Nearly 50F when I arrived at the field, the flying day ended in the mid 60's with just a light breeze varying between W and NW. Stayed about 5 1/2 houirs! Awesome fun with my Giles 202. I had 3 flights with it maybe 4. I need to do a tally while at the field, or I forget the exact number! Jer showed up for an hour or so, and he took one complete flight with my Giles, and seemed to really enjoy it. Said it does fly lighter than his Extra. Actually got some movies with Jer flying, then me flying the plane. Will post that to RCU and YouTube.
Mike maidened his Super Stearman with DLE-30 today, and it flew well! Very pretty aircraft, and it is real stable in the air. Ground handling looked very controllable too. Joe zipped around with his P-51 powered by Saito 100...sweet airplane that looks great on those low passes! Kudna boys were there with Escapade and RV-6 (?) Al flew his Escapade and showed off his P-51 on the ground. The MoonBeam McSwine vinyl decals I made look pretty nice! What else...Bob Ross came real late with his Saratoga. Anthony and Quang came late and flew choppers and electric jets. Oh boy, Anthony took his eyes off his FunJet to switch on dual rates. He couldn't relocate the plane after that and it accordioned itself in the north field. Luckily he found the jet in the field afterwards.
I flew my Apache a bit and caught one small thermal, but my soaring was inefficient today. Still fun. It probably was 6 months since I last flew it, so it felt good to launch it and get the feel again.
Saturday, April 23, 2011
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
MoonBeam McSwine
At the monthly KRCA meeting a couple days ago, I gave to those attending a vinyl decal each of my KRCA Krosswinds creation. When Al Mismas saw that, he immediately asked me to make a set of decals for his MoonBeam McSwine P-51 project. He provided this picture:
With dimensions that he specified, I created a set of vinyl decals with fonts that were the closest I could get to the original. Far from exact, but they capture the essence and Al will hopefully be happy with them:
I will add a picture of Al's P-51 when completed with these decals!
HERE"S a couple pics from this weekend. The numbers aren't on the fin yet because the first ones shown above were too large. Al gave me new dimensions for another set of numbers, which I gave to him today.
Another Update: 04/27/2011 - Al got his stars from Major Decals and added the numbers I made for the tail...looking GOOD!
Flight Log: 04/20/2011
Yeehaw! Another fine day in Salem required me to fly, so I took the 50cc Extra 330L out for a spin. Nobody was there, light breeze was from the NW, and I got the plane assembled and ready. Hey, I did NOT forget anything required today! The tie down works well. The plane started easily with the routine she likes...perhaps 10-20 flips with choke and full throttle, then she starts in 5-7 flips on low idle and no choke. Awesome. Took TWO nice flights which were the first ones with the new Airtronics SD-10G transmitter. 2nd flight did not require choking.
A couple clicks of right aileron, and down elevator were needed. Wow, without that elev trim, she sure floats. Got her settled down and flew some stall turns, maybe a click of right rudder was needed. In KE, I need to program in some up elevator. She goes to the LG in both KEs, and tell you what...outside KE horizontal circle was easy, haha. I think one KE dove more than the other, but I forget which, so I will program in up on both sides the same for a start. Did some hovering and it is not too hard for 5 seconds. My throttle curve seems to be pretty good. Landings were not bad, but floaty, so I need to come in with more throttle then let off on it to settle in.
Got nervous with the tricky landings, so I congratulated myself after the second one, which was nice, and decided to call it a short day! Oh, rolling circles are very easy with this plane in that it doesn't have to be forced to complete 4 rolls in one circle like my smaller planes. Will work on it. Snaps are really snappy! And the stop is positive. Very cool. These were flights 20 and 21 on the plane. :)
Last, there is still light black exhaust mist on the cowl and left wing LE after flying. The engine runs great, sounds fine to me. Will ask around. DL-50 might need to be leaned out?
A couple clicks of right aileron, and down elevator were needed. Wow, without that elev trim, she sure floats. Got her settled down and flew some stall turns, maybe a click of right rudder was needed. In KE, I need to program in some up elevator. She goes to the LG in both KEs, and tell you what...outside KE horizontal circle was easy, haha. I think one KE dove more than the other, but I forget which, so I will program in up on both sides the same for a start. Did some hovering and it is not too hard for 5 seconds. My throttle curve seems to be pretty good. Landings were not bad, but floaty, so I need to come in with more throttle then let off on it to settle in.
Got nervous with the tricky landings, so I congratulated myself after the second one, which was nice, and decided to call it a short day! Oh, rolling circles are very easy with this plane in that it doesn't have to be forced to complete 4 rolls in one circle like my smaller planes. Will work on it. Snaps are really snappy! And the stop is positive. Very cool. These were flights 20 and 21 on the plane. :)
Last, there is still light black exhaust mist on the cowl and left wing LE after flying. The engine runs great, sounds fine to me. Will ask around. DL-50 might need to be leaned out?
