Flight log: 11/13/2021

 We had a miracle break in soggy weather this morning….calm, over 50F, no wind.  Flew my 7HV twice and Toledo Special twice.  Both fine.  Nice to have company this time…Lucas and Brad, plus Gary.  Last week, I flew once with my Aerostar 40F. Alone that day, I got in four long flights.  While I had the 7HV that day, I forgot the battery tray and couldn’t fly the heli.

Flight log: October 16-18, 2020

 So easy to forget to post my flights!

10/16: Sbach once after enough morning fog lifted.  Also once in the compass 7HV.

10/17: once on the Goblin 500 and once on the Kavalier.  It was a great day because Jer came and brought Ariel (7) and Jack (4) who were anxious to fly a real RC plane after playing on the flight sim at home.  They flew my Aerostar 10 electric plane and really did well!  They flew parts of three battery packs with Jeremy’s arms wrapped around them from behind.  Awesome!

10/18:  flew the G500 once and the Aerostar 40 F once.  I spent the majority of my time helping Gary and Dougie prep their new Blade Fusion 480 helis, stretched to 550.  They did real well but both helis drifted left, especially Gary’s one, which I hovered a few seconds.  His also was really insensitive near center stick, too much so, so he will try to program for more response eventually.  It was great they both had successful maidens and went home with whole helis!

Flight log: 07/16/2019

07/13/2019:  KRCAFunfly.  I flew the Yak-54 twice and the Aerostar 40F five times.  It was just open flying, no contest events.

07/15/2019:  Flew the Giles 202 twice and the Starstream four times at Dallas.

Flight log: 07/01/2019

The Aerostar 40F had five packs run through it today on a nice day at Dallas.  Originally I was going to fly the RV-4 but due to seeing winds at home, I changed to an expendable plane.  Flew great, by the last flight the wheels were both breaking!  At home I replaced them with nice aluminum wheels from an old parts box I got from Rudy with the Osiris.  The bearings however, are plastic.  One fit perfect, the other had to be drilled out to fit the axle.  Wheel collars,had slipping set screws, so I switched those out too.

Tad flew his Forza 700....had a great first flight.  On the second flight something gave out towards the end, the heli made a loud noise, then tad killed the motor and he had to keep the heli inverted as it landed pretty softly in the tall rye grass.  He investigated back at the truck and found that a tail rotor bearing was missing, so it must’ve gave out in flight.  Unfortunately the Forza 700 is not sold anymore and it’ll be impossible to find parts.  Looks like it’ll be stripped so the electronics can be reused in another heli, perhaps the new SAB Kraken?

Flight log: 06/16/2019

The Dirty Birdy had two good flights yesterday....first flight was average with the OS65AX not running as good as usual, and some vibration sound in the engine or airframe.  We are moving into the warmer time of year so I richened the high needle after the flight.  Also removed some velcro I had previously stuck to a bulkhead in the fuse where the nose steering metal rod rubs.  Turns out it created more noise than without it as I did not hear the noise on the second flight.  The engine ran sweeter with a little smoke too, so the richer setting was the right move.

The Aerostar 40F was its usual easy self to fly and relax with...four flights.

Stir Crazy!

Haven’t flown for so long!  It was grey and cool in West Salem with light drizzles now and then, but it was calm.   So I quickly charged packs for the Aerostar 40F and headed to Dallas.  The closer I got, the more it was raining.  Oh well, I was determined to fly after several weeks of no flying.  Doug B showed up and provided good company.  Got in two flights in pretty steady light rain.  Felt good that I never missed the runway on many touch and go’s from both directions.  The new grass is looking plush.  I got that out of my system, sorta.

Eleven!

I got in 11flights at the Keizer field today, and I did it very quickly because not a single soul came to fly today!  So I put up 4 flights on the X5, 4 on the Aerostar 40F, 2 on the Aerostar 76, and one on the lil Ascent electric glider.  Not really liking the Asssent much so I might return it to Jer with a free orange receiver in it so he can fool with it in parks or schools where he lives. It was a ball flying the heli and the planes.  With the X5 I did a whole bunch of flips and rolls, and I put it inverted frequently.  Just gotta keep doing it and hopefully turning will come gradually.

Back home!

I laid off flying while on a week long cruise to Alaska with wife and many family members!  Actually I tried to fly yesterday but I assembled my planes at the dallas field only to find I had not brought the battery packs I had charged for the day!  Dumb dumb dumb.  Today I returned to the field with the batteries  and flew by myself the whole time.  Two flights on the Aerostar 76 and five on the Aerostar 40F.  I just took it easy with many touch and gos from both directions, and many long ascents under full power with flaps deployed, then slow gliding descents with no power.  Fun stuff!

Flight log 08/04/2018 and 08/06/2018

I flew Saturday at Keizer with Dave, Ted, and Dan.  Got in 2 flights on the G500, 2 on the G700, and 4 on the Aerostar 40F.  All flew well, no probs.  Got lower on inverted stuff, just trying to wiggle the tail more, stabilize, and do it again until I can turn while holding altitude and not dive or climb.  Tendency now is to climb for fear of diving all the way to the ground!

