This morning I awoke to 6 inches of snow, 20 degrees and a forecast 15 mph winds ....
Oh Yea - Another chance to slope ,this was the third time I was able to get out on the hill this week
Once again at the top I found more wind , a steady 20 gusting over 30 mph to shake the rust off my trusty KA-8 .
I kept her up for around 20 minutes,the gusts were definitely flexing the wings
I popped the spoilers and walked her in during a lull in the gusts , no need to beat up an old favorite too bad.
Next up was the LEG ODR ,after some trimming {not sure why it was out of trim but its been a while since I last flew her } I was zooming back and forth close to the hill face {Kansas on my mind }
The wind kept vectoring west to north west then back west sometimes just a few degree's sometimes more - it kept it interesting
After about 45 minutes of fun my fingers were getting cold so I decided to head back down to the car.
A good week of flying {and climbing } has my legs and lungs ready for some rest and football tomorrow - GO BILLS !!

I got out today for almost 2 hours of non stop flying with my 48"Knife Edge and 48" Dan Wing 2 .
The temperature was 25 degrees and sunshine with a wind of 13 to 20 mph , I admit I was a little slow getting out the door but once again after I had a plane in the air it made all the extra clothes and climb up the hill well worth it .

A extra bonus today - I was flying hot laps back and forth across and down the face of the hill when I got a flash of something above me , after easing off and getting a little distance from the ground I was able to look up and found a good size red Tail hawk hovering 30 feet above my head and his partner was flying low over the field in front ,I felt honored to share the air with such awesome creatures !
I guess they saw the activity and were hoping that some thing would flush out of the cover I was zooming around over , in any case whenever I see birds of prey I am blessed .
There is more good wind forecast later this week -

I got out 2 times last week for some flying but did not take any picture,I could get used to this as a regular outing
The forecast was for a max of 9 mph today so I thought I would give it a try on a other wise grey dull day with temps in the mid 30's
I brought out my lite weight Kato to see if she would stay up.
Also I brought out a new 1mtr EPEE DLG for it's maiden on the hill

Out to the hill today for a forecast 14mph ,once at the top I found a steady 20 +
I tried launching the Cutlass first,she was a old combat plane I built in the 90's.
No joy on the Cutlass ,after a half a dozen or so launches {and walks back up the hill } the best I got was a couple of hundred foot glide. even after moving the c/g back with some lead on the back end - I suspect that it needs to go further back {and more lift } but that will be another day.

Next out was my Wind Rider Swift ,it has been a while since I last flew her as she needed to have a rudder servo replaced.
Once replaced I also built a plywood ballast box and installed it in the fuse at the c/g {about where the scale wheel would have been installed }

The Swift is very sleek but at its stock weight ran out of energy quickly and got bounced around in the gusts.

Once launched she carried the weight well and was pumping much higher than stock , she rewarded smooth flying to keep the speed up ,but showed no sign of snappiness once slowed .
The second flight was around 25 minutes and by then the wind was in the high 20's gusting over 30 at times ,she flew well but there was some flex in the wings in the rough air , I will be adding steel rods to the insides of the carbon spars next and maybe cut in flaps as they would make landing a lot less exciting .
I admit having a tough time coming back to a finished plane to make changes when I have others waiting to be started ...

A great day out on the hill ,Fresh air , good exercise !

Had to get out of the shop today for some fresh air {you can't build/repair all the time}
With a couple of inches of snow on the ground and no wind to slope the next option was float planes off the snow
The day started clear and cold with the temp around 16 f but warmed up to a balmy 30 f just after lunch.
I ran a 3 -S ,2200 pack in both planes ,5 minutes flying with a couple of take off's and landing each felt right , both planes had no problem taking off and handled the the holes from foot print's like they were not there .

I maidened the P-47 today
More info to come but here are the pictures
A very nice flying bird

The rest of the story
I had picked this plane up at a swap meet,the seller had no documentation on the plane but the price seemed fair .
Once home I found that the 70 amp esc did not work so I changed it over to a 80 amp Red Brick from HK .
While setting it up I found it had a couple of different brands of servo's mismatched on the ailerons and the flaps {one flap servo actually started to burn up }
so I wound up replacing them all .
So maybe not as good a deal but Pressing on it was time to get this in the air .
My experience has been that there are some scale warbirds that just seem to fly great no matter what size they are or what company makes them ,
the Zero ,the Mustang the T-28 and the P-47 are at the top of that list.
It was time to find out if this one would live up to that expectation .

