My little patch of heaven...

If it just wasn't as hot as hell... Temps in the 90's lead to heat index temps in the low 100's. We watched water evaporate from our bottles before we could drink it. I had to change the stock prop on the 450 as it go too soft to provide adequate thrust! But what a day. The only clouds were on the horizon, a light haze that could make it hard to see a plane way up and out. The winds were fairly calm and when they blew they were kind enough to blow straight down the runway for a sweet 18 final. We had a good crowd, and everyone flew again and again and again! Joe solo'd (YAY!), we had Kenny and Dave up on the trainers. The carnage was limited to one plane... My damn cubby.

What is it with that plane anyway? At least she didn't woo me with several packs of good times before killing herself. I had her rebuilt for the billionth time, and she took off sharp and sweet, flew some aerobatics, behaved wonderfully, then after 10 minutes, coming in over the road at the north end of the runway, I pulled power back from 1/4 to off to land and she nose dived before I could spit, slamming into the road. Everyone at BMF is getting used to it: she flies great and ends with a bang. I am almost done playing this game with her... really. She snapped her canopy apart, cracked her wing (which is getting more swept back, which likely worsens her already crappy stall characteristics), and that right aileron eventually came off. Oh, and I found out I can actually snap off the motor shaft... So it will be a while before I have her flight ready as I am waiting for another canopy, but I think that's it. When I run out of parts, we are done playing this insane obsessive game. Or so I say now...

I finally solo'd the MX2, after CJ put her through a thorough run, and she is growing on me. She requires a bit more skill than I have now, so I have to be careful. I can only fly her when my wife lets me borrow her crossover as she won't fit in the Lexus. CJ also maidened the Eflite PT-17 Stearman for me, and I solo'd her too! All in all a great day of flying for me, rounded out by over a dozen flights on the Alpha Sport 450! You can read the brief PIREPS on these planes, the MX2 here and the PT-17 here! I was in my little piece of heaven... loved every minute of it! This club is the best thing I have done for myself, ever...

Ron provided lunch! Some really quite good baked chicken with spices ala Ron, and rice with gravy! Lemon cake for dessert. Hit the spot just fine, thank you!

Ron in his little element!  Smart man, our Ron.

CJ, sleepless in Gulfport. Worked all night in Louisiana, drove straight from work and flew like an ace all day!

The pit was busy!

CJ flying his clone (I think EXI?) 450. He has flown planks since he was 11 years old, but took up heli's only a few months ago. To watch him you would think he has flown helis his entire life... makes me want to puke.

Taking a moment from his 3D to let me get a shot. Makes me want to puke...

Our man Devin with his Seagull Edge 540.

 

Me at the end of the day. So wiped I couldn't suck that gut in for the pic. Watching CJ fly and trying not to puke with envy.

Wonderful day full of firsts for all of us. So many have come so far during the short time I have been here, that I can only imagine how good we will all be in the times to come! I wasn't planning on coming out again tomorrow, but how can I resist my crack? (And how can I justify denying you my presence)?  See you all tomorrow, and probably Sunday too!

Eflite PT-17 Stearman PIREP

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways! This Stearman is a winner! And just like the Cornell, I suspect Eflite will cancel production some time soon since it is such a great plane (like they did with my favorite PT-19 Cornell...), so get them while you can!

CJ maidened her and we decided we needed even more weight in the front of the aircraft. She already has a boatload of Pinewood Derby lead plate in the nose, and we added a big hunk of lead that Ron gave me. That and setting her up with a little mechanical down elevator and she flies like a dream. She is quite heavy, and we didn't want to add anymore weight (I am flying her with a 3S 3000 mAh battery). If I can fly her she doesn't require any special skill, but I had to pay full attention to her. She is responsive to slight inputs and needs a kick of coordinated rudder in her turns. She rolls slowly and deliberately, but will loop tight over her own fuse. She is quick and agile, other than the tendency to roll slowly. She has some power, and is fast, but she is no speed demon. She glides well, and is a nice lander, but attention has to be paid to keeping her tail on the ground as she will flip over if you so much as burp. In two landings I had to walk out and turn her over both times.  I was psyched out a bit by how difficult the Phoenix version of this plane is to ground handle and how it glides like a rock, but the real Eflite Stearman had neither problem and was a pleasure to drive around on the ground and to fly! I taco'd the other 3S 3000 mAh battery when I stubbed the Cornell, so our flying was limited to 3 flights, but there is no doubt she is a winner! She is so much fun, and few planes look or sound as good flying by! She is definitely on my favorite plane list! Love her!

