A lot has happened since my last post of October 2008!

I last had a LT40 and Pulse XT with an evolution .46 engine. Also had an Ultimate biplane I purchased for 20 dollars along with a 1.20 OS Max four stroke I picked up for about 100 dollars, and the plane wasn't completed at that time.

As of last week, the biplane is now complete and flown as my third plane almost every day for the last several days. Here's a video of my first flight:

Ultimate biplane video

It's a lot to handle compared to my other two planes but I'm taking it slow and doing okay. Just doing some loops and rolls so far, pretty high up. It has plenty of power for taking off and moving through the sky quickly.

Also since last year;

I missed the Chili fun fly in December;

The wife had back surgery in April and almost recovered enough to go back to work now;

I built a new i7 pc with 12GB memory, three 1TB hard drives, blu-ray burner, two dvd burners, Windows 7, Vista 64 and Ubuntu operating systems, and a dual monitor 4670 video card with two 23" Asus 1080p monitors - sweet!

Joined weight watchers with the older daughter and lost about 30 so far;

Built a replacement LT40 ARF over the winter from a new arf and had the ailerons reversed ont the pulse in the beginning of the season, requiring a new fuselage after a hard bounce after takeoff.

The club had the June and August fun flies; attended other fun flys in Olean, Hamburg, Macedon, Canandaguia, ( see www.youtube.com/...Continue Reading

Flew at Northampton today. Got three flights in, all pretty good. Greg, two Jims, Jerry, Rich, Pat, Juan, Ulf, and Pat were at the field while I was there. Still just doing rolls and loops. On the sim, I've been doing what I think are knife edges, alot of inverted flight and all kinds of wild free form stuff but I don't have the guts to try anything with the Pulse yet.

The Bills beat the Chargers today. I was listening to the game on the way to the field and they were behind by a point in the third quarter when I left the car to start flying. After a couple flights I returned to the car and Greg and Pat were in Greg's van listening to the end of the game and said the Bills were kneeling down to kill the clock at the end of the game on the Chargers 10 yard line after being up 9 points! The Bills won 23 - 14 and it sounds like it could have been 30 - 14 if they wanted to run up the score. Cool.

I lost my glo-ignitor after flying at the field last Monday, and when I got home I got an email that Juan, who was flying that day with me at the field, had reported one missing. I emailed him and got a call shortly after that it was the one I described so I will now have three glo-ignitors as I already had a backup and ordered a new one the day before yesterday after checking during the week for my lost one and thinking nobody had returned it. Oh well. I guess it's nice to have a couple spares.

Until next time...

Saturday, October 11th, 2008 I stopped at Northampton three times, the first two times not sure if I wanted to fly resulting in my turning around and heading home. I stopped on the loop road and did some watching from another view. Seems a few guys were flying well beyond the windsock marking the boundary line for the no fly zone. On my the third visit later, I got out and flew the Pulse once with Steve, Pat and Jim watching. Jim flew his trainer with Rich’s help.

Sunday, October 12th, 2008, the better half and I stopped around noon at the Northampton Ski Lodge for the RCCR Annual Family End of Season Picnic at Northampton! We brought a dish to pass and had a good time and good food to eat as well. After lunch, we went to the flying field and watched and videotaped some flying. Kyle and Phil flew their helicopters spectacularly! Ed and Matt flew. So did Trevor and Rich. Also at the field were Bill S, Bill G, Jim, Pat, Steve, and a fella who had his son with him and who was flying a trainer.

101208 Northampton After Picnic (5 min 48 sec)

Monday October 13th, I stopped at Northampton and flew the Pulse XT twice. No loops or rolls, just circles. Flew fine and nice landings.

