No fixed wings today!

That's right. I went to the field with my Blade 400 and used up 3 battery packs on it.  No crashes.  I had my Stinger with me, but not all of it.  I forgot the wings at home, thus no fixed wing flying today, lol. Doggone it.

Warbird Weekend DAY TWO

I anticipated less people would participate today, but not as bad as it turned out...basically only Dick, Mike, and I brought planes to fly.  Later in the day a few others showed up, but by then it was past noon.  It was windyish and very cloudy grey. Of course the winds were crosswind from the south.  I did not even assemble the P-47 today and chose to fly only the T-28.  With just Mike's Spitfire and my T-28 competing for best warbird today (unlike yesterday when we had perhaps 40 planes on the runway), I won the best warbird of the day award, lol.  I won because Mike voted for me, and so did I, and Rudy broke the tie by giving me the nod based on how nice the plane looks in the air and flies.  Mike had not flown to that point.  Anyway, thanks for voting for me go to Mike and Rudy!  I put my planes away and then the wind started to abate an hour later by just a bit, so I busted them out again, and flew the T-28 two more times, for a total of 4 flights today.

The SPOILS of Victory...gift cert from LHS, and nice cert of recognition as well as a
VERY COOL air medal from our  RC tank brethren at NORDPAC(Stu and friends)!

Warbird Weekend DAY ONE

We had a great showing of warbirds on Saturday/yesterday.  I did not count, but there were 3 or 4 times the number of planes we had the last couple years.  While cool and cloudy in the AM, the weather turned partly sunny, albeit breezier in the PM.  It was a grand day of flying with nary a crash.  I flew my P-47 and my T-28 four times each, I think.  Either 3 or 4 times each.  Both were pretty much flawless except for one landing (last one) with the T-28 when I managed to bounce and tear off one landing gear door.  No harm as it was easily fixed with CA at home.  I did find a broken CA hinge on one flap, looks like from simple fatigue.  I fixed that at home by slicing the remaining two hinges, and installing 3 new CA hinges from H9 (which should last longer).  The T-28 is ready for low passes again today.  :)  I know I am.  Thanks to Rudy and Shane for the nice event planning and hosting, and thanks to Bob B for the low cut grass!

Back in the Saddle

Finally painted again after nearly 2 months off.  I was trying to assemble a new plane but made extremely little progress, so I gave up on it, put it away, and broke out the paint supplies.  This one is called Cabin Karma, and it came out decent after the long layoff.  There is not a lot of detail to it, but I just wanted to get some paint lathered on, to get me kick started again.  It's number 65!

Happy Birthday to ME!

Well, I couldn't have asked for a better flying day for my birthday!  The company was great, the weather was fantastic, and all my flights went well.  Tad and Jeremy came to spend the day flying with me, making it complete.  Talk about being tired.  I took my Sbach, Toledo Special, and Blade 400.   The Toledo Special was funtastick, quiet, and zippy with the new used Saito 82a in it.  Flew it 3 times.  I don't think I ever want to get rid of that plane!  The Sbach is growing on me more and more.  This is the first day I actually really enjoyed flying it, and felt comfortable with it.  I am getting more accustomed to it, and it is rewarding me with great responsiveness and enjoyment.  Flew it twice.  The DLE-30 continues to please me and make me look good.  I say this because both Mike and Dean have had their problems with this engine.  Not so for me...the engine barks in about 25 flips on the first start of the day, then it starts in another 5 or 7 flips and stays running till I land and kill it.  Subsequent starts are with no choke and usually in 10 flips or less.  Lastly, I showed Jeremy, Tad, Joe, and Anthony  that I can really hover the Blade 400.  For the first time, I ran through all four battery packs in one outing.  No damage!  It was an outstanding birthday of flying!

Toledo Special Maintenance

On the last several outings, the Toledo Special has been sounding more and more like a tractor, the typical sound of bearings going out in a Saito 82a engine.  This afternoon, I removed the engine from the plane.  Overall the exterior is in great shape.  I can see bulges in the plastic backplate of the engine, which is evidence to me that the rear bearing fell apart and pieces are getting ground against the backplate.  I need to open it and replace the bearings one of these days, but I want to fly the TS again soon, so I installed a new used Saito 82a from my stock of used engines into the plane.  The old one had a venturi stack, so I switched it to the new used engine.  While at it, I switched the throttle arm and easy connector on it to the new used engine too.  That makes it easier to set up the new engine.  While I could get to the fuel tank stopper, I tightened it with a screwdriver, and it surprisingly took quite a few turns to snug up again.  Lastly, I switched one fuel line to the tank which was getting rubbed and cut by the cowl.  The switch went nicely and I am anxious to start the engine up and fly the Toledo Special again, perhaps this weekend.  Every now and then, these planes need routine maintenance to keep them performing, which in turn keeps me happy!

Chopper Chatter

I took the Blade 400 3D to the field to fly it after mowing today.  It was little breezy but I figure I have to learn.  Sons suggested taking cardboard so I could take off from the grass and not kill blades and rotors too easily.  I decided it is simple enough to just haul any pit mat over to the grass instead...it works even better than cardboard because it is heavy.  It worked out great.  I used one whole 2200mAh battery pack and some of another.  I decided then to quit while ahead as the wind from the SW built up.  I think I did well given the breeze.  It makes the chopper go up or go forward when it blows harder, so it took much concentration to keep aflloat!  No damage today, how about that!  Main blades are not tracking well, so that needs adjustment. These are replacements so it figures.

Happy Mother's Day!

