...well, for now anyway
The morning dawned very cold with the sports oval largely covered in frost. I had resurrected a pair of my abandoned cycling mitts to help keep my fingers warm. These had proved partially effective, although on mornings with temperatures hovering near freezing I had to call an end to the flying after ten minutes due to terminal finger ache. However on this particular day a spectacular pre-dawn colour show more than compensated for any discomfort.
I’d pretty much got flying the Floater down pat. Not perfect by any means but quite reasonable. The change of flight characteristics between powered & gliding flight was awkward although perhaps mostly because I had the aircraft trimmed for gliding or low-power flight which is my preference - seeing the Floater gliding past noiselessly in a low-level low-speed flypast is quite magical. And, when tempted, to open the throttle.
I had taken advantage of the sudden height gains to practice rudimentary aerobatics - loops being the, easiest although controlling the speed and tightness of the loop is more difficult. Fast tight loops look quite fake, and I much prefer a gentle swooping style. I had also managed a few wingovers, although again not the perfect type which verge on a stall at the apex.
Following a low flypast I throttled the Floater into a steep climb which peaked perhaps ten metres off the ground after which the Floater tilted its nose down. Deciding to maximise the situation, I pushed the Floater into an almost vertical dive and waited a second for speed to build up for a steep pull-out and a fast fly-by. The only problem was nothing happened. I released the elevator stick to neutral and tried again immediately. Still nothing. Resigned to the inevitable, I let go the controls and watched as the Floater thumped into the turf, did a cartwheel and then lay splayed on the ground.
Walking over to inspect the wreckage I was expecting it to be bad considering the speed and angle of the impact, and was not wrong. The canopy, very durable and flexible, had partially shattered, the much superglued nose was still held in place by the layers of tape but severely deformed with multiple fractures, and the tail boom had snapped through just behind the motor, held on only by the tail linkages.
Gently holding the wreckage of the Floater together I traced my steps across the frosty grass back to the car...
The morning dawned very cold with the sports oval largely covered in frost. I had resurrected a pair of my abandoned cycling mitts to help keep my fingers warm. These had proved partially effective, although on mornings with temperatures hovering near freezing I had to call an end to the flying after ten minutes due to terminal finger ache. However on this particular day a spectacular pre-dawn colour show more than compensated for any discomfort.
I’d pretty much got flying the Floater down pat. Not perfect by any means but quite reasonable. The change of flight characteristics between powered & gliding flight was awkward although perhaps mostly because I had the aircraft trimmed for gliding or low-power flight which is my preference - seeing the Floater gliding past noiselessly in a low-level low-speed flypast is quite magical. And, when tempted, to open the throttle.
I had taken advantage of the sudden height gains to practice rudimentary aerobatics - loops being the, easiest although controlling the speed and tightness of the loop is more difficult. Fast tight loops look quite fake, and I much prefer a gentle swooping style. I had also managed a few wingovers, although again not the perfect type which verge on a stall at the apex.
Following a low flypast I throttled the Floater into a steep climb which peaked perhaps ten metres off the ground after which the Floater tilted its nose down. Deciding to maximise the situation, I pushed the Floater into an almost vertical dive and waited a second for speed to build up for a steep pull-out and a fast fly-by. The only problem was nothing happened. I released the elevator stick to neutral and tried again immediately. Still nothing. Resigned to the inevitable, I let go the controls and watched as the Floater thumped into the turf, did a cartwheel and then lay splayed on the ground.
Walking over to inspect the wreckage I was expecting it to be bad considering the speed and angle of the impact, and was not wrong. The canopy, very durable and flexible, had partially shattered, the much superglued nose was still held in place by the layers of tape but severely deformed with multiple fractures, and the tail boom had snapped through just behind the motor, held on only by the tail linkages.
Gently holding the wreckage of the Floater together I traced my steps across the frosty grass back to the car...
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