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Post by thevon on Jun 21, 2008 20:23:54 GMT 10
Ezza made the long drive up from Byron today and although it looked pretty dismal around 9am, when I got out to Dayboro there was wind, and when I got up to "Lemon tree ridge" I broke into a grin to see Ezza already there swooshing his green JW around in tight circles over the backside. It was a great day, as it turned out. Never terribly strong, but the wind hung in for us all day and it was great flying. It was good to have Steve (Drcuzo), Cran and Michael all come out and have a play too. Steve came down from Noosa, but the drive was worthwhile as he got a lot of stick time on his Naked Duck. I had the first "proper' flying with my new Bat and it was just excellent both frontside and back. Michael and Steve both had a fly of Ezza's Stratos - a real treat because the height and aerobatics of the big 3m moldies (Stratos and Fazer) were something special. I spent some more time flying and DSing the Wizard too. Flew till there was only a reddish glow behind the mountains. Top day. Will see if I have any decent photos later.
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Post by thevon on Jun 21, 2008 21:33:06 GMT 10
Unfortunately the only photos I got were of Ezza flying the JW. We were having too much fun flying to remember to take photos! A blurry JW shooting back over the lip For a lot of the ridge, there's a wall of lantana on both sides of the track along the ridge. I squashed a gap into it at one point, to give visibility down the backside and at one stage Ezza was bringing the JW on knife edge thru this impossibly small gap. Video would be more fun. Here's a closeup. These pics don't show how low it is ... it clipped the branches at times. This is a different part of the paddock which has a great dead-air bowl. But she's pretty wild country. Same spot, looking back the other way as it's coming back up This is a great spot to fly in Westerlies ... just needs a good lantana slasher!
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Post by ezza on Jun 21, 2008 21:57:08 GMT 10
Thanks for the report and shots Andrew. Really was a fun day and great to meet some new faces.
Hate to think how many laps we did. Wind was really consistant for a westerly. It will be interesting to see how Lemon trees handles a windier day.
Ds'ing the foamies at the same time was a hoot. Also like the butter smooth conditions at the end of the day.
Andrew gave me a go of his Wizard compact. Man that is one sweet ship!!
Eric
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drcuzo
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Post by drcuzo on Jun 22, 2008 21:29:21 GMT 10
I flew the Duck with Andrew and Ezza yesterday at Mt Mee. That's me in the red shirt. I had an awesome day. The lift was good with the duck rolling, looping (inside and out) and flying inverted for minutes and minutes. I had a 30min fly of Ezza's 3m Stratos which was a great thrill catching thermal lift to 8-900'. Thanks again Andrew and Ezza for your help and encouragement.
Today I "solo'd" the Duck at Emu Mountain. The hill at the north end of Coolum Beach, just south of the high school. This was the first time I have thrown the duck by myself. The first throw, front grip landed 5m below me on a ledge. The second, back grip went up. The wind was approximately SE and about 60o onto the face at 10-15 knots. The lift was good but only in a small area. It would be great if the wind was from the south. I had my family with me (Stephanie and 4 kids) and flew for 20 minutes with my 2yo son pulling at my leg saying "turn daddy, turn daddy" for the entire 20 min. I had an otherwise uneventfull flight and landed 1m from the walking path as planned - probably good luck rather than good management. Matthew (2yo) insisted on carrying the Tx all the way up the hill and then carried the Duck all the way down. It was a slow trip.
I think there is an area on the east face of this hill that is DSable. The front faces East and is not steep but will be flyable. At one point there is a sharp rock cap with a 10m verticle drop off the back. There are a few trees to negotiate but I am sure Andrew and Ezza would carve it up. I look forward to seeing them fly it some time.
If anyone has an old Tx and/or an old foam plane I would be keen to buy them so that Matthew has his own equipment to carry around. My heart was in my mouth following him up and down the steep slippery path with my expensive toys.
Steve
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Post by thevon on Jun 22, 2008 22:23:41 GMT 10
Hey that's great Steve. Sorry we didn't get to talk much yesterday - I was in a constant state of anxiety about DSing the Wizard. Actually I was more nervous about the landings - it was freaking me out having to land it and the Fazer behind the hedges on the lip! I finally worked out a good approach later in the day, but the wind was light so I dunno how it will be in a good blow.
