Pics in zip file haven't been shrunk.

With the Airistocrats, or is it the Stealth Squadron?

The zip file has files that have not been shrunk. I have other pics of this event but they're even darker.

Went to a dlg contest last weekend. Had been trying to get a used Salonit ready, but wasn't there yet. Flew the Sidewinder II on Saturday. Managed to do a tip strike with the S2, but it was still flyable with some temporary repairs. By Sunday morning, I had the Salonit sort of ready, although I hadn't figured out how to do flaps with the radio I was using. The Salonit seemed to launch much higher and I liked the way it flew. However, I managed to break the tailboom in the first round. Not by a tip strike, though. So I scrambled and repaired a couple of cracks in the S2 that I had noticed, and was back by the third round. I intend to get the Salonit ready soon, because it was a lot of fun, but that's it for the dlg season for me, I think.

Was helping someone to get a plane out of a tree today. It was high enough that we were using a bow with a bowfishing setup (big spool) to get a string over the branch. Sometimes I use dowels with a slot and a hole. The string acts instead of the fletching. (i.e. feathers) I got curious as to what would happen if I fired one off without the string. Pointed it down range across the field, with no one in sight, at maybe 45 degrees elevation. I expected it to go sideways and slow down very fast. Instead, it pulled up as if it had wings, looped over, and came down BEHIND me. Took a while to do it but was very surprising, I'll admit. I doubt if I'll be doing that again!

Anyway, we only lost one arrow and we got the plane back with only minor damage.

Was instructing today. My student is learning to land, but I don't have a buddy cable that works for his radio. I have one I thought was SUPPOSED to work, but it doesn't.

He landed his Radian off the field after a moment of confusion. Very gently in some bushes. But the brush in between was very dense and had a muddy little brook in it. Somehow I got across the brook without getting my feet wet. However, a machete might have been very useful. Until I noticed that I'd dropped my cell phone, when I might have been tempted to use the machete on my neck. ;-) My student had also been bushwacking, but I sent him back to call me with his cell phone. Eventually found the phone and heard the servos as I worked the right stick on the tx. Managed to find a clearing with sight of the field and was able to fly the plane out instead of dragging through more bushes. Took the long way out myself. I'm tired!

Hoping it won't happen again, since my student is making good progress, especially since he got a simulator working on his Mac.

We managed to get a couple more flights in after this incident.

Well, it finally happened. After MANY years, I finally launched a glider with the transmitter off. That was last year. It was quite sad. I managed to pick up another one at our auction in the fall. Have been having fun with it, but today I launched a bit too hard, for another first. I don't think I'd ever unintentionally broken a wood glider on the winch. (I've broken a composite glider with a carbon spar that way, but that's another story.)

I'm used to the wing rod bending before the rest of the structure fails, since it's only 7/32 inch diameter. This one was only barely bent, but the joiner box broke. A post mortem revealed that some of the epoxy was not bonded to wood. So be careful about surface prep and all that stuff when you're doing joiners.

This should teach me to build my own stuff more often, or else at least fly stuff that's newer. Sigh. Meanwhile, it joins the large pile of repairables.

Consoled myself with some dlg flying just in advance of an impressive thunderstorm. Lots of fun for a few minutes. Surrounded by very tall metal lightposts, so not quite as nuts as it sounds. Or at least not as risky for me. One of these days I may hit a lightpost with a model. Not yet, though.

Why a Sidewinder II is better than a Cyberdyne. (note the bend) (That's a Cyberdyne in the picture.)

Lots of fun. Much floatier than my Skeeter was. (don't start!) A good flier, but don't pull down on the launch grip. If you're really strong you might want to make sure the covering is very tight before launching. Mine had a cut down, conventional tail, but the handling was still very good.

This is a javelin launch type so it hurts more and doesn't go as high.

Not a bad 2M. A bit twitchy, and of course it doesn't have the latest airfoils or a skinny fuselage, so it's not as fast as some. But fun. I don't think they kit this one any more, but the Jester is supposed to be a full fuselage, normal tail version of same.

I've never built one, but I've owned one for 15 years or so. One of the very best soaring trainers. Better than the GL. A real floater. Can stay up on the slope when no one else can. If it's a big hill, when you can hardly feel the wind. But mostly it's a thermal soarer. I put rocks in it (literally) when the wind blows.

Not available any more, I guess. My highest tech dlg to date. I like it a lot. Easy to do a tip strike, though. Very fun to fly. Placed 2nd in our dlg contest with a borrowed one. Wings can warp but can be warped back with careful use of an iron and a bit of judicious twisting.