I thought today was finally the day for the re-maiden of my foam scratchbuilt Cub. New motor and ESC, reworked wing, new cowl... Almost no wind, temperature is fine, field is open, batteries are charged.

Then I get there, set the plane down, and discover that 2" wheels -- to say nothing of my minuscule tail wheel! -- just can't cope with the gravel that replaced the asphalt. I thought it would work, since I found a very flat spot, but the plane made such a racket just taxying that I decided not to risk it. The near loss of my E-Starter in similar conditions made me pack up everything and head home. So now I need to finish my hand-launch "warbird" (patience, people...) or get a model of a bush plane with extra large wheels and reinforced landing gear.

Or... Well, it could be an "and," no? Hmmm...

Spent an hour this evening soldering plugs to the 30A ESC and TowerPro 2409 motor. I need either a better soldering iron or more practice; yet the final results were still acceptable. Shiny solder, no blobs, continuous connection. Ran the motor once or twice to make sure everything works. Throttle response curve is terrible (we’re not far from just on/off — you get what you pay for…). Propeller spins the right way.

Which means, I only need to attach the servos and battery mount, bend some wire for the pushrods, and do a few tests, and Ivan’s ready to go.

Who’s Ivan? You’ll see in a few days…