NATIONAL MAD!

Today is National Model Aviation Day!  But we had no special event at the Keizer field.  I flew my Aerostar 76” twice and my SNAFU three or four times in the wind of over 10mph per Don’s wind meter.  It was mostly out of the south, so that made it fun to do very short landings from the north onto our so called north-south runway.

Don flew a few times, Jerry once, Dan none, later Mike came and flew once.  Too windy for most of them.  Will try again tomorrow.

Also sold my Mini Aerostar to Jerry for $100!  This week I sold that plane and the Factor 3D to make a little room in the garage...I hardly ever flew those so why keep em.  Say goodbye forever:

Mild winter day!

Ahhhhh yes, love the winter days that are sunny and calm , and at least 40F to fly without hurting!  Got in six flights of the  Ministar and five on the Osiris yesterday at KRCA field.  Five other guys showed up for the good flying weather.  My planes flew fine.

For the Osiris, I added one more percent down elevator mixed when rudder is deflected for knife edge.  I like the looks of the four point rolls better.  This plane is so neutral that i need to avoid hitting too much down elevator when inverted, or the plane climbs when inverted.  Dang it flies well.  Yesterday i tried to fly slower like i see the good electric pattern guys fly on youtube.  More fun and more challenging to do so, with lots of throttle management in play.  I love it though because then much more activity happens closer and lower in a smaller flight window.  Well, that at least is the way i like it.  I dont like pattern that happens so high and away that it becomes too hard to see and disconnected from me.  I even try to keep my faster and heavy glow pattern planes closer.

Bravo Bravata and Bad Brain

Well, I had three great flights on the Bravata yesterday.  Needed to fly it because the XB wont be available to haul it for three or four weeks.  Jer will be using it while the CX-5 is undergoing repair.  I think maybe the Bravata is my fave plane.  It is just so pretty standing still on the ground and in flight, and it flies so gracefully and effortlessly.

Today I flew the Ministar four times.  Needs less down thrust because the plane pitches down with sudden application of full throttle.  Other than that it is flying great, like a little rocket.  I also had the Giles 202 with me but I brought the wrong wing tube...I had the Yak tube with me!  That was disappointing!

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!

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: 07/12-14/2017

Three days in a row flying, some kinda recent record.  Seem to have got bit to fly again, both heli and planes.  The planes enthusiasm comes from flying with the Dallas Wingdingers club, to which I now belong as a paying member.  I flew there Wed and Thurs, with my T-28 first, then the MiniStar.  Actually had my Toledo Special to fly on Thurs, but it would not run so I flew the MiniStar.  Took the TS home and it ran fine the next day without any work to it or the fuel system.  I think I simply flooded it at the field.  Been having fun at the Dallas field with the many retired flyers there.  They are very funny guys, cordial, welcoming.  It is easy to fit into that environment.  Plus I love that they are still glow and gas guys, not a lot of foam toys.

Today I went to KRCA because I wanted to mow first, then fly a heli plus a plane.  Got in four flights on the X5 then one on the Shoestring 60.  I was real happy the Shoe ran and flew well.  Just a couple weeks ago I was twirling the prop in the garage, and there was no compression due to a sticky lifter.  I opened the valve covers on  the Saito 100 and worked in WD40 to turn the valves loose.  Today the engine ran like a top.  I didnt have to touch the needle valve at all!   The Shoe flew so well, better than I recall it did.  Its ready for the Dallas field now.

No pics because my iphone was out of memory.  I have deleted some older pics so I can use the camera again!

Still catching up!

Must be a lazy bones because I just am not blogging the same day as flying!  I think I flew three times more since the last post, including a day with Tad last Thurs on his day off.  My usual SOP of around 7 flights each day with helis, rotating among four (X5 left at home due to falling back in love with the G500 with its new XNova motor), so that is 21 total, or 5 per heli...G500, 7HV, 690SX, and G630.  I have had probs with the 7HV overheating...the motor, esc, and batteries come down super hot, so actually I have flown that a little less than the others.  Gear train seems smooth.  The can on the stock Compass motor is shifting such that it touches the bottom motor housing...burn marks from overheating are self evident.  Thus after much consideration, I blame the motor as the cause and have ordered a new Scorpion motor.  $275, arg!  Lucky I had a $25 coupon for AMain or it would be $300.

Been flying various Stars a couple flights on each day too, including the StarStream, Aerostar 40, and MiniStar.

Catching up!

