Tom Foreman Posted September 14, 2009 Share Posted September 14, 2009 Offered £150 for a Vega on Ebay on a whim as it was local (ish - Keithley) and surprised the girlfriend with one of these! Needs a few jobs to get it flying again, the guy I bought it off bought it from a shop but never flew it and didn't have much history with it, but it looks OK to me. Needs the following jobs to get it ship shape 1. Ailerons re-hinging.2. Airbrake connector fixing.3. Rudder sorting.4. Sloppy airbrake servo replacing.5. Incidence pin cutting to length.6. Small ammount of cosmetic damage. The plan is to sort out the main problems and get it to fly, then if it survives my landings (pranged the Wasabi and the Sniper this weekend ) then I'll filler in the chips and knicks here and there and give it a re-spray and generaly tart her up. Got as far as the left aileron re-hinging and airbrake connector tonight. Might get some more done tomorrow or might be fixing my other broken planes :/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Ashby - Moderator Posted September 15, 2009 Share Posted September 15, 2009 "Offered £150 for a Vega on Ebay on a whim as it was local (ish - Keithley) and surprised the girlfriend with one of these!" Was it a present for her then Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Foreman Posted September 15, 2009 Author Share Posted September 15, 2009 Well the unspoken rule is that as long as it fits in my model room I'm good to go Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Former Member Posted September 15, 2009 Share Posted September 15, 2009 [This posting has been removed] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Foreman Posted September 15, 2009 Author Share Posted September 15, 2009 I'm planning on using the top of Parlick, or if the lift is good will just fly it down the hill and land in the field next to the road where the car is parked Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Foreman Posted September 16, 2009 Author Share Posted September 16, 2009 Well its pretty much ready to fly now, although I have a spare servo to go in it, it doesn't really need it, just extra peace of mind that nothing un expected happens when it flies, just need some good weather now and a strong armed helper (Paul) Its big... Very big... Did I mention how big it is Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbasP Posted September 16, 2009 Share Posted September 16, 2009 That is BIG, the tail didn't fit in any shot! what about some photo's on the grass before the first flight? dbasP Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Skilbeck Posted September 18, 2009 Share Posted September 18, 2009 If it flies as well as my Pat Teakle HP18 you will enjoy it. Make sure the brakes are working as you will need then to bring it down, these big glass gliders just seem to retain so much energy. Is that Parlick Hill near Chipping, Lancs? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Foreman Posted September 18, 2009 Author Share Posted September 18, 2009 It sure is Frank, well the wind seems to be picking up so wish me luck for Sunday, will have to fly it off the top as its nice and flat apart from the model tractor beam fence that divides it in 2 The airbrakes work and are on the throttle stick, replaced the antiquated airbrake servo with the existing elevator servo and put a brand new servo in for the elevator as it had centre-ing issues, last night. While I was putting in some velcro for the radio pack the lump of lead at the front broke away in my hands, looks like the epoxy had come into contact with mush of the nose, so stuck it back in with polyurethane glue and held it in with a clamp. It won't be coming out again. Will do another final assembly in the garden tomorrow morning to do another final check on all the controls, throws and C of G in case I have disturbed anything. Want to try and weigh it as well, but I am guessing 11 - 12 lbs. Have got flaperons and spoliers mixed onto the ailerons as well (no flaps on this model) so will give me more things to fiddle with, will be my first time with airbrakes so looking forward to trying them out. Cheers, Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Former Member Posted September 18, 2009 Share Posted September 18, 2009 [This posting has been removed] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Foreman Posted September 18, 2009 Author Share Posted September 18, 2009 Well the current joke at work is the fact it won't fit on my bike trailer and that this model is going to cost a small fortune to run as I need to buy a car now , fortunately my mate Paul has come to the rescue and will give me a lift. Still I keep looking at cars and assess what models might fit in them, this one just fits in an Astra hatch back, but might be a squeeze in anything smaller! Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Foreman Posted September 27, 2009 Author Share Posted September 27, 2009 Well finally took it up to Parlick today, lift was very strong at the very top, but also plenty of space to land with few obstacles. Flew the M60 and Blizzard first to warm up the thumbs, then it was time for the Vega, no more putting it off . Paul and his brother Neil were there to help launch, Paul grabbed it around the wings and fuse at the centre while Neil helped steady it in the strong wind. A few last waggles on the sticks and I called launch, Paul and Neil seemed to walk very sedately forward, and I had visions of a dropped wing, but as they released she rose skyward rapidly to about 100 ft above our heads in about 10 secs, she needed a ton of down trim and a good fist of right aileron trim. Although its very big it got small very quickly as it climbed and climbed, I ended up dialing in half of my available reflex on the ailerons and this seemed to kill the lift a bit, but she was now clipping a long at a fair rate of knotts. I now was getting quite worried at the altitude she was flying at as we were above one of the full size gliders which was flying about, I was amazed at how scale it looks and you would be hard put to distinguish it from one of the full size counterparts it was flying with. Because of the huge size, it doesn't appear to be flying that fast, but Paul informed me that it was hard to keep up with the camera. I sat down as I calmed down and my hands stopped shaking and I started to enjoy the flying. The controls were quite responsive, and she would bank around quite sharpish on ailerons, I found that the turns benefitted with rudder, and made a mental note to mix the rudder with the alierons on the radio next time. I was holding a touch of down elevator to keep her lower and the speed kept building, but it was fun. I tried the stall and she dropped the right wing and lost about 20 ft of altitude, nothing too alarming. Basically she is like a giant trainer cont... