In a previous posts, I highlighted the damage and resultant repair to my trusty old Wanderer 99 sailplane. Due to a mishap on the flying field, the Wanderer as it came in for a landing, ended up sliding right into the only vertical item on the field….namely the wind indicator pole! Back at the shop, I managed to remove the damaged section and patch it with white Monocote.

The Wanderer 99, although it is an old 80’s design & build, is still my favourite thermal seeker. It flies nice and slow, which allows it to stay in the rising columns of warm air.

At our last Sunday line launch contest I was having a great time with the old plane! Finding some decent lift whilst avoiding landing anywhere near the landing tape. : ) On my third landing, a wingtip caught the grass and the whole plane pirouetted around until the wind flipped it over! Dang that definitely didn’t earn me any points! I ran over and checked it out…no damage! Okay, I got lucky that time!

I picked up the hi-start line and hooked it to the plane then walked back to the flight line and let’er rip! As usual, it took off nice and straight at a steep angle until it came off the line around 250’….a sight I never get tired of watching! Everything was normal until it started a series of stalls and each time the strengthening south west wind kept taking it further north across the field. Eventually it flew right over the road (yikes!) and into the field of white beans across from us! I just couldn’t bring...Continue Reading

Okay, this report is not exactly r/c related but it involves a lovely bi-plane. It just so happens to be a full sized one! : ) Anyone I know that loves r/c planes also enjoys articles involving the full sized models! So bear with me...

About the only advantage that I can think of when growing old is when you hit a milestone. If you are lucky, you might just reap a nice reward! Such was the case for me recently when I hit the ripe old age of 70! Holy smokes! When did that happen? I think like a 40 year old, but when I look in the mirror, I get wrenched quickly back into reality…oh ya….I am getting “long in the tooth!” Bummer!

As a birthday gift, my family all pitched in to purchase a 30 minute flight session in an old Boeing Stearman that flies out of The Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum in nearby Mount Hope, Ontario.

As you know this is an open cockpit design so it promises to be quite the experience. I have been waiting for warm weather as I figure it might be a tad cooler at altitude.

The date was booked and now all I needed was for the weather to co-operate! I woke up in the wee hours of Tuesday morning and it’s a regular monsoon going on outside!! I check the weather network and it shows a long line of storms going through the area but it should stop raining by 7:10 am. We leave the house at 10 am and head to the museum, about a 15 minute drive. As we approach the airport, the skies are dark and ominous with the cloud deck at 700’! Man, if you want the...Continue Reading

We’ve had a slow start to our outdoor flying season here in Southern Ontario! I finally managed to get out to our new sod farm field located south of Hamilton, Ontario. I was really enjoying the feeling of being outside in a large open field with my Wanderer 99. This bird goes up like its on rails and is very responsive for such an old design and having only two channels!

The problem I was having is getting the darn thing to land….the combination of long wingspan and thick chord makes for a lot of ground effect as it gets within a few feet of the ground.

I started way down wind to bring it in for the landing approach. It just kept on coming and flew right past me heading for the pit area! Oh Oh! Not good! The only vertical item on the field was the copper piped wind indicator pole and of course my lovely Wanderer headed straight for it! “Murphy” was laughing his butt off! It still had enough forward momentum when it came in contact with the pole to take out a section of the leading edge and some stringers. Arrrgh! That was frustrating! I quickly put a couple of strips of clear tape on the wing to form a makeshift leading edge.

I took the Wanderer back out and made two more launches with the hastily repaired wing. To my amazement, it flew quite well as if it hadn’t been damaged! This is one tough bird!

Back home, I took the broken wing to my shop and stripped off the covering around the damaged section. Then I started cutting back the broken pieces and...Continue Reading

May/19


Last Fall, I was introduced to indoor flying! I polled the pilots at the arena and based on their advice, I picked up the UMX Sport Cub S. It was a steep learning curve and the poor little Cub bears the scars of many an encounter of the hard kind! Eventually, I got the hang of it and I have enjoyed my weekly flying session with my r/c flying buds all winter long.

I noticed, a couple of the pilots were flying Horizon Hobby’s, UMX Timber. I was impressed, 2S Lipo powered, a brushless motor, ailerons, flaps, leading edge slats, ASX and lights! Differential has already been set up on the ailerons. What really intrigued me were the large, oversized tires! With these big shoes, I should be able to fly off a grassed surface! I was thinking I might be able to fly this bird all year around! Bonus!