Wednesday, October 15th, 2008 I stopped at Northampton and discovered my electric starter battery was dead but borrowed Trevor’s. I also must have left my Sullivan glow ignitor at the field on Monday and it was nowhere to be found! Darn! I’ll have to order another one. Rich was there...Continue Reading

I did it! Captured my Pulse XT maiden on video!
video

Went to Northampton today. When I got there, Ed, Ron, Joe, George and Chip were there already. Pat and Jerry showed up later. I had the Pulse XT PNP with me. Had to install the receiver, which I did behind the car, and mount the wing. When I brought it out to the pits and put in on a stand, I got her ready to maiden, but took my time. Had to add some weight to the tail with Joe’s help, as it was a little too nose heavy. Also had to reverse the aileron and elevator channels. With Ed’s help I added about 30% expo to the aileron and rudder channels. I videotaped George flying his Senior on the buddy box with Ed, and Chip flying a blue trainer but I forgot to ask what it was. I asked Ron to video tape my maiden and handed him the camcorder, ready to go. Did my radio check, and fueled her up. After priming, the Evolution 46 started after about five to ten seconds with the starter and seemed smooth when lifting the plane up vertically on full throttle, and everything seemed a go.

This was my first time flying a low wing plane as well as a plane with a tail wheel. Although on the buddy box, I asked Joe if it’d be all right if I took off myself and he said sure. While on the runway, Ed checked my stick on weights on the bottom of the tail of the fuse first to make sure they stuck. After taxing for a while to get used to the tail wheel, and some tips from Joe on how to take off, I took off without a hitch. Ed adjusted...Continue Reading

Updated some more videos on youtube today.

Did Les’s Kadet Senior video over again, and Bernie’s Bandito video over again.
Bernie flew the heck out of his scratch built little yellow Bandito

09/11/08 Bernie's Bandito Northampton (3 min 38 sec)

To anyone who views the video, if you like it, please subscribe and rate it. Thanks.

I visited Dan’s and picked up the Pulse XT PNP they had on hold for me. Took it down to the basement and assembled it, videotaping as I went along. Later, I started to put together a little video on the Pulse
video which I plan to update as I go along and hopefully maiden it tomorrow. I’ll then post it on youtube and update my threads on my progress.

The club’s meeting was at 7:30 at Our Mother of Sorrow church. I was offered and accepted the position of the club’s vp of membership.

Until next time…

Yesterday and today I updated a few of the videos on my youtube page. Just trying to put the same look and feel to the intro and endings on all of them and clean up some of the glitches. The downside is the number of hits goes down to zero on a re-post, so even though some of the ones I replaced had 50-100 hits, now they only show a few.

One example is from gaRCfield's visit to Rochester a few weeks back, here's that video

08/31/08 gaRCfield Venus II at Hasman and Northampton (6 min 26 sec)

Another, of me returning my 350Z from it's lease.

Seem to be getting a lot of hits on my videos. I'm glad people seem to be enjoying them.

In case anyone is interested, all my videos are at
http://www.youtube.com/profile_videos?user=cappaj1

If you feel like it, please subscribe and rate the videos you watch. Thanks.

I called Dan's and told them to hold the Pulse XT 40 PNP for me to pick up tomorrow. It comes with an engine so I should have it ready really soon, if I actually end up buying it anyway.

Well, that's all for now. Until next time...

Besides a few comments from my post on RCU, I got an email from Russ and a phone call from Bill regarding my recent crash. Nice guys! Both said not to get discouraged and they were hoping the crash wouldn't keep me away. I assured them that although the crash is still heavy on my mind, the only reason I haven't come back to the field for the weekend was because I had nothing to fly and didn't feel in the mood, plus today, Sunday, is pretty lousy as far as weather conditions go. Bill also said not to get discouraged, that all of us crash sooner or later, and that if it made me feel any better, Flavio crashed his Showtime and flew Steve's plane, I think his big gasser, and lost sight of it and it went into the trees and that he saw them going to retrieve it with a ladder later. Really sorry to hear about other peoples mishaps but at least I don't feel so alone. Those guys are really good at flying, way beyond what I can do, and they have mishaps too. I'll probably take a ride out to the field early this week with the camcorder to videotape some of the other people who have planes fly!

I've been thinking about what to do next. I stopped at Lowes and picked up a dremel cutting bit to maybe start working on the cowl of the biplane to get it ready for the engine mounting.

