Flight log: November 8, 2020

It was a cool day but 45F+, and breezy at 5-10mph but sunny.  The forecast is for over a week of wet, windy, cold weather, so I went to fly at 11:00, not expecting any one to be at the field.  It was nice to see a couple bodies there from a distance...Doug Brown and Andy.  Doug flew his new Assassin wing and of course one of his many Nexstar’s.  I flew the Tower Kaos 40 twice and the G500 once.  It was all uneventful and pleasant.  Landings were on the runway which is good in the crosswind breezes we had today.  Mission accomplished.

Flight log: October 22, 2020

 Goblin 500 three times.  Sbach once.  All well.  Helped Dougie and Gary with their new Blade Fusion 480’s, stretched to 550.

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: 09/23/2018

I had a nice five flights on helis this morning at the keizer field.  First up was the G500 twice, then the G700 three times.  Still just not feeling the cajones to go for forward inverted coordinated turns.  I don't fly enough to build the stick time to get her done!  At least i got her upside down many times and keep trying to get familiar.  Not getting the throttle feel while inverted, dummy.  Anyway, no crashes and it was fun.  Didnt fly at all last week due to major field renovation at the Dallas club.  I worked there T, Th, and Sat.  Work took place Monday through Saturday!

Flight log: 09/08/2018

Flew at the Keizer field prior to the field work day.  Turns out there was little to do except move some tables to the east end of the pit area so that Bob can load them easier for transfer to the new field near Silverton.

I flew the repossessed Ascent electric glider...I gave it to Jer years ago, saw it in his garage last week, and asked for it back, lol.  Once at home, I removed the old 72FM receiver and put in an orange 2.4mhz receiver.  I don’t like orange receivers due to reliability issues in my book, but the glider is low risk....i.e. dispensable.  With the orange housing removed, the receiver was not overly large and I slipped it under the servos in the fuse.  I found a couple 500mah 3s lipo packs, charged them up, and one slipped into the fuse easy enough, with decent CG.  The plane flew ok but needed much right rudder.  This is just a rudder and elevator ship.  At home later, I found warps in the wing and elevator, plus the wing and elevator are not parallel. I added 1/64th ply to the right side of the fuse wing saddle with CA, and used a heat gun to easily remove warps in wing and stab.  Also, on the last flight, the rudder pulled out of the fin on landing, so I replaced one CA hinge and glued both in good.  The Ascent should fly better next outing!

I also made one flight with the Goblin 500 which behaved nicely.  Robert was there, first time in a long time to see him again.  Not sure what his problem is but all he did was complain about the three 450 size helis i sold him last year.  He complained that the blades were junk on the Forza 450 kit, that two cyclic servos on one of the Trex’es were different brands from each other, and maybe something else.  Mostly I ignored him...I gave him a good deal so tough!  I sold the helis to him in good faith.

Two only

I went to the keizer field early to just get in six heli flights.  My plans were foiled.  I arrived to find two dozen JB workers starting to lay the netting over the new seed.  While they were at the south end I could tell they would move pretty fast northwards.  And on the north field where cauliflower is growing, there were an equal amount of workers doing their weeding!  I put in two quick flights on the G500, and called it quits.  I was going to fly the G700 four times, but it requires much more airspace, which I did not want to consume with the workers only getting closer.

Pau MAD

Hahaha, the title is just a salute to pidgin spoken in Hawaii!  It is the day after MAD, so all pau MAD!  Flew again at Keizer today.  Got the helis in action again...2 flights each on the G500 and X5.  Also put up three flights on the Stinger II plane.  The YS63 ran sweet and made the plane whistle by. Great fun doing high speed low flybys over the flat dirt plain which is the sod farm with no sod on it at this time.  It has been seeded but not netted or irrigated yet so absolutely no grass is on it. More guys came out today with the much lighter winds than yesterday.

Flight log: 08/08/2018

Main news today is I sold the Factor 3D to Eric at the Keizer field this morning.  It was a good plane but not my fave so I let it go to make space in the garage.  Just $65 for the airframe in great shape plus the motor and ESC.  I had scavenged servos out of it for other plane repairs.  Eric and I were both happy.

I flew the G500 twice, then the G700 four times, and the Osiris twice.  All flew well.  Notable is I flew the Osiris on the usual 6s 4000 pack for four minutes, then with my sole 6s 5000 pack for perhaps just under five minutes.  Both checked out at about 3.84v per cell after flying.  The plane seemed to handle the extra weight without issue.  Landing was same as normal.  The 5000 pack was one of a pair from Tad when he sold me the G7000.  One cell in one pack did not hold a charge well, so I disabled and chucked the pack, thus just one 5000 pack remains.

