Fox Glider with Walrus Props

...seems to work well

Ever since the Fox started using its designated battery, the 1800 Nanotech, it has suffered from a buzz. Initially I thought this was because the motor mount wasn't tight enough, and then I thought that perhaps it was because the firewall wasn't sturdy enough, gluing in a second mount in tandem to beef things up.

And so the imbalance persisted since I'm not sure how to balance folding props. However the other day I found a spare set of Walrus props and decided to install them on the Fox.

This works surprisingly well and they seem to provide quite sufficient thrust for the Fox, which is much sleeker than its portly donor plane.

So, the Fox now has white props to match its colour scheme, and is flying quite happily with cheap plastic instead of swishy carbon fibre...

Walrus Beautiful Afternoon Flight

...mining the archive

Although I no longer have the Walrus glider, I have plenty of videos from when I used to frequently fly it with the trusty 720p wingcam. Much of the video I uploaded to my YouTube Channel in its raw state, however there are also quite a few videos that have remained in digital storage.

Having a bit of a lull, I decided to go through these for some rough gems, and the first I looked at was this one, of the Walrus having an outing on an absolutely exquisite sunny afternoon, something especially appreciated watching now as we approach winter.

So I've edited it a little, the full flight being a luxurious eighteen minutes, and set it to some music which I really enjoyed listening to whilst I compiled the video... 

Fox Glider Propellor

...an interesting turn of events

From the first few flights it was apparent that, in my opinion, the little Fox was over-propped, especially running just an 1800mAh battery. Also, the R2Hobbies spinner setup is very dodgy - the inset pivots mean the props cannot fold flat as they foul the fuselage by a mile, and the prop mounts only fit a 6mm base, meaning the props have to be filed thinner to fit, weakening them considerably.

I discovered this first-hand when, landing the Fox with the prop still windmilling because of the unbraked ESC, a sudden snap indicated that one of the prop blades had given up. Consequently I've ordered a new 32mm carbon spinner and a 9.5x9 carbon folding prop to match, slightly smaller than the original prop to spin a little more freely.

I've also ordered a 25-50C 1800 nanotech battery to give the Fox a little more grunt than the pedestrian pack it's running on at the moment. However the biggest surprise came from the spare parts shelf.

Hunting around for a replacement prop, I came across some Walrus props, about 8.5 size, which I thought might do in the meantime, and filed these down to suit the Fox's mini-mounts. As well as being a bit smaller, the Walrus props are also cranked forwards which help the props to clear the body and fold better. 

Not expecting too much, in fact virtually expecting the rework white plastic blades to disintegrate at the first hint of full throttle, I was amazed at how sweetly they worked, with the Fox humming happily through the cool morning air...

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...

Walrus in the Wind

...a little too much can be a bit too much

Having recently suffered a lumbar incident by putting the squeeze on a spinal disc, I've been out of the air for a few days with activities limited to devising novel methods of sitting down and getting up without aggravating my back.

Yesterday, however, after a physio treatment and a few days rest, I awoke to finding my back much recovered. Buoyed by being finally on the mend I managed a tentative day at work and, with evening approaching and a picturesque pastel light show developing in the clouds, I headed off to the field for a well-earned fly.

The conditions were breezy, in fact before leaving I had stood at the car for several minutes trying to decide whether things were, perhaps, not a little too windy for comfort. However, having recently flown in quite gusty conditions, and found them quite entertaining, I decided to head off.

I launched the Walrus at almost full power, something I almost never do simply because it's not necessary, however in these conditions I wanted to make sure that Wally was well up into the air before backing off. Just as well, as, within seconds of launch, it was immediately apparent that conditions were more severe than anticipated.

The Walrus, despite being on full throttle, was being pushed by the wind so much so that it was in a nose-up attitude but not climbing at all, just being pushed forward. Fortunately, being generously powered, I managed to muscle the Walrus to a safe altitude where I could assess the flying conditions a bit better.

It didn't take long to realise that, despite the beautifully illuminated clouds and warm glow from the horizon, that this wasn't the best evening to be flying so I brought Wally in on finals. Easier said than done, though. The high winds meant the glider made almost no forward progress on its approach, and I had to power up and climb round for another try. This time too high, as once it reached the field, the protection of the trees meant it floated too far...

I finally managed to bring it in on a decent final, although a bit of tacking was required to bleed of a little height and, after a few sharp wobbles thanks to gusting wind, I put the Walrus down to a nice gentle landing...

Back into the air for the new year

...with flights book-ending a scorching day

Today was the first opportunity to get into the air again since Christmas. The weather forecast was for an absolute scorcher, so the options were either getting