Flight Log: 05/30/2011

Three days in a row of the same ugly looking sky but it never really rained on us, and the winds were acceptable all day long everyday.  Tad and I got to the field before 9AM, got in 5 flights each, and were packing up by around 10:30!  He flew his Kaos and I flew my Intruder.  These were pretty evenly matched in speed as we raced them on low passes down the runway.  GREAT FUN!  My Intruder probably has a slight edge in speed, and of course good looks.  Both just scream down the field (speedwise, not noise wise), and perform huge maneuvers on rails.  They both also land pretty fast but today we hit the runway each time.  While my plane is quiet, Tad's is even quieter, so they are very stealthy and mellow sounding in the air.  At least for me, I have a new favorite plane in my squadron.

 

Note to self:  the adjustment to the stab incidence did not seem to matter on inverted flight.  Still needs the same amount of down pressure to maintain level inverted flight, perhaps half a stick diameter deflection.  The down incidence may have been counteracted by a click of up elevator trim.  I might need to move the CG rearward gradually.

Warbird Weekend 2011 Day 2

Our Warbird squadron was very small this year!

It was another great day at the field even though hardly anybody cared to show up!  It was another day of just essential guys there...Joe, Mike, Bob, Tad, and me, haha.  Also showing up late for just one flight was our prez Ron.  Great day though.  It was grey and overcast in contrast to what the weather man said it would be.  Nonetheless it was great because the rain held off, the wind was 7mph mostly straight out of the west and down the runway, and we flew and flew!  Got in 3 flights with the T-28 till one LG door almost fell off in midair, this time breaking between the door and the arm connected to the strut.  A heavy douse of CA at home made the plane ready for the next sortie.  The P-47 was flawless and I notched another 3 flights with it.  My takeoffs sucked but none were as bad as yesterday's almost fatal encounter with the windsock pole.  All landings however were pretty light and on the mains.  None nosed over except on the first one to try to taxi back to the pits.  After that one, I killed the engine on the runway and carried the plane back in.  All flights were exhiliarating and entertaining even to myself, lol.  The most fun was when Joe was up with ME-108 and Tad was up with his Kaos and we ran pattern doing low passes over the runway.  Holy moly, FUN!  Tad's was definitely the fastest, and mine the slowest.  Joe cartwheeled his ME-108 on the last landing by stalling and correcting late with the rudder, inducing a snap 3' off the ground and near the fence.  Happily the damage appeared pretty minor...broken wing tip and stab tip, broken wing mounts.  Joe will have it back up in no time.

Tad maidened his Kaos after breaking in the 46AX with a tank of fuel.  Mikes method to run kinda rich and then pinch the fuel line to the carb to momentarily lean the engine seemed to work very nicely...real cool idea that is so simple.  The engine started easily all day except when we tried to start it on an empty tank, haha, which both Tad and I thought I filled up.  Ok den, the engine ran well and is very quiet in the air.  The plane flew like a dream with very little trim needed.  Flies like the proverbial on rails, and it is FAST!  It even whistles like my Intruder!  Landings were fast, but we think he can add tail weight to improve inverted and KE flight, and also slow down the landing speeds.  What a great little plane that is so cheap!  Tad is super happy with the return to glow via this highly satisfying and high performing plane.

Tower Kaos 40 with OS 46AX

Takeoff for the maiden flight.

Warbird Weekend 2011 Day 1

It was an ugly day weatherwise, so only a few pilots showed up to fly besides me...Bob, Mike, and later Joe.  Thing is, it was flyable the entire time I was there!  Flew the T-28 four flights and the P-47 just once.  Had a horrible takeoff with the P-47 towards the east, and nearly hit the windsock pole!  Thought I had good speed on the ground when I lifted off the mains, but the plane wallowed in the crosswind and wandered with low air speed towards the pole.  Barely missed skewering it, but I did, and the rest of the flight was perfect.  Will try again tomorrow.  The T-28 was flawless in performance today.  The only maintenance required was that the LG doors separated from the struts and caused covering damage.  The zip ties held the doors on or else they would be out in the 80 acre sod farm somewhere.  I easily fixed them with a good dose of CA at home, and repaired the covering too.  She is ready for Day 2.

Wing Bags!

Made my own wing bags for the AW Ultimate today.  Cost was about $27 using bubble insulation from Home Depot(24"x25' roll) and a roll of Chrome colored Duck brand duct tape.  Ran out of the chrome at the end so I used yellow for the handles and strap hold downs.  The bag is basically about 72" long by 20" wide to fit the wings that are 68" long.  Will need to put 4 long pillow cases over each wing half to prevent stratching of the covering by the insulation.  Yes, smooth as it looks, the insulation etches the wing covering with every movement.  Here are some pics of the construction:

Intentional grain selection for bag to fold properly.

