MX-Bach Flies Again

 Took the MX-Bach 30cc RCGF equipped gasser out to Joppa Field for the first flight since the repairs. No winds to stiff gusts. It flew better than ever. Once I got the feel for it, practiced landings in the tall grass. Enjoyed every minute of it. Still having occasional double vision at a distance but sharper and clearer.

Sailing Respite

Labor Day 2026. Silver Lake State Park, Hollis, NH, USA.  No wind to light wind, rare gusts. Still enjoyed being out on a beautiful day.

Kyosho Seawind with Era Sails

Dragon Force 65 with Start1969 graphics and sails.

Just a brief sailing video, sailing one handed.

What a great day of flying!

Still recovering from my second of two cataract surgeries, I still have occasional close double vision when I look sideways, but the weather was too perfect not to fly. It's been over a month I think. I didn't want to drive all the way out to Derry NH where the Flying Tigers club is, and I wanted some room to run and have nice long clear approaches. So I went down the street to Joppa Hill Fields, where I was alone and in my element. I had stopped by last week to check the grass. Still a tad high which it always is, but I felt the Ultrastick could handle it. It did, but many of the initial landings tipped onto the nose. By the end of the day I had mastered the landings and keeping the tail down on most landing is. What a great day of flying!

Joppa Hill Field, Bedford, NH, USA

My favorite plane, my Hangar 9 Evolution 10cc powered Ultrastick.

I'm smiling, actually. A break from flying 

Last flight of the day, a brief one!

Always a good day when everything goes back in the car while.

I'll allow it.

At the end of this post I described crashing the MX-Bach, and this was the result. Over a few weeks I worked on the repairs.

I fiberglassed the inside of the plastic canopy and filled in the gaping hole on the front starboard side of the top. There is still a dip on the port side front that has been there forever, but I wasn't willing to try to melt it back into shape. The paint and cote stripes came out pretty nice.

Is it perfect? Not even close. But yeah, I will allow it. 

I put a smaller prop on it as I think it's actually a 30cc engine. My blog says it came off the Sbach, the first gasser I ever owned, and that it's a 30cc. That's the plane the MX-Bach's wings come from. It's an OG RCGF engine (though when I asked RCGF-USA about it, sending pics and the serial number, they claim it's not theirs). It's stamped RCGF, but no size. It was made before the RCGF/VVRC-RCGF debacle, so it is definitely theirs. An 18x8 works well on a 30cc. Will fly it at some point and see, but on static testing it seems great.

The airframe is old and getting tired ... I suspect it will die soon and not be resurrected. I will probably replace the bent muffler when I can. I am also getting concerned that the prop screw plate is stripping. That would be expensive to replace.

I LOVE HELICOPTERS! I HATE HELICOPTERS....

Hovered the freshly set up Frankenhelis 500. A bit twitchy, but seemed fine. Landing it tipped and a blade touched. Hit the battery pack and blew it right out of its outer shrink wrap casing. That one piece of blad on the right was found about 75ft away.

I don't have the patience or money for this right now. Set aside. I suspect I need more expo... 

Tht Morane Saulnier Type N is done! Other updates!

 And ready to maiden! Installed the cowl mounts and then the cowl.

Tapped M2 blind (T) nuts into drilled holes and then CA'd them. Only needed 4.

I adjusted the cowl pulling it back a bit on the port side centering it a bit better. I painted the scuff marks on the prop. I removed the bullet spinner as I go a reversible silicone cup for the starter that allows me to keep the prop centered. Read that this can make it possible to use the starter without a spinner.

Very exciting! Given the skill level and tools I have it's not bad. 

I have always thought this is a RCGF 35cc, not sure why. It's branded but not stamped with the size. I sent pics and the serial number to Joe Nelson at RCGFUSA. It's an older engine, but hoping they can tell me.

In the crash the exhaust pipe bent back. I ran the engine today and it runs fine. I did find one for about $21, at Motion RC I think. May get it and replace it, but right now no real reason. I had a 20x8 on it, which is fine for a 35cc. On a whim I changed it to an 18x8, as I have a couple of those 

I also worked on the cowl and the canopy a bit. I probably should have put some balsa behind the large patch, it's been difficult to get smooth. I don't think it's going to be totally smooth. Primed it yesterday which helped illuminate the bumps, and worked those a bit today. The canopy has always been bumpy as it's a thin plastic and is old and likely sun melted, and it still is. I tried to fill in the hole, but it's still quite present. I have been using wood filler like bondo and it's worked pretty well. I filled that hole with it, but it's outline is still visible. I may paint some design over it to help obscure it 

It will be some time before I can fly again.

It is a good day to fly.

Saturday's are always busy, and one with perfect weather, very. I was there for almost 4 hrs and got maybe 4-5 flights. I took the Pulse XT60 and the Ultrastick out. I just flew and didn't bother with pics or video.

As I was getting ready for the first flight of the Pulse XT60 I warmed up the engine and thought the cowl was really shaking (I think I saw the muffler jiggly too). Had a nice flight. As I was setting up for a second flight I realized I didn't have two US 4-40 screws (I think that's the size) and that's why the cowl was loose. I taped the loose side and taxied out to the runway. As I turned to take off I saw the muffler was really dancing so taxied back and saw it had come lose. I taxied back to the bench. A flying buddy, Larry, gave me two screws for the cowl (he has a small hardware store in the back of his car). I removed the cowl to fix the muffler and being rear mounted I would need to remove the engine. I really wasn't in the mood to do this at the field, I came to fly, so I set the Pulse aside for the day. 

Flew 2-3 flights on the Ultrastick over the next 2-1/2 hrs (a lot of waiting my turn). I had it dialed in. At the end of my last flight I realized I was getting tired and my vision unreliable (cataracts, need good lighting and cloud clover was moving in). I wisely called it a day.

You can see the muffler hanging loose. One bolt still attached. Thought the other lost but it fell out of the cowl when I removed it. Pulled the engine, reinstalled the bolts with a friction lock washer and some thread lock. This one always shakes loose. This is an real RCGF 20cc (which Joe Nelson told me is actually a 26cc). The muffler has come loose on this engine a few times 

One thing I later noticed as I worked on the firewall for the MX-Bach, is that the exhaust tube got bent back. It's straight back, no cracks. I forgot to look but I think this 35cc is a DLE. It doesn't need replacing, which is good as I can't afford one right now.

The firewall is coming along nicely. Had to Dremel and hack saw the notch flanges at the four sides. Tomorrow I will drill it for mounting the engine, the center hole for the fuel lines and a small hole for the throttle control rod. I had to cut the original one to get the engine free of the firewall, so I'll be making a new one. I noticed that the flange holes on the engine box to which the fire wall gets attached did not appear to have epoxy in them... I am not sure why, though I see this on landing gear hard points that are also installed using flanges so that it can break out clean. Is this what they had done with the firewall? I am not sure I will, I think I will epoxy all the way around. If this plane crashes again I don't expect it to survive, and I would just as soon the engine breaking free in flight not be the reason it crashes

I knew I had a large set of aluminum landing gear. They were not drilled so I was able to custom drill them. Here they are installed. They are curved, which I don't think I have ever had on a plane before. Terribly upset the carbon fiber ones were broken in the crash.  These I'll work great!

Tomorrow I will install the firewall and the engine. Then I will need to repair the under cowl and the canopy. I got some metal L brackets I may use to repair the cowl mounting tabs, but that's an idea still in the works. This hasn't been too difficult a repair so far.