Triple Treat

Had lots of fun this morning.  I call it a triple treat day, flying a glow plane, electric heli, and a hand launch glider!  I ran 5 packs through the Gaui X5, had 3 flights of the Intruder pattern plane, and launched the Apache discus launch glider about a dozen times.  It was a gorgeous day, with very little company.  Rudy came out for a few flights before going to have his teeth sharpened.  Dean flew his Yak-55 a couple times.  And that was it, just three of us.

The X5 continues to be a real joy.  Stick time is piling up, and I am feeling more comfortable with the big helis each time.  I did my practice move a couple times, tried some more inverted hovering, and executed many flips...back, front, left, right.  I am trying to prevent myself from favoring one direction like I do with planes.  No misorientations today!

The Intruder was its old self.  The OS 91 four stroke sputtered a little on the first flight.  With one click of the needle to richen the mixture, the engine ran nice and smooth for the other two flights.  Sure is fun doing slow rolls, point rolls, and large loops with this plane!

I caught a 5 minute ride on one launch of the Apache, but that is the best I could do today.  No boomers for me, shucks!

Great day of flying Bravata and Goblin 500 with my sons

Had a wonderful time flying with Tad and Jer today.  Tad had the Goblin 500 and 700.  Jer had his Warp 360, Blade 130X, and Colibri.  I flew my Goblin 500 and Bravata.  Really been dying to fly the Bravata again after a very long hibernation, so it was the first time in 2014.  I got in 5 great flights with not a single issue.  Even after the many months, the DLE-30 started up easily, and ran like a top.  No deadsticks, not even on the runway after landing.  I found out the Bravata can hover with this engine, with a steady vertical hover easily maintained, easier than with any other plane I own!  I landed all 5 times with full flaps, what a joy.  The plane gets so slow and hits the runway after clearing the sprinklers like target practice.  I gotta work on greasing the landing in though, as most times I had a bounce on first touch down.

Special visitor...KIMI!

She made good use of available shade! 

My preferred parking for the XB when I have the Bravata.

Beautivul Bravata flies as good as it looks!

Bravata has good company.

GeeBee R3 and Super Sportster beyond the Bravata.

The Goblin had 3 packs of joy today, no issues.  Have to feel concerned for Tad's Goblins.  Both had brown out or cut off issues, with the Goblin 500 having a rough landing in the north field, ruining the tail boom and landing skids.  Prior to that Tad made a great autorotation save when the G700 lost power to the main blades but kept all control functions.  He was about a foot off the mat when the power came on again, but he landed to check things out.  He still had good flights before that with both helis, showing solid inverted control.

Gaggle of Goblins...Tad's 500, 700, and my 500 (right)

Jer helping Harvey with new Fox powered glider.

Tad launching the Fox for Harvey and Jer...so graceful, lol.

Getting the 500 ready, my Pulse edition on left.

Jer flew the Warp like crazy, beyond my comprehension.  That thing moves quick and does not seem squirrely like other 450 machines.  Nice backwards flight too!

Flight Log 07/26/2014

Had a good morning of flying with Tad and Quang.  Good but slightly breezy weather, sunny, warm enough, yet only Dick Smith came out to fly.  Mike came out but did not even unload a plane, what the?

Flew my Goblin 500 for 4 packs, the X5 for 5, and the Factor 3D for 3 packs.  Not too impressed with the Factor, but I will work on it a little more...add wgt to move CG forward, and add more expo to make the plane less touchy.  Helis were great today.  Tad flew well for a month layoff...didn't miss a beat.  I am just continuing to build time and muscle memory, and therefore confidence.  I did my practice move more today, and it is getting less stressful!

Tues flight log 07/22/2014

Rats, I forgot the correct wrenches so could not assembly my Bravata on a perfect day at the field weatherwise and with no sprinklers on the runway either.  Oh well.  I had a nice 5 packs through the Gaui X5 though!  No mishaps, and I got in more practice at a manuever I am trying to improve on...pitch back to vertical nose up, hesitate, pitch back to inverted, feed neg pitch and hover, pitch back to nose down, hesitate, pitch back to upright, hover.  Brain kind of goes awry now and then, so I have to do it lots to get the move down up high, then later bring the heli down so I can do it at an altitude where I can see it better!  The X5 has been performing well since the crash and repair.  Good heli.

Factor 3D

Before the monthly meeting, I took four flights with the Factor 3D.  It is growing on me slowly, flying better.  I have found it prefers slow or medium speed, not balls to the wall.  It then behaves very obediently.  At WOT it gets a little squirrely and perhaps I need to add more expo to tone that down.  Could also be due to the rearward CG making pitch control more sensitive.  But it hovers so easily this way!

