Flight log: 06/21/2019

My yellow Shoestring on left, powered by SAITO 100 four stroke.
Cliff's white Shoestring on right, powered by RCGF 20cc gas two stroke.

Note slimmer fuselage on white one because Don rebuilt it
and trimmed about 3/4" of the bottom of the stock fuselage off!

Both are beauties!

We flew together twice.  It was no contest, Cliff's is much faster. 
He had to throttle back often to keep from chewing off my tail!
I cut corners to make my route shorter, plus did a lot of diving,
and still came out looking like a snail.  I can only say I landed better, lol!

THE WINNER!

I also flew my Stinger II three times today to satisfy the need for speed!  It flew well.  The YS63 is singing sweetly!

Aichi Val completion

For all intents and purposes, this plane is completed and ready for a maiden.  Might add a few ounces of lead in the  nose to assure the plane is not tail heavy for the maiden, but it balances real close to the CG per the manual as is.  Actually I do have to break-in the engine.  Later in the day, I added 2.3 oz of lead to the nose by screwing two lead globs of about 1oz each to each side of the beam engine mounts.  This is the furthest forward point without using heavyweight hub spinners.

Flight log: 06/16/2019

The Dirty Birdy had two good flights yesterday....first flight was average with the OS65AX not running as good as usual, and some vibration sound in the engine or airframe.  We are moving into the warmer time of year so I richened the high needle after the flight.  Also removed some velcro I had previously stuck to a bulkhead in the fuse where the nose steering metal rod rubs.  Turns out it created more noise than without it as I did not hear the noise on the second flight.  The engine ran sweeter with a little smoke too, so the richer setting was the right move.

The Aerostar 40F was its usual easy self to fly and relax with...four flights.

Aichi Val by VQ Models

I have been assembling this new plane for a couple months or more.  Not done but getting there in my slugs pace!  WS is 60”, power is a brand new OS70 Surpass II that I got from Jerry for $75 last year! Chose it for unique look, fixed gear to simplify, elliptical wing for plentiful area and typical good flying characteristics like the P-47, Sea Fury, Spitfire.  Wanted a larger warbird of 30cc size but couldn’t find a plane I loved, so settled for this to tide me over and keep amused.  I need a second warbird to my Jug after the T-28 expired about two years ago.

Cat of Nine Lives?

On June 6:  Nearly a big loss of my big RV today!  Left aileron linkage got undone in the air!  All of a sudden felt like a drag chute on the left wing with that huge aileron just hanging down.  Had to really stay on the stick with only right aileron working.  Got her landed on the runway!  Turns out the nuts that hold the link on both ends came loose and the gas engine vibes caused the rods to unwind and slip out of a clevis!  My fault for not checking them.  Gonna solder one side so they cannot unwind like that.  Whew, the plane lived, but it was looking bad! 

This bird has gone through three lives so far!
1.  Wheel fell off with axle.  Made safe landing on runway.
2.  Throttle linkage came undone so landed without throttle control.
3.  Left aileron linkage fell apart.  Made it safely to runway.

Only the first one was not my fault...that axle was defective and I am sticking to that story!  The others are owner operator fault, yikes!

June 12:  Hey guys, here’s a bonehead move.   I drove my boxster the other day so I moved some planes away and placed them next to the truck.  Then yesterday I wanted to go out in the truck....I forgot to move the RV-4 and two other planes before moving the truck.  The truck tire rubbed hard over the left axle of the RV and brushed the left wheel.  That broke the axle and bent the. left side of LG.  Lucky I had a spare axle (from replacing the one that fell off in the air).  So I got out my workmate to use as a vise for the LG.  I bent it back straight, and  I overcorrected so now the left side of the stab and wing are higher off ground then right...it was vice versa before the repair.  It’s ok, I expect first landings to relax what I did.  Should be good enough.  This plane might be cursed, but I
will try it again tomorrow!  Stay cool!  98F at my house right now.

So now The RV-4 has gone through 4 lives so far!
1.  Wheel fell off with axle.  Made safe landing on runway.
2.  Throttle linkage came undone so landed without throttle control.
3.  Left aileron linkage fell apart.  Made it safely to runway.
4.  Ran over left axle and rubbed wheel with truck.

