highlighted video on core77.com – an interior design website. You can see it here. www.core77.com

2. I have started to add some electronics videos to my youtube channel. I should probably have done that long ago. First of all, the maker community makes electronics popular again, and also it is something I can talk about at length, without having to edit the resulting videos for hours.

3. The electronics videos has pulled in the subscribing public. I have increased the number of subscribers by 25% within a week.

4. Some quite famous youtubers have subscribed. First and foremost Steve Carmichael, who does great woodworking with a humourous twist. The second “celebrity” is msylvain59 who tears down electronic measurement equipment.

Over the last couple of days, I have been setting up an electronics workshop in the guest-room. First of all, it is much nicer than the old one in the R/C scale workshop, and secondly it’s in the house, and no longer in the un-heated toolshop downstairs.

Also, I have decided to use it for storing my vintage computer collection.

So, what is going to happen to the workshop downstairs? Well, I was running out of space there, and I will be using the bench-space that I freed up for my laser-cutter and future CNC machine. So all is well there.

Fixed a bug that shows the “Comments” title on some pages that should not display it, including the front page.

Today I modified the php to remote the text “Permalink”. Nerdy text is for the developers, it should not be shown in the site.

The current system where the user has to click a post, before he or she can leave a comment is illogical. Unfortunately, comments are linked to the last post in the category, so it is imperative that the last post in a category never change. A perfect job for this is a “related categories” post that I have added to the end of each and every category page. At the same time, I added comments to the code for each page. I need that since woodworking contents is shown on individual pages, while R/C Scale models are shown on posts arranged by categories.

Finally, I fixed the HTML header so that it displays the category name, and not the name of the first article in that category.

I have now fixed the lightbox issue, as well as doing a nice front-page. The idea is that the user gets an overview of what is on the website and stays on the site. The old theme did not have this layout, and the users had to use pull-down menus to get an idea of the contents of the website.

I have been to several museums lately, and have lots of walk-arounds of many of the aircraft I am modelling. The photos will appear here as soon as I have them all transferred from the cameras and sorted by aircraft type.

I also had the pleasure of meeting an old Spanish paratrooper, who use to fly, and jump from, the Spanish-built Ju-52’s during the Spanish Civil War. He even showed me around in “his” Ju-52, which is now being restored in Spain. Very cool.

I have finally solved most of the problems with the new layout.

1. The website has 3 modes: Mobile, Tablet and PC. The tablet mode gave problems, due to the large number of menu items I use. I have disabled the the tablet mode, and the website now runs fine.
2. Removed the secondary menu.
3. Display categories in full, not minimized.
4. Update logo and slider graphics.
5. Remove all references to google in the php code, so that my website does let google track my users.
6. Remove the scroll-up arrow on the left side of the screen.
7. Remove the grey area after each post (navigation.php).
8. Resize the jesperbroe.com picture on the front page.
9. Dots in the main-screen slider are at the wrong position.
10. Limit the amount of search results to 10.

What I still need to fix is:

1. Add a grey shadow around each picture.
2. There is a grey area where the secondary menu used to be.
3. Item (5) above generates runtime problems in the java script. It is not something people notice, but it should be fixed.
4. The lightbox I am using does not work for pictures stored in the gallery plugin.
5. Following the instructions at https://smthemes.com/support/topic/howtodisablemobileandtabletmodes/ does not work, resulting in editing posts generates the white screen of death.

As my frequent visitors may have noticed, I have a new screen-layout. The main idea behind it, is to get a more modern layout that also works on mobile phones and tablets. I think I have achieved that 99%. There are still a few loose ends, in particular:

1. When the screen is horizontal on a mobile phone. The websites displays every single menu item, which does not work well in my case, due to the amount of menu items on my website.
2. The same screen mode as above does not show up very well on a PC in internet explorer and firefox, since the main menu names are displayed, but the sub-menu items are not.
3. The menu does not show on Google Chrome on a PC, if it is set to standard menu. It does show up, though, if it is set to fade.
4. Videos that I have entered have a fixed width. That does not play along with the feature where the website now can be shown on a mobile phone. I will have to think of a way to make the embedded videos fit to page.
5. As (4), but with the buttons I have placed on the front panel.
6. I will have to make a nice front panel, split into sections, with each section showing the latest posts from that section, so that the user does not have to go through all the menus before finding what he or she is looking for. As it it, only a few bothers navigating through all the menus to find what they want. Instead the look at the front panel and leaves the website again.

