Great Flying Day!

Today made 2 great days of weather and flying in a row at the KRCA field!!  I flew my Intruder again, as well as the new Sbach.  As I get more flights on the Sbach (4 today), I am liking it, but it still is not perfect yet.  Perhaps the CG still needs to move forward a little, but I also think the Tower TS-160 servos do not center well.  In other words, neutral elevator is slightly different when coming from an up and a down deflection.  I managed to tone the problem down a bit today by making the low rate even lower, and by moving the control rod to the most inside hole on the servo arm.  One definite positive is how great the DLE-30 is starting, running, idling, transitioning, etc.  I think it is still a bit rich, and it is still breaking in per the black exhaust behind the pitts style ports.  No problems like I have seen some others have with this engine, thank goodness.

Flew the Intruder either 3 or 4 times, and it did well with the new 13x10 APC, however, I think the 13x9 was perfect for it with the same horizontal speed but more vertical pull.  I will order some since Jer said Tammies does not sell any, per his visit to the store today.

That night, I decided that I will switch the two elev servos out of the Sbach and put new Airtronics 94762's in.  They have the torque, have metal gears, and are slightly lighter than the Tower TS-160's.  I am hoping they will center better and get rid of the "touchy" elevator.


Update on 4/30:  It's done...I just finished switching out the servos.  The Airtronics do center better, back to the same place from up and down commands. I will fly the plane again, then consider additional nose weight after that.  Yahoo, I am anxious to fly this plane again.

Flight Log: 04/28/2012

While a bit overcast, grey, and cool to begin with, the day got brighter and warmer, and was calm the whole time.  Better yet, no JB workers were on the field!  I flew my Intruder 3 times and the Stinger II 3 times also.  Both were very groovy like usual and were a ball to fly.  On my first flight of the day, with the Intruder, my depth perception was bad and I touched down early, on the dirt outside the runway.  Luckily I did not hit one of the sod clumps or stray netting.  My plane skipped up on the runway with a small ding in the prop, killing the engine.  Later investigation showed I maybe did hit a small clump because the fuselage behind the nose wheel was soft and obviously got shoved in.  (At home I repaired it by pushing outward on the sheeting, piercing the covering and wood with a T pin, and seeping thin CA into the skin in about 10 holes.  Seems as good as it was now.  If the area deteriorates too much more with time, I will resheet and recover the area.)

Jer had fun with his CZ and Extra 300SP, and his little chopper.  Mike made a nice maiden on his new September Fury.  His new CG, more elevator throw, and short cut grass enabled him to finally make a successful takeoff.  The plane flies and sounds great!  He landed with flaps, and nosed over...typical warbird, but he will get better with it after more flights.  Rudy flew his Vanquish or Osiris, Bob Ross flew his Saratoga, and Anthony and Quang beat the air into submission with their choppers.  Dick Smith flew a bunch of electrics, and the Kudna's flew the Evader and F-16 EDF foamie.  Joe did not show...a surprise to all of us!

Tulips at Home

From about Easter Sunday this year (4/8/12) till now, my tulips have been blooming.  They have been in really full swing the last 10 days.

This photo shows dark patches in the lawn, which is where I just cut out some wild grasses and replaced with swatches of new sod.

Tulips, azalea, and rhododendron blooming at once.

Lithodora has just started, hummingbirds should be visiting soon!

Warm and Sunny

It was about 60F when we went out to fly just after 8AM today.  WOW, what great weather.  JB also thought so, and for the first time I can remember, they were working on a Sunday!  Luckily they were done harvesting their two twin trailer loads of sod by just around 10AM, and all of us could go about our important business....of flying, lol.  I flew my Imagine 50 four times, and my Sbach once.  I did not want to fly it again because it is still a bit tail heavy even after adding 4oz of lead on the engine box, and I couldn't figure out how to program a mix to feed up when left rudder (during right KE) is applied.  The plane tucks to the LG on right KE, but for some reason not left KE.  At least the plane sank a little on inverted flight, did not rise anymore, so the CG is getting closer to where it ought to be.  The DLE-30 seemed to run leaner today, probably rightly so due to the much warmer weather of 75F+?  Started up and ran great.  No fiddling with the needles yet!

Mike debuted his September Fury.  The OS 155FS sounds great.  Unfortunately the plane constantly tipped on its nose during any taxi efforts on the grass.  Either the LG need to be tilted forward and/or the CG needs to be moved more aft.  Also larger wheels might help reduce rolling effort.  In any case, it is a very handsome warbird!

Quang flew his large nitro chopper like a pro, earning applause when done with his last flight.  He is learning and practicing new tricks, and is always totally entertaining.  Anthony was very kind to gift me 3 older LiPo packs for my new Blade 400 3D chopper.  I don't need to buy any more, with 4 for that chopper now.   Jeremy seems to have got the Blade trimmed out well with my DX6i transmitter, and is liking it a lot, proclaiming it fit for me to learn on, lol.  I hope not to prang it on the first attempt.