Will fly again today and see if anything else can go wrong with this plane!

UPDATE:  the plane flew well today.  I had to retrim the surfaces first thing at the field today upon turning the plane on.  Things weren’t centered after the soldering I had done as noted in the beginning of this post.  All went well, nothing fell off in the air, no more curses on the plane today at least, lol.  Got in two flights.  Landings were just ok, not greased on.  Thinking about a little nose weight.

Flight log: 06/12/2019

Today I flew the Osiris five flights.  I tried different pack locations in the plane.  Seems the most rearward line that Rudy drew on the battery plate in the fuse results in the least adverse coupling when in knife edge.  Might try a little more rearward too since my packs are 6s vs the 5s that Rudy gave me with the plane...different weights.  My landings are much better when I bring in the plane on final just a little higher than my others, cut throttle at the edge of the tall grass, then glide in steeper per no throttle, and flare inches above the ground.  Seems to be greased on most of the time now!

Tad flew his Avanti S for the first time at the Dallas field.  Ended in a hard landing when he did not flare, hit the nose first, which then caused a bounce back up with no thrust on.  Left wing tip hit, then the nose, which collapsed in front of the nose gear.  Fixable but it wont be a pretty boy like when new.

I flew the Bravata perhaps last Friday, just once.  It flew fine.  Could not restart it for the second flight, as I think I flooded it by propping it over and it turned out the transmitter was not on.  

Today I replaced the left axle on the RV-4.  Heres the rest of the story:

I drove my boxster the other day so I moved some planes away and placed them next to the truck. Then yesterday I wanted to go out in the truck....I forgot to move the RV-4 and two other planes before moving the truck. The truck tire rubbed hard over the left axle of the RV and brushed the left wheel. That broke the axle and bent the left side of LG. Lucky I had a spare axle (from replacing the one that fell off in the air). So I got out my workmate to use as a vise for the LG. I bent it back straight, and I overcorrected so now the left side of the stab and wing are higher off ground then right...it was vice versa before the repair. It’s ok, I expect first landings to relax what I did. Should be good enough. This plane might be cursed, but I will try it again tomorrow!

No mojo for blog

Been flying but got no mojo for keeping this blog up to date.  Maybe I put too many words into each entry...too much energy!  So maybe i have to be very brief from now on just so long as I log in the number of flights and any adjustments made to the aircraft, mainly as a record book for future reference during repairs, etc.

Yesterday:  Flew P-47 Jug three times in prep for Warbird Day on July 6, a month from now.  The OS91 Surpass II ran flawlessly.  Note I had to replumb the tank after the engine would not start at the field last week.  Cause was collapsed plastic tube in the rubber stopper of the tank.  For some odd reason I used one brass tube, one aluminum tube, and one plastic tube in the stopper when I constructed the plane, or last overhauled the tank...cannot remember if I did so.  Over time the fuel exposure and constant pressure of the rubber stopper collapsed the plastic tube only.  When I opened the tank up and tried to blow through the plastic tube, no noticeable air went through until I reamed the tube open with an L wrench.  Replaced it with another brass tube and the fuel flows and the engine runs again, voila.

Today:  Flew the RV-4 just once.  Left aileron linkage unwound due to engine vibration and loose nuts on each end of the metal control rod between horn and servo.  Yikes!  Thought a parachute opened and that I was going to crash.  Landed safely by keeping throttle on something  more than idle to overcome drag, no flaps deployed for fear of upsetting plane more.  Landed on grass shoulder but rolled onto runway mat.  Saw linkage hanging and left aileron drooping, lol.

Came home and soldered the clevises and nuts to the rod on the horn end of the ailerons and the elevators.  Used blue threadlock on the clevises and nuts on the servo ends of those four servos.  Rudder is cable pull-pull and it looks secure.  Flaps control rods are too hard to remove, as they were a dickens to install into the wings, so I used red/permanent threadlock instead of solder on the horn end clevises and nuts.  Again used blue threadlock on the clevises and horns on the servo end.

Well that is not very brief but at least I got the log done and issues and repairs recorded!