Post by sean on May 8, 2008 22:25:34 GMT 10
I maidened my Erwin today! Unlike my first day out with the C Bird it went as well as I could have hoped, had a grin from ear to ear after the landing... ;D
The build took ages and was very fiddly, requiring very precise, time consuming work. More on that later. It was a relief to finally have it ready for flight.
There was almost no wind at my place but I drove out to Bald Knob anyway to try my luck. When I got there the wind was really light, almost nothing infact. I threw out the Skua to test the waters and it mushed downwards requiring a quick land to save a long walk. Oh well, not to worry, I can use the rest of the arvo to range check the Erwin and do some test throws. Spent lots of time range checking and all went well - you gotta love PCM receivers - zero chatter from the servos even when a long way from the tx (with antenna down). In comparison all my PPM receivers chatter during a range check at Bald Knob (lots of RF noise from the TV antennas).
With the wings taped on (that's right, taped
) and everything triple-checked it was time for some test throws. They went pretty uneventfully, except the last one had the Erwin close to the edge of the slope and it starting to get a bit of lift from the slope, didn't want to come down, had to put it down quite sharply. This made me wonder if the lift had improved, so I threw off the Bird and there was just enough lift for it to gently climb with very smooth straight flying.
Hmmm.. maybe I can test the Erwin after all. What the hey.. I gave it a good throw and it sailed out over the slope, gently climbing. Despite a higher wing loading it climbed slightly better than the Bird. Man this thing is sweet! It tracks beautifully and looks great in the air. With a bit of height I could try some speed runs.. nice ;D. Rolls perfectly axial, stall turns and halfpipes just beautiful, and even in light wind it changes direction like it's bouncing off a wall. To top this off the natural carbon underside looks fantastic in the air
.
Things were going well so the backside started to beckon. Why not I thought, so walked the hundred metres or so to the easterly DS spot and dove for the back. Did someone say smooooth? It DSed effortlessly. Conditions were very smooth but it tracked so nicely though the circuits, and the speed it was getting considering there was only 5kt or so was pretty good. Circles could be big and round or small, banging the top turn. It seemed to like the smaller circles in this weather and with no ballast on board. I DSed while the sun was setting in the background, can't ask for more than that. To top it off the landing was completely uneventful, a greaser infact. Only thing was I was surprised the huge flaps didn't slow it down as much as I expected, but need more time to really see what that's like.
I think that was the best maiden I've had. It left me with lots of respect for this carbon beauty. Can't wait to fly it in big lift! ;D
Span is a touch over 2M:
I applied the white and black design on the wings using sign vinyl. It really helped DSing against the setting sun, the red was almost invisible below the horizon but the white stood out really well.
Long tail moment:
Carbon goodness! Natural carbon underside. I was planning to add some white stripes to the bottom but didn't have any trouble with orientation during the maiden so might just see how I get on with it as is.
The build took ages and was very fiddly, requiring very precise, time consuming work. More on that later. It was a relief to finally have it ready for flight.
There was almost no wind at my place but I drove out to Bald Knob anyway to try my luck. When I got there the wind was really light, almost nothing infact. I threw out the Skua to test the waters and it mushed downwards requiring a quick land to save a long walk. Oh well, not to worry, I can use the rest of the arvo to range check the Erwin and do some test throws. Spent lots of time range checking and all went well - you gotta love PCM receivers - zero chatter from the servos even when a long way from the tx (with antenna down). In comparison all my PPM receivers chatter during a range check at Bald Knob (lots of RF noise from the TV antennas).
With the wings taped on (that's right, taped
) and everything triple-checked it was time for some test throws. They went pretty uneventfully, except the last one had the Erwin close to the edge of the slope and it starting to get a bit of lift from the slope, didn't want to come down, had to put it down quite sharply. This made me wonder if the lift had improved, so I threw off the Bird and there was just enough lift for it to gently climb with very smooth straight flying.Hmmm.. maybe I can test the Erwin after all. What the hey.. I gave it a good throw and it sailed out over the slope, gently climbing. Despite a higher wing loading it climbed slightly better than the Bird. Man this thing is sweet! It tracks beautifully and looks great in the air. With a bit of height I could try some speed runs.. nice ;D. Rolls perfectly axial, stall turns and halfpipes just beautiful, and even in light wind it changes direction like it's bouncing off a wall. To top this off the natural carbon underside looks fantastic in the air
. Things were going well so the backside started to beckon. Why not I thought, so walked the hundred metres or so to the easterly DS spot and dove for the back. Did someone say smooooth? It DSed effortlessly. Conditions were very smooth but it tracked so nicely though the circuits, and the speed it was getting considering there was only 5kt or so was pretty good. Circles could be big and round or small, banging the top turn. It seemed to like the smaller circles in this weather and with no ballast on board. I DSed while the sun was setting in the background, can't ask for more than that
. To top it off the landing was completely uneventful, a greaser infact. Only thing was I was surprised the huge flaps didn't slow it down as much as I expected, but need more time to really see what that's like.I think that was the best maiden I've had. It left me with lots of respect for this carbon beauty. Can't wait to fly it in big lift! ;D
Span is a touch over 2M:
I applied the white and black design on the wings using sign vinyl. It really helped DSing against the setting sun, the red was almost invisible below the horizon but the white stood out really well.
Long tail moment:
Carbon goodness! Natural carbon underside. I was planning to add some white stripes to the bottom but didn't have any trouble with orientation during the maiden so might just see how I get on with it as is.