Toledo is Special again

My Toledo Special behaved badly at WOK yesterday.  Last night I re-plumbed the fuel tank with new fuel lines, repositioning lines, tightening the stopper, plus I reset the idle mixture screw on the Saito 82a to factory setting.  Today I had to retune the engine and ended up turning the idle screw in  or leaner at least a couple turns, so maybe it is back to where it was, but it ran good again.  With a little more fiddling of that screw, the high needle, and the throttle trim on the xmitter, it seems to be running pretty nicely...rich, smokey, and quiet.  Power seems to be ok but it has been peppier at times in the past.  I will take adjustments slow to fine tune it.  After one deadstick this morning, I had a couple full flights with power on landings, what a novelty, lol.

I ran just one pack through the X5 due to incoming showers.  Will use the other packs hopefully tomorrow before the monthly meeting at the field, wind permitting.

TOO Few "Wings Over Keizer"

The turnout of pilots today was deplorable.  Me, Mike, Brandon, and Ken.  At least Ken came and flew, gotta give him credit.  I flew as much as all of them combined.  And that was even with the Toledo Special not completing a single flight due to a funky running engine.  I would say Mike had two flights in two hours due to a balky engine in the Stearman.  He flew the UcanDo once and the Stearman finally once.  Brandon had two flights due to various things bad in their planes.  Ken might have had 6 flights.  I think I had over 10 on the T-28 and SNAFU, with two partials on the Toledo Special.  We never had four up at once with only four pilots, two of whom had bad engines or other issues.  What a farce, very disappointing club turnout.  My opinion is skip it next year, but that won't happen.  So then we need much stronger coordination and communication to ensure good participation.  And maybe the guys just don't want to support the event.  There are more guys on a regular day of weekend of flying.  Venting!  

Ken's planes.

Jon's planes.

Brandon's planes.

Mikes planes.

Noon show was electric jet by Brandon, Pawnee smoke by Mike, Radian crash on launch by Bob Ross, Pattern flight by Rudy's friend.  Only a half hour show.  Just ok. While the pattern flight was cool to me personally, I think most of the public would think it was way too far out and high.  That is the impression I got when I flew the demo in past years.  The overall noon show was too short due to a lack of pilots, two of whom bailed at the eleventh hour and left the whole club in the lurch as far as I am concerned.  On the other hand I do not know with certainty the level of coordination completed with these pilots.

Pat Harris and his 2m pattern plane.

Good crowd on hand and I felt bad for them to have to watch the same guys fly over and over and over, and that was mostly me and Ken.  I would have got bored and left if I was them.  

The hot dog lunch was not even free for KRCA members.  I slaved away and had to buy my own dog!  Lol, just venting.  The weather was good and sunny and HOT, the wind was light, and the crowd in Ron's estimation might have hit around 150.  We need to do better as a club to make this a hit with the public, and we need buy-in from our own members.  The apathy is depressing.

Display on the runway.

Display on the runway.

Display on the runway.

Flight Log 07/18/2014

With errands to do, I flew after my optometry appointment and a Walmart visit, just 4 packs through the Goblin 500.  After that I hit the PO in Keizer, followed by Rite Aid a few doors down for a watch battery, thence to Radio Shack for a fuse (for my subwoofer) blown out by the lightning strike in my neighborhood last Sunday.  Home by 10:30AM!

Flight Log 07/17/2014

Good day for flying!  Got in 4 packs on the Goblin 500 which flew very nice and smooth.  Got in 4 flights on the Toledo Special.  Tried using some free fuel from Leisure Hobbies via Rudy, but it would not run in my Saito 82a in the Toledo Special.  Too old I presume.  Got one flight on the new Factor 3D.  I grabbed the wrong bag of lipos at home, which turned out to be used ones instead of the charged ones.  Dummy!  At least the plane flew better on the larger prop and calibrated ESC.  And the LG did not collapse on the only landing for today.

Mike maidened his new GB R-3!  Great looker and it turns out it flies great too!  Lots of power...with the DLE-55, Mike was cruising around at 1/3 throttle.  Landing was going to be good except the LG caught the new dirt curb created by JB around our runway, so the LG on one side got torn up a bit at the wing joint.  Durn it.

Prepping for the maiden

Takeoff roll

Landing approach

Almost touching down

Letting the nerves settle back down!

If the sprinklers are on the runway, it must be Sunday!

Durn it!  Like last Sunday, I took my Bravata to the field to fly.  Like last Sunday, the sprinklers were setting diagonally across the east end of the runway, shortening the runway and making it risky to fly the ginormous Bravata.  So I didn't!  I managed to squeeze all five packs in with the Gaui X5 between thunderclouds.   There was thunder and lightning in those clouds but little rain and wind.  The skies were ominous black and grey, with a few sunspots, the kind of lighting and background that reduces visibility and clarity for me.  I took it easy and did not stray far out except when the sun shone and allowed better visibility.   All went well, no crashes, and I got to satiate my heli appetite for the day.

