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!

Still alive

Just been so darn lazy to add to the blog after my frequent flying days!  But today was perfect so here we go.  Preface by saying I have been going to the Dallas club field about 90% of the days that I do fly.  When I go to the keizer club field, it’s typical on a weekend so I can catch up with heli flying.  And normally my keizer flying is all electric while most of my Dallas flying is glow and gas.

Today I took the Osiris out for a spin with the 7HV, to keizer. Knocked out 11 packs...six on three flights on the 7HV, then five packs on five flights of the Osiris!  Everything was working today in the light breeze and slight overcast.  Heli was great, no brain farts.  Then the Osiris flew better than I have ever felt like I flew it.   Very smooth and precise.  I flew it mostly 3/4 throttle so it was very relaxing.  And I nailed all the landings by coming in higher like I recall Rudy did, with lil or no throttle, then flare just before touchdown...the plane doesn’t really stall this way.

It was a really GREAT DAY!

Nice January Day

A bunch of us Wingdingers flew at the Dallas field yesterday morning in clear but pretty cool skies, winds maybe 5mph first from the west then from the north.  I got the Toledo Special up three times and had nice flights.  Landings varied though.  First one good, second looked like three bounces, and last one best.  The plane flew well.  Noticed no rudder before first flight, as the plane would not steer.  I caught it quickly, pushed on the rudder a few times, and it woke up.  The servo might be getting old and tired.  Ken and Don each took one flight, electing to not fly when the wind changed to crosswind and they saw my crummy second landing, lol.  Doug flew his foam Corsair and was doing many landings for practice, but on one extended flight, the plane crashed pretty badly on the field to the west.  Totaled, but he says he has another NIB at home, lol!

POLAR FLY DAY!

On a cold day of mid 30F-40F a sizeable bunch of diehards turned out for our Polar Fly Day!  At least it was calm and sunny with great friends to warm our spirits.  Flew my Dirty birdy twice and it was great....so good to be rolling and flowing again!  Landings were good but on the first one, i noticed the plane not slowing as much nor sounding quite right....louder.  As i came in I saw the back half of the muffler hanging low.  Made a good landing but hit the kill switch to keep the plane on the runway.  Yup the back bolt fell off midair.   Forget if there were two to lock on.  Luckily Don had a bolt that fit, with nylon lock collar, so i used it.  After the next flight , it was still there, but i could see the back half vibrated to a new angle.  Tightened it more and hope that sticks.  That second landing was pure butter....greased on!

There were two crashes to start the New Year!  Pat Long drilled his new electric stik into the winter stream first.  Skimming the water on a pullout, the plane went up from there, stalled, and dove in from maybe 20'.  It just stuck like a lawn dart, tail and wings in the air. Didnt look too bad upon inspection at the field.  Then later, Cliff lost all control to his Uproar.  I think it totaled, luckily staying on the field and missing the houses to the west.  There is a vid of Gary helping Cliff by throwing the old Futaba 7 ch xmitter into the ground, ensuring it would not destroy another plane.  YIKES!😂  It was a fun day, more than ten of us out there to start 2019 right!

Stir Crazy!

Haven’t flown for so long!  It was grey and cool in West Salem with light drizzles now and then, but it was calm.   So I quickly charged packs for the Aerostar 40F and headed to Dallas.  The closer I got, the more it was raining.  Oh well, I was determined to fly after several weeks of no flying.  Doug B showed up and provided good company.  Got in two flights in pretty steady light rain.  Felt good that I never missed the runway on many touch and go’s from both directions.  The new grass is looking plush.  I got that out of my system, sorta.