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.

Vintage Irvine 40, and "Pop Goes The Weasel"!

This is the Irvine 40, a vintage (1980-1990's) British made nitro engine that John gave me on the Goldberg Falcon 40. It hasn't been run in ages, but started on the first try! Adjusted the high, and then had to adjust the low needles. There is a mechanical issue I will need to adjust later: the barrel on the carb doesn't close all the way, so I can't lower the idle and I have to choke the engine to stop it. But wow, as advertised, this motor runs so beautifully! This is my first nitro and first exhaust pressured carb, 

This was a interesting... I installed a fresh OS8 glow plug. On the second run I heard a pop and the engine quit. Turns out it failed! The top popped off and the base remained attached to the engine. This was a top shelf glow plug by OS. Fortunately had some N3 plugs and replaced it.

The top that popped off.

The base still attached to the engine 

I learned what happens when you fill the tank and fuel spills into the muffler and the carb floods.... Once I stopped filling to the top of the tank it's not a problem.

I am liking nitro. Simple no electronic ignition, seems to just run sweet.

Tomorrow weather conditions are expected to be awesome, so after an appointment I plan on flying the Alpha Sport 450, as many times as I can, then, gulp, I want to maiden the Ultrastick 10cc!

I'm Baaaack!

And it was beautiful! I so needed this success. Like that perfect golf swing that makes you love it all over again, I had perfect flights. Weather and waiting my turn limited the number of flights, but man, it brought me back to my love for this hobby! I was getting frustrated not being able to fly and having no luck when I did, I was beginning to feel like a poser. To boot, there was a crowd, which I don't enjoy, but they couldn't have cared less which made it all the more wonderful. John giving me a new path into nitro with the Goldberg Falcon, reignited my love for the hobby, and today it burst back into flame.

The field was soggy, the clouds threatening, but the winds temperate enough that a crowd showed up early. I brought out my three go-to planes. Sadly, I forgot I had the camera on my head and only filmed one of the last Cubby flights. I am happy that I got to fly all three planes today without any drama.

I decided to start with the Hacker MX2, as I trusted it tilo behave. It did not disappoint and it having gyro stabilization helped keep my nerves manageable. I was able to completely tune out any concern about a crowd. Light gusts challenged but did not freak me out, and helped me regain my confidence. After my remastering basic flight maneuvers, I put it thru some more aggressive aerobatics. I have to be careful as I think my cataracts affect my vision. In the end it all went exceedingly well!

Second flight was with the Alpha Sport. I was pleased that it behaved itself! It seemed a little less powered than with the previous motor, although the specs are the same. It's adequate and I don't intend to change anything. I am so happy to have gotten it in the air and successfully!

Before the rain, I got a couple flights on the Cubby. I remembering to video one flight, which I ended early because I found the control a bit mushy. Much better after tightening it up. 

I was out for about 2 hrs, got about 5 flights what with just watching for the first half hour, then waiting my turn. As the rains began to trickle in, I packed up, but sooooo wanted to fly the Alpha Sport again!

I think I feel comfortable bringing the Pulse XT 60 out, and maiden the Ultrastick, and the Falcon even,  as long as I keep them close. I have never flown 3-channel and am a bit anxious not having ailerons and direct roll control. 

Amazon didn't deliver the igniter yesterday, but it expected to arrive late this afternoon. I will have to charge it, but I hope to get one run on the vintage Irvine 40 on the Falcon to see if it starts and runs. Looking forward to the smell of burnt nitro!

Glad to once again have found my mojo.

It's like golf....

 I loved golf. But I hated sucking so bad at it and not getting better that I gave it up.

There was a deceptive break in the weather.

I decided to try Joppa Hill Field, infamous in my flying history for ripping the landing gear off my planes. Per usual, while cut, the grass was still too high. I tried a few times. I finally walked around and found a closer cut section, and took off. 

The Alpha Sport felt a bit under powered, an the gusts were once again a bit more than it could handle. 

