Who Flew?!

On Friday, August 10, 2012, Alex flew his new Alpha 40 today after Tad maidened it.  Tad gifted Alex with the complete RTF consisting of plane, engine, and RC gear (Spectrum 5ch), so he had the honors to maiden it today.  All went well, and then Alex got to fly three flights once either Tad or I took off.  We also landed the plane, but it won't be long till Alex can takeoff and land, as he exhibited positive and consistent control of the Alpha 40.  He did rectangular circuits, figure 8's, and even a handful of loops.  The plane flies well and the Evolution 40 starts, runs, and idles really nicely.  CONGRATS ALEX!

Planes on Rails

I took two of my fastest planes out today, the INTRUDER and Stinger II.  Both make a cool whistle as they whiz by on low passes over the runway.  Made two flights with the Intruder and three with the Stinger II.  Engines in both ran great.  Winds were fairly brisk approaching 10mph at times and varied out of the north and west.

Yak 54

I took 4 flights with the Yak 54 today.  Temps were around 70F with a breeze of about 5mph.  The Yak flew well but I was not very inspired...I think I need some new maneuvers to learn, practice, and keep improving.

Our Sunflower!

This sunflower looks like a beanstalk heading for the clouds in Jack and the Beanstalk!  It's a volunteer no doubt planted by some bird pooping just outside our back wall.  The plant is at least 8 feet tall, and I cannot reach the yellow petals with my outstretched arm.  We are enjoying watching it grow and develop.  For a couple months it was growing around 6"-12" per week!  Very COOL.

Flight Log: 08/05/12

Great day at the field with a little more wind than usual, but still just between 5 and 10mph, and from the South.  I flew the Intruder twice and the Toledo Special 3 times.  Temps were better today, probably around 80F.  Both planes flew well with no issues.  I helped Harvey take off and land his electric trainer...he flew it well.  Joe lost control of his EDF F-18 at altitude over the north field.  It slowly rolled during a long vertical full throttle dive into the ground.   As Joe walked out he saw smoke develop so Chris and I ran out with water bottles while Ken trailed with a fire extinguisher.  The 5 cell Lipo pack went up in flames and smoke.  Luckily the dry grass had been bailed and collected last week, or there might have been a bad fire.  Surprisingly only the fuse from the wings forward was totally destroyed.

Valley Challenge KRCA fly-off

Today we flew the KRCA club only fly-off for the Valley Challenge.  The events dreamed up by Bob were heavy on being able to time yourself either on the ground or in the air.  Pretty hard to do, for me anyhow.  I consistently ended my tasks over a minute early, thus incurring negative points...one for each second off the target time.  Everyone started with 1600 points and Bob limited points loss to 400 per each of the four tasks.    I thought I did worse, but ended up with about 1395 points, Brandon had about 1470, and Joe about 1570. I sort of think both had some point deductions that were somehow missed...but maybe I benefited equally...that is my hope.  I know for sure Joe left the ground on a taxi event, when his plane lifted off and cartwheeled which is a 50 point deduction, but his total points do not reflect that.  In any case, I made it to the finals in two weeks.  I will practice the events to improve my scores.  Others who competed today were Rudy (I think he was very close in score to me), Ashton, Bob Ross, Ron, and Mike Florea.  BTW it was a scorcher.  Temps were probably near 70F when we started and near 95F when we quit.  I flew the SNAFU, with Imagine 50 as backup (not needed today).

Flight Log: 08/01/12

Took the SNAFU and Stinger II out today, a very sunny and slightly breezy day.  Got in 4 flights with the SNAFU in prep for Valley Challenge on Saturday, and 3 flights with the Stinger II.  The durn OS 52 in the SNAFU died several times, so I kept raising the idle trim and also opened the needle a click.  Hope it stays running on Saturday, or I will get no score for some flights, argh.  Tuning on the high end seems pretty good and strong, so I don't want to fiddle with it much at all.  Oh well, I will have the Imagine for backup if needed, but that would be after the SNAFU fails and results in probably no score on a flight, too late in other words.  Might have to reconsider and just fly the Imagine?  The Stinger flew well today with speed and good engine reliability.

Update on 08/02/12:  I put a new OS Type F plug on the engine.  Also put new tubes from tank to carb, and tank to muffler, left fill line as is.  Replaced the three fuel tubes (to klunk, muffler, and fill line) inside the tank as a maintenance precaution.  Tightened up the rubber plug on the tank real snug.  The engine flameouts should not be due to cracked fuel line anywhere.