Trick or Treat!

Got a great treat when the morning turned out perfect for flying...over 50F, calm, mostly sunny. I flew the CG Ultimate 3 times, and it flew just great. Got done with that, and Mike and Rudy also were finished, so I was able to mow the field. Some dark rain clouds quickly formed and by the time I was making my last pass, rain started to fall. I got the mower put away without really getting wet, and all ended well.

USAF STINGER II

I made some decals out of vinyl with the Cricut for my Stinger II. All decals seen in these two pics are from the Cricut, except for the flag on the fin and the Stinger II decal on the fuse. Also the AMA # on the fin is from my Brother label maker. Hope the vinyl cut on the Cricut can stand up to glow fuel!

Flight Log: 10/23/2011

Got a real gift of good flying weather today. While it was drizzling on my way to the field and thickly overcast, it did NOT rain at all and the sun grew brighter and bluer as the hours went by. I stayed from 9AM till 2PM! Flew the Toledo Special 5 times and the SNAFU twice. Ate up a lot of 15% glow fuel! The combination of cool temp, heavy wet air, and the needle setting provided the most power and speed the Saito 82a in the TS has ever put out. My goodness, lots of speed and authority on all flights made for very pattern like flying. It was fun to putter in low throttle on a low pass, then go to full throttle and go vertical. Not many folks came out today, just the usual suspects...Bob Ross, Rudy, Joe, Brandon/Bruce, and Mike. Blake came out for one flight but could not get a quick charge to go up again. That was it...very light breeze compared to the nearly 15MPH yesterday. Different conditions provided different fun!

8-13MPH!

It was a SNAFU kind of a day with higher winds than most of the guys will fly in at our club. Brandon and Bruce took a flight with the Ultrastick from Joe, Joe had some flights with his Mig and Sundowner. I had 5 fun flights with the SNAFU, using the crosswind runway, and having a ball approaching over the dirt road, with minimal to no rollout on landing, haha. Great fun trying to fly backwards at low throttle into the wind, and the nose held up a little. Tad surprised me by showing up...he had his new Polecat, but it was too windy to maiden it. Bob Ross was there but did not fly his Saratoga. Bob Bevens showed up but did not fly, same with Dave Woodward...I am guessing he came for a lesson with Bob and they determined it was too windy.

Stinger II

I have always wanted a Stinger since the old days, so I ordered the new ARF by Great Planes. I finished assembly of it today, after 11 days of on and off assembly. It is a very easy plane to assemble and the overall quality is good except for the very wrinkly covering. The initial step to smooth the covering probably required the most time and effort in the assembly of this plane. For just $135 after the Tower Super Savers Club discount, I cannot complain. I powered it with a YS FZ63S that I bought used (but excellent condition) months ago. As is typical for my planes, I have Futaba 3152 servos on all flight surfaces, a Tower TS-53 on throttle, and the Futaba 617 FASST receiver in the Stinger II. AUW is 86 ounces or 5 lbs 6 oz. CG is just a fraction of an inch ahead of the location recommended in the manual. The plane comes stock with yellow striping which I removed (difficult) or covered (fuselage) with red because I want to make it a red, white, and blue plane with stars and bars and USAF decals, to be found and added later, but soon hopefully.

An Ultimate Kind of Day!

Oh yes, we don't get days like this often in the Fall and Winter. It was over 55F when I left home, and this afternoon it is over 70F. There was very light wind from the East, but not much to even consider during takeoff and landing. I treated the AW Ultimate to the day out, with 2 very pleasing flights. The additional 2 ounces of lead in the nose helped a little. The plane stays level and drops ever so little while inverted with no down elevator pressure. Flying inverted while climbing at 45degrees, the plane will not maintain that attitude...it increases its climb to vertical. The weight did not cause the plane to nose over on the grass, so I think I can use a little more weight up front. I think I can also use more expo if any is to be had because even at low rates, the plane is touchier around neutral than the rest of my planes (except the other 50cc plane, the Extra 330L.) Landings were awesome today...just nice and steady descent with no bubbles up or down, with wings staying real level, and riding just a little low throttle till going to idle inches off the ground. BTW, starts and restarts were a piece of cake like always. The DLE-55 ran like a top.

