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Post by jase on Sept 12, 2007 15:29:39 GMT 10
how bout a fire truck, use their ladder.
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Post by thevon on Sept 12, 2007 16:42:15 GMT 10
Actually I'd also like to get a coupla big Caterpillar D10 dozers and chains, and one of those huge tree mulcher grinders. Wherever there's a good razorbacky slope with great lift, but covered with forest, just pull the trees down and mulch them up and spread the mulch on the slope to make a nice soft LZ too.
Like always, it just takes a bit of lateral thinking to find simple but effective solutions.
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Post by st on Sept 12, 2007 17:38:31 GMT 10
While you are at it, why don't you just build a large perfect slope/hill, for frontside and back? Near the ocean would be best I guess - where do you reckon - redcliffe, wynnum, caloundra, current Brisbane airport? ?
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Post by thevon on Sept 12, 2007 18:55:22 GMT 10
With a big rotating base, like a rotating restaurant, with a remote control that you can use to line it up perpendicular to the wind direction. About 800m long, 200m high, with a bit of a dip in the middle to funnel the wind to the center. I reckon stick it on top of the hospital at Redcliffe.
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Post by st on Sept 12, 2007 19:21:53 GMT 10
OK, you win the best idea award ;D
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Post by jase on Sept 12, 2007 20:21:21 GMT 10
anyone friends with Richard Branson
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Post by sean on Sept 12, 2007 22:25:56 GMT 10
I reckon we could make something with a hot wire cutter and strapping tape, should survive a fall from the top of Redcliffe Hospital if the wind gets too strong! That goes for the cherry-picker too!
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Post by thevon on Oct 13, 2007 17:29:09 GMT 10
It was a gamble going to Mt Mee today, but one that really paid off. I’m still grinning. The forecast was for SW turning SE in the day. Got up and there was a light and increasing SW so I took a punt and headed out early, figuring that it I might get lucky and strike good conditions at Kevs Ridge for a while before the wind dropped and changed. Got there about 8:45am and found a fresh SW blasting up the slope. Threw the Superfreak Bat out and it was so fast, it was like some Star Wars ship, zippin’ around. Man, there was heaps of lift and heaps of speed … it was like Tamborine on a big day! Played around on the front then switched the ailerons to low rates and dipped down the backside and got massive acceleration as it shot out. It was too much for me - I was pretty scared!
Got the nerves settled a bit & managed to keep on track more and was hitting speeds way beyond my ability. Decided to land & phone Sean … couldn’t land! Dropping in front of the slope or circling behind, it just kept too much speed on! Finally got it down, phoned Sean and said “It’s going off!” “Oh, no!” he replied, having decided he’d stay in. I ranted on in a manic fashion about how incredible it was … “but I’m not putting any pressure on you …” and he said he’d “think about it” which we all know means; start negotiating with wife/ partner!
The conditions were so good I didn’t even stop to put my boots on! Had to avoid standing in cowpoo in sandals. I kept working controlling the DS circuits. I am so totally impressed with the modded Bat; it’s several levels above anything else I’ve flown. It really does make DSing easier. The back slope at Kev’s is not super steep, so you have to be pretty close to the ground a lot of the time. When the wind was strong the shear layer was high, so you could carve high up, but it eased a bit so the shear layer comes down a bit and you have to get closer to the ground.
Before long I whacked into the ground hard, breaking the fin. This was the first of many fin repairs for me today – I used a lot of CA glue! Good thing I have some spare fins. But the coreflute fin mount which Sean and I use is working excellently. Carbon fin rod pushes into small coreflute plate, stuck on with double sided tape. It holds strong enough for DS, but in a big hit it generally rips off and you just stick it back on with a fresh bit of tape! Just the ticket.
Sean phoned back to say he was on his way. I got worried that it might die off, but the wind pepped up again and I had lots more good flying. I noticed as it warmed up that the wind got more turbulent, both on the front and the back. The conditions never returned to being as good as they were early in the morning and I recommend flying westerlies early to catch the smoother conditions. I got some variety by flying the modded Drongo too – it was more relaxing to DS as it didn’t go as fast. Very smooth, but harder to keep on track.
When Sean arrived about 11am the wind died! We both felt sick! But sure enough it blew again. The wind was definitely a bit flukey and at times the lift dropped, but most of the time we were able to DS really effectively. Sean got straight into it with his Bat and it makes so much more noise than mine! Which is sort of useful, because the noise helps you to “feel” the speed and the shear layer. We’re not sure where the noise comes from since they’re so similar, but it’s probably his thin, rounded wingtips whereas mine are stock. This is the 4th rebuild of his Bat and it looks like a newy and man, its seriously fast. After my hit and miss attempts it was inspiring to see Sean find a groove and hold it on track at huge speed. Can’t wait to get the radar gun.