In a turn it got pushed stalled and I recovered by so close to the ground it was a hard forced landing 

And the gear dot torn off 

One flight. 

Hated every moment of it.

And hated the hobby as I carried it off, for  no other reason than it sucked today, my decisions sucked, the consequences of my decisions sucked, and I sucked.

Well.... Enough of that. I drove home mad and went straight to the garage workshop to repair the landing gear.

The front gear just stripped out the screws. A bit of epoxy, screwed back on, front gear done in 10 minutes. I started the main gear repair just using weight but decided to remove the wing and use clamps.

Main gear simple, clean break by design. Epoxy the edges to allow breakaway.

Clamped.

Done, good as newish. Checked everything and the motor is sound, no bent parts. I e decided I am only going to fly at the field, as inconvenient as it is to get there. It's just not worth the stress of wondering if the fields are going to break a plane. And I need to wait for the weather with more patience for the lighter planes. 

Continuing my struggle to get cote skills. It's curious that I have done cote all these years for patches without issue, but this cote on the PT-19 and the Cubby is soft.

I spent the better part of the afternoon applying, removing, applying, removing, several times, cotte over this wing. I expected the compound curve to be difficult, but I could not get this cote to stretch and adhere. I could get a clean sheet attached to the straight parts, but the moment I went to shrink it with the iron or heat gun, it wouldn't shrink properly and the edges melted into wrinkles. I tried a long sheet including the compound curve, and two 

Separate sections, one clean rectangle and one to stretch around the curve. It was made more difficult in that I can't get the landing gear off.

After multiple attempts over several hours I have quit, and wrote my friend John Hayes who repaired the Alpha Sport wing. I asked him to help me repair this by teaching me how. I asked him if he's free this weekend as I have three days off.

I stopped, left the garage. I wanted to try the HK500, but no suitable place for a hover test, and I had had enough humiliation and failure.

I REALLLLY need a successful day of flying, or this will go the way golf went. Hopefully this weekend, weather permitting.

The Good and The Ugly

 8 hrs in the garage like it didn't even happen ... Memorial Day weekend, weather is for shit with much needed rain.

I replaced the motor in the Alpha Sport 450, proving that it is a bent shaft, though not visibly discernable. There is no wobble at all now, everything is clean and straight. My OCD is happy.

I will change the shaft on those other two 450 motors when they get here in a couple of weeks. 

I replaced the Viton tubing in the tank of the Ultrastick with Sullivan Proflex fluorosilicone, and it had the desired effect. It's short so the Viton didn't flex enough to reach the floor of the tank, but the Proflex is soft and works wonderfully. Ran the engine up to make sure the plumbing works, and it runs just fine. Looking forward to the maiden.

I spent a couple of hours reprogramming the BeastX Microbeast on the HK500cmt (forgot to take pics). The other day I spun it up and something was clearly wrong with the setup (I haven't flown it in years).  I lost the manual a while ago, and the only one online is for the PLUS, but the programming was the same. I only did the main setup and not the parameters, as I am not familiar with that second menu but will be reading up on it. The swash was off a tish, and the control rods needed a lot of levelling. Not sure what was up with that. It seems all set to go, but with the rain I didn't try a hover.

I decided to finish the repair to the left leading edge my wife had crushed by accident a long time ago. Once again my lamentable understanding of applying cote plagued me as I tried to get a simple patch on the upper and lower wing done properly. I could get it in place easily enough, but I could not get it to shrink properly. The edges melt before the center shrinks at all. Redid it several times and finally settled. Had the same problem with the cote on the Cubby. Tried lower temps, higher temps, none of the advertised temps of different cotes worked. On the Cubby the cote shrank but the edges melt-wrinkled. Here the shrink just would not happen completely with either the iron or the heat gun. I need to figure this out... I think it's the next favor I need to ask of John Hayes, who repaired the wing on the Alpha Sport 450; teach elme how to do the repairs.

