it flies! Never a worry really. Finally got everything together and a calm evening begged a test flight. Instant realization was that I was gonna have to throw my delicate handiwork and throw it hard enough to fly. Without much practice at this type of thing my first toss was less than adequate. Too timid and pulled it right a bit. Result - Lawn dart! I heard a 'crack!'

Luckily it makes a very nice lawn dart. The nose buried about 3 cm into the turf and stuck. Those 3cm of dirt absorbed a lot of energy. The motor pulled upward tilting the prop into the fin and it went right through. Thus the cracking noise. Some paint/covering is scraped off the nose. Thank the gods of flight for soft ground. Motor mount is set in silicon so although it let go on one corner a quick power run up showed that it would be stable enough for the moment. Gently squeezing the tail put the balsa back into place well enough to stay straight.

For the next flight I had a friend and long time R/C pilot, and excellent airplane chucker commit the throwing. This time was better but still resulted in a powered glide landing softly sideways in the dry grass. No damage. Dialed in some up and right trim for take off and the third time was a charm. It sank, gathered speed and as I gently pulled back I was rewarded with a strong climb-out.

The next 3 minutes were nervous magic as it carved around the field with the setting sun lighting it up. Tried a couple rolls and it's very quick. Ailerons are a bit too sensitive for me. Got into the bright North West sky briefly and it looked like it was not responding for a second. My heart stopped then started again as it twisted and dove. The delta really handles very different as it slows in tight turns then gains speed quickly. The landing is really long as it sinks in without losing speed. I got a nice long easy slide. Due to the earlier crash one servo popped loose during some adjusting and the other revealed a jittery spot in the movement so no further flights were made.

Hold airplane aloft, shove power to 75% or so, run and push; right hand on the stick. Really not that difficult when you're committed to it. Threw it myself this PM and it flew off well. Immediately banking left and nosing up but I got in under control well enough to get it trimmed.

Motor mount is re-set, motor-esc is re-soldered - discovered a couple of broken motor wires - and glued tail fin together. Replaced pot in the jittery servo and reset the servo mount screws. Wow lots of little problems.

Grooved around the field for about 3 minutes just trying to get the feel of it some more. Also managed to observe the stall. It's predictable and gentle dropping a wing but recovering almost by itself. Long, dropping approach and a bit of almost automatic flare at the end and it slid along the grass for only a few meters.

Second flight Jan had come by to watch and I did a couple high speed passes. Not too low as it's still a bit jumpy. Need to reduce throws a bit more yet. The got high and some kids watching from the south end shouted for a roll. I've done them so I set up and did one. Immediately lost orientation and it was low and waayyy out over the tall trees to the east. I managed to avoid the trees and kept flying until I could get it turned back and started breathing again. Brought it back and setup the roll much closer. It does one and a half before I can think and again I'm loosing orientation but it close and high enough this time to recover. Upon landing I notice that the hatch is missing. Guess it coulda been worse.

Motor mount is loose again. Don't mind fixing it if it means not fixing something worse. A folding prop I think is the answer here.

Another flight last night. Still exhibiting the wing rock at low speed. Gonna have to just put up with it and try to avoid that particular part of the flight envelope. Seems much better just with high alpha. Nice landing approach. It comes in fast then with power off and pulling back that nose comes up almost by itself and it drags the tail into a gentle landing.

The only problem with this is the prop was close to vertical and it pulled out the motor mount. Yup, need a folder. New battery hatch all painted up and looking good now. It incorporates a much more positive sliding latch. Maybe I'll patch the tail properly.

Got out for a try last Monday with Jan. The motor mount now strapped in with rubber bands. Seems to work but one of the blocks pops off on landing leaving it a bit unstable for a second flight. Thankfully I find the missing piece of balsa in the plane later and get it all fixed up for .....


Only the 4th time out with this plane on Sunday and I was in front of an audience. My first time at this event too. It was breezy and gusty all day but calmed down pretty good at about 5:00 so I got brave and prepped the Arrow.

Called the hand launch, waited for the pattern to clear, ran a few steps into the wind and threw. Jumped on the ailerons and off it went. Took a cicut or two to climb then trimmed it better. The roudels and numbers are on and it seems to help with the orientation somehow. Didn't do anything fancy, just flew it. The flight envelope is sure different from my other planes.

Landed after about 5 or 6 minutes with a nice slide. The battery is a bit warm so maybe I can remove some of the foam from the intakes.