Today four of us from the Dallas club went to the McMinnville field to fly there.  Three of us are actually members...doug, Doug, and myself.  We had fun there....no locals showed up to fly...weird on a gorgeous day that was not too hot.  It was weird flying with a very closed in or confined feeling although it is not really that tight.  The brain just takes over.  Nobody crashed, we hit the runway on landings, and we hopefully did not overfly the owners fence around his home.  I flew the Toledo Special and Kaos twice each.  Nice to have the Kaos stay upright through complete landing rollouts, lol.   No pics..I had my iPhone but as per usual the darn thing said storage full fool!

Here is one pic I snapped at home...my new hat for $20 plus ID badge for $5.  Badge is nice 3D printed one that costs almost nothing to print, lol.

Goblin 700 maidened!

The Goblin 700 maidened today...Ron took her up for me and said she flies good, so I flew her the next three flights.  She handles light, much lighter than the 630, and she also runs quiet.  I used 4000mah packs today because i discovered when charging this morning that one of the 5000 packs has a bad cell...five cells were up near 4.2V one was at 4.05V.  That will be dumped.  With the 4000 packs, the batts were reading about 3.82-3.85V per cell after each 4 minute flight.  That is ample and i might be able to go to 4:15 easily.  Normal for all my other helis is 4:30.  NICE HELI!  Thanks Tad for selling it to me real cheap!

 I also flew the X5 once and the Aerostar 40F twice in breezy and very grey conditions today.

Two more days of flying

I flew yesterday at Dallas.  Got the Toledo Special up for three nice flights.  Still movin and groovin good with Saito 82a and airframe holding up well enough.

Today I took only electrics to be able to fly early and often.  The Aerostar 76 went airborne for two flights while the Aerostar 40F had four in really clear skies and little to no wind.  A good day!

Been flying!

Just been too lazy to blog!  Flew today at Dallas field.  Got the Giles 202 up twice for fine flights.  I even got applause after the second flight, lol.  The plane flew great, and the OS 160 ran strong.  It started by hand for the first flight, but would not do so for the second one, so i borrowed Mike’s strong Align starter and got her going easily.

On Sunday, I flew at the Keizer field, doing four flights on the Aerostar 40F, and two on the Aerostar 76.  Great day for flying after the JB workers completed their harvest for the morning.  Three guys crashed their planes today, totaling all three aircraft.  Ted went first and spun his mini Stick all the way to the ground.  Ryan was next with a nice new MXR, or whatever it is called.  Overpowered and with higher wing loading than his previous planes, he did not fly it well.  It ended in a million little pieces also from a spin, but i believe this one was caused by a stall in a high banked turn...it spun all the way to the ground too.  And finally Mike maidened his new Phoenix Sbach all the way into a full rekit after a nice takeoff with his aileron controls reversed!  Shouldn’t happen to an experienced guy like him.  Oh well, after seeing these three crashes, Don, Dave, and I said we quit for the day, lol.  Oh, i got a lot of exercise walking out to help the pilots retrieve all three planes.

On Saturday it was my birthday!  I flew the Aerostar 40F for five packs and the Starstream low winger for four.

Flight log: 04/25/2018

Logged four flights on the Aerostat 40F and two with the Aerostar 76.  Nice day of relaxful flying with the electric biggish birds.  Just socialized more with the Dallas guys!

Sunshiny day!

At some point a couple weeks ago, I flew my Intruder for two flights.  Forgot to report that, then the rain and winds came, etc.  Now it is time to blog what flying I did today!

It was a great day weatherwise with no hand warmers necessary!  I took out my brand new Aerostar 76 which I bought from Dick last week.  As normal for Dick, he scratch built this beauty, then tired of it, and put it up for sale.  I maidened it today after setting it up with my xmitter a couple days ago.  The plane uses two 3s battery packs in parallel, meant for at least 3000 mAh packs to balance the plane properly.  I ordered some early in the week but they have not shipped yet, so I used two 2200 packs, plus a third one just for weight, lol.  Worked out great CG wise, and the maiden flight was uneventful.  The bird has a 76" wingspan, largest of my six (!) Aerostars from Dick.  But it flies crisply even on just 3s packs!  I looped it but the real test is how well planes with big wingspans roll, and this plane rolled quicker than I thought it would.  I am pleased with it.

It flies much like the 60" flap version, and is somewhat duplicative, but I am a real sucker for Aerostars from Dick.  He builds so clean, the planes look nice, they fly well, and I usually get them for a real deal after he tires of them.  He actually advertised this plane to me several months ago for $200 minimum.  I got it last week in a package deal with a 51" version of the Aerostar with symmetrical wings, plus a hybrid wood and foam Slick 55, all for $200.  My thinking is that I can always sell some of the Aerostars with ease because of the low prices I paid for them.

