Post by thevon on Mar 7, 2010 21:17:37 GMT 10
Well the weather finally relented and we got some great flying at Maleny today! I did the Cleanup Australia thing early this morning with some friends, followed by a friendly BBQ and by 11:30am the clouds didn’t look too bad so I headed north. The car was all packed up ready just in case!
My new vac bagged wing, mated to the old Minij fuselage (new tail too) was ready for a maiden. It looks rough but I just wanted to get it into the air! I’m calling it the SC1 since my aim is to make a nice-performing 60”er with flaps that’s tough enough to fly at Shorncliffe.
When I got to Bald Knob Nick was there and we put some perfectly matching servo covers on it (i.e. red foamie tape), checked the throws, tested it with a short hand toss, moved the CG a bit forward and then launched it off the lip… and it flew beautifully. A bit of fine tuning moving the CG further forward, more aileron differential, less elevator rates and I soon felt comfortable tossing it around. Very nimble, and fast, which I didn’t expect. It’s an RG15 foil. Had a go at DSing near the gate (lower rates … even lower rates …) and it really seemed to whip it up nicely.
Nick really wanted to fly his D40. Man, that thing is so small, it looks like a toy that you sit on your desk to remind you of planes while you work! It’s only had a couple of short flights and was way too twitchy last time. The wind and lift seemed good so he took a deep breath and launched it, and it went out and up, absolutely no hassles at all. But strewth that little thing is so quick!! The D40 is one heckuva amazing plane. There’s nothing else like it and Joe Manor deserves some sort of award for it. Nick had a few goes at DSing it and although the air was a bit dirty for a light small plane, the acceleration of that thing has to be believed! Landing it is a challenge as it has no flaps. But there’s a flapped version coming out apparently.
It was a day for maidens as I also had my Ditza back together after it had a radio silence about 6 weeks ago. When the wing was completely broken, with the fuse snapped off and with 2 other breaks, it looked so bad that I didn’t feel like fixing it. But after a bit of carbon surgery, servo replacements and some bad paintwork it looks as good as original. Didn’t get any photos or video today but here’s a pic of the Ditza (orange) and SC1 (yellow) back home.
Jarred, Pete, Ray, Charles etc turned up. The wind was ENE so the lift was great, the sun was out and it was a classic Bald Knob arvo. We had some more good flying then Nick, Sean and I headed off for T-Bones ridge in search of some DS energy. A short drive away on restricted private property, and a solid uphill walk, and we had the Tracer F3B, D40, Booby, SC1 and Ditza all on top. I couldn’t help myself getting the SC1 wound up and was very impressed with its ripping circuits … until it sucked down and clipped the grass doing the cartwheel nose –plant maneuver. This did substantial damage to the fuse and tore the wing from the bolts, but 20 minutes with CA, epoxy and tape had it back in the air and I showed it no mercy. I don’t think it was gunned at over 84mph, but it was so much fun. Nick’s D40 was downright amazing. Joe must have put caffeine in the layup. Incredible.
Sean ballasted the Tracer up and it thundered around in big high circuits. We were using his Stalker gun, and had a lot of trouble getting reads – maybe it’s because the Tracer has such a sleek profile. Whereas every circuit on the other planes got a read. Weird. Best speed for the Tracer was 121. I had to leave but declared I’d try to beat him with the Ditza. I thought I’d be stuck around 100 when the wind picked up and it got 111, then a couple of manically screaming laps that Nick didn’t manage to gun! So I was happy with 111mph. When I drove off in the valley below I could still hear the whistle of wings!
On our initial DS visits to this spot with foamies we found so many rotors that we’d pretty much decided it was never going to be a high –speed DS spot. But now we’re finding that the heavier and slipperier moldies really cut through the mush, and can sometimes exploit the site a lot better than foamies or lighter planes. Certainly that’s the case at Bald Knob where you can’t DS the back of the main ridge with a foamie but the Wizard or Erwin can get some good laps. Can’t wait to go back on a day with more wind. It could be good, or it could be disastrous. Only one way to find out.