At the field with a bit of wind coming down the runway , I advanced the throttle and the tail came up nicely , as I continued to increase the power she leapt into the air in about 6 feet climbing like a home sick angel....also veering left at yours truly
As she passed over my head in knife edge I pivoted to keep my eyes on her and remember thinking - This is not going to end well ,expecting her to stall and fall from the sky.
To my surprise she was rock solid in knife edge so I pulled a little elevator and then leveled her out with aileron to fly a pattern out in...Continue Reading

No wind to slope today but no rain either so I got out with my big T-28 to get in one more maiden before the end of the year
This is a Trojan that had been crashed ,I made a deal to pick it up and have repaired it .
A really nice flyer, but not a small airplane ,it weighs in around 12 pounds

Another chance yesterday to do some flying,often Nor Easters give more than 1 day of favorable wind on my hill with the first day having snow/rain and then clearing skies after .
I went out to the hill with a forecast 10 mph NW wind and intermittent sun .
Today's selection was a Multiplex Heron 2M full house that I had picked up on a trade from a flying buddy , it has a Radian power set up on a 12x8 folding prop {not that i was planning to use it }

A bit of history -
My buddy had liked the way the plane flew but it kept having intermittent problems so he moved it on to me .
While I was programming the the model in my transmitter I saw the left flap go to a uncommanded full down and traced it back to the fancy servo connectors that plug in when you slide the wings into the fuse ,4 standard servo extension later she was ready of a test flight .
The flat field test flight was uneventful ,she flew smoothly not bothered by wind gusts and seemed to have a bit of speed in her glide -should be perfect for lesser day's on the slope and exploring new sites to fly .

Once at he top of the hill I found a steady 12 to 15mph and sunshine - Yea !

She launched without a problem and went where I pointed her.
The rudder and coordinated turns were comfortable and fun so I was soon flying close to the hill rolling to knife edge on the turns and zooming down and back up the face and sides ,a solid flyer and a plane that I could hand to a newbie sloper with confidence .

...Continue Reading

A classic North Easter blew up the coast this week end producing snow for The New England states and NW wrap around wind for my hill .
The velocity of the wind depends on how close or far the storm center is from us ,this weekends storm stayed nearer to the coast so predicted winds were only 10 to 11 mph.
Saturday a was 37 degrees warmer so it drizzled most of the day I chose to stay dry and inside and opt for Sunday with lesser winds but some sunshine .
Once at the top I found 9 to 12 with some higher gust, not a lot but a chance to fly my hill in these conditions .
I brought out 2 - 48" wings that I had not flown in years .
A -11.5 oz "Kato " and a 10.7oz "Zulu " {one of Zack's originals offerings before he got established , I bought just the core's and made my own pod }

I flew the Kato first, to be honest I had not flown it much as it just didn't perform well the first time around.
Taking a second look at it on Sat I decided that I had not done a very good job with the magic hinges {also known as tension hinges} I think they were not staying centered on the trailing edge of the wing causing Huge drag so I cut them off and installed CA hinges .
I launched and quickly found out that my throws were way to high on elevator , I wound up dialing them down to 50 % ,she was still pretty touchy so I moved the cg forward with a bit of lead on the nose ...more to come it's dinner time
Changing the hinges turned the Kato into a excellent...Continue Reading

Out to the hill today with a forecast of 12 to 13 mph and a 2 hour window of the correct wind direction .
On the way up I was greeted by 2 pairs of Red Tail Hawks cruising the slope and screeching theirs songs -a Good sign !
Once on top I was greeted with 15 gusting to around 20 -Yea !

Lately I have been on a mission to complete old projects and get my shop and bench cleared for some new ones, with today's the milder wind prediction I elected to bring out a little ship that had been collecting dust for way to long - A scratch built "Limit Ex " that I built in 2011 ...way Too long

The Limit went out first -it needed some up trim , and the aileron throws were "Very aggressive " she is a nimble little beastie
after about 5 minutes I brought her back in and programmed dual rates and a bit of expo - back out she still had a blinding roll with 60% throw but now comfortable .
Tooled around some more and brought her back in to move the battery back about 1/4 "
spot on - she flew flat in the gusts and the lulls ,flew for another 25 minutes , what neat little bird

After a brief rest I put the 1M Epee out - no surprises here ,I could elevator her up and out of sight or rip back and forth across the face of the hill
After 2hr's I was content to pack up and head back down the hill

It has been unusually warm here in the north east this fall allowing me to get out and maiden some powered projects as there has been no wind from the proper direction for my hill
But wait ......A large cold front sweeping thru ,High winds ,rain and dropping temperatures .... IT MUST BE SLOPE SEASON

Out to the hill today, temps in the 30's with lake effect snow and finally north west wind predicted to be around 15mph

Wind at the top was a solid 20 gusting above 30 mph with a trace of snow from the morning with partial sunshine.
I flew the Sally first for about 20 minutes to shake the rust off and scope out the lift ,She is a great flyer with no bad habits ,it was so good to be flying again !

Next it was time for "The Gull " , I am not sure who made this one as the fuse appears to be blue foam with balsa sheeted wings ,the fuse glassed and the wing covered in film.

I launched her with my left hand and she flew away with out a twitch or a wiggle ,I trimmed quite a bit of up elevator to fly level but noticed a bit of hyper stall even with the solid wind i had .
After about 5 minutes of flying {she was cruising around nicely} I got out in front of the hill when we had a wind shift that put her down, after a little walk to retrieve I tapped some lead on the tail and relaunched.
Wo Hoo ! Much better,
I wound up taking almost all of the up trim back out {ended up with about a 1/16 of reflex } now no sign of hyper stall ,she was handling the gusts and quartering wind with no problem a Great flyer , I even had a big red tail hawk cone over to scope her out - I dont think he had ever seen a sea gull doing pumps before
I finished up with the Sizzle and landed as the snow squalls started to blast in again .
A Good Day !