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
DLE-55 first start-up!
I was very happy to see my DLE-55 in the Aeroworks Ultimate 20-300 start up without any hitches today. I started her up in the back yard, with the tail of the fuselage held down with my stake and rope contraption, and the front half of the plane on the side patio concrete. The engine needed about 30 flips with full throttle, ignition on, and choke on until the engine first barked. I took off the choke and put the stick on low idle, and proceeded to flip the prop again. In either 5 or 6 flips, the engine started and kept running at that setting. I played with the trim on throttle while running the engine a few minutes and increasing and decreasing engine speed. Dunno if I was not supposed to, but I went to full throttle at least twice to see how it sounded. All I know is, I am happy it started and kept running! Now.....when is the maiden? Where did I put my cajones.....
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Absolutely Exhausting!
The weather today was AWESOME all day long except for variable breezes that of course were crosswind to our runway. I spent about 6 hours at the field, and am exhausted now. Need a nap! Flew the CG Ultimate thrree times. After adjusting the transition screw out and in and then back out a bit, I seemed to find the sweet spot where the engine went from low idle to full throttle smoothly and without hesitation. The Ultimate flew real fine today, and Tad took a movie of one flight that hopefully is good for sharing. I honestly lost count of how many flights I took with the SNAFU, but I will credit myself with 6 at least, haha. As usual it was very fun to fly the SNAFU off our extremely short N/S runway due to the crosswinds out of the North.
Tad flew his AW Extra 300 really cleanly today, but was bummed out by still hard starting of the engine, and by damage on the last landing. The landing was soft and seemed perfect, but at the very end of runout, somehow the plane tripped on its main LG and nosed over, hitting the prop (no damage), and surprisingly twisting the aluminum LG and cracking and splitting the left wheel pants rather too much. It's one of those things like my landing with my Extra 330L a few weeks back, where you think the landing is made and done, but terra firma jumps up and humbles you. We can bend the LG back, and the wheel pant can be repaired (not to Tad) or replaced (Tad's preference). Really a minor thing in the big picture.
Joe flew his Banf, which flew mostly well, but Joe couldn't buy a good landing today. He actually lost 1/4 of a wheel pants on one of the landings! His little Merlin foamie flew beyond my expectations. His Aeronca suffered a stall on take off, and had minor wing mount damage.
Mike had his Giant Sportster that he flies now like a little sport plane...pretty cool. Also flew his Uproar. Bob Ross flew his Ultrastick just 4 days after having 4 stents put in his chest. TOUGH GUY! Kudna boys flew their airforce. Al was packing it up when I arrived just after 9AM, but it was good to see him out again. I think that accounts for everyone who flew today. A GREAT DAY! I might have some sunburn! :)
Tad flew his AW Extra 300 really cleanly today, but was bummed out by still hard starting of the engine, and by damage on the last landing. The landing was soft and seemed perfect, but at the very end of runout, somehow the plane tripped on its main LG and nosed over, hitting the prop (no damage), and surprisingly twisting the aluminum LG and cracking and splitting the left wheel pants rather too much. It's one of those things like my landing with my Extra 330L a few weeks back, where you think the landing is made and done, but terra firma jumps up and humbles you. We can bend the LG back, and the wheel pant can be repaired (not to Tad) or replaced (Tad's preference). Really a minor thing in the big picture.
Joe flew his Banf, which flew mostly well, but Joe couldn't buy a good landing today. He actually lost 1/4 of a wheel pants on one of the landings! His little Merlin foamie flew beyond my expectations. His Aeronca suffered a stall on take off, and had minor wing mount damage.
Mike had his Giant Sportster that he flies now like a little sport plane...pretty cool. Also flew his Uproar. Bob Ross flew his Ultrastick just 4 days after having 4 stents put in his chest. TOUGH GUY! Kudna boys flew their airforce. Al was packing it up when I arrived just after 9AM, but it was good to see him out again. I think that accounts for everyone who flew today. A GREAT DAY! I might have some sunburn! :)
Saturday, April 16, 2011
5x3
Went to fly today and due to the ugly outlook, nobody else came for 3 hours! Now, I said 3 hours...does that tell you something? Yes, I got to fly for almost three hours ALONE because everyone else is so wimpy. It was over 50F, very overcast, and very light winds straight out of the west, i.e. exactly down the runway for a rare occurrence! Flew my Extra 300SP five times first, then switched to my SNAFU for another three. Figuring nobody was coming, I wrapped up, and then busted out the lawn mower. Of course in 5 minutes someone came to fly, haha. Brandon and Bruce came...I told them to fly and just tell me when they were taking off and landing, but they elected to wait for me to finish. When I was nearly done, Joe drove up. He helped Brandon with an electric hotliner that he gave/sold them. Unfortunately, the wind and rain developed and we all gave up and went home. Well, I did, and I think everyone else did too.