I have not been blogging because Cousin Ron came for a visit from July 29 till August 8.  Out of nine days of his stay, we flew eight!  It is too hard to remember exactly what i flew how many tome, but this will be close.  I flew all five helis over the 8 days, and typically had an average of 7 flights each day.  That makes 56 total flights distributed over five helis, so that makes about 11 flights per heli over the period.  I also flew the Star, Ministar, and Starstream during someof those days.

Ron put all my helis except the X5 on governor mode in the Castle escs.  Seems to work fine except i am having a possibly unrelated overheating issue with the stock motor in the 7HV.

On one of the first flying days, Ron detected my Quantum motor in the G500 overheating.  Combined with the weird noise issue in the heli, which i have noted in other blog entries, i decided to replace the motor with an XNova motor like Ron did.  The motor came from Amain in just two days.  It solved the noise issue and is just lukewarm to the fingers after flights.

Here are a few pics from the 8 days we flew:

Great flying conditions AND NO JB work!

I have neglected to enter my flight log the last few times.  Flew Thurs, putting on 4 flights of the X5, 4 on the Star, and 4 on the StarStream!  (NOTE to self: on 07/17 I added two very thin washers on bottom motor mount flanges to give more neutral thrust...stock setup has too much down thrust as exhibited by plane diving slightly on sudden application of full throttle.)

On Saturday, I flew the Aerostar 40 three flights, X5 4 flights, and 7HV 5 flights!

Then today I flew the MiniStar 6 flights X5 4 flights, and 690SX 5 flights.  It was good flying conditions each day.  No harvest work witnessed on Sat and Sun, and today I duly noted that the harvest machines are NOT even located at the field now.  Only the mowers and sprinklers are still there.  JB must have moved ops elsewhere for now.  HURRAH!

I actually tried to fly turns inverted today with the 690SX.  Kinda hard to see because I was too scared to try lower.  I feel like I will have a brain fart and not even know how to recover, so I need to be high enough to allow my brain to think!  Slight success because I made half a circle twice, and lesser arcs a few more times before bailing out to upright.  I guess it is a start.  I attempted left circles today, with left aileron and opposite rudder.  So much to think about with elevator and throttle to coordinate.  Upcoming plan....practice, practice, practice.

Finally flying again!

Hate it when the field has to be closed for JB harvest ops, but it is what it is...their land, their business, their priorities.  At their mercy, our field has been closed for several weeks, but I believe guys are flying when they can, and maybe even if JB is nearby.  No prob with me if they are distant, but i am just guessing the newbs in the club just don't get it.  Anyway, tirade done, off the soapbox.  Today JB was only watering when I was there, and as I left I saw a mechanic working on the harvester, so maybe they were going to get to it by lunchtime.  I got to fly!

Both planes set on their tails without flight battery onboard,

Flew 7 packs of 3s 2200mah.  Three in the MiniStar, and 4 in the new low wing Star that I think I am naming the StarStream.  It was maiden day for the StarStream.  Dick designed and built it from scratch, and gave me a good deal.  It was designed with criteria I gave him to consider.  Two weeks later he had it built and maidened on his own.  So today I maidened her with my xmitter and setup.  Not bad at all, but it definitely pulled to the left under hard throttle.  And I think the flat wing with no dihedral probably lends to instability in some slow turns somehow.  My thinking is to add a smidge of dihedral on the next gen if there ever is one, such as for Tad if he still wants one.   With the four packs I got it pretty trimmed out, but do hate the left thrust.  At home I added a washer under the motor mount holes, and now I see definite right thrust in the prop blade.  Will it be too much or just right, next test is perhaps tomorrow.   I noted that speed is less than my high wing Star of the same wing span, but it has a different motor and a 10x5 prop.  The StarStream has the same motor as in the MiniStar and runs a 9x6 prop.  Also noted that battery voltage is much less after 5 minute flights, so I think the prop is too much, causing loss in speed and higher consumption of battery capacity.  With no other props to try at home, I am just trying the new thrust tomorrow.

RARIN' TO GO!

Hot times!

Flew today early before 8AM and it was already 80F at home.  Luckily it did not rise fast while I was at the field, so I could take my time and utilize my packs.  Flew the 450 helis for a change, putting 3 packs through both of them.  They used to be squirrely to me, and not too fun, but today they were very manageable and I even did some back and forward flips, stall turns, and a little high inverted hovering and rollouts.  They also did not seem as super high RPM as I recall they were.  All in all, I can take them again and enjoy them too.  I think flying big ones has just given me lots of stick time to where the small 450 size is not so daunting anymore.

