Spring is here again - who's been flying?

[Eric Robson]

Another day at the field with the Warbirds FW190 and Hurricane + the BT Corsair 9.30 am till 4.30. Not as warm as yesterday but good flying weather.  A good turn out again quite a lot if banter, 16 batteries to charge, took more but  it started spitting on to rain which stopped when we reached the car park.

[aidan mcatamney]

Nice selection of planes there Eric.  

[Chris Freeman 3]

Byron and I had a great day on Saturday when we attended a float fly event. The Catalina had its first outing since being painted and flies very well but has poor water handling. Lucky it has plenty of power to get it onto step. The S6 was built over 25 years ago and was never flown as the builder said the wing loading was too high for the thin wing section. He came out to see it fly and could not believe just how good it is in the air.  

[Nick Cripps]

Full-size flying boats never seem to scale well to model size, they always appear to have handling problems in the water unless a non-scale step position is used. I don't know why this is, someone with better hydrodynamics knowledge than me could probably tell you!

The S6 looks great, would love to see some video of that.

[Adrian Smith 1]

The S6 is a thing of beauty, Chris. Lovely snaps too 👍

[J D 8]

                 First time out for me this year having recovered from Covid, long cold and injury [ got kicked by a beef steer] Was good to meet up with the chaps on the field and get some flying in over the weekend.   Members been erecting new safety fence.

[David Ashby - Moderator]

Too windy for the flat field yesterday but perfect for sea cliff soaring.

We made some new friends too. 
 

 

 

[leccyflyer]

Rain stopped play yesterday, but was able to get out for a couple of hours this morning, though overcast and the 4-7mph slight crosswind felt colder than that. Good fun was had, though not the day for any maiden flights, hugely enjoyed flying my PZ Martlet and Bf109g, as well as my Su26 and some wee fellas. Got to take those opportunities when they present themselves.

[Eric Robson]

32 minutes ago, David Ashby - Moderator said:

Too windy for the flat field yesterday but perfect for sea cliff soaring.

We made some new friends too. 
 

 

 

Trust the cat to get the warmest place.

[GrumpyGnome]

No doubt it was initially occupied by the dog.....

[Erfolg]

It is Friday night dinner, the better half has returned from Bowls, having won, receiving a £4 price. You are now a professional I quip. The reply is the green was reasonable not that heavy. Then, I see the weather forecast for tomorrow is light wind (8 mph), 0% rain. You should fly at your club field. I have now developed a standard flustered reply of, Oh, the track will be muddy and the field a marsh.

 

Saturday morning arrives, i load the car with three models. I have been thinking about this moment for a little while. Although I now have a number of new models that need test flying, prudence indicates that the way to go is with  models that I trust as dependable and predictable. That is now in the car, all the batteries were charged about a week ago.

 

The drive to the field had little of note, other than the old roundabout, which had temporary traffic lights for about a fortnight, is now reopened. All that has changed, there is now a footpath around it, never seen a single pedestrian, out in the Lancashire wilds. The gate to the field is unlocked, I can see the guy in the light blue jacket in the long distance. The track itself is now completely dry. I turn into the field, wondering how many more of us will be here? Once again not a vehicle is to be seen, this gate is also locked. My spirts plummet, then rebound, there is no one to heckle. 

 

Hmm, which model to fly first, or at least try and fly. Not having flown since November, I am not confident,. I decide on my Canard, imaginatively named Ente. The hand launch goes without a hitch. I had decided that I would only fly circuits. I was a little surprised that I noted that the model was continuously flying with a wing wobble, very similar to my tailless models as they near the stall. Much of the circuit flying was concentrated on positioning the model for a landing, as the slight cross wind, hedge requires a bit of planning. Just as the 7 minute timer alarms, I am aware that I have very little power. I almost panic, deciding it matters little as there is just me here. The model landed, pretty much where I intended.

