SUMMER is HERE!

I went to the field early again today because we are having a heat spell for Salem, OR!  It was 90F yesterday and more of the same today.  At least it was only around 70-75F when I first arrived.  I got to the field around 8:30, first and only one there for awhile.  Got in a flight before anyone else came, then Mike, Gene, Rick, Harvey, and Joe came in the next hour or so.  I flew my AW 50cc Ultimate on this cloudless day...the DLE-55 started and ran like a top, and the plane was smooth.  Got in three flights and then gave up as the temps got higher and my brow got wetter.  Used my timer set at 8minutes, and the timer went off on all three flights either when I was in the air or having just landed.  For some reason, the engine quit on the runway after rollout, twice.  It kept running after the first flight only.   It's a minor but curious issue, as long as it does not flameout in the air.

RV-8 and Star

Got to the field early to beat the heat today. Very nice and cool but sunny and bright.  Flew the RV-8 three times with Tad and his Kaos Two.  Also flew the Star for two packs.  Actually Tad flew it for most of one pack, had fun, and landed it very nicely too.  I helped Harvey with his electric Alpha by checking it out, and flying it for a short hop, trimming it in the air, and landing.  He did really fine flying it the rest of the day, and thanked me when he left for "babysitting" him, haha.  Tad also was a helpful resource by helping Ken check out and test fly his electric Sportster.  He flew it and landed it well.


Anthony, Quang and Tyra were there today too, and they flew their choppers again. Also flying today were Joe, Mike, Rudy, Chris, and Ashton.  The latter by the way had trouble the other day with his No Can Do...he was trying to get his Magnum 70 to run steady on that plane, and it was mounted inverted.  While inverted engines can be tuned to run fine inverted, it sure is easier to just avoid that often problematic issue by simply mounting the engine sideways.  I recommended that the other day, and Ashton had the engine side mounted today.  It ran great, and Ashton is a happy man again, lol.

Later we met Anthony, Quang and Tyra at the Brooks Heli Fun Fly and spent a couple hours together there.  Very entertaining to see good pilots and choppers fly.  And through all of this long day, little Tyra was an angel again...what a sweet baby girl!

Electrics

Flew just my electrics today...Star for two packs and 130X for two packs.  I thought I charged my 4 battery packs for the Star but was mistaken.  I got almost a 4.5 minute first flight when I noticed I did not have power for a go around to try another landing.  Landed just off the west end of the runway.  With my battery checker, the pack was down to zero remaining capacity, ouch.  I checked the other batts and they were around 30% so I evidently had not charged them, but put them in the tin for charged packs by mistake.  On to the 130X.  It had one good flight, then I noticed it was starting to want to just twirl around again, so I quit on the 2nd pack.  When I got home I checked the gears on both ends of the tail rotor rod.  The one at the tail that Tad replaced the other day still had a good D slot.  The one on the nose end did too, but with a little slop.  I had a new one that seemed snugger so I installed it.  Hovering inside the house, it seems ok.  I will take it to the field again and see if it is normal now.

I've come to the conclusion that my glow and gas planes are as reliable as my electrics, plus they sound nice and smell good, so I like them better.  For me, the electrics have their place as a filler or when I want to make a really quick trip to the field.

New Girl at the Field!

Had the PLEASURE of meeting Quang's daughter Tyra at the field today.  There is going to be competition between Tyra, Ariel, and Skylar to see who solos flying first, haha!  Tyra is a a real cutie, 4.5 months young, 16 pounds, and all angel.  She loves to smile at both Tad and me, and of course daddy and Uncle Anthony!  She was at the field at least 2 hours and never cried once.  Check out the new cutie at the field, haha.

So the day started pretty ugly and I debated a good hour at home about going, but finally decided I needed to try.  I took the Star and Shoestring 60 at around 8:30.  Sure enough it was raining on and off, but never real hard.  I flew the Star first in anticipation of being rained out quickly, and got in 2 flights before stopping for a passing shower.  I just tucked the plane under one of the big table.  Luckily the rain was straight down and not blowing horizontally.  As soon as it was just a light drizzle, I got the Star out for the the 3rd battery pack that I had with me.  The Star shines brightly...great little plane and seems to be dialed in now.

At this point I was considering whether to stay or leave, and decided to stay and set up the Shoestring.  As I set up my stuff at the table, Tad drove up...sure surprised me!  He set up fast since he brings his plane assembled in the car, and we got in 4 flights together over the next couple hours.  It was fun making lots of passes and trying to grease on the landings.