Spent a great Mother's Day morning at the field, lol.  Temps were warm and wind was calm, building to fair crosswinds from the north by noon when I left for home to do things with my dear San, and my sons and daughters-in-law.  Flew the T-28 uneventfully this time, for two nice flights.  Ran the Saito 82 engine a lot richer than I would like to keep it running, and it was therefore not as powerful and fast.  It was better than deadsticks on the sod farm windrows of dirt and rocks.  Flew the Stinger II three times...the YS63 ran real strong with no burps today, and I was glad for that too.  The crosswinds were a problem for some of the guys, and they ended up on the south side of the runway in the dirt a couple times.  I will not fly the T-28 again until Warbird Weekend in 2 weeks, so that I keep it one piece till then.  Same for the P-47.
.

Flight Log: 05/12/2012

This was the warmest day of the year so far, I'm guessing it was between 60F and 75F when I was at the field...extremely pleasant!  Flew the SNAFU 4 times and the Yak 54 twice.  All went well...no deadsticks at all, so I avoided the tilled up sod farm surrounding our little aircraft carrier runway.  Not many folks showed up today, which was weird, but maybe they were spending extra time with their moms and wives for Mother's Day, which is tomorrow.  Joe came with his Citabria Pro from the swap meet.  It flew well and the Supertiger 300 started and ran terrific.  Mike continued to have a bad time taxiing and taking off with the September Fury, which is a real shame for such good looking aircraft.  Rudy was amazing as usual with his electric pattern planes.  Anthony beat up the air with his 450 electric and his 90 size glow choppers.  Don Zeller got a new electric plane as well as instruction and much needed stick time from Dick Smith.  Al had fun early with his Twist and Escapade.  Lastly our prez Ron got rid of some Winter rust from his Telemaster and his own thumbs.  It was a good day for all.

3 Deadsticks and a Hover

For some reason, my T-28 died in the air three times today.  On the first landing, I was short of the runway, so that means I landed in the tilled dirt of the sodfarm.  While the plane flipped, I was lucky that damage is light and seems to be limited to all three LG.  The doors of the main LG got torn off, and one gear is loose in the block, so it has to be firmed up again.  The doors of the nose gear were splatted flat, so I need to replace or repair that.  I still tried to fly it and got the other two deadsticks, landing both times on the grass runway.  I think the temp was just too warm, and the engine was still tuned for dead of Winter.  I actually had to open the main needle, and close the low end screw a little.  I ran it for probably 5 minutes on the table and it did not die again, so I think it is ready for the next time.  I just need to repair LG and doors before Warbird Weekend.

I then tried to hover my Blade 400 3D for the first time, and I can happily report I was successful.  I used just the one battery pack that came with it.  On my initial try to lift off, the tail rotor hit the ground and unbeknownst to me it chipped then.  The main rotor also glanced the ground.  On the next attempt, I was able to hover.  I landed after 30-60 seconds, and then took off again for my last hovering.  That one lasted a couple minutes at least.  I ventured up to about 8' and did most hovering closer to 2' or 3' off the ground.  On the last attempt, I took off from the dirt road and moved over to land on the grass runway...just 15' away.  Great fun, and a huge accomplishment for me.  Training on the Blade CX must have really helped me attain this success!  :)

Jug, Shoe, and Sundown

Well, I flew my P-47 Jug three times today in prep for Warbird Weekend three weeks from now.  I did not nose over once on takeoffs or landings.  I did overrun the west end of the runway on rollout of one landing, and luckily the Jug must have hopped over the leftover sod clumps, hence my LG did not get ripped off or bent back.  Whew.  I flew the Shoestring 4 times and it was a ball all day.  Had to quit after the 4th flight because I hippity hopped the landing, and at the end it just tripped over its wheel pants and ripped up the left one.  Had I flown again, I probably would have torn it off completely.  It won't be pretty anymore, but I can fix it.  Durn it.  And lastly, Tad had a great day getting to know the Sundowner 36 better and better, but on the "one more flight" at the end, he had a deadstick and planted it in the hardpan dirt of the JB sodfarm.  Too bad as it was a good flying airplane and the engine was breaking in better on each flight.  The Sundowner had a fast life of 2 whole days, arg!

Flight Log: 05/05/2012

Nice weather today for flying on Cinqo de Mayo!  Took one more flight with the Sbach and it felt MUCH better with the change in servos, and one more ounce in the nose.  I hate to make it a full half pound, but I just might add that 8th ounce of lead to the nose of the plane.  I hate that "useless" weight, but it does serve a purpose...it makes the plane fly better.  The Airtronics servos on elevator are just the ticket for improved centering compared to the Tower TS-160 servos.  The plane reliably returned to the same level flight after down or up commands, just as it should.  I also fllew the Toledo Special three flights, and it sounded like a tractor in the air.  The bearings are going on this Saito 82a, following the precedent set by the same type engine in my T-28 Trojan.  I hate changing bearings...they never come out easily.  While it sounded bad, the Toledo Special sure flew nicely like usual.  It grooves almost as well as my more aerobatic planes.

Tad had a decent maiden and 2nd flight with his new Sundowner 36.  It kept nosing over in the grass, and was hard to start at times.  Once in the air though, it looked like it handled well.  Congrats Tad!  Jer had more fun with this CZ Yak, and the Extra 300SP, although the throttle pushrod for the latter fatigued while in flight.  Luckily it broke at zero throttle rather than full throttle, so Jer deadsticked safely.

I've been FRAMED!

Sue, Chuck, and Andy took their paintings to their fave frame shop in Kaneohe and got koa frames for them.  Just laminated koa, but it still looks awesome and rich, and now my paintings are worth whatever the frames cost, haha!

Diamond Head for Sue

Koolau's for Andy

Chinaman's Hat for Chuck