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!

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.

Still not it

Ran to the field early with just a few packs to test out whether changing part of the tail assembly on the G500 worked to eliminate the noise.  Nope, maybe just partially.  My job only involved replacing one bearing because I continued to use the red fin half of the assembly, to match the canopy and boom color.  The noise is still there but less, I think, so I have to replace the fin half too, or at least the bearing in there.  And if that does not elim the noise, then the cause is elsewhere.  So I got in just one flight.

Also took the Star and a couple packs with me.  Tried a low pass on the sod field, got too low, and actually landed fast.  That snapped the nose steering arm...done for the day after a pack and a half.  Oh well.  Came home and scavenged a new steering arm out of the NIB Dirty Birdy box.

Flight log: 05/29/2016

Had a real nice time flying with Tad today.  Great calm  and cool weather again, and no workers on the field.  He flew his G500 and G570.  I had my G500 and 690SX.  Tad got in four smooth as silk flights on each of his.  I got in four on the 500 and three on the 690SX.  Also got in four flights of the Star plane.  While there, Tad inspected my 500 and deduced that one of the bearings in the tail has play due to wear, and might be the cause of the sounds the heli is making.  At home later, I switched the tail assembly out with another used one from a previous crash.  It seems to have less play in the tail bearing.  Hope that eliminates the noise.

Yes it is HIGH but it is INVERTED, lol.

I had right eye cataract surgery last Tuesday.  Left eye gets done next Tuesday.  With great dry and mild weather today, I decided to try to fly some planes to see how one eye works.  Works fine but will be even better with both eyes repaired.  I took out the Star and Aerostar 40, 4 packs on the first, 2 on the latter.  It is great to see the plane clearly with the right eye.  Left eye is a big blur with no glasses, but still helps a smidge with depth perception.  Both planes flew great and I had a blast in the gorgeous conditions.  Didn't even need a jacket for the second hour and while I mowed the field.

Finally first flying day for me in 2016!

Blessed with a beautiful day today, and feeling decent, I got to fly today for the first time in over a month, and the first time in 2016!  It was great.  Got there around 9:45 and immediately set up the Gaui X5.  I took 4 flights with that, then 4 with the new Goblin 500.  By the 7th and 8th flights, I was doing loops and back and forward flips with the G500.  Started to feel like I still knew what I was doing, haha.  After helis, I flew the Star 6 times.  Total flight times today were 4.5minutes X 8 plus 6minutes X 6 = 72 minutes in the air in just two total hours at the field.  I hope more days like this are forthcoming this Winter!

Ccccold but fffffun!

It was maybe 40F for flying at 10AM this morning, but it was calm and sunny, so I had to try.  Happy to say that I did not crash albeit rusty after a pretty long layoff (18 days) due to wet, windy, and cold weather.  I only flew the X5 for four packs, and my Star for four packs knowing how cold it was, and that I should take it easy working the rust off.  All went well with the X5 flying fine.  I did not have any misorientations or anything near a crash, lol.  Did some back loops and flips, one forward, no side flips, and just a little inverted.  Mainly I did a lot of slow forward flight and hovering to get the fingers loose and the grey matter focused.  The Star was fine, planes are just lots easier.

Instant replay almost

Today was virtually the same as yesterday except dead calm today.  Very nice flying conditions with good visibility albeit hazy due to wildfire smoke pervading the PNW!  I had the same helis and numbers of flights: 4 on the X5, 3 on the G500, and 2 on the 7HV, utilizing all eleven 4000 packs.  Also flew the Star today instead of mini Star, and had 6 packs for it.  Sustained elevator damage due to slight midair with Jerry's Delta Ray foamie as we tried to fly in formation and make low passes over the runway.  Great fun.  The helis were all awesome and I flew the same way as yesterday, with perhaps more half rolls out of inverted.  While improvement is slow, I do see it happening.  I was not rolling out of inverted just last week.

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!

Flight Log: 05/20/2015

I flew on Wednesday the 20th.  Took 8 packs for the 500's, split 4 in each of the G500 and X5.  Also sprayed an orange H and a red H on the new helipad area.  These are almost twice the distance that we used to take off and land on the single old mat.  Forgot to snap a pic!  Due to overcast it was hard to see my helis so I did not do as much nor fly as high.  Still fun, and I still did a bunch of flips lower.