The electrical wiring in my house is from 1930. That was back before plastic was invented – when people thought it was a good idea to use fabric covered wires and conducting metal ducts. There are leakage currents running, and on one outlet the low-current LED bulbs starts flashing when I switch off the lights. That’s just wrong. So, I will have rip all the electrical wiring out, and re-do it from scratch.

The house has four groups. 1) The first one contains the 400V circuits. These are for the washing machine, tumbe-dryer and the stove. All of these are using new plastic insulated wiring. 2) The second group is in the workshop. I have already changed these wires for modern ones when I refurbished the workshop. 3) The third group of wires were installed in 1999 when the overhead wires to the house were removed and the house got fed from under-ground wiring. This group of wires are also new. 4) The last group is the original wires that was put in in 1930. This group supplies the lighting and power plugs on the 1st and 2nd floor. Since these fittings were originally fed from above (when the overhead wires were still in use), this entire net branches out from a single wire at the attic. The net is then fed from a wire that comes in from the new under-ground feed wires. So, that group is a bit of a mess.

I will add some photos to the wires in the attic later. It is no wonder that there are some leakage currents running. The fabric covered wires are running in metal pipes, and the junction boxes are also metal, and in many places without any covers. They just have to be changed NOW! So, unfortunately, there is not much time for R/C scale building right now.

I am daily receiving 5-600 spam messages from robots that try to sneak advertising through my spam filter. Although the spam filter is quite efficient, the spammers are still loading pages from my server and adding comments that I have to store on my server, until I have time to delete them. In other words, they are a drain on my bandwidth, and slowing down the site. To get rid of it, I have added a feature that blocks access to the site, from know spammers. I have banned four IP addresses to date, all coming from the Ukraine. These four IP addresses are responsible for over 90% of the garbage I receive. Now, instead of accessing the website, they get a message that their IP address has been blocked. HA!

I have added a “scroll back to top button”. It appears when the user scrolls down, and should help with navigating those very long build-posts.

One of the databases had grown to be 34 MB in size. I have now uninstalled the plug-in and deleted the database. The website is now blazing fast. I will be re-installing the plug-in and will follow the database’s size. If it grows uncontrollably, I will find another plug-in.

I have added two more instructional videos. I have started using some close-ups. Also, it might be good to show several views of the same operation, to make it more interesting. Finally, I need a microphone to reduce the echo when recording in the workshop.

I am having some trouble with the CSS for the website. I was trying to add a little camera image next to the links that have video, but for some reason the camera-image always shifts down. I have tried <p>, <div>, vertical-align, and also tried using a two-column table for each <li> bullet point, but to no avail. Any suggestions are much appreciated? The bullets, by the way, are made using a background image.

Today I have cleaned up several links on the website, so that it is easier to access from a mobile phone or a tablet. I was supposed to go to the shop to build a spray-booth, a paint holder and some shelves, but work got in the way. Oh well – Maybe tomorrow.

I completed my first instructional video today. In the video I make a airbrush spray-booth that will fit in the corner of my workshop. It’s my first attempt at a video ever, but I think it went decent. I’m amazed how sloppy I am when speaking English. I have to focus on that in the future. Technically, I could use some better lighting in the shop, and an external microphone for the camera would help too. Anyway. The instructional is available here.

Life after Google is pretty good. There are lots of alternative sites for most things, that do not treat me as a commodity. The best I have found so far are ello.co and Dailymotion.com. While ello.co is completely without tracking, dailymotion.com does keep track of users for their internal use. Neither sells advertising.

