Aloha T-28, boo hoo

Flew on Sept 26.  Had two flights almost.  First flight of the T-28 was nice and uneventful, just the same old reliable plane.  On the second flight, I was on the downwind leg for landing and lost all controls.  At the time, I had flaps deployed and was just puttering back with throttle for landing.  The plane just stopped responding, rolled slightly left and dove into the field.  Totaled in my book.  It lasted 8 years, a good life!  So at the crash site, I found the switch off on the plane because the crash took out the fuselage side and popped my switch to the off position.  This plane had the wire extension to the switch with pull off and push on.  Fuse side forced outwards took the switch to off.  I turned it back on and all controls responded.  I suspected battery but the servos were instantaneous and lively.  At home I ran the controls for a full seven minute flight with not a single weak or incorrect or lack of response.  No idea what happened.  My only guess is that usually crashes are pilot error and just maybe I did not realize the plane was going so slow at 200 yards out.  In the two seconds perhaps, before impact, I tried elevator, aileron, and throttle up.  I did not hear the engine sound increase nor see any responses to my inputs.   Well these planes all have an expiration date that is unknown when we build them.  I now know it for the T-28.  I don't feel so bad because it was old and fuel soaked.  I need a new warbird anyway!

Today is Sept 28.  I flew the Stinger II three times and the Intruder twice.  All good flights.  FAST!  Both planes like to whistle due to their speed, and maybe they just are dirty airframes, lol.  Had to fly today with rain forecasted for the next five days at least!  CRAP!

THE NEED FOR SPEED!

Flight log for week passed

Geez, getting so bad about posting the flight reports!  I know i flew on Sept 16 because that was the picnic fly in day at the krca field. i recall flyignonce with the Goblin 500 because some folks never saw a heli fly before.  I also flew the Yak 54 a few times .  It flew well and pleased the fams of the newb member pilots Dave and Jon.

After that i dont recall exact days because i have been under the weather.  I know i flew the Sbach a few times one day.  The engine ran well with the reattached clunk filter in the fuel tank.  And another day i flew the Bravata three times because we had a big bird day...might have been Saturday Sept 23. That flew fine too.  Both mufflers on those gassers seem to be staying attached well with the red liquid gasket and red thread lock.

I will report in advance that i am taking the T-28 and Stinger II to Dallas today!  Gotta fly if feeling well during the last good days of Summer.  Rain is already breaking up good weather several days in a row at times now.  Fall and Old Man Winter are on the horizon.

Flight Log: 07/12-14/2017

Three days in a row flying, some kinda recent record.  Seem to have got bit to fly again, both heli and planes.  The planes enthusiasm comes from flying with the Dallas Wingdingers club, to which I now belong as a paying member.  I flew there Wed and Thurs, with my T-28 first, then the MiniStar.  Actually had my Toledo Special to fly on Thurs, but it would not run so I flew the MiniStar.  Took the TS home and it ran fine the next day without any work to it or the fuel system.  I think I simply flooded it at the field.  Been having fun at the Dallas field with the many retired flyers there.  They are very funny guys, cordial, welcoming.  It is easy to fit into that environment.  Plus I love that they are still glow and gas guys, not a lot of foam toys.

Today I went to KRCA because I wanted to mow first, then fly a heli plus a plane.  Got in four flights on the X5 then one on the Shoestring 60.  I was real happy the Shoe ran and flew well.  Just a couple weeks ago I was twirling the prop in the garage, and there was no compression due to a sticky lifter.  I opened the valve covers on  the Saito 100 and worked in WD40 to turn the valves loose.  Today the engine ran like a top.  I didnt have to touch the needle valve at all!   The Shoe flew so well, better than I recall it did.  Its ready for the Dallas field now.

No pics because my iphone was out of memory.  I have deleted some older pics so I can use the camera again!

Warbird Saturday

After flying my Goblin 500 four times, I flew these guys in honor of  Memorial Day and those who gave their lives so that we may enjoy our freedoms today.  Took both up twice, in perfect weather conditions...cool and calm and sunny!  Enjoyed both immensely due to smooth engine runs and no issues with either whatsoever.

Mike brought out three warbirds...his Spitfire, Focke Wulf 190, and September Fury.  He broke the retract landing gear on the Spitfire then the FW190.  I heard a crack on the landing of the SF, as he avoided the fence by hitting left rudder and/or left aileron, and the plane stalled into the left wingtip.  I think he broke the LG on that one too.   I don't know if he realizes or not that each time he now lands, he comes in at an angle such that any long landing requires left turn to avoid hitting the fence.  He has been doing this the last few months.  I am not understanding why he keeps doing it...does he not realize what he is doing?

Jerry came out with a couple foam electric warbirds, but I left before he flew.  And finally Sam came out again...the same guy that comes year after year, never joins, has a zillion questions about dues and flying conditions during the winter, etc.  I ignored him today.