Flight Log: 10/16/2011

Fog lifted at 10AM so we could fly. I was there at 9am, and I mowed while we waited for the fog to lift. Flew my Yak 4 times. What a great plane and engine combo. Doesn't fly real fast, but it goes vertical easily, flies a steady speed through many manuevers, and lands like a feather. I would be tempted to add another but larger Yak 54 or 55 to my air force.

Flight Log: 10/15/2011

It was foggy at home, but not as much at the field. Wind was light from the north, but increased as time went by. Still had a nice time flying the T-28 for four flights. There is something to flying in wind and very cool conditions like today (50F) that makes it pretty enjoyable. Maybe it is the challenge to stay under control at all times, and especially on landing approaches. Jer flew his Yak, and Joe flew his Sundowner 50 and Graupner Kadett. Bob flew his Ultrastick, an Brandon his Sukhoi foamie jet. Oh, Quang flew his 90 size nitro chopper. On one flight, his whole tail rotor flew off, yet he managed to fly the chopper from the north field across the dirt road, and land softly and upright at the edge of our runway! WHAT A SAVE!!! The engine was still idling after landing. WOW!

Flight Log: 10/12/2011

Contrary to the forecast the weather today was very nice after a foggy start. Albeit cloudy, the sun also shone, and the wind was nearly dead. Flew my GP Extra 300SP. Oddly, I just did not feel comfy with the plane today and even landings were just not spot on...too bouncy, too slow, or just ugs. Got in four flights anyhow, and practiced the rolling circle. Tried some clockwise too, and the timing and stick input is just not there like the other direction. It will just take time and enough repetitions. I think perhaps the air was just too dead such that the plane had no feel to me. Rudy and Ty were there, flying his Ultrastick and Vanquish. Oh well, it was good to get out midweek since I cannot fly tomorrow when the weather is supposed to be nice...we are taking Tad out for his birthday. I was able to mow too.

Asian Pear Harvest

I planted an Asian Pear tree in our backyard about 5 years ago in 2006. It had 4 different Asian pear varieties grafted onto one trunk. Sadly two years ago when the tree was heavily laden with fruit, a wind storm broke one of the grafts away from the trunk. We thought perhaps the tree would die after that. I researched ways to treat the wound, and most people online recommended just cutting the broken branch off as cleanly as possible and leaving the trunk to heal itself instead of pasting some kind of salve and bandage on it. So that is what I did, and the tree has survived and fruited the last two Summers. 2011 yielded an abundant crop of the remaining three varieties. Too bad the bands on the tree are long gone and I have no idea what the names are anymore. One variety is the very round, light yellow skinned pear with a delicate sweetness and extremely juicy insides. That one ripened first. The other two varieties are similar in color to each other and very golden brown, but one is slightly larger and has more freckles or pores on the skin. This one also has a sweeter insides than the smaller one.

Here are some pics of the tree and fruits that I snapped today. The tree looks about 8' tall with an 8' spread. It is not the prettiest tree, but we love it for its wonderful fruits.

The season is ending and yesterday I picked 25 pears, and today I got another 18. I have given away many bags of these pears to 5 neighbors, my family, friends at the flying field, and Sandy has even taken some to Curves! I have tossed dozens away into the field behind our house over the season due to bugs eating into the fruit. It's been a bountiful harvest of probably 200-300 fruit. We are blessed.

KRCA Distances

View Larger Map
While on Google Map this AM, I noted our field is:

1. East end of runway is 600 feet to Highway 99
2. West end of runway is 1500 feet to RR tracks
3. Center of runway is 1200 feet to south border of the JB sod farm
4. West end of runway is 1/2 mile from I-5 ROW

Flight Log: 10/08/2011

Although fog looked like it would set in early, it was burnt off by the sun and had no impact on our flying. I had 3 slick flights with the Intruder and another 3 or 4 with the SNAFU. When I disassembled the Intruder there seemed to be lots of fuel on the tank itself, so I suspect a fuel tank leak. Looks like I need to remove and check the stopper and fuel lines. Ug. Flew well though and I love that plane. SNAFU was itself and had some perfect landings on the N/S runway, landing to the south and with just a 5' rollout, haha. FUN DAY. Jer flew his Yak and showed who's boss. Lots of folks came out today!

