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Nice flight.
30 min
max 1200 ft AGL
North West wind 8MPH

No Drama.  I installed the new A assists with the upgraded “Nite Eyes” cable cams.  They worked well.

It’s been a busy day.  Social Sailing in the morning followed by helping a club member buy some folding bikes for X-mas.  Then watching the new H20’s arrive and off to Mike’s LZ for an evening flight.  The winds were brisk and puffy when we arrived.  Mike and I kited for awhile and when Mike Otten showed up we didn’t have any more excuses.  So… Mike n Mike launched and I followed about 5 minutes later.  I don’t know,  sometimes you just don’t feel the love and this was one of those times. The air wasn’t bad, the wind wasn’t strong, there was nothing to put my finger on, it just felt wrong.  So, after about 30 minutes of flying in circles I came in to land.

This is not my favorite LZ.  the surface is big time bumpy under the grass.  It feels like they dragged the surface to make irrigation rows and the rows never washed out.   During the run out, the bumps got worse toward the middle of the field and about the time I was at take off speed I crossed some particularly bad terrain.  I could feel the airflow above the wing being disturbed and the trike losing lift.  Eventually I got up and all was good with the world.
This LZ (as I’ve said) is a bit of a challenge.  The field is ringed by wires and trees.  During takeoff I was launching into the tree rotor and on landing I had to make a short final to land into the wind.

Great flights without drama.

946
Light breeze at surface, 12 mph above 100 feet …. Probably increasing with altitude.
45 minutes air time.
There was thick ground fog and low clouds moving west off shore.
The first few minutes were pretty cool.  The land was only visible through a few small holes and off to the South East the Radio Tower was poking up through the fog looking like it was 10,000 feet tall instead of 500 ft.
The moisture had started to coalesce by 30 minutes after sunrise and when it was time to land, I had no problem descending through the layer and setting down by the wing bag.

I think I’ve finally got past the string of incidents where I was breaking lines right and left.  I don’t think I’ll ever know exactly what the cause was but It appears that I stumbled onto the fix.

Good air, good tunes, and a good time was had by one.

945 was this morning.  Strong winds aloft.  45 minutes.  Hazy morning with level 4 bumps the first 100 feet. Landing was fun with very active flying all the way to the ground.

I was running hard to meet up with Tony.
Before I could head out to the field….

I needed to dive on the boat.  The prop was fouled with barnacles and there were a few patches where the bottom paint wasn’t working.  The zinc was rotten and fell apart during inspection.  One more dive coming up.
I had an appointment with Kurt (GM of Scotty’s Brewhouse) to pitch sponsorship of the Leukemia Cup Regatta.  I got there early and had a burger.  He was polite but not too enthusiastic.
Then… drop a bike out to Tire Kingdom…. drive the MR-2 to Tire Kingdom …  ride the bike home.

Beau was waiting for me as I cycled into the garage.  He knew I was leaving again and was not about to be left behind this time.  He was, begging and pleading the whole time I changed into warmer gear.
I relented and put on his harness.

I almost made it…. As I was getting off the highway I saw Two wings heading south.  It looks like my student has signed himself off.  He called me yesterday and confessed that he has been flying alone for several weeks.  It seems…. the flight I witnessed the last was not his first flight.  Looking back , he didn’t act like a guy who had just finished his first flight.  Too cool and composed.

Anyway I launched and flew till sunset without seeing anybody.  Returning to the field I saw their wings by the trucks.   I was still pretty high so I spiraled down and at 300 feet spotted an RC flying over the LZ.  Keeping an eye on him I turned onto a short final, landing mid field.

Mike Lange, Mike Otten, Tony Litten and I jawed for awhile about a possible cross-country to Lakeland.

Launch and landing were clean.  I think I’ve finally overcome the line cutting problem.  I just wish I knew exactly what was causing the lines to be cut and which of the changes fixed it.
New keepers?    maybe
More careful layout?   maybe but I doubt it
Prop balance?  could be, vibration is certainly lower
Frame repair? nah….
Don’t know…Its a mystery.

Good flight
45 minutes
North wind 8 mph

Launch and landing were clean.
The cold and dark made me land.
Otherwise I’d still be there.  🙂

Flight 940   One hour and fifteen minutes.  Clear skyStrong breeze above 50 ft, calm at the surface.

This is the first launch without A assists since the shoulder surgery 3 1/2 years ago.  It came off  ok  but I need to move my shoulders back from the hang points.  During the beginning of inflation my arms are pulled back to an unnatural position that could re damage the shoulder.   It also effects normal flight but is only uncomfortable, not a danger.  I’m wondering if the solution would be to change the hang point assembly to a power loop configuration similar to the trike buggy.  The nice thing about the power loop was that I could have my arms behind the beaners.  I’m afraid that major changes would have to be made to make it work.  (Like removing the bar behind my head and reworking the cage bracing and cutting some square tubing and re bracing the hang point bar.

As to the change in the angle of the frame.  Thrust is more horizontal, there is a significant improvement in climb rate. However, cruise RPM is only slightly lower.  With such a difference in climb I would expect cruise would also be dramatically better.   Go figure?  The landings are different in that I burn off energy for a long way before touching down and when I do touch, the Rig is slow enough that there is barely any roll out.  I noticed that toward the end I was putting tremendous pressure on the brakes before touching down.  Prior to this, the back wheels would touch down and the rig would roll a good distance with the front wheel at chest level.