I also flew two DS planes, the miniStar and the Aerostar 40.  Got in 2 packs on the mini and 3 on the 40.  I had two more Turnigy packs for the mini but forgot they don't fit the battery compartment in the plane.  I was supposed to reserve the two Hobby People packs for the mini but in the excitement, haha, I used those early in the 450FBL heli.

Finished up by mowing most of the runway.  Could not mow east end due to irrigation pipes on our runway.

Tiny bird

From big birds last time, I went to my tiny bird today...the miniStar that I crashed a couple sessions ago.  It has been repaired and now flown.  Flies about as good as before but looks a little less pretty, haha.  I got in four flights on it today, still a real buzz bomb!

Flew my Gaui X5 4 times, G500 4 times, and G630 3 times today.  Had a great time flying those, felt connected and like everything was under control.  Good vision really does make a huge difference!  I am getting pretty comfortable going inverted and pulling out with inside or outside flips, and right rolls.  Straight line inverted slow and fast is getting easier.  Inverted pyros are fun.  Connecting them all with inverted turns is a natural progression that I hope is realized soon.

Friday

Flew yesterday/Friday again.  Got in three flights on the X5 and three on the 7HV.  Had more packs but ran out of time, needing to get home to help babysit the grandkids, lol.  Did not take any planes for this reason.  Dick returned my repaired miniStar on Friday..I just crashed it Thursday!  Gave him $35 for basically parts:  new orange receiver, new rudder servo and one new aileron servo, new nylon wing bolts.  He had to repair the fuselage behind the wing.  It was all kinda misaligned/twisted, but I did a quick job of twisting it back and heating it with the heat gun to hopefully hold the fuse in place such that the wing and stab are parallel.  Wrinkles show up due to counteracting the wood and carbon fiber desire to return to glued in stability.  Not pretty like before, and it should fly ok.  Might sell it after a bit.

Fun and ouch!

FUN:   A fine day like today requires flying, flying, flying!  Got out to the field by 9AM and the temp was near 60F already, how great is that!  Calm, sunny per the pics, very little wind.  Flew the X5 four times, then the 7HV five times!  That required and consumed all 14 of my 4000 mAh packs.  Felt really comfortable and tuned into the helis today, with not a single misorientation.  My eyes are too good for that if I just don't get too far away.

OUCH:   Also flew my miniStar sorta.  I checked it out and all surfaces moved properly.  Throttled up and took off to the east, and then had no elevator control at all!  Maybe even aileron was gone.  The plane just did a very gradual dive into the sod farm grass, lol.  Oh well.  Fortunately for moi, Dick showed up not much later, and I told him he missed my crash of his plane, haha.  He took pity on me, and he took the plane home to repair for me.  He said he is between plane builds anyway, and that the damage doesn't look so bad.  Looks bad enough to me!  HE said it would be free but I need to pay him something for his trouble.

Well, I still had a couple flights left on the 7HV at that point, and got back in the air quickly and still enjoyed the flying immensely.

It was a busier than usual day there as far as I am concerned.  Dick, Mike, and a new guy named Jeff were there to fly.  Chris and Stan came to kill time with no planes.  And as I departed, Don showed up.

Gobby 500 death, Great day next

Well the Goblin 500 that i remaidened about two months ago got re-destroyed yesterday in a very impressive crash at full tilt (pun intended) as i tried to recover while inverted.  While it might me repairable with enough new parts, i think this is my fourth bad crash with it, and i give up on this airframe.   It served me well.  I might consider the new Goblin 500 Sport at a later date.

I continued to fly after the 3rd and final flight of the g500, with 3 flights on the 7HV and two on the Aerostar 40.

Today i flew again...crashes just make me try harder!  I put in 4 flights on the X5 and 4 on the 7HV, followed by 4 on the Mini Star.  With the helis, i continued to try inverted flight, straight lines followed by 180 pyros, and again.  But i didn't get into a 2nd pyro as i also tried to be more conservative to avoid another demolishment like yesterday.  I used the X5 to warm up mostly.  While i tried the inverted routine, i could tell i was having some vision challenges, so i took it easy, then tried longer and harder with the much larger and more visible 7HV.   Felt good and will be flying the larger helis often due to loss of the Gobby 500.  The X5 is my only 500 size heli now.  Still in the saddle but my fleet is down to three again.

Very nice flying day!

