Did you Fly today?

[akent]

19k is absolutely right.
From September through May it is awesome here.

The average temps in January are in the 60's. It might get to freezing at night a couple of times during the winter. Freezing during the day is a freak thing, but it can happen.

Unless you can handle 100 degrees, you really don't want to be here during the summer from June through August.
It has been near 100 every day for the last week already. And it's not even the hottest month...

There is almost always a breeze though. Just bring a gallon minimum of drinking water when you fly and you'll be OK! What you have to worry about is burning up electrical systems in your planes, if you fly with a lot of power... I burned up an ICE 100 weekend before last in my Funjet. But I am pushing that thing!
Kent

[Doozer]

it's starting to get hot here too. For the first week in June it was fairly mild, but it ramped up a bit today. My back porch thermometer read 105 and it never sees the sun. Our weather is a lot like what kent said, only usually October through April.

This year our first 100 degree day was on Apr 1st. Then it mellowed out a bit until yesterday. I'll have to start flying early morning or early evening now. Come July I'll have to quit altogether most likely. It's a shame to because I just found a cool place to fly about five minutes from my house (drive time).

I went to the new Field tonight and flew four tanks through with the new Coleman Camping fuel before it got dark. My flight times have dropped some as I've worked into my throttle curves. I'm getting a little more than 1 min 15 sec. per oz now (14 minutes on 11 oz.). If I had the 20t pinion, I think I could fly longer (lower RPMs but a higher head speed). A 20t would put me dead center between max power and max torque and I'd conserve a little fuel as well. However, I wouldn't have the punch. I'm hovering @ 1850 in normal mode. At 1950 it starts to guzzle the gas. The engine temps were between 225 and 250 (perfect). So the Coleman fuel with the Royal Purple Synthetic is working out nicely.

I worked on my idle up curves some tonight, but not much. This field is a lot bigger and the power lines that run by my house, and the old dirt field I used to fly at, are well off in the distance. I really let it out tonight, and that thing is fast. It was a bit breezy and I had the gain on the gyro turned up so I got some wag. Once I turned it down, it was solid.

I put it into some steep power banks that were getting close to knife edge and it held all the way through. I also did some pirouetting stall turns. Because I could take it out further in front of me, I was able to fly higher than I normally do at the other field. It really felt good. I didn't want to bang on it too hard because the engine still not broken all the way in. I've changed oils three times now and the type of fuel once. I probably have another gallon to go.

It was a great evening of flying and I had a lot of fun. Another gasser might be down the road. Look for an Electric and Nitro fire sale soon.

[Doozer]

Ran it @ 1950 tonight (13,182 rpms). 2K unloaded on the ground before hover.

Needles: H - 1 3/8 L - 1 1/4

Pitch Curve: Norm: -3 to +11
Throttle Curve: Norm - 0, 10, 15, 17.5, 20, 22.5, 100

Fuel: Coleman
Oil: Royal Purple 25:1 ratio

Ambient temp - 103 degrees @ 4% humidity. It cooled off to 95 as the sun started to set.
Wind speed: 10 mph

Engine Temps: Because I was pushing 13K rpms, I took temps after each tank. They were 251, 250, 242, 250 (all degrees Fahrenheit).

Flight time avg: 16 min. 30 seconds on Oz (12 oz tank). About 1 Min 40 seconds per ounce. I leaned it out some more from last night. I got more power out of less fuel. It shows in the new throttle curves.

Flight style: Sport. Tonight I practiced stall turns, circuits, Fig 8's, and funnels. I've got about another half a gallon to break in the engine.

I think I'm really close now. I don't hear it missing at all, and the tune is good... but not perfect. I think I can eek out a little more power before it goes lean. The engine is running "happy," and so far has not bogged or sagged. I've had the blades popping a few times and its right back on the power right away. Though the climb outs aren't as crisp as I would like.

It did over speed a little coming out of hard banks or coming out of FFF to a hover, but I got it under control with the collective. After a while the collective management became second nature. I'm glad I decided to wait on a gov because I've really learned a lot without one. I'm not sure I'd have as much fun if I had one. Kind of like winning by cheating. Though, I guess you could say the same for gyros or FBL systems, and they're pretty fun/handy to have. I really just worry about a gov being one more thing that can go wrong, and I only sport fly.