BlitzRCWorks MX2 PIREP

Today CJ flew the heck out of my BlitzRCWorks MX2, and I solo'd her myself. When he flew there was a lot of  "oooh!" and awe, when I flew there was a lot of "oh..." and "ahh...." He did better...

She has a tendency to be tail heavy so you have to shove that 4S battery waaaay up there, and check CG on every flight (I have a sticker in there to remind me in big red letters). Getting the battery in and out can be a challenge. She will not fly if at all tail heavy, so please don't even try or she will waffle to her death and easily roll onto her back. She has power, not enough to hover, but she can climb like a monkey. CJ took her through a thorough routine. Steady knife edges, clean quick turns, fast response to the elevator so that a sharp 90 degree from horizontal to vertical happens with slight elevator. She snaps sharp and as CJ put it, "will spiral like a football!" She flies fine slow, but be very light on the controls as she doesn't like slow speed maneuvering. Keep some speed on her or she'll waffle long before she stalls. Be attentive on takeoff, climb out straight, get some speed on then let loose. Too much power and her tail starts to flutter. She is touchy, but a light thoughtful hand can fly her sweet. CJ loved heavy aerobatics with her. She gave him brisk responses and fast speed changes. On landing she is pretty straightforward, but she will glide power-off forever. Which is where I ran into trouble. I ran out of runway and when I powered out I didn't apply enough power, let enough speed come back on, before I tried rolling her away from the tree line at the end of the runway and she waffled hard onto to her soft landing gear. Bleed off speed on a shallow approach with a late flare all the way down, or she will flip over her gear. The landing gear are a mixed blessing. Soft so that on a crash they bend and not rip the wood plate out of the foam, but so soft that any slight insult and they bend. When they bend, be sure to remove them and straighten them, don't do it on the fuse or you will rip out the gear plate. As I mentioned I tossed the wheel pants after the first couple of flights. The hinges are a bit delicate... I bumped one of the ailerons taking her out of the car and the tiny hinge at the outer edge broke.

CJ has a very high level of skill and he loved this plane. Once he got a feel for her he took her throughout her envelope without having to work at it. For me, a beginner, it is a lot of plane. I was behind her a lot, and had a tendency to over control her a bit. She is not a beginner nor a second plane, and I will need to be very careful handling her until my skills catch-up with her. In my first pirep I wasn't too fond of her, but I am warming up! She is a lot of fun for a good pilot, a lot of work for a beginner.

UPDATE (6.5.11): Today I had to bring her in as an emergency landing when one her elevator hinges gave way and the elevator began to flutter madly. Of course the landing gear bent, again... The hinges are teenie weenie plastic hinges that snap with the slightest provocation. I am replacing them all with CA hinges using foam safe CA. There is a lot of slosh in the control horns too. Jim advised me to use some stiff plastic to create a larger surface for the control horn to work against. Here she is above after I repaired/rebent the gear... I don't like the way they sweep back.

NNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!

Its official.... Horizon Hobby has discontinued the Eflite PT-19 Cornell !!!!!!!

Its all up to you now, Greg! You have to save her!

Bad pinion rocks Frankenheli

I have replaced the tail shaft in Franky and took her to the garage for a test hover. The shaft was bent in a couple of places, along the mid shaft and near the tip. Weird.

What is curious to me is that I never had a severe vibration before. I re-checked, everything is balanced. The vibration is diminished but not entirely absent when blades off, and only happens at a certain RPM range, not above or below. I was turning the main gear by hand when I noticed an excessive amount of backlash, such that the main gear teeth nearly came of the pinion. Or should I say, its the other way around. Turns out the pinion is drilled off center... Curious I never noticed it before... neither the vibration nor the mis-drilled pinion. I suspect this is the cause of the vibration.

Off center drilled...

