Gassers

Had a good day flying the AW Ultimate today, with Tad bringing his AW Extra 300.  I advertised a Big Bad Boys Bash to the club members a couple days ago, and it probably made no diff on attendance, but a few other guys showed up with larger planes.  Mike brought his Giant Super Sportster, Al brought his Ryan, and John De G brought his Tiger Moth.  It was fun.  Later, Joe brought his ZEN 90, Rudy his new Vyper, and Dick with his electric planes.  I got in 3 flights with the Ultimate, no issues with it today.  Tad had 2 fine flights with his Extra, and we both got pics and vids of the planes.

Failure to Launch!

Took the Sbach to the field today on a gorgeous day.  Got it all assembled and ready to go.  Did my control check and the throttle was dead silent.  Tried to see if I hit a switch that would turn it off.  Also went to menu to see if channel assignment had somehow changed.  Nope, all good.  Took it all apart and went home.  Tried an external battery witih a servo tester on the servo and it was dead.  Tried a new servo in the receiver and it worked.  For some reason the Hitec 110 servo just went dead electronically between the last outing and today.  Mysterious!  Luckily it did not go dead in the air.  And that I have some new 115's that are the same size, so one is already in the Sbach, ready to fly again.

Yak-ity Yak

The weatherman is all wet.  Yesterday was supposed to good, and it was BAD.  Today was supposed to bad, and it was GOOD.  Started stripping off my jacket then vest soon after I got to the field.  First alone, Dave showed up soon, and I took up his high wing trike electric foamy since he put on a new stronger engine, and wanted it declared airworthy.  Flew nice, trimmed it out, and landed.  He did good and is happy with the new found power.  I flew my Yak 54 four flights.  Still purring along, and it liked the weather today.  Richened the needle about 1/4 turn and it was really happy, with a nice smoke trail.  Just flew every trick I know and the plane was obliging.  Landings with this plane are the easiest, so slow and controlled.  Before the Yak, I flew my Blade 400 for two packs which is all I have now for that chopper.  Did ok, did not break it, and got some stick time.  I tried turning so the side faces me, going left ,and coming back going right.  Did not have the cajones to try a full circle yet.  It's getting close.

Gorgeous Weather

Wow, after 10 days of not flying, I had to fly today.  Took my Imagine 50 and Toledo Special out on a special day of nearly 42F when I got there to nearly 60F when I left for home, cloudy skies becoming sunny blue, and no wind.  Flew each four times, and I might have got five on the Imagine 50.  Great flights, engines purred, smooth landings for the most part.  OS 70 Surpass II in the Imagine sounds like it might need a bearing job soon.  Bob R flew his Pulse, Al was there with Twist and Escapade, Mike with Uproar and chrome Comanche, Doug B with his T-34, and even Ashton flew his Uproar today.  Later Joe arrived with his new electrified ZEN 90.  Oo la lah!  Flew great, but flights were short on those huge battery packs for some reason.   With only 2 packs, he did not get to fly much.  He needs to find at least a couple more for an honest day of flying the ZEN.  Joe had an extreme makeover...having cut his ponytail off AND arriving in a new 09 Scion TC.  That thing can haul big planes, maybe larger than his now sold Saab Viggen, which he said was starting to make sounds.  Having exhausted myself flying, I did some therapy mowing of the field since the last time was when I did it 10 days ago.

Build Log for 2013

Completed the SAB Goblin 500 in December 2013.

Completed the AW Bravata on 07/15/2013.

Completed the Hangar 9 RV-8 on 03/21/2013.

Sold during the Winter of 2012/2013:
---Extra 330L with DL-50 and all servos to Joe for Blade 130x and $450
---Shoestring 46 with OS 70 Surpass II and all servos to Doug for $250
---Nearly finished Ki-84 Hayate (Frank) with Sierra air retracts, Saito 180 and all servos(except throttle and retract servo) to Joe for GP Super Skybolt and $400

Build Log: RV-8

Finally completed assembly of a new plane, first one for 2013.  It's the Hangar Nine RV-8.  Power is a new used Saito 82a with one of those turbo mufflers.  It has two joints allowing pretty unlimited adjustments for angling the muffler exit from the cowling.  It yields very clean results per the photos.  I am using Futaba 3152 servos all around except for two Hitec 325 servos for the flaps, and an older Fut 3151 on the throttle.  There are 7 servos in this little plane!  The receiver is an Airtronics 8ch to enable use of the SD-10G transmitter.  This xmitter has variable levers on each side...I am using the left one for control of the flaps.  AUW is 120 ounces or 7.5 pounds.

It's a beautiful ARF, a gift from Becky and Tad for my last birthday!  THANKS guys!!

ON THE DRIVEWAY!

Giles Smiles

Nobody at the field today...calm and 50F!  Took 3 flights with the Giles 202.  Still loving it as it flies really big and smooth, then lands like a feather.  Gonna have to fix the wheel pants again even though landings were good.  They just take a beating!