Can't catch a break...

Up in Meridian, Mississippi, absolutely gorgeous day. Had to fly, thought about it all night and all morning. First chance I got, I took off for a set of soccer fields I found nearby. Turned out to be a pretty decent size set of fields just north of North Hills on Hiway 39. Took Cubby! But Cubby's receiver wouldn't light up, and I was getting the slow beeps of death. I tried rebinding, no joy. This was the HK Orange receiver from the last big crash, but I had no reason to suspect it. I packed up and headed back to the apartment. I tried the receiver attached to my Sim Stick, and I thought it gave me the same sounds, and wouldn't bind. I suspected the ESC, but that didn't make any sense either. So I took the ESC to the local hobby shop (it moved from the address I found on the internet, so I called and Donald gave me directions. which, being a man, I failed to follow correctly and drove several miles past the left I was supposed to take. Once I figured that out, I found North Hills Hobbies nowhere near North Hills...because it moved...). Donald help me prove the ESC was actually fine, which made me happy because I like this Hobby Wing ESC. So I took it back to the apartment and tried the Sim Stick's Specktrum again (it's the counterfeit one I didn't know I bought counterfeit). This time I let it take a little longer to bind and it did just fine. But this time it did the normal tones, and gave me the slow beeps of death again, even though the receiver was bound. So I Googled it and I saw something I remember seeing before so I tried it. I turned on the transmitter with the throttle full up. I then powered the receiver, and after the 2 beeps dropped the throttle to off. I then turned everything off and powered it up again. Beeps gone, fully bound, ready to fly!

I went back to the field, still gorgeous outside! Checked CG, checked control surfaces. I did a few ground loops, broke a prop, kept adjusting the landing gear to get prop clearance, and finally got her flying. But she was wishy-washy, sluggish... Ran into a ginormous lighting pole, crashed to the ground, just broke a prop and the canopy (damn canopies...). Changed the prop, taped things up, realized the upper motor mount screws were pulled... maybe that's why she flew funny. These were the screws I thought were secured even though they had no nuts.  Wrong...  I used wire ties to secure them, and checked her out, took her up again. This time, she seemed much more responsive, took her down field nice and slow, turned and brought her back. She seemed her self again! I turned, and she started her roll, but began to nose down. Pulled back on the stick, but JUST LIKE THE LAST MAJOR CRASH SHE NOSE DIVED FULL SPEED INTO THE GROUND! I just can't catch a break with her. So I threw her in the car, and went off to Las Fuentes for a chimichanga and a lot of sweet tea. Once I got back home I spent a couple hours putting her back together again. She had once again stove in her nose, this time breaking the motor mount off the fuse, cracking then fuse under the cote. I glued her back together, added packing tape to stabilize her, and she is as good as before. I epoxied the motor mount back in place and its secure. I glued the canopy together, repaired the fuse as well as I could. Once I had everything back together, I threw in a battery, and ran the motor. Now this motor rocks! The prop and motor took a direct hit, but the large shaft could not be bent! Ran true, ESC and motor stayed warm, not hot, and the battery ran her for about 10 minutes at 3/4 throttle. Very nice! I am letting the glue set in overnight. I think the weather is supposed to get squirrelly so I don't know that I will get another chance to fly her. Which is maybe a good thing... since that's not going so well for me.

Looking good! I suppose she is getting a bit heavy with all the repairs... I still love her!