Well, after much dithering and dilly dallying, I finally pulled the trigger and picked my own Timber at my local hobby shop! I have to tell you I am really impressed with this little flying wonder! A nice solid plane and it was quickly bound to my Spekrum DX6. Mike, one of our more experienced pilots, helped me set up the Dual Rates at 80/50 and Expo @30%, then I mixed in about 45% rudder in with the ailerons. I know the purist like to use both sticks, but I found I still use the left stick for taking off and occasionally I will use the left stick to kick in more rudder when needed.

The flaps were set up on the “B” switch….originally, full down flaps was all...Continue Reading

April 18/19

Sometimes, you never know when you wake up in the morning, how your day is going to turn out. As you know “Murphy” laughs at the best laid plans of men & mice! Lol! My “plan” for the day, was to meet with my buds at the small cafe in nearby Brantford, Ontario, for lunch. After which, we head to our favourite r/c hobby store and help the local economy! Then it’s off to our local indoor flying arena for a couple of hours mayhem.

One of our fellow r/c enthusiast also happens to own a 1968 Piper Cherokee 140. I know, these blogs are supposed to be about the r/c world but I felt compelled to tell you this story….after all its still a plane….just a lot bigger that what we are used to flying….from the ground!

At any rate, he mentioned that the weather was looking rather primo and would anyone like to go for a quick ride? My hand shot up like some overly enthusiastic kindergarten kid! Pick me! Pick Me! Yay! I’m in! The rest of the crew headed out to fly indoors.

We walked over to his Piper Cherokee where he began his preflight checks! I was getting nervous because the winds had really picked up and my r/c brain said “too windy to fly!” Non the less, we were soon inside, seatbelts and headphones on and taxing out to the runway! After the green light from the control tower, he hit the throttle and off we charged down the runway and off into the wild blue yonder!

We peeled off to our right and started headed to the west to the town of...Continue Reading

If you follow the posts on RCGroups, you may have come across an interesting fellow by the name of Red Jensen. Red formed a small business on the side, designing and producing limited number of balsa models, mostly micro models of old time classic sailplanes. Red works full-time for NASA developing remotely controlled models. Can you imagine having to play with models all day and getting paid for it!! Hey….it’s a tough life but somebody’s got to do it!

So far I have purchased and built, a micro Wanderer with 30” wingspan and more recently, a 34” wingspan, micro Sinbad both planes coming in around 2 ozs or 56 gms. Red spends a lot of time reducing the number of parts and simplifying the build. His kits remind me of a modern, more simplified version of the old classic, Gulliows Balsa kits.

Red’s company is called Alien_Tech and already I hear he is working on another classic slope soarer. I feel fortunate that we have talented people in our hobby like Red who have the know how and the means to bring back modern versions of the old classic balsa planes. Good times indeed!

Check him out when you get a chance….but beware….his enthusiasm is contagious! : )

I will admit, I'm not the best builder, especially when it comes to these micro builds where my big thumbs tend to get a little too aggressive then crack! Dang! Another broken piece of balsa. However, I'm finding the more I build, the better I am getting and I'm making a lot fewer mistakes....all good! I've...Continue Reading

I’m always amazed when I read on RCGroups, that some people don’t belong to an R/C club! Now, I realize that people can live in an area where there just aren’t any clubs within a reasonable driving distance from home. So I get that they fly solo. My advice to anyone that doesn’t have a club nearby, is to try and start your own club. Put up posters in prominent locations around your area, shopping malls, hobby shops etc. Who knows, there may be others who, just like you, are looking for an r/c club to join. I also realize that some people prefer to fly alone! And that’s okay too!

For those of you that do belong to an r/c club, what do you get out of it? Why do you belong to a club? As I look around the room at each of our members I can analyze each one’s involvement. Some members are content to show up at our general meetings and interact with like minded individuals. We might not ever see them at the flying field, special workshops or other functions. On the other hand, we have members who are involved in all aspects of the club and we see them at the field quite often as well. Each members gets what they want and I am okay with that. Our own club of some 30 members, might only have 10 -12 pilots that actively fly on a regular basis.