I got some photos (which can never give the feel of it) then put my plane back up. The wind was back up again; I was waiting to take my turn and realized Sean’s plane was making so much noise it was like a jet. Without losing sight of mine on the front I looked across to see the red Bat absolutely ripping around not far off the deck at massive speeds. I couldn’t believe it, it was so fast and following the contour of the slope. I wanted to see more so I landed mine so I could watch the insane display. It was freaky fast and dangerous. From where I was standing at one end of the ridge (Sean was flying at the other end) the plane was disappearing behind bumps in the slope! A few times I was sure it was going in but it was still ripping around. I guess the closeness to the ground accentuates the speed and probably the noise too, but it was the most amazing DSing I have ever seen! But all of a sudden there was an explosive boom, the tail flew off, the plane bounced sickeningly, cartwheeled and fluttered like a leaf uphill for about 10m! I headed over; ready to console Sean for his loss but apart from some minor wrinkles, and re-sticking the fin, it was fine and flying again in 10 minutes!
The conditions were always changing and sometimes one end of the slope would work … then the other. At times a certain part of the backside would feature a rotor, just to add another dimension of excitement and we both had crashes due to being rolled over coming out of the bottom. The other cause of crashing my Bat was that I use low elevator dual rates on the Drongo but not on the Bat, and I forget to switch it back so I’d bellysmack the Bat on the bottom, due to lack of elevator. But these planes are sooooo tough!
Sean commented that he hadn’t actually landed yet … he just keeps flying till he crashes! Later on, when the cows had moved in, grazing on the backside I heard him say “I’m going to land; I’ll have to watch I don’t hit a cow (pause) OH S#!T I did!!!” But the cow and Bat were OK. He also got that slick looking Reaper out too. Said he was a bit scared to DS it, due to the turbulence on the back – but as soon as he got it into the groove he said it felt so much easier. When asked to elucidate why he said “it actually feels like a different activity”. However the Reaper didn’t seem to hit the speeds of the Bat. Could be due to lower wing loading, could be caution keeping it a bit higher off the ground. It’ll be interesting verifying it with the radar gun.
The wind never went S as forecast. If anything it went a bit more W and at times there was wind, but no lift on the front. But as long as you could get a dive in over the back, you were usually shooting around DSing, when a plane on the front was struggling!! Weird! DS is an amazing thing. I never tire of watching it – it just seems impossible. To top off the weird things for the day, it was blowing SE when I got home!
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Post by sean on Oct 13, 2007 18:12:57 GMT 10
Thanks for the report Andrew, the highlight for me today was watching your DS laps coming together with the Bat. They were tough conditions, the shear layer kept moving around, we couldn't rely on it staying in one place for more than about 10 mins, sometimes it'd vanish altogether and there'd be turbulence all the way to the ground. If you flew low crashing was inevitable, the turbulence would often pick up a wing and roll the plane into the ground, usually you could catch it but sometimes you couldn't. It's a tough site, the back is quite a gentle slope so you have to DS low.
My Bat sure is fast DSing now but it's a handful, feels horrible on the front and bounces all over the place on the back, you're constantly on the ailerons to keep it tracking straight, but it's indestructable! I've become so used to hitting a wingtip on the ground at 100 or so and just picking it up and throwing it back out. Poor Moo Cow, I tried hard to miss it.
The Reaper is completely different, it's so stable it makes DSing easy. It cuts through turbulence so you barely need to use the ailerons, it doesn't feel like a plank to fly, it feels like a conventional plane. But it doesn't look to be as fast as it should, I think it needs more weight, I think high wing loadings are the key to high DS speeds. The other thing is, to get really cooking at Kev's you need to be just above the ground and I'm not willing to risk the Reaper doing that, not while it's new anyway. Conditions did change a lot though and the Bat only got really wound up when a big gust came through.
Andrew gave me a fly of his Bat and it tracked so much better on the backside, much easier to fly than mine. Andrew must have the CG much further forward as his elevator throw is higher yet pitch sensitivity are similar in the air. It was much more pleasant to DS than mine but I think the the rear CG on mine is one of the reasons it 's so quick.
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Post by ezza on Oct 13, 2007 21:28:37 GMT 10
Sounds like a great day guys!! Well described and I love the enthusiasm! Really fun ds'ing foamies. If it becomes routine you can just push it lower and faster. Sounds like you were both doing plenty of this. The two spots you found out there are really proving themselves. Sounds like the lift was good too. Were you lapping in the same direction as usual? You are right about the Reapers, they fly and ds sooo smooth and easy. Much more like a composite plane. The Bat's sound like real weapons. ;D Good to hear that Sean's Bat still makes that sound, I have never heard a foamie like it. It will be great when you get that gun Andrew. That dangerous feeling you were feeling means Sean was probably going 100+. After a fair bit of ds'ing and using the gun we have noticed that people start 'hiding' behind things when a foamie is going over 100. Looks crazy! Unlike the Opus, which looks like it is about to fall out of the sky at 100. More JW's. Great to get a group of us ds'ing at the same time.....ds combat. I have ds'ed with two other foamies at the same time and that felt pretty crazy.
