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Model Forum / Radio Controlled / Air Models / May 2004simply beautiful
Yesterday evening I finally got some real flying time with my slow stick! Now, I´ve tried before, but almost as a rule the day has ended in a crash after a little gust during the final draw. Not so this time! =O) I got about 15 minutes of flying in circles, doing some eights and quite a few trial runs in the traffic pattern. Once I got it trimmed for level flight at a little less than half power, things just seemed to fall in place. I even got touch-down just 10 feet from where I planned it! I guess the reason I got it right this time was the almost windless late evening. At treetop hight, it started getting a little gusty near the forest line, lower and a little further away it was very calm. Sometimes, I could even reduce power to 30% and the little bird kept on gaining hight! This was in the middle of a field, so maybe it reacted to a thermal? Nobody around, so peaceful, so silent... Such a meaningless thing for most, but such a beautiful moment for me. (Ok, getting a bit cheesy here, better shut up now =) Ken Finland > Yesterday evening I finally got some real flying time with my slow stick! > > Now, I´ve tried before, but almost as a rule the day has ended in a crash > after a little gust during the final draw. Not so this time! =O) Congatulations....i was in your shoes a few short months ago. I think everyone here will agree that your on or approaching the fast part of the learning curve. The toughest part of being a newbie is that the 10 seconds of flighttime before you crash doesnt afford much practice. > I got about 15 minutes of flying in circles, doing some eights and quite a > few trial runs in the traffic pattern. Once I got it trimmed for level > flight at a little less than half power, things just seemed to fall in > place. I even got touch-down just 10 feet from where I planned it! excellent. I sometimes try specking-out my SS and cut the motor. The goal is to glide her back and land at my feet. Its unfairly easy with the SS because she glides better than she flys. > I guess the reason I got it right this time was the almost windless late > evening. At treetop hight, it started getting a little gusty near the forest > line, lower and a little further away it was very calm. Sometimes, I could > even reduce power to 30% and the little bird kept on gaining hight! This was > in the middle of a field, so maybe it reacted to a thermal? Nobody around, > so peaceful, so silent... Youd be surprised at how much wind you really have up there. The thing is that in the middle of the field its steady and laminar, so you quickly adapt to it and you barely notice. Near the ground or by a treeline, the wind becomes turbulent as it tumbles over everything. THATS where things get tricky.. > Such a meaningless thing for most, but such a beautiful moment for me. (Ok, > getting a bit cheesy here, better shut up now =) not at all. Those moments are why most of us are here. >Such a meaningless thing for most, but such a beautiful moment for me. (Ok, >getting a bit cheesy here, better shut up now =) Not at all meaningless, that's why we do what we do in this lunatic hobby ! It does get better, though. Nailing landings in a cross-wind is a kick in the head, too. Ditto for cross-wind take offs. Even better when you get it down pat with a tail-dragger. Time will come when you find flying on a dead calm day boring, and have more fun on days when the wind is up a bit. None of this monsoon stuff, of course, but 15 - 20 knots of cross-wind makes for a thoroughly satisfying day of flying, IMHO. Cheers, Fred McClellan The House Of Balsa Dust home.mindspring.com/~the-plumber > >Such a meaningless thing for most, but such a beautiful moment for me. (Ok, > >getting a bit cheesy here, better shut up now =) [quoted text clipped - 17 lines] > The House Of Balsa Dust > home.mindspring.com/~the-plumber And also faster looking, high speed passes! Dale Excelent! It was a very pretty day. Windy here. mk > Yesterday evening I finally got some real flying time with my slow stick! > [quoted text clipped - 18 lines] > Ken > Finland Cheesy(?!). Not at all, Ken. You've touched that magical "place" which is the love of flight. It's why we all do it. When pressed to leave the field to get back to work or somethin', we just hafta get 'one more flight'. Bill(oc) Just about as much fun as you can have, with your clothes on ;>) Bill > Yesterday evening I finally got some real flying time with my slow stick! > [quoted text clipped - 18 lines] > Ken > Finland It is really awesome when it all finally comes together! I think th most common failure for the newbie, (I know it was for me) is to wai till mother nature co-operates with us. I know the anxiety is high whe you get that long awaited first plane, but it pays to wait on tha first flight till the conditions are right. Here in the foothills of The Great Smoky Mountains, a day with out breeze is a very rare occasion. I met with many a disapointment till finally got one of those calm late afternoons. After flying in the cal of a late evening it brought down all those frustrations of failure an I rose to a sense of great satisfaction. I guess you could say "I go high on Flyin" Been there and done that! -- ronmar Retired, Law Enforcemen Today I thought I´d get a perfectly calm flight in the evening, nope, not so. The wind was dead calm up to say 30 feet, near the treeline. Then it got really turbulent, had to work hard on the power and on the elevator too. Sometimes I had to apply full power in level flight and trim again just to get the plane to advance over ground, going downwind again was like changing from a Skoda to a Porsche! Then sometimes, I had to use full elevator and rudder deflections to get it going where I wanted it. Also, in the middle of the field, every now and then I had to once again apply full power just to keep it from loosing altitude! And when there was a gust, the plane stopped as if run into a wall...it doesn´t penetrate very well, but that I knew would be the case. I did som loops this time too, not very clean but at least they looked like loops=) All in all it was fun this time too, but having flown the full size planes, I really miss ailerons, especially when turbulence flips the plane in the blink of an eye into a 45 degree turn! What would be a good aileron trainer, an electric park flyer, preferably slow (not just as slow as the Slow Stick, but slow anyway)? I really miss a full set of control surfaces, but I´m definately not ready for anything aerobatic yet, need to get the hang of flying an aileron trainer first, I think. This lipo battery pack is great, I just charge it with an automatic charger and then I have exactly the time I like to fly in the evening. Also, as this electric plane is almost silent, when visiting my parents place I can get the plane ready i 5 minutes, then just walk to the back of the house and fly over the field behind the house, nobody´s complaining about noise or anything else. The Slow Stick has wheels big enough to do take-offs from a grass field, the smaller "stick" that my father has cannot do that, it needs a better surface, therefore the aileron trainer would need to be as well suited for grass field operation as my Slow Stick. Any suggestions, or should I refrain from thinking of an aileron trainer and get more training time with the SS-bird? > ... Any suggestions, or >should I refrain from thinking of an aileron trainer and get more training >time with the SS-bird? Step up in class as soon as you can. You understand flying. The ailerons aren't going to hurt you one bit. You'll always have the trainer to fall back on to teach other people how to fly or to cover those times when your aerobat is in for repairs. :o) Marty |
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