Personally, I enjoy the camaraderie! The lively exchange of ideas, whether it be at a meeting, workshop or on the field. There is such an amazing collections of building and flying knowledge from the members who come from all...Continue Reading

March 17/19

Happy St. Paddy's Day!
From the moment I first saw the email from one of my club members telling me about this little micro quad/plane hybrid, I was intrigued! Whoever the engineer was that came up with this brainwave, I hope Horizon Hobbies have compensated him or her appropriately! With in two weeks of hitting our local hobby store in nearby Paris Ontario, five members of our club have grabbed this unique little flyer. For around $70 Cdn, you get this neatly package unit with a USB charger & 1S 150 Mah Lipo! You can easily remove the foam wing and use it as quad copter and for a few extra bucks, you can buy a hovercraft attachment that will allow you to “fly” this little puppy just like a real hovercraft! How is that for versatility?? These unique little flyers are literally “flying off the shelf!” Sorry….my bad! I just couldn’t resist! I have flown it at the arena and also in my basement, where after you get the trim set properly, you can hover and fly slowly until your heart’s content….or until the battery dies….which usually comes first! : )
I’m having soooo much fun with this micro unit! It’s perfect little flyer that can be flown indoors and out, and helps to keep my reflexes tuned while I wait patiently for Spring to arrive! As a bonus, the grandkids love it too and I think this may be a great way to get them interested in r/c! If you get a chance, check it out! Maybe you should grab one before they are all gone!

Thanks for checking out my blog! Comments are always welcomed!

Regards,

Lyle Jeakins,
43 Degrees North Latitude

March 11/19:
As you may be aware from reading my previous posts, I belong to SOGGI (Southern Ontario Glider Group Inc.) a small soaring club out of Hamilton, Ontario, with some 31 dedicated members. All though our primary goal is thermal soaring and contests, there are also members who enjoy other facets of the hobby. Flying & building free flight planes is one of them!

For those of you who have always been involved with r/c control, free flight seems….dare I say….archaic? Something you might have read in a very old black & white magazine from the ’50’s. Our club has been blessed with interesting members representing all walks of life, who bring a lot of talent to the table. Over the past couple of years, there has been a resurgence of interest in free flight models. This winter, a decision was made to build a P30 stick and tissue model. This class cannot exceed a 30” wingspan & must weigh a minimum of 40 grams.

An old classic design was chosen and a club build workshop was held on March 10/19. One of our members has become proficient at laser cutting and produced a number of kits for the other members for only $10 Cdn. for the short kit and $20 for the full kit. Can you say “bargoon!” : )

We had 10 members participate in the build, many of them with little to no building experience. This was a morning workshop and by noon, most of us had the tail feathers complete while the more experienced builders had almost finished the complete plane!...Continue Reading

Many modellers may remember days of yore when some of us flew control line planes and got involved in games of combat with the aim of taking off the ribbon trailing behind the plane in front of you! Oh, what fun!

Now that was a loooong time ago and until recently, I never thought of it anymore. Last fall, I took up indoor r/c micro flying as a way to keep my reflexes sharp. While I was at the arena, some of the pilots were having a blast flying these micro foam deltas about, trying ever so hard to actually knock each other out of the air! Now that’s what I call “combat!”

Our club decided to hold a build workshop in February and about eight of us proceed to build this little warrior. We call it “Rick’s Delta” after the fellow who designed it. It sports an 18” wingspan and weighs in at a hefty 2 ozs! : ) We purchased ten Horizon Hobbies Micro Champ fuselages and proceeded to use the brick and motor for the new delta.

The foam is good old Dollar Tree foam board. The wing is based on the KFm profile that you wouldn’t think should actually fly. We use small 1S, 150 Mah Lipo batteries which last for about 5 mins. We programme elevons on the Spectrum radios and found you need to have a fair amount of reflex set up in order to get these deltas to fly.

It is quite the sight let me tell you, to see 12 to 15 of these deltas buzzing about in the air above the floor of the arena all trying to actually run into the other guy! Total chaos but sooooo much fun! I highly recommend it!

Best Regards,

Lyle Jeakins,
Hamilton, Ontario
Canada

February 18/19:

I can’t believe it’s been over two years since I last posted on my blog! Where does the time go? I believe in my last post I was thinking about renovating my house. It was the little project that grew from a simple bathroom upgrade to eventually encompass the whole house, basement included! The project took a little over a year and it was all consuming!