Fun flying with Eric and Dave today, funny guys.  Too bad Dave lost signal to his electric Funtana, and it augered into terra firma with finality.  I hand launched a new plane for Eric today...some small foam racer style plane with no LG.  Gawd that thing lept out of my hands and proceeded to fly about 100 yards at 6’ while Eric wrestled with the sensitive ailerons.  Finally he got enough control to climb to safe altitude and then blew our minds with the sheer balls to the wall speed!  It carved up the sky and quickly became tiny at the end of each pass!  Eric managed a perfectly flat touch down in the middle of the runway, whew.  Wish i had pics but my dumb iPhone was out of memory.

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.

Lots of flying and no blogging!

I have flown lots since last reported two weeks ago.  Can’t remember the days nor exactly what I flew, lol, and I am getting tired of this blogging. Attempting to sum it up, I have flown the helis (7HV, G700, G630, G500, X5 all at least a few flights each), plus a host of my planes including the Intruder, Dirty Birdy, Yak 54, and the  Bravata.  Yesterday the Bravata was just sublime for three glorious flights at Dallas.  What fun...it  started nice, ran well, flew brilliant.  That is indeed my favorite plane at this time.  It may not do great aileron rolls or inverted flying, but it is just a sweetheart plane that does its share of aerobatics gracefully in slow motion.  Playing with the flaps is so satisfying.  

Today I flew helis at keizer.  I have hit the wall on improvement.  Just cannot get the balls to do turns in forward inverted flight.  I got inverted many times today with the 500 and 700, did 180 or 360 pyros, then rolled or flipped out.  I tried to just yaw the tail each way and hold altitude and location, but doing a full circle inverted at one altitude is super hard for me.  The good news is I did not get disoriented and did not crash.

Lotsa flying!

Been flying super lots since last posting, especially the last five days with cousin Ron here on his annual visit to fly , fly, fly.  We have flown everyday so far but will skip tomorrow for the annual Spirit Mountain trip with him.  Not much to say except I have flown lots of Ultimate, Dirty Birdy, etc.   Over the weekend we flew lots of Battlewing missions...with Jer and Alex on Sunday, with Tad and Quang on Monday.  At least a few heli flights everyday with Ron, but six today...two each on the X5, G500, and 7HV.

Today Ron set up the G700 on my transmitter for me.  Now it is ready for me to fly after having it about two years.

TEN!

Yes, i got in ten flights spread over four aircraft this morning at the keizer field and was home by about 9:30AM!  Here’s how it went! First up was the X5 with two flights...that is always my warm up heli, being most dispensable, lol.  Next up was the G500 for two flights.  Felt sensitive but i know it is just my lack of feel for it due to lack of flying.  Then i flew the green watermelon 7HV for two flights.  Felt like a beast, in a good way.  And then i flew the Starstreak plane, another aerostar variation from Dick Smith, just for pure relaxation.  Planes are too easy, lol.  I tried to take pics of the aircraft flown today but my iphone memory was full.  When done, i was very satisfied, and relieved that i did not crash any helicopters!

Heli of a day!

I took only helis to the Keizer field today.  Got in 8 flights!  Four on theX5 and four on the G500.  All went well, but i was nervous to fly helis after not flying them for about a month...I always think I am gonna go brain dead from lack of stick time.  Just been flying planes lots lately!  All went fine though, and i got to throw in a number of inverted hovers and inverted straight lines up at a safe altitude.  Nobody was at the field...I think they were bargain hunting at the annual Mc Minnville swap meet!

Today i flew the G500 three times, 7HV three times and the Starstream four times.  Felt apprehensive and scared really as i flew the helis because it just felt foreign...I simply am not flying helis enough to stay natural.  I depended on muscle memory but just didnt think it came too natural...like i needed to think, which is bad!  Was more relaxed by the last couple flight on the 7HV.  The Starstream felt good and i enjoyed flying it today.

Flight log for week passed

Geez, getting so bad about posting the flight reports!  I know i flew on Sept 16 because that was the picnic fly in day at the krca field. i recall flyignonce with the Goblin 500 because some folks never saw a heli fly before.  I also flew the Yak 54 a few times .  It flew well and pleased the fams of the newb member pilots Dave and Jon.

After that i dont recall exact days because i have been under the weather.  I know i flew the Sbach a few times one day.  The engine ran well with the reattached clunk filter in the fuel tank.  And another day i flew the Bravata three times because we had a big bird day...might have been Saturday Sept 23. That flew fine too.  Both mufflers on those gassers seem to be staying attached well with the red liquid gasket and red thread lock.

I will report in advance that i am taking the T-28 and Stinger II to Dallas today!  Gotta fly if feeling well during the last good days of Summer.  Rain is already breaking up good weather several days in a row at times now.  Fall and Old Man Winter are on the horizon.

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!

Where does the time go!