I also am becoming skeptical of these $10 HK mini-MEMS gyros. This one doesn't seem to hold the head. now; it did seem to before when I first fired up Franky. Maybe its the excess vibration from the bad pinion that sets it off a bit. I will start with a new pinion (damned if the one I have is barely too small for the motor shaft). If the gyro doesn't hold, I will likely try a Spartan Quark on her, but I don't feel like buying one just yet.

So, still no flyable helis.

All shiny again!

Dropped by HobbyTown USA while I was over in Mobile this morning and picked up some white Econo-cote and a new sealing iron sock. Now this, this is what a LHS should look like... In the same space as my LHS has, these guys had planes, helis, and parts, parts, parts! Now, they too only sold Eflite a/c, no Trex that I saw, but wow, I have no doubt that if I needed it they would have it (Arnie, they have that Carbon Z Yak -54 you want!). More than that, their customer service was outstanding. I walked about listening in, and their advice was knowledgeable and sound, given in a friendly way. All in all, very nice experience, and any time I am over in Mobile, I will be stopping by!

And with that white Econo-cote, and some red Ultra-cote I had on hand (I do like applying the Ultracote better, but once applied they seem the same), I completed the repairs on my Alpha Sport 450 I had started yesterday after I dropped her on her head during a botched landing.

This is what she looked like after the crash. The firewall was stove in (all 4 sides were pushed into the fuse), the side wall was cracked and internal supports fractured. While involved this was a rather simple repair once I planned it out. I replaced the supports with wood from Greg's crash, epoxied them and the firewall sandwich repair Greg advised, rebuilt the fuse behind the wheel mount with more wood from Greg's crash, and all that was left was to let everything cure and cote it today. I also re-coted the cote that stripped off behind the main gear when I repaired the mount a couple of days ago, so now her cote is all fixed.

While it looks a little orangey, it is the same red. I coted across the top between the firewall and the window. You can see one of the plywood sandwich pieces on the right behind the engine. 

You can see a hint of the extra wood that makes up the bottom of the fuse just behind the front gear, but the cote work looks great.

Here is the sidewall that cracked nearly off. You can see a small indentation, but other than that the repair came out quite clean.

Very excited to fly her tomorrow! Will be taking the Cubby and the (gulp) Stearman out to play too! Hope things go well! I soooo miss the Cornell, she was such an awesome flyer. I bought her a new tail wheel, a bit bigger than the one she had, so when she comes back from Greg's Magic Repair Shop, I will have a little gift for her!

They were dropping like flies...

Beautiful weather today out at BMF, but a tough one on our spirits. We had an incredible day, though there be piratey gusts coming from the NE today. Our winds usually come out of the south, but today we had shifting variable winds out of the NE and east causing us to use a right hand pattern and a lot of cross wind landings. Which explains in part why airplanes were dropping like flies...

Today's flight program!

I flew the Alpha first today, not wanting to fuss with the Cubby to start my day. It was so much fun! I love flying the Alpha and will always bring her to the field, I think. Perfect trainer! I flew her for several packs, recharged them and flew for several more. The winds were picking up as the afternoon progressed, and I was practicing crosswind landings. I was trying to bring my approach angle down, as I tend to start high above the forest at the south end because the trees scare me to death. Today's northerly winds required a runway 36 approach right over those damn trees. I had worked my way down, nearly hovering about 4 feet above the ground after aborting two landings, and the wind shifted. I should have applied power, but I thought I could set her down. Her nose dived and she landed right on it punching the motor through the firewall. No other damage! Using wood donated by Greg's dead plane (more on that below) I epoxied the firewall back in place and shored up the supports. A little red Ultracote and she'll be as good as new!

Cracked the side wall, stove in the firewall, no other damage.

My Cubby flew oddly, as is her habit, wanting to dive with the slightest provocation, and it took a lot of up elevator to get her to takeoff or to rise. I managed to bring her back both first flights, but it was a lot of work. This non-deadly experience finally illuminated what the problem has been, and I wonder if it is what was wrong with Phoenixcubby.