Blush of Winter

It's been almost 3 months since my last landscape painting. I've been doing seascapes since then. So I thought I would do a landscape again, emulating the one Bob Ross did on his TV show this AM. Sandy likes it, saying the sky, mountains, and trees are very strong. Yup, I still need more practice on those snow covered bushes. Overall, I like the painting. The white paint on the mountains really broke well with the palette knife today, so I must be getting the lighter touch and technique down a little better!

Flight Log: 10/06/2011

Had a nice time flying with Tad this AM but in very crisp 50F air! Wind was from the southeast, so it made for fun landings from the west. I got in 3 flights on the Yak 54 while Tad flew his AW Extra 3 times. Tad did not look rusty at all from not flying for a month at least. Rudy and Mike were there too. Nice day. JB mower man started right when Tad and I were done and packing it up. It was good timing for Tad and me.

I WON!

I flew today in my own contest, and I won handily, haha. Of course I won...I was the only competitor!! Flew my Yak and Shoestring for 3 flights each. Took out the Yak first and had 3 really smooth flights where I felt I was in complete command of the plane every second of every maneuver. Due to the threatening sky (which never did more than just that), I put the Yak away before bringing the Shoestring out. I didn't want two assembled planes to take apart if a downpour struck. Joe had his electric Sundowner and we had a blast "racing". We think the planes are very equal in speed, and had a blast with some very low, close, and fast passes from right to left today, due to the light breeze from the SE. I am liking that Shoe more and more due to its speed, and rock solid handling. Landings still have to be just right to avoid bounces on the stiff LG. I think we had 3 flights together.

Joe also flew a plane we haven't seen in a couple years, his Graupner Electro Kadet. Very nice looking and flying plane that seems real suited for funflys! We helped Brandon and Bruce with their P-47, and Joe maidened it for them. I helped Harvey bring in his electric Funster when just after he took off, he decided the heavy overcast and hazy sky was making it too hard to see more than a black silhoutte of the plane. It flies and lands very nicely. Mike and Tyler showed up when I was nearly pau.

My Own Worst Critic

....is myself! Flew in our Valley Challenge today, which is a challenge RC plane contest between 3 local clubs. Each club had its own contest with the same tasks and rules, and the top 3 pilots from each flew against each other today. I placed in the middle of the pack out of the top 3. Nobody to blame but myself. I was tied for the lead after the first two flights, missed requirements for both loops on the 3rd flight, and then really failed to adjust on the last flight which is 2 circuits through 4 gates. I made 2 gates but missed 2 gates on each circuit. I kick myself for missing the gates on the second circuit. After I knew I was long on the first circuit, I should have adjusted more. I did adjust by turning into the missed gates earlier, but with the speed I was carrying, the plane still went long in those gates. I should also have slowed down to between 1/2 and 3/4 throttle so that the plane would turn tighter and give a better chance of making the gates. That would have saved me a 200 point deduction, and put me in a tie for 3rd. Oh well, live and learn. Must learn from this!!! Think and adjust. Sorta hard to do while in flight, but hey that is what it takes to do better.

Just sorta flew discombobulated today, as one of the other pilots from another club said about his own flying. It was interesting that the top qualifier in the other two clubs did not win today either, so misery loves company, lol. I do think that we should have been given a free lap with judging for the last task (the one with 4 gates). We were given free passes on all the other tasks to help us judge speed and placement, so why not this task also, which was really the most difficult due to the distance the gates were from the pilots.

BTW I flew the Imagine, which did well in the club prelim, but I think the SNAFU would have been a better choice for the event due to its slower speed envelope. I would probably have flown it full speed due to adrenalin, but its slower top speed might have saved me, haha.

Maintenance

At the field, I noticed that the throttle servo on one plane has been very slow, way too slow. Of course once at home I forgot which plane it was. Last night, I took the xmitter and turned on each plane in order and found that the Toledo Special is the one. Took it down and put in a new Futaba 3004 servo that I got from Tower the other day. Throttle is fast again, responsive like it should be. Marked the old 138 as dying/slow and put it away with others. I can use the connector at least. Keeping planes in safe flying condition requires continual visual checking, and repairing as needed.