Gliding in Autumn

...and the beautiful cool sunrises

Summer has gone, almost, the mornings are darker and the sunrises are returning to their spectacular best of the colder seasons.

I am already having to don my jacket against the chill, and have resorted to the mits as well although just precautionary at this stage; in a few months it will be a matter of maintaining the feeling in my fingers for a few minutes more flying!

I have been flying the Phoenix 1600 regularly and find it a remarkably versatile plane to fly. It is more of a sport glider than anything, yet the agility it exhibits is quite remarkable for a relatively large plane (1.6m span). I must admit that I fly it at 100% travel, something I'd never even contemplated with the Walrus.

Yet the  Phoenix seems to relish the opportunity to exercise it's capabilities at every opportunity, although it can be flown super-slow, especially with flaps down and will virtually land itself in this mode. The only difficulty, in common with most gliders, is trying to guess when it will actually touch down, with the combination of increasing ground effect and reducing headwind as it approaches the deck!

The Turnigy 2217 1050kv motor is doing well, although it does have a little buzz when flipped straight up to full power. Nevertheless it is performing well with the 11x6 carbon prop, which also looks nice as well...

Phoenix 1600 with Carbon Prop

...and it really flies well

This morning I flew the Phoenix for the first time fitted with a 11x6 carbon prop, and it flew really well. This was also in conjunction with the removal of the battery tray ballast. The result was very impressive climb performance from the big glider.

This flight was conducted against the backdrop of a gorgeous morning's golden rays illuminating scattered fluffy cumulous in a still sky, and the Phoenix's effortless performance had it climbing, swooping and hanging inverted in the sky off the top of big loops...

Walrus 11x6 2200mAh First Flight

...and the ESC hasn't exploded yet

I've fitted the fitted Walrus with an oversize 11x6 carbon propellor instead of the underwhelming white plastic unit 9x6" with which it comes standard. I've previously flown it with a 10x6 carbon carbon prop which went very well.

The 11x6, as you might expect, is a bit of an overkill, being twenty two percent larger than standard, however it does make for very quiet flying as the prop barely needs to tick over to keep the Walrus flying.

I've limited the throttle to ninety percent so the ESC doesn't explode and so far have used full power only sparingly as I want to get the feel for its capabilities first - I certainly don't want the Walrus to end up as a smouldering wreck...