Practice

Took the SNAFU and Star out to practice for the VC finals this Sat.  Turned the high needle out just a click, and the low needle out just an 1/8th turn to avert a flameout like I had today, while on the ground.  Seemed better after that, but more practice days this week will tell the tale.  In a quandary which plane to use for the narrowing runway task.  The SNAFU is slightly more predictable on landings but the low wings makes it much easier to pop balloons, which I want to avoid.  The Star has the high wing to avoid balloons, but then has the sloppier handling in the air, and I need to make it through the entry gate without penalty.  The Star does lift off quicker on takeoff which  will be a benefit on lifting off the narrow end of the obstacle and hopefully avoiding balloons.  Hmmmmmm, what to do!  Anyway, I ran 4 batts through the Star and had 3 flights with the SNAFU.  Oh, also had only one batt for the MCPX but had a great flight and was able to fly the figure 8 circuit and some counterclockwise circles.

9 Flights!

It was grey, cool, and calm at about 8AM when I was first to arrive and stay.  I think someone else came due to the fresh tire tracks, but they left, likely due to the wheeled sprinkler being on the East end of the runway.  With that sprinkler in the way,  I flew my Star for 4 batt packs that I had.  Rudy arrived around 9AM and knew how to move the sprinkler, so he did that, and I was able to then fly my P-47 for four strafing flights.  Made my best takeoffs due to the hard, short, and dry grass runway, and due to the wind being directly down the runway from the West for some of the time.  WIth this plane, I need a ton of right rudder very early to avoid the torque pull to the left.  Landings were okay, with just two nose overs out of 5 landings, haha.  Lots of fun doing low flybys and various low rolls.  Only a few fliers came today: Rudy, Chris, Mike, and late arrival Harvey.

Star

The wheeled sprinkers were watering the East end of the runway and the pipe sprinkler ended on the West end.  Managed to mow nearly everything except where the pipe lay on West end.  Then proceeded to fly 3 packs through the Star.  Did not unload and assemble the P-47 due to the sprinklers and the SE to SW wind.  It just would have been hairy to takeoff or land with a bit of tailwind if going E to W on our runway.  I did not want to takeoff and land from W to E because of the wheel sprinkers off the edge of the runway...too risky.  Star flew well though!

Sbach 342 and MCPX

Took 3 flights with the Sbach today.  DLE-30 started and ran well, and the plane flew great.  Had one of those days where I could feel the plane in the air really well.  Also flew the MCPX for two batteries and it seems fine.  Made one full left circle on the 2nd flight and did not crash during that attempt, lol.  Felt good to get it in the air again after repairs left it side lined for a few weeks.  My Blade 130X and 400 are both still laid up for reasons not fully determined.

Ultimate and Star

Flew both planes in pretty ideal conditions today, except for it starting to get hot!  My first short hop with the AW Ultimate was a little hairy when the top right aileron came unplugged, most likely due to my failure to plug it in really tightly.  While in flight the plane rolled hard to the left momentarily a couple times, as the plug became looser and made intermittent contact. I landed safely in the sod farm, taxied back, and found the plug still in, but loosely, so I pushed it to its full depth and the aileron behaved properly all day.  The DLE-55 started and ran like clockwork.  I improved my landings today by coming in with more throttle and not so floaty.  The plane flew very well, and I probably had my best day ever at hovering it up high, and doing some harrier rolls.  Also ran through my usual pattern style aerobatics and felt good about it.  Flew the Star with two of the new Turnigy packs and they seem fine...a little more spunky but heavier than the older Hobby People packs.

Intruder and Showtime

I broke out the Intruder for 3 flights today, and the repaired and regapped OS 91 Surpass II is making the plane sing like when it was new.  I can hear the whistle of the plane during the whole flight when at WOT.  I also flew the mini-Showtime to see if it would do the Hop and Stop task, but I don't think I like for that task because the plane noses over easily.  That would result in DQ points of -100, so I think I will stick with the Star for the finals two weeks from now.  Gorgeous cloudless day with very light winds.

1st or 2nd place in Valley Challenge KRCA elimination round

I flew my SNAFU and Star to an official 2nd place in our club elimination round for the Valley Challenge.  Ashton came in 1st or 2nd too, haha.  Officially he got 1st and I got 2nd, but I found a major scoring error later which switches us around, but it does not matter.  Our top 3 finishers go on to the final in 2 weeks.  If other clubs do not send their top 3 finishers, we will also take our 4th finisher for a flyoff amongst our club only.  This is the money round so I get to fly in it, and it doesn't matter if I was 1st, 2nd, 3rd, or 4th except for bragging rights.  I brought up the scoring error to Bob later by e-mail and do not want the finishing order changed.  Ashton is a good guy and deserves the glory, at least for 2 weeks, haha.  I flew decently today, and really only erred bad on one task...the hop and stop.  I used the Star expressly for this, and got the plane over the first row of balloons but the speed was too much to stop short of the second row of balloons.  I had the bad luck of crosswind and slight downwind at the time of my attempt.  All in all, a real fun day!

Official Results ( technically my score in Task 4 should be +25 while Ashtons's should be -86)