A Great Day of Firsts!

This morning we woke to a beautifully calm day, and just had to go fly! Luke had been asking to go, so after breakfast we packed up the CB100#2, the CB180D, the EXI 450 and my Cubby. We headed out to the soccer fields near our house.

First we got Lukey flying the CB100. It has some control issues (gyro, tail rotor aren't always on speaking terms), but he had a blast and did very well!

We also talked about developing good safety practices and start up habits which he practiced.

He's now psyched to develop in this hobby and was asking all kinds of tech questions.

When I took the Cubby up both of us were pretty nervous, but now he also wants to fly planks!

I think he's hooked!

So a good first day for the Luke!

Now its time to sim up and practice flying the CB100's indoors,  next the CB180D and then the big CCPM birds and some plank time!

Today was also the first day for the J3 Cub to fly. I was a bit anxious as its so pretty, and I just wasn't sure about the durability of the Styrofoam like EPO material. Here's a preflight pic. When I was setting the plane up I realized I hadn't checked the CG yet... a quick check and it looked pretty good with the battery (it would turn out to be a pinch heavy in the tail)*. Spun it up and let her run. She kept pulling off to the right on the ground, which wasn't very even to begin with. I'll need to check the alignment of the rudder and the tail wheel again. This was persistent and made taking off very challenging. I think a better flying field would help too. It was pretty muddy and bumpy. The big tires seemed not to have too much trouble though. I might have been able to trim her up, but I just didn't get to it.

Well she went up, and I realized she was a touch tail heavy, but not too bad. She responded very briskly to the controls. I calmed down a little, but was still a little heavy handed. She flew fantastic! She just wanted to climb. It was exhilarating! I was so afraid she would just leave the area and that I would lose her, but I did a pretty good job keeping her upright an in control, keeping her within the confines of the field. She was forgiving with hard roll and elevator inputs which made her a dream for a beginner. I landed her a bit hard the first time, bending the gear and breaking the plastic fairing*, but the fuse itself was very durable; she stayed upright in the landing. I flew her only a bit more as I didn't want to push my luck or fly too much with a less than optimal CG. I can't wait to fly her again, and hope I can get the ground turning issue sorted out.

You can see from the pics she blew up a lot of the wet sand, grass and mud, and you can also see the broken fairing (the back left is cracked and actually separated). I had to bend the gear back towards center as they spread a bit from the hard first landing.

I also took the EXI 450 up for the first time since its maiden which bent the rotor system up. She still had quite a tail wag, so I turned the gyro down some more. I am not convinced that's the issue though...  I hovered her not so stably, but much better than before. But again, on the ground, she rolled once and the blades bit the dirt. Quick on the throttle hold saved the rotor, but the main gear is stripped and a few teeth are missing, so that ended her day. All that power still freaks me out. Forgot to take pics I also forgot to take some of the CB180D).

We ended the day with the CB180D. She still has issues moving forward when outdoors, but I had really good control of her otherwise. Flew a pack, take off, landings, figure 8's, Fast Forward Flight (when she wanted to), and as is our tradition, my CB180D and me, we hovered to our final landing, then a foot off the ground decided to roll suddenly and break a blade. I have never flown her without breaking a blade... I can fly her for several packs, and when I decide I am done, she will break a blade. Every frickin' time. I am just not happy with these Walkeras. Not one of mine flies right consistently. The slightest bump and the swashes get all squirrelly. No more Walkera's for me.

All in all a great morning! Luke is excited and hooked, and we flew fair today. I will set up the CG on the Cub (and tack down those snaps that won't snap), I already patched up the fairing, and replaced the CB180D's blade. I will clean up and inspect the EXI 450, and then work out the gyro bugs in the CB100. Loving the good RC life!

* Turns out, when I checked the CG at home its actually a bit nose heavy. Added a little weight to the tail, now its perfectly balanced. Also, the next morniing I realized I had to squeeze the gear back towards the centerline, which I shouldn't have been able to do because the criss-cross shock absorber thingy between them would have prevented me from doing so... but it wasn't there, so it must have fallen off in the little adventure...