The only thing that kept me sane was being able to get out to the field and fly my sailplanes! I kept a log and was pleased to be able to get out to the field on 18 separate occasions during the relatively short 2018 flying season! That was pretty amazing to me considering our season didn’t really start until June 1st and was pretty well over by October 3rd! The Fall weather was wrought with high winds and rain. I really missed the weekly get-togethers at the field. One of our members mentioned that another R/C club nearby was flying indoors during the off season. Maybe I should check it out?

Long story short…..I did check it out and after only one exposure, I was hooked! There were about 15 pilots flying all manner of micro flying machines inside the former ice arena. The floor of the arena is now covered with astro turf so it’s an ideal surface to fly from. I spoke to a number of pilots to get their recommendations as to what would be a good candidate for a newbie indoor flyer. Almost to a man, they indicated that the Horizon Hobbies Sport Cub S was the plane to buy. I managed to try my...Continue Reading

June 17/17:

Background:
“Tempus Fugit!” or the English version….”Time Flies!” It’s been six months since I last posted a blog! Perhaps that gives you an idea that I’ve been busy! You would be right! With a wife, five children and eight grandchildren, life is never dull! Somehow, in the midst of all the chaos, I have to try and squeeze in some r/c time!

I had great plans to repair/build some of my existing stock over the winter…..didn’t happen! Two major deals happened; starting with a bathroom renovation, that led to a kitchen renovation, which grew into a whole main floor update! It’s a bloody virus I tell you! : ) Unless, you been down this road, you can’t even begin to imagine the amount of time and energy that goes into planning, shopping and executing a project of this magnitude, not to mention the chaos of trying to live a “normal” life! Then there was a 23 day visit to Vancouver, BC…the “wet” coast in May. It’s not all bad….while visiting out west, I had the opportunity to fly full aerobatics in a 60 year old Harvard (AT-6 )! 2 x 360 degree rolls & 2 full loops! Negative 3.5 G’s! I even got to take over the stick and put the big yellow beast into a series of “S” turns! Let me tell you now….that was an experience of a lifetime! : )

Back to the purpose of this blog….r/c sailplanes! Just before I headed out west, I saw a listing for two 2M sailplanes on Kijjijji and contacted the owner to see if he would hold them until I got back. To my delight he...Continue Reading

Dec 23/16:

My how time flies! A whole month has flown by since my last post! In our club of 40 or so pilots, we are lucky to have members with diverse backgrounds and experience. Some members like to build, others seem more intent on just flying. Even though I’m older than dirt, I am still learning a lot about the r/c world of flying. It’s kinda weird to be learning to fly and build this late in the game but non-the-less I’m enjoying every minute of it.

We have some members who are getting on in years and have been building since they were “knee high to a grasshopper!” I like to call them “Master Builders”. Recently one of our members brought in two planes; a Spirit 100 & a Wanderer 99. They had been built by another long time member of our club. He was selling as he was moving into long term care and was forced to sell off all his r/c planes. A sad day for sure!

I already had just purchased a Spirit 100 so I quickly snapped up the Wanderer for $80 Cdn. Once again, a beautifully built plane coming in about 8 ozs lighter than the Spirit which weighed 54 ozs.

The Wanderer 99 kitted by Dynaflite & designed by Mark Smith in the late 70’s is a classic rudder & elevator design that was quite competitive in its day.

I installed my Futaba 3008SB receiver, and a four cell NiMH battery pack that I had just charged up. It didn't take too long before I had adjusted the trim, checked the cog and set up the failsafe settings. This is another simple...Continue Reading

Nov 18/16

I think today was Fall’s last hurray! Gorgeous sunny day with record breaking temperatures reaching 21C! Oh Yay! The downside? Very strong southwest winds reaching as high as 40 + kms. Too high for regular soaring but just perfect for our slope soaring site! Our club is blessed to have a drumlin or hill running roughly in a west/east direction so winds from the south….south west or conversely, north…north east can produce excellent ridge lift. This site about a half hours drive north west of Hamilton, Ontario, is called the Westover Hill is actually partly owned by the Hamilton Conservation Authority and we lease it on an annual basis.

For some reason it’s under utilized by the members, so with this thought in mind my r/c flying buddy Terry and I thought it was high time to check it out.