Note to self: the Extra needed the transition screw opened about 1/4 turn to make a good transition from idle to any higher throttle setting. WIthout this adjustment, the engine would die when throttle was increased. In the last few weeks, this has also been true for the Imagine 50 using the same type engine (OS 70), and also the SNAFU with the OS 52. Also, I leaned out the needle on the Extra for faster steady running and still good smoke. My guess is that the temperature variations are causing the change in engine settings.
Note to self: the Extra needed the transition screw opened about 1/4 turn to make a good transition from idle to any higher throttle setting. WIthout this adjustment, the engine would die when throttle was increased. In the last few weeks, this has also been true for the Imagine 50 using the same type engine (OS 70), and also the SNAFU with the OS 52. Also, I leaned out the needle on the Extra for faster steady running and still good smoke. My guess is that the temperature variations are causing the change in engine settings.
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Failure to LAUNCH!
Bad day at the field today, and it was so beautiful weatherwise. Just wasted it. Took, my 50cc Extra 330L to fly today. As soon as I got there, I realized that I forgot to bring my rope and stake and hammer for holding the plane. Strike ONE. I got the plane together uneventfully and tried to start it with Mike holding the plane. Took about 70 flips to get a bark, then it would not stay running on the real start. Bah. Mike suggested my servo needed reversing! I thought, gee I think I have it right, but I should check. I took off the canopy so I could see the throttle flap, and indeed I would go full throttle and the flap would close. Go to idle and it was wide open. Oh well, strike TWO. Got that taken care of and got the engine started, but it would not stay idling at one speed. I moved the plane and it turns out the muffler stack fell off the muffler can and was laying under the plane...this was one that I had repaired with JB Weld...it does not hold. I did not even get one flight out of the repair, strike THREE. So like the stubborn genius I am, I decided to fly it anyway. Got ten feet off the ground on take off and the engine quit! DEAD STICK. Luckily I had speed and could float it down, but it was halfway to the RR tracks, lol. Strike FOUR! Ok, one strike too many, but no damage, so I decided not to push my luck anymore, packed up, and went home to sulk.
NOT! At home, I immediately removed the cowl and busted muffler. I installed a new one from the DLE 55...I did not use the stock muffler for the Ultimate. The plane is ready to go again. I am guessing and hoping that the engine did not stay running due to the change in back pressure due to the missing exhaust stack. The only other change I made since last time was to switch the new Airtronics SD 10G transmitter to this plane, and to create a throttle curve. I doubt that would make the engine die like it did. Will hope for the best and just try again!
UPDATE ON 04/19/2011: DUHHHHHHH. I started my Extra 330L with the DL-50 in my backyard just now. I know why it died the other day after take off. OPERATOR ERROR, DUH, of course, as it almost ALWAYS is! When the plane is stored, I put a little plug in the vent line to prevent dripping and the smell of gas near the plane. To fill the tank, I return overflow of the plane's tank to the gas can via a line connected to the vent line. After filling, I simply leave the vent line hanging, with no plug since it is supposed to VENT. OOPS. The other day, I stuck the plug back on the vent line after filling the tank. That means that as the plane sucked gas to run, a vacuum was created in the tank until the engine just couldn't pull the gas into the carb anymore. So it was SELF INFLICTED. Almost always is, isn't it? Oh well, glad that is solved!
NOT! At home, I immediately removed the cowl and busted muffler. I installed a new one from the DLE 55...I did not use the stock muffler for the Ultimate. The plane is ready to go again. I am guessing and hoping that the engine did not stay running due to the change in back pressure due to the missing exhaust stack. The only other change I made since last time was to switch the new Airtronics SD 10G transmitter to this plane, and to create a throttle curve. I doubt that would make the engine die like it did. Will hope for the best and just try again!
UPDATE ON 04/19/2011: DUHHHHHHH. I started my Extra 330L with the DL-50 in my backyard just now. I know why it died the other day after take off. OPERATOR ERROR, DUH, of course, as it almost ALWAYS is! When the plane is stored, I put a little plug in the vent line to prevent dripping and the smell of gas near the plane. To fill the tank, I return overflow of the plane's tank to the gas can via a line connected to the vent line. After filling, I simply leave the vent line hanging, with no plug since it is supposed to VENT. OOPS. The other day, I stuck the plug back on the vent line after filling the tank. That means that as the plane sucked gas to run, a vacuum was created in the tank until the engine just couldn't pull the gas into the carb anymore. So it was SELF INFLICTED. Almost always is, isn't it? Oh well, glad that is solved!
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