FINAL PRODUCT!

Flight Log: 05/22/2011

Logged in 3 more flights on the Intruder today, and maybe 4 on the SNAFU.  It was real breezy but everyone flew anyhow and we had a good time.  Tad and Jer came so that made it great.  Jer beat us to the field before 8:30AM and was done with a flight before we even arrived!  His repaired Yak 54 flies pretty good already and will be like the old one before long.  He just needs to get it trimmed out again, rebalanced, etc.  Tad flew his AW Extra 300 twice and had rock solid control and two great landings.  The wind helped slow down his Extra as well as my Intruder for nose high landings.  Joe's Swallow was great again, until elevator did not function in the middle of some snaps.  She came in upright but hard and left the biggest debris field I have seen yet.  The Magnum 90 was broken into three pieces, and the overall debris field was at least 50 feet long.  Sad because it was a great flying bird, and this was just the second day out, having maidened yesterday.  Auwe.  I am exhausted from the weekend flying, so I am happy, haha.  Had about 12 hours at the field in two days!

TRIMMING NOTE ON THE INTRUDER:  After this day of flying, I decided to raise the leading edge of the stabilizer by one full turn of the four set screws.  I am hoping that this will allow me to take out the 1% down elevator when top rudder is applied in KE, and also will make inverted flight even more effortless as far as stick pressure.  Looking forward to the next outing!

7 Flights of the INTRUDER!

After the photos for documentation that the plane existed at one time, I proceeded to range check the radio, then fly the Intruder. I am duly impressed and totally captivated by the flying characteristics of this plane. Holy Moly! It was so much fun that I ended up flying it for 7 flights today, typically 6-8 minutes per flight. It's a pure JOY to fly. On the maiden, she needed just a click of left aileron and about 4 of down elevator. After I landed, the ailerons and elevator were at most 1-2mm off the prior neutral positions. Later I added a click of right rudder for straighter vertical climbs. The plane went slightly to the canopy in KE, so I programmed in just 1% down elevator when either edge Is held. Inverted requires just slight down elev pressure, hardly any deflection of the stick. The OS 91 Surpass II with 13x9APC prop was perfect for speed and vertical climb. It doesn't seem to care that it is inverted. Landings were a bit fast but I shall get it slowed down with more flights on the plane. This is going to be one of my favorite planes. I just love stretching slow rolls out with the Intruder! Will take her out again tomorrow for more JOY! 

 

I also flew the SNAFU today for about as many flights as the Intruder!   I am totally exhausted from the great day of flying.  Joe maidened his CMP Swallow today too, and it flies good.  To get more speed he is going to try my 13x10APC pattern prop next time.  This will also give him 1/2" more ground clearance which he needs due to the soft retract gear that he installed on the plane.  It is a great looking bird:

 

Dean flew his new Yak-55M that he maidened on Thursday.  What a gorgeous plane that flies really well with the DLE-30 he has in it:

We were the ONLY ones at the field today!

Flight Log: 05/19/2011

Happy Birthday to me!  Went to fly on a gorgeous day of light breeze, near 70F, full on sunshine, and good company.  Dean was there today with his UCanDo AND his brand new Gold Wing Yak 55!  Oolahlah, it is super good looking to us old guys (him and me, haha), and with a DLE-30 it is a powerhouse.  I helped hold it down for him, and I also helped adjust trims for him as he flew it on the maiden.  Only needed a click of up and perhaps 2 clicks of left aileron.  He put 8oz of lead in the nose to hit the recommended CG, and I think it flies good for first flights.  Looks like he needed quite a bit of down elev to hold inverted.  I suggested leaving lead in for a few more getting to know you flights, but to take some out so less down elev is needed inverted, and to help slow the landings.  The first landing was already fairly slow, and ready to drop out of the air and hit the 2' bank at the east end of the field...I kept saying more up and more throttle.  He got in enough I guess, to land very softly.  Super great maiden flight so congrats to Dean.  We agreed he has a great new plane and probably a new favorite! 

