Category: log entry

It’s all good. This morning the mid summer pattern of calm at dawn with gradually increasing breeze from the NE continued. There was one large storm cell, 20 miles offshore, directly west.

Take off and landing were uneventful. I can feel my skills improving.

Falcon idle needs to be lowered. Today at 3000 feet, after running strong for 30 plus minutes it idled at 1800 and would not go below that. It is not as cold blooded as it was 5, (running), hours ago. I opened the choke at start but needed to start closing it right away. After the oil change, which I plan on doing as soon after the surgery as possible, I’ll adjust the idle again . Hopefully it will run a bit smoother at 1200 to 1400 RPM. If that does not work, I’ll try Terry’s idea and reduce pitch 1 degree.

At full throttle 3600 RPM it climbed at about 360 ft / min. The Humidity was 98% and it was 74 degrees Fahrenheit. I will do it several more times in different conditions to see what happens.

The nose wheel pegs seem a bit too far out. Bring it back 2 inches.

Next flight…. let the trimmers all the way out to full reflex then pull left trim in till flying straight line at power. Evaluate if this setting would be good for cruise mode.

Blue Falcon 35

FlySkyHi

Gasparilla Causeway

Rotunda

Port Charlotte Harbor , Punta Gorda

Myakka River. Gasparilla Road

Boca Grande

Coral Creek Airport

Good flight. No Drama. Need to work on tip steering toggles because there was another tangle today.

Last night I posted on Facebook to see if anyone would be interested in flying Sunday morning. Alvero came back that the Sky Pirates Club was coming down from the North. So…. We had 6 pilots at the LZ ” at 6:30. The winds were 4 to 6 from the NE with mostly clear skies.

I had to cut the first two flights short because of a tangle with the right tip steering toggle. The first flight the rig locked into hard right turn and it pointed me at some very real trees that I missed by steering between them. At the next tree, I’d climbed just enough to clear the top. The second flight was a repeat, as soon as I was off the ground we were in a hard right turn. I couldn’t see the snag but I should have known what the problem was by the way the wing was behaving. If I’d grabbed the toggle I’d probably have cleared it right away …. my bad.

The third flight was a charm, I’d found the snag with the tip steering but I’d lost the best flying time so… wasn’t able to follow the flight plan, which was to cross the Inter-coastal and run the Gasparilla Island Beach. Whatever…. it was nice to get up and three successful launches was good practice.

When I landed most everybody had returned. We chatted, took the group photo and broke up. It’s all good.

I launched against a light crosswind. It was not pretty. The turn away from the headwind was begun too soon preventing the inside tip from pressurizing properly. I oversteered the wing to the outside and finished the run up, off the runway and in the grass. Climb out was a bit sluggish. Due to high humidity and brake input forcing the launch.

I recall looking over my right shoulder a couple of times before I was satisfied that the whole wing was flying. By then I was off the road and crosswind about 25 degrees . It’s all good but it was 50 degrees off the expected course and on a starboard tack instead of port. Anyway it took awhile to get up to speed and I had to use the brakes to get off the ground.

Climb out was smooth with a pronounced right hand torque steer. I trimmed out the right side 5 clicks and used minimal left break to hold course. Climbed to 2000 and flew, “hands in lap”, making a slow circle around the jet port. Was able to maintain level flight at 2800 -3000 RPM

The throttle is still a problem. The cable needs to be 18 inches longer and the throttle lever action is very touchy. It might improve to increase the lever travel but whats really needed is some kind of dampening to assist throttle control. Terry and I both noticed there was very little friction in the cable.

Next flight I should practice with the throttle. It would be fun to buzz the private jet port but it would be just as effective to run a low and slow close to the LZ.

Little things are getting better…. getting better, all the time.

I met with Paul Czarnecki at 7:30. There was very little wind and mostly cloudy skies. During warm up I tinkered with the idle screw and brought the RPM down a bit. It is still running a bit rough and floating between 1100 and 1700 RPM but when warm it does settle down enough to live with.