Second battery I set the timer to 4 minutes instead of the 7 it defaulted to from the DC3. Again, just flew it around trying to imagine what the actual plane might have looked like. Large wide turns, lots of altitude, lots of speed. Motor mount is severely dislocated on landing but sets back without a problem.

At least one spectator enjoyed watching it and asked a few questions etc. `

Switched to a 6X4 Thimbledrome propeller. Deeper, thinner blades. Flat tips instead of tapered to nearly points like the APC had. I think that APC prop is designed for even more RPM. Might work OK with a 3 cell battery.

Got out to try it on Friday. The 6X4 is definitely faster and has more thrust too. Launch was easier and climb it getting more vertical. Even tried an almost vertical roll. Landing was nice - long. The extra speed has my hands shaking so I didn't try a second flight.

Sunday PM was overcast but calm so thought it might make a good photo opportunity. Called Jan and met at the field while there was still plenty of light. Flew it around but noticed that if I do a slow pass it requires some room to build speed. It'll climb at slow speeds but the control is minimal.
Once at the North end I had to once let the nose drop toward the trees as it would not turn to the right.

Right rolls are quick and axial. Getting used to them. Left rolls are a bit slower and barrelly as the motor seems to be gyroscoping the tail end. Just the opposite of the P38 which rolls good to the left but not well to the right.

Jan did get some pictures. I flew it twice but watched and photographed Jan's Mini Stick while my hands settled down.

Took it to a Fun Scale event, last Sunday, at the Burnaby Hoods up and it won the Jet category! The other plane in the category was a foamy almost twice as big. Also a delta, like a Corsair II or ?? It didn't fly because of a broken motor mount. Still everyone liked my Arrow.

The flight was short but felt long. Tried to do some high speed passes, a wide 'super sonic interceptor' type full power turn, some rolls etc. The landing was nearly perfect if a bit long and the new nose pitot broke off. No one noticed I hope.

Got out to the park on Friday PM after watching the Fraser Blues pretend to blow up a boat in the marina. Quite fun. Sat with Sam and Beverly at the marina as 3 Navions did a really low pass then dove in with the show smoke for a mock bombing run on the unsuspecting derelict. 2 big splashes then - fooooom!, a wave of heat and orange flame and the boat was gone. Pretty cool.

Went up to the park and showed Sam the Arrow. Two flights were typical. Left roll is more axial if it's done faster. Got in a big loop. Second landing was way fast and I let the nose catch the grass resulting in a cartwheel around the wings. Some paint scraping but no structural damage. Must remember to pull that nose up for a high alpha flare.

Went out last Sunday with the DC3 and the Arrow, both use the same transmitter. Jan and Sam both came by and there was some spectators as well. Decided the Arrow needed some exponential in the elevator and Jan recomended starting with 40-50%. I set it to 40 and checked the movement. There was no wind at all.

Powered up, ran and tossed it out. It dropped and twisted but I caught it and climbed out OK. Definitly requires more pulling on the stick and it's more stable on the high speed passes. The landing was good and it's also much easier to pull the high alpha more precisely.

After flying the DC3 (near perfect landing) I went back to the Arrow for another try. The throw was way off and it was twisting badly. I slammed the power to full and pulled up. It went vertical but was still twisting right over the spectators heads and flirting dangerously with the trees. There is not enough thrust to maintain vertical. I recovered partially but it was slow and not in good control. I nursed it further north along the trees but was unable to avoid them. I pulled power off just as it 'arrowed' into the green stuff. It punched into the foliage and came out the bottom branches in a flat spin to pancake onto it's belly in the dirt and scrub well behind the runway area. ET probably 5 heart pounding seconds.

Damage is limited to scratches and a small crushed area on the bottom, tail end, of the left nacelle. Amazingly I'm gonna get another try. Sam convinces me it's best to let him toss it. He does so and it's nice and straight with good speed. The plane is away and I fly it around some more doing high speed passes, pull out's with rolls, wide full power turns, etc. The landing is nice again.

Wow! almost lost it again Saturday evening. Everything looked OK but throwing from my left hand is not working out well unless there's some wind. Running increases launch speed but it seems to be torquing and/or stalling untill it gets on step. Perhaps a launch dolly? I did manage to save it which required a quick left roll.

A young "fighter jet enthusiast" was watching and thoroughly enjoyed seeing an Avro Arrow flying whilst blameing the U.S. for it's demise. Turning and diving is lots of fun if nerve wracking. The landing was perfect, Nice high alpha keeping the nose outa the tufts of grass. The motor mount performed perfectly.