I have opened an account with both.

www.ello.co/natureandtech

www.dailymotion.com/natureandtech

To be completely google-free, I will buy a Ubuntu based mobile phone. Damn, I miss Nokia. Their smartphones may have been late, but at least they had moral fibre.

I have also fixed a “bug” in the template that disabled video playback on internet explorer. It was for backwards compatibility with i.e. 7. I have deleted that tag. If people have not upgraded to i.e. 11, then that’s their own fault.

I have had enough of Google and am boycotting the company from now on onwards. Today I was blocked from commenting on a video on youtube, because I did not have a google+ account. That, in itself, was not the straw that broke the camel’s back. What did it for me, was when I read Google’s terms and conditions.

In exchange for commenting on a youtube video, they want to be able to read my e-mails and track everything I do, what websites I visit and my physical location. Is that a fair exchange? I don’t think so! On top of that, any contents I upload to their services are the property of Google! They have the rights to use, publish, distribute and modify it as and when they like. In other words, they own everything I upload.

The worst thing Google has ever done, though is to change people’s mindset. People have become immune to total surveillance. Most of the technology takeovers over the last 4-5 years have been because of the massive amount of user information they could acquire. We are now starting to see companies using the same methods in real life, creating a world I do not want to live in.

If my local baker demanded to read my e-mails before handing over a loaf of bread, I would tell him to go and die. The same applies directly to Google and all the other marketing assholes out there: FUCK YOU ALL!

So, I have taken the consequence, and urge everyone else to do the same. I am now uploading my videos locally. With HTML5 that is a no-brainer. I have removed the links on my website to Google Map Maker, and all links to their sites have been removed, and I have bought a $12 “dumb” phone from Samsung. Although it does not have a SatNav, my car does have one, so that is fine.

Here are some alternatives.

My new workshop is about 95% done. I still have a bit of electrical wiring left, but I can start using it now. I have bought several sheets of ply and the rest of the wood I have already.

Now, I only need to complete some plans. For the time being I am working on the Mitsubishi F1M2 Pete. Right now, I can get 4-5 hours in every night after work, so I should be able to start on it real soon.

The web ranking for this site is now: 4,461,064. Up about three million positions since 2014. Also, for the first time my website is reportedly worth something to the advertisers – US$240 per year. HA!

I just can’t believe it has been almost two years since my last update. It sure doesn’t feel that long. Anyways, I am now almost done fixing up my workshop. I have done the walls, the floor, added tables and work-benches, and installed a ton of machinery. I plan to be 100% up and running at the end of the year.

My latest project is the eVector EV-55M. I think I will be able to complete it really quickly. The next will be the Mitsubishi Ki-46 Dinah. I am almost done drawing it. After that I think the Fieseler Fi-167, the Orlogsværftet O-Maskine, the Dornier Wal and the Potez 62 will be next. Let’s see.

In any case, my page-ranking should improve when I start updating the site again.

Firstly, I have been translated into Russian – here.

Secondly, wikipedia has referenced me again – this time their article about Sylvest Jensen.

Thirdly, there is this one.

I have been copied! Someone selling a KZ-VII has copied my articles and photos lock-stock-and-barrel, without my permission. I must admit it pisses me off. At least he could have added a reference and a link to my website.

I have sent him a mail and kindly asked him to take down the infringing material.

Wikipedia is now linking to my site – from the list of aircraft starting with the letter O.’

World of Warplanes, a websited dedicated to flight-simulators now has an entire thread dedicated to my site.

There is now also a link form 123people.se. It is not really related, but I think a back-link is in order.

I have started doing a couple of hours of modelling work each day. It starts to give results. I have finished several elevators, and started cleaning up a couple of airplanes. It is not as efficient as doing 8 hours in one go, but 2-3 hours a day eventually brings results – Slow and steady wins the race.

Nothing much has happened here over the summer. I have been travelling mostly, taking walk-arounds. The great thing that has happened, though, is that people in the aviation community is starting to discover my website and also started linking to me. At this point in time, when my R/C Scale plans are starting to get completed, this kind of word-of-mouth advertisement is invaluable. Great stuff!

