Sunday, December 20, 2015

Breaking Wind


It was a weird wind day. It wasn't at all what the weather forecasters thought it would be, other than clear. It was a beautiful cold day, and the winds would be dead for the most part, but then a gust would slam in at 20 mph. They were mostly coming from one direction, but then started shifting. I would take off in one condition, and fly through several others, then land in another. It was mostly calm, so it was a tease.




I haven't flown the 30cc in a couple of months, so it really was no surprise I couldn't get her started. I even tried the electric starter. I have no doubt the carb is clogged... Yay... another project. She would have handled the winds fine.

So, I decided to fly and took my 10cc Sukhoi up! It was fun, a few pucker moments, and in the end I made a mistake and ended up tearing the landing gear off. All of them. Meh, easy repair, and a chance to fix a few things.




Tossed her around a lot despite the winds, which were fast aloft. A couple of times it was all she could do to make any ground speed.




The smaller tail wheel got yanked off. I built up the attachment point, used a bigger wheel, and bigger screws with some epoxy on the base of the mount.



All done up.



As designed the landing gear hard point pulled out. I reinstalled it.  The cote in front was torn and a bit worn by gas, so I removed it, gas proofed (using epoxy diluted with alcohol) the wood, and in a few days will recote it, install the landing gear, and get her airborne again!

After I finish this, I will work on the 30cc.


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