Interesting thing on the electronics in the PT-19, another plane I haven't flown in a while. It has an intact ESC lead to the throttle, but it also has an IBEC or a UBEC (can't tell). I don't know why... Why doesn't the ESC leads power line just provide the power. I decided to remove the IBEC when I changed out the EC5 connector for the EC3 I have been using in my 3S batteries. Plugged in the battery and the motor chimed in, but the receiver didn't do anything. Nada. Huh... So I wired a UBEC in off the battery leads, plugged it into the AR650 battery slot, and voila! Checked the installed gyro stabilization system, and it's fine. All up. So, ugly wing repair, but the PT-19 is ready to fly.

I really want to fly. Its supposed to stop raining tomorrow afternoon. Everything is going to be soaked, but its worth a try. I want to check out Joppa Hill Field, where I used to fly when I lived nearby in Bedford, but the grass is usually too tall and clumpy. Depending on the sitch I may drive all the way out to the field in Derry.

All set for the crying! I mean, flying!

Nailed the CG with no adjustments! Came in a 7.7 lbs dry, much better than the 10 lbs of versions 1 and 2 that had the tail servos in the tail, requiring a lb of lead up front, and weighing in at 10lbs. I am optimistic this one is a keeper.

I kept referring to the Evo 10cc as a "single needle carb, but I had forgotten that there is the obvious HI sped needle on the port side, and the low speed needle is tucked into the center of the carb vent barrel on the starboard side. I rediscovered this last night as I kept wondering why the manual refers to both needle settings. I saw the engine diagram and slapped my forehead (not really, I was in bed and I sat up). I had forgotten all about it.

Today I set the HI at 2.5 turns, ended up tweaking it once to about 2-1/4. It screams with the 11x6 Master Airscrew Scimitar prop. Keeping the throttle at about 1.5 mm open at idle, I tweaked the low speed needle leaner, no idea where it ended up, and I found this to be the best I can get. Clean initial slam with a small stumble just before peak rpm, quite acceptable. Reliable and no thrust generating idle, and a screaming full throttle.

I am pretty sure that the recent crash of the Alpha Sport 450 bent the engine shaft almost imperceptibly, enough you can see a wobble, not enough to affect performance. I decided this needs perfecting. And therein lies my latest frustration with this hobby: finding parts. Why is this so fucking hard?

It has an aluminum nose cone that can with a 4mm to 8mm prop adapter with a threaded center hole for the M3 screw that secures the nose cone. China doesn't even sell these. I have to buy a whole new nose cone, about $20 on Amazon, with its own adapter. I could use a 4mm to 6mm adapter and a spinner nut that has the same M3 hole, but none of the 4/6 adapters tell you how long they are. I need 30mm. I bought 6 4/6 adapters on Amazon, the same ones that you see everywhere, and they are 25mm long, so they can't accommodate a base plate for the nose cone. I hate the bullet ends these come with, suitable for drones and tiny planes, but not on a 450 size. Doesn't matter for now, the current nose cone adapter is not bent, but it annoys me I can't have spares.

Okay, moving on. Replacing the 4mm x 49mm c-clip end electric motor shaft on this DY2836 electric motor (same as I need to replace on the original motor). Not in America you don't. Took some looking and on Walmart, selling for a Chinese vendor, I found 4mmx50mm c-clip end shafts at a reasonable price, but they are still two weeks out from arriving. I ain't got time for that, but they are on there way, and I need two now 

So I did what every RC addicted boy does and just ordered another DY2836 880kv motor from Amazon and it will be here tomorrow. 

Look, I just want to get this thing flying right, get my thumbs retrained, get used to the field, improve my confidence, so I can maiden the Ultrastick. I am confident in that I wasn't the cause of the last crash, and I managed a lot of crazy attitudes in the bad winds before that crash. But I want some clean flights under my thumbs before then. Matching up weather and my days off hasn't been in the favor of flying, which is probably why I chose poorly to try to fly in those winds last Sunday, but I am sure that day will come, hopefully with no one else at the field (I hate an audience).

OH, BTW: THE engine has a bit of low end resolution, but once the throttle gets to 50% it's pretty much screaming at full throttle. I tried a Throttle curve and it worked nicely to smooth the power curve. I may lower it in the mids a bit more.