As far as the LT-40, I've still got to remove the fuse from my trunk and bring it down to the basement to remove the power switch and whatever else I can salvage from it. The other day I removed the...Continue Reading

Visited Northampton late in the day as I had a doctor’s appointment earlier with a new doctor. My previous doctor recently was banned from practice for a few years, so I had to switch.
The new doctor seems very nice and was sort of a bright change of light, and uses the latest technology. He had a notebook computer with him, entered all my information into it, and with it, scheduled my next appointment, printed blood work forms for me take with me, and transmitted my prescriptions to my pharmacy, all in a few minutes while sitting with me in the room. He also changed one of my drugs to a generic to save me some money, and supposedly sent a referral to a lap band doctor in the area.
When I got to the field I met Rich who was trying to sell me his 72” Yak 54 with a 160 two stroke OS Max engine and all the servos for $500. While waiting for him to set it up, Ed asked me if I’d like to fly his more recent model Qui Que 73” Yak 54 with the buddy box which I did. It was a thrill to say the least but I realized it reacted so quickly it might be a handful for me in tricky situations. Rich then got his ready and flew it. I watched from a distance. When he landed it he bounced it hard enough on the runway that he broke the carbon fiber landing gear on one side. I offered him $400, hesitantly, as I really wasn’t feeling like it’d be a good fit, and kind of hoping he’d decline, but he accepted the offer, shaking my hand and saying “Good then, we have a deal”. I told him he’d...Continue Reading

Visited Northampton and Ed showed up shortly after I arrived followed by Ron. Later, George and Bernie showed. Bernie flew his Bandito and George had his Senior and the buddy box. Ed flew his yellow Hanger 9 Funtana which is no longer available, replaced by something very similar called the X100. It was very windy and I didn’t really enjoy flying the LT-40. Ed didn’t enjoy flying the Funtana in the wind much either, but took George up and his Senior with the buddy box. I tried inverted flight and quickly realized it wasn’t the day for that, for me anyway, and kept it fairly straightforward for the remainder of my flights, of which there were about three before I ran out of fuel in the jug. Ed was ready to let me buddy up with the Funtana but at the last minute, buddy box in hand, I declined due to the wind conditions as I didn’t want to feel responsible if anything went wrong.

Later, Rich and Jerry showed up. Jerry had his Sig Mahem 3D. I left the field, got something to eat, purchased a gallon of Cool Power 15% for $24.99 which came to $26.99 with tax, and returned to the field to catch Jerry flying the Mahem and the other guys packing up.

Rich offered me his Qui Que Yak with a seventy something inch wing span and an OS 160 two stroke, and all the hi torque ball bearing servos for $500. I told him I’d think about it and he’s bringing it out to the field tomorrow for me to take a look. Sounds like it’d be bad on glo fuel and possibly loud, and I’m sure all I could...Continue Reading

Visited Northampton with the better half today. Ed showed up shortly after we arrived. It was pretty much Ed and us the whole time there, until Pat showed up late. Ed had his Quique Somenzini Yak 54 and his TOC Yak but only flew the first. The wind turbulence was probably the worst it’s ever been while I’ve been at the field and even Ed with his Yak had trouble flying in it, especially for landings. He almost lost it on one of his attempts, even he admitted, which is rare! I flew eight flights and was fighting the wind gusts on each takeoff and landing, and was being thrown around during flight quite a bit, but managed to fly inverted and did lots of loops and rolls. I realized something today and that was I am actually enjoying flying for the first time, and not worrying too much about crashing. On my last landing, the LT-40 was getting tossed around on approach from side to side and up and down and I was running out of runway so I decided to gun it and go around for another attempt. Low on fuel, the engine sputtered and the plane deadsticked on me as soon as I gunned it! I made a sharp turn and knew I didn’t have enough altitude to bring it all the way around so brought it down in the tall grass way on the opposite side of the runway. When it came close to touching down, it disappeared out of sight behind some trees, so I grinned and just pulled back on the stick slightly hoping it would come down on the belly and get cushioned by the tall grass on touch down. When we...Continue Reading

Monday, it was too windy to fly and nobody was at the field anyway. Today, I visited twice and flew both times. Got in a total of about ten flights. Did inverted flight for the first time. My prop was too loud when using the 11x5 Master Airscrew. Joe gave me an APC 11x7 and it was a lot quieter. I was asked if I wanted to be the club’s membership VP. I told them I was honored but I'd have to think about it and I’d let them know.

