First taste of the sky

[toto]

Had the album ..... fantastic " soft metal " type group. and whilst we are on the subject ....... mega respect to Steve Wright. A real DJ.

 

In the shed at the moment on Real flight and whilst dodging about on it generally ..... stumbled across the ability to do a roll. very impressed. maybe I will just percievere with this after all. 😄

 

Not that I am meant to be playing with that type of manouvre at this stage. I need basic circuits and take off's and landings. ( take off's mastered, maybe try adding a bit wind to make more of a challenge ). 

 

cheers for now

 

toto   

[Christopher Wolfe]

I actually taught some of my early pupils (my children) to fly around with basic manouevers and then land before before I talked them through how to take off because I thought at the time (quite a few years ago);- What's the point of teaching them to take off if they cannot land the model?

 

Being aged 9 - 13 it actually took them about three weeks to fly solo and I was quite proud when my 9 year old daughter gave a 13 year old lad a lesson in how to fly a model - Next flight he did not crash and break the model due to pride (or loss of it) because all his mates were watching 🙃

 

Model was a pretty tame vintage model (like what D.D. is setting up for his friend) so when things got a bit awkward I just told the students to reduce throttle to 50% and let go of the sticks.

 

Lots of mistakes high of course.

 

* Chris *

[toto]

Pretty impressive ..... 3 weeks ..... then again, kids can pick things up lightning quick. A good point about the landing and take off wisdom. From memory it was March last year when I started and I'm still not that much closer to solo. .....  ..... I hang my head in shame.

 

If my luck is better at the start of this year weather wise, I will be solo before the summer gods are shinning on us. 

 

Which brings me to my point ..... this weekend ....... looks like a washout ...... typical really but on we march.

 

Cheers

 

Toto

[GrumpyGnome]

Don't get disheartened toto - three weeks may be 21 days flying, 6 sessions a day! Probably more than you've been granted.

 

It takes as long as it takes - don't put any pressure on yourself......

[toto]

Latest text update ....... Saturday looks ....... " reasonable " for flying. ...... so will be checking in with my mentor over the space of tomorrow to see if the latest prediction holds. 

 

Batteries could be on charge tomorrow night. 

 

Toto

[Peter Jenkins]

Toto

 

You are finding that the weather forecast is far from being something on which you can rely for more than one day ahead and, in some cases, only on the day!  This is not to do the weather forecasters down but merely a reflection of the highly complex nature of our weather which continues to defy the best efforts of man to forecast it accurately.

[aidan mcatamney]

26 minutes ago, toto said:

Latest text update ....... Saturday looks ....... " reasonable " for flying. ...... so will be checking in with my mentor over the space of tomorrow to see if the latest prediction holds. 

 

Batteries could be on charge tomorrow night. 

 

Toto

Good stuff Toto.  Hope you get a few flights under your belt come Saturday.     Tomorrow afternoon I am having the maiden flight of the Avistar and have arranged with my good friend also called Aidan to come and video it.  

Edited February 15 by aidan mcatamney

[toto]

Hi Peter,

 

I agree .... it can instill so much confidence and hope ....... then pull the rug from under you all in seconds.  ... you need to have hope regardless.

 

Aidan, I hope you have a great maiden ... fingers crossed your namesake manages to attend too. I will look forward to seeing the video... all going well.

 

Cheers buddy

 

Toto

[aidan mcatamney]

7 minutes ago, toto said:

Hi Peter,

 

I agree .... it can instill so much confidence and hope ....... then pull the rug from under you all in seconds.  ... you need to have hope regardless.

 

Aidan, I hope you have a great maiden ... fingers crossed your namesake manages to attend too. I will look forward to seeing the video... all going well.

 

Cheers buddy

 

Toto

Thanks Toto 

[aidan mcatamney]

18 hours ago, toto said:

Hi Peter,

 

I agree .... it can instill so much confidence and hope ....... then pull the rug from under you all in seconds.  ... you need to have hope regardless.

 

Aidan, I hope you have a great maiden ... fingers crossed your namesake manages to attend too. I will look forward to seeing the video... all going well.

 

Cheers buddy

 

Toto

Toto, flight report as promised .  I'm happy to report that the maiden flight today of the Avistar went swimmingly well and the plane arrived home again in one piece.  Its a really nice flying machine and the flaps really  do help slow it down on landing.   The Saito 72 is the perfect match for it.  Aidan the cameraman took a short video of each one of the three flights and when I get it sorted out tomorrow I will send you the footage.   Cheers and happy landings.   

[toto]

Hi Aidan,

 

Glad to hear all went well. The model looks very crisp with nice clean lines. What is the wingspan on this ? I'm guessing about 1.5 to 1.6m. The colour scheme is very rich and attractive and also very unfussy which is good.

 

A outlet of my unmaidened models have flaps so it will be good to get an opportunity to experiment with that which might not be too far away.

 

Looking forward to the video's ...... popcorn and beer at the ready.

 

Cheers

 

Toto

 

 

[Don Fry]

On 15/02/2024 at 07:42, Christopher Wolfe said:

Being aged 9 - 13 it actually took them about three weeks to fly solo and I was quite proud when my 9 year old daughter gave a 13 year old lad a lesson in how to fly a model - Next flight he did not crash and break the model due to pride (or loss of it) because all his mates were watching 🙃

I used to coach kids at target shooting, Duke of Edinburgh medals, et al. Standard opperating proceedure for all non strength based skill sport. 
Tell then how to do it. The girls listen. The boys are off with the fairies. 
Girls start to win. Patience, no shouting. Girls listen, boys think this is too difficult.