 

Model Number 2 is now readied. The field having been mowed, the grass clipping are every where like Sea Weed on the beach. I am a little doubtful that this 40 year old model will cope with the drag from the grass. Full power is given, the full 500w pulled, the model lurches forward and tips on its nose, all three wheels festooned with grass. A second attempt is made, a little up to ease the nose and wheel up, the model accelerated away, I feed more and more up in, almost running out of space, with full up, the model staggers into the air. I have now learnt (the hard way) that That full up must be released, almost down instated, until the model is actually flying, rather than being semi-stalled. The rest of the flight is without hitch, other than the circuits are again about positioning for the landing. 

 

The third model selected was my 2m Sagitta (now electrified), again some 40 years old. It is last, as I have undertaken a modification to the all flying tailplane. Have I made a hash of it, or is the result adequate. The answer is at least adequate. The first time for many years it is much easier to control. I stayed quite low for some time, finding not one bit of lift, apparently in continuous sink. With time I gravitated to much higher altitude, and started to believe I was finding some Ok air. The higher altitude allowed me to look around for Gulls or perhaps a Buzzard. Yep, the Gulls were about, thermalling, upwind, so high no way would I be able to power up to them, or even be within 1000 feet of them. Then I started eking out some good air over the field, then a boomer, the model started climbing like a home bound angel. I was starting to worry, this could easily tun into panic, particularly when I could hear a light aircraft, somewhere near, I could not find it immediately. A decision was made I was coming down, I moved away from the thermal, expecting the model to start descending in sink. I had moved a good 1/4 of a mile away, it was not descending. These old model were not allowed airbrakes, just rudder elevator. There was nothing for it, put the nose down, descend in a highish speed dive. By now I had located the light aircraft, it was behind me at probably +600 feet. Non the less I continued the descent to landing. Picking the model up I found that the very old plastic clevis had sheared across itself, due to the forced landing (which in the day was standard practice, to avoid the wind tipping the model over etc). My timer indicated just over 30 minutes, in itself no great triumph with an electric motor. Yet for the first time out, was a feeling of, yes, there is life in the old dog yet.

 

The clevis was a SLEC item, I have also just repaired (replaced) some Kavan plate hinges, which also had sheared. I think the issue is that these old plastic have finite life.

 

The journey home was without incident.

 

 

 

 

 

[Chris Freeman 3]

Some video of the float fly. The S6 has a laser 300 that is still new so we elected not to fly with the cowl on as it is only the 3rd flight of the S6. The Stick is all built up and light for its size and has a Magnum 80 FS, lots of fun. We have built 4 sizes of this sick and all fly well.   //youtu.be/1GmJnUW4pE4?si=b1leLoBc0hhYces6

[J D 8]

23 hours ago, Nick Cripps said:

Full-size flying boats never seem to scale well to model size, they always appear to have handling problems in the water unless a non-scale step position is used. I don't know why this is, someone with better hydrodynamics knowledge than me could probably tell you!

The S6 looks great, would love to see some video of that.

 Many flying boats had issues with handling on the water, after all what you have is a boat with a horizontal sail on top which wind can effect. Multi engine types had an advantage of being able to vairy throttle settings to go where they wanted. 

It was often the case with full size prototypes that despite the designer's best efforts testing would show the need to change the position/shape of the step.

  Another issue for models is that water molecules [ and air] are still full size.

[Chris Freeman 3]

 

[aidan mcatamney]

Beautiful.   I love float flying.  Its by far my favourite.   Give me a good lake anyday as opposed to a green grassy field.  To watch that plane skimming across the water upon landing is poetry in motion.  

[Philip Lewis 3]

First UK F3A competition of the season last Sunday at Hurley in Warwickshire, a great day's flying had by all, mostly in sunshine although not very warm.

 

[Adrian Smith 1]

A lovely selection of of my favourite planes, Philip. Looks great!😀

Edited April 23 by Adrian Smith 1

[Nick Cripps]

15 hours ago, Chris Freeman 3 said:

Some video of the float fly. The S6 has a laser 300 that is still new so we elected not to fly with the cowl on as it is only the 3rd flight of the S6.

 

Excellent. Thank you for sharing that.