I have just ordered three O.S. Engines:

• O.S. 1.20AX 4-stroke engine with pitts muffler.
• O.S. 0.91FX Supress III with muffler.
• OS. 0.61FX without muffler.

I am not sure what engine goes in what airplane yet, but by following the rule-of-thumb where 1 lbs of model requires 1/10 sq. inch of engine, I should be able to find a home for them.

I just got a new driver for my graphics card. It’s odd that ASUS does not release new ones, as and when the AMD drivers are released. Going for the generic AMD driver (which is 8 months newer than the ASUS driver) solved all the OpenGL dual-buffer problems I have had. My productivity will surely go up because of this.

My web-site is now the 7,487,000 most popular website on the entire internet. Sounds bad, but it’s up from 25,402,609 6 month ago.

I have started looking at webshop solutions. At the moment I am leaning towards Magento. I was going to do some airplane designs this holiday, but my laptop screen is way too small, so I have instead been looking at installing Magento locally on my harddrive, just to get a feel for it.

A quick test shows that I have a lot of top rankings in Google, when users search for the name of the aircrafts on my site.

It is quite obvious that I am doing things right – The number of visitors to my website increases with about 2% per DAY. Tests also shows that my ranking in Google for really popular aircraft such as the DHC-1 Chipmunk is worse than for more rare aircraft. So, to continue, I will have to continue what I am doing, but trying to focus on aircrafts that are very interesting but rare. Luckily that suits me really well.

Unable to get any work done this holiday. My laptop is just not powerful enough. Mostly the screen is too small.

My web-site is now the 25,402,609th most popular website on the entire internet. Sounds bad, but it’s up almost 3.7 million places since last year.

I am on the lookout for a place for rent that I can use as my new toolshop. I am going to see one this Monday. If everything works out, I will rent it. My main concerns are the sound-proofing, heating, electricity and whether the door/stairs are wide enough to get the finished models in and out of. Let’s see…

I have embarked on a program to increase visitor numbers. It is important, since I want to sell my plans and accessories online by next year. To do this, I have decided to

1. Add more links to other websites.
2. Expand on the subjects on the site.
3. Write about subjects that people have requested.
4. Add more videos and walk-arounds.

I am already on the top of Google when searching for most of the aircraft that I am modelling, so I don’t really have to do any search engine optimization. I will instead have to keep updating the blog regularly. To do this, I will analyze the website logs, to see what people are searching for.

I have just watched the Danish F4C Championships on youtube. It is immediately obvious that very few people enjoy this sport in Denmark. This is both good and bad. Good because I will stand a chance, but bad because there are so few to discuss and spar with.

This video is not by me, I am just linking to this video. You might want to turn down the sound, it is truly awful.

Anyway, I have set the goal of becoming Danish F4C Champion within three years, with one of my own models. To achieve this, I will have to join a club and get me a pilots A license. All the licensing and large-scale inspection is new to me, as it was not an issue when I was living abroad. I guess this is something I will have to get used to, now that I am back in the industrialized (and well regulated) world.

I have started thinking about building a model of the Supermarine Nanok. Only one Supermarine Nanok was ever built, and there is only a handful of photos available of it. The actual aircraft was not performing satisfactorily, and was returned to the manufacturer, where it was later rebuilt as the Supermarine Solent.

Also, I am planning a trip to Poland from December 22nd to January 2nd. Most likely all shops will be closed, and I will be confined to the hotel room. This will be the perfect opportunity to complete some of my airplane drawings.

On the website statistics, I see a lot of interest in my R/C scale models, and I do get the occasional e-mail, but not quite as many as I had hoped. If you see anything here you like, or dislike, or think is missing, please let me know. I am always willing to learn something new, and always more than willing to share.

Although my intentions are to eventually sell my R/C scale plans, I feel I can best do my bit to promote this great (but unfortunately small) hobby, by sharing my knowledge. In fact, this is what this website is all about. Instead of simply just presenting a set of plans, I take the time to show the development and build process here.