And then I followed Dick home and picked up two of his Aerostars for sale.  Now I have all 3 in this pic...the two outer ones are the new ones for me.  It will be fun flying the new ones, especially the small red one that will be fast!  The large one has those funny leading edges that Dick added as and experiment.  Turns out he later glued them on, arg, so I will not be able to easily remove them for sportier flying!

Flight Log: 04/29 and 05/01/2015

Getting forgetful about logging my flights!  Flew 16 packs on April 29!  6 were on the Star while 2 were on the G500, 2 on the X5, and 6 on the G630.  Great day of flying with no workers to be seen.  Tad and Quang were there too, and we had fun watching Quang fly what used to be Tad's Extra 300.  Tad had a motor cutoff on his G570, resulting in minor damage, but it is a quandry.  He suspects the transmitter is the common denominator in several motor cutoffs in different helis.  The big show was seeing Tad maiden his Forza 700...what a gorgeous machine!

Flew again on May 1.  I had 2 packs on the G500, and 6 on the G630.

Prior to flying, I mowed the very thick grass on our runway and infield.

It was a nice day for flying with about 50F and very light winds.  I got in 4 packs on the G500 and 4 on the X5, plus 2 on the Star.  Very nice to finally fly again after too many sick days.  I mowed when done flying.  The grass is thick and the mower throws lots of clippings just 5 days after I mowed last Friday!

An Aerostar Day

10, 20, 40 from L to R

The famous designer himself...Dick Smith

10 size in front

40 size converted from glow

It was a great day for Aerostars!  Dick brought his 10 size and 40 size while I brought my 20 size which Dick sold me a couple years ago.  Pics are attached.  Dick got the 40 size from Rudy who in turn got it from a widow getting rid of her husband's old planes.  It was glow, never flown, and Dick made a beautiful conversion to electric power, taking off 8 ounces of weight in the process.  It will be a trainer for him to teach students.  Gorgeous.  He let me fly it the other day...it just floats around and is a joy to fly.  I flew 4 packs through mine today.

I also flew my Goblin 500 (4 packs), X5 (2 packs), and Goblin 630 (4 packs for 2 flights).  Not feeling too well today but no mishaps, and still had good stick time and enjoyment.  Glad I went since rain is forecast for the next couple days at least.  Also mowed today before the rain cometh.

My helis in front, my Aerostar 20 on back table.  Note Dick's 40 taking off in background!

Fleet of Four

Flew this fleet today, running 16 batteries out, lol.

I ran 3 packs through the G500, 2 in the X5, 6 in the Star, and 5 in the new Scythe wing.  It was maiden day for the Scythe, and it flew fine.  Just needed a little up and left trim and it was good enough.  I found that the plane would snap out of tight loops so between flights I toned down elevator throws to 90%.  It can be decreased a little more but is very flyable as is.  Seems sensitive in pitch so I wonder if mine is tail heavy.  Also just seems touchy regarding neutral elevator.   Might try a small piece of lead in the nose someplace.  

Helis flew good with many inverted straights.  My pullouts with the second half of the loop were not the best due to a different wind direction today, but that is good for practice.  Just need to get rudder corrections in before pulling out so that the heli pulls into the dive true instead of slightly sideways.

Star flew like a star as always!  I just had to rebind it to the transmitter at the field...luckily I had a bind plug there.  I had mistakenly binded the Scythe on my DX6 while on the Star model.  That obliviated connection to the Star, which I forgot about till it would not bind at the field, lol.  Dumb dumb me.  

Star and Gobby 500

It was another nice day at he field in the middle of Winter!  About 45F, calm, sunny with a few clouds, and very nominal wind.  I flew the Star for five packs and the Goblin 500 for four.  Very satisfying day!  Dick showed up and flew a bit too.  I concluded by mowing the field.  (I actually remembered to bring my cell phone so I could snap some pics!)

Probably my fave heli, even moreso than its bigger brother the 630!