Alpha Sport 450 is all set!

The new motor,  a DYS D2836 880kv 70g from Amazon arrived on time today, and when I got home from work I installed it with no drama. I had first tried to see if my ESC programming card would work with this Sonic 60A ESC (generic, quite old actually), but nope. I have two of the same card and neither one turned on, even when I added a reciever pack to the circuit. The original prop shaft fits (4mm), is true, and the prop with the sweet aluminum spinner has been installed.

I had nothing to lose, so fired it up and it runs AWESOME! Prop tracks clean and the spinner with no wobbles. Very nice motor!

Checked CG (3.25-3.5 inches) and its a bit nose heavy. Adjusted the battery aft and now just a hair nose down. Perfect. A couple of cosmetic chores, and off to the field as soon as I get a day off. So glad this debacle is done. Special thanks to John Hayes for the stunning wing repair (and I won't forget the Guinness!). 

By the way, thinking of naming it the "Its always something...".

Well, that was a little adventure...

I've spent so much time this past week on the Alpha Sport 450 since I got the wing back from John, that I have lost track of where and why I started on this last little adventure, but I ended up where I should have started... 

I share these misadventures because I want you to know we all have them in this hobby. For me, most are self induced thru laziness, lack of skill, or carelessness, often a combo of all three. "There is always something",  (I think the difference between nitro/gassers, heli pilots and electric pilots is how much "something" we are willing to deal with. I am at that level after a week of shenanigans where I am not going flying today because I am totally a shit magnet right now and I don't think I could emotionally handle a crash. I am totally up against my something limit).

The jist is that the original ESC, a 40A Hobbywing more than a decade old, just quit working the other day. One moment fine, the next a paperweight. Since I like to use what I have on hand (I am cheap), I used the closest thing I had, a 60A ESC. This works fine with the 450 sized motors, just a lot of reserve for a sport flyer, and not much weight difference. Tested the setup with all the electronics on rhe Alpha, awesome all worked fine the first time. Took a half an hour to tuck it all in and make it all pretty, went to fire it up, dead as a doormat. Nada. Checked everything, nothing wrong. Pulled it out, tested it again still nada. Fine, I have another one, also 60A but a smaller profile. Tested, works fine. Installed. Still works fine. 

But I felt a vibration and noticed that there was a wobble in the prop. Inspection revealed that the motor shaft at the prop end had bent in that crash, actually in the fall from the Ent from which it had impaled itself upon. Inspected the motor and there was an almost undetectable shaft bend, that magnified when the prop shift was in place. Easy peasy, I have changed out motor shafts, and I happen to have a baggy full of them. 

Its easy. Pull the mount X-plate off the back. On the back end of the motor, the shaft is secured with a c-clip. Slip that off, careful not to shoot it across the room. You can now pull the outrunner shell off the back. You are now holding the inner workings in one hand, and the outrunner shell with the connected shaft in the other. On the side of the top of the outrunner there are usually 1-2 lock screws. Remove them. You can now tap the shaft out. Simply reverse the process with your new shaft. Which I don't have... the ones in the baggy are a mm too small. WTF, I have never had a motor smaller than a 450 sized. So I just put it all back together.

Still trying to be cheap (there's my problem right there....), I have another motor, unlabeled, but looks a bit squatter and a bit wider than the 450 outrunner. Looks like maybe a little more powerful. Let's try that! 

This "new" motor has a mounting plate that is about 0.5mm off from the 450. Its really not that much bigger a motor. But this won't fit my firewall, which is that 450 sized. Here's a idea! Lets spend a lot of time and energy, let's build an adapter firewall out of ABS plastic, drill it so that both sets of mounting screws fit: the 450 ones off the firewall secured to the new firewall at the end of the extenders, and attach the new motor to that firewall. Took a while to fabricate: cut the ABS, drill the ABS, install the motor (works fine connected to the electronics in testing), install the firewall, attach the motor. Quick spin, all works! But the prop shaft is one of those that bolts to the outrunner shell, not attached to the motor shaft, and its a touch short. I happen to have a slightly bigger one that fits! Replace the old with the new. Attach the prop. Now I can't use the original aluminum spinner because the new prop shaft is not drilled for the center securing screw, but I have what is probably the original Alpha Sport red spinner NIB. I attach that. But the stock self-tapping screws that secure the cone to the base are crap and one head-strips just trying to screw it in. Spend a lot of time and cursing to remove said stripped screw, and replace with nice 2mm regular hex head. 