So, if you have any questions, or would like some more detailed information on some of the subjects I have written about, leave me a note and I will surely get back to you.

Jesper

Since the plans for this years winter builds are reaching completion, I will, in earnest, start working on the CAD drawings for next years planes. These are:

• Cessna T41D Mescalero
• Curtiss Hawk II
• Farman Jabiru
• Focke-Wulf Fw-200 Condor
• Grumman Widgeon
• H-Maskinen
• J1 Jager
• MiG-8 Utka
• SAI KZ-III
• SAI KZ-IV
• Scottish Aviation Twin Pioneer

I have already started some of these, but they all need a lot of work, before they are of any use.

The Fieseler Fi-167 is an ongoing project.

Winter is approaching, and I am working flat out trying to get the CAD plans for this winter’s builds ready. My approach is to complete all the parts that need plywood first, as they require a band-saw. All other parts can be cut manually with a scalpel or a hacksaw. So, with that in mind, I sat down and worked all weekend. I am happy to say that I got quite a bit further. Here are the aircraft that I want to complete as soon as possible:

• deHavilland dH-104 Dove
• DHC-1 Chipmunk
• Fieseler Fi-167
• Messerschmitt Me-108 Taifun
• Mitsubishi F1M2 Pete
• Monospar S.T.25
• O-Maskinen
• Potez 62
• SAAB 340B
• SAAB T-17

Taking these aircraft in turn:

deHavilland dH-104 Dove. This aircraft is just so lovely. It needs a lot of work on it, to get it to the stage where it is ready for cutting wood. Most noticeably, it needs the wings, engine nacelles, landing gear, rudder and a general clean-up of all the parts.

The DHC-1 Chipmunk has been almost done for quite some time, and this weekend I decided to bring it closer to completion. It was a very busy day yesterday, and I got the ailerons done. Unfortunately, they still need some tweaking, but I am getting there. This airplane needs flaps, rudder, elevators, landing gear, canopy and a general clean-up of all the parts.

The Messerschmitt Me-108 has been on hold for quite some time. It is still not certain whether I will get it completed, or whether I will go for the Curtiss Hawk II instead. However, last week, I managed to get the fuselage formers to a state where they are usable, so if time permits, I will continue to work on it from time to time.

The Mitsubishi 1F2M Pete is one of my all-time favourite airplanes. It is remarkably complete, and with a bit of clean-up of the fuselage formers and after drawing the wing ribs, I could probably start cutting some plywood pretty soon.

The Monospar S.T.25 is on hold until I get a better photo of the elevator and rudder hinges. I’ll have to visit the Technical Museum again some time soon.

O-Maskinen is almost done. I will have to do the engine box, the landing gear, the struts and the rudder. It should not take long to complete.

I saw the Potez 62 by chance, and I love it. I have been working on it quite exclusively, and I have now completed the wing. The rest of the aircraft is a simple frame with plywood sheeting, and should be very easy to complete. I am working flat-out on this one.

The SAAB 340B is one of my favourite airliners. It has been on hold for a while, but I have recently started working on the wings, the centre-section and the engine nacelles. With a bit of dedication, I should be able to complete this design pretty soon too.

The SAAB T-17 is my “test plane”. All new build-techniques will be tested out on this airplane first. The CAD drawings are done, with the exception of some fuselage stringers and the landing gear. I will improvise and do those when building the actual aircraft, and then update the drawings afterwards, to reflect the actual build.

The number of visitors to my blog has been steadily increasing, since the day I first put it up. This month we rounded 4000 visitors. While not exactly a high-traffic website, this is over 100 a day, and the number is climbing.

As I start building the actual planes, this number should increase dramatically.

Thank you everybody!

Hi there,

I have added this blog to the website, as I sometimes want to discuss things that do not fit the other categories. So far, I have been using the “Site History” page for announcements, but this has not been ideal, and very few people actually read this page.

Unlike the build-threads, the blog has the posts ordered in reverse chronological order, with the newest entries on top.

Jesper