This morning, I set up in the grass so that the launch would start a little slower. I tried Terry Lutke’s suggestion and folded the center of the leading edge under the wing to prevent it from getting caught in the prop wash. My first attempt was aborted when I realized that I had the throttle and the A line but no brake in my left hand. Geez?

The second attempt was magic. I started the motor and because the wing was not in the prop wash, I had plenty of time to get set with the risers and toggles. I added power and for the first time with the new machine I felt the wing pressurize through the A’s. Looking over my shoulder I saw exactly what I expected. This paratrike has a much more open cockpit. It’s possible to tip my head back where before I would hit the frame.

The last two launches I was rushed, as soon as the motor was started the wing would be caught and there just wasn’t time to do anything but focus straight ahead and trust that the wing was coming up clean. In one case I was fumbling for the toggle and only the A Assists were guiding the wing.

I flew for 28 minutes and climbed to 3000 feet. The humidity was high at low altitude but once above 1000 I was easily climbing over 300/ft/min.

Today it came together and it did wonders for my confidence. Yesterday I was wondering if my flying career was coming to an end and now there’s no end in sight.😎

I start this post with a shout out to my daughter and only follower , Stefania McNosky.

Stef, you rock! Carrying identical twin girls during this crazy uncertain time just reminds me that, “life goes on”.

You are my Hero! Be careful and enjoy your up-coming Baby Shower.

Today’s flight broke a long grounding, due to my second belly surgery. It’s been 2 months since the procedure and just like the last time, “I’m turning the corner”, with just a little time till the next surgery. I have 32 days to enjoy life and strengthen up. Then, I go back to the Cleveland Clinic and have the ileostomy taken down. With luck, life will start getting back to normal in time for Election Day.

Meanwhile…. Today’s flight, while successful, was not pretty. The first launch attempt was aborted when the prop wash caught the wing prematurely, I rolled down the runway for 150 ft trying to get control of the wing and I never did feel it. As a matter of fact, it turned upside down before I stopped. The second attempt was successful but again, I was wrestling the wing and forcing the take off. I couldn’t hold a straight line and probably launched with too much thrust and mid-oscillation. Ugly!

(Note for the next flight. Try laying the wing completely flat and launch off the grass, if that’s what it takes, to be perfectly lined up in the direction of the wind.) Skills in general were rusty. I got off the A’s too soon and didn’t turn and twist to see the wing.

The erratic roll-out is obvious .

I think the whole problem starts when the wing catches the prop wash. I didn’t have time to get a good hand position on the brakes and A’s before the wing was moving.

Once Up, I flew around the patch for 30 minutes. My impressions were; the new 35HP motor torques the rig significantly more than the 31 HP did. It was especially noticeable during take off when I was deep in the brakes and forcing the launch. Once up, I used both sides to trim straight line flight while at 3500 rpm. Later, at level flight I was able to balance the trim with much less use of the trimmers.

Lift was impressive pushing 400fpm and sink was 600. Future flights will harden those numbers. The breeze was increasing and thermals were starting to pop at 7:50 when I landed.

Things to remember for the next.

1. Leave readers in truck.

2. Bring GoPro

3. Before starting the motor, take a minute to visualize the launch. Hand position…. turning the head and torso to see the wing…

4. Need to increase spring loading on the throttle. Way to touchy!

4. GET THE WING BELOW THE PROP WASH!

Not mine… but awesome!

Dear Diary 2020 Edition,

In January, Australia caught on fire. I don’t even know if that fire was put out, because we straight up almost went to war with Iran. We might actually still be almost at war with them. I don’t know, because Jen Aniston and Brad Pitt spoke to one another at an awards show and everyone flipped the f— out, but then there was something happening in China, then Prince Harry and Megan peaced out of the Royal family, and there was the whole impeachment trial, and then corona virus showed up in the US “officially,” but then Kobe died and UK peaced out of the European Union.

