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: 07/04/2019

Happy 4th!  2 flights of the Yak 54.  Ran well, flew well, landed well.  Just wish it had more power.

Flying Fun

Great time flying this week.  I flew on Wednesday with the old Giles 202.  That is a rocket with the OS 160FX two stroker screamin on the front end!  It flew well.  One landing was great, the first one.  Second one was too slow so the plane wallowed but landed ok.  I finally have figured out priming the beast for starting.  It needs a good dose of fuel in the carb to startup....it needs that wet squishy sound to be present before flipping with the glow plug hooked up.  I used to turn the prop over slowly with my finger covering the carb opening, over and over and over....many times over, lol.  This time I put the corks in the twin exhausts, plus put my finger over the carb as i turned the prop over.  Just a couple turns brought fuel to the carb and wet my finger nicely, and created that wet squishy sound.  Then i hooked up the glow, gave the prop a back flip or two, and the OS 160 came to life right away.  SWEET!  And the funny thing is just this same morning I ordered the Align Super Starter from AMain for this and other hard turning engines, lol!  Oh well, it will crank any engine easier than my heavy old tethered starters.

Yesterday was Thursday, and I flew the old Yak-54 three times at Dallas.  It flew well too, but my landings were again average.  Hit the first one perfect, then got to wallowing the other landings.  Just getting too slow due to the desire to stay on the new runway.  The dirt, grave, rock shoulders are brutal so avoidance is advised.  Hope the rain today helps to firm the shoulders up.

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.

Mild Winter day!

Got in five flights on the Yak 54 this morning,  it was low 40F temps but quickly rised as the light fog rapidly dissipated.  The OS 120 FS ran great like usual.  Only Joe showed for perhaps 20 minutes to get his maiden on a small foam WWI triplane Fokker.  Flew ok, no crash, he was happy.

Fog lifted

It has been raining four days in a row, so my last flying was a full week ago!  Got to the field today to find Don and Walt still in their trucks.  It was foggy but not pea soup.  Plenty of room for my Starstream electric.  It is light and bright yellow, so it was plenty visible with close-in flying .  Ran four packs through it.  After just a little more bsing with Joe and Don, I got the Yak-54 out and ready to go.  Flew two flights with fog disappearing quick.  The OS120 Surpass III ran splendidly and powered the plane through the variety of aerobatics nicely.  A very good  flying day.  Not even cold by the way.  The other guys did not fly due to the fog and limited time they had.

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.

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.

Gobble plank

Another fine morning, and I dared to venture into rush traffic to go early so I could get home early for watching grandkids.  Traffic not so bad at 7:30AM, but not great.  Anyway, the field was empty and I flew the Gobby 500 five times, and then my Yak 54 once.  The JB disker was out again, but distant enough and safe.  Yak 54 flew well, started right up and idled good from the beginning.  Nice smoke trail in the blue sky.  Fun with the heli, doing the inverted things.  Got a little nuttier and did a couple half rolls while pretty much vertical diving down from high.  Yikes, but no problems.  Home by 9:30AM!

Started off the day flying my helis, before the wind picked up, which it turns out did not happen while I was there from about 8AM til just past high noon.  I got in 6 packs on the X5 and 4 on the G500.  Very nice day of flying with 5MPH+ but the helis don't seem to mind.  Visibility for me today was good because the sky was cloudless per the pics!  Today I gained confidence just flipping the helis on their back at various heights, and then holding a hover followed by slow forward inverted flight.  Also did some starts and stops, and a pyro turn or two.  Been flying the Goblin on IU1 instead of IU2 for lower head speed.  Seems calmer!

I also flew the Yak-54 just one time due to the heat and fatigue, lol.  It was the right plane to bring given that the field is full of netting and long parallel lines of fixed sprinkler pipes and heads, including along the entire south edge of our runway.  The engine ran good and the Yak always lands soft and slow, so little rollout is needed.

Goblin 500 is ALIVE!

Yes, the remaiden of the G500 was uneventful today!   It is great to have it back after about a 40-day absence.  As soon as i got to the field, i put the Goblin up first.  Slight nervousness abated after 15 seconds in the air.  No vibrations, no trim issues, no problems at all.  I ran 4 packs through the machine, 5 through the X5, and 2 tankfuls of glow through the Yak-54.  The Yak is a smooth flying aircraft worthy of retaining longer...i had considered selling it after i ran over the left wheel pants with my Boxster, lol, and since it sits on the garage floor for storage, thereby getting in the way.

Just a great day in perfect weather in the mid 70's, very little breeze, and partly cloudy skies.

Yakking it up

Flew my X5 for 5 packs first thing in the cooler morning air, just around 7:30AM.  Next up was my Yak-54 interspersed with Apache flights.  The Yak was super good like days of old.  Steady flight speed on the slower side allows closer in controlled flights.  Landings are just so slow and pretty with the Yak.  THere was some light air but no boomer thermals while I flew the Apache.  Unfortunately the elevator servo started to be unresponsive, so after a shallow dive into the north field, I stopped flying it.  Great fun today with all three aircraft.

Eight is Enough?

Anthony sold me two batteries for the G500 that he does not have anymore i.e. crashed.  With those, I now have a grand total of 8 batteries for the G500 and X5 to share.  Thus I ran 4 packs through the Goblin, and 4 through the X5 today.  Did a lot of attempts at inverted, and nearly dumped the Goblin one time, lol.  Came to within 10 feet of eating dirt, or actually tall grass on the North field.  Recovered and kept on trying with the Goblin, then with the 4 packs for the X5.  I won't say it got easier, but I kept trying anyway, and both helis survived the day.  While I should try to learn inverted flying up high, it's a little difficult to see the helis up high with my lousy vision, so I probably am attempting inverted lower than I should, just so I can see the helis better, lol.  Danged if you, and danged if you don't sort of thing.

