Spring is here - what is stopping you from flying?

[Chuck Plains]

Heh. Mine is possibly the first RC plane to go near it as it's a huge invisible Oak near the bottom of a NE facing slope in a farmer's field at the end of an industrial estate. Bless it, it spat my Bixler out like a stale digestive, which then proceeded to plummet and break off 9" from one wing tip. Gotta love that EPO foam, sooo easy to fix!

[Chuck Plains]

Congrats Erf!! LoL! I just read your final story of your finals!

[..]

Posted by Danny Fenton on 13/03/2014 23:03:14:

Sorry Justin missed that bit of news very well done indeed, what was that first flight like AFTER you had passed?

Cheers

Danny

Thanks Danny, My first flight after doing my A involved a few stall turns & spins but the old Calmato much prefers the straight & level stuff.

I wished I had taken something a bit more agile but the aim of the day was to pass the test and that was done.

[Stevo]

What's stopping me from flying? ME.

After weeks flat on may back and excrutaiting pain, I've got no confidence to get to the field and assemble and fly anything at all.... I'm always thinking "what if...."

[WolstonFlyer]

"What is stopping you from flying?"

My wife and kids mainly... they want do other things on the nice days that we get SWMBO just mentioned that the grass is growing and the kitchen needs painting

[Martyn K]

Very windy here on the Cheshire Plain yesterday. Gusting 30kts.

Didn't stop me carrying out a Maiden on a Precedent T240 though. The landing was a bit of a challenge though. No build blog for this - it was given to me as a partially completed kit and I assembled it as a glider tug, camera carrier and club trainer.

Power is a Fuji 32cc Petrol

 

Take Off,

 

and the eventful Landing/Arrival - which was very hard work...

 

 

Thanks to Andy Pace for doing the video (from a smart phone) and not triggering the inbuilt camera of doom feature that is often used on days like today.

 

Only managed one flight - the real task was to get the roller out and roll the strip flat for the summer season

 

BW

 

Martyn

 

Edited By Martyn K on 16/03/2014 21:46:45

[john stones 1 - Moderator]

a bit blowy Martyn

it go's well though

no loops with glider attached though

Edited By john stones 1 on 16/03/2014 22:05:18

[Martyn K]

Its not underpowered is it?. It left the ground at half throttle. I suspect that its vertical performance will be excellent - cant wait to drag those gliders around the sky..

Martyn

Edited By Martyn K on 16/03/2014 22:02:59

[Chuck Plains]

Nice one Martyn. You wouldn't really want anything lighter for those conditions.

On Saturday tea time I had a couple of flights at the DSSC's Little Haldon site and flew in the most beautiful sky I've seen in a long time. A lowering sun backlighting great shoals of conjoined and individual lenticular clouds!! And, as I type, I can't find my mobile phone to get the picture off it! (meh, it's only a 1megapixel camera anyway)

Also, I attended the first of our Devon Glider Days on Sunday. And it was excellent. Not a cloud in the sky and approx 10 to 15 knots of breeze.

I'm not good with faces and names, but many of the regular glider guiders seemed to be there, plus of course our man Felix with his mad tug.

A pic by John Harvey from the club website.

That beast sounds like a trail bike and can go vertical while towing a 3 mtr glider! Believe me, I've seen it.

My modified Bixler performed better than I imagined it would. I have reduced the funny upswept wingtips by more than 50%, and after trying that, I also altered the wing incidence to reduce ballooning. And on Sunday it proved a worthwhile bit of fettling.

It's still not properly glidery, but it has substantially better lift, and hangs about on the breeze surprisingly well. And when I had climbed it out till I worried about how tiny it had become, I cut the power and it stayed up there in a most satisfactory manner. I will attempt to flatten the tips even more. (it's a hair drier job basically)

Oh, and I gave my Bixler it's second tree this evening after work. Yes, just like yours truly, my plane is a vegetarian.

[David Ashby - Moderator]

Pretty breezy in Kent today but not unflyably so, we seemed to dodge some pretty horrible looking rain clouds that were powering by, this one too thankfully.

[Phil 9]

today got to the field and engine would not start. It ran perfectly well last week. ho hum

(don't say go electric)

[Kevin Fairgrieve]

Posted by Kevin Fairgrieve on 12/03/2014 17:30:11:

What is stopping me from flying?

The construction of four ruddy great wind turbines on our old site (disused WWII airfield) that`s what!!!

The new grass site will not be ready for a couple of weeks.

Kev

The new site is now open to us.

Weather permitting this coming Sunday should see me fly for the first time this year.

Kev

[John Privett]

What a difference a week makes - and not a good difference either!

Last Sunday I left my hat at home, left my gloves in the car and even took my jacket off when I arrived at the strip. Genuine t-shirt weather!

