Category: log entry

No Drama. The battery need a jump launch and landing were clean

Skip and I met Paul and Bruce at Lake Suzy . It was clear with light breeze. There were occasional puffs. We put Skipper in Paul’s rig and they took off. The grass was a bit long and really wet. The spray behind Paul as he was running up was very impressive.

Wanting to catch up and start shooting video…. I was in a hurry. The wing came up fast and I went to full power right away. Big mistake… I got some lift from a puff and (as she’s apt to do) the rig turned to the left. I came down out of line and rolled the rig. The cage was bent and one blade was broken.

It was very disappointing but seeing the huge grin on Skipper’s face as they came in to land took care of that.

Over the next three weeks I replaced the blades and had the rig welded.

This morning I got redemption.

Very nice morning at Lake Suzy with Paul Czarnecki. We didn’t launch until 8:20. The winds were very light and swinging 180 degrees. Paul launched into the wind and I launched with it abaft the beam. We climbed to 1500ft and danced for 30 minutes. The video wasn’t worth messing with because we were too far away from each other.

I routed my braked lines through the second pulley which shortened them and made the 2-d steering much better.

Another beautiful Summer morning. Warm with light ground fog.

I’m contemplating shortening the brake lines because I’m seeing quiet a bit of slack compared to the WST line. I cannot really activate the brakes without also pulling the WST and I think they should active by pushing my arms out horizontally. I might give the current importer a call to talk about it after a little research. I think I’ll start with 3 inches and possibly end up shortening them by as much as 8 inches.

This is the first time I’ve seen wildlife (both deer and wild hogsj since the hurricane. I’m sure it’s mostly because I’ve been flying lower but it could be that there are more animals around.

Great mornings! Calm and Drama Free…

Calm , Drama free, relaxed

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.