Cliff is visiting!

 Our long lost buddy, Cliff, that moved to OK came back for Thanksgiving with his kids last week.  We set up a flying day with him, and it happened yesterday on a chilly but calm and dry day,  I flew my SNAFU three times.  Took the 7HV but elected to not fly it so others could have the sky.  Nice day!

Still too lazy to post flight logs, lol!

Its been a month and a half since doing by flight log blog, terrible!  I have been flying albeit not as frequently due to wind, rain, cold. 

Today I flew my SNAFU.  Mainly I wanted to get it out to tune the engine better since I know it was not running well last time.  Before heading out, I fattened up the low speed idle screw on the OS52FS in the plane.  That helped but the engine faltered a little on the first flight, and also died after landing runout.  I fiddled with it out more, back in , and then finally found a sweet spot which I am sure is richer than what I started with.  Also had to richen the high speed needle.  The engine seems to be singing nicely now....stronger with more smoke trail.  Got in four flights today with many touch and gos to practice landings.  We'll see if it still runs as well next time out.  BTW it was light fog with a low ceiling at first, then burning off enough for regular flying.

Two days ago, I flew my Osiris in slightly less fog.  Got in four flights.  Nobody else there on both days....too cold or dreary looking for them.  It was above 40F both times, with very light winds.

Since last posting in mid October, I got the wheel pants installed on the Val with new mounting hardware that Alex designed and printed for me with his 3D machine.  They look awesome!

I have been flying the Giles 202 several times since putting the new OS160FX engine into it.  Runs well, still breaking in each flight with a slightly leaner setting each time.  It's good not to be running so rich that the power is questionable.  Now there is power to avoid trouble.

The RV-4 has been back up as well.  I installed the wheel pants and have not destroyed them yet, as almost any grass landings just wear FG wheel pants out.  The plane is a joy to fly, and so impressive in the air.  My fave view of the plane is a steady landing approach with flaps down...so pretty.

I have actually made a little progress on the Stinson Reliant!  The elevator is perfectly (so I say) squared up to the fuselage and wing, and now firmly glued in place.  I have also epoxied all hinges for the flight surfaces.  Note I replaced the stock CA hinges for the elevators with hardy Robart point hinges.  Phoenix used big point hinges everywhere else on the plane and it baffles me that they didnt do so on the elevators too.  it was tedious work to clear the hinge locations, test the hinges as located, put vaseline on the hinge lines to prevent epoxy intrusion, then epoxy one side, let dry, then epoxy the other side of each pair of mated surfaces.  I am going to move on to servo installation for the ailerons and flaps next.

Last news.  I ordered the Old School Model Works Robinhood 80 laser cut kit!  $200 plus $5 SH.  Crazy me....heres hoping I actually build it someday!

Last last news.  Tad has long promised me the DLE-35 he never used.  So I decided I want the Hangar 9 Ultrastick 30cc for that engine.  The boys are giving it to me for Christmas!

SNAFU and Ultimate

I flew the SNAFU yesterday three times.  Took it due to the ease of short landings to ensure I would not have issues rolling off the runway mat at Dallas.  Never touched the dirt shoulders or ends with the plane, yay.  It flew well with the change in prop from 12.5x3.75 (yes a weird prop for 3D applications) to a typical 12x7, both APC.  The OS52 FS ran like a top.

Today I flew the Carl Goldberg Ultimate 10-300 twice.  With landings into the wind (and under the very low rising sun), the plane landed once completely staying on the runway mat.  For the second landing, I had a little too much speed so the bipe came to a stop beyond the west end of the mat, but no harm was done on the dirt or gravel.  The plane flew great.  Starts were not real easy even with the new Align super starter!  The OS120Surpass tended to want to die when idled low enough to not roll on the mat, so I had to keep the idle speed up a bit.  Still, good flying!

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:

Flight log: 05/27,28/2018

Flew Sunday at Keizer.  Took two flights each with the X5, 7HV, then G630.  Very good comfort level coming back with helis.  Not normal yet but getting there.  Also flew the SNAFU for four flights.  Then on Monday, I flew with the Dallas gang.  Only took two flights with the SNAFU just due to talking lots with the guys, and enjoying the banter and other planes.

SNAFU

Action down the flight line.  Gary's Kaos in front.

Awesome Winter day

What Winter?  While coolish at about 44F to start, the sun came out after some early light fog, and the temp gradually rised.  Got to strip off the jacket after a bit!  It was a great day with really no wind nor rain.  Flew four flights on my SNAFU and two with the new to me Kaos!  The maiden went really well with no issues. I think i put on a couple clicks right aileron and one of down elevator.  Sweet plane!  Groovy like on rails as it should be, fast, but it slowed down nicely for landings.  The only problem was on the second flight , the retracts would not come down all the way and lock, so i landed with gear mostly up.  Meant to land on the grass but ended up on centerline of the mat and then the Kaos slid down centerline about 70 feet, lol!  That put a slight dent on the bottom of the wing between the retracts, but no other damage occurred!  I came home and replaced the servo arm on the retract servo with a new one.  The one i took off had stripped splines.