Looks great! Let's fire it up! All looks good, advancing throttle, and then the motor screams and slows down, so I shut it down. Try a couple times, same thing, won't reach full throttle without screaming and slowing down, and on the third try shuts itself down. Won't run now at all. No magic smoke, that's good... There was a time when I knew what this was that was happening, but not today*. Crap... did I burn out the ESC???  I removed the entire apparatus, motor, new firewall, extensions, and connected the original motor (fine, just bent shaft). Whew... everything works, ESC is fine. So its the motor. 

* I think it was ESC timing... The new motor has 14 poles so will need high timing setting. Will need to break out the programming card.

And here we are. I am where I should have started but I have been nickle and diming myself to death and was trying to save money and maybe upgrade the motor that didn't need upgrading just replacing. I bought the 880kv version of this little motor that produces about 243 watts (oddly specific) which would be great for this plane. I won't have time until maybe Sat night as I go back to work, but I hope this is the end of my Alpha Sport 450 adventure. 

Finally some peace... Sailing

But first there has to be a little drama. 

When I arrived, at Silver Lake, NH, before I unloaded the gear, I wanted to use the trunk space to take the electronics cover off of the Dragonforce 65 and bind the reciever, following my transmitter debacle of the other day. All went fine, stuffed everything back in the compartment and sealed it. Loaded all the gear in the trailer, hauled it a quarter mile into the state park to my spot and got set up. Radio on, turned on the DF65, and nothing. From the car to my spot...

Reopened the compartment turns out the battery lead came out when I stuffed it all back in. Easy fix, all good to go! 

The winds were not consistent but the speed was good and no bad gusts. The sun came out, I was in a t-shirt and my waders. Life is good. Its like that one perfect golf swing when you about to quit. You are suddenly reminded why you do this.

The Jonesway Dragonforce 65 is my first sailboat, and it is simply the best. Its bigger brother is the Dragonflite 95. If it sails half is well I would love one, but it is rather expensive, so I will likely never own one. Both of these are class racing boats and my DF65 is qualifying (there is a club in Nashua. NH, but they meet ON Saturdays, and I am usually working; someday. I updated the sails and hull art with the craftsmanship of @Start1969 Italy. I love this little speeder and it sailed well today.

Changed to the Volantex Hurricane 1m racer. This is a recreational boat, not a class racer. I modified it by installing an external power switch. The switch is nice, waterproof, but hard to tell when its on or off (flushed is on, raised is off, but raised is 1 mm). I must have left it on last time as I drained the LiFe battery and had to NiMH cheat to recharge it. Once charged I bound it and set it away. That was two days ago.

Today I turn it on, and nada, opened it up, everything looks good. Decided to rebind and voila, problem solved. But curiously failed to bind twice. Is it the reciever or my iX12? More on that later (related to my Alpha Sport and its reciever, same make). This reciever has been quite reliable.

It continued to work fine, even after swapping boats back and forth. She is not much of a sailor, but is pretty on the water. I think a quality set of sails would changeover the water and when underway. The main has too much sail at the top causing quite a twist under all conditions,, and it can't be made tighter with rigging. 

Everything settled down and I simply enjoyed the sun, water, and the boats. 

At home, relaxing, last 2 says of my 10 day staycay, waiting for a replacement reciever. That's likely my next story.

Cleaning up the Alpha Sport 450

On getting back home with the Alpha Sport 450 wing, I took a good look at my Alpha Sport. Crikey, I have neglected it... Spent some time fixing and cleaning up a few issues.