I flew my Giles 202 and it was awesome again.  The muffler stayed on securely and got back its burbly idle and low throttle sound.  High end same as ever...BIG power.  Had just 2 flights.  Also flew the SNAFU for 3 flights, and it was like always too, light and happy, haha.  Stayed just over 3 hours today.  :)

Flight Log: 05/17/2011

Got distracted and forgot to post in my log the other day!  On Tues, I flew the Giles 202, and was the only one at the field while I was there.  On the first flight, the engine died suddenly in mid flight.  How come?  I landed in the field closeby without incident.  Came back and started the 160 right up, richened a bit, and took off again.  Had a full flight, but I noticed the engine note changed, and the idle was real high for landing.  Guessed that the muffler was loose.  Had to go around several times, each time trimming the idle lower.  Got down fine and inspected the plane.  Sure enough the muffler was dangling.   One bolt was missing, the other barely hanging on.

Came home.  I had been fooling with the loose muffler on the OS 120 in the Yak 54 the last few days, because it came loose on its last outing.  The bracket between the muffler and the engine mount had fatigued and broken in half, allowing the rest of the muffler to vibrate more and come even looser.  When looking for a replacement bracket in my stuff, I came across another bracket that comes with the muffler for the OS 160.  Might it work?  Nope, but how come I am not using it on the OS 160?  AHA!  That is why the muffler is coming loose on the 160 on both my Giles AND Jeremy's Extra.  DOH!  I installed it in the Giles, used red threadlock on the bolt for the bracket to the muffler and the bolts for the muffler to the engine...a good healthy dose on each bolt.  I think the muffler will stay put a long, long, long time!  At least I hope so.  :)   Mentioned it to Tad, and he found his unused bracket and gave it to Jeremy for his plane.  Problem solved...we hope.  The TIP is to use the darn brackets when provided by Slimline for a reason, haha.  They grab the muffler at far reach from the cylinder connection point to greatly stabilize the attachment and reduce vibration effects, i.e. loosening.

Yak Attack!

Kimi posing with the refurbed Yak 54...ALL PAU!

I just finished the reincarnation of Jeremy's Nitro Models Yak 54.  This is his original Yak that crashed a couple years ago, then lay dormant after some brief wood repairs to the fuse by Merle and recovering my moi.  He flew the identical Yak replacement for the last two years with ridiculous success till it crashed in a 6'  low pass at high speed and banked to the right.  It never responded to commands after that and demolished itself in a very shallow but spectacular crash on the sod farm about six months ago.  I recently told Jer I would put all the old gear into the first plane again.  Here are some pics of the refurbished Yak 54!

Complete radio compartment installation in fuselage.  SPACIOUS!

EMS Heavy  Duty switch with LED.  Since we never figured out the exact radio failure cause for the crash, we did not want to reuse the old switch.

Added tray for easy strap down of receiver.  I think this receiver came from my Excelleron...we did not want to reuse the Electron receiver from the  second crashed Yak because we never figured out the cause of the crash.   Similarly, we used a new battery in case it was battery failure that caused the crash.

Fuel tank from my Excelleron 50.  New throttle servo tray from my AW Ultimate...works much better than stock location of servo centered DIRECTLY behind the fuel tank.  Stock location required much bending  of the throttle control rod to reach the servo.

Yak 54 decal sticker came from my 69" Yak that I never used.  Red star is from my Funstar decal sheet that I never used.

CRUDELY repaired and repainted cowl.  Many swatches of FG and nylon cloth covered with 30 minute epoxy rejoined the savagely torn and crushed (LOL) cowl.  My bright idea to coat the whole cowl with thinned epoxy met with a horribly bumpy result.  Lustercote aluminum base was followed with coats of the white then red.  The OS 70 Surpass II fit in the cowl openings with only minor cutting required for the glow plug access and needle valve extension.

Looks fine from 5' away, haha!

Imagine!

After dropping Sandy and Clay at PDX at 6:50AM, I drove back home and took an hour nap, then headed out to fly the Imagine 50.  Got in 4 flights in around 10MPH wind directly out of the SOUTH for a change.  That is still a crosswind but from the opposite direction of the usual.  Hardly anyone showed up due to the wind and threatening clouds.  Mike had his Uproar and Super Sportster.  Bruce and Brandon had the Sig Somethin Extra.  Joe showed up as I was packing it in for the day so that I would get home quickly to watch Kimi.  The Imagine flew great in the wind, no probs.  Usual stuff...slow and 4pt rolls, stall turns, Cubans and reversed Cubans.  Practiced some landings from the west.  It was a good 2 hours at the field.

Flight Log: 05/13/2011

After mowing, I got in 6 flights with the Toledo Special.  Just wanted easy flying without any unexpected stresses.  The TS flew great...I practiced lots of landings to figure out what it wants for feather light landings.  It needs a little more than low idle during touchdown to maintain elevator authority and flair ability.  Too slow and the plane just drops and bounces on the stiff LG. 