Warbird saturday

Yesterday was warbird Saturday at our club field.  Hardly anyone showed up, but it meant i got to fly my T-28 and P-47 as much as i wanted.  Three flights on the former, and two on the latter made me happy.   Both flew like usual and made it through another Zmemorial Day weekend.

As part of this years event, we also had a combat session with our Scythe wings.  Mike, Dick, Chris and I were the only ones with our wings.   We had about three sorties.  Chris and i managed to hit each other over the tall grass of the North field.  My plane spun down while Chris stayed up another 20 seconds or so.  I thought that won the kill for Chris.  Much fun had by all.

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.

Warbird Saturday

On May 24 we had our warbird event, just an informal gathering of warbirds for the Memorial Day weekend.  Only 11 planes showed up, and their 4 owner pilots.  I took my T-28 Trojan and P-47 Jug/Thunderbolt as I always do.  One of these years I need to get a new and different warbird.  Seems though the interest in this event has waned considerably and it could be just a personal event after this.  Anyway, I got 3 nice flights with the T-28 and one with the P-47.  With irrigation pipes right on the 3 edges of our our runway, we really had a little aircraft carrier to take off and land on this year.  All went well for everyone with no incidents with the pipes.  Oh, my single flight with the P-47 was due to the risk with the pipes, but my one landing was totally greased on, tail high, with tail staying in the air for a good 30 feet till the plane lost speed and rolled to a stop straight ahead.

See the pipes with sprinkler heads lining the south edge, with JB worker.

KRCA Warbird Weekend

Doug had his impressive H9 B-25, not yet ready for flight!

I will report just briefly on this annual event that our club held this weekend.  The weather was better on Saturday than Sunday, so more pilots, planes, and audience were present on Saturday.  The weather was much windier, greyer, and slightly damp on Sunday.  I would say we had maybe 7 pilots on Saturday and 4 on Sunday.  Maybe 10 spectators in all on Saturday, just a couple on Sunday.  I took the T-28 and P-47 to the event on Saturday, and had 3 flights with the former, and one with the latter.  Re the T-28, one or the other main LG wheel doors broke on two of my three landings.  Landings were just a challenge with the crosswind. of maybe 5mph.  I managed a really nice tail high main gear landing with the P-47 somehow.  Both planes flew well and the engines ran nicely.

Knowing that winds would be higher on Sunday, I opted to take just the T-28 AND my SNAFU.  The latter loves to play in the wind, which it did lots of on Sunday.  I might have had 5 flights with it.  I left the T-28 in the truck.  With just a few pilots and planes on Sunday we did not even have a static display on the runway like Saturday.  BTW on Saturday, the Keizer Times photographer came out and took many snapshots of the planes and pilots.  I made a lot of low passes for him, and maybe I or the P-47 will be in one because he took many photos of the P-47 in the air, and asked me to identify the type of plane after he was done.  :)  Too bad we don't get that newspaper but I hope Ron will share his!

Trojan

While not 65F like forecasted, it was probably 55F and plenty "warm" enough to fly.  Winds were from the South at between 5 and 10mph.  I used the N/S runway for 4 flights of the T-28 Trojan.  Enjoyed playing with that plane again...fast, slow, flaps, high, low, rolls, loops.  It is fit for another season, and of course for Warbird Weekend at the end of May.  Used full flaps, some low-mid throttle, and down elevator to keep the plane on steady and gradual nose down descent to just over the dirt road, then letting off throttle and down elevator to settle early on the N/S runway.  Hope my new RV-8 does the same thing with its flap setup.

Flight Log: 11/02/2012

The weather has been wet and/or windy so flying has been rare lately.  The wind and rain stopped for half a day during which I was able to fly this AM.  Bob B mowed while I was there, so the grass was short for the three flights I made.  Rudy and I were the only die hards today.  The T-28 had a weird start.  When I turned on the radio, it was like it was set for the wrong model.  Flap trim was way off, and the end points for each flap were different!  I finally got them programmed to throw the same amount and trim properly, but it scares me to that somehow the settings got disturbed.  A similar situation has occurred on another model with this transmitter, but I forget what exactly was off trim.  I will have to be sure to check each model before flying, which is the norm anyhow, but I need to be extra careful.  I am wondering if it is time for a new xmitter battery, as the one in it is likely over 2 years old.  The T-28 flew fine after the flaps were programmed correctly, and the Saito 82 ran well.

Oh, I also got in a little hovering with the Blade 400.  I did not freshly charge the three packs.  One ran fairly long while the other two were low in a minute.