We arrived around 11 am, parked the car and proceeded to make the rather arduous ascent to the summit up a rather steep & narrow pathway. The climb was definitely worth it, as the viewer is rewarded with a 360 degree view of surrounding countryside! We could literally see for miles!

At the top we met the club secretary, Andy M who was already hard at it flying is modified 1.5 M Super Gee Dlg. He was putting on quite a show with loops and rolls back & forth across the face of the ridge. Andy flew continuously for just slightly over an hour before he brought it back in…..a new record for him!

Next up, Dick C showed up with his 1.5 oz mini-radian! I’m...Continue Reading

Nov. 17/16

In the Hamilton, Ontario area….43 N Latitude, It’s getting very late in the season for r/c sailplane flying especially for the hi-starts which apparently don’t respond well in near freezing temperatures. However, for whatever reason, the weather gods decided to bless us with a sunny, warm day with a high of 14C…..in mid November non-the-less! Winds were very light, coming in from the southwest, which explains the warm air temperatures.

In the early hours of the morning, I had taken my van in to the dealership to have the snow tires installed which seemed rather silly given the current weather! However, I’ve learned a thing or two over the years and one of them is the “Witch of November” can come early without warning! Better to be prepared I say…

I arrived home around 10 am and realized the potential for getting some airtime! I quickly checked the weather forecast and our SOGGI website. Sure enough, low speed southwest winds and at least one member posted he was heading for the field around 10 am.

I quickly packed up my gear, referring to my checklist so as not to miss something important. By 10:30 am I was heading out the door & to our flying field located about 20 kms to the south.

When I got to the field I was pleasantly surprised to see three members already set up in the pit area preparing their planes! I pulled up, unloaded my work table, chairs & r/c gear.

I hooked up the battery on the Spirit, installed the wings which...Continue Reading

Thursday, Nov. 10/16:

Our final contest of the flying year had been postponed twice already due to inclement weather. So last week we were excited to check the weather forecast to see some promising weather for Sunday. An email was quickly sent out on Friday to all members that we were going ahead with the Thanksgiving TD contest on Sunday morning!

I arrived at the field around 9:15 am, and President Bob H had already called the tower to activate NOTAM #160355 , set up the frequency board and pit area.

It was about 9C with a gusty wind coming in from the north east. I measured wind speeds 5-10 mph which was a little disappointing for me at least. I’m not all that confident a flyer especially in marginal conditions.

List of Participants & Sailplanes:
Bob H - Supra 3.5 M
Mike S - Kappa 3.5 M
Magellan 60”
Kadet Tow Plane
Adam M - Radian Pro 2M
Cirrus 100”
Terry D - Gentle Lady 2M
Ann T - Spectra 2M
Bob K - Aquila Grande 123”?
Dave K - Radian 2M
Andy M - 2M Home design
Dick C - Windfree 99”
Jack L. - Spirit 78”
Lyle J. - Spirit 100”

This was a pretty good turnout for this late in the season so the organizers were pleased. Eventually, the clouds disappeared and around 11 am, the winds dropped down to a more modest 4-5 mph! Time to get my Spirt airborne! I walked the plane over to the electric winch launching area and was able to get in five flights. Nothing exceptional with the last one lasting about 5...Continue Reading

Oct. 18/16

Okay, while waiting for my Micro Wanderer kit to be shipped from California, I attended our SOGGI clubs monthly members meeting that starts back up again in October. A lot of members bring in items of interest including recently completed builds or recent acquisitions. So I was immediately interested in a beautiful looking sailplane that one of the members was bringing in. I said to him “what is it?” “It’s a Great Planes Spirit 100” sailplane” he responds. “What are you going to do with it” says I. “Sell it! I want $100 (Canadian)” says the member. “Sold!” is my immediate response! You can tell from this conversation that I am a fierce negotiator! Not! But I figured the kit must cost about that much and then there is the cost of all the covering, installing servos and all the build time! It was a no brainer as far as I was concerned.

This is a standard class sailplane that only uses 2 channel….rudder & aileron! I’m thinking wowsers! That’s a lot of plane for only 2 channels. Would have been nice to have some spoilers at least….but hey….”beggars can’t be choosers as the saying goes!” I think I may have to look at picking up a set of wing plans & making a full house set with flaps and ailerons or spoilers at the very least. I can tell you one thing, they won't look as good as these wings! Warren, the member who built this plane is considered by all to be master builder and his attention to detail and quality of construction is quite evident.