Today was also the day I had to return my best car ever, the Nissan 350Z. The car was mint. It was a six speed on the floor with 287 horse power, and was full of options, including power windows, power mirrors, power seats, heated seats, heated mirrors, cruise control, xenon headlights, navigation, leather, and my favorite option, a power convertible top with a real glass window. And the stereo system was the best stock system I’ve ever heard, with Bose speakers in the doors, with a subwoofer and tweeters in the upper door pillars, plus a six cd changer, am/fm radio and auto reverse cassette deck. The orange interior gauge lights lit up very nicely at night. It was expensive though. It moved too although I never got a single speeding ticket with it! The better half and I will have some fond memories of it, that’s for sure.

I put a little video
video
together of some photos of it and my last drive in to return it. It’s amazing how fast they got the plates off the car and paperwork ready for my signature. I turned the car in with 16473 miles and I was allowed 39000. There wasn’t a single ding on the car as I parked it a mile away whenever I went anywhere and made sure I watched it like it was my baby. I will miss it. Oh well, it’s just a car. Maybe I’ll have another nice car someday.

Until next time...

Visited both fields in the morning and no one was at either one. The wind was blowing constantly with gusts well over 15mph according to the wind socks, and the tree tops I might add.

Went home and forced myself to look at the biplane to mount the engine. Boy was I disappointed! Using double sided tape I stuck the engine to the mount as far back as it would go. The engine seems way to large to fit in the cowl. Even with the engine all the way back against the engine mount, the thrust washer is way further than the 5 1/8 I measured I would need to clear the cowl by 1/8 inch! Like an inch further! And the only way the engine seems to fit is upside down, and even then, the top of the engine, now on the bottom, extends way beyond where the bottom of the cowl is. I’d have to cut a large slot in the bottom of the cowl in order for it to fit. Also, the carb is right up against the firewall and engine mount, upside down no less, and the throttle cable left from the prior installation is in the way for the new mount, so I have to remove it! Plus the muffler wasn’t even on the engine. Who knows what that would end up cutting into! Too see, I have to remove the throttle cable first, epoxied into the firewall, and I’m not in the mood. Very depressed to say the least. I’m thinking of calling the fella I bought the engine from and seeing if he wants to sell his Saito 100 four stroke or even one of the smaller ones he had for this bipe.

Went to the family picnic and had dinner with...Continue Reading

Tonight, after a gloomy, depressing day in September, I took the below photo, of my pc desktop/charging station with all the chargers, batteries, camcorder, glow ignitors and starter to post in this blog, since each thing in the photo has a little story behind it, as detailed below.

They say a picture tells a story and here it is as it relates to this hobby. At top left is my Samsung 19” LCD monitor which displays my photos of RCGroups stuff clear as can be.

Out of the picture to the left is a Futaba controller which came with the G4 simulator and which I use sporadically now, but when winter comes I expect to use a lot more.

To the right of my monitor is the muffler from my original OS 46AX engine which I returned due to deadsticks and resulted in Hobby Services sending me a brand new one with it’s own muffler, hence the extra one here. I’m thinking of using the bottom half of it mounted to my field box as a cool glo ignitor holder.

To it’s right is the spinner off my 1974 OS Max 40FSR engine which I replaced with a new Great Planes one from Tower.

To it’s right is my AMA sticker. Haven’t yet put it on the car and sort of like it there on the wall.

Under that is my starter and it’s battery pack, on charge from the wall wart.

To it’s left is my Razor cellphone which my wife said badly needs to be replaced as it’s three years old and beat. She works for Verizon Wireless and can get me a new phone every 10 months as a family member but I’m resisting....Continue Reading

Amid weather reports of rain, it seemed cloudy and grey but dry enough to chance a visit to Northampton. Good thing I did! Even though there were clouds all over and the sky was dark grey, there was practically no wind at all and there were perfect flying conditions. I got in three long flights and did faster flying, loops, rolls, eights, Immelemenns and even a ½ reverse cuban eight. I didn’t have enough nerve to try inverted flight but will attempt it soon. I flew at ¾ to full throttle half the time and had a lot more fun than usual, with very little jitters for a change. My back hurt but I stood up instead of my usual sitting for each flight. Had a deadstick on my second flight up high and away and I brought it in beautifully for a graceful soft touchdown right in front of me on the runway.