The motor mount did take a beating. The sides of the compartment are warped out, the motor mount all twisted. I removed the motor and ESC for the first time is some 15 years.

The firewall is a bloody mess. When I say that up until recently it had never been crashed, while true the OEM front gear wasn't sturdy for non-paved style runways and ripped out. I installed a much sturdier one and have had no issues since, but this required building up the firewall. Its a mess and I think the mount blind buts are loose and the wood they are secured to unreliable. The easiest thing to do was to fabricate a new firewall to epoxy over the old one. Curiously this works without interfering with the land gear mount. I installed this and tomorrow will reinstall the motor. I trimmed the mount extenders to accommodate the loss if depth. Changed the prop, pretty sure thismone is at least 10 years old and it looks it. I have a gray APC 10x7 on hand but have a couple black ones coming soon. Tomorrow we'll see what sideways BS will surely challenge me, and get the engine back on. Then cleanup and repair worn cote, reinstall the wing and yes, it may very well be the first plane I fly at Flying Tigers in Derry, NH.

Alpha Sport 450 wing repairs are done!

 John has completed the work on my demolished Alpha Sport 450 wing and the quality of the work is stunning...

I am so lucky to know John and am so grateful for his time, skill and craftsmanship. A sixer of Guinness will be yours soon!

Thanks, John!

Wow... John Hayes rebulids the Alpha Sport 450 wing

 

This was the state of my Apha Sport 450 wing after my controlled flight into a line of trees that proved closer than advertised. The right wing leading edge had a fractured as martial loss not as impressive but seious as well. Repairing this requires skills far beyond mine, yet I was loath to abandon what is my first true rc aircraft.

On a whim I approached John Hayes, a friend from SNHRCC. I knew he is a master builder, and I felt if there was any hope,i t would be him. He agreed, and a couple of days ago I dropped it off (and experienced the wonderland that is his workshop for the first and I hope not last time). Two. Days. Ago.

He sent me these pics today:

The right wing.  Can't even tell where the damage was.

This is the repaired left wing. Are you kidding me? Its literally new. This is a rare level of skill.

He will cote them and let me know when to come-back it up. I just can't wrap my head around how well this repair has come out. I am just so impressed by John's skills as a builder, just so please with the outcome here.

Thank you, John. You are giving me my baby back.

My Alpha Sport 450 back when I got her over a decade ago. 

Sadly, like many good things, no longer produced.

Prior planning prevents piss poor performance...

 

The great news is my friend, John, whom I suspected was a master builder, will take on the repair of my Alpha Sport wing. I had almost opted to just by the latest generic trainer that looks very much like the Alpha Sport, but mine is part of my story and I couldn't just let it go.  He's an Engineer, and I mean capital E Engineer, as I realized when I saw his workshop. Over 40 years of RC experience, a lot of it hanging from the ceiling in his ginormous spectacular and manufacturing level equipped workshop. So much history. Next time I am there I will take pics, I was too awe struck to think of it today. John's skills at expert building and cote work just dazzled me?. So many complex surfaces that look painted smooth as clear ice... My little project is but a sneeze for him. Dude is a legend.

The lack of planning that bit me in the ass was me rushing out of the garage grabbing two planes without inspecting them. After visiting John, I headed out to the Flying Tigers field in Derry. It was a bit awash with recent rains, but flyable. Turns out the tail wheel connected to the rudder of the MX2 had broken off the bottom of the rudder. Also, the ailerons went literally juggy with vibrations intermittently.  You no fly. Turned to the Cubby only to find the model wasnt even programmed into my iX12...  I had purged a few planes, but I wouldn't have purged that one. No problem, its a simple setup, made q model and programmed my DR/Expo. Ok, the reciever, into which I need to plug in the bind plug, under the wing, attached by two 2.0 hex top screws. Easy-peasy. Except I don't have a 2.0 hex driver in my go box. Son of a ....

The gods have warned me its time to go home. Several times.