My new vac bagged wing, mated to the old Minij fuselage (new tail too) was ready for a maiden. It looks rough but I just wanted to get it into the air! I’m calling it the SC1 since my aim is to make a nice-performing 60”er with flaps that’s tough enough to fly at Shorncliffe.
When I got to Bald Knob Nick was there and we put some perfectly matching servo covers on it (i.e. red foamie tape), checked the throws, tested it with a short hand toss, moved the CG a bit forward and then launched it off the lip… and it flew beautifully. A bit of fine tuning moving the CG further forward, more aileron differential, less elevator rates and I soon felt comfortable tossing it around. Very nimble, and fast, which I didn’t expect. It’s an RG15 foil. Had a go at DSing near the gate (lower rates … even lower rates …) and it really seemed to whip it up nicely.
Nick really wanted to fly his D40. Man, that thing is so small, it looks like a toy that you sit on your desk to remind you of planes while you work! It’s only had a couple of short flights and was way too twitchy last time. The wind and lift seemed good so he took a deep breath and launched it, and it went out and up, absolutely no hassles at all. But strewth that little thing is so quick!! The D40 is one heckuva amazing plane. There’s nothing else like it and Joe Manor deserves some sort of award for it. Nick had a few goes at DSing it and although the air was a bit dirty for a light small plane, the acceleration of that thing has to be believed! Landing it is a challenge as it has no flaps. But there’s a flapped version coming out apparently.
It was a day for maidens as I also had my Ditza back together after it had a radio silence about 6 weeks ago. When the wing was completely broken, with the fuse snapped off and with 2 other breaks, it looked so bad that I didn’t feel like fixing it. But after a bit of carbon surgery, servo replacements and some bad paintwork it looks as good as original. Didn’t get any photos or video today but here’s a pic of the Ditza (orange) and SC1 (yellow) back home.
Jarred, Pete, Ray, Charles etc turned up. The wind was ENE so the lift was great, the sun was out and it was a classic Bald Knob arvo. We had some more good flying then Nick, Sean and I headed off for T-Bones ridge in search of some DS energy. A short drive away on restricted private property, and a solid uphill walk, and we had the Tracer F3B, D40, Booby, SC1 and Ditza all on top. I couldn’t help myself getting the SC1 wound up and was very impressed with its ripping circuits … until it sucked down and clipped the grass doing the cartwheel nose –plant maneuver. This did substantial damage to the fuse and tore the wing from the bolts, but 20 minutes with CA, epoxy and tape had it back in the air and I showed it no mercy. I don’t think it was gunned at over 84mph, but it was so much fun. Nick’s D40 was downright amazing. Joe must have put caffeine in the layup. Incredible.
Sean ballasted the Tracer up and it thundered around in big high circuits. We were using his Stalker gun, and had a lot of trouble getting reads – maybe it’s because the Tracer has such a sleek profile. Whereas every circuit on the other planes got a read. Weird. Best speed for the Tracer was 121. I had to leave but declared I’d try to beat him with the Ditza. I thought I’d be stuck around 100 when the wind picked up and it got 111, then a couple of manically screaming laps that Nick didn’t manage to gun! So I was happy with 111mph. When I drove off in the valley below I could still hear the whistle of wings!
On our initial DS visits to this spot with foamies we found so many rotors that we’d pretty much decided it was never going to be a high –speed DS spot. But now we’re finding that the heavier and slipperier moldies really cut through the mush, and can sometimes exploit the site a lot better than foamies or lighter planes. Certainly that’s the case at Bald Knob where you can’t DS the back of the main ridge with a foamie but the Wizard or Erwin can get some good laps. Can’t wait to go back on a day with more wind. It could be good, or it could be disastrous. Only one way to find out.