Brrrrrrr

43F was the high when I was at the field today, brrrrrrrr!  Good thing it was calm so there was no wind chill factor.  Sky was hazy with high overcast and thankfully no fog.  I got in 10 flights on various aircraft today....4 on the G500, 2 on the X5, 2 on the G630, and 2 on the Star.  Not another soul was there unless you count two brutish dogs that wandered through.  One was large German Shepard, the other a Boxer.  I stayed in the car when they came near, but they seemed wary and moved away when I yelled at them to get out of there.

Flying was good.  I did way more inverted than usual, and in fact tried a few half circles with both Goblins.  Not very good, but good for first attempts.  Did not crash so there is the silver lining!  I wandered far and got disoriented though, but always recovered and came back to try again.  Part of the problem is flying high to be safe, but therefore not being able to see the heli attitude and speed well.  It's ok, I will build stick time, gain confidence gradually, and get lower, then better with time.  I only used the Goblins for the inverted flying since the X5 is hard to see in comparison.

Was only able to get two packs charged for the Star, but it was old reliable as usual.  :)

Great first day of Fall!

Slight wind from the South, but it was great flying nonetheless.  Got in 4 packs on the X5 (two were new 30c Glaciers), 2 on the G500, 5 on the Star, and about 5 on the Battlewing.  Whew, kinda tired after all that.  On the helis, I tried to do a little longer straight line inverted forward flight at the top of loops.  Seemed more comfortable today.  Also did a little straight line backward upright flight, trying to prolong the lines.  Tad flew 3 packs on the G700 and 4 on the G500, all in usual graceful fashion.

Tad, Quang, Dan, and I had 3 Battlewing sorties.  Out of all that air time, there was only a single touch between Quang and Tad, with both safely recovering flight in the air.  Dan and Quang like to fly fast, therefore higher and farther out, so it makes it hard to make contact under those conditions.

The Star was its usual well behaved self.  With the South wind, it was fun doing landings on the heli-mat, approaching over the dirt road.  Spent a whole battery just shooting landings continuously.

Heli Sunday

Great time today flying with Tad, Quang, Allen.  Latter is Quang's good friend visiting from Kentucky!  The guy can fly like crazy, even better and crazier than Quang.  He flies an old Trex 450 and a Gaui X5, both old and basically beaters from years of use and likely zillions of flights.

Allen and Quang

Allen doing indescribable 3D with his Trex 450

Allen's 450 and X5

Quang and his Goblin 500 and Hobby People EDF jet...SUPER FAST!

I flew my Goblin 500 for 4 packs, Gaui X5 twice, and the Factor for six packs.  Goblin 500 needed gain lowered, so Quang dropped it a few points for me at the field using his laptop.  That helped a lot to reduce some tail chatter, and I will lower the gain one more point at home.  The increase in motor pulley from 18T to 19T is the cause of the chatter.  Excellent!  Both the 500 and the X5 flew great and I felt real comfortable, owing likely to the clear blue sky and full sun that create the best visibility for my lousy eyes.  Tad flew great with both his 500 and 700, 7 flights in all.  Really coming along good, the confidence shows in the air.

Quang flew his 500, 800, nitro 700, and the red F-16 in the photo above.  He just flies good, period.  Awesome was the jet....super fast.  And with high speed low level passes skimming the grass or dirt, wowser it is impressive.  And it only has elevons for control!  $30 he says, from Hobby People, for the airframe only.  

3rd place!

Prizes for the Challenge...winners pick what they want based on finish position.

Came in 3rd today in the KRCA Club Challenge.  Crazy as it is, Steven came in 1st, Dick 2nd by just 3 seconds over me in 3rd, durn it, haha.  Next came Mike, Bob, Rudy, Ashton, and Ron.  Good fun, and I won $35 plus my choice of planes left, and I took a large Piper Cub that I intend to sell or trade.  Tasks are shown in the pic below.

My flight times were short of the 2 minuted 14 second mark, by 25 seconds, 3, and 12, for the tasks shown.  My internal clock was to sing Lullaby and Goodnight four times, and then add 10 to 20 seconds on the end by counting, dependent on whether I thought I sang fast or slow, haha.  Needless to say, I need another method!!!  FUN nonetheless, and everyone won a prize.  Oh, I flew the Star in the event. It was followed up with a nice hot dog picnic under our awning.

The Star

Dick's Stick

Mike and Ron flew UCanDo's

Old farts having fun