Eflite Pulse XT 25e

I know I have said this a dozen times, but here's my next airplane, the Eflite Pulse XT 25e!

I love her fine lines. Her fuse is a sweet narrow aspect, her wing a nice ever so slight dihedral with symmetric airfoil that will fly great Sport and help me develop my aerobatic skills. I have a feeling that she will be a prize addition to my hangar, a plane I will be able to fly and then push to progressive limits! She is reasonably priced, beautiful, aerodynamically sound, powerful and upgradeable.

I do want to get the Elflite Ultimate too, but don't know that I am ready to fly her yet. My sills are not up to the requirements for an aerobatic biplane. I do think that some time on the Pulse XT and I will be ready!

Aw, man...

 

See those two boxes there next to the door? Brought by my friend, Mr. UPSman? Those two boxes my wife took a picture of for me? In those boxes are my new Cub and Sopwith from Powerline Hobbies, and all I can do is look at the brown boxes down there in Biloxi, while I'm up here in Meridian. Oh, there's a cute cat in the pic too.... Can't wait to open the boxes! And squish the cat...

12 Angry Men

I've decided to take a break from my Flying Club. Not from flying my RC planes and helis, but from MCRCC. It seems they are in the process of devouring one another, and I don't need the drama... its sad. Great bunch of individuals, but put them in a room together or try to have a conversation about club stuff and there's screaming and blood all over the place. I have a feeling things are just going to get worse because a few toxic individuals are driving it out of control.

I posted this on our website after out last meeting...

Seems like it might be time to talk about the elephant in the room...

Dick Ober read a prepared statement today about a controversial issue for our club. As issues go its not a major one so his trepidation wasn't about the issue, it was about the reaction. He was worried about the one thing the surely kills most clubs across the world. Egos. It went better, but there was still gnashing of teeth, and people walking out.

Since I joined this club I have found the waters are beautiful, the beaches wonderful, but the sharks unpredictable. A word, a gesture, a written thought, a silence, where someone sits or doesn't sit, the way someone looks or talks, a sticker given as a chuckle that you are one of us... any number of things can set the sharks into a frenzy making people leave the water and then the beach. The sharks are just milling about, waiting for an offense to set them off. Sometimes this makes the other fish nervous and jumpy, and they too get triggered easily. In time this nervous energy makes for an empty beach... and a bunch of unhapppy fish.

This club is not about who has the best toys, the most toys, the shiniest or the most expensive. Its not about who is the best pilot, the best instructor, the worst pilot, the best or the worst member. Its about flying RC, learning from one another, hearing funny stories, stories of crashes and successes, and sometimes just stories. Its about becoming friends around a shared interest. Its not about finding insult or supporting egos.We come together to enjoy one another's company, to welcome the diversity, or not, but to never let the sharks scare away the fish, especially the new small ones.Here the little fish should never be afraid of the bigger fish, or the sharks.

Please, keep the sharks away, let go of our egos, have fun and enjoy one another and our great hobby. Stop chumming the waters.... Or maybe I have made a big mistake and have it all wrong.

Fair winds and following seas. Keep the lifties under the wings, and may your landings equal your takeoffs. And remember the Four Agreements.

I can still fly at BMF. The field, pits and clubhouse are open to all Harrison County residents with an AMA license. I'll still be there. When it comes time to renew my membership, I will think long and hard about what I get from being a member of the club when I can fly without being a member. What is the benefit of paying to be a member of this flying club? 12 Angry Men who want everyone to be miserable as they are? This club is not what I thought at first. I may decide to drive half the distance to Ocean Springs instead, but I like a lot of the guys who fly at BMF, and I like the facilities (though the field, a source of ginormous friction in the club, could use a lot of work). Somehow I'm not sure the grass is greener over there... No one will take the joy and peace of flying RC (okay, and masochistic annoyance of crashing) away from me. I can still be with the guys and the hobby I so enjoy, without the drama.

I'm happier already... yup, soooo happy.... Happy me... Woo whoo...

EDIT (8/19/11): 12 Angry Men, a film by Sidney Lumet, starring Henry Fonda, 1957

Cornell Toast

I started the autopsy on the Cornell and it has not illuminated the cause of the up elevator fiasco. Bobby was maidening her with her new wing, took off sweet, and got stuck in up elevator, climbed to her death.

The wing cracked a spar, but did not separate. I removed the cote and was able to easily CA the spar. Good as new. I will replace the cote and be done with it. Once I re-cote it, it will look great and have full function.

The fuse is toast. It is fractured along every spar in several places, and the cross struts are all busted up. There is no way I will be able fix it. I will likely order a new fuse... please let that be the end of it. Let her fly like she used to with her new wing and new fuse...

I love this plane waaay too much to let go.

Way too much. Now I'm crying... sobbing like an 8 year old little girl...

Doc's Cubby by Steve Burton

Steve videoed me flying my Cubby. Its got a nice 8mm look to it! Thanks, Steve!

Airfield 1400 mm Zero Coming Soon!

Clean Cubby

The past couple of flight days the Suicidal Cubby has been in a mood and rolls hard left or right as her feet leave the ground, whatever she wants, and slams into the ground. She has broken her motor mount, parted her motor "bolts", cracked her fuse... she has been just a pleasure these past few days. Today was no different. One takeoff-crash combo, and I had enough. I took her home and cleaned her up, redid her cote and tape, made her tighter and more secure. I re tilted the motor to improve her thrust vector and give her a bir more right. She broke my last 8x6 APC eprop, so I put a 9 x7.5 I had on her, which is probably better for the Alpha 400 motor she has on her. She looks great!

Suicidal Cubby all cleaned and snugged up!

Tomorrow's brood. I'll be taking the Stearman up, happily I hope. I will have a better runway for the Trojan, and we'll see if Cubby will break her recent depression and soar!