[Chris Freeman 3]

Part 2 video showing the Catalina. The aircraft is quite large around 106 inch wingspan. I never actually measured it as I made new wings to suit an old fiberglass fuselage. The original airframe had 2 ST 90's but never flew and we elected to start again and build new wings and tail surfaces. Tip floats have electric retract units but the weight of the floats does cause some issues but their position has no effect on the trims. Motors are e-flight 46's with Master airscrew 12 x 6 props, 1 is a pusher and we think this is what causes all the prop noise. No idea what it weighs but it is not light. It has all the rivet and rib stitching  detail on it. Flight performance is good, water handling a challenge as it is impossible to do a nice landing with it, it seems to flop into the water.    

 

[leccyflyer]

A beautifully sunny day here in the middle of Scotland, blue skies, fluffy clouds, light winds and even a bit of warmth in that sun. Got a few hours in at the local field, where it had dried up enough to give the field the first cut of the season.

 

 

I hadn't expected the field to be cut, so had picked my models accordingly, so that was a bonus being able to take off with my wee Parkzone P-47D. I'd also taken my venerable and rarely flown Modelshack Cricket and had a very enjoyable first flight of the year with that, but broke the u/c mounting nylon bolts on landing a bit quickly. Still had other models with me to fly, so not a problem. All in all a good morning - just nice to sit in the sun and have a chat and the field is looking great.

 

[kevin b]

Finally managed to get out late this afternoon.

The strip has now dried out enough to fly from, but the grass needs cutting !!!

Still got a few flights in though.  ☺️

[GrumpyGnome]

Getting the runways mown has been a nightmare..... 

[Cliff Bastow]

Spring is here, you could have fooled me!

[GrumpyGnome]

I know. I took the dogs out this morning, to be battered by hailstones ... 😞

[Erfolg]

It is Wednesday, the other half has gone to play Golf, nine holes mind you, does not feel up to 18. In my case, I cannot decide, is the weather good enough, I remain concern with how rusty I feel, I note that the garden is pretty dry, the wind is light, so it seems, the weather forecast said it would be 8 mph again, as on Saturday.

 

Once again I motor to our field, turn onto our track, suddenly I become aware of a large semi-detached house to my left. I glance across, a tractor, pulling a plough, with what appears to be a grain silo, is racing along by my side. OMG isn't farm equipment gargantuan today? Any way it further reinforces my conviction that the ground is drying out rapidly, on this clay soiled hill side. It is sand by the coast.

 

Turning into our field, there are two vehicles there, a 4*4 and a small car. I have obviously upset some one, as the 4*4 leaves. Is it BO (remember the advert), do I use the wrong tooth paste, Have I said something, is it because I now self identify as a Giraffe, and rightly expect all address me with the wright pronoun, or is it adjective.

 

I now watch a model in flight, that seems to be tossed about, the wind feels a lot higher than 8 mph. My wind gauge (anemometer, for the technical) tells me that it is peeking at 20 mph (being old, and not metricated), with a lower of about 12 mph. My colleague confirmed that it is bumpy. Another modeller arrives, we all agree it is very cold.

 

I have come all this way, and I make the big decision I will fly, well, the once. The field is pretty firm now, although the cutting that were left on the field are enough to decide that it will not be a wheeled model, I am not convinced that it is glider weather, particularly with a northerly wind, which is 90 degrees to our runway, landing without going behind the flight line will be a problem. Which means it is my faithful Canard. Launching into wind, the model seems quite well behaved, turning cross wind, it is a different story, the model, rocks, then rolls, pitching up, followed by a down. Slowly I come to terms with what is happening, I need to apply much more power, I also note that down wind turns take a very large radius, plus a lot of pitch down. Into wind is very different, tight and pitch up. By the end of the 8 minutes, I have come close to mastering the vagaries of the truculent weather. Just a cross wind landing to make, I piled on the speed, ploughed through the wind shear, turbulence from adjacent trees, and make a forced like landing, much to my relief.

 

The new arrival, now takes to the sky, with his gyro equipped model. The gyro seems to have some issues, the model less than steady. After an eternity the model lands. the modeller saying immediately, that was most unpleasant. My fingers have turned white and painful from the cold wind. I am going home.

Yes, yes, this is the excuse that I was looking for, us Giraffes do not like the cold. It is time to go home, as Andy Pandy would say.