You'll be away now that you've learnt to self-launch. Keep working on trying coastal sites. It's so great to have a flying spot close to home. You can bolt out in a short break and sometimes half an hour's flying is a great fix, and the wife and kids hardly know you've been out. When the ESE wind comes in I'll often shoot out to fly the Minij at Woody Point -it's only a few blocks away.
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Post by Pij on Jun 22, 2008 22:58:39 GMT 10
Sounds like young Matthew needs some simulator time 3 weeks of that then onto the buddy box! THEN he'll need that used foamy. Start 'em young!
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Post by Pij on Jun 28, 2008 18:53:35 GMT 10
Tried for some buddy-cord training with oldest son today, but had an appointment shifted from 10 to 12, so we were too late for the wind. No wind at all at EH, so we had a long walk on the beach, then moved to Barolin Cliffs. After after a while, some wind began to pick up. Removed some nose weight, took a while to re-trim, then had some almost OK flights, but really the conditions were too light.
What's the best light-weather slopie we can get, when Alulas are out of production?
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Post by felix on Jun 28, 2008 18:57:24 GMT 10
pij after seeing marks eagle time and time again i think it even leaves the alula for dead in light winds with the added advantage of handling strong winds just as well. .....also there's those horrid little planes called weasels that are part hot air balloon?
could of used either of these planes today as i decided to launch the bee off the slope at SC in sad lift.two very short flights with the last ending with a very large splash! got all the gear soaking in contact cleaner at the moment and it appears as if only the battery is cactus.....gave up with the slope and went down to the park with mike and mark and gave the golden era racer a good shake down taxiing around the carpark.love the look of this thing and can't wait to fly it.
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drcuzo
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Post by drcuzo on Jun 28, 2008 20:46:27 GMT 10
Flying today with Sean at the Knob. It was very light and patchy but we both managed several flights with sean DSing his Erwin and my Duck (just) at the camel hump. It was my first visit to the Knob and it is a very picturesque place. I was working on the EZZA front grip launch technique. It is starting to come together. On the way home I went by Pt Cartwright. It was a very consistent 15 knots, about 45 degrees to the south of the face but plenty of lift. A young local called Michael showed me the ropes and I had a very fun fly for an hour. It was amazing how the wind picked up toward the coast. Sean was telling me how the knob often seems to miss out on SE winds Although it sounds like felix and PIJ had less than perfect conditions. I hope your plane dries out OK Felix. Steve
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Post by callun on Jun 28, 2008 21:16:58 GMT 10
After hearing so much about your zero felix, I'm almost tempted to "bolt" my monster brushless from the Seether to my zero for 3D That'd be a laugh.
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Post by felix on Jun 28, 2008 21:29:31 GMT 10
sweet when you do let me know......that i'd have to see from a safe distance! and thanks drcuzo,i'm sure it'll be fine.my bee is pretty much waterproof and everything only had a bit of a splash of water-still not good seeing the waves lapping over your plane ;D.i think the battery died from contact with a rock as one of the cells is now loose, i spun in nearly verticle straight into shallow water!
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Post by callun on Jun 28, 2008 22:37:55 GMT 10
It's had both landing gear unceremoniously removed, so it'd be be strictly hand launch only, and I wouldn't be game to really let anyone but Steve or Bill attempt to fly it
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Post by felix on Jun 28, 2008 23:09:16 GMT 10
bill or steve with a prop? now there's a combo i wouldn't like to try and combat with that's for sure! after seeing your bungee type handlaunches i don't think a lack of undercarriage woul be too much of a problem mate. finally got the time to finish the electric off tonight ready for a maiden tomorrow.hoping by some miracle i can get a hang of flying it before i plant it......maybe someone should be taking bets on this?
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Post by Pij on Jun 29, 2008 8:35:01 GMT 10
pij after seeing marks eagle time and time again i think it even leaves the alula for dead in light winds with the added advantage of handling strong winds just as well. .....also there's those horrid little planes called weasels that are part hot air balloon? I'd like to learn more about these Eagles. Where can I find info on them, does anyone know?
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Post by sean on Jun 29, 2008 9:03:20 GMT 10
On the way home I went by Pt Cartwright. It was a very consistent 15 knots, about 45 degrees to the south of the face but plenty of lift. Glad to hear you got some good flying in down on the coast Steve! Thanks for giving me a fly of your Duck, you really did a fantastic job building it. I'm going to head to Bald Knob again today, will get the Pike ready for flight this morning and take it along. Sean.
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