Archive for March, 2009
After my recent success with my new Kyosho Phantom 70 and its weird landing gear modification, I promised myself that I'd bring it and no other model to the field if I were to go flying this morning.
Who am I to break a promise to myself...?
The only problem with the club field is the fact it tends to be windy when the surrounding areas aren't. Perfectly calm at home, blowing pretty hard there.
Undaunted, I bolted the wings and struts to the thing and waited.
When the wind had diminished sufficiently, in went a tank of fuel and on came the engine.
As always, it was ballistic on takeoff, but even with some increased aileron throw, I still hadn't dialed in enough travel to roll it. The friend who fixed it later reminded me that the Phantom is a pylon racer and not an aerobat.
I knew that (blush).
In any event, I kept it within sight and under fairly gentle throttle to get the feel of it since it becomes darn near invisible too far out.
Oh, what a sweetie this bird is. Even with limited aileron travel, she turns in hard, fast and accurate. It's exceptionally realistic in flight as well.
Landings were the reason I went to the field in the first place, so I turned from base to final, all the while concentrating on the plane's attitude; remember, the thing becomes almost invisible when viewed head on.
I was coming in a bit too hot on the first approach, so I gunned the throttle, brought it around and lined up once more.
This time, I was...Continue Reading
Who am I to break a promise to myself...?
The only problem with the club field is the fact it tends to be windy when the surrounding areas aren't. Perfectly calm at home, blowing pretty hard there.
Undaunted, I bolted the wings and struts to the thing and waited.
When the wind had diminished sufficiently, in went a tank of fuel and on came the engine.
As always, it was ballistic on takeoff, but even with some increased aileron throw, I still hadn't dialed in enough travel to roll it. The friend who fixed it later reminded me that the Phantom is a pylon racer and not an aerobat.
I knew that (blush).
In any event, I kept it within sight and under fairly gentle throttle to get the feel of it since it becomes darn near invisible too far out.
Oh, what a sweetie this bird is. Even with limited aileron travel, she turns in hard, fast and accurate. It's exceptionally realistic in flight as well.
Landings were the reason I went to the field in the first place, so I turned from base to final, all the while concentrating on the plane's attitude; remember, the thing becomes almost invisible when viewed head on.
I was coming in a bit too hot on the first approach, so I gunned the throttle, brought it around and lined up once more.
This time, I was...Continue Reading
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Thank goodness for my R/C club and its people!
Many thanks to the VP for repairing the Kyosho Phantom 70 I spoke of in my last entry. He sleeved the landing gear to the cut stubs and silver soldered the things in place. Since he put the cut-off parts above the stubs instead of in line with them (which added a lot of strength), he only needed to notch the tops of the wheel pants to get them to fit. That's the only evidence of repairs and you really have to look to see what I'm talking about. Still plenty of clearance and the setup works great!
I still need to practice landing a biplane, especially an all-white one which seems to magically disappear on approach when viewed head-on.
I bounced it kind of hard when it tip stalled, but the repair held firm. No damage; it's a tough little bird. Nothing short of an utterly catastrophic crash will separate those parts and even that might not be enough.
Needless to say, I'm not too willing to experiment.
I found out that my rather conservative aileron settings allow it to turn just fine...but it won't roll at all.
Easy fix, especially compared to what my buddy Tom went through to fix the gear!
Struggling a bit with "Project Cub." I got a hold of a cast-off O.S. Max .45 from a club member which in turn feeds through a new Du-Bro 12 ounce tank. It runs with gobs of power now that it's de-crudded, but I think there may still be a bit of gunk in the carb. It doesn't run consistently which resulted in a couple of dead stick landings.
A tweaked set of scale landing gear and a crosswind sent it rolling into a safety fence as I tried to take off, this after three previous good flights. The windshield's busted as is the fuselage immediately surrounding it on the left, but it's easily repaired. I may ditch the scale gear, but we'll see.
Many thanks to the VP for repairing the Kyosho Phantom 70 I spoke of in my last entry. He sleeved the landing gear to the cut stubs and silver soldered the things in place. Since he put the cut-off parts above the stubs instead of in line with them (which added a lot of strength), he only needed to notch the tops of the wheel pants to get them to fit. That's the only evidence of repairs and you really have to look to see what I'm talking about. Still plenty of clearance and the setup works great!
I still need to practice landing a biplane, especially an all-white one which seems to magically disappear on approach when viewed head-on.
I bounced it kind of hard when it tip stalled, but the repair held firm. No damage; it's a tough little bird. Nothing short of an utterly catastrophic crash will separate those parts and even that might not be enough.
Needless to say, I'm not too willing to experiment.
I found out that my rather conservative aileron settings allow it to turn just fine...but it won't roll at all.
Easy fix, especially compared to what my buddy Tom went through to fix the gear!
Struggling a bit with "Project Cub." I got a hold of a cast-off O.S. Max .45 from a club member which in turn feeds through a new Du-Bro 12 ounce tank. It runs with gobs of power now that it's de-crudded, but I think there may still be a bit of gunk in the carb. It doesn't run consistently which resulted in a couple of dead stick landings.
A tweaked set of scale landing gear and a crosswind sent it rolling into a safety fence as I tried to take off, this after three previous good flights. The windshield's busted as is the fuselage immediately surrounding it on the left, but it's easily repaired. I may ditch the scale gear, but we'll see.
