Month: July 2023

Awoke at 4:45 and decided to fly.

This morning I laid out the wing with a slight Chevron which seemed to help it inflate from the center first and fill in the tips as it passed through the prop wash. The air was very smooth right up to the end. Florida is experiencing Saharan dust in addition to our heat wave, it made for an interesting sunrise.

There was no drama .

Almost didn’t fly today. It rained pretty hard the night before and I was concerned that the field would be wet. I had to meet Hayden at the Offshore 48 at 9 and a general fatigue. BUT… I WOKE 15 MINUTES BEFORE THE ALARM . So…..

There was a crosswind just above the surface that my windsock didn’t pick up.. The first attempt failed when the wing swung left and didn’t inflate. I dragged it for awhile … no joy. Second attempt was better and in the same direction. The wing was wet and it lagged a bit but… after some wrangling I was able to get it stable overhead. Once up, I found the flow and adjusted my approach for landing.

It was a good day.

First attempt was a bad inflation. I didn’t feel any pressure in the A’s until the trike had rolled for several feet. The wing had been laid out in what I thought was the same position as the last many perfect launches. Perhaps the center cells had been drawn back a tad farther. Anyway when it did come up the left side was high and it quickly swung back. If I’d slowed a bit I might have saved it but the second oscillation and my speed called for an abort.

The second attempt also has a delay before the A’s caught but not as long. Plus the wing was weighed down by water from being dragged. I could definitely feel the difference. I taxied a bit to get her overhead and loaded.

I used the prop torque to spiral up to 2500 ft. Where I trimmed for straight flight and headed over to the sand quarry climbing at 60 to 100 ft /minute.

There was light haze softening the edges. The air was smooth. I returned to the RC Airport where a little white plane was carving around the patch.

I was considering a 5th flight tomorrow morning but Dawn pointed out a fuel leak that has taken the falcon out of service.

Three Flights , no drama. All mostly smooth except the middle one which had some bumps with very sharp edges. This morning the breeze was light from the north but the first two were light from the south.

This morning I climbed to 4000 ft. And enjoyed the view.

Like butter flew out to Crossroads Academy and back.