1st cross country attempt

[dhauch]

well i've been pretty bored flying lately and been looking for something new to challenge me.
so i thought of XC, but since i don't have a truck, i rigged up a platform in the mini van yesterday.

just got home from testing it out.

we did it!!!!!!

lift was really light, cool stable air coming off the lake michigan.

beautiful spot off a vacant dirt road right in the middle of a huge state
game area, not a house for miles.

first launch, started working some really light lift for maybe 10 minutes, then
the only soaring bird i seen all day came in and started circling with me.
letting me know i was in the right spot in the universe.

worked my 127'' f3j Victor up to about 1000 feet, and we took off.

Donna (my co-pilot) was scared silly with me hanging out there, and i couldn't sleep the nite before because i was too excited that i get to ride out there. :-)

my plane was already way down the road, so as soon as we pulled out on the dirt road i told her to HIT IT !
actually had to tell her a few times, she was to scared to, but i kept screaming at her, while i was hanging in the breeze going 45 mph and hooping & howlering myself with joy.

first time i've been able to get the adreneline flowing in this hurting old body in a long time and it felt darn good!

we had one mile to the next turn around down the road, got there in about 10 seconds it seemed, then headed right back to the winch trailer.

was pretty low , so worked light air for about 15 minutes and finally got it up
to over a 1000 feet and took off again.

worked lift a few times and made it back down to the turn around, and back to the trailer, we where excited, we did it!!!!!!!!! 4 miles, and never got over 1000 feet.

i was real happy with that, lift was real spotty today, would be a blast
on a better day.

i landed, then went for a joy ride down the road standing up like in the pic.
felt good!
couldn't get her to go over 45mph again, i said hell, i've stood on a seat of a
motorcycle going down the highway before, this was nothing.

sure was fun.
got to think of something new now. :-)

just thought i would share with the class.

Dave Hauch
www.rc-builds.com

[tonyestep]

Whoo, that looks dicey, Dave! maybe some shoulder straps?!? Anyway, I'll bet it's fun. Just don't kill yourself.

[dhauch]

I thrive on dicey! :)
i was hooked into a harness, don't worry about me.

dh

[OVSS Boss]

Thats his problem tony, he thrives on dicey and that first tree could be hum dinger.

Marc

Dave, first Supra done today, ~weight is 60...

[AZ_Astro]

Dang - that looks like fun!

For some reason I pictured you sitting blissfully in the back of a pickup truck. Then I see the pics and you're hanging out the side of a minivan! Awesome!

Very neat that you were able to cruise and find lift, cruise and find lift.

What's your next challenge? 10 miles?

[dhauch]

yeah, can't wait to go back and rack up some more lapes.

most rewarding part of this flight was pulling it back up to cruise height from about 30 to 40 feet off the ground, but mostly just rigging something up in the car to let me pull it all off, i love that part as much as flying.
fun stuff!

that Supra came out nice and light marc, good job!

i could right a book on dicey things i've done in my life, and this wouldn't come close to even making it in the book. :)

heck, Donna even went for a ride out there, then seen it was nothing, and she can't stand a ladder without getting scared. :)

P.S. i've hit a few trees in my life too! :)

dh

[Thermaler]

Dave, Your NUTS!!! Glad you took my advice on a harness. Even gladder that the cops didn't put you in one!!!
Truth be told, it looks like one hell of a fun time and something we might get away with around Red Hen.
I had the same kind of lift here, damn NW wind.
The Golden Eagle flew the nest first. It was a little hairy at first, full down trim and the roller coaster ride was not a thrill, got 2 1/2 minutes.
Added 35% on the Vision and went at it again. Had to move the trim lever back to netural before the roller coaster stopped, got 4 minutes.
Third flight netted 8+ minutes and the seal of approval. I like the Golden Eagle, it didn't seem to mind the gusty winds much at all.
Put the V Tail Osprey 2M up next, 7 minutes the first time, 11 the second and 14 the third. The last landing was a little rough and I thought I buggered it good. Turn out to be a flap control horn came unglued. Damn, no Dave and his workshop in a van. I'll have to bring my own glue from now on.
I got the Merlin together and did a range test. About 180 steps with the antenna done before things went screwy.
Up to the winch and let's take this easy, tap tap tap... Up on rails despite the cross wind launch. The pucker was maxed waiting for the Merlin to repeat it's girations of last fall. Guess what, your advice of adding 18" to the antena worked!! Thank You!! I only got 2 minutes out of that.
A lot harder on the winch this time, the Merlins first zoom and altitude. Flying NW to the left of the shop I encountered some wave lift from the tree line which I played with for about ten minutes before going east over what was corn last year.
BOOM! LIFT, BIG STRONG LIFT off the recently plowed earth. In three minutes I was testing the flap/elevator comp., that needs more work. When it was done and over I had 45 minutes and another plane in the quiver.
Sent the Merlin up three more times before they came out with the sprayer. I maybe got 20 minutes total from them.
None of my pics came out well enough to post, wrong ISO.
So it seems that my wishes for us were answered, your in one piece and so are my sailplanes.

RED HEN REPORT

Last years across from the shop and corn field are all black dirt finely plowed and planted. The 2 fields south of them are a bit rough with bare spots. The SW corner of Darden and Tamarack is plowed and maybe planted. The SE corner is being cut up, porbably gone in a couple of weeks. The field to the east is a bit rough with bare spots.
The bare spot fields will most likely be looking like a fairway by the end of the month.