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Foreman Posted September 27, 2009 Author Share Posted September 27, 2009 I then started playing with the airbrakes, half airbrake slowed her down to a more acceptable rate of knots. Full airbrake slowed her down even more, then, Houston we have a problem! After deploying full airbrakes the right airbrake got stuck and I was now having to correct with ailerons and she wasn't flying as well, I tried cycling the airbrakes a few times but it wouldn't drop down. Paul suggested trying with the model flying down wind, but this still didn't work. I then made the decision it was time to land. Paul guided me up the slope a little way so we had a full football pitch of room to land her in. I tried to gain some altitude before I made my downwind turn, and managed to coax her up a little more. She then turned downwind and entered the landing circuit at break neck speed, I made the final turn for landing into wind at the very top of the hill and then deployed the other working airbrake, she slowed down beautiful and started to descend at the perfect angle to make a soft landing some distance in front of us, we were surprised as we hadn't realised how slow she was flying. I think if the airbrakes had been working properly, half would have worked better, but I was happy it was down in one piece without a scratch Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garry Pollard Posted September 27, 2009 Share Posted September 27, 2009 Some flight that was Tom think I will have to put up a green smilie What went wrong with the airbrakes Garry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Mackey Posted September 27, 2009 Share Posted September 27, 2009 Very well done Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff N Posted September 27, 2009 Share Posted September 27, 2009 The bigger they are the better they seem to fly. The longer the wings the more efficient they are. My 4m ASW17 flies very like your model ,climbs like an angle is very fast and the air brakes occasionally stick . I have managed to unstick them once by climbing to a stall and they unstuck just before the stall . I think it was because there was virtualy no wind pressure on the vanes.It certainly does not seem a good ides to open them at speed.Geoff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Skilbeck Posted September 27, 2009 Share Posted September 27, 2009 Top notch Edited By Frank Skilbeck on 27/09/2009 22:36:48 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Foreman Posted September 28, 2009 Author Share Posted September 28, 2009 Thanks for all the comments guys Had a fiddle with the airbrakes last night and discovered that there is a small plastic moulding on one of the arms that is very close to the slider operating mechansim. On the right airbrake there is some wear in the slider and under load the slider could move to a position that interfered with the plastic moulding and in effect lock the airbrake in the up position. A little surgery with a scalpel soon cured that problem I forgot to add, shortly after the launch I heard a lound bang and a shout for help, but obviously couldn't take my eyes off the vega. My friends informed me that a guy who had been setting up a hang glider below us had been unlucky that the wind had grabbed it and flicked upside down on top of his little girl, trapping her underneath. Fortunately she wasn't badly hurt, but shortly after the Vega landed the air ambulance turned up and landed on the top of the hill to rescue her. They then decided that they didn't have the right equipment to get her off the side of the hill so a Sea King then turned up and winched her off the side of the hill. Never a dull moment up Parlick, its a busy place Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Foreman Posted September 28, 2009 Author Share Posted September 28, 2009 Video here I have to apologise for the quality but I was flying it a bit too far away, i.e. too high! We missed the landing as well, but video was the last thing on our minds Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Former Member Posted October 4, 2009 Share Posted October 4, 2009 [This posting has been removed] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Foreman Posted October 21, 2009 Author Share Posted October 21, 2009 Got some better video a couple of weeks ago at a new slope at Barbondale, still struggling with the airbrakes though, looks like I accidentally removed the lock down pins doh!!! http://www.vimeo.com/7173937 Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BB Posted October 21, 2009 Share Posted October 21, 2009 Nice video on Vimeo Tom. It proper floats don't she, has real presence in the sky. Any damage after that landing ? BB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Foreman Posted October 21, 2009 Author Share Posted October 21, 2009 Hi BB, no the landing was fine, I still havn't got used to how fast she slows down on landings with full airbrakes so she landed sooner than expected. She had another successful flight afterwards. Have now mixed in rudder with the ailerons and she is a lot easier to fly, it is just like a giant trainer really, just getting used to how much room she needs to complete a turn, sort the airbrakes (again) and then we can start testing the strength of the wings with some gentle aerobatics. Also want to try her in light lift to see how she copes. Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alan magraw Posted December 29, 2010 Share Posted December 29, 2010 hi guys just wondering if ther is anybody out there selling pat teakle (all types) please let me no guys... thanks alan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Former Member Posted December 30, 2010 Share Posted December 30, 2010 [This posting has been removed] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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