Flight Log: 04/21/2012

After mowing and creating clumps of grass everywhere, I flew my Imagine 50 about 3 times on Saturday.  That plane is flying great and making me look good.  It does a nice pattern then floats in for light landings.  Jeremy flew the Extra 300 SP that I gave him, for the first time with his own transmitter.  Seems dialed in already and he is very happy to have the plane.  He's going to make it fly better than I ever did.  Steve Ellison came out with something else to sell...a like new E-Flite Blade 400 3D.  Couldn't help myself, so I bought it, and then Jer said he would buy it for my birthday gift.  Great deal at just $120.  Online I found one place still selling it for $280.  The chopper has just been superseded by a 450.

SNAFU time

I flew the SNAFU today after mowing the field.  Got in 3 flights, keeping far from the JB mower and vacuum tractors.  3rd flight consisted of takeoff and landing on each pass.  Only Dick Smith was there today with me.  A good time even though we were the only ones there.

Sbach 342 Maiden!

It was a fine day of weather to maiden the Pilot 73" Sbach 342!  All went well and pictures will be added soon.  The DLE-30 started and ran perfectly fine (might be a wee bit rich but not much to worry about)...it took about 30 flips to get the first cough from the engine with throttle full and choke on.  After that it took 7 flips with throttle at idle and choke off to start and stay running.  After just one lap down the runway for ground handling check, I took off into the wind.  The plane was airborne before I reached full throttle, even with the throttle curve I programmed in to lessen throttle response at the low end, and have some response at the top end of the  stick movement.  Once in the air, the plane needed two clicks up and one click right to fly straight and level.  It was real sensitive on elevator.  Sure enough when I went inverted, the plane climbed.  On the second flight with the batteries moved about as far forward as I could get them, the plane was still tail heavy.  On the ground after the 2nd flight, I checked and found elevator to be slightly down.  This also explains why the plane tucks hard to the LG in knife edge.  I am going to add weight to the engine box, perhaps about 3 ounces, for the next flights.

I also flew the Imagine 50 three times today, and had a blast with it again.  It's so stable for pattern type flying.  The wide speed envelope makes it fun for just slowing to a crawl, and for landing lightly.  Great fun.

To top the day off, a beautiful bald eagle passed low over the pit area and runway, from north to south as it thermaled ever higher.  When it was over us, it was fairly low and its white head and tail shone brightly for all to admire.  Utterly breathtaking.   Luckily Tad was there and it was his very first bald eagle sighting!  Jer was there too and was equally enthralled.  What a GREAT DAY!

EXCEPTION:  Jer rekitted his Stinger 40 when he just lost perspective and went blank.  No explanation other than the sad picture is needed.

Airplane Stand Assembly Day!

We assembled two new stands today at the field, with the help of about 12 members.  Mike Florea made up a kit for each stand, cutting the raw lumber to the right sizes and angles, painting each piece, then labeling each one.  We had two teams, one assembling each stand.  It took about 2 hours to get them done, and they came out beautiful!  One stand design was found by Mike and is very similar to the two old stands we currently have.  I found the other stand in a thread on RCU.  IMHO, the latter is much sturdier and provides much larger flat area for placing tools, flight boxes, and transmitters near the plane.

Design found by Mike

Design found by me

Both completed

Carpet strips will be added to protect wings

They work!

Before and after the assembly period, I was able to fly my Imagine 50 three times.  The engine was happy in today's weather and ran strong.  Had fun flying at the same time with Jeremy (Stinger) and Joe (Zlin), making low passes and doing evasive maneuvers.

More Great Weather!

Got to fly again today, with even nicer weather than Saturday!  Flew my Yak 54 thrice and the Stinger II four times.  Both flew well, but the Stinger II started to get out of tune.  It would not take throttle readily from idle during some aerobatics.  I am thinking it did not like the 15% Coolpower that I switched to (have just one gallon).  I will switch back to 15% Omega again for this plane.  YS engines are notably finnicky about fuel, is what I have read and heard for a long time.  It ran fine with 15% Omega all previous times.  Will also switch out my new Fireball hot plug for new OS Type F.  I thought maybe it needed a new plug today when trying to figure out the tuning.  Now the tuning is all off and I need to get back to where it was with the OS Type F and Omega 15%.  Rats!

The Yak flew like a dream like almost always.  Very steady speeds in all attitudes.  It's just as much fun to watch as it is to fly.  Keeps on landing like a dream.

Finally Sunshine

It was a long two weeks of rain and no flying until today.  A glorious day began with seeing my breathe and mid 40s when I got to the field, and ended about 5 hours later with around 60F.  Wind was light the whole time from the north, so short takeoff and landing on the N/S runway was the norm with my SNAFU.  Flew it 5 times and had a ball with the usual variety of stuff.  Did more rolling circles for practice today, and they are getting easier on this plane.  Lots of the guys came out today due to the long spell of rain...they were chomping at the bit to get out too...Bob R, Al, Mike, Joe, Steve, Anthony, Quang, Bruce, Brandon, Jer and me.  We had other members there too who did not fly...Bill, Don Z, Charlie, and Dick.  It was a great day.