Sunrise Sunset

Painting #49 is here.  For some reason, I cannot get more pictures to load into the GADGET right hand column on my blog page, so I will have to include pictures of my paintings here in the main post column.  It works out for  the best since the pictures here are clickable for enlarging while those in the GADGET column are not.  Anyhoo, here is painting #49 overall, and the 29th for 2011!

Update:  I just tried for the upteenth time to add a pic in the right hand GADGET column, and IT FINALLY WORKED AGAIN!

Flight Log: 11/26/2011

Upon the heels of yesterday's nice weather, today was actually a little nicer still!  It was a few degrees warmer with a few more clouds to screen the sun from our eyes, and the wind was as light.  With the short grass due to  mowing yesterday, the runway was great.  Flew my Yak 54 thrice and the Stinger II 5 times?  I really lose track after the first few flights.  All I know is I burned about 1/2 gallon of 15% nitro fuel, haha.  That is due to the OS 120 Surpass III on the Yak...it seems to guzzle the glow.  It's ok since days like yesterday and today are fewer and further between during the coming months.  The Stinger and Yak flew well today, quite a contrast in speed envelopes.  Jer flew his Yak as well as small electric chopper and Extra.  Bruce, Brandon, Mike, Rudy, and Joe flew again today.  In addition, Bob Ross was there, and Nick with dad Chris came for a flying lesson with Mike late in the day.

NICE Day!

Way more sunshine arrived than was projected, and it was real calm and comfortable for flying.  Didn't need earmuffs nor handwarmers today although the temp was around 45F!  Got to the field and nobody else was there for my first flight.  Bruce and Brandon showed up, then Joe, then Rudy.  Mike came later without any planes, and Shane arrived much later.  I flew my Yak 54 either 5 or 6 flights.  The engine was pulling hard today, and the Yak was a joy to fly through many manuevers.  With such nice weather, I did not want to quit...I was the field from around 10:30 until 3:30.  :)

Brrrrrrrrr

Today it was ccccccold but we flew anyway. Met up with Joe around 11:45 at the field, and Mike was just setting up too. It was 37F when I left home, and 40F when I got home, so it was very nipply the whole time there. Still, due to NO wind, the wind chill was nada. Used two hand warmers in my front jeans pockets, my Pendleton hat, Eddie Bauer earmuffs, and my usual dark green vest and Nike tennis jacket over a thick long sleeve flannel shirt. That kept me warm enough, and not till about 4 hours later when I departed the field was I starting to feel slightly chilled to the bone, haha.

I must have got 4 flights with the new Stinger II, and I loved it more than ever. Landings are so easy, just keep feeding in up once over the runway to flare out and land lightly every time. Joe brought his HOTS, so on the last flight we flew together we were doing some fairly low passes and circuits ala pylon racing. They are evenly matched in speed and look alike. It was lotsa fun. Got a good laugh out of Joe when on the farside downwind leg, I did a real low slow roll, maybe 25' off the deck.

The YS FZ63S continued to operate flawlessly today, gotta love it a lot. I do notice that it likes to start with maybe 3 clicks throttle on the stick, perhaps to get the regulator/pump working, then I can immediately drop to low idle and it stays running.

Joe also flew his Hawk and Mr. Mulligan. The latter flew well, the former not so well. My launch was not great, but the Hawk did not seem to have the thrust to make flight control surfaces effective on the bungee launch. Torn left wing at the fuselage can be repaired and the plane will live to maiden another day.

Surprisingly we were not the only diehards today! Bruce and Brandon, Rudy, and Shane showed up to fly too. Great time had by all. Oh, I checked out Rudy's new electric pattern plane, the Osiris. Took a lot of up trim and resetting of the subtrim, plus moving the balance point to midrange of the recommended CG, then the plane flew nicely. I think it can be refined in trim later, but it is darn close enough for Rudy to fly it next time. I made two flights with the Osiris...that plane is seriously on rails on 2 consecutive slow rolls. Landings were as easy if not better than the Stinger!

I did not take this pic today, but the sky was just as dark and ugly as in this pic:

Sweet Hawaii

That's the name of my latest seascape that I just completed this morning. I painted two similar ones to give to sister Sue and Andy, and they came out so well (to me) that I wanted one to keep in my own home. Theirs are 16x20 to fit in my carry-on suitcase, while mine could be the larger size (18x24) since it is not going anywhere. I'm pretty happy with the results, and I named it Sweet Hawaii! It's painting #28 for this year, and #48 overall. :)

Flight Log: 11/13/2011

The conditions were a little better today, 5F warmer and slightly less wind, so off I went to the field. Jer actually beat me there and was in the air when I arrived! He flew his Yak, BNF Polecat, and BNF chopper. I flew my Stinger three times, and my SNAFU once. The Stinger was very good again, and my corrections made after yesterday's flying were pretty spot on. The left KE now rolls more with the right rudder application rather than less, so I can take out a % or two on that mix correction. Also looks like the plane can use a little weight in the tail so that inverted flight requires less down elevator, and it will help the plane track straight in KE...it pulls very slightly to the canopy now. The YS FZ63S continues to impress, and I like it a lot. The Stinger is a great plane! I remembered my camera so the pics are from today!

OH, and here is a pic of what Joe flew today...gotta love these planes and the age and speed differential, haha!

