The dog crap was my first sign...

Clearly there comes a point where you just can't fix a plane anymore. Phoenixcubby is there... As I mentioned, she was flying sluggish, like she was under powered, and she went unstable with the slightest change. Yes my skills are still sloppy and developing, but I can usually fly the cubby for several laps before I do something stupid. Since the last major rebuild she just hasn't been the same. Yesterday in Meridian, MS, I took her out to the Northeast Recreation Fields and tried flying her again.

The soccer field there was covered with big dog poop... this was my first sign that things were going to go down the crapper. The second sign was she was requiring looonnng run outs for takeoff, and would tip forward breaking props even though I had full up elevator on high rates. The third sign was that when I got her up there, she waddled unless she was in level flight at full throttle. It was all I could to land her. I changed positions on the field to get the sun out of my eyes, still having flown her for only a minute or so. I again found it difficult to get her to take off, and then finally she did. She seemed okay, full throttle, climbing turn to the right nicely, was heading back. I dumb thumbed her into a right roll when I wanted left, and she was unforgiving. Once she started that right roll, full aileron did not bring her upright, full back stick did not bring up the nose, and she drilled into the ground...

I thnk she was just too heavy for the motor and the wing... Too much glue, too many spars, too much tape, just too heavy, under powered, and too much wing loading. Her fuse is broken in several places, the canopy is broken again, her wing is broken the forward part of the fuse is mushy... I could put her back together again, but not improve her weight characteristics. I think its time to move on, salvage the parts I can, focus on Cubby 2, and my new micro plane!

Good-bye, Phoenixcubby!