In the afternoon about 5 blocks away from my house, lightning struck a 40' cypress tree, and the tree literally exploded:

4 Transmitters!

It was a rare occurrence to go flying today with a selection of aircraft that required 4 different transmitters!  I flew the Apache DLG, Star, Factor 3D, and Gaui X5 heli.  The latter went for 5 packs and was rock solid.

X5 photos courtesy of Jer!  This one is my new wallpaper
for a little while.

The Star was its usual self and flew for 5 packs.  I had three more, but the transmitter battery ran low, durn it, so Jer did not get to fly it again.  At least he got to fly it for one pack earlier.

The Factor 3D was not too impressive on its maiden day.  Power seemed lacking and I will change from the 9x4.7 prop to a 10x4.7.  I would try 10x3.6 except I don't have that prop.  On the second flight, I removed 1/2 oz of lead from the nose, without much effect.  I landed the first flight on the mat, and this time thought I should see how it lands on the grass with the small wheels and flimsy wheel pants.  The landing should have had just a bit more airspeed to land softer, but it landed a little too hard for the LG which collapsed and ripped out from the fuselage.  While the landing could have been better, the LG should have stood up.  Typical ARF weakness.

The Apache ailerons worked fine again with the repaired Y harness.  Caught some light thermals on one of the tosses and enjoyed playing in them.  Jeremy broke his rudder on a too hard landing so that put the Colibri out of commission for the day.

Jeremy flew 3 packs through his Warp 360 like a madman.  Fast and quiet!  Also flew his foam Yak 54, and his Blade 130x mini copter.  Colibri as noted lost to broken rudder early...nobody had CA for quick repair to make it fine again.

Warp 360 on left, Yak 54 in able hands of Jeremy

X5

Flew the X5 through 5 packs this AM in slightly breezy air, around 5mph.  Great heli.  Before that I threw the Apache up for a test hop, and it came spiraling down to terra firma.  Luckily the spiral was not too tight, and it appears no damage was caused by hitting the right wing tip thence cartwheeling!  I traced the culprit to  a spotty connection in the Y harness to the ailerons.  Upon inspection at home, I found the connections are crimped ONLY, with no solder!  One was definitely loose.  I cut them all out, shortened the too long harness to maybe 6" total, and soldered all the connections.  Reinstalled and tested, the Y harness is solid, and the commands to the ailerons are positive.  Lucky to have not incurred any damage!

4 plus 4

Had the Gobby out for four packs and the X5 out for four after the Gobby.  Nice weather, but still breezy albeit not as bad as yesterday.  Once up there is no problem but getting down requires a little extra concentration, just a little more.  Good fun with sunny skies making for good visibility.  Few clouds and the kabana helped provide respite.  Threw in some inverted on the last couple packs with the X5 and felt good.  Mostly did the usual ff flight, stall turns, and loops.  Hovering orientations at different altitudes and distances.  Still trying to stay within good visibility for my lousy eyes.

Due to reading a thread about a guy chopping his face up with his Goblin 630, I got a healthy dose of cautiousness overnight.  Pics were graphic and gross.  Today, I performed takeoffs and landings at the far reaches of the helipad mat.  Also I made all low passes about twice as far out as I used to, perhaps now at 40 feet ground distance.  These changes were easy to make and hopefully keep me out of harms way.  I have requested to Rudy and Bob B that we add more mat to double the area, adding it all to the west of the existing helipad mat.  I don't see why they would resist, and it should just be a matter of availability of more mat.

X5 X 5

I flew the X5 five times this AM at the field, in 10mph winds, the windiest conditions I have ever flown a heli in.  Helis seem to handle wind easier than planes IMHO.  The rebuilt X5 flew well even with the slightly bent frame.  The crack/break in the frame does not affect the main shaft alignment because it is just above the rear LG brace.  Did not sustain any inverted flight, but kept to simple forward flight with stall turns and loops.  I did not want to get confused by the wind while trying inverted hovering.  The heli seems to fly as good as it ever did.  One interesting change is that the main rotor seems to freewheel easier and longer than it used to!

New Mango canopy by Fusuno, new blades by Rail/Botos.
I can say I have Big Botos now!  LOL!

Can you see my XB in this next pic?  That will be my fave parking spot, if available, whenever I bring a gas plane that I typically set up on the grass at that end of the pits.

Check out the new tent shelter on East end of pits, next to our shed.
Frame has been sitting for years in the shed, and the tarp roof is new.

While I took the Bravata, I did not fly it due to wheeled sprinklers running across the east end of the runway, and this plane needs all the runway space due to its size.

Back again

After a 9 day layoff for a trip back home, I flew again on Sunday July 6th.  Got in 4 flights on the Star and 4 packs through the Goblin.  All went well.  I kept to simple flying on the Gobby with just some piros, loops, and stall turns.  Did not do any sustained inverted.  Did not bring the X5 since I did not have enough time to get more packs charged.  I was flying just 9 hours after getting back to Salem, on 4 hours of sleep.