Soon after Tad arrived, Quang arrived with Tyra, and a little while later Anthony showed up too.

The new chopper is a Quang's 700 size GOBLIN by SAB, out of Italy.  Wow, it is futuristic looking, well-engineered, high quality, sounds good, flies good, and did I say EXPENSIVE!  So Tad loves it!

Anthony flew his 500 size Goblin super smoothly, and I think this is the size that interests Tad.  Quang says he had a minor crash on his 500 yesterday.

I should mention that on Quang's 2nd flight today, the engine cut out while inverted and in the middle of a 3D manuever.  He miraculously flipped her over and auto-rotated it with only a small thump upon landing, which caused no damage.  Further investigation revealed that the heat of the engine or current caused the wires to unsolder from the T connectors (Dean) at the battery!  The heat actually burned part of the carbon fiber frame near that connector too.  Wow! What a SAVE!!

Flight Log: 06/22/2013

I flew yesterday but forgot to post about it, and I also flew today.  Yesterday I flew the Star for all 4 battery packs, the RV-8 for two flights, and the Blade 130X for two packs.  All flew well, but I broke the tail skid on the 130X with just a light backwards hit on the mat.  The RV-8 was dialed in and on rails like a pattern plane, really scooting well, then slowing good with full flaps for touchdowns.

Today I flew the Star for all 4 of my packs as well as 3 more packs that Joe had with him!  I also let Anthony fly the Star for most of one my packs in between his flights of his Goblin 500.  He liked it.  Tried to fly my 130X but the tail would rotate around and I could not get it to hold still.  I think the rotor servo might be ill.  Also flew my Toledo Special 3 or 4 times; all is well with it.  In fact the Saito 82a was running very sweet today so the TS was quick.

The STAR is borne!

I bought this plane from Dick Smith after the Bad Boy Fun Fly on Satuday.  Why?  I had to have it because it is a smaller version of the Midwest Aerostar 20 that I built from a kit around 1990 to train the boys on.  Dick designed the Star which later became the Aerostar when Midwest bought the rights to it.  Dick scratch built this one, and I saw him fly it a couple times over the last few months.  I think the first time I saw it, I told Dick to consider me first if ever he wants to sell it.  He took 2nd in the fun fly with it, then later in the day he asked if I want to buy it then and there.  Got it for $100 with the servos, engine, and ESC in there.  He does beautiful work, just as nice as my builds from kits.  He is the consumate scratch builder, showing up with new designs at the field all the time.  I am going to take a Sharpie whenever I take the Star to the field, so that I can get him to autograph it somewhere for me, haha.

The Star uses the same 3s lipo batteries that I use in the Blade 400, so that is great.  Today, I took the plane to the field and flew all 4 batt packs, setting the clock on the xmitter to countdown from 5 minutes.  The plane flies great, very spritely.  Does decent rolls and holds inverted with enough down elevator.  Landings are easy peasy.  It's a joy to own and to fly this plane "again".  I like being able to take it in the car assembled, either in the xB or the truck.

C5 still alive

In prep for selling the Corvette, I washed it a few days ago, and today I took it to a nearby school to take some pics for the ad.  Here are a few of the pics:

Later in the day, I took a 30 minute drive in the Corvette...it still feels so powerful and it sounds like the American muscle car.  Still love that.  I do feel strong side forces when taking curves, therefore I slow down in them.  Steering takes more effort in curves too.  The Boxster can take curves faster without the same sense of side forces, and steering is effortless at ALL times.

UPDATE on June 19, 2013:  Happened to look at the charger on the Corvette today, and a red light was on...meaning trouble in the battery.  It should be yellow for charging or green for fully charged.  I got in the car and nothing was lit.  Battery was dead as a doorknob, which is weird because I just drove the car yesterday!  Anyway, I did a quick search on the internet, and got a decent batt from Autozone. It is a Duralast Gold for $115, so I called to be sure they had it in Keizer, then took off in the XB with the Optima to trade in.  Got the batt back home and it fits and everything seems to be running.  Car starts right up.  From discovery to good as gold took maybe one hour, haha.

EFFORTLESS!

I went out for a nice drive this morning. Normally I drive maybe one hour, which limits the distance to about 40 miles RT. I've been wanting to hit a couple curvy routes that are about 30 minutes away from home, and decided to go for it today. I put on about 121 miles in 2 hrs and 36 minutes. With a couple rest stops at the Spirit Mountain casino going and coming, I was out for about 3 hours total. Had to play $5 at the casino and get a free soda while there anyway.