November 2nd 2020 -
Cold fronts are moving through, lake effect snow and dropping temps ... Time to put on winter gear and get out on the hill
It seems that slope season starts on my hill once winter begins to lock in - you have to play the cards you are dealt

I planned to be on the hill at 10:00 as the forecast predicted a 2 1/2 hour window of nw wind before shifting back to the west,I got to the bottom of the hill and began to suit up only to find I had left my bib coveralls back home ....I guess it's been a while since I was last out
Back home we go to pick them up - hopefully that would be my last dumb ass move of the day .

a hour later I am finally at the top the winds are a constant 22mph gusting above 30

I put the Coyote up first , nice to shake the rust off with a smooth flier.
I had her up for around 25 minutes ,by the end of that time my eyes were watering as I had neglected to put on my goggles so good time for a water break .

Next up was my heavy wing ,she is pretty stiff and cuts through the rough air with out a problem .
I had a blast flying close to the hill doing paperclips turns across the top and diving down the north side rolling into knife edge and blasting back up and across for another lap .

Finally I pulled out the "Sizzle ".
My right thumb was getting a little cold and I was tiered from being on my feet for the last hour, the wind had reduced to around 18mph and was starting to vector back and forth between nw and west .
It still amazes me how this 12oz wing can handle the gusts and chop ,she rolls like a drill and changes direction in the blink of a eye {if you want }
Always a kick in the pants ...

We finally got a forecast for wind from the right direction {NW}
With predicted 22 to 35 mph changing from west to NW around 4:00 , I headed out arriving on the top just after 4:00.
Earlier in the day we had a passing line of thunder showers that brought heavy rain and 1/4 hail , but now it was a sunny 62 degrees
The wind quartered back and forth between west and north west pretty much all the time I was there so it was pretty rough and bumpy .

I flew all my planes starting with the ODR and finishing up with the ASW - 22, spending about 2 hours before coming back down at 6:00,all in all a great time back out in the fresh air and wind.

Finally....
I have not been out on the slope since 6/5 with either no wind or wind blowing every direction but the needed NW for the last 2 months.
I could not stand to wait any longer for a much needed fix {or at least a nice walk to the top on a beautiful summer day }
so with a forecast of a 10mph west I loaded up my Crystal and headed out .
The forecast was spot on with a measured max of 10mph on my Hall wind Gage .

I launched any found I could intermittently catch some slope lift off the north west tip of the hill that wasn't quite shaded by the tree line that is on the south side.
With all the sunshine large thermals were passing through out in front of the hill , I was alternating between out front of the hill and the face as the conditions ebbed and flowed .
After about a hour the wind was dying so I landed and headed back down to my car...
What's that they say - a not so good day of flying is better than an good day of work
Keep them in the air Boy's

Also nearing completion from my build Que is a Balsa USA Sopwith Pup.
Powered by a Zenoha G-38 , All that I have left to do is to mount the cowl and do a final balance before maiden.
It could be a busy weekend

While the wind has subsided for the moment so , I have also been finishing some Gas projects that have been on my "to do list"
Pictured below is a 1/4 scale cub that I have been working on .
A Enya120 R has been mounted for the power system { I wanted to use a gasser but my 23cc is side exhaust and would require cutting up the cowl more than I wanted } ,a different spare set of wings have been moumted and all servos have been installed.
Next I fabricated new wing struts and hardware -see below

I maidened another bird Tuesday night .
With just a trace of a breeze after dinner ,I took out a "new to me " Albatross 2 .7 to put my first flight on .

A Beautiful ship ,she launched with out effort and flew very smoothly .
It has big flaps that allow you to point the nose toward the ground for that pinpoint landing without picking up speed .

The power system was more than needed,I climbed out only using 1/2 to 3/4 throttle , Lots of get up and go if needed

Out to the hill again today
The forecast was for 10 to 13 mph by mid afternoon but arriving at noon we found the hang glider guy's packing up and heading home...
At the top we discovered a solid 20 with gusts up to 30 ....Oh Yea !
We had the hill all to ourselves .

The wind built as the afternoon went on ,with big thermals {and sink} passing through to keep the flying interesting .
The temperature was in the high 70's
A perfect afternoon of sloping .
After 3 hours of flying we headed back down the hill to our cars and packed up , I measured the wind at my car and it was blowing 18 mph on the flat .

I got a chance to duck out and do some sloping today.
The forecast only called for a 1 hr window of the correct direction wind,I have wanted to get out with my 3m Crystal to see if she flew as well on the slope as she had for her maiden "flat land " outing .
Please see below :

We got back out on the hill yesterday for a little sun and Slermal flying.
The conditions were very different from the previous outing , temps in the mid 50's {no snow } and a whole hill full of hang gliders
It was very nice to be able to soak up some sun ,watch the hang gliders do their thing and get a little air time ourselves .