RV-8 and X5

Yet another day of good weather availed itself, but this one fell on the weekend so Tad could fly too!  I got in 4 packs on the X5, and also had three nice flights on the RV-8.  Tad put in a bunch of flights on the Goblin 570 and 700.  Still working on eliminating the small tail wag on the 570, but fortunately he can still fly it and have fun and practice.  Dunno why I did not take pics of my own aircraft today, but I do have a couple of Tad and his!

Heli heli heli day

Very nice weather again!  About 45F when I headed out around 10AM.  Wind according to Don's wind meter was fluctuating between 3 and 6mph.  Sun was out in full glory, few clouds, wow it was gorgeous.  Took all 11 packs and split them up to get 4 flights on the G500, 3 on the G630, and one on the X5.  Very satisfying with no disorientations in full sunlight.  Got in many inverted high straight lines.  Just a great flying day.

4 new guys were at the field, 3 being members:  Don, Jerry, Jesse.  Don and Jerry brought along Bill to test out the field.  Being from Portland, I don't know if it makes sense for Bill to join.  I advised him about the FlyAways RC club off Hwy 26 in Hillsboro.  Nice to have enthusiastic new members with their different aircraft and personalities.

Bravata Day

I got the Bravata out today for a couple flights.  Meant to do more, and to fly the Goblin 500 as well, but JB was mowing, and there were half a dozen guys walking the North field with weed sprayers.  So I got in 2 flights only, and then called it a good enough day.  Hardly fulfilling with the perfect weather.  Oh well.  Hope to fly the helis tomorrow.  The Bravata performed well, with the DLE 30 starting and running flawlessly.  Love that plane with that engine!

Jeez is this really Winter?

Wow for another fine mid Winter day with 50F when I headed to the field in sunshine, some clouds, no wind.  As good as it gets, actually better, haha.  Flew my Toledo Special about 4 flights; still smooth running and a groovy airplane in the sky.  Lots of loops, inverted flight, Cuban 8's, rolls, and low slow circles.  Very gratifying.

Flew my Gaui X5 for 4 packs.  That flew fine as well.  Tad came and he said I am getting "ballsy", so I think that is a very good thing, lol.

He flew his G570 first and it flew well.  Needs to lower the gain due to a small tail waggle caused by changing to a bigger pinion on the motor.  Flew great though.  THEN he flew his G500 and was doing so very well...lots of nice continuation moves with inverted flight and also tail first flight.  Lots for me to aspire to.  BUT on one flight, he was up around 60' inverted and power went out.  He had no motor but still controlled the servos for a very flat inverted landing at as slow a speed as he could get it.  Landing was on the north field so maybe that helped cushion the crash because only the canopy was broken.  The mains did not even break!  That does not mean they are still usable, but I thought surely they would have snapped.  He will do a full autopsy at home to see what needs to be replaced, but it appears minimal at first inspection.

Star and Gobby 500

It was another nice day at he field in the middle of Winter!  About 45F, calm, sunny with a few clouds, and very nominal wind.  I flew the Star for five packs and the Goblin 500 for four.  Very satisfying day!  Dick showed up and flew a bit too.  I concluded by mowing the field.  (I actually remembered to bring my cell phone so I could snap some pics!)

Probably my fave heli, even moreso than its bigger brother the 630!

4 by 4

4 flights on the revived Goblin 500 Pulse edition, and 4 on the X5.  I started with two on the G500, then two on the X5 and just alternated that way through my 8 charged packs.  Fun fun fun in the sun sun sun!  Great weather with sunshine, blue skies, over 45F so no handwarmers required, and light breeze from somewhere that I did not care about since it was so light.  Got in lots of flips on both helis.  My collective management is getting much better.  A new guy Jesse observed that my CM is good.  I guess it is now.  I told him that the weather forced me to improve...low fog in the Winter keeps me flying the helis low, slow, and close, and that requires good CM.  I did a lot of flips and loops, and straight line inverted flight at the top of my loops.  Turns are coming soon!

2 cubed

Very nice weather today so I flew my 3 helis.  Didn't even use hand warmers today!  Got in 2 packs on the G500, 2 on the X5, and 4 (2 flights) on the G630.  Got in very short inverted straight lines, but on one, I did a half pyro to face the opposite way, and then pulled the 2nd half of the loop to get upright.  Seems to be coming along as the straight inverted is not wandering off either direction, and I am getting more comfortable at making roll corrections as well as faster or slower forward flight.  So upcoming will be trying to do more inverted circles!  All 3 helis flew good, and I'm grateful and happy to have that 500 back in good order again, even if in Pulse garb to replace the dragon scheme.

Sunny, sunny, sunny!

Oh what a beeyooteefull day for flying!   Went out near 10:00AM and expended all eleven of my 4000mah packs...four on the revived Goblin 500, three on the Gaui X5, and four (2 flights) on the Goblin 630.   It was clear with no fog, super clear sky, sunny, and around 45F.   And almost dead calm.  EXTREMELY NICE!  Nice enough that Dick and Mike came out to fly too.  I flew the G500 first, giving it an uneventful remaiden flight.   It gave me permagrin to have it back in the air about one month after crashing it.  After the first flight, I was able to play with it normally, doing loops and flips.  No issues with orientation of any of the Helis today given the excellent lighting today.  All flew fine...life is good today.

My cell phone was dead so here's a pic taken at home yesterday.

Foggy foggy foggy

Did I say it was foggy today?  Doggone it, but it was around 44F and calm.  At least I got to fly low and close in, therefore slowly.  Very good practice.  Flew the X5 four packs and the G630 for one flight.  Saw figures in the fog on the north field, about 5 presumably workers making slow walking passes out west by the dirt road.  Weird as they did not seem to be carrying tools and buckets to be weeding, but they all seemed to be scanning the ground with care.  Maybe they lost something.  When they got closer, I packed up and left.  No other die hard there to fly.  Mowed the field between a couple flights.

A new passion: detailing HO scale buildings!

I have been learning to detail HO scale train buildings.  This involves buying a usually already built and used plastic building on eBay, which has not been finished by the owner.  I buy in lots so that helps keep the cost down...that just means the seller puts two or more buildings into one auction.  When I get them, I clean and repair them.  This sometimes means cutting them apart if they were assembled badly.  Next up is base coat of hand paint on everything.  I have chosen to use Tamiya acrylic paints that can be brushed or airbrushed.  With that step done, I get the airbrush out and fog various parts of the building to make it look weathered.  I finally put the airbrush and compressor (both Harbor Freight) to use, gifted to me and the boys years ago by good old Joe.  It's been a real learning experience figuring how to use the airbrush, where to fog, etc.  Pics below show an unpainted shed, base painted shed, and fully weathered and landscaped shed.  Great fun.

I think the finished one on the right looks a lot better than the one on the left.  I don't know how some guys can just add one like that to their layout, but perhaps they don't have the equipment, matierials, and ability to detail them for themselves.  I am getting better but still have a ways to improve.  Relatively inexpensive, and it is lots of fun. 

Here are a few pics of some of the buildings I have completed.

First row on table edge are all completed and ready for eBay

Currently on eBay