Friday 24 October 2014

Stinger Launch Good Again

...no more inverted launches

After a frustrating few days, this morning finally turned out to be a decent flying opportunity; almost still, the low cloud created an inverted mist and shadowed the just-risen sun to a ghostly orb. The benefit of this was that it abated the sunshine enough to risk flying the Stinger without losing it it the sun, but still allowing enough light through to be able to track the fast planes.

Breaking with tradition, I decided to go with the Stinger first up, usually giving the gliders a go before the breeze has a chance to pick up. Having finally had the courage to fly it again, I have been enjoying getting it out, although one can never take success for granted with something this twitchy. The last few launches have been OK, however the Stinger has been three-quarters inverted at the top of the launch. While the jet thrust makes it quite stable during launch, giving enough time to correct it, this was something that needed to be resolved before becoming a problem.



Happily, this was fixed by simply adjusting my throw, I must have been dragging it over a little, and with a straighter throw it went up nice and evenly. I launched with high rates by mistake, changing to more sedate settings in time. However, trying the high-travel ailerons while in a climb amazed me at just how fast the Stinger can roll...

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