While there, the gravel truck with backhoe delivered a load of 3+ gravel then a load of  3/4”.  He laid the gravel to extend our driveway to the shed.  Very generous father of one of the young boys who flies in the club.  I think Don and Cliff gave him $100 for the time and effort!

Windier day

Calm when i got to the dallas field, but the wind gradually rose to still a mild 5mph+, haha.  I took my SNAFU expressly for the wind, so it was no prob.  Got in three flights i think, maybe four.  I also had the Starstream but that is super light and would have been tossed around like a leaf.

 Sold my DX6 to Walt for just $50 at the field, but i sure don't need it now that i have the DX8 which has many more capabilities and can store 250 aircraft vs just 10 on the DX6!

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!

Flight Log: 08/17/2017

Mowed the field first, then flew the SNAFU twice in winds near 10mph.  Kinda rusty landing that thing but all went well.  Tuned the OS52FS on it a little bit.  Nobody else there in such conditions.

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.

SNAFU and helis

Nice day of flying with Tad and Quang this morning!  Perfect weather with one JB worker doing soil prep but he ended early and was not an issue for us.  Flew my SNAFU maybe 4 times, and my X5 and G630 three times each.  Feel like I got the confidence back and am doing my flips and inverted straight lines as usual.  In fact I seem to be getting lower on the inverted flight, and am working the pitch more to either speed up or slow down, plus collective to maintain a steadier height.  I used to climb a lot while inverted, prolly the natural save your ass tendency, lol.  In discussing with Tad, I plan to make very gentle turns while inverted, more like flat pyros for change of direction, with little bank.  Banking is what causes the speed to build up fast, then bad things happen, haha.  Also I want to flip into inverted at altitude, then drop the altitude to get the feel for being lower while inverted, then pump it back up to flip out.

Good old SNAFU still serving me well

Tad flipping the Forza 700 into inverted

Tad is doing awesome with his F700, as well as the others, but that thing has the best presence in the air.  And lastly, Quang flew his 7HV with just twin 4000 packs.  Flew same as with 5000 packs, so I am thrilled that I can use my 4000 packs too for my 7HV.  He is getting 4 minute flights, so i bet I can stick with my 4.5 minutes due to flying style and ability!

Good but cold!

It was good flying but just over 40F with a light breeze.  Dick Smith was there at first but the wind chill got to him so he departed right after I got there.  I put in 4 packs on the X5 plus 4 full tanks of glow through the SNAFU.  Great fun and flying.  Did not forget how to fly a plane, and did not screw up and crash the X5 by switching back and forth.

TOO Few "Wings Over Keizer"

The turnout of pilots today was deplorable.  Me, Mike, Brandon, and Ken.  At least Ken came and flew, gotta give him credit.  I flew as much as all of them combined.  And that was even with the Toledo Special not completing a single flight due to a funky running engine.  I would say Mike had two flights in two hours due to a balky engine in the Stearman.  He flew the UcanDo once and the Stearman finally once.  Brandon had two flights due to various things bad in their planes.  Ken might have had 6 flights.  I think I had over 10 on the T-28 and SNAFU, with two partials on the Toledo Special.  We never had four up at once with only four pilots, two of whom had bad engines or other issues.  What a farce, very disappointing club turnout.  My opinion is skip it next year, but that won't happen.  So then we need much stronger coordination and communication to ensure good participation.  And maybe the guys just don't want to support the event.  There are more guys on a regular day of weekend of flying.  Venting!  

Ken's planes.

Jon's planes.

Brandon's planes.

Mikes planes.

Noon show was electric jet by Brandon, Pawnee smoke by Mike, Radian crash on launch by Bob Ross, Pattern flight by Rudy's friend.  Only a half hour show.  Just ok. While the pattern flight was cool to me personally, I think most of the public would think it was way too far out and high.  That is the impression I got when I flew the demo in past years.  The overall noon show was too short due to a lack of pilots, two of whom bailed at the eleventh hour and left the whole club in the lurch as far as I am concerned.  On the other hand I do not know with certainty the level of coordination completed with these pilots.

Pat Harris and his 2m pattern plane.

Good crowd on hand and I felt bad for them to have to watch the same guys fly over and over and over, and that was mostly me and Ken.  I would have got bored and left if I was them.  