Getting long winded!  In closing, I also flew the Aerostar 40F (flaps) today four times and had a blast with the flaps, climbing high, hitting flaps, floating or diving for the field, doing touch and go's, etc.  And oh, I put a second full flight on the 76 for good measure.

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2018!!!!

Been too lazy to enter blog reports , but indeed i have been flying since the last entry on 10/25/2017! I was however sick a bunch of times and did not fly as frequently, but i have been flying almost  weekly.  Suffice to say i flew mostly planes while sick, and i flew mostly at the Dallas club with the old gang that is super entertaining.  I will just pick up now and report that i flew the Polar Fly Day, New Years Day, with the Keizer guys.  Anticipating cold conditions i just flew the Aerostar 40F, using all five packs that i have for that plane.  It turned out so nice at the field with sun and almost no wind that it was very comfy, and i should have flown a nitro or gasser!  The turnout was great, and so was the flying and lunch...chili, hot dogs, fried chicken, corn bread, chips, desserts.  The open fire pit kept warm those that found it too cold....not me.

Then today, Jan 6, i flew again and was all alone most of the time.  I wanted it that way though because i needed solitude to fly my X5 for the first time in months.  Got four flights in without incident, yay!  After that a visiting flyer from Florence, OR showed up and i invited him to fly as my guest.  He had a foamie Cirrus SR-22 and flew it well enough.  At that time i flew my Toledo Special a couple flights.  All went well with that plane, as groovy as ever.

Foggy Flying Again!

Well, tis the time of year again for fog, cold, grey skies, late starts, ie crap.  Had to go later to the field due to fog and cold temps.  I left the house at almost 9AM and 39F.  Got back home around 12:30 and 54F.  That just gives an idea about the temp and how it slowly increases to bearable.  Fog was still around when I came home but definitely much better than at 9AM.  I had to stay low and close on my first 5 flights.  Finally on the last two packs, I could air the G630 out safely.  Not all is lost on that closeby flying though...the stick time is still good, and it forces me to be in tighter control.  Also I practice more hovering orientations.  Got in four flights of the X5 and three of the G630.

Note the foggy background!

Followed the heli flying with three flights of the Aerostar 40F.  Always a joy to fly in any conditions.

Definitely better visibility now.

Flight log: 09/12&13/2017

Flew yesterday...one flight on the Sbach 342 but i did not fly it again due to fuel feed issue at end of the flight!  Came home and pulled the tank out of the plane.  As suspected, the clunk with fuel line inside the tank had slipped off the tubing that runs through the tank stopper.  No barbs on the tubing but there was a zip tie cinching the tygon line to the stopper tubing.  With time the tygon compresses and stiffens, just slipping off.   I just replaced rhe tygon with a more flexible one and added a new zip tie.  It just needs to be checked annually.

I had my Aerostar 40F and knocked out five flights on it, playing with flaps all the time.  Just a relaxing aircraft!

TODAY,  i flew my P-47 twice.  The guys there absolutley loved the appearance, sound, and flight handling.  Landings were tail up main gear touchdowns, things of beauty.  Takeoffs were crap.  Too much torque causes the plane to veer left on takeoff.  I need to add tons of right rudder to counteract the veer.  Simply need to fly it more to get the blend of throttle and right rudder.  Not much of an issue at KRCA where the left veer is typically out over the sod farm.  At Dallas RC, the veer heads the plane into the pit area fencing!  It was a great morning of flying.

Ten flights today!  Five on the Compass 7HV followed by five on the Aerostar 40F.  Havent been flying helis much so it was a lil nervous time at first, but it felt better with each flight.  And then the flights with the plane were all just easy relaxation!

Flight Log: 09/02/2017

The last few days have been very rough with a bad stomach virus caught from dear grandkids.  Both Sandy and I caught it and were rudely awakened in the dark hours of Thursday morning...her with vomiting and me with diahrea.  We were weak and exhausted and slept just about all of Thursday.  Then Friday we were still weak and took a couple naps each.  Finally woke up this morning with a bit of energy so I went to fly and almost regretted that, but I made it through.  I was not up to heli flying.   Got in five flights on the Aerostar 40F plus mowed.  Went home and laid myself down, lol.  Feeling better today as the time rolls along.

5 day flight log!

Lazy bones I am...forgot to record flights  for five days of flying!  I flew Fri, Sat, Sun, Mon, and today Tuesday.  Today i flew the Bravata again, twice, at Dallas.  The DLE-30 ran well with the 1/8 turn of the high needle inwards to lean it.  Ran strong without the slight missing.  It also proved to be perfect for the idle and mid engine speeds with little to no missing that i can recall.  Yesterday I flew the Ministar four times and the Shoestring 60 twice.  The fix to the tank of the Shoe did the trick for obtaining full engine runs again.  On the weekend I flew the Goblin 500 about five times each day at the Keizer field with a couple flights of the X5 too on Saturday.  Both weekend days I also flew the Aerostar 40F five times.  And last Friday I flew the Intruder at Dallas for one flight, plus the SNAFU several times.  Hey, pretty good recollection after all!