Seems that the launch problems started with the addition of elevator exponential. Need to assign a switch and turn it off for launch. Also, I really should practice slow high alpha flight.

Went out last Saturday by myself. It was late afternoon before the wind died off. With a breeze coming from the South I figured I could launch over the edge toward the school gaining and extra 20' of altitude to get it flying and under control.

Success! The extra airspeed definitely helped. I didn't need the extra altitude but it sure felt nice to have it. It was bright and hot so I walked back into the shade to fly it. Landings were good too. Pulled a bit higher AoA as it sunk in to keep the nose out of the tufts of turf the field had turned into.

Went out early enough that it was still sunny but had left the batts in the other case so had to go get them and thus was nearly 6:30 by the time I was ready. Jan was waiting with his big FW190. Since he was there and there were also spectators I had Jan throw it for me. Way less stressfull. He tossed a tad slow as is dropped gently but it was flying and had lots of room to build speed and climbout. Just made back and forth passes and tried some high G turning. Fall rains have made the tufts of turf much softer so the landing was pretty gentle. Popped a bit of wood from the motor mount but not a problem. Jan tried to get some pics but it's just too fast. Maybe video next time! Landing was long slow and high AoA maybe 10-15 degrees!

After getting a few pictures of his FW I put the second battery in the Arrow and Jan threw it again. It repeated the same drop and climbout. Better that than an overzealous throw. A large airliner went overhead pretty low so I pretended it was a bomber and climbed to intercept. Later played with the slow speed envelope just doing gentle high alpha turns. Battery seemed 'soft' so I land. Timer was counting up instead of down and I probably put 6 minutes on it. Checked batt and it's around 6.5V Guess this thing is pulling an average of almost 10amp!

Found the video camera that had been lost for a while. It has a helmet mount remote lens so I went out by myself last Saturday to try and get some video of the Arrow. The plane and conditions are good. Slight breeze from the North which is nice for launching. After some fiddling with the head strap for the remote lens I settle for it pointed slightly higher than I'd like. ie. I want to look slightly up at the plane to keep the camera on it.

First launch is good, a slight dip to the left as normal then it picks up speed and climbs. Flew the whole flight and finally landed with a nice high alpha. Checked the video and there is an error on the camera...

OK I have another battery and I'm used to the camera now so off we go again. After a couple laps I'm trying to get a reasonably low, close pass at speed to show it off for the camera all the while remembering to point my head down slightly and look up a bit. Then I flew a bit close to myself and the plane went nearly overhead. I lost orientation of the ground - not the plane. Suddenly it was low and in a diving turn for the turf and an instant later - crunch!

The plane has again mostly survived a crash but the impact sent the prop into the fin. The fin is partly torn loose and mostly just torn. Motor mount will need some work too but otherwise no damage. The video is good this time but due to the lack of zoom on the remote lens the plane only shows for a second or two on each pass.

Got out again on Saturday with the DC3 and Arrow. Flew the arrow just once. The tail fin and motor mount are rebuilt and repainted (finish is chipping off big time). Reduced the up thrust a bit and added some elevator trim for launch. Jan threw it for me. It swings around a bit but I got it in check right away and flew off. We were keeping our backs to the low noon sun in the south so the field is narrow and deep.

Just flew it around getting my wings back in gear for this thing. Did a roll each way and a big loop then powered up and climbed out. At altitude it's easy to fly and hard to see. Down low it's hard to keep up with and a bit nerve wracking. There's less nose up under power. Landing was a bit far out and bumpy.

Noticed a crack in the fuse just under the left wing root which may have happened on the previous crash, Jan's throw, or even that last landing. Needs nice thick grass.

Got out to Chilliwack for the annual spring fly-in. This is my 6th year attending the event but this time I was there only on Sunday. Saturday's weather was cold, windy and wet anyway so nothing lost.

Put 2 flights on the Arrow in the afternoon. The wind had come up a bit but that makes for easy launching. It launched fine then climbed hard. Had to drop throttle and fly at high alpha for most of the flights. Thrust line seems to be out a bit as it noses up hard under power. Colin is spotting for me so I have him add some down trim. It helps.

Sam was also flying and between us we had the sky. "What's the plan Sam?" I called, "Fast left hand circuts!" he replies. This makes the passes seem faster as they are downwind. Unfortunately I'm not as fast as I could be due to the thrust line issue. I think maybe more expo on the elevator and even some on the ailerons might be good.

First landing is lovely but the second is a bit short and I must've caught the turf a bit funny as it twisted around. No damage. I'm a happy guy.