Yet again...

After spending so much time at home getting the Stik's  RCGF 10cc gas engine tuned, I get to Hudson and she won't start. So I spent the next 2 hrs trying to get her to run and then to idle without stopping.

High idle, then just quits. Hopefully I have solved this. Considering getting a new carb. By the time I got a decent throttle the receiver and ignition packs were low voltage, so no flight test.

Jumper T16 Transmitter: That's a lot of radio...

I ran across a Heli Direct ad for the new Jumper T16 Transmitter. Its gotten some buzz among the non-Spektrum/Futaba committed crowd. They can't seem to keep them in stock, and looking at the specs and the price, its easy to understand why. At $149 this 16 channel radio sports multiple compatibilities out of the box due to a 4-in-1 module, most intersting for me Spektrum DSMX is one of those. The JR module can be exchanged for several other protocols. A large 4.3 inch color non-touch screen, and voice call-outs, among many other choice specs. It does telemetry, but I am not sure what is needed.

A 16 channel quality radio for $149. What gives?

Ladies and Gentlemen, I present: The Phoenix Spitfire 10cc!

Today I checked the tune up with the 3 blade prop (lost 2k RPM, now peaking around 8300) and installed the cowl. She looks amazing and I am very excited about her! This was a very straight forward build, my little landing gear diversion aside. No major screw ups. The CG was spot on! As soon as a day off and weather combine favorably the maiden flight will surely be flawless!

Powerplant: Evolution 10cc gas

Prop: Master Airscrew 12x8x3 

Landing gear: Hobby King servoless electric

Receiver Pack: Pulse 2S 2550 mAh

Ignition Power:  off the TechAero Ultra BEC

Receiver: Spektrum AR8010T with satellite

Servos: Tactic TSX-47 metal gear digital

Couple of other things today...

This morning I worked on starting up and tuning the RCGF 10cc engine on the Stik. This is the one I rebuilt and broke the piston ring, had issues with a mistake I made on the metering diaphragm of the carb, and it has a newer cylinder because I stripped the plug threads. So essentially I am breaking in a new engine. I have her running well, but her idle has been a bit high and iffy. Working the low needle for the smooth transition and a decent idle, and finding the balance between low end point on the servo and the low needle setting, giving me a decent no-thrust idle that didn't die, took an hour, but I have come pretty close. I think as she breaks in this will settle down. I wanted to fly her today, but conditions and situations weren't right. Patience.

On my way home from RC Aces in North Hampton, I decided to see what conditions were like at Wason Pond Field, off NH 102 in Chester. There was a clear field, nicely cut, and some wind gusts but manageable. I flew three batteries and enjoyed myself, getting my flying thumbs tuned up. All in all a nice flight.

RC Aces: Yeah, it's a marsh, but it's a dry marsh, and the natives are friendly

The weather was wonderful, clear blue skies, and the winds light. I wanted to take advantage of this and headed out to RC Aces in North Hampton. I have been thinking about joining since Gary Hoffman mentioned he now flies out of there. It's a nice field, flat, two runways, and a group that takes very good care of it. Being a bit of a long drive from my house, it's also nice that they have a small solar and power generator charging station. I looked over their website and was pretty impressed, seemed like a nice club to join. Another $75 a year for a membership... need to think about it.

30 miles, about 40 min.

This is on the way back out, but this is the dirt road that accesses the field behind Joe's Meat Shoppe. If you don't know the road is back there you will drive right by it. Gary had said something about it being behind this shop and it stuck in my head. Glad it did as the GPS took me to the wrong side of the field. I drove back remembering what Gary said and found the road. 

I was lucky that Cappy Polito and Mike Larson were there! There is a locked gate and I wouldn't have been able to get to the field. They were just leaving but kindly stayed and showed me around, and let me put the Alpha 450 up. The ground is marshy, and recent rains have made it very mushy wet. Everywhere was marshy wet and muddy, I almost got stuck leaving! They noted that in the summer its much drier and not marshy. I really appreciated their kindness and would be comfortable there. It's clear that this is a very well cared for field, and its flat all around. There are some tall and taller in the season, vegetation nearby, so having to bring down or losing a plane would be an adventure to find it, but I would be able to see it all the way down. It was too windy and the Alpha bobbed all around, so I flew only for a few minutes. Since they had stayed to let me fly, I decided not to fly the Stik, which could likely have handled the winds fine.

Parking viewed from the field.

The solar charging station.

Some of the prep tables.

A view across the field.

View from the parking lot into the field.

I think this is a very nice field, and if Cappy and Mike are any indication the club has a nice friendly membership that takes very good care of their field. If I don't join it will be paying out another fee and having to drive a rather long way. We'll see.

First flight of the season, and it rained...

Not much to do for the Spitfire build, waiting for paint to dry on the cowl, so I decided to charge a few batteries and head out to the ball field near my home and fly the Eflite Alpha 450, my original trainer and go to for first flights. She flew fine, but it started to rain, landed then it settled into a sprinkle. The pitter-patter caught my attention. Want some more practice...

Spitfire Break-in

Today was a busy day. I put the markings on. I took her out back and ran the first and second full tanks, using the rules set in the manual. I did some minor tuning of the needles. There is still a little lag in run up from idle to full throttle. Even during the break-in runs I could hear the engine becoming more efficient.

This is one sweet engine.

I had tried the muffler extension to see if it would deflect the exhaust oil. It points up and out. It deflected it alright. Sucker is soft silicone so if flutters and sprayed the entire side. I removed it. Without it I get a patch across the wing and less on the fuse. I can deal with that. I have since put a piece of duct tape just on the leading edge where the heat and oil collect on the leading edge to about mid way along the chord.

The new flat profile fuel dot came in. I installed it replacing the red one. This looks so much better.

My Master Airscrew 12x8x3 prop arrived. The gloss is new, these used to come matte. Nice, I like.

The cut-outs to allow the cowl to fit. 

The landing gear have always been twisty and today I had had enough. Past attemps to fix have failed. I removed them and cleaned up the JB Weld of my last attempt, and let some super thin CA fill in around the posts. I then used 15 min epoxy and reinstalled the gear. Hopefullu that will be thw ned of that!