What a wonderful, wonderful, day...

I had today off for an appointment with my eye surgeon who unexpectedly dilated my right eye, because you know, I had a car-full of airplanes I was taking directly to the field... Dammit... Winds were going to get even better and I was off on a sunny day. I. Am. Going. Flying.

But even though I am an idiot, I waited a while and made sure I could see well enough to fly. I had also brought the Ultrastick to maiden today, but not with one eye, no matter how perfect the weather. The field will require me to fly high with that one and I wasn't going to risk losing orientation.

I did get over a dozen great flights in, and even trialed my field charger setup.

Hanging in the gang cover at NH Flying Tigers Field,

Derry, NH

Wanting to tune up my go-to plane and continue to re-train my thumbs, as well as  make sure I can safely fly with one eye, I flew half a dozen packs on the Alpha Sport 450 first. I have flaperons on it, to slow it down on approaches, but it's already really, really floaty. I think I am going to try spoilerons, and see if that will slow it and make it less floaty. I am beginning to see this revived version really wants to be nose heavy.

For the first time in years I took the vintage Eflite PT-19 Cornell out and up today. It's so light I put a Hobby King Orange stabilization system on it, and it makes a tremendous difference. Speedier and snappier than I recall, it flies on rails. Really enjoyed flying it after the first flight jitters, did about 3 packs.

Flight of the Cornell

I came with only four of ten or so 3S packs charged, so I got to trial the lead setup I ran from my hybrids auxiliary battery. I have to leave the engine "on" so the computer can sense when to, and to charge that battery. Worked perfectly!

I had psyched myself up to maiden the Ultrastick 10cc today, and by late afternoon the conditions could not have been better, and only one totally non-judgy pilot was there. I was sooo tempted, but my right eye didn't un-dilate until a couple hours after I got home. I was not adding that crash variable to the test flight. Benched. I am itching to get that plane up.

The even more exciting part of the day was when I got home, I used a suggestion from John Hayes to make it so the throttle closes when throttle cut is turned on. I had gotten the engine easily started on the first try after years of sitting, and tuned to to run superbly, quite easily. I did have to adjust both needles. But the throttle barrel would not close completely, so I had to manually choke the engine to stop it. John showed me which screw to adjust. There is a spring loaded screw on the back port side of the carb (top in the photo). This screw stops the throttle barrel at the desired position, which for me is fully closed. This is the last pic of that screw, because I didn't realize it was spring loaded, and to allow the throttle to close completely, it had to be fully withdrawn. Yep... Shot out of there like a bat out of hell... It went where screws go when the cross the edge of the workbench...  My vintage garage has a stone and dirt floor. 

It's in there somewhere, I think. Couldn't even find it with a magnet, but tons of iron chips and aged metals were everywhere.

Nice idle, nice slam to FOT, smooth mid-range, 

and throttle cut works now! I got an exhaust extender today 

and will install it soon.

Have to work the next 3 days. Sunday's weather is stormy, Monday winds 7 mph but not much gusting after 2p. Hope to maiden the Ultrastick. My rule is only one maiden a day, so the Goldberg Falcon 56 will follow that another day, unless the weather is pristine. A little nervous as I have never flown 3-channel and this field is tight. John says it will be fine!

Flight schedule is to get the Pulse XT60 26cc gasser, the Eflite Stearman (the real balsa one, not the overpriced foamie thing*), and the massive 30cc MX-Bach (MX2 fuse, Sbach wing). I also have the Cosmic Wind (I think a Great Planes 450 size speedster), and my helis airborne. Full summer. Need good weather matching days off.

* I so hate that Eflite went from making affordable beautiful and desired balsa ARFs to selling foamy overpriced crap. This is what kills this hobby. Foamies are fine, l just waaaay overpriced, and just don't fly like the balsa planes. Good small to medium balsa ARFs are hard to find. Muss my Eflite Ultimate, my Pulse XT25 (my all three me favorite plane), and eventually my Cornell and Stearman may expire with no decent replacement.

New Project Gifts!

At my visit today, John gifted me with three projects he thought I would be interested in. One ready to fly, one that will need some building, and one that's going to take a long time to refurbish. 

Goldberg Falcon 56 Mark I or II

PS: I did up the wing to give some top-bottom contrast. The AMA sticker is patching a small hole. I don't have matching cote. I out down the black cote because the back rubber ands leave black dust.

This Carl Goldberg design originally from the 1960s is a famous classic beloved model. A wingspan of 56 inches, there were three revisions, and I think this is a Mark II. 

This one has a vintage British made Irvine 40 nitro glow engine turning a 10 inch (? Pitch) wood Top Flite prop, a Spektrum AR 6200 Ultra lite receiver and Spektrum DS821 digital servos. It flies old school 3-channel (rudder, elevator, throttle). The recommended prop is an 11x5 or 10x6. This prop is a 10x6. I want to put a 11x5 Master Airscrew Scimitar on it. I have an extra 11x7 Scimitar for the Evo 10cc I might use.