In February, Iowa crapped itself with the caucus results and the President was acquitted and the Speaker of the House took ten years to rip up a speech, but then WHO decided to give this virus the name COVID-19, which confused some really important people in charge of, like, our lives, into thinking there were 18 other versions before it, but then Harvey Weinstein was found guilty, and Americans started asking if Corona beer was safe to drink, and everyone on Facebook became a doctor who just knew the flu killed way more people than COVID 1 through 18.

In March, shit hit the fan. Warren dropped out of the presidential race and Sanders was like Bernie or bust, but then Italy shut its whole ass down, and then COVID Not 1 through 18 officially become what everyone already realized…a pandemic and then a nationwide state of emergency was declared in the US, but it didn’t really change anything, so everyone was confused or thought it was still just a flu, but then COVID Not 1 through 18 was like “ya’ll not taking me seriously? I’m gonna infect the one celebrity everyone loves.” and totally infected Tom Hanks, but then the DOW took a shit on itself, and most of us still don’t understand why the stock market is so important or even a thing (I still don’t), but then we were all introduced to Tiger King (Carol totally killed her husband) and Netflix was like, you’re welcome, and we all realized there was no way we were washing our hands enough in the first place because all of our hands are now dry and gross.

In April, Bernie finally busted himself out of the presidential race, but then NYC became the set of The Walking Dead and we learned that no one has face masks, ventilators, or toilet paper, or THE FREAKING SWIFFER WET JET LIQUID, but then Kim Jong-Un died, but then he came back to life… or did he? Who knows, because then the Pentagon released videos of UFOs and nobody cared, and we were like man, it’s only April….

In May, the biblical end of times kicked off historical locust swarms and then we learned of murder hornets and realized that 2020 was the start of the Hunger Games but people forgot to let us know, but then people legit protested lockdown measures with AR-15s, and then sports events were cancelled everywhere. But then people all over America finally reached a breaking point with race issues and violence. There were protests in every city, but then people forgot about the pandemic called COVID Not One Through 18. Media struggled with how to focus on two important things at once, but then people in general struggle to focus on more than one important thing, and a dead whale was found in the middle of the Amazon rain forest after monkeys stole COVID 1 Through 19 from a lab and ran off with them, and either in May or April (no one is keeping track of time now) that a giant asteroid narrowly missed Earth.

In June, science and common sense just got thrown straight out the window and somehow wearing masks became a political thing, but then a whole lot of people realized the South was actually the most unpatriotic thing ever and actually lost the Civil war, and there are a large amount of people who feel that statues they don’t even know the name of are needed for … history reasons….. but then everyone sort of remembered there was a pandemic, but then decided that not wearing a mask was somehow a God given right (still haven’t found that part in the bible or even in the constitution), but then scientists announced they found a mysterious undiscovered mass at the center of the earth, and everyone was like DON’T YOU DARE TOUCH IT, but then everyone took a pause to realize that people actually believed Gone With The Wind was like non-fiction, but then it was also announced that there is a strange radio single coming from somewhere in the universe that repeats itself every so many days, and everyone was like DON’T YOU DARE ATTEMPT TO COMMUNICATE WITH IT, but then America reopened from the shut down that actually wasn’t even a shut down, and so far, things have gone spectacularly not that great, but everyone is on Facebook arguing that masks kill because no one knows how breathing works, but then Florida was like hold my beer and let me show you how we’re number one in all things, including the new Not Corona Beer Corona Virus. Trump decides now is a good time to ask the Supreme Court to shut down Obama Care because what better time to do so than in the middle of a pandemic, but then we learned there was a massive dust cloud coming straight at us from the Sahara Desert, which is totally normal, but this is 2020, so the ghost mummy thing is most likely in that dust cloud, but then I learned of meth-gators, and I’m like that is so not on my f-ing 2020 Bingo card, but then we learned that the Congo’s worse ever Ebola outbreak is over, and we were all like, there was an Ebola outbreak that was the worse ever?

In July…. Aliens? Zeus? Asteroids? Artificial Intelligence becomes self aware?