Rich and Jerry were at the field. Jerry flew his Zero and I got a video of him taking off, flying a few loops and landing. Unfortunately his long landing gear did him in on the landing and it buckled under the stress causing the plane to roll over on it’s nose.

Rich was assembling one of his planes near the parking area.

I noticed one of the screws came out of the engine mount to the firewall. Jerry and Rich searched for a match but didn’t have one. I packed up and left and shot over to Lowes down the road but they too didn’t have a match to the 3mm fine thread long bolt I needed.

I took off, had lunch, and stopped by Dan’s, one of the LHS’s in the area. Picked up a four...Continue Reading

Rained most of the day today so no flying. Stopped by Dan's and returned the Kwik fill fuel valve and brass bar and picked up some fuel line and tees. Then picked up servo screws at the Hobby House.

When I got home the package I've been waiting for from Tower was at my front door. So now in addition to my used OS Max 120FS four stroke and new R617FS receiver, fuel tank, lines, tees, quick switch, engine mount and screws, bolts and nuts I have from Tower a tach, glo plug, prop, fuel dots, two digital hi torque servos, one standard servo, a 3 inch spinner, a voltwatch, 3" wheels, weights, a chicken stick, wheel pants brackets and a 12" extension for the aileron servo to receiver. I still have to pick up some foam for the tank and will be waiting for the 6Volt battery pack already on order.

Maybe I'll start assembly tomorrow. First I plan to epoxy coat the fuel and engine compartments and drill a hole in the fuel compartment for drainage in case of a leak, then mount the engine, tank and fuel lines.

Until next time...

Guess what? Would you believe I stopped by to Northampton again today. The weather forecast was for sun and temperatures in the 70’s. When I got there the wind was barely blowing. Dave and Ron were there. Dave sold me the CG Ultimate biplane and called me earlier to meet him there. I had a printout from the computer on a Fokker biplane he asked me to check for him on RC Universe, which I found a want add for $200 for.

Dave had his red Sig Astro Hog with him, which he built meticulously from a kit! It had an OS Max 61 2 stroke engine in it and he had an old Airtronics radio setup. A real looker!

Dave and I unloaded our planes as someone with a backhoe came by to pick up and remove stone and dirt apparently left over from the phase two drainage work some of the club members did on Tuesday. Shortly after we were ready, Ed with his helicopter, John, followed by Les and Bernie showed up as well. Before I left Ed W showed up as well.

Between four flights of my own, I video taped and photographed stills and flying clips of Bernies yellow Bandito, John’s Tiger 120, Daves Ultra Hog, Pat’s Sig Four Star 60 and Les’s red Sig Kadet Senior. Dave flew fast and accurate. I was jealous. Wished I had a second airplane and that Hog has to be one of my favorites! Bernie, with his little yellow Bandito which only had a OS Max 35 2 stroke in it, flew with style. Pat took off and landed for the first time with his Four Star 60. Les flew well with the Senior. John's big Tiger flew...Continue Reading

I stopped at Northampton with the 1974 OS Max 40FSR with new bearings and a new ring, mounted to the other end of my test board and almost ready to test. Nobody was at the field. I borrowed the prop and spinner from the LT-40 and mounted the test board to the engine test stand with large self tapping screws as I did when I tested the OS Max FS120 Surpass-E four stroke the other day. Using the starter I had to spin the engine up for around ten seconds before she started to kick in but eventually she was running smoothly on her own. I captured a few snapshots and a video clip of it running before shutting it down. I returned the prop and spinner to my trainer. Next, on the LT-40 I taped the floppy Aerokote down on the bottom of the fuse, and straightened out the Fults nose gear and remounted it.

With still no one at the field, I packed everything up and left.