Joe

[Kenny Sharp]

Wow Dave! That looks pretty cool.
What a beautiful countryside you have in Michigan.

I've been tinkering with the idea if XC myself....thanks for sharing.:)

[dhauch]

Hey joe, thx for the red hen report, we'll get hooked up soon.
glad to hear you got some flying in too, thx for all the details of it.

Ken;
this place is really cool for flying.
it's like a 5 mile square block, in the middle of know where, and it will have a 100 yard section of corn going a mile deep, then next to it will be 100 yds. wide of some type of grass for wildlife a mile deep, then corn, then grass, ect...

right now the corn fields are plowed, so great thermal makers, and those grassy spots are great for emergency landings.

best part is, it's dead quiet except for the birds.
we seen two cars today.

dh

[DocOne]

Congrats!
I have to say your platform looks a little Rube Goldberg for me, but it appears you survived anyways. I remember the firs time I tried XC I was scared to death - but its part of the LSF ritual.

Cheers,
Brad

[dhauch]

Congrats!
I have to say your platform looks a little Rube Goldberg for me,
Cheers,
Brad

thx Brad.

that platform is 5/8'' ply, with 2x4 stringers, which is bolted to the seat brackets to the floor pan of the car in 4 places.

the steel crates are bolted together, then bolted to the plateform.

i used my rock climbing gear that i've hung from the side of hundreds of rock cliffs with for a harness, so everyone can stop worrying.

the wheels will probably fall off this car before that platforms gives. :)

dh

[Bryan Quick]

Dude, you need to find a swivel chair and a seat belt.

That looks like fun though.

[dhauch]

Dude, you need to find a swivel chair and a seat belt.

That looks like fun though.

yeah, this was just a proto-type to see how it worked without spending much.

i was going to get a metal, swivel bar stool to mount on it next,
but this works just fine and i have nothing into.

dh

[bobby legue]

Dave how about a swivel boat seat, the pedistal type? They are strong and they easily break down.
Bobby

P.S. Idont trust bar stools as Ive seen many a people fall off them, Even me once or three times, For no good reason......lol

[DLD]

Dave,

Back in the mid eighties, I built an XC plane called Pegasus. I purchased the fuse and scratch built the rest. One day while test flying at the local field one of my friends showed up in his Austin Healey 100-6 right after I had specked out in a thermal. I did not have a large battery installed as I wasn't planning on actually attempting XC yet. Even so, he asked me, you want to try it and see how far we can get? I of course said sure, and we hopped in his Healey and took off. An hour and a half later I landed only because I was afraid the battery would die on me, we had traveled 26 miles on the first attempt! What a thrill! I did a couple of XC contests back then, came in second to Larry Jolly at one. Have fun!

DLD

[FrogChief]

yeah, can't wait to go back and rack up some more lapes.



lapes - Low Altitude Parachute Extraction System. :p

[dhauch]

hey DLD, thats had to feel really good, way to go!
thx for sharing.

thermal flying around the same field seems real boring to me now.
get all the height, and no place to go. :)

i can't wait to get back out there for more XC flying.

dh

Dave,

Back in the mid eighties, I built an XC plane called Pegasus. I purchased the fuse and scratch built the rest. One day while test flying at the local field one of my friends showed up in his Austin Healey 100-6 right after I had specked out in a thermal. I did not have a large battery installed as I wasn't planning on actually attempting XC yet. Even so, he asked me, you want to try it and see how far we can get? I of course said sure, and we hopped in his Healey and took off. An hour and a half later I landed only because I was afraid the battery would die on me, we had traveled 26 miles on the first attempt! What a thrill! I did a couple of XC contests back then, came in second to Larry Jolly at one. Have fun!

DLD

[lincoln]

What I hate is when those trees come up and then you have to reacquire the glider.

Wasn't a problem on my first xc attempt, if you want to call 1km goal and return xc. Just walked to the other end of the (full scale) runway while the witnesses went out in a car. Even tho it was just a 2 meter, they couldn't see it until it was coming back, as I had gone out further than they could see at 1km. Maybe they weren't glider pilots, I don't remember anymore.

[Lance Prior]

Congratulations Dave!

Next time tell us the distance of your course and time yourself so we can figure out your speed around the course.

[rdwoebke]

So you don't have any friends with a pickup truck or a convertable?

:)

Glad you had fun. At 4 miles you have made a longer XC than I have, so I'm impressed with your skills.

[dhauch]

So you don't have any friends with a pickup truck or a convertable?


i don't have any friends period! :confused:

dh

[Thermaler]

GEE, Thanks Dave. A little more advise from a friend, don't let Donna drive if you have had a fight the night before, she might be tempted to scrape you off the side of the van on a tree or post. Especially if the life insurance is paid!!!
Sorry, can't help it, just remember I only rib the people I like. Besides someone should be looking out for you!!!
Looking forward to seeing this in the real.

Joe

[dhauch]

GEE, Thanks Dave. A little more advise from a friend, don't let Donna drive if you have had a fight the night before, she might be tempted to scrape you off the side of the van on a tree or post. Especially if the life insurance is paid!!!
Joe

thats funny joe.
yeah, we where joking about that.

i have nothing on me for life insurance, so she had nothing to gain, plus she wouldn't have been able to find her way home. :)

dh