Explains why I have not done much flying of late.

Latest pic at a track.
Should have some of some models soon...

Once again nothing to do with RC toys.
Thought Id chuck another few pics up as I know some are into 2 wheels as well.
Another shout out to Gouch who got me out of trouble once again giving me valuable advice over the phone on where to find a "hidden" fues.

Since the wind has been rubish this year I have bought an old CBR900 and with a bit of good advice from Gouch got her running sweet.
Done 2 track days so far.
Alot of fun.

Nothing to do with models but more my personal life.
Andrea my girlfriend has banned me from eating over the bin or over the sink. She claims it makes her uncomfortable and makes me look like an animal on a feeding frenzy.
I find this very unfair.
I eat over the bin or sink for purely practical reasons to avoid using cutlery plates and any other eating tools that could require washing. I figure I'm doing us a favor by reducing power and water bill by avoiding the dishwasher working overtime. The crumbs simply fall straight into the bin or sink.
Any other bin or sink eaters give me a shout out, I need the support.

I usually bite my tongue but not this time. It has come to my attention that a fellow modeler has purchased a model from another.
Unfortunately it would seem that the model was bought and paid for in full on the agreement the model would be posted.

It seems that the model was not posted as agreed and perhaps the model was sold twice to 2 different people and as a result someone missed out.
This is about as low as it gets.

Beware people. There are haemhorroids out there.

To the lowlife haemhorroid you know who you are and I can only hope that you make things right because karmas a bitch.
You have already lost the respect and friendship of 90% of those that have flown with you through just generally being a dickhead now you are known as a thief to boot.

Finished making the fues for the Shmicko. Yet to pop it out but I think it went well. Plenty of improvments to be made on the second and third one but I think the basics are sound.

The layup on the body of the fues was
0.75oz glass
6oz carbon on bias
6oz carbon on 0/90
10oz uni carbon
6oz carbon on bias
6oz carbon/kevlar around wing and nose for extra beef

Time will tell to see how strong it is. Big thanks to some of the input from some RCG members who pointed me in the right direction as far as layup goes. And of course Shane who made the mold in the first place.

I hope Shane and Roger dont mind me posting this pic as its a joint venture project. Sharing the work load and cost of making it will help out and hopefully speed the process up.

Shane is responsible for the making of the molds which is by far the biggest and hardest step.

I have put my hand up for the fues manufacture, Roger will be making the tail and Shane will be making the wing, though I can assume that the first couple of models we might be crossing paths and ideas till we get it down pat.

100" DS19 wing section which has been CNCed by Andreas the brains who created the Thorn.

We have slapped a fues and tail together to suit the wings and are in the final throws of perfecting the plugs and parting boards.

The first couple that will be popped out of the molds will be made with fast DS in mind. We are setting our sites high and if made strong and heavy enough Im hoping to up my PB with it.
Obviously compeating with a well refined Opus with 15 years of R&D is not going to happen over night and I can only imagine a few interesting and maybe cosly mistakes along the way however inspired by JM and a few of the great build threads we think it a worth while project.

100" and DS19 wing section it should be able to be made in a lighter version to be a great front side racer or made heavy (as the first few will be) nice and heavy for ouright speed.

We are looking foward to sharing some experiences as this new monster comes together.

I recently flew my Opus and managed to burn out 2 servos. I beleve it was due to poor geometry where there was a a little load on the servos while being under full throw. Im not exactly sure and am yet to do a a full trouble shooting exercise. It will be the opportunity I need to takee out the receiver and flap servos and transfter my Opus onto my new (new for me) JR9X.

The little flying I have done of late has shown that I have lost a little bit of practice and dont feel very sharp. I am going to be focusing on flying little foamys at smaller tighter spots (I got a 36" JW yet to be built) which should get the thumbs and brain working at potential again. I have decided that I wont travel 7.5 hours round trip for aN average speed. I think I better spending a morning or arvo cutting 100mph laps with foam more often for keeping the brain working fast.

Apart from that me and Misses Swoopdown are looking for a house in South Australia, Christies Beach to be exact. Looking at houses in the local area prices seem to be overly inflated and I feel that Christies Beach is a lovely little spot that we could rent and one day maybe move over there. Thanks to Gizzo a local sloper he showed me the place had plenty of really nice beaches and some beautifull seaside slopes. It looks like a slopers paradise.

I been a bit quite of late. Its not because I have the sheets or anything I just had limited net access.
My big news is that I have now had a couple of flights up on my Opus MC3 and the thing kicks ass.
My first maiden flight it went 222mph followed by a 223mph run an hour later. Yesterday (27/09/09) I went down to Johanna again a ripped up a 278mph run.
It was so rock solid I was very happy.
Thanks to Andrew Barnes for importing such a great model at sush a reasonable price. When I crash and burn my MC3 (its not if its when) I will be on the phone to him in seconds ordering another.

Update on the Opus is that she is going really well.
I have now flown it at a really ddogy spot which has massive backside turbulence and the LZ is the bush/dead tree you see in the pic. Other than that it is just massive bolders and rocks!
I have put tip ballast in it (150grams each tip) and it makes it alot more stable though it feels pretty dead till it hits 150-160mph.

Next update! Did a Y tail mod. CAed a small subfin on. Its only about an inch high (or low I should say) and make a stack of difference. Im really happy with how it goes now and just hanging for a big day. Bring on 45 knots!