It is in amazingly good condition. This will be my first nitro plane, and I am psyched! I love the smell of nitro. I did have to wash out the tank, had some mold (?) and the stoped was badly degraded. I ordered a nitro starter kit, comes with a NiCd igniter, fuel bottle, and glow wrenches. I also ordered black size 32 rubber bands to secure the wing, and a spare OS8 glow plug in case the current one is bad. All arriving tomorrow. I am hoping the carb is good and doesn't need refurbishing. John gave me a quart of "historically old" 10% nitromethane fuel, hoping not to have to head out to the hobby shop for a fresh gallon. I put a nose cone on it, and may get a more yellow one. Hoping to get it running tomorrow! This is going to be a lot of fun! What a gift!

Morane Saulnier N

This partially completed kit is framed out, but missing the rudder, wheels and nose cone (that I have no idea what I will do for...)  and I believe is flown 3-channel, though the wing has no dihedral. The scale WWI French built monoplane fighter used wing warping for roll instead of ailerons.  I will probably be building it electric, but gas puks be nice. It has plastic cowl and fuse top. I think I would want to do the wires too. It has no plans so I will be making it up as I go along. It will require a lot of cote work. I would like to do it these British colors. ​Even though the aircraft is a French-designed Morane-Saulnier Type N (popularly called the "Morane Bullet"), this specific profile represents an aircraft operated by the British Royal Flying Corps (RFC) in 1916.

Here are some pics of the model. Somewhere between loading the car and getting home I lost a plastic bag with the plastic parts (cowl, top cockpit).

I will need to build the rudder. Worried there isn't much dihedral for 3 channel and wonder if I should try to convert it to ailerons. Not sure how to power it: there isn't an easy place to install and access the battery, though I could permanently install one and charge it after each flight. I also am not sure where the CG is. Looking for a manual. John is looking for the bag with the parts... I am so annoyed with myself.

Links to this plan and a nice article are 

at the bottom of the page the image links to.

PS(05/31/26): John found the bag with the Morane's plastic parts init this morning, thank goodness. I was about to head out to the trash bins to rn they then to look, expecting. To find them all crushed. He also suggested moving tool a bigger rubber an, from the 32 3" x 1/8") to the 64 (3.5" x 1/4"), noting it the more traditional size for this purpose. Wne I saw how narrow the 32 is stretched, I wondered if I should have done that, but thought I could get by as 8 seemed really sturdy, if stressed. His advice pushed me to do the right thing and just get the 64s.

Fairchild PT-19 Cornell,1/4 scale

This is an unholy-huge plane. It has been framed out but needs some serious refurbishing. All the major parts are there, rudder, elevator, ailerons (not installed),and a plastic cowl.. But for the tail, all the cote is missing, and I will need to find landing gear, windshields, cockpits for it.

I measured the wing, it's 88 inches, 2.25 meters.

I am passively looking for parts. Cockpit stuff, windshields, landing gear mainly. 

Gemini thinks a 50-60cc gas engine, or a 120-130 amp 12S 180kv motor. A large, low-KV outrunner designed specifically to swing big props (22" to 24") on high-voltage setups.

"Top Options: RimFire 50cc or RimFire 65cc, Dualsky GA6000.8 (180KV)

E-flite Power 360 (180KV) or Hacker A60-18 M .A KV rating between 160KV and 190KV. This ensures the motor spins slowly enough to safely handle a massive propeller without drawing excessive amps."

Both of these planes deserve to be fuel planes. Now that I am getting into nitro, maybe the Morane should be nitro. Might be less expensive.

I am excited to get started on the Morane. It will be a while before I get to the PT-19.

Brain said "ABORT!", thumbs said, "WE GOT THIS!"

And that folks, is why we should not fly with our thumbs, but rather with our brains. This happened a couple of days ago, and I didn't want to revisit it...

Big 18x10 prop on an 26cc, its got some kinda torque roll. She had a bit of torque roll with the 17x8 I had on her, so no surprise this would be worse. Started the take off roll and she needed left rudder, then a little left aileron, then she needed more, than started to fly and rolled left, backed off power, Brain said, "ABORT!", but the Thumbs said, "WE GOT THIS! POWER!", she lifted more and rolled more, off the runway at 1 foot AGL and her right wing struck the high weeds, she tumbled in on to her nose.  I was stunned and mad at myself! So pissed I forgot to take a photo of the crime scene, so the first pic is after pulling her out of the weeds and setting her on the runway.

The wings are okay, but the fuse where the lower wings attached has been twisted out and broken up.

Both front wing cabanes are yanked out, an both sets are twisted. The energy went there instead of into the wing. The rest of the fuse is fine. The damage is limited to the lower wing-fuse. But its pretty bad at first glance.

This is the part that worries me. The damage is bad on the starboard side, the balsa sheet is torn up to the switch. This is shaped. My skill set doesn't go there...

Port side not so bad.

I pulled the wing tube parts out of the wreckage, which is scary, so I haven't  examined the insi

But before that fun, I plugged in a battery on the Cornell, and the reciever flashed, and would not come on again. Then I realized the battery lead had parted, and that was the end of that. Stiff as a rod where the heat and solder had soaked into the wire, I guess.  Snapped like a twig. 