The hot dog lunch was not even free for KRCA members.  I slaved away and had to buy my own dog!  Lol, just venting.  The weather was good and sunny and HOT, the wind was light, and the crowd in Ron's estimation might have hit around 150.  We need to do better as a club to make this a hit with the public, and we need buy-in from our own members.  The apathy is depressing.

Display on the runway.

Display on the runway.

Display on the runway.

Flying between SUCKY WEATHER!

Finally got to fly but only momentarily today, between rain and wind storms.  Helluva deal.  Glad anyhow, to have got in 3 packs on the Goblin 500, one on the X5, and one on the SNAFU.   All 3 were lots of fun.  I think the G500 rolled faster as it should with the increased cyclic pitch that I programmed after the last flying day.  The X5 seemed fine with the new gain settings, which I wondered might be too low.   Response was fine, but I did not get up to higher speeds to see if the tail wag is still there.  Visibility was poor due to heavy overcast and rain spritzing on and off, so I stayed close and safe after losing orientation slightly on one short occasion.  The SNAFU was as lively as ever and I enjoyed the single flight with several touch and go's in it, and landing from the North on the short runway.  More sod has been harvested surrounding the runway, making the runway more and more an aircraft carrier in a sea of mud.

Unfortunately Tad crashed his Goblin 500 again today, when the motor would not respond coming out of a stall turn.  HECK!  I missed the flight as I was prepping my plane or hiding the heli from the rain.  I heard the thud and was saddened to see the Gobby about 50' into the North field.  At least the damage looks very limited and minor, but now Tad has to figure out just what caused the motor outage, but retained servo control.  Dang it.

Not a Wiener, but WINNER!

The events were challenging, the 4 competitors were relentless, and the wind was calm but variable from all directions.  We began flying at 9:45 AM and were done by 1PM.  Bob Bevens ran a good show in the face of constant challenges from the competitors.  Tempers flared at times, but in the end we all got prizes and cash and went home mostly happy, lol.  Before the flying began I just told myself to rely on my comfort with the planes after flying them frequently the last couple weeks, and I challenged myself to not make dumb mental mistakes, and to get less than 100 points in deductions from the 500 total we all initially start with.  My competitors left the door cracked on a couple events where they all flew beyond the end lines and thus were not eligible for the 25 point bonus AND forgiveness of all point deductions attained on that flight. That meant all I had to do was not pass the end line on landing for those tasks!  I was able to do so, luckily, even as my engine ran too rich and slow on the last two tasks.  I made no unforgivable mistakes for the day, and ended up winning per the scoresheet:

Here is a link to coverage of the event at our club website: http://www.krosswinds.com/Filecabinet/VCF2013.pdf

And finally here is a pick of the victor and his spoils, haha.  That is $90 cash, a NIB H-9 RV-8 ARF, and the trophy to hold another year.

I garnered the victory flying the SNAFU for all tasks except Task 3, for which I flew the electric Star.

The following is boring to all but the most mentally disturbed folks; it is the rules and description of tasks for the VC:
Fellow club members: I have updated the rules  for the last time, I hope,
and since this is our club event, you may still join in Saturday morning.
The cost is $5 to enter. There will be a pilots' meeting at 9:30 AM and
flying starts at 10 AM sharp. We will go over all rules at the pilots'
meeting. If I have made a mistake on any task or there needs to be something
added, give me an e-mail. Thanks, Bob Bevens.








VALLEY CHALLENGE

                                                            2013



Task #1

Don't be early, don't be late.



Start your motor, taxi out to take off position. Time starts when the judge
says ok. When wheels move, time starts. Take off left to right, make left
180 degree turn, then perform one loop, one roll, turn around after you pass
east end of runway and perform one roll. Then, after passing west end of
runway, turn around again and on your way back, do one loop and then land.
Time stops when wheels touch ground and airplane makes a successful landing.
Ok, now you will be given your time and you have to duplicate it as close as
you can. Points will be deducted this way if you arrive too early. One point
per second if you arrive late, two points per second if you arrive early,
and the pilot with the closest time will receive an extra 25 points added to
his or her score, and, that's a good thing. Bad thing, the rest of the
pilots will have their points deducted from their score. 



Task #2

Hop and stop



The hop and stop starts out by pilot taxiing to end of runway. Wheels must
be on grass at east end. Ahead of you on runway is a row of balloons about
93.5 feet and further down, another row of balloons. Distance between both
rows of balloons is 106 feet. The object of this task is take off and lift
off before hitting any of the balloons in the first row. Now make two passes
around the field and set up for a landing between the two rows of balloons.
Motor on gas planes must be running after landing. On electric planes they
must be on their wheels and upright. Landings must be straight ahead, no
ground loops. One other thing, no adding power after touchdown. The reason
for that is there will be measuring done. The pilot that stops closest to
the balloons without breaking one, or, going past the line, gets 25 points
added on. If you go past the second line of balloons, no winning
measurement. 50 points off for all broken balloons. Plus for every foot past
two points off per foot. One point off for each foot on the short side. Over
the six inch mark  

measurement will be rounded up to the next foot. Glow motor stop 100 point
deduction and electrics must be on their wheels or same deduction.  

