Posted by IwantaJet |
Oct 28, 2007 @ 02:10 AM | 7,542 Views
Flew the Renny today. The first flight went fine with a nice climbout and smooth sailing around looking for lift and a smooth landing right at my feet. Checked all controls, throttled up and away she went again.
After about 10 sec she rolled over and power dived at the ground. I got control and climbed a bit more, then killed the motor and tried to glide in to land. She was all over the sky, dropping first one wing then the other. It was all I could do to keep her level, much less turn back. I tried to power up when she got close to the trees but no response from the motor. She then dropped out of the sky and crashed.
I think this is what happened last time too. I thought it was a low battery then as it was after 4 or 5 climbouts but this happened on the second flight on a full battery. I guess it was a radio problem, probably with the Berg receiver.
Damage is heavy but may be fixable. The tail feathers came loose and one of the mounting holes in the fuse is cracked. The tip came off the left wing. The servo broke loose from the right wing. There is some rib damage at the trailing edge of the left wing. It needs a careful inspection but I think the spars are ok. I don't know about the motor and mount yet.
Posted by IwantaJet |
Oct 22, 2007 @ 12:49 AM | 7,224 Views
I spent the tail end of last week in Billings. I talked with Andre at Art Hobby which he runs from Billings and he pointed me at what is called Sacrifice Cliffs in Google Earth. The signs on site call it the Four Dances Natural Area. The long shadow on Google Earth is a cell tower. I flew just south of it. The edge of the cliff is about a 10 min walk from the parking lot.
When I first arrived the wind seemed kind of iffy even though it was blowing all the flags straight out down in town. A bird, I think it was a Flicker, then dived out over the edge. About 15 feet out it got blown about 50' straight up and tumbled over inverted. I knew I was going to have some fun.
The lift was great. I had to dial in a bunch of down trim on my Predator Bee and Fun-1 to keep them well behaved. The lift was consistent as far up and down the cliff as I dared fly, probably 150-200 yards. The spot I stood was at the top of a small bowl in the edge of the cliff. Recovery was possible if you crashed in close, impossible in most other places.
The top was rocky and there was alot of prickly pear everywhere but landings were no problem with sturdy models. The back of the slope was even better with tall grass and sage. The iffy wind I mentioned earlier must have been the rotor, pay attention while landing.
I tried to DS the shallow backside but my DS skills are lacking so no comment on that except I wouldn't recommend going there just to DS.
I flew the next day too. It was fun but it is always more fun for me to fly with other people.
Posted by IwantaJet |
Oct 22, 2007 @ 12:48 AM | 7,092 Views
There is a gate on the road to Glen Eagle. It was fun while it lasted.
Posted by IwantaJet |
Sep 30, 2007 @ 10:59 PM | 7,339 Views
Flew with Jerry today in winter conditions. Had to quit after an hour because my hand was numb.
The cf rods in the tail of the Expresso are broken. Hopefully CA will do the trick as they were glued in and can't be replaced easily.
The LEG Jart progresses.