For those familiar with the area, I left Salem driving northwest on Hwy 22, went to SM, then back onto Hwy 22 to Hebo. Between SM and Hebo, the highway is full of curves as Hwy 22/SW Hebo Rd passes through the coastal range of mountains. In Dolph (just a name on a map, could not see anything there except an intersection of two highways), the name changes to 3 Rivers Hwy till Hebo. At Hebo, I turned south on Hwy 101...this is the highway that runs the length of the State of Oregon mostly with the Pacific Ocean in view. But the short section I was on is inland, and I was on it maybe 5 miles before turning eastward on Hwy 130/Little Nestucca River Rd. This was a fun road between 101 and Dolph...lots of curves with very little traffic. I think that was due to several one-lane bridges that I passed over, yet the road was paved nicely and well maintained. At Dolph, I then turned southeast onto 22 again, but now going in the opposite direction...still lots of fun, maybe moreso since on the way out I was stuck behind a semi and other traffic for 10 miles, but on the way back I did not catch up to traffic for many miles. Proceeded back to Spirit Mountain for a pitstop, soda, and some video poker. I think my $5 lasted 5 minutes on a nickel machine, lol. It was a good rest, and I headed back home to Salem, taking the usual 35 minutes or so.

I thorougly enjoyed the drive. The base Boxster is both a great touring car with ample cockpit comfort space and a very smooth ride while also being an aggressive go-cart with quickness and agility in the curves and hills. Loved the more aggressive sound and response with the sport button on, of course! Carving curves is just so easy with this car. I have said it before...point and shoot. Feels like it is on rails around curves. I am not a good rev matcher but I still love trying, and downshifting gets you into more torque, then that wonderful raspy note from the engine and exhaust fills your senses all over again. Curve after curve, over and over. I know I am preaching to the choir.

Heading home from SM on 22, I only had to pass a couple cars on some uphill vehicle passing lanes, but boy is that fun to downshift, accelerate pass the slower vehicle effortlessly in my gorgeous Porsche, change lanes at a comfortable distance, and slow a bit but not too much...cannot have them catch up can we, lol.

I got to play with cruise control for the first time today on the more boring parts of Hwy 22 near Salem. I had not read the manual on its use, but gosh it was very easy to figure out and use on the fly so to speak. I love how smooth it feels too, not hurky jerky as it operates. I manually deployed the spoiler several times today. Seems to be working, but I can't visually verify it is out from the cockpit. It was still out when I parked once, so I think it works fine.

As I reflect on my thoughts about this drive, I think I just determined that the key word to describe the Boxster is EFFORTLESS. It was just that in all that it did for me today...effortless steering, effortless shifting, effortless accelerating, effortless stopping, and it was just so effortless at looking good the whole time! 3 fun hours with just the Boxster and me today. The only thing better is 4 hours, 5 hours, etc, etc. Actually I might be tired after too much time out. I was not tired after 3 hours, but I was pretty fully satiated! Oh, I still think a built in catheter would allow me not to waste time on rest stops!

Father's Day!

Had a great day of flying on Father's Day, made totally special by all 3 sons coming out to fly with me!  That was really special.  Tad flew his Kaos Two, Jer flew the rejuvenated Extra Soucy, Alex flew his Alpha trainer, and I flew my Intruder.  It was an exceptional day in another way...Alex qualified for his gold star on his membership card, meaning he can fly alone anytime.  He took three flights today where I did not have to handle the sticks at all.  He took off, flew, and landed on his own.  His landings were very good.  One takeoff was a little sketchy when the Southwind brought the plane over to the fence on the takeoff roll and lift off, but he escaped unharmed with good reactions to keep the plane away from the pits, unlike another pilot at the field today who let his plane go deep over the pits.  Not a good thing by Dave. Alex made lots of loops and rolls, and even extended inverted flight, wonderful flying for not having flown since last Fall!  I made about 5 flights today, a couple with Tad and Jer, making passes together over the field.  I think the Soucy is the fastest, while the Kaos and Intruder are pretty even in speed.  WHAT FUN.  Total satisfaction.

I also flew my Blade 130x for two packs, and had fun with it.  No crashes, and feeling good about it.  Watch out, something bad will happen soon, haha.  Jer flew his Hyper Taxi too, pretty crazy thing.

