Clear skies and clear vision

My new eyes sure work good after cataract surgery and new lens implants.  It is easy to see the planes and helis very clearly at a distance.

Flew my G500 and X5 four times each this morning, followed by the Intruder for a single flight.  Just got tired!  With my better vision, I have more confidence, and should be able to try some inverted forward turns with the helis very shortly!  I got inverted lots today and did some minor adjustments to maintain straight flight paths, which were without panic, so full fledged turns are next.  (Of course I said this last year too!)

Nice Spring Day!

Well it is not technically Spring for a month, but I think the worst of Winter is done.  It was about 45F when I went to the field before 10AM and likely about 50F when I was done at noonish.  I used all 14 of my 4000mAh 6s packs!  Ran 4 through the X5, 2 through the G500, and 8 through the 7HV.  That is a total of 10 flights at 4.5 minutes each.  Also took the Aerostar 40 and had 2 nine minute flights on it.  It was a lot of air time, all alone with nary a soul there the whole time.  Wind was light, sky was mostly sunny.  My new eyes worked fine with dark shades on.  While I wish the left eye could be as clear as the right, perhaps there is still hope.  The left eye surgery was just 7 days ago so more healing might be expected.  The right eye was done 3 weeks ago, and is so doggone sharp.  Left eye might be limited by worse astigmatism which is not corrected by the new lens implants.

New eyes!

A beautiful day of between 45F and 50F while at the field today, yet not another soul came to fly while I was there between about 10AM and noon.  It was good to get out and try my new eyeballs out...first time to fly with cataract surgery completed in both eyes.  This means I got new lenses implanted in each eye too, both with distance in mind.  Now I am far sighted in both eyes instead of near sighted from high school till now, a span of about 50 years, lol.  Far sighted is a slight misnomer since I can see clearly from about 8' to infinity.  My eyes both tested 20/20 the day after the surgeries on each.  Anyway, I can see the helis and planes so clearly now that I have much more confidence in flying them.  I think disorientations with the helis will be rare unless I venture very far and/or high, which I doubt.

I got in 6 flights on the X5, 2 on the G500, and 2 on the Aerostar 40.  I meant to fly the 7HV too but I brought the wrong battery tray.  I think I picked up where I left off last year in my flight training progress.  This I think is due to being able to see better and therefore having more confidence.

Maintaining the Ultimate

I did some necessary maintenance on the CG Ultimate 10-300 today in preparation for flying it again this season.  I tested it over the Fall last year and discovered the flight battery is dead, so I wanted to get that changed.  That was pretty easy but necessitates taking the bottom wing off, which is a slight hassle.  I put in a never used (but at least a couple years old) 6V 2000mAh NimH pack after removing the old 4.8V pack.  Testing the controls out with that new pack, I found the rudder servo spinning but not turning so it must have some stripped gears in it.  Luckily it is a Futaba 3152 servo, and I have some new ones, so it was easy to switch out.  And while testing the throttle control, the linkage to the servo broke, so I had to remove the old brass linkage and clevis, and solder in a new one.  Since the new linkage is longer, that required removing an old ply brace and relocating and installing a new balsa one for adequate support of the flexible control rod.  I was just glad all the unanticipated repairs showed up while I already had the wing off for the battery replacement.  Should be good to fly now, and I just hope the engine runs after a couple years in the hangar.

I had right eye cataract surgery last Tuesday.  Left eye gets done next Tuesday.  With great dry and mild weather today, I decided to try to fly some planes to see how one eye works.  Works fine but will be even better with both eyes repaired.  I took out the Star and Aerostar 40, 4 packs on the first, 2 on the latter.  It is great to see the plane clearly with the right eye.  Left eye is a big blur with no glasses, but still helps a smidge with depth perception.  Both planes flew great and I had a blast in the gorgeous conditions.  Didn't even need a jacket for the second hour and while I mowed the field.