fprintf
Nov 02, 2003, 05:54 PM
This group has seen many of my personal firsts with my foamie Highlander. First flights, first thermal, first long flight. Now we can add 1st winch launch by myself and 1st contest!
It was a somewhat chilly, sometimes rainy day in Brattleboro Vermont for a nice Sunday contest. About 12 fliers showed up, most sporting Escapes and other high $$ planes. And then there was Art with his Spirit Elite and me with my foam highlander. No chance of competing for first place, no doubt, but we had our own little competition.
I am hooked! I love winch launching (compared to histarting), and landing on a tape is excellent. I surprised a few people with the durability of an EPP trainer. On my first practice/trimming flight I was listening to some coaching as I approached the tape with too much altitude. Several people were saying "nose down, lose some altitude", as I got to the far end of the tape someone said "put the nose down" - which I did. Only I dorked it from about 3 feet up with a ton of energy. Fortunately my plane is EPP. Everyone remarked how the nose bent 90 degrees and then sprung right back. I think the plane impressed quite a few fliers, first with how durable it was, and second that it is actually a somewhat capable flier. It is dissapointing that MAD Aircraft no longer manufactures the Highlander.
Back to the people. There was no shortage of expert fliers to help me trim my plane and talk me through my thermal turns. We had runway landings in or out and I managed to nail two of them (missed three others though). I now have a flight plan to practice so I can get better at energy management, and have figured out gentle thermal turns are best done by just nudging the rudder. I knew that but didn't know exactly how gentle everyone meant. In this case, they meant barely turning and keeping the wings as level as possible, given the light lift.
Art, the pilot flying the 2M Spirit and I were 5 points apart through 3 rounds. Unfortunately for me on the last round I screwed up my winch launch and forgot to release the pedal when the plane didn't come off the towhook. Again the Highlander came through and the wings hardly bent at all. I only managed a 2 minute 36 second flight. Then I missed the 25 point landing. I timed for Art and as soon as he hit 2 minutes and 40 seconds I let him know he could come down as he had outscored me. Still, the competition was great and is a wonderful motivator.
I can blab on for a lot more about winch launches, lift just enough to keep the plane barely in the air, and thermaling in the rain but I won't. The most thanks go to Stephen.s1 for driving me 2 hours up there, and to all the expert fliers who kept encouraging me with little tidbits while I was in the air. I can't wait for next year once all the contest schedules are posted so I can figure out which ones I can attend!
It was a somewhat chilly, sometimes rainy day in Brattleboro Vermont for a nice Sunday contest. About 12 fliers showed up, most sporting Escapes and other high $$ planes. And then there was Art with his Spirit Elite and me with my foam highlander. No chance of competing for first place, no doubt, but we had our own little competition.
I am hooked! I love winch launching (compared to histarting), and landing on a tape is excellent. I surprised a few people with the durability of an EPP trainer. On my first practice/trimming flight I was listening to some coaching as I approached the tape with too much altitude. Several people were saying "nose down, lose some altitude", as I got to the far end of the tape someone said "put the nose down" - which I did. Only I dorked it from about 3 feet up with a ton of energy. Fortunately my plane is EPP. Everyone remarked how the nose bent 90 degrees and then sprung right back. I think the plane impressed quite a few fliers, first with how durable it was, and second that it is actually a somewhat capable flier. It is dissapointing that MAD Aircraft no longer manufactures the Highlander.
Back to the people. There was no shortage of expert fliers to help me trim my plane and talk me through my thermal turns. We had runway landings in or out and I managed to nail two of them (missed three others though). I now have a flight plan to practice so I can get better at energy management, and have figured out gentle thermal turns are best done by just nudging the rudder. I knew that but didn't know exactly how gentle everyone meant. In this case, they meant barely turning and keeping the wings as level as possible, given the light lift.
Art, the pilot flying the 2M Spirit and I were 5 points apart through 3 rounds. Unfortunately for me on the last round I screwed up my winch launch and forgot to release the pedal when the plane didn't come off the towhook. Again the Highlander came through and the wings hardly bent at all. I only managed a 2 minute 36 second flight. Then I missed the 25 point landing. I timed for Art and as soon as he hit 2 minutes and 40 seconds I let him know he could come down as he had outscored me. Still, the competition was great and is a wonderful motivator.
I can blab on for a lot more about winch launches, lift just enough to keep the plane barely in the air, and thermaling in the rain but I won't. The most thanks go to Stephen.s1 for driving me 2 hours up there, and to all the expert fliers who kept encouraging me with little tidbits while I was in the air. I can't wait for next year once all the contest schedules are posted so I can figure out which ones I can attend!