Pep talk. Language moderated.
To the boys, Are you going to let those young ladies trample all over you gentlemen?

To the ladies. You are ahead ladies, mind you stay there.

Then they all get learning. 
Some friends spent a holiday with us in France some years ago. They had 2 kids, 8 and 10 years old, girl and boy respectively. As I had two prisoners  for two weeks, I taught them to fly on a HK Tundra. 
Prize, land my Flair Fokker DVII. They were fascinated by it.
The young lady, bit of a natural mind, took eleven days.

                                     

[Peter Jenkins]

Continuity is the best way of learning anything.

[Don Fry]

No, it’s concentrating on the next you do.

[toto]

And after a couple of weeks inactivity ...... its coming back ...... flying tomorrow ...... covered all the bases ....... Domino plus one. .....adrenaline pumping ....... what could possibly go wrong. .

 

4 battery packs primed and ready plus the same for the Super Cub .... but in all reality it might get one maiden flight ..... however .... if the Domino pegs out for any reason ..... the Super Cub stands ready to fill its place.

 

All the bases covered.

 

Toto 

[aidan mcatamney]

3 hours ago, toto said:

Hi Aidan,

 

Glad to hear all went well. The model looks very crisp with nice clean lines. What is the wingspan on this ? I'm guessing about 1.5 to 1.6m. The colour scheme is very rich and attractive and also very unfussy which is good.

 

A outlet of my unmaidened models have flaps so it will be good to get an opportunity to experiment with that which might not be too far away.

 

Looking forward to the video's ...... popcorn and beer at the ready.

 

Cheers

 

Toto

 

 

You will love flying with flaps Toto.  The Avistar Elite is a heavy plane but with flaps deployed when landing it really does help slow it down .  The wingspan on this plane is 62.5 inches.  

[aidan mcatamney]

Good luck tomorrow Toto and have an enjoyable day.   

[toto]

I sure will,

 

I'm looking out of the window as I type and things are dry and calm. I'll need to head out to the shed shortly to bring in my transmitters as they will need a short charge just to get them to a fully charged state. It won't take much but I would rather have them on a full charge.

 

So an early start, pack the car, pick up some scrumptious goodies for munching down at the field, flask of coffee ..... sorted.

 

Back in the air.

 

Toto

[Zflyer]

Hope the weather is kind. I havent flown since last year, hopefully a day this week or it will another fortnight. E.njoy your day happy landings

[toto]

Thanks Zflyer.

 

I hope you manage a flight or two yourself. Surely we will be seeing more updates on folks coming out of winter hibernation to some decent weather and getting some aeronautical miles under their flying jackets. 

 

Toto

[GrumpyGnome]

Promising morning here on NE coast ..... gentle bteeze, relatively mild, mist clearing. Hopefully the field will see some activity.

 

I have to wait in but hope to be able to pop out at some time.

 

Happy flying everyone - especially you toto. You are due some better fortune.

[toto]

Thank you good Sir ..... hopefully .... we're on the up ( excuse the pun ).

 

Have a great day.

 

Toto

[toto]

Well ...... flying was achieved today ..... albeit a bit of a  ixed bag of experiences.

 

First up .... The Domino ..... up she went ... reasonable flight and down she came ..... about 7 / 8  minutes. Had a coffee break had a chat with another prospective new member who showed up as planned. 

 

Time to put another battery in the Domino ..... dead as a dodo. Tried another battery .....exact same. Unplugged the battery and plugged a NICD battery into the receiver ....... everything works 

 

Looks like yet enother duff Overlander ESC. That will be Number 4 .... or is it 5. Can't remember. 

 

So ... I will do a bit more experimenting later on just to confirm what I think.

 

Anyway....... all was not lost as I had the FMS Super Cub with me and it was gagging to have its maiden. Spent some time checking all the settings that had been done by myself in the two transmitters ( buddy system) all is well.

 

I let my mentor take off and check the trims .... then I get on the sticks myself. What a great flying  odel considering we had 10mph crosswinds. I felt it was much easier to fly than the Domino although it maybe better until I get another couple of flights under my belt before confirming that.

 

The newbie prospective member was all at short notice so there was not anything ready to give him a first flight experience so the Cub stepped in and he left pleased as punch having had a little taster of what may come should he decide to commit. ..... I get the impression that he will.

 

So .... I maybe in the shed tonight changing out yet another crappy  Overlander ESC or possibly assembling my Xfly Twin Otter. We'll see.

 

 More later.

 

Toto

[leccyflyer]

Bit of a curate's egg of a day, but the most important thing is that you got some flying in - very much against the odds as it's been raining steadily here pretty much all day. So that was good -as was a successful maiden of another model.

 

If I were you Toto I'd definitely swap ESC brands in the future  - 4 failures out of your first half a dozen ESCs is simply not acceptable - think I'd also send the errant unit back to the retailer for investigation.

[GrumpyGnome]

27 minutes ago, toto said:

 

 

Good news you got some flying in. And good news re the SuperCub.

 

It's really odd that you have so many escs go bad - especially in the way they seem to, I.e. just stopping working when not actually in use. I'm assuming they've not all failed with a single receiver? Just check the esc connectors first, and post some more pics of your current set up before you change anything...

 

Hopefully your luck will change soon - it is certainly due to!