Geez i flew saturday and forgot to post.  I kinda recall taking two flights of the G500, two of the X5, then five with the Aerostar 40F.  On a couple Aerostar flights, Dave flew my old Aerostar 40 at the same time...cool to see both in the air together!  I flew again this morning before the kids came over for babysitting.  Today i got in five flights of the Aerostar 40F and four of the Ministar.  For both planes, I am dialing in some down elevator to reduce tucking to the canopy in knife edge.  For the Aerostar 40F, I also am mixing in aileron to reduce rollout when top rudder is applied for knife edge.  Just trying to make knife, four point tolls, and slow rolls look a little better, but high wing planes just dont knife edge well naturally.  All done for fun and some performance improvement.

Catchup catchup catchup!

Been a lazy man and haven't been posting my flight days.  So many days have gone by that I cannot recount exactly, but this will have to serve as a catchup to fill the time between July 14 and today, August 8!  I have been flying lots.  Cousin Ron visited July 21-31 and I was flying helis lots in prep for that visit.  Then he came and we flew for 8 out of the 9 mornings available to us for flying.  Up at dawn, out at the field by 7:15 every day!  Kinda grueling at first but then just lots of fun, lol!  Then after he left, I was in the habit of getting out there so early and here we are over a week later, and I have gone to fly probably everyday but two since he left.  Been doing much with helis, flying all of my heli fleet while Ron visited.  Typically I flew about 5 or 6 heli flights everyday, and then another few plane flights.  Tad came out two days of Ron's visit, Jer two too, and Quang also two, but not all the same two days for each of them, except once.  Those days when the boys played with us, we flew Battle Wings like crazy and just had a ball.  Many midairs were experienced, and some videoed by Jer!  Nothing was damaged beyond repair.

Before Ron came, I bought another Aerostar 40 from Dick, this one with flaps.  Very cool plane.  I let Jer fly it and for some reason the plane became unresponsive on final about 30' high.  It just nosed over into a dive and crunched resoundingly.  The motor nose housing area completely came off the fuselage, and the structure between there and the forward wing bulkhead was obliterated.  Jer and Ron retrieved the plane and brought back every piece of wood they could find.  I did my forensic post crash analyses and guessed that there were elements of a perfect storm that caused the crash.
1.  Plane head on to pilot where receiver was blocked by large airborne battery pack.
2.  Large sprinkler system down runway edge, the one on wheels, running from pilot to past the plane.
3.  Steel fence posts and rails running in front of pilot towards the plane.
4.  Pilot holds xmitter with arms hanging low and xmitter pointing down and out.
Altogether, this led to blackout to the receiver.   Jer said there was full control of every surface and the motor at the crash site.

After a few days I decided to start repairs and see if I finished or just would give up on the plane.  I got her done, and it looks better than new, lol!  And today I flew it with the same receiver because I figured the same four conditions would not ever occur again, mostly because I don't hold my xmitter low like Jer.  As added precaution, I relocated the receiver up higher in the fuselage.  Due to one or both changes, there was no issue today with reception.  The plane flew fine...actually better because during the repair, I added a couple washers under the right side of the engine mount to reduce the right thrust built into the firewall by Dick.  It was too much, causing right turns under power.  Glad to have the new Aerostar 40 repaired and flyable again because it is a beauty and flies well.

For planes during the delinquent period, I flew the Battlewing, Aerostar 40F (flaps), Mini Aerostar, StarStream, Star, RV-8, Toledo Special, maybe something else!  And finally, I sold the Aerostar 40 to new guy at the field who could use it.  I don't need it now with the new Aerostar 40F in the fleet.

That will have to do as catchup for the several weeks of failing to report the flight log!

Flight Log: 07/01/2017

For the first time in many months, Tad and Quang came out to fly helis!  It was good fun like the old days.  I got in 4 flights on the G500, 2 on the G630, and 2 on the 690SX.  Felt nerves but did not do any dumb thumbing, and everything is still in one piece.  For some reason, my nose in hovers are getting very iffy and making me nervous.  Gonna have to practice those up high and bring the heli lower and get comfortable again, or maybe I never was!  Tad had four flights on his G570, getting smoother with each flight after the long layoff since last September!  Quang was crazy man as usual, and flew his G770 stretched to 800, and his nitro T-Rex 700.

Flight Log: 06/26/2017 and 06/29/2017

I flew on Monday with the Dallas club.  Took the Yak 54 up for a couple flights.  Spent more time watching and fraternizing than flying, but the guys are nice, and I am trying to learn the customs there.  They seem to like my flying, and I think its a good fit for me!  Good fun.

Then today I went to the old KRCA field and flew my helis.  Four flights on the G500, 3 on the G630, and 2 on the Logo 690SX.  All flew well and came home in one piece, yay!  I was relieved to get the 690 back successfully just because i have not flown it in a very long time, since Sept 2016! I got in a zillion flips to inverted and built more comfort with bailing out of inverted with side, back, and forward flips.  All good!  Breeze was 5mph+, which was not an issue at all.