Sunday Flying

Forgot to log my flight activity for yesterday/Sunday.  I flew my T-28 Trojan and Stinger II.  Both flew well, and I had 3 or 4 flights on each.  Notable was probably my best landing ever with the T-28, diving for the end of the runway with full flaps and low throttle, and pulling up just at the right time, but keeping down elevator pressure for a greased on landing with no hops at all.  I don't think it can ever be bettered, equaled maybe.  The YS63 in the Stinger operated well the first three flights but on the fourth it was easy to start but would die after idling a little bit.  After I fiddled with the low idle mixture to no avail, Joe suggested just running the engine up with the glow starter still on to burn off any excess fuel that loaded up the engine.  Seemed to work.  The plane idled fine to taxi out and after landing.  I will have to remember that for future similar occurrences with this engine.

Warbird Weekend DAY TWO

I anticipated less people would participate today, but not as bad as it turned out...basically only Dick, Mike, and I brought planes to fly.  Later in the day a few others showed up, but by then it was past noon.  It was windyish and very cloudy grey. Of course the winds were crosswind from the south.  I did not even assemble the P-47 today and chose to fly only the T-28.  With just Mike's Spitfire and my T-28 competing for best warbird today (unlike yesterday when we had perhaps 40 planes on the runway), I won the best warbird of the day award, lol.  I won because Mike voted for me, and so did I, and Rudy broke the tie by giving me the nod based on how nice the plane looks in the air and flies.  Mike had not flown to that point.  Anyway, thanks for voting for me go to Mike and Rudy!  I put my planes away and then the wind started to abate an hour later by just a bit, so I busted them out again, and flew the T-28 two more times, for a total of 4 flights today.

The SPOILS of Victory...gift cert from LHS, and nice cert of recognition as well as a
VERY COOL air medal from our  RC tank brethren at NORDPAC(Stu and friends)!

Warbird Weekend DAY ONE

We had a great showing of warbirds on Saturday/yesterday.  I did not count, but there were 3 or 4 times the number of planes we had the last couple years.  While cool and cloudy in the AM, the weather turned partly sunny, albeit breezier in the PM.  It was a grand day of flying with nary a crash.  I flew my P-47 and my T-28 four times each, I think.  Either 3 or 4 times each.  Both were pretty much flawless except for one landing (last one) with the T-28 when I managed to bounce and tear off one landing gear door.  No harm as it was easily fixed with CA at home.  I did find a broken CA hinge on one flap, looks like from simple fatigue.  I fixed that at home by slicing the remaining two hinges, and installing 3 new CA hinges from H9 (which should last longer).  The T-28 is ready for low passes again today.  :)  I know I am.  Thanks to Rudy and Shane for the nice event planning and hosting, and thanks to Bob B for the low cut grass!

Happy Mother's Day!

Spent a great Mother's Day morning at the field, lol.  Temps were warm and wind was calm, building to fair crosswinds from the north by noon when I left for home to do things with my dear San, and my sons and daughters-in-law.  Flew the T-28 uneventfully this time, for two nice flights.  Ran the Saito 82 engine a lot richer than I would like to keep it running, and it was therefore not as powerful and fast.  It was better than deadsticks on the sod farm windrows of dirt and rocks.  Flew the Stinger II three times...the YS63 ran real strong with no burps today, and I was glad for that too.  The crosswinds were a problem for some of the guys, and they ended up on the south side of the runway in the dirt a couple times.  I will not fly the T-28 again until Warbird Weekend in 2 weeks, so that I keep it one piece till then.  Same for the P-47.
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Flight Log: 02/23/2012

Bummer, it was a great day weatherwise, but my T-28's muffler loosened up at the field after one flight.  On the second flight, I got a dead stick and discovered the issue.  With so many things to remove before getting the cowl off, I opted to do it at home.  At home, I tried the easy fix with wrenches through the cowl openings, and it worked.  I did not have these wrenches at the field, so could not have fixed it at the field.  Anyhow, the day was successful  because I got to mow the field, did get 1.5 flights of relaxation, and got to shoot the breeze with Mike, Rudy, and Shane.  :)

Go Trojan!

It was the day before Christmas, and all through the day, not a breeze was blowing, not even a whisper.  Great day for flying if one did not have fam obligations!  It was over 40F when I went to the field, and it might have hit 50F when I was out there a few hours.  I flew my T-28 Trojan 3 or 4 times.  I lost count as usual and due to one flight being constant TO and landings in both directions.  I would takeoff, turn a 180, touch and go, turn 180, touch and go, etc, back and forth with full flaps down.  There was no wind to consider in either direction, nor crosswind.  I was not the only diehard.  Mike, Doug, and Dave came out too, but that was all.  Doug had fam obligations, so he brought the whole fam out to watch him fly!  Maybe 6 adults, and a couple toddlers watched him fly his Nexstar equipped with snow skis on the trike gear.  It worked like a charm, including still effective ground steering.  It was an odd but cool sight to see the ski equipped plane fly off our slick grass, lol.  The T-28 flew like a champ and just needs some covering repaired on the wing where it got loose from exhausts, so I ripped a couple square inches off so that it would not flap and worsen in the air.  MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Flight Log: 10/15/2011