This little Destiny is my 3rd one.
The first one I bough second hand scared myself silly for a half a dozen outings and sold it. My second one I crashed and burned so many timed that it was mostly made from bog and balsa.
My third one (pictured) was moded pretty heavy from the start. It had alot of balast in the tips, aliminuim tubes in the ailerons and flaps (which I cut out) and a bagged balsa tail fin which I glued on the back of it to give it more yaw stability. It works a treat and I would recomend it highly.
It flew with a big shim of tape under the leading edge of the tail and a couple of paddle pops under the back of the wing.
CG at 73mm. She had a big 4 cell AA pack a single HS85 for the elevator and HS65s on the ailerons. I used silver waypoint rubish for the flaps (never buy these servos as they are the same price as HS85/65s and are crap!) but they were locked out so it wasnt so bad with slop.
First flight she spun 151mph
Second flight she spun 208mph then blew up.
Mind you it was blowing 40 knots + and recorded to 54knots (100kmh) on the nearest weather station.
Not bad for the little Desy that had been labled "fcuked" by someone that clearly didnt understand that its not how your models look its how you fly them that counts

Joel is another speed freak nutter. Back into flying after a long break while passing the time by flying full size and skydiving.

He doesnt mind a drive and travels the best part of 6 hours + most weeks to spread himself all over the victorian contry to fly the finest hills. He is a piss funny bloke with an addiction for gaining as much height as he can with any model he can before pin dropping it out of the sky. You got to love it!
I get the feeling that Joel will be a serious contender with the Aussie record this year with the a new MCT and naturally smooth thumbs.

Roger is a typical DS nutter. He has been hitting the lap work pretty hard for a good while now. He has a pretty hard work ethic and it shows. His laps are always consistant and in a good part of the sky. It has payed of now with a 170+ mph lap with his double glass Opus. I think that its only a matter of time before the right wind hits and he will be over the 200 mark.

Also looks for a way to amuse himself and keep his lust for speed satisfied he bought himself a Vikos for the front side.

Also becoming quite a builder with a couple of bagged wings which have come out a treat.

Just finished this little beauty.
Speedo, 1200 span chinese cheapy. I had to have one after flying Hytrams in 25 knot wind! I couldnt believe how much fun it was.
After flying biger faster models I feel I have list some of the "in you face" flying I so much loved.
The little cutie only weighs a little over 400 grams and handles awesome. I have yet to fly mine but I cant wait.
Landed it for about $90AU which included 3 servos.
Almsot everyone has one down here so I think we will end up racing them when we get the chance.

Foam!
M60, JW54, JW60, HP60, Bees and lots of home made/cut flying wings.
I have had lots of them and despite some people disliking foam I still believe it has its place. I am building a new JW60 as my old JW60 has gone to a better place.
I love fast foam but of late I have been weighing up the pros and cons. I thinking that the buy price is cheep (ie 100 bucks) but it cost 10 hours or more to build one....
Anyway either way I need another so I better stop winging and build my next one

Andrea my better half is always good for a laugh. Andrea often comes out to a slope and doesnt mind holding a radar gun or a camera.
She can be thanked for a few of the photos here in my blog as well.
She often has to keep me in line and finds it strage that Im so amused when I destroy a model.
She loves her horse Arrow and also her red Commodore, she was not impressed when she got bogged on one of out slope adventures. Everyone else got stuck and laughed but Andrea was not impressed.

A couple of good shots taken by Adrain of a pissed off magpie.

The Big Bird
The Big Bird is a 2.5metre "Sports model"
Too small for world record times on the F3F course but perfect size to tool around on any hill.
I was a bit critical of its finish when I first got it but all has been forgivn and it is now my work horse.
I have yet to find a spot or conditions I have yet to fly her in yet.
She will fly in 5 Knots and I reciently flew her in winds that were measured to be gusting to over 50Knots (I think the average wind was over 30Knots).
She DSes OK (wound her to 140mph) but excells in big front side air expecially with a belly full of lead.
For a 2.5 metre model she is really nimble. She prefers to carve rather than bang a turn and if flown like that she really rocks.
My favourite thing about this model is its perfect handeling even at slow speeds. With the crow breaking I can spot land it where I want every time which lets me fly it even where I would be worried about flying a foamy.
After 12 months of flying, other than a botched hand catch which resulted in a creased wing tip (it was an easy fix) and a little bit of hanger rash shes as good as new.

She also does a pretty nice winch launch with a great zoom at the end!

My setup is 100mm CG, a fair bit of elevator a good smack (almost 3mm) of snap flap and I regularly fly with a bit of reflex. Im running Futaba S3150s in the wings which over time have developed a bit of slop and a JR362 for rudder and JR3401 for elevator. With this setup I can fly for ages with very little battery use. I am now using a 4xAA enelope 2000mha pack.

A highly recomended model.

I got mine from http://www.falcongliders.com.au and have nothing but praise for the great service and prices Andrew offers.

Dad! Or Ian to everyone else...
I been flying with Dad longer than anyone else.
I think it was back in about 86 when I was 9 years old I helped Dad build a couple of Aeroflight models including a Trident (the one before the Brolga) and a Super Trident. I dont really know how much "help" I was but I loved watching. I also loved the drive with Dad out to the local thermal field to chase the parachute from the bungee.
Dad had a break from flying for many years (raising a family and all that) I got him flying slope for the first time in his life about 10 years ago. It was the firt time he had flown and he had never flown in any wind. With an old combat wing he has taken to it like a duck to water. He currently flys a JW60 and a MiniBlade at Beechmont on the Gold Coast.
As I live in Melbourne and he is 1500Km away I really miss flying with him. Its one thing we did on a pretty regular basis and when I think about it it makes me really home sick.
I cant blame Dad for my piss poor spellin gas his is really quite good