I hopped over to Wegmans on Culver, had a Danny’s favorite and picked up some watermelon pieces for Mom, then headed out to The Heritage to visit her. After waiting at the elevators for ten minutes to go up to her room, before I ever got a chance, I caught Mom out of the corner of my eye. She had just visited Dr. Kane and I asked her if she wanted to go out to lunch and she said she’d love to. So we checked out at the front desk and took a nice drive to Pittsford. Mom wanted Wendy’s for some reason so I stopped at the drive up and picked us up a deluxe cheesburger and diet coke each. After eating, Mom and I took...Continue Reading

I returned to Dan's the Futaba R607FS receiver and picked up from Performance Hobbies the new version R617FS in it’s place.

I will order from Tower tomorrow the rest of the items I can think of that I’ll need for the Ultimate, minus the engine mount hardware which I purchased at Dan's.

I called Dave who I purchased the bipe from and asked him a few questions. He was using a SuperTiger 90 2 stroke with a Pitts muffler which he never liked at all and in fact if he had gone with something like an OS he would probably have kept the plane! Lucky for me! Also, the servos are Airtronics brand and probably standard torque servos with a Y connector inside the wing and a single connector exiting the wing that I need to purchase an adapter cable for. Dave also said he thought he used 3” wheels.

At Dans, I purchased a tap and drill set and t-handle, Kwik switch and charging jack, large adjustable engine mount, cap screws to mount the engine to the mount, and blind nuts for the firewall to screw the mount into. Cost me $50 - boy does it add up quickly!

Later, on RCU from a thread I started, I found out the black connector on my Ultimate wing from the Airtronics servos is the old style and I cannot use with the Futaba receiver without adapters or reversing the polarity myself, caught by JohnBuckner. CGRetired found an adapter on Tower’s site for $3.79! bruce88123 sent me a link to an extension for $4.79. I found a longer one that I think would work better for $5.69 instead.

...Continue Reading

With my new test stand in hand, I visited Northampton with the used OS Max 120 four stroke mounted to it to make sure I didn’t get a bad deal in what appeared to be another steal of the century. George, Ron, and then Ed and Tony showed up. Ed said I ‘stole’ the engine for that price and thought it looked in very good condition and had plenty of compression. Ed also said the prop wasn’t an electric prop as a couple people thought might be the case. Using his chicken stick, after screwing down the test setup to the stand, filling the tank with fuel, priming the engine, and installing a new F glow plug, it started on the second flip of the prop. I was surprised at how quiet the engine was, considering the little to no baffling observed in the muffler. Using Tony’s tach, we checked the engine at low, 2000, and high, 10,000, throttle and the rpm’s seemed right on. I was very pleased to say the least that everything about my used engine seemed like a go for the Ultimate.

Ed had my 40FSR from 1974 ready for me after having assembled it with the new bearings and ring. He had to shave a lot off the ring in order for it to fit in the cylinder and the compression felt great! Now I’ve got a spare for the trainer or an engine for a future smaller airplane. I’ll test run it on the new engine stand in the next few days.

Made a list of things to buy for the bipe with Tony now that I have the engine and plane and came up with the receiver, which we called Dan’s on and they had...Continue Reading

Built the new tank cover for the LT40 and covered it with Aerokote. Patched the areas peeling off the ailerons with new Aerokote as well.

Stopped at Northampton and asked Rich a few questions about the new 120 four stroke. He told me of a Macs flexible exhaust system to mount the stock muffler inside the cowl. He also make suggestions on how to build a test stand for the engine. Stopped at Lowes and picked up a piece of 1x6 pine, some screws, bolts and washers to bolt the engine down, and some large self tapping wood screws to mount the 1x6 to the test stand. Next I visited Dan's and picked up a prop, rubber bands for the fuel tank, an F glow plug, and a metal rod for throttle control. After visiting Mom and picking up the better half, at home, I cut the 1x6 to size and using a jigsaw cut a slot for the engine. I drilled four holes for the engine, and four larger holes to mount the 1x6 to the test stand/bay at Northampton and bolted the engine down securely to the 1x6. I mounted the fuel tank behind the engine using three thick rubber bands and made a z bend in the metal rod for the throttle control and slipped that through the throttle linkage and rubber bands of the fuel tank at the other end. I reamed the prop and mounted it and it's ready to test tomorrow. Hopefully I haven't forgotten anything.

Posted some questions on RCU about the flexible exhaust line routing and also about the servos I'll need, the receiver and receiver batteries. Got some good tips and links.

Until next time...