2011 Additions to the Build Log

2011 has not been as productive as 2010 but that is intentional because I am running out of space in the garage for storage of the air force!  NEVERTHELESS, this is May and I have completed the following additions to my flying armada:

Aeroworks Ultimate 20-300 with DLE-55
The World Models Intruder 90-R with OS 91 Surpass II (no pump)

I foresee hanging the Intruder from the ceiling, assembled like the P-47.  It has a fully sheeted fuselage that can handle the stress.  The Ultimate is too large and must sit next to the Corvette.

Apparently this brings to 15, the total number of flyable planes in my air force.  LIFE IS GOOD!!!

ADDED on 10/21/2011:
Great Planes Lanier Stinger II with YS FZ63S

ADDED on 12/20/2011:
Pilot 73" Sbach 342 with DLE-30

INTRUDER

Yeah baby, I put decals on the Intruder today.  Stars and bars came with the ARF.  I did not use any other decals supplied.  Flags on the tail are from Major Decals.  INTRUDER is from my Cricut machine using as bold a font as I could find.  OS Engines of course come from an OS Engine purchase.  Lastly, the 40239 and "Go For Broke" Young are made with my Brother label maker.  Dang it looks terrific!

TWM Intruder!

After getting over the hurdle of ironing down the ugly covering on this plane, I spent the last week or 10 days kinda gung ho on assembling it.  As of today it is all finished except for decals/stickers that I need to decide upon.  I might try to make some of my own vinyl stickers for the plane, but I am not sure if they will hold up to glow fuel...maybe they will slide off after enough exposure?  The Intruder has always been a little ugly and ungainly looking to me, yet a classic pattern plane that somehow was attractive at the same time.  I'm glad I have it now as it looks pretty cool all assembled, and its clean lines exude speed and smoothness.  I expect to fly like it is on rails and with extreme grace.  The Intruder  is actually quite large at 63" wingspan and 59" length.  AUW is 7 lbs 7 oz with an OS 91 Surpass II (no pump) mounted inverted in the fuselage.  Turns out this keeps the top and side views very clean.   I just hope the 91 runs inverted good.  It should as my Excelleron 50 never gave problems with its OS 70 Surpass II mounted inverted too.  I anticpate a maiden very soon!!!

FUN Sunny Day!

Today was even better than Saturday weatherwise, with near 70F light winds from the North (crosswind), and very sunny blue skies.  I took 3 planes today...the P-47, SNAFU, and Apache.  I got in 3 nice flights with the P-47 but am not happy with my take offs.  The plane requires full up elevator to keep the tail on the ground during all taxiing, and even with that, the tail is bouncing all the time.  Take off requires judicious application of throttle while decreasing up elevator and keeping on the rudder to steer properly.  I need to let go of up elevator sooner so that the plane does not take off from its 3 point stance like it did all three times today.  Oh well, once up, the plane flew like a dream.  Low passes were gratifying, giving me big grins all flight long.  On the last flight, Joe took his ME-108 up at the same time, and we got in some nice dog fighting and low passes together.  He is flying that plane so well, and it is not that easy to fly because it looks like it has a high wing loading. 

Flew the SNAFU a bunch of times, perhaps 5 flights, many with Joe flying his Ultra Stick.  Pretty evenly matched, we made lots of circuits for low high speed  passes, and also low and slow to see who could get lowest to the ground.  Unfortunately, after my last flight, Joe kept flying his and ended up totalling it when the engine quit in a low altitude stall turn.  Durn it.

I flew the Apache a bit and managed to latch onto a small thermal for perhaps a 5 minute flight.  Jer flew his Colibri and Joe his Swift but weren't able to find much lift.

Jer flew the pants off his Extra which performed pretty well with the muffler repair that Jer concocted, to plug a hole left by one exhaust stack falling off the muffler last time out.  Tad flew his AW Extra 300 and was crisp and spot on during landings today.  He was real happy with how the DLE-55 started so easily today with the new NGK CM6 spark plug in the engine.

Mike flew his Stearman which is giving him some small fits by not running right.  Sounds great on the ground then it richens up in the air.  He has an idea for resolving the problem.  Kudnas flew today, all kinds of planes as usual.  Jer maidened a Funtana for Bruce and Brandon, and managed to save the plane with a pancake landing after the engine quit at fairly low altitude while inverted!  Dean flew very nicely his UCanDO, which made him happy.  Jim Stone flew his Radian probably longer than all of us on several long flights that he had.  Al flew early and departed early before most people came.   Bob Ross was there a long time with his Saratoga and TF Texan.

To sum it up, one of the best days of flying this year!