I had a little company all the time I was at the field today.  First Bob and Mike were there very early, and leaving by about 8AM for their breakfast after flying.  As they left, Don and Jerry arrived.  Brian came just a bit later.  Then they all departed and Steve arrived as they left.  Finally John showed up at nearly 11:00  when the wind was up, but he flew anyway.  I was actually almost done when Steve arrived but I stayed to watch him fly, as well as John.

Anyway, I flew 11 packs through the helis: 4 on the X5, 3 on the G500, and 4 on the 7HV (for two flights.)  With the last adjustments to the derivative gain (decreasing it 2 points from default setting in the iKon), the 7HV seems to fly fine enough to not worry about any more adjustments in tail gain until I get used to the heli.  With all three helis today, I flipped lower and played with inverted more.  Instead of the usual continuation of the back flip to return to upright, I did quite a few forward flips instead.  This is probably safer since the heli stays at altitude or gains, rather than drops.  In an emergency the former would be better.  Felt really good about flying today, likely due to great visibility in the sunny (but later smokey) sky today.

I ended the day with 3 packs through the mini Star, a fun and fast plane!

7HV success!

On Sunday i maidened the Compass 7HV with limited success.  It flew but had a definite tail wag with oscillations about an inch or two, several per second.  I put it away and flew my x5 and g500 six and four packs respectively.   Also flew the mini Star four times.

At home i got advice from cousin and friend, but also some hands on help from jeremy and tad to figure out what the issue was.  It turns out the tail slider was too draggy due to the three ball links binding with the balls.   I used the sizing tool and got them loosened up.   Today i flew the heli with great success and happiness.   There is still a small tail wag now and then, but it is very flyable.  On the second flight today, i did a flip in each direction just to feel it out more.   This heli is rock solid in the air and i think it will be a fave pretty quickly!

Today i also got in four flights on the x5, three on the g500, and four on the mini Star.  Winds were 5mph+ but it was not a problem.

Got to go flying again, early to beat the expected mid 90F heat.  Flew the X5 five times, and the G630 twice.  Also put in four flights on the mini Star...that little bird is fast and groovy.  Re helis, not much progress is being made.  I might be getting a little lower when I flip to inverted, but still am not making inverted turns much.  I hope it comes when I get comfortable enough.

Panzy and Fancy!

I am da Panzy, still flying my helis with confidence stricken since the G500 demolition last week.  My weakness is in my head as making a slow right turn down on the right side of my periphery.  I get in that zone in front of me and I get scared to make the turn, so I forced and forced myself to make many such turns today. I will get the confidence back eventually.  All other parts of the sky and maneuvers seem pretty normal.  I just don't want to go brain dead again so that plays on my mind.  In any case, I got in six packs on the Gaui X5 today.  I put in four packs on the Mini Aerostar, and likewise on the Aerostar 20, the first one I bought from Dick S.  Those are confidence builders that translates in my brain, thus helping in flying the helis.

Tad is the Fancy...Tad flew today too, with his rebuilt G500, and his G570.  The 500 is good as new in the air, so all is well there.  Tad says it feels weak compared to the 570 which he has grown accustomed to while the 500 was in parts.  He did well with the 570 per the pics below, lol.

Low and inverted!

Forced Flights

Forced myself into the air on Saturday, to get over the humdinger crash on Fri.  Took 7 flights with my 9 remaining packs.  5 with the X5 and 2 with the G630.  Also got in four flights on the Mini Aerostar.  I flew kinda conservatively due to the memory of the day before, but I still managed some inverted circle attempts.  Just did not trust my vision and abilities.

Flew again today, Sunday.  I focused on planes today and had fun with 4 flights on the Toledo Special, and 2 on the Shoestring 60.  Great stuff, flying low and fast, and looping and rolling all about.  Followed that up with 2 flights on the X5, although I had 3 more packs.  I decided to quit while tired and ahead!

Also sold my MCPX with spare airframe, LG, and tail blades...all to new guy named Brian who has been seeking help on helis.  He has a Blade 200 with CP and flybar that just is not set up right.  While Jer tried to help him with that 200 last week, the thing is still not set up right this weekend.  I tried again to help Brian with it yesterday but the heli had little power, and pitch seems too little. Mentioned to him that Tad has an MCPX (turned out to be Nano CPX), and took my own MCPX with parts and charger to him today.  He liked it lots after I showed him how it flies.  Since he has the same xmitter, he copied setting from mine to his easily, I test flew it on his xmitter, and it now resides in a new home.  I was not using it, so good deal for both of us at just $70.