Flight Log: 11/12/2011

Quite an ugly day, but I got in three flights on the Stinger II. It was probably 10mph from the south and very cool at just maybe 43F. Brrrrrr...had to break out a hand warmer, wear by Pendleton hat and earmuffs too! Got the Stinger dialed in a little more with some mixing to counter the plane's desire to roll out of left KE a little. Also dialed in -60% on expo and I might go all the way to -70%. Had -50% to start the day. Only Rudy showed up an hour later, and I made one more flight with him there. He took one with his Ultrastick, and we were done due to the increasing windchill factor. The YS 63 ran well, and I really like it. I think I shall readjust the wing pin for one wing because right now the wings line up just a little off from each other, causing natural left roll. I have right aileron trimmed in, and it looks too weird. Maybe there is a warp in the wing(s) too, that I did not catch before.

UPDATE FOR FUTURE REFERENCE: I inspected the wings on a flat table. They seem pretty flat, but the left aileron is warped basically providing a wash-in effect at the tip, so I used a heat gun and warped it flat. Also, when eye-balling the wings from the rear of the plane (down low and centered behind the stab and fin), the trailing edges of the wings are not level to each other, so they provide an aileron effect for left roll. This explains why I had to trim in right aileron for straight and level flight. I adjusted this by trimming the hole for the left wing pin slightly lower with my Dremel. I filled the extra space on the top of the hole with thick CA and accelerator. Hopefully this puts the wings neutral to each other and I will have no aileron trim required, and no difference in coupling behavior in left KE vs right KE. Lastly, I put in -70% expo on the flight surfaces.

Stinger II Maiden!

With just a little trepidation about the maiden due to the Stinger II having my first YS engine on it, I went about making the maiden flight today. It was foggy on the way over, but clear at the field, approaching 50F, and sunny. NOBODY was there, so I set to work/play. I had to make sure I concentrated on fueling and defueling due to the pressure that YS engines operate with. Fuel via the intake line on the side of the fuse and release pressure and catch overflow with the vent line on the bottom of the cowl. I started with the high needle opened 2.5 turns. Needed to use the starter to turn the YS over. Had to fool with higher throttle trim to keep her running, then realized I had not set up the kill switch yet, so I had to turn the needle in to starve the engine and stop it several times. Got the kill set up correctly after fooling with end point on the low end, and the % for kill. Also had to turn the transition needle in about 2 turns when the engine would die at just about any throttle speed when I removed the glow clip. The high needle still seemed slightly rich at 1.5 turns open, but I ran that way for the maiden flight, and was rewarded with lots of exhaust on the plane afterwards, haha.

BUT I was gladdened by the enormous power of the YS FZ63S, and the crazy speed of the Stinger II! The plane needed about two clicks right aileron and two down elevator for hands off flight. Inverted flight requires just a little down elevator pressure. Looks like the plane wants to roll out slightly in KE. The plane whistles at high speed with this engine. Only needed one attempt and landed very lightly on the runway center. The Stinger II slows down like a pussycat. I was about to make a second flight when the prop and spinner took off as a unit without the rest of the plane. I bought the YS used and it came with one aluminum prop nut. On the way home from the field, I stopped at Ace and got two new nuts which when used together will hopefully lock the prop on securely. It was a highly successful maiden and I look forward to zinging about the sky with the Stinger II real soon.

I forgot to take my camera today, so I don't have field pics taken on the day of the maiden like I normally do. This one in the sideyard from a couple weeks ago will suffice for now.

Flight Log: 11/08/2011

Flew the Intruder three times today. The thermometer said about 45F when I went out, but it felt milder and I did not even use a hand warmer today. Nobody else came. I got three good flights, wrapped it up and went home. I tried rolling circles today, humpty bumps and upside down triangles...I forget the real name. Did the usual slow and 4pt rolls too, cuban 8's and reversed ones, lots of stall turns, loops, and avalanches. Excellent day...I think it's good to throw in some new tricks now and then to keep interested and interesting!

Flight Log: 11/06/2011

Almost forgot to log in my flights for Sunday! Looked questionable but I went to the field, and it was cool at first, but got to 50F and with no wind to speak of, it was comfortable. While I busted out a hand warmer, I hardly needed it. Flew the Imagine 50 four times, and the Toledo Special 3 times. Both were extremely happy in the cooler,denser air. They had more speed and lift than usual. Normal suspects were there too...Anthony, Bob Ross, Mike, Bruce and Brandon, and Joe. Watched Joe fly 3 new planes...Evader, Hots, and Giles 3D. All flew well. Glad to see his air force is growing again. For awhile he had very little that was airworthy to fly! Hand launched the Evader with the bungee for Joe...very effective and controllable. Neato!!

Cayman R'ising!

Soared high yesterday with Tad, but we weren't flying RC planes. We got high taking delivery of his new 2012 Porsche Cayman R at Sunset Porsche-Audi in Beaverton, OR. It was foggy during our drive up in the xB, and still misty and foggy in the distance when we drove back, but not a drop of water fell on the new R, haha. The delivery process at Sunset was quick and painless from my perspective, since I did not have to write the check! We were done in no more than 1.5 hours, and it was a really pleasant and professional experience. While there, I got to talk to Nick R, a boyhood friend and classmate of Jeremy's. He works there, I think it's the family business. Here are some pics of the R!

THANKS FOR MAKING ME A PART OF THE MEMORABLE OCCASION, SON! We have an apparent tradition doing these deliveries together...my C5, your C6, your CR!!! What could be NEXT???