It was foggy at home, but not as much at the field. Wind was light from the north, but increased as time went by. Still had a nice time flying the T-28 for four flights. There is something to flying in wind and very cool conditions like today (50F) that makes it pretty enjoyable. Maybe it is the challenge to stay under control at all times, and especially on landing approaches. Jer flew his Yak, and Joe flew his Sundowner 50 and Graupner Kadett. Bob flew his Ultrastick, an Brandon his Sukhoi foamie jet. Oh, Quang flew his 90 size nitro chopper. On one flight, his whole tail rotor flew off, yet he managed to fly the chopper from the north field across the dirt road, and land softly and upright at the edge of our runway! WHAT A SAVE!!! The engine was still idling after landing. WOW!

T-28 and Apache

Had a good day flying the T-28 and Apache. It was sunny, warm in the afternoon again, and hardly any breeze. Think I had 4 flights with the T-28, and a bunch of launches for the Apache. The Apache caught a strong thermal and rode it up for about a 14 minute flight. The thermal seemed very narrow, like a column just 5' across. I kept doing figure 8's to try to cross the thermal as much as possible and to keep the column located. The Apache rode it up till pretty much specked out for me. Any higher and I would lose wing and fuselage orientation easily. Only Anthony, Bob Ross, Mike, Rudy, Joe, and Stan flew today, but hardly anyone was there at the same time as anyone else.

Warbird Weekend 2011 Day 2

Our Warbird squadron was very small this year!

It was another great day at the field even though hardly anybody cared to show up!  It was another day of just essential guys there...Joe, Mike, Bob, Tad, and me, haha.  Also showing up late for just one flight was our prez Ron.  Great day though.  It was grey and overcast in contrast to what the weather man said it would be.  Nonetheless it was great because the rain held off, the wind was 7mph mostly straight out of the west and down the runway, and we flew and flew!  Got in 3 flights with the T-28 till one LG door almost fell off in midair, this time breaking between the door and the arm connected to the strut.  A heavy douse of CA at home made the plane ready for the next sortie.  The P-47 was flawless and I notched another 3 flights with it.  My takeoffs sucked but none were as bad as yesterday's almost fatal encounter with the windsock pole.  All landings however were pretty light and on the mains.  None nosed over except on the first one to try to taxi back to the pits.  After that one, I killed the engine on the runway and carried the plane back in.  All flights were exhiliarating and entertaining even to myself, lol.  The most fun was when Joe was up with ME-108 and Tad was up with his Kaos and we ran pattern doing low passes over the runway.  Holy moly, FUN!  Tad's was definitely the fastest, and mine the slowest.  Joe cartwheeled his ME-108 on the last landing by stalling and correcting late with the rudder, inducing a snap 3' off the ground and near the fence.  Happily the damage appeared pretty minor...broken wing tip and stab tip, broken wing mounts.  Joe will have it back up in no time.

Tad maidened his Kaos after breaking in the 46AX with a tank of fuel.  Mikes method to run kinda rich and then pinch the fuel line to the carb to momentarily lean the engine seemed to work very nicely...real cool idea that is so simple.  The engine started easily all day except when we tried to start it on an empty tank, haha, which both Tad and I thought I filled up.  Ok den, the engine ran well and is very quiet in the air.  The plane flew like a dream with very little trim needed.  Flies like the proverbial on rails, and it is FAST!  It even whistles like my Intruder!  Landings were fast, but we think he can add tail weight to improve inverted and KE flight, and also slow down the landing speeds.  What a great little plane that is so cheap!  Tad is super happy with the return to glow via this highly satisfying and high performing plane.

Tower Kaos 40 with OS 46AX

Takeoff for the maiden flight.

Warbird Weekend 2011 Day 1

It was an ugly day weatherwise, so only a few pilots showed up to fly besides me...Bob, Mike, and later Joe.  Thing is, it was flyable the entire time I was there!  Flew the T-28 four flights and the P-47 just once.  Had a horrible takeoff with the P-47 towards the east, and nearly hit the windsock pole!  Thought I had good speed on the ground when I lifted off the mains, but the plane wallowed in the crosswind and wandered with low air speed towards the pole.  Barely missed skewering it, but I did, and the rest of the flight was perfect.  Will try again tomorrow.  The T-28 was flawless in performance today.  The only maintenance required was that the LG doors separated from the struts and caused covering damage.  The zip ties held the doors on or else they would be out in the 80 acre sod farm somewhere.  I easily fixed them with a good dose of CA at home, and repaired the covering too.  She is ready for Day 2.