Got home and went straight to the garage workshop. Easily fixed the rudder thingy. Epoxied it, and added a popsicle stick along the bottom to add structural strength so this won't happen again (will add a pic tomorrow). Then I decided to swap out the aileron servos as the jigging kept happening. Made sure it wasn't the reciever, it wasn't. Should be an easy pull and replace.  Well...  the plane is sealed and the leads wind their way through the fuse to make it to the instrument compartment. The fuse is made rigid by a wood box that runs thru most of the fuse and a center wall to wall plate of thick foam There would be no simple pull and replace. Had to crudely tunnel along the wires to release them and pull them. Then to pass the new leads, more tunneling thru foam. That wasn't so bad. 

The servo arms laughed at that notion. The small arms had a special extension arm of brittle plastic on it held together to the servo arm by a very tiny screw. Had to carefully take it apart, and reestablish it on the new one. Hand drilled a small pre-hole, and replace the tiny screw. Of course the screw has a 1 mm hex head hole, my smallest driver being 1.5. Used needle nose pliers to extract that. Replaced the screw and the new arm, and installed. All's good. Started out smoothly with the other one right up to when the special arm snapped while screwing in the retaining hole. Great. That's just great.  Found a plastic part I could trim and make new extensions. Yes, extensions, as they need to be identical on both sides.   And... it won't accept superglue, which I need to hold them. I sanded them, glued again, clamped, and walked away.  I hope the sanding creates a bondable surface. I just need it to hold long enough to put a couple of retaining screws in, very tiny ones. This plastic won't split. We will see how that goes tomorrow.

Never got around to binding g the Cubby, that for tomorrow too.

Having an awesome time!

Cosmic Wind Updated and the Ultrastick Wing Repaired

Busy day today. Feeling a bit under the weather, so hung out in the garage workshop. I really hate having to work out there... the dirt floor being the biggest negative. At least I have a space.

I have rarely flown this speedy beast. My reinvigorated interest stems from Flying Tigers field having a geotex runway which is perfect for this plane. This is the Cosmic Wind I built back in 2011. It has been a hangar queen for so long it isn't in the iX12. I updated it today adding a OrangeRx ORX Rx3S gyro stabilization system. I had pulled the original receiver, I think an OrangeRx, and so today put in the old version Spektrum AR6100 from the Alpha Sport. I set up the gyro, but it will take a few flights to tune the sensitivities. I don't know that it needs it, but its nice to have it when I need it i. Such a small plane Everything works fine. It uses one servo for the ailerons. It has a powerful motor and ESC. Screamer, will need to be careful.

I am building the 3rd (is it my 4th?)  Ultrastick 10cc finally. I have built them too heavy, using a large battery, and having to add a lot of weight to get CG when the tail servos are installed in the tail. I will build this one with the servos in the center and a standard smaller battery. In the last crash that weight made it hard for it to come out of a hammerhead. The fuse was totalled, but the wing came thru pretty unscathed, so I am going to reuse it. Same one as in this pic. The other day I fixed a transverse crack in the middle, and today re-coted it. This was a bit of a challenge as my cote skills are rudimentary at best, and the repair required a thin rectangle of balsa that I found hard to smoothly cote around the edges. I managed, not too shabby!

Its nice to be getting back into things again. Today I also joined NH Flying Tigers, so I can now officially fly there. I hope to get out there and get used to flying again, which has me a bit nervous since I crashed the Alpha Sport 450, my go to "new experience " (ie, new fields new season) plane. I do have a couple of 450 sized planes I can use instead, so its not all bad. Hope to have the Ulteastick build finished during this staycation so I can maiden it there.

I asked a friend, who builds, if he would be interested in rebuilding the Alpha Sport's wing. I might be able to, but  don't know how I would make the replacement ribs. I took a better pic of the damage so you can see its totalled...

I may have no choice but to take a swing at it.

A busy day. My spirit is willing, but my body is saying I need to take a break.  I am not used to having time off so I feel I need to rush back out, but that's how mistakes get made. I can, however, get some sim time in!