On June 6: Nearly a big loss of my big RV today! Left aileron linkage got undone in the air! All of a sudden felt like a drag chute on the left wing with that huge aileron just hanging down. Had to really stay on the stick with only right aileron working. Got her landed on the runway! Turns out the nuts that hold the link on both ends came loose and the gas engine vibes caused the rods to unwind and slip out of a clevis! My fault for not checking them. Gonna solder one side so they cannot unwind like that. Whew, the plane lived, but it was looking bad!
This bird has gone through three lives so far!
1. Wheel fell off with axle. Made safe landing on runway.
2. Throttle linkage came undone so landed without throttle control.
3. Left aileron linkage fell apart. Made it safely to runway.
Only the first one was not my fault...that axle was defective and I am sticking to that story! The others are owner operator fault, yikes!
June 12: Hey guys, here’s a bonehead move. I drove my boxster the other day so I moved some planes away and placed them next to the truck. Then yesterday I wanted to go out in the truck....I forgot to move the RV-4 and two other planes before moving the truck. The truck tire rubbed hard over the left axle of the RV and brushed the left wheel. That broke the axle and bent the. left side of LG. Lucky I had a spare axle (from replacing the one that fell off in the air). So I got out my workmate to use as a vise for the LG. I bent it back straight, and I overcorrected so now the left side of the stab and wing are higher off ground then right...it was vice versa before the repair. It’s ok, I expect first landings to relax what I did. Should be good enough. This plane might be cursed, but I
will try it again tomorrow! Stay cool! 98F at my house right now.
So now The RV-4 has gone through 4 lives so far!
1. Wheel fell off with axle. Made safe landing on runway.
2. Throttle linkage came undone so landed without throttle control.
3. Left aileron linkage fell apart. Made it safely to runway.
4. Ran over left axle and rubbed wheel with truck.
Will fly again today and see if anything else can go wrong with this plane!
UPDATE: the plane flew well today. I had to retrim the surfaces first thing at the field today upon turning the plane on. Things weren’t centered after the soldering I had done as noted in the beginning of this post. All went well, nothing fell off in the air, no more curses on the plane today at least, lol. Got in two flights. Landings were just ok, not greased on. Thinking about a little nose weight.
This is just a place for me to ramble (sometimes rant) about my hobbies which include radio controlled airplanes, oil paintings, my sports cars, and any other random blithering from me.
Aloha and Welcome to my small speck of cyberspace! Dec 8, 2010 is the birth date of my blog. Never had one before, but my son encouraged me to have one, and it seemed like a good way to at least keep a log of my RC airplane building and flying. With the initial design kicked off by my son, I'll carry on from here and have fun with it. Now that I have it, I will use it to also keep track of my oil painting efforts, and any other ideas, hobbies, travels, or whatever else that come up. LIFE IS GOOD!
Update on 02/25/2011. It's been a few months since I began this blog, and I am enjoying creating and having it! I like documenting the things I have done in my hobbies, and sharing with my small family. I think Jer and Tad actually view it fairly regularly, as a means to see what I've been up to lately. At worst, it serves as a reference for my own use.
Update on 12/22/2011. This blog stuff is habit forming. My blog is a year old now, and I make an entry about every other day or so as that seems to be the frequency of doing something in one of my hobbies. Like my hobbies, this blog is a lot of fun, and it has become in itself another hobby that I enjoy.
Years are flying by...update on 01/11/2013. Still enjoying maintaining this blog even though hardly anyone sees it. I don't advertise it anywhere or to anyone, and it is mainly just a way for me to keep my own notes and thoughts on my flying, painting, and cars. If a stranger happens upon it, I think it is by pressing NEXT at the top of the current blog they are visiting, lol. It's a great device for me.
August 2014: still here! Took up flying RC helicopters one year ago and got hooked. Had flown micro Helis up to then, but got serious with 450 size for a couple months, then bought the Goblin 500 and Gaui X5 . Also got my Boxster in April 2013. Most importantly, Ariel was born 12/02/12 followed by Skylar 07/20/13, and they are little beacons of joy in our lives. Life is indeed good!!!
Thursday, June 13, 2019
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