Bad Boy Fun Fly

I CD'd the Spring 2013 funfly for the KRCA yesterday, with assistant CD Alex, my son, haha.  We had fun doing it, and Alex and I made a great team.  We got to the field at 8AM and set up our table and chairs and Alex promptly paced off the runway then divided the length in thirds.  We then used string to make straight lines over which Alex sprayed flourescent orange paint on the grass.  NICE JOB and the paint was easily visible to the pilots.  Promptly at 9AM we held a pilots meeting to explain the events and rules.  12 pilots participated and flying began at 8:15.  We had little to no wind today, temps between 60F and 75F, just perfect conditions for flying and taxiing.  Events are described here:

AND the results:

If that is hard to read, the top three finishers were Al in 3rd, Dick in 2nd, and Joe was the baddest Bad Boy!

Intruder

Yay, finally lighter winds today!  And so nice and cool requiring just a vest over my shirt.  A JB guy was  mowing, but most times far away, so Dave and I flew carefully.  Got my Intruder tuned in better so that it whistles again on low passes.  I made two flights and loved the rail like tracking.  Loops were huge and rolls of all kinds were on a string.  Landings were easy from the East, being careful to land slow and short due to irrigation pipes laid completely across the West end of the runway, lol.  Before the Intruder, I flew the Blade 130x twice since that is all the batteries I have for it.  FUN, and I am getting more comfortable with turning the sides of the chopper to  me.  Did the tail in orbit of the chopper around me too, like control line.  It has to be helping me somehow, haha.  I feel the full circle out away from me coming soon if I can keep the little beast in one piece long enough!

10MPH+ N Wind

Nobody at the field when I got there, due to wind. I mowed the field first, then flew.  Had 3 flights when Tad arrived, much to my surprise.  I didn't expect him to show up, on a day like today for die hards, and since I thought he would not get his Kaos nose gear repaired.  BUT HE DID!  I got in another two flights (?) I think, for a total of either 4 or 5, not sure.  His Kaos flew great, and Tad nailed all the landings even though we had much turbulence in the shadow of the walnut trees on base and final legs.  That made landings exciting for me with the Giles, but Tad's Kaos seemed to penetrate the air easily.  Tad flew the Kaos like he's been flying regularly with it!  I like how sweet the OS 46AX in the Kaos is running.  The Giles flew well with a few clicks leaning out for the warmer weather we now are into.  We had one flight together and made some low passes together.  When we were about done, Mike showed up with a new used 150 Twist.  Didn't get to see him fly it.

Boxster Runabouts!

Yesterday, I took the Boxster out for over an hour, for 45 miles, with Sandy.  Top had to be up most of the time as she did not like the cool air nor the wind blowing her floppy hat.  After a few minutes of seeing her hunker down low in the seat to stay warmer, I pulled over and raised the top...gotta love how fast it works, and I don't even have to get out of the car!  We went out to Dallas and back in via Monmouth and Independence.  In Indy, we were just 10 minutes from home and it was 5F warmer (now 72F), so I dropped the top and Sandy was fine, except for the wind.  She held down the floppy hat around her ears, so silly!

Today I drove over another hour, down River Rd, across to the bridge before Indy, headed back East and up Skyline, over to Concomly, and then up Liberty, 12th, and home on State Street, the bridge, Wallace and Orchard Heights.  TOP DOWN all the way and with the heater on since it was just over 60F.  I activated the spoiler for most of the drive and put it back down when I entered Salem again.  I saw a 911 Cab at the start of the drive when I was cruising down River Road, and I gave a wave, but did not ascertain gender of the driver, nor a response.  The Boxster seems to be running fine, as I still try to get used to everything about it.

LATER in the day, Tad came over in his 911S with his new friend Mark who is interested in the 981 Cayman!  They ended up staying about 2 hours, and we squeezed in a short 20 minute cruise with the 991 and 981 for Mark to see and hear.  Mark is one funny dude who is totally enthused about getting a Porsche, and he is well versed in all the specs, options, and costs for the Cayman.   By the end of our time though, he was also totally confused about which P car to get...the Cayman, Boxster, or Carrera, or the S variant of each, lol.  It was fun to see the excitement and enthusiasm, and Tad really hopes Mark gets one of the cars so we will have another Porsche nut to cruise and converse with!

