Following last week's experiments with the spinning wheel, young Michaela left behind some come-in-handy sheets of metal...

... out of which I knocked up a battery carrier for the Special. The bits of metal were all a perfect size and needed only folding and tacking together. Another little job out of the way.

The Great Collector continues to accumulate desirable motors, this latest, an Alvis Firefly, being a particularly fine example. Of course, he's running out of space and so Counsel and I spent a wet Saturday morning shuffling things about to fit them all in. There's another two cars on the way which I haven't yet mentioned - more anon.

My flying chum is doing the annual inspection on the Beechcraft he operates. When I find time, I hope to pop along and have a look around - maybe do a bit of a write-up for these notes. In the season it often passes overhead and the sound is as distinctive and individual as any aircraft of its era. The Beechcraft, along with the Dakota, are two of my favourites.

And talking of seasons, I anticipate that the magneto re-magnetiser is going to come into its own this year as many of The Great Collector's cars have been standing idle for too long. The base and cores of the machine are complete and all I need to do is wind the coils and hook them up. In the world of aviation, neglect in the planning stage is often at the root of subsequent misadventure. The same appears to be true of coil-winding. So, first take a piece of firewood and turn it down to create a false core on which...

... an insulating sleeve is created from strips of stout paper - I used vinyl wallpaper as I have a small bolt kept for such occasions. Set the assembly in the coil-winding fandango (on loan from Awkward) after making up an end plate to take the weight.

Then wrap the sleeve in good quality insulating tape as a belt 'n' braces measure.

Pop the Perspex insulating plates on each end and begin the winds remembering to set the counter so that each coil is identical.

Top tip: To prevent tangling as the wire unravels, loosely wrap the spool in cardboard and set it on the floor below the core.

In not much time at all, however many ampere turns that you've carefully calculated will give you sufficient magic to re-magnetise your ailing magneto, the newly formed coil will be ready to be wrapped in the final protective layer of insulating tape. Slip the false wooden core from the windings and insert the steel column. Repeat the whole performance for the second coil and then retire for a well-earned glass of beer. Later - awake in the small hours after an insect had contrived to set off my landing's smoke alarm - it dawned on me that because I'd not thought things through from the outset, two days were wasted. Planning, preparation, prevents.... I should know the drill by now.