Yesterday I arrived with hat, gloves and winter jacket. It was chilly with a blustery cross-wind. I had 3 flights and went home before I either froze or broke the model landing it. Today I got as far as the car park, and only got that far because I knew one of our new members was turning up. We had a chat, and decided it was too cold and blustery to try flying anything. Fingers crossed for April and beyond...

Edited By John Privett on 23/03/2014 21:55:49

[Martyn K]

Oh hum - and it is officially Spring now.

No flying for me this weekend. The brakes failed on my car when I came off the Motorway last Thursday - split brake pipe. Slowing down from 70 before I got to the roundabout at the bottom of the slip-road (down hill) was an entertaining (but heart stopping) experience. I would have probably flown today though. Although that Northerly wind direction is not very good for our strip.

Martyn

[david chapman 4]

with all the rain the strip up till last week looked like a pond and mud bath .not undeterred there is also 15 ponies from the travelers site and they have chewed up the ground big time. We need a compactor to level the ground down and a Sluter man to get rid of the ponys if we are lucky then we will be flying at Christmas

[cymaz]

Posted by cymaz on 11/03/2014 17:26:43:

Nice weather, light winds.....................................so what could go wrong

A SOLAR POWER COMPANY PUT AN UNDERGROUND CABLE ON THE SIDE OF OUR SITE. The place is reportedly like the surface of the moon

Flying field now back to normal. A bit of sand in the pits near where the cable trench went but all the construction now complete.

Just as well as St. Austell and District Modelling Club is holding the Chris Foss Fun Fly-in on April 21st. Just seen the small article in April edition. Thank you very much Mr Editor

[will -0]

Monday: rare midweek foray to the club - forecast was showing 15 BBCunitsofwind.

A/C #1 testing a replacement engine. Ran OK but refused to idle with the glow power off. Flew it anyway though it cut mid flight - new (to me) engine much improved power wise, but suspected duff plug (actually it might have just been a bit loose - changed it when I got home as no plug spanner at the patch)

A/C #2 newly built Chilli Breeze out for an engine run up and gently taxi trundle. It's come out nose heavy (grrr) so I have to figure out a secure place to add some weight in the tail before flying it. Can't get the RX pack far enough aft. Still the engine ran with plenty of gusto, though the idle transition sounds a bit rich so will have to fiddle with that later.

A/C#3 Chippy Brm whee tumble tumble loop loop wheeeee snap wheee tumble etc. . It doesn't mind the wind and the last landing roll-out was only 1 fuz length.

A/C#4 O/D Motor glider with MDS17 up front. 3 channel (R/E), goes like a scalded cat, though the engine richens in flight after a few minutes (requiring a quick landing, tweak and off we go again) and won't shut down. Always fun to aerobat as it does really axial rolls , loops either way etc etc, but will still soar in the right weather. However with 15 BBCunitsofwind, though the thermals were there, the downwind drift was fairly intense so circling in lift was not possible for long!

Blummin cold though, had to quit before I froze as I'd not taken the full winter atire.

[Erfolg]

Today was the fifth time I had gone to the flying field since passing my "A", exactly 14 days ago. Here in the NW it has been either very windy or raining, and St Swithins day is not involved. Just a suspicious group of elderly men stood in a group, standing in a remote car park, had become the norm.

Today would be different so said the Met office, winds speed of 5 mph with cloud cover. Works for me, thought I!

Rushing to the field just after lunch, was warranted as the car park was already well occupied, and not yet 12:30!

I had taken my Parkzone Stinson Reliant, along with a few other models. Purchased over one year back, not yet flown. Not blowing my own trumpet, it is superbly built, by the finest craftsman in the UK, could that be the EU! Oh, well, OK, it is superbly moulded by some one in China and simply assembled by any one.

I took it to have it test flown, by someone who could be trusted, so that counted me out, then, would it not. The truth was the model lifted of without trouble, flew with just one click on the elevator trim. The stall being most un note worthy. So Ken the test pilot has to be congratulated.

Many others flew with confidence, knowing that the wind would not be a major issue, only a low sun being a problem, and landing over some trees, lying very close to the landing patch.

All the same, it was good to be out and seeing some flying. Although I did not bother, as the trees seem very close.

[john stones 1 - Moderator]

The trees are not going to move Erf

don't let em bully you, have a fly

[Erfolg]

John. I defiantly could do with a chain saw, to do my bit for the environment. The trees have now soaked up all the Co2 that they are capable of doing, they need felling to make way for new growth.

I am happy to land from most directions, but not that one. So many models seemed to have been sucked into the greenery, only to make it by a whisker, I knew that it could not go on for ever. The trees would have a victim, reaching up to snatch a model that came just to close and I know they were waiting for me.

[Phil Winks]

Nothing stopped me today

early finish and on my own at the patch at 15:00, a steady ENE wind around 9mph at ground level just perfect for the Brit flight H-two-O, that was untill I discovered a duff rudder servo, well it is my oldest and most battered so I chanced a bank and yank circuit or two.

