Flight #1070

Gaspirilla Marina and the Causeway to Gaspirilla Island

This was a good one. I arrived at the field just before sunrise. Wind was null. The takeoff was clean with the trimmers adjusted 1/4 “ in. Yesterday I lengthened the wingtip steering toggles about two inches so that I could use them in conjunction with the brakes while flaring for landing. landing was excellent if a bit fast. The input pressure was significantly higher, limited by my own strength. The nose wheel stayed down while burning off energy rather than lifting during the flare followed by banging down shortly after the rear wheels touched down. Next time, I’m going to start a little higher and see what happens.

After launch I set the cruise control to 3750 RPM, left the trimmers where they were during launch and climbed with big counter clockwise circles to 5570 ft. Gloves and additional clothing under the flight suit helped but not enough to encourage me to keep climbing. At 5570 I was cold and shaking. Next time I’ll wear a fleece vest and I think sweat pants might do the trick. Also a neck cover will help. The gloves didn’t fit tightly and were clumsy on the touch screens so I’ll need to dig and see if I have anything better.

Very satisfying. I turned off the motor and spent the next 15 minutes descending without noise or vibration. As it warmed up, I restarted and putted around the patch for a bit before final.

The kiting was good at first but declined when I setup the camera to video myself. I look forward to the next flight with such mellow conditions.