Flight Log: April 28-29, 2017

Finally got out to fly again, and managed two days in a row!  Both times were at the KRCA field.   Nobody was there either day, prolly due to the poor condition of the runway...all mud and moss, lol.  I got to fly my X5 four times and 7HV three times yesterday.  Today it was again four flights on the X5, but three on the G630, followed with two flights of the Aerostar 40 electric.  Conditions both days were primo, with very light to no wind, sunny skies, and cool 50F temps.  And I liked having nobody there to take turns with, haha.  Here are some pics:

The good outcome is that I did not crash anything, lol.  Loved being able to fly the helis again with pretty good level of comfort, even inverted.  This is the year I swear I will do inverted circuits.  Last year I had good progress, being able to fly straight inverted, stop, pyro 180, and fly straight again.  This year I will make forward inverted flight with banking a reality.

Helis

Flew again finally...too much ugly weather this Winter and Spring!  Decided to go to KRCA since helipad is good, and the flying area faces away from the sun.  Not so at Dallas.  Took the X5 and the 7HV.  Very good flying day!  4 packs through the X5, 6 packs for 3 flights through the 7HV.  Felt like normal but a lil brain dead at times, lol.  No crashes is most important.  Runway looks pitiful.  Nobody else came.

Wing Dinger!

That is what Tad and I will be called soon...instead of Krosswinds!   We are going to join the Dallas Oregon RC club called the Wing Dingers for obvious reasons....dinging wings!  We wanted a new field due to the continual threat of losing the KRCA field to the owners JB Sod.  They are escalating their types of complaints for us to be unhappy there.  Reasons now include not just the risk to their workers of getting hit by one of our aircraft, but not liking to drive around the corners of our runway, and the presence of obnoxious weeds on our runway.  Bob says JB has been asking how we are doing on locating a new place to fly, lol.  He says it is a matter of when and not if we wll be kicked out.  I feel they are just manufacturing complaints now  and voicing them often to build the case to get rid of us.

So we always knew about the Dallas club but never had a real need for it till now.  I flew there today and met lots of the regular flyers, including Doug and Cliff who were recent members of KRCA.  Good news is that the distance to Dallas is longer but the travel time is about the same because of no traffic lights and higher speeds.  And best of all, I liked the field and members there today.

 I got in 3 flights on the Aerostar 40 and one on the SNAFU.  Everyone left or i would have flown longer!  Some pics follow.

Looking east from west end of pits

Looking east from west end of runway

Straight east from west end of runway

Real nice shed

Looking west from east end of pits

Short North South runway looking southeast from shed

Doug on taxiway to main runway

Dougs Falcon 56 on runway

My SNAFU and Aerostar 40

The club regular flyers!

View to the southwest.

The tall grain elevator is gone, just a pile of rubble now.

Gone in Sixty Minutes

Finally the weather cooperated and I made it to the field on Sunday morning!  Not a soul was there, weirdness!  So I got seven flights done in sixty minutes and was outta there that fast!  Three flights on the 7HV after four flights on the X5.  All good but sometimes I felt a little brain dead since my last flying was over 6 weeks ago!  Still, no boo boos that caused my heart to race out of control, and I brought both helis home in one piece.  Started out slow to get my feel, then threw in some back, forward, and side flips. plus a little inverted hovering.  Felt great to fly again.

Happy Hour

Had a very pleasant hour, if even that much, at the field today.  Nobody was there so it was up and down and repeat six times with hardly a rest.  Didn't even go in the truck to run the heater today.  Temp was about 46F and felt cool but not frigid with the very light wind from the North.  Got the X5 up four times and the 7HV twice.  All good, no panic feelings.  Did a few more flips and inverted straight lines today.  Getting the feel back slowly.

I'm baaaaaaaaaaaaaack!

Flew today, just 5 days after the last time, and 2nd time this year, yay!  Flew ok, but not instinctively on some hover attitudes.  Ten weeks off is way too long.  Right side facing me seems to be the toughest one, and nose in again.  Forward flight is fine in all attitudes.  Oh well, need stick time to get it back.  Still, I managed a few flips and stayed inverted in hover without crashing, so that is positive.  Flew the Goblin 500 four times today.  Followed that with the Aerostar 40 for three flights.  No crashes, no repairs, no dumb thumbs.  All is well!

NOTE the crappy sod farm that is pure humps of mud, all 80 acres of it!

NOTE the crappy runway that is pure mud and moss, all 250' of it!

Didn't CRASH!

Helluva  long layoff due to crap wind, temps, rain, snow, babysitting, etc.  Finally got over 40F with light winds today and I went out for a try.  10 weeks without flying is a long time.  Expected to crash.  BUT DID NOT!  I got the X5 out for four flights and then the G500 out for just one.  Drizzled the whole time I was there, but I had to fly!  Finally the drizzle got heavy enough to make me quit and go home with 3 unused packs.  I had only one moment of fright when I did not reflexively act, but I got my brain in gear and continued in one piece.  Even got in a few flips after the first couple packs.  It was good to see if I could still fly and not crash, and to test whether my eyes are still good to fly.  All seems AOK!