Had to pull the ESC harness, only to realize I had the wrong sex EC5 connector installed, pictured here. I had to cut those and put the correct one on. Done. Its always something. I think I was still mad about the Waco. 

Wasn't at the field for more than 45 min... Still haven't looked at the Waco, worried I have done small but complex damage. No doubt I will have to pull all the electronics and tail servos to get to the broken bits, and that curved balsa section is going to provide me with an opportunity to learn a skill I would rathe not have to learn.

Damn thumbs...

The Perfect Swing!

Much like yesterday I got chased off Mt Hudson by a storm, but I was ready for this one and boogied out just before the fireworks began. Up to then it was a sunny beautiful day! I loved every minute of it, and the flights were like that day of perfect golf swings that make you stay in the hobby just when you were starting to doubt, reminding you that you can do this and are pretty good at it.

I wrote about the storm yesterday, but I didn't share the excitement of flying the Eflite Cub 450 ARF yesterday. They don't even list it as an archive in Eflite anymore, but it is memorialized on Horizon's Facebook Page. My old friend, back from the days when Eflite made real planes and not just foamies. Don't get me started on discontinuing the Ultimate only to bring it back as a foamie abomination... This one is a sweet flier, simple, to the point, always a pleasure. A 450 motor powered by a 3S 2200 mAh LiPo, old school AR6200 without a satellite. Flew 3 packs before the deluge drove me out.

Today was like yesterday as I mentioned, starting out sunny and warm, no winds to speak of. But I could see thunderheads brewing to the west from whence they come, so I was watchful and aware my time may be limited. Weather radar suggested it would skirt by along the southwest, but I was wary. This is at the gate to SNHRCC, the very steep road to the top.

Ah, the Eflite Cornell, another plane they abandoned. It was discontinued back in 2011, but I got this one from somewhere, back in 2015, my third one. This is one helluva sweet flier! Conditions were perfect for her. Its one of those planes I will always have a version of, if not this one, another make, another size. It takes me back to the Cox 0.049 U-Control version back in the 70's. This one can also be set up as U-Control. She didn't need her Orange Stabilization system, but it sweetened the deal. Flew 4 packs on her, about 20 minutes or so, simply enjoyable flight. Her landing gear are tough and she handled the grass well. Such a pleasurable scale flier. The leggings I put on her are pretty sweet too. She has a new AR 620 onboard and also flies 3S 2200 mAh.

FINALLY, the RCGF-USA 26cc equipped Phoenix Waco. I set her up a week or two ago for the season and just haven't been able to get her airtime. Today was the day, the perfect conditions so helpful, though a breeze was evolving from the approaching storm to the west. She starts with one throw of the prop and hums merrily along. Its a lot of engine for this aircraft, designed as a 15cc aircraft. She has an old school AR6200 with a satellite onboard with a satellite, and the Hobby Eagle A3-L V2 stabilization system she really doesn't need. She is an amazing flier and just a pleasure. Stable, can fly slow on approach with no bad habits. She doesn't like having the stabilization ON at takeoff. Made several adjustments, including dropping the gain down to about 35-45% on the A3-L. Curiously today she required a lot of right roll subtrim. Maybe the wing took a tweak? I will be checking the incidence on the wings and see if there is something I can adapt. Its not a problem, just not pure. This is one BIG plane. I don't recall if she had a muffler on the exhaust tip, but I will be looking into it. Flew her for about 30 min total, several landings, in between adjustments.

Once again, the dulcet tone of the RCGF-USA 26cc!

 

This is what happens when you are not paying attention next to a freshly landed 26 cc engine cylinder, a nice partial thickness burn on the inside of your right distal forearm. Ow.

And then the clouds came. I watched this build, this is from the lower gate at the dump, about 1/4 mile from the field. Just after taking this pic the lightning started. Left just in time!

 

PT-19 Cornell Got a New Pair of Pants!

I love the Eflite PT-19 Cornell. The Cox 0.49 control line version depicted here with the Eflite model, was one of my first airplanes as a kid.

Eflite PT-19 Cornell and the Coc 0.49 U-control version.

Here is my current PT-19 Cornell! It's a pretty model, but I find the plain wire landing gear a distraction. I have always wanted to do something about them. The real plane has a wrap around fairing. I decided today would be a good day to make some.

I planned two halve wrapped around the wire gear. I shaped themmsomthat the back was angle slightly.

I sanded them down to make them a bit aerodynamic. I wasn't looking for perfection.

I CA'd them to the wires. I left a little space between the top and the wing to allow for movement of the wire on rolling on grass. Sanded them a bit smoot and filled gaps with CA.

I wrapped them in cote.

Sweet!

Baby got a new pair of pants! 

All I need to do now is bind her and program her into the iX12 and she's ready to fly again!

UPDATE: I put a new Spektrum AR620 in, replacing an old AR6100, and bound her to the iX12, programmed her in, set up her Orange Stabilization, and she is ready to go!