Task #3

Quick up short stop



Pilot taxis to east end of run way, wheels must be on grass. Ahead is a row
of balloons, beyond that a second row of balloons. Object of task is to take
off, clear the balloons in the first row, and land before hitting the next
row of balloons. Motor must continue to run on glow and on electric must
stay upright and on their wheels, no adding power after touchdown. Once
again, measurements will be done. Closest gets 25 points added on. If you go
past the second line of balloons, no winning measurement. 50 points off for
all broken balloons. Just like before, two points for every foot past and
one point for every foot short, rounded up at the 6 inch point. 



 Task #4


Narrowing center line



Pilot or helper will place airplane on east end of runway centerline for
takeoff. At this point the runway is 15 foot wide and narrowing to the west
end, and 12 foot wide at first row of balloons. The next row of balloons the
runway will be 8 foot wide and at runway's end, it will be 6 foot wide. The
object of this task is to start takeoff roll, at east end after passing the
second row of balloons, you may lift off and not before. Make two laps
around the field and prepare to land. On the landing rollout, come as close
to the second row of balloons without going past. As in all tasks we will
measure for the closest to the line without going past. Closest gets 25
points added on. All balloons broken, 50 points off. Same as the last two
tasks, long or short points deducted.






Read please



All pilots start with 500 points. In each task if they break balloons, 50
points off for each balloon and for each measurement deduction on the tasks
not won. A pilot may bring as many planes as he or she wants but if you
start a task with a certain plane you must finish with that plane for that
task. If at any time your motor quits or you crash, you are done for that
task, and a non complete 100 point deduction. On the narrowing runway task
#4, if you do not take off within the balloons at the designated takeoff
point, a 50 point deduction, and if you do not land between the balloons,
you are disqualified and a 100 point deduction.  At the end of all tasks the
pilot with the most points wins. Depending if other clubs join in, we will
send the top 3 pilots to the finals on August 17th.. If no other clubs
enter, there will be 4 pilots from our club who will compete on the 17th.
Our club will have its fly off on August 3rd.

We will pay the top four finishers and the top three will pick one of the
donated ARF kits. First place picks first, then second and third. Fourth
will only receive cash. Entry fee is $5, where $2 goes to the club's
treasury and the other $3 goes in the pot for the top four pilots. Plus,
Keizer RC is adding $200 more to be divided among the top 4 pilots. All
events will start at 10:00 am, weather permitting. Any questions call or
e-mail Bob Bevens at bj4648@gmail.com or call 503-393-7721. I hope to see
you there. Bob Bevens. This event is AMA Sanctioned. There is an attachment
showing runway layouts for the events.  

NOTE:  A 5th task was added for the finals on Aug 17.  For this task, there were 6 rows of balloons set up across the runway at basically 40' intervals.  A pilot rolled a die.  The number rolled determined the row of balloons that the pilot had to land his plane on.  A measurement from the spinner of the plane to the rolled row determined points deducted from his score.  I rolled a 3 which was good because it meant I had ample room before my row to land upon and rollout.  Broken balloons in lower rows were not counted.  

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.

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)

SNAFU and Star again!

Got in more practice for the VC by flying the SNAFU and Star again today.  3 packs through the Star and several flights with the SNAFU.  Should be fun on Saturday, but I am not expecting much on the short hop up and down flight because my planes just don't leave the ground quickly and then float back down slowly.  That task as well as a couple others do favor electric planes a lot, to me, because fast lift offs and short rollouts on landings are needed for those tasks.  Those criteria are not common to glow planes.

SNAFU and Star

I took the Star out to see if it would do the hop and stop task that will be in the VC this Saturday.  Definitely works better than the SNAFU, but a little wind down the runway sure helps.  I will use the Star for that one task only, and the SNAFU for all others.  Practiced flying around and landing with the SNAFU and it seems to be running/flying fine.

SNAFU

Lost count on how many flights I had, perhaps 6 or 7 with the SNAFU.  I practiced takeoff with immediate landing to be able to hop over the balloons that will be across the runway for the VC in 7 days.  Sounds simple, but it is not, at least not with the SNAFU.  Perhaps I have to use the Star for this task only.  The OS 52 ran fine till the 2nd to last flight when it had a flameout.  Perhaps the increasing heat detuned it.  I richened it slightly and it ran ok, but not as strong.  Very nice day of flying with N wind of under 5MPH.