The angle of incidence along the main wing chord (blue line) should parallel that of the elevator assembly (the red line). You can see here that the current angles will cause the plane to want to dive and will require, yup, lots of up elevator to fly trimmed. To address this I worked the canopy and the tail to adjust these angles. Which worked fantastically! But on coming in for landing (there's always a "but" with Cubby) I flared and the entire empennage (the tail feathers, elevator and rudder) came right off the airplane! I guess I weakened them working the angles. No other damage and the tail was intact, just no longer attached. I gathered the parts, glued her together with a couple more toothpick spars in a couple of minutes, and put her in the trunk to dry. Just checked her out at home, added a screw to the elevator control horn, taped the tail a bit, and she's flight ready!

The Cornell flew wonderfully this morning! I completely figured out how to land her and did cycles over and over again! Flew several packs and enjoyed every minute of it. Then coming out of a loop a little too close to the ground to start with, I decided to open the loop up and before I realized my mistake she was heading into the ground with a slight roll. I lost orientation as I realized what was happening and she smacked the ground nose first. She is badly damaged...

The right wing is broken clean in half, held together by the cote, the firewall and engine mount is completely shattered, and there is a stress fracture of several ribs of the fuselage under the body just behind the wing on the right. I am so bummed, but Greg, our Master Builder, is confident he can have her flight ready in a few weeks! I hope so, I miss her already. Silly novice mistake... I had no business doing acrobatics that close to the ground. All the more reason to bring the Stearman out on Friday!

The Cornell crash also taco'd a 3S 3000 mAh Blue Lipo... 

I accidentally left it on the fence, boys. I'll get it Friday!

As part of our airplane death cycle, Greg's Edge 540 lost an aileron linkage. It was painful to watch. The plane suddenly fluttered like crazy, then stabilized. He knew it needed to land not knowing what was wrong at first, and turned to bring her in when all hell broke loose and she rolled continuously into the ground.

She is a total loss. The forward fuse was completely destroyed, his motor shaft is bent tanking the motor, and the fuse was fractured and crushed aft of the cockpit. The more he looked at it the more broken parts he found. He donated wood to repair my Alpha Sport, so a part of her will always be around, but it was heartbreaking for all of us. Greg took it well, but it really upset him. Its bad enough when we lose a plane, but an equipment failure as a cause is just horrible.

The misery ended with our good friend Ron's misfortune. On the maiden flight of his brand new, coveted Seagull Aircraft Harrier 3D the motor quit just after climbing out, forcing a quick, tail wind landing. The plane would not bleed off speed, and ended up without enough runway, nesting with the Ents at the south end. We all just stood there in silence as the whole episode unfolded. Excellent pilotage to recover and bring her in, but physics is God, and in the end won out, much to our, and Ron's, chagrin. Ron was so upset, and as I fished it out of the woods, he lamented it was destroyed. But really, the leading edge of the wings was all that was damaged from tree strikes. But as you can see in this stock photo, the leading edge of this plane is a deliicate lattice work. I didn't get a pic of his plane, I was just too upset to remember, but you can see from this stock photo that the leading edge is a thing of beauty. Ron swore he was done with Nitro after this, but 30% flows in his veins...

Others had a fabulous day! For instance, here's something you won't see very often. Paul with an electric foamie, a P-47 Thunderbolt he won at an Irvington Fly-in! Its a beautiful plane. He flies it with the grace and precision of his competition pattern heritage. We all just stand there and shake our heads as he executes a perfect 4-point roll time and again. He flew it the way a warbird deserves to be flown! He also took up one of his Extras, and made us again shake our heads in unworthiness.  He is our God.

Paul and Arnie tuned up the flight controls on one of Arnies new Yaks. One of the privileges of being in a club like ours is having people like Arnie and Paul work out the kinks on a new plane, giving the pilot a whole new flight experience!

Paul and Arnie

Jerry and Joe buddied a good series of flights. Joe did a great job managing the odd winds and the trainer landed gear side down every time. All in all, despite our losses, it was a really wonderful day at the field, and I can't wait for Friday, and if Ron's heartbreak heals, baked chicken for lunch! I have the Cubby and Alpha back in flight status, and I hope to have Jerry maiden my PT-17 Stearman, then take her up  myself, especially now that I killed the Cornell. Though, if I crash the Stearman, I will breakdown and cry like a 9 yo little girl...

By the way, resist the urge to run across the runway without your shoes on, or your wife will spend an hour digging the hundred little thorns out of you very sore feet... I'm just saying...