...Continue Reading

Oct 12/16

Another area of the R/C World has garnered my attention….namely micro sailplanes. Horizon has it’s very popular Mini Radian which weights in at 1.5 ozs. I have to say, I was pretty impressed with this lightweight bird but once again, I was excluded due to not having a Spectrum radio……grrrrr!

While cruising the RCGroups forums, I recently came across a new micro plane being put out by “Red” of Alien_Tech in California. It’s a balsa build….a “Woodie"….only 30” wingspan, called “The Micro Wandererer!” Red utilizes the Horizon Parkzone “brick” (combination of servos, receiver & esc, all on one board).

Once again I’ve run into the “Spektrum” wall again! Then I started to check out Hobby King and was surprised by the proliferation of new micro receivers, servos and motors. I have a good feeling that I am going to getting my feet wet in the micro rc world soon! In fact, I just ordered two of these micro birds! Depending on the internal system used and if built correctly according to the plans, it should come in under 45-50 grams!! I think that’s the weight of Monarch Butterfly!! Lol! Just kidding!

If you have read my previous renderings, you already know that I purchased a Futaba T10J radio and receiver. I have to say, it’s a solid, dependable radio, great for large scale planes & sailplanes. Of course, after I bought the radio, I got interested in DLGs and herein lies the rub…..the Futaba 3008SB receiver was just too large and heavy...Continue Reading

Sep /15

Okay…..bear with me…..this blog is supposed to about all things r/c. However, if I may indulge the reader, I had the opportunity lately to view three mighty famous WW2 bombers. I felt compelled to share my experience with the big birds!

First up was a much anticipated visit of a B17G “Sentimental Journey” The Flying Fortress, that was stopping off in Hamilton for five days. If memory serves me correctly, there were something like 8,600 of this model “G” built. There are about 12 currently flying and maybe 36 left in the world. So this 71 year old bomber is quite special to see in the flesh!

These airplanes were involved in daytime raids over Germany and as a consequence they suffered enormous casualties. They weren’t particularly fast, cruise was something like 130 knots and the landing speed was around 94 knots.

B-17G Flying Fortress:
Crew - 10
Wingspan - 103’
Power - 4 x 1,200 hp Wright R1820-97 Cyclone Engines
Ceiling - 36,400 ft.
Range - 3,750 miles
Fuel consumption - 2,780 gallon per hour
Bomb Load - 8,000 lbs.
Armament - 13 x .50 calibre machine Guns

I eagerly waited at the west end of the east/west runway at Hamilton Airport and 10 minutes late, the B17G lumbered in from the north west, made a right turn and was down before it even got near me! Drats!

Next I headed to the Canadian Warplane Museum and climbed up an embankment at the rear and was rewarded with a magnificent view of the plane without having to look through the...Continue Reading

Sep 8/16:
The weather was damn near perfect for our 27th Annual Big Bird Bash held at our SOGGI flying field, located south of Hamilton, Ontario. I don’t think you could ask for better conditions if you tried!

I arrived at the field around 8:30 am and was surprised to find the Contest Director, Dick C and the President, Bob H. already hard a work setting up for the event! Now that’s dedication! The only requirement for the contest was that the plane must be at least 100” wing span.

The turnout (7) wasn’t quite as good as previous years where we have had as many as 24 contestants. Normally, its a “man on man” type of contest but today due to the lower number of participants, the powers to be decided to turn this into a fun fly with the trophy going to whoever logs the longest duration flight.

Even though I didn’t have anything big enough to fly, I brought my 7/8” rubber hi-start with me. First we laid out the President’s hi-start which has been shortened to meet the requirements of our new field. Then we anchored mine right beside it to come up with the matching length. I have 105’ of rubber and now about 300’ of line. We then “dialed in” about 300% stretch on the line and brought that to the flight line and temporarily staked it down ready to be used. That amount of stretch is really the max for the lines and produces about 4-5 x the weight of the planes in pulling effort. So for the larger, heavier 3.5 M planes I reckoned we had about 18-20 lbs of pull! Yikes!...Continue Reading