Also had three flights on the Yak 54.  It is still flying solid and I enjoyed the pattern type manuevers I was doing with it.  Enjoyed the company of Dick, Rudy, and Bob Ross while there.  Assisted Bob by flying his Pulse in for a landing when he found it to be rather badly out of aileron trim during his flight.  Made a couple passes at low throttle to see how the plane behaved, then landed on the next pass with no issues.  Wow, Bob's right hand sure was shaky from his early Parkinson's situation, and also from stress on the flight.  Glad to help out and not wreck his plane on the irrigation pipes!

Yakkin and Gobblin

A perfectly beautiful Sunday with no JB workers and sprinklers brought out an overwhelming number of pilots today at the field.  Just Bob Ross and myself.  Crazy.  I got there early, before 8AM, and Bob was already putting away because he crashed his new Beaver on his 3rd takeoff.  Never have seen it fly yet.

I flew my Yak 54 for 3 flights, and my Goblin 500 for 6 packs!  When I prepped the Yak last night for today, I installed a new Tenergy 6V 2000mAh NiMh pack into it as part of my battery replacement cycle every 3 or 4 years.  Good thing I did so because I checked the old 2500 pack when I removed it from the Yak, and it was dead dead dead.  With the new packs I installed in the T-28 and P-47, this brings to 3 planes updated with new batteries in my squadron. The Yak flew great like usual, with the OS 120 Surpass III running like a top.

The Goblin flew fine although I keep hearing different sounds out of it that do not comfort me.  Flew the heck out of it anyway after checking for possible causes.  I got in much more inverted hovering than ever.  Only loss orientation a few times, lol, then I wore my yellow sunglasses after that and it really seemed to help me see the heli more clearly.  Gotta make that a habit I guess!  A good day of flying (more like 2 hours non-stop), even though nobody was there more the majority of my time there.

Yak it up!

Had 3 flights with the Yak 54 yesterday.  All landings were from the west due to workers on the east end of the field to harvest sod, and luckily a light breeze came from the east to make landings easier!  The OS 120 ran fine, and the Yak flew well.  I was a bit rusty due to flying too many electric planes and choppers recently, but all went well.  Speaking of choppers, I flew the 130X just once and was downed by a bee!  Yes, as impossible and unbelievable as it sounds, a bee kept flying around my face and lid of my cap, continually getting in my vision!  I ended up moving around to lose it, but could not, and finally lost concentration and crashed from about 20' high.  Ended up stripping a main gear and the D gear.  Luckily I had just got a new main gear in the mail the day before, and had several extra D gears in the parts bag.  I repaired the 130X and tested it in the back yard...good to go again!

Unperfect Day!

It started nicely enough with winds under 5mph when I got to the field, so I put the Star up right away and it flew well.  Next I put the Yak 54 up as the wind started to build.  Got her down fine.  Started to think it might be time to quit since Bob and Al already had, and Ron decided not to bring his plane out of the truck.  Harvey showed up and used his wind meter...7mph min with 14mph gusts, haha.  I flew the Yak once more and had a landing where the wind was really trying to flip the wing tips!  Got her down safe and sound and called it a day, haha.  Glad to escape any damage.

Perfect Day

It was just a perfecto day for flying today with light winds mostly from the West and North, mild temps in the 60's, and partly cloudy skies.  Got in 3 flights each on the Star and the Yak 54.  Both flew well, all is well.  Saw Dean fly his Corby Starlet after difficulty getting it started, but then it ran and flew really nicely.  Ashton was there early but left quickly due to a damaged fin.  Ken came later with his foam Cub and little electric Sportster...he flew the latter surprisingly well, good for him!  Enjoyed the time at the field from about 9 till noon.

Yak-ity Yak

The weatherman is all wet.  Yesterday was supposed to good, and it was BAD.  Today was supposed to bad, and it was GOOD.  Started stripping off my jacket then vest soon after I got to the field.  First alone, Dave showed up soon, and I took up his high wing trike electric foamy since he put on a new stronger engine, and wanted it declared airworthy.  Flew nice, trimmed it out, and landed.  He did good and is happy with the new found power.  I flew my Yak 54 four flights.  Still purring along, and it liked the weather today.  Richened the needle about 1/4 turn and it was really happy, with a nice smoke trail.  Just flew every trick I know and the plane was obliging.  Landings with this plane are the easiest, so slow and controlled.  Before the Yak, I flew my Blade 400 for two packs which is all I have now for that chopper.  Did ok, did not break it, and got some stick time.  I tried turning so the side faces me, going left ,and coming back going right.  Did not have the cajones to try a full circle yet.  It's getting close.

Flight Log: 02/12/2013

Blessed with over 50F and light wind, I took the Yak 54 out for a spin.  Three flights to be exact, with landing and takeoffs to the South on the short N/S runway.  OS 120 Surpass III needed the high needle opened about 1/2 turn and she ran well and strong.  Lots of fun.  Nobody else played today!  Did quite a few rolling circles counterclockwise, and tried going clockwise too.  Didn't make a full circle but it's coming along.

Flight Log: 12/10/2012

Blessed with another decent day, I flew the Yak 54 four times today.  It reminded me how good it is, and that maybe I should not sell it!  Ran fine and flew great, floating in for light landings.  Dick, Joe, and Rudy also showed up and flew today, trying to get some fun in before the next rains sweep in.