It's getting pretty hot here, and the rule is, as the temp goes up you want to lean it up. I could see the high needle @ 1 1/4 turns. It's almost there anyway. I think one more little tweak on the needles and I'll be golden.

I'm enjoying using the Coleman fuel and I see no difference in power or how it idles. Great stuff. Now I'm thinking 800 in the future, but I don't have a 700 frame to stretch. I'm keeping an eye on the FS forums, but its not something I want to do right away unless I see a huge deal on a frame. I'm having a lot of fun with this 600, so I can wait it out.

[Doozer]

well yesterday, I flew. It's still early today, but I have to work. It didn't drop below 80 all night so were in for a doozy (lol) today. I don't think I'll be flying in 114 degree heat. I'll check the temp @ 7P.

I flew my Hirobo and my Helibug yesterday. I'm still tweaking the bug after the crash. Tracking was off which probably means the other grip has a bend in it. I've also got a it running pretty rich through the mid and high end. You can see the tail kicking. So I'm going to turn out the low needle and turn in the high about the same amount. Well see where that gets me. If the mid stays rich, I'll lean up the low end again.

I've been flying the bug exclusively lately, but I still had some of that $35 a gallon nitro fuel left. So I took my Hirobo. I love the simplicity of my gasser. Even fueling is a little more unfriendly with nitro. The pressure nipple on my MP5 pipe on my Hirobo is in a bad place. I put 14 oz. in and flew for about 7 minutes. I flew a couple of circuits then started doing some flips, then loops, then loops with rolls. I brought it down pulled off the canopy to shut it down, and there was the glow ignitor still connected to the plug.

I couldn't believe it hung on through all that. I can say that the nitro is FAAAARRRRR more quiet than the gasser. I questioned whether the engine was running several times. I have some video of the new field that I'm going to post as soon as I get home tonight. I had one son using tachometer and shouting head speeds at me, and the other recording. He's never recorded a flight before and it's obvious... not many wide angle shots, and shaky as hell. So I'll put a little of it up just so you guys can see the new diggs.

[19000rpm]

This being a holiday weekend with all of the relatives off doing whatever, wherever, for a change, thank you all, and the weather in full cooperation, we've been tearing it up out at the school parking lot the last few days at least twice a day. Did I mention that the school parking lot was completly empty? Didn't have a soul except us out there? Nirvana!

I put my heli pilot hat on first, in each session, and broke out the DDVP SR for some sport flying. This heli is so much fun with the tail mod.

The wife is out there doing some amazing stuff with her Stampede MONSTER truck. Flips, rollovers, curb hopping, tail sliding mayhem, etc. She is as hard on that thing as an ADD 8 year old, but hasn't busted anything yet. These trucks are a lot tougher than I thought. If she's a REALLY good girl she's getting a 2.4 4wd for christmas.

I flew the, old standby, F-22 pusher a lot. This plane never get's boring. I'm finally going to add ailerons to it: just for kicks.

The P-51 with Power 10 motor, flaps and retracts continues to amaze me with it's overall performance and completely perdictable behavior. I've never had a plane, with the exception, possibly, of the HLI TV F-16 that demands so little of the pilot to produce spectacular flights.

The HLI F-86 is another regular in the rotation because it is so easy to fly and nothing, IMO, represents the era better. It does great non rudder aerobatics and flies inverted better than I would have ever thought it would.

Still kicking the ArtTech Mig 15 around. With the right battery in it it has some good moves.

The modified P-47D got knocked out of the air by an eagle. No shite, it came out of nowhere. Turkey Buzzards had been circling, they're no threat, and out of the corner of my eye that's what I thought was was lurking around the Jug. This was my third eagle attack in 3 yrs. My Spitfire, which I crashed into a soccer goal trying to avoid the thing, a near miss with the Corsair and then the Jug. The Jug ended badly. So far: Eagles 2, me 1.

I had a couple of disappointments: The Wings Makers X-35 just isn't going to make the cut. It flies like poo-poo. I'm stripping it for parts. R.I.P. I did my best. The second disappointment is the BH SU-34. It continues to be a dog in the air. I've taken it under advisement. I haven't written it off yet.

