Southern New Hampshire Flying Eagles RC Club

I made it out to Southern NH Flying Eagles R/C Club in Merrimack, NH today. There was a nice crowd, a lot of club officers were there, and I felt welcomed and far more comfortable than before. It helped, I am sure, that the trees are still bare, so the field felt more open than when the foliage is in full bloom.

I flew my stalwart Alpha 450 through 4 packs, and got comfortable with the tree lines, and lining up with the the Geotec runway. Approaches from the north are easy, but from the south, well, that's gonna take some practce. The trees are right there. A nice steady headwind from the north allowing a very slow approach with a nice floating steep descent nose high would be ideal for getting in there.

The winds aloft were brisk, but there was a moment when it settled down, and I took the recently repaired Pulse XT25e up for a spin, and practiced approaches. She did well here.

I think flying my 10 cc planes here will be fine, but my 30 cc would be tight unless I really pushed her down.

They tell me Tuesdays are the popular days, with beers at The Common Man afterwards. I was the last to leave, and I was glad to be able to close and lock the gate behind me. I think I found my new RC home.

Time to Club Again

I've gotten tired of being at the whim of the quality of the field grass at the Joppa Hill Fields and having landing gear ripped off, and not being able to fly aircraft with smaller wheels. I am tired of repairing those landing gear, which I have spent the afternoon doing.

I have been a member of the Southern NH Flying Eagles for two years, and have flown there once. I didn't really like the feeling of flying in a hole. Most of the flying is done over a forest across from the runway, so the plane is high and distant. And when I was there I didn't get a warm vibe. They weren't rude or distant, it just didn't gel for me. But I only went once...

I Iike to fly, chat, and learn, and I think that is best done in a club environment. I just hope they are a fun bunch.

Wheels on, repairs done. She being my best will be the one I take to the club field.

Rough day at the office: Field Sucks

Two flights, two ripped off landing gear. The field is major clumpy... its a soccer/lacrosse field, and its not rolled. Hopefully it will be, or there will be some twisted ankles.

That dark spot is the pothole, about 4" deep, that my plane rolled into on a beautifully executed touch-and-go rollout.  Pulse XT25e.

I kinda own this one. First flight with the Master Airscrew 13x8x3. Runs sweet and smooth as glass! But in vertical, still runs out of steam, and this time gas: the engine quit in vertical. Did it overload the prop? Engine quiet, downwind landing with looooooong approach, touched down, bounce and ripped off the gear when she came down again. Of course, she ends up in the only smooth area...

Here's what she sounded like though!

Real snow, same issues

Got out today and flew, hoping to get some airborne video off the key cam.

It was kinda gusty.
The key cam failed to turn on.
One of the skiing toed down....

Winter Swamp

Went out to fly...

Field was a swamp. Ice, snow, watery grass, mud. No place to launch or land.

I am disappointed.

FAA UAS Registration

I am now officially registered as a sUAS pilot with the FAA. The FAA recently set out regulations that required pilots of drones to register with the FAA as do pilots of full scale aircraft. I really could not care less about the issue, it took me seconds to register. I would like not to have to put another registration number on my aircraft (as an AMA pilot my AMA number has to appear on all my aircraft). As of now the FAA has agreed to the AMA's request that AMA  members only need to display their AMA numbers, but I still have to register with the FAA and have my registration on me in some form when I fly (ie a pic on my phone is fine). Curiously there is no means in the registration process to link my FAA reg number with my AMA number... I sent an email and await a timely response from the FAA and the AMA. I got in under the "reimbursement" period where my $5 fee will be reimbursed, and in the future I will not have to pay the FAA as long as I am an active AMA pilot.

Oh, and of course the website crashed and I may have paid a dozen times as it told me to keep trying.

Keychain Camera Love-Hate

I love and hate these keychain cameras. They are cheap and lightweight, and the video is so-so. My one gripe is that they are designed to be clandestine, so you can't tell if it's on or off, or if its recording. You get a steady light if its on and in standby, then hitting the other button should make the light blink and turn off noting its recording. But one never knows if it actually is.

I attached mine level on the underside of the Cub wing. First flight didn't record, and I didn't bring my computer to check so had to drive home to check it. Drove back out with my computer, flew and checked, got video but it was almost all sky. Need to angle the camera down.Back to the house, made a wedge and back out for another flight. Forgot the computer. So, didn't know the video didn't record, despite all of the appropriate lights, until I got home.  Ran tests and sometimes it records, sometime it doesn't. Of course all three flights were perfect.

All I want is a light that it's recording...