The 1st ended with the pylon shearing of flush with the top of the wing!!!! ( prob hidden damage from its last bump) a near perfect dead stick followed after coaxing her round a quite long circuit, thankfully it happened at some 75 foot up, and the trusty CA came into its own.

10 mins later it was flying again and the absent rudder servo was not really missed, however the wind at 50 feet was getting up and she was struggling on the upwind legs so another sweet landing, she really is so easy to land, and of home before I did any more damage, all in all a real confidence boosting afternoon, though I must take more than one model next time!!

[Erfolg]

As with most modellers, my time is not my own, so many having the veto card to stop me going flying. Today seemed doomed to others whims, the phone going at an ungodly hour, 07:30 still deep in sleep. My wife was urgently required to baby sit a young sick grandchild, as kinder garten was out of the question, then later in the day to run another to a after school gym session. Could I come as well? Fortunately i had made other arrangements, looking after the interests of my two daughters. built into this itinerary was some time for flying. Oh, I was so disappointed, that I could not tend a sick child

So by mid afternoon I was of to club number 1. Looking out at the weather, it varied from, looks good, to, not good at all.

Some things in life are predictable though, as I was so used to, there was no one else there, just me. I noted another car had crashed into the hedge, removing 2 or 3 m of hawthorn bush, the number plate lying, abandoned in the grass. The farmer or the NT had already placed replacement specimens in plastic tubes in the ground.

I had now opened the gate and was making my way to the centre of the field. looking at the sky. It was a steel grey, in the distant, non distinct dark grey clouds could be made out. The wind easterly, cold, biting, the anemometer indicated a base 12-15mph steady wind, peaking at sudden 20mph gusts, which were not infrequent. In the steel grey was a lighter hue, where the sun should be. Well the sun will not be a problem then.

Looking round a group of 3 gulls flashed by at altitude, must be blowing up there I thought. Another glance about confirmed that the dairy herds, were still in the sheds, awaiting summer. The field itself still had the same short grass from the autumn cut, probably short and smooth enough to take of from. By all accounts it could still be winter, not yet spring.

Ah, yes, i had come to fly! What can you say, launched the model, a sports type. Did a few loops, stall turns, rolls, Immelman, generally stooged about. No trees to worry about here, the nearest solitary specimen is about 1/2 mile away. Landed without issue. That is other than the model being thrown about.

Time for for the trusty 2m Sagitta. The launch vertical, a lot of down required, as the wind tried to carry it backwards, although it continued clawing its way to heaven. Once a dot in the sky, constant forward pressure was required on the stick, to keep it going forward. When will I get around to reading the manual to know how to put in a second trim position that is switched. What is the point of an all singing and dancing Tx if the features are not used. Excuses and lethargy are the main obstacles, oh yes, my busy life style is the other culprit.

One thing I have become aware of, is that glider guiders are far more observant as to what is happening at the moment in the environment. I could see a dark shadow moving towards me in the sky, probably 2 to 3 miles away, looks like rain I thought. The was confirmed about 5 minutes later, as a gust came through, hmm a front. Should I land I thought, before the rain? No, you are probably wrong, then the first drops of rain were felt. This is defiantly time to land.

It was now I thought about another subtle difference between glider guiders and power flyers, that is how they land. Gliders pilots are used to the notion, there engine is gravity. Landings are about managing the conversion of potential energy into kinetic energy, no switch to get additional force. There is no pretence of full size operations, no flat turning from down wind leg to cross wind leg etc. It is all about keeping speed up, in fact the down wind leg is done at a good speed, the turn is a dropping turn, the nose is kept down, to keep speed up. The brake is allowing the nose to rise, or a "S" turn and finally flying onto the ground. Dare not allow the wind to get under a semi stalled model, no power type flaring, The model pressed into the ground effect region and flown onto the ground. Yes, I have done it, and the model is intact!

I now sprinted to the gate with all the grace of a knackered cart horse, into the car, home, and started skinning a wing.

[john stones 1 - Moderator]

I enjoyed that Erf

cheers

[Daves42]

Having finally retired from work, I am able to spend as much time as I like on my flying.

Today, I went to the field at 9.30am and despite an unfavourable forecast, found conditions to be really pretty good. The wind was light but from an Easterly direction, which is not the best on this field but eminently flyable. Flew the Acromaster non-stop (apart from the occasional landing), running through my limited repertoire of aerobatics, until I ran out of batteries (6) and was back home by midday. The only problem with retired flying is that, during working hours there are few people to share the enjoyment with. I have to wait for the weekends for that.

Finally, a question. I really love the Acromaster but, I would like something just as good to fly and still electric but bigger. Maybe around 1.5 metres wingspan. Any suggestions?

[ken anderson.]

its been another crepe week for weather up this end of the country.......and today is no better...drizzle......and we're nearly a quarter through the year.....

ken Anderson ne..1 ....... crepe/weather dept.