Anyhow, I hope you all got to fly a bit this holiday, had a brew or two and grilled something tasty with friends and family.

[Gabe]

Well guys, I'm all unpacked and got a nice workbench set up in the garage. Lots of space to play. Had a mishap on my Bungie launch the other day. I was in taller grass and the cord rebounded and caught in the prop. The nylon string severed, not the Bungie, so that's good. No damage to my darksider.

Wrecked the mini AMX on takeoff. I thought I could work through the warped foam from UPS' packing fiasco, but I was wrong. Avoided a tree and took a header into the curb.

Other than that, I have a stock Stryker that I tossed in my street. Got the neighbors' attention real quick! The lady next door was laughing like a kid.

Good to be flying again, even if there are some mishaps here and there.

[19000rpm]

Good going Gabe Getting some flying in after the big move has to be a welcome relief.

Warped wings don't ever work out well. Try some low heat from a hair dryer and some twisting to get it back like it should be.

Are you flying the AMX with a gear on it?

The temps and humidity here have been brutal, some violent storms in between, but I've been out at least once a day.

The first thing I flew today was the Su 34. I'd cut some additional "cheater" holes in the intakes and that made a nice bump in performance.

Second up was the trusty old Arttech mig 15. By then the wind had come up and in a crosswind situation via the operations area. It weather vanes pretty badly so I had a shorter takeoff and landing area than usual. She put in a good flight and a decent landing. It always comes in too hot no matter which way the wind is blowing. If I try to float her in I use too much approach and landing distance. I'd use flapperons, except with no rudder, I would have no directional control in the last seconds of landings.

The P-51 never disappoints. I've done a lot to mod this plane, but I don't credit that to how well it performs. This has to be one of the best foam plane ever designed out of the box in addition to the numerous mods that can be done.

I'd put the P-47D back together after the recent eagle attack. It wasn't that big of a deal. It flies as good as new. I'm borrowing the wing (flaps & retracts already installed) for the new 25 powered P-47D for now. That should be ready this week with a nice 4 blader.

Hope you all got some flying in.

[19000rpm]

This thread needs a jump start.

When I finally got Raygun's Huey back to the initial programming, I have been trying some other throttle and pitch curves. Nothing to get excited about yet. It flies great. This is fine tuning.

Speaking of which, flying I mean, we went over to the school today with a bunch of planes and trucks.

The first plane up was one of the 70mm EDF's. I put spoilerons on it recently and this was my second flight using them.

Also I've been working on more scale like take offs. The technique I've been using is pulsing (feathering?) elevator inputs as the plane gathers speed. Before it would just rocket off at a high angle with full elevator. No full elevator it wouldn't take off. I'd read about the feathering technique and thought I'd give it a try. Well, it worked. The result was a scale like rotation and climb out.

After I'd been flying for a bit I brought it in on approach; anxious to try the spoilerons again. As it came in I put the spoilerons on position 1. Not thinking, I had throttled back too much and then, compounded my error by putting the spoilerons on position 2...Full up. Duh!.

Yep, it started to stall, very hard to do with this plane and veer left, toward the trees, that line the parking lot. I didn't have time to hit the spoileron switch, it was just a few feet off the ground, but I did give it full throttle.

The nose was already pitched up so I gave it no elevator and tried to turn it to the right. Unfortunately, I didn't have enough airspeed at that point for the ailerons to have any authority. But the thrust was more than enough to get moving again, rather quickly...Straight into the tree. Groan!

There she was, nicely hooked on a branch by her landing gear. We tried shaking her down with the trusty fishing rod and weight, but to no avail.

One of the guys who works in maintenance at the school happened by and said he'd be more than happy to get it down on Monday. I thanked him. My wife said, "Thanks, so much, it's like a member of the family." What? Gee, I like it, but I'm not that attached to it. I think the wife likes the planes a lot more than she lets on most times.

I was thinking the 4s 3300 was going to be toast long before Monday. Well, much better than losing the whole plane. Let's not let it spoil our whole day.

So, I went and flew a few more planes and we did some trucking.

The motor in the stranded plane had started beeping. We'd gone over to the track for trucking and were headed back when we saw a couple of guys, a young guy and and older one, turns out they were father and son, walking over to the tree; attracted by the beeping sound.