RV-8

I RV-8ed again today.  I lost count of the flights because the engine was not running well, so I was tuning it and going up and down and retuning again and again.  I am guessing  at 6 tanks of gas, but many more takeoffs and landings.  For the last two flights, I think I was finally getting zeroed in on the right settings.  On most of the other ones, I was back and forth on the high needle and low needle.  Either the high end would be too lean or have that troublesome hunting hi and lo at full throttle.  Hate it.  Then the low end would race or it would not idle at all when I removed energy to the glow plug!  Hate that too.  So towards the end, I really had to turn the hi needle way in and let the engine pretty much run kinda lean, then I played back and forth with the low needle to get a good response without dying on application of throttle.  The last two flights seemed pretty decent without any deadsticks nor flameouts on takeoffs.  We shall see how it runs on the next outing, but I think it will be satisfactory.  The plane started to groove on the last flights, and it was fun again.  I have no idea at all why the engine ran so lousy today and on the last outing.  Hopefully it stays happy from now on.

Also flew the Blade 130x for its 2 packs again, and had fun.  I sure was tempted to try a circle in front of me, but ran out of nuts.  I did an interesting thing...I flew it nose out, but kept turning my body a full 360, both directions.  Just trying to get more comfortable before I try the circle.  Once I do that, I think progress will quicken.

Good route on Sunday

I took a pretty nice drive in the Boxster on Sunday!  Headed to Independence via 22 and Independence Hwy.  Went through the town, then left across the Willamette River on what would be River Road extended.  At the East end of the bridge, I turned right and drove across a floodplain full of strawberry fields and many dozens of workers who were parked roadside and harvesting the fruit.  The air was sweet with strawberries.  Turned North on Skyline, which proceeds uphill via some pretty tight twisties.  Just after the top, turned East on Concomly for a tour of the million dollar estates with multi-acre lots.  Turned North on Liberty then East on Kuebler.  Headed North on Commercial till 12th and followed that to Marion St, thence back home via Wallace and Orchard Heights.  The drive takes about an hour.  Another good variation would be to go East on 22 from home, south on Front, West then South on River Rd till the East end of the Willamette R bridge, before getting into Independence.  From there the route would be the same as described.  This would add more curves to the route!  I think I need to introduce Tad to this one.

Sbach 342 and Blade 130x

Had a good time in strong sun and nearly 80F today.  Flew the Sbach twice and the 130x twice.  Rudy was putting away by the time I arrived at 10AM!  He got there at 8.  Dave W finished a flight, then packed up too.  Sbach is doing well and slowly becoming a fave due to how neutral it sets up...very little coupling in KE, super responsive to all controls, flies true.  Probably my worst maneuver with it is landing!  It pitches up in low idle and actually needs some more throttle and a smidge of down elevator to grease in.  Without the down elevator it sort of plops to the ground near a stall.

The 130x was fun.  All I can do is hover with nose facing away from me.  With the little wind, I walked the chopper around the pits, down the runway, and back to the gasser area to get practice with the wind hitting the chopper at its sides and back, not just the front.  No crashes or damage today, haha.

RV-8

I had 4 or 5 flights with the RV-8 today.  The first couple flights were awesome, then for some reason the Saito 82a began to surge high and low, not excessively, but enough to hear it.  I tried leaning and richening the high needle to no avail.  Also leaned out the low idle/transition and got that more responsive, however that did not change the surging on the high end.  The RV-8 still flew great and I had a ball doing pattern style flying and then landing with full flaps to make main gear landings.  A couple landings were bunny hop hop hop ones, to Jeremy's amusement.  He got to fly it for one flight while it was running well, and he enjoyed it a lot.  It was nice to have Jeremy fly with me...his Extra 300SP suffered a fuel tank leak, and we think the stopper needs tightening.  He got one flight in only to find the inside of the fuse soaked in fuel.  That ended his flying as it is something that needs tending to at home.  He flew his BNF Python, Mig, and Blade mCPx.  Tad showed up late and flew his smaller Blade and Mig.  A good fun day, and we were out of there around 1PM.

If the Shoe fits!

After a good work effort to lay down very long, wide, and heavy matting over our pits, some of us flew what we brung.  I took my Shoestring 60 up thrice and had a ball.  Wind was pretty much out of the West and made takeoffs and landings easier than usual.  The Saito 100 ran well, the plane flew great.  With the 75F temps, I tweaked the engine to run a wee bit leaner with about 2 clicks in on the needle valve.