FLight log: 04/26/2016

I forgot to make a blog entry for flying this Tuesday.  I had 4 flights of the X5, 3 of the 7HV, and 3 with the Sbach.  I really wanted to see the latter fly well after the changes to the throttle servo, and gas tank internal tubes.  All worked well with just a slight throttle trim adjustment.  No deadsticks or idiosynchrocies of any kind with the engine and fuel system.  The 3 flights were each the full 10 minutes!  Great morning of flying, with nobody else there.

G500 G630 TS

Looks like a crazy code in that title!  Yesterday,  I flew the Goblin 500 4 times, then the Goblin 630 3 times, and finished with 2 flights of the Toledo Special.  Great day again, and the norm seems to be that nobody else shows up.  JB was there with one machine vacuuming the sodfarm but it was no big deal with the long circuits the tractor took across the field and back.  Easy to take off and land the TS when the tractor was away.  Made heli progress in inverted flight, slow progress, but good.  I am able to keep the heli at one altitude better, and doing many pyros, full or partial and coming out in a different direction.  Also am recovering to upright with forward, back, and side flips.  It's giving me practice in coming out of forward inverted flight with slower rolls too, which helps to construct a Cuban 8 or Immelman turn later.

Gobbies

Flew my G500 first for 4 flights, then the 630 for 3.  10 packs again.  Did not fly the Sbach due to JB mower and vac on the field.  Perfect weather...cool but not cold, partly sunny, calm, over 60F.  Nobody else showed up while I was there!

Sbach fix

Got into the Sbach tank today to analyze the deadstick during yesterday's flight.

You can't tell but the old tubes that are dirty are all soft like gummy worms!  Also each connection between tigon tube and brass tube was dissolved and those two tubes plus the filter were loose in the tank, lol.  That explains the deadstick due to lack of fuel feed to the DLE-30  engine.  It also explains why gas would not defuel below the tank stopper level.  All should be fine now, for another couple years, haha.  I am anxious to fly the plane again!

Sbach aches

Rats, took the Sbach out because it was so fun the last time!  About 5 minutes into the first flight, the engine quit and I had to deadstick into the sod farm just off the runway.  After I got the canopy off, I could see that the throttle servo was not moving on command, but it was clicking, so apparently the gears are broken inside.  I have not opened it yet, but replaced it with a new servo at home.  These planes need maintenance now and then...I have noticed the nylon wing bolt on one wing slips at full insertion.  I fly anyway because it would take lots to make the whole bolt back out.  But I found replacements in my spares at home, and have replaced both wing bolts.  Next up is the gas did not fully empty from the fuel tank while at the field.  It normally does.  I tested filling another plane and defueling it at home...the tank fully empties.  Something is wrong in the Sbach fuel tank or lines and will need to be checked before taking the plane out again, rats again.

Before flying the Sbach, I took my heli flights. I got in 4 flights on the X5 and 3 on the 7HV...a total of 10 packs again.  Great flying again, but I did one dumb thumb on the 7HV.  I hit top rudder while doing a roll...that is a no no.  I meant to do negative pitch while inverted, but got into my airplane brain and made the mistake.  I quickly saw the heli tail angle out and recovered.  YIKES!

Sbach back!

First flew my G500 for 4 flights, followed by the 7HV for 3...that consumed 10 packs.  Nobody at the field the whole time I flew my helis.  Good stuff today, making progress with inverted.  Flipped upside down, hovered, moved forward, pyro 180, then move forward again.  Loving this stuff, some progress finally.  It is all due to good vision.

Then I moved over to the big bird area near the shed, and assembled my Sbach.  With some slight doubts, I tried to start the DLE-30.  Doubts due to not flying the plane in 13 months!  Happily, the engine coughed after about 30 flips.  Then with choke off, it started up and idled after just 5 flips.  Ran fine all day, with no flameouts, even as I did some tall stall turns, and a long flat spin.  This plane flew better today than I recall it having such capabilities.  Enjoyed doing lots of spins, avalanches, rolls of various sorts, stall turns, and inverted flying.  Then it slowed down to a crawl for landings.  Had two nice flights and called it a very good and satisfying day!

Flight log: 04/16/2016

Got to fly my Gaui X5 and Goblin 500 for 4 flights each today.  Good fun per usual.  Had my Toledo Special too, but did not fly it due to JB vac on the field, durn it.  Other guys flew but I am tired of telling folks rules, let em do what they want.  Yes I flew the helis, but always over the north field unless the vac was way out of sight.  The planes fly over the south field whenever they want IMHO.