By the time we got there they were pointing at the plane. It was least 20' up. The tree is an old growth Oak and the lowest branch is a good 10' off the ground.

The young man asked if we'd like him to climb the tree and get it down. "Oh no, I said, I wouldn't feel comfortable with that at all, if you fell we'd be responsible." He said, "No problem, I can do it." I looked at his dad. He said, "He's an accomplished rock climber, really no big deal." Before I could protest again, the young guy was well on his way to the first branch, scaling it like a rock wall face using just the bark and a single finger hold on a depression from fallen branch. I was impressed. Within a minute he had the jet, moved down to a lower branch and dropped it down to me. Wow!

After thanking him profusely, offering him a reward, which he refused, we said goodbye and they walked on down the road.

We were, to say the least, a bit stunned by the timing and generosity of the act.

But, that's not then end of the good fortune. There wasn't any damage to the plane except a 1/8" chip in the leading edge of each wing.

Truly serendipitous. Bad luck turned into good luck because someone happened to be at the right palce and they helped. They didn't need to. They just did.

[Gabe]

Wow - you lucky duck!

With those spoilerons, I will typically turn them on during my final approach, after I've made my final turn, and waaaay out.

I usually kill the power about 200 yards out, flip them on, and dive pretty hard until I've reached a low glide altitude. Then, I pull up gently and give her a tiny bit of throttle. At that point it's just a matter of feathering the throttle and using just the rudder to keep her on the runway.

I try to stay away from the ailerons on the final because of what happened to your EDF. The problem with spoilerons and flaperons, is that they are still susceptible to tip stalls. With inner wing flaps and spoilers, if the air stall over that area, you will still have control of the roll since air is flowing nicely over the outer wing area.

I leaned my lesson by losing two Habu's on my final approach. I clicked them on in the final turn. Insta-stall.
Lost one in a thick Florida jungle mess - never to be found. The other landed on a busy road and got smashed.

[akent]

Great story, 19k!
Although if you hadn't been there, your maintenance buddy might have found an empty tree on Monday...
====
I didn't get to fly today, as it was WINDY AND ===102 degrees=== this afternoon! WTF is that all about? It's almost October for crying out loud.
It's supposed to be 100 tomorrow and then we get a cold front when it will drop down into the upper 90's. This is horrible.
In a couple of weeks, it will have been a year since we had any real rain, too. We have blown away the all time records for days over 90 (180 something), days over 100 (80 something) and days without appreciable rain. The lake is 50 feet down. Our well could run dry any day.

I live in Spicewood, Texas. Yep, we saw the flames on the next hill over from us. There were a lot of homes that are now gone.

I'm ready to move to the frozen north! That's better than this! Anything is better than this...
Ugh.
Kent

[Gabe]

You guys are making me jealous! I haven't flown in two weeks! Now I got the bug.

[19000rpm]

Good advice Gabe. I didn't have the spoilerons on until the final and was steering with the rudder, but those were the only things I did right.

Kent, I was wondering how you were surviving that brutal weather. Hope you get some relief soon.

[Gabe]

Oh wow - interesting 19k. Came in with too much altitude I'm assuming?

Either way- that's a pretty cool story. Plus the fact that there's really no damage is great news! Maybe a little gorilla tape on the leading edge will fix it? I did that with my lightweight Stryker and she still flies like a new bird. You don't even know the chip is there.

[19000rpm]

I'm not sure altitude had much to do with it Gabe. Just bad judgement/reactions on my part. I slowed it down too much, too soon. My memory was thinking about the pre-spoileron landings where I needed to get it down as low as possible as quickly as possible with no power on. It was too far away see what was happening soon enough. It was not in the middle of the runway. It was way too far towards the trees. The wind was gusting 12-15mph. That only added to my own errors. I still marvel at the way the whole thing turned out.

I use light weight spackle on dings like that and then a thin coat of epoxy to fill in the surface. Usually that somes out pretty nice.

BTW, I found an oval shaped ding in the fuse. That was from me casting the sinker up in the tree to try to shake it down. As usual, the most damage was done trying to get the plane out of the tree. Not the plane flying into the tree.

[Gabe]

Lol - "Fishing for EDF's"
New reality show coming soon to FOX!