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Post by ezza on Oct 13, 2007 21:40:06 GMT 10
Thanks for the report Andrew, the highlight for me today was watching your DS laps coming together with the Bat. They were tough conditions, the shear layer kept moving around, we couldn't rely on it staying in one place for more than about 10 mins, sometimes it'd vanish altogether and there'd be turbulence all the way to the ground. If you flew low crashing was inevitable, the turbulence would often pick up a wing and roll the plane into the ground, usually you could catch it but sometimes you couldn't. It's a tough site, the back is quite a gentle slope so you have to DS low. My Bat sure is fast DSing now but it's a handful, feels horrible on the front and bounces all over the place on the back, you're constantly on the ailerons to keep it tracking straight, but it's indestructable! I've become so used to hitting a wingtip on the ground at 100 or so and just picking it up and throwing it back out. Poor Moo Cow, I tried hard to miss it. The Reaper is completely different, it's so stable it makes DSing easy. It cuts through turbulence so you barely need to use the ailerons, it doesn't feel like a plank to fly, it feels like a conventional plane. But it doesn't look to be as fast as it should, I think it needs more weight, I think high wing loadings are the key to high DS speeds. The other thing is, to get really cooking at Kev's you need to be just above the ground and I'm not willing to risk the Reaper doing that, not while it's new anyway. Conditions did change a lot though and the Bat only got really wound up when a big gust came through. Andrew gave me a fly of his Bat and it tracked so much better on the backside, much easier to fly than mine. Andrew must have the CG much further forward as his elevator throw is higher yet pitch sensitivity are similar in the air. It was much more pleasant to DS than mine but I think the the rear CG on mine is one of the reasons it 's so quick. Hey Sean, Did you have ballast in the Reaper? Is your Bat heavier than Andrew's? Glad the cow is OK. Didn't start a stampede? On other news I pulled out what is left of my Zagi tonight. It maybe a stretch to get it rebuilt at all, let alone for next weekend. So much foam missing. The nose is all deformed as well. Just more goop/spackle required.....i guess. I may do an AVB spar treatment to it. How did those flat carbon spars hold up to todays abuse Andrew?
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Post by sean on Oct 14, 2007 10:58:27 GMT 10
Hi Ezza, Yeah the Reaper was ballasted but it's only 1.2KG full, I think it needs to be up around 1.6 like yours. I'm thinking about making a DS fuse for it to add another 300 or 400g, would work well seeing as the fuse only contains balance weight. My Bat weighs 1KG while Andrew's would be about 800g with the small amount of ballast taped to the bottom. Before the rebuild my Bat was 950g with ballast and it's MUCH faster now DSing... There's more to it than weight but I'm not sure exactly what, probaby CG I reckon. Pre rebuild it flew well on the front at 950g now it's horrible at only 50g more, the Reaper's faster on the front and feels a million bucks. I haven't got around to adding ballast to the Bat since the rebuild, it handles so badly now I'm not too keen to try, but it would go off DSing with even more weight. The reason I hit the cow is it becomes extremely hard to control when you slow it down for landing, and there was about 30 in the paddock . The poor thing mooed and ran away but the other's didn't mind. Andrew was sure it'd be OK, he told me he once hit a cow with a mototrbike and it was fine ;D .
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Post by ezza on Oct 14, 2007 11:27:58 GMT 10
Andrew was sure it'd be OK, he told me he once hit a cow with a mototrbike and it was fine ;D . Hahahaha, Andrew totally cracks me up!! I can picture him now. Atleast he is a vet so if anything was wrong with the cow...... Multiple fuses! That would be a nice luxury Sean, great idea. Yeah, Once you load up the Reaper it gets harder to land and fly slow too. Weight can sometimes help and sometimes hurt speed. If you are too heavy for the windspeed it will ds slower than if it is lighter. I have ds'ed on windier days where I couldn't get over 90 unballasted. Then loaded her up and get 112. If you are too light it scrubs off too much speed when you hit the oncoming wind. If you are too heavy you don't get much acceleration. So yeah, a heavy fuse, combined with the ballast tube would give you all the options. I would aim to get full maximum weight over 1.8-2kgs. If there is fairly decent lift it will fly at 1.6kgs no worries.
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Post by ding on Oct 14, 2007 11:33:47 GMT 10
Don't forget chaps that the heavier a plane is the faster it will need to land. In full size gliders they take on water as weight, but they always have to release the water before landing as it would be much more dangerous landing heavy. I flew a number of planes that could be water ballasted but it was an absolute no-no to land heavy
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Post by thevon on Oct 14, 2007 12:22:54 GMT 10
Wow, that's amazing. Are you serious Steve??
Ezza the flat ribbon spars have held up well! Far as I can tell the Bat's still as stiff and sound as ever. Have to say I'm pretty much incredulous at how it (and Sean's) just take such a pounding. Mine has only a bit of wingtip wrinkling, easily ironed out. Mine also has the 5mm carbon tube spar thru the wings too, which would absorb a lot of the cartwheeling shock and protect the flat spars a bit. I'm absolutely impressed with the Bat. I'll have to put the lead ballast inside, as it's just taped on looking ugly.
Usually when you build a plane you fly it for a bit then you think "next time I'd like to ..." But to me this Bat seems perfect ... if I totalled it tomorrow I'd order another one and build it exactly the same!
I need to make some better fins as I keep trashing them! Surely there must be some sort of material that would be good for fins, ie stiff enough to work, but flexible enough to take a whack, and light. But I can't think of anything.
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