Tiny bird

From big birds last time, I went to my tiny bird today...the miniStar that I crashed a couple sessions ago.  It has been repaired and now flown.  Flies about as good as before but looks a little less pretty, haha.  I got in four flights on it today, still a real buzz bomb!

Flew my Gaui X5 4 times, G500 4 times, and G630 3 times today.  Had a great time flying those, felt connected and like everything was under control.  Good vision really does make a huge difference!  I am getting pretty comfortable going inverted and pulling out with inside or outside flips, and right rolls.  Straight line inverted slow and fast is getting easier.  Inverted pyros are fun.  Connecting them all with inverted turns is a natural progression that I hope is realized soon.

Big Birds

Flew my G500 four times today first, but then concentrated on my big old Bravata.  Flew it around 4 or 5 flights, mostly with Mike and his Rascal 110.  We had fun trying to fly formation.  Did not get too close to each other because the birds are so big, thus it was not very impressive, but I enjoyed horsing around with the big bird.  Just a pleasure to fly the Bravata, so slow and graceful.

My biggest bird travels in my smallest car!

Mike's Rascal 110

Friday

Flew yesterday/Friday again.  Got in three flights on the X5 and three on the 7HV.  Had more packs but ran out of time, needing to get home to help babysit the grandkids, lol.  Did not take any planes for this reason.  Dick returned my repaired miniStar on Friday..I just crashed it Thursday!  Gave him $35 for basically parts:  new orange receiver, new rudder servo and one new aileron servo, new nylon wing bolts.  He had to repair the fuselage behind the wing.  It was all kinda misaligned/twisted, but I did a quick job of twisting it back and heating it with the heat gun to hopefully hold the fuse in place such that the wing and stab are parallel.  Wrinkles show up due to counteracting the wood and carbon fiber desire to return to glued in stability.  Not pretty like before, and it should fly ok.  Might sell it after a bit.

Fun and ouch!

FUN:   A fine day like today requires flying, flying, flying!  Got out to the field by 9AM and the temp was near 60F already, how great is that!  Calm, sunny per the pics, very little wind.  Flew the X5 four times, then the 7HV five times!  That required and consumed all 14 of my 4000 mAh packs.  Felt really comfortable and tuned into the helis today, with not a single misorientation.  My eyes are too good for that if I just don't get too far away.

OUCH:   Also flew my miniStar sorta.  I checked it out and all surfaces moved properly.  Throttled up and took off to the east, and then had no elevator control at all!  Maybe even aileron was gone.  The plane just did a very gradual dive into the sod farm grass, lol.  Oh well.  Fortunately for moi, Dick showed up not much later, and I told him he missed my crash of his plane, haha.  He took pity on me, and he took the plane home to repair for me.  He said he is between plane builds anyway, and that the damage doesn't look so bad.  Looks bad enough to me!  HE said it would be free but I need to pay him something for his trouble.

Well, I still had a couple flights left on the 7HV at that point, and got back in the air quickly and still enjoyed the flying immensely.

It was a busier than usual day there as far as I am concerned.  Dick, Mike, and a new guy named Jeff were there to fly.  Chris and Stan came to kill time with no planes.  And as I departed, Don showed up.

Tuesday Tuesday

Got in some flying on another exceptional Spring day.  Only one there again.  Flew the Goldberg Ultimate again.  Had a great flight.  Tried to fuel up for the next flight, and the plane refused to take on fuel.  Something in the tank or line has clogged and it has to be checked and fixed, durn it! So I flew the X5 for 4 flights, sweet ones.

Brilliant Saturday

Saturday was yet another perfect day for flying at the field.  Tad and I flew.  He had his G570 for 4 flights.  I took my G500 for two flights and X5 for 4.  Made a mistake due to a distracting visitor, of flying the X5 twice on the same battery, so it ran down in flight.  Luckily I heard and felt the motor drop in power and was nearby, so I switched to normal mode and made it for a landing safely.  At the end I had full positive collective and the  X5 bounced barely more than a normal landing.  Closest I have come to auto-rotation landing!  I had a full complement of 4 batts for each heli, but called it a day early to go home and eat Roth burgers with the fam and friends.

Oh, I had the Goldberg Ultimate with me.  Got in one flight to make sure the OS 120 FS still ran, which it did fine.  Had to work to get it started with mid throttle to get the engine started and stay running, but after a couple minutes of running like that, the engine was able to throttle back and run slow again.  I wanted to fly it for guests but by the time they came, the JB guys had two vac tractors running all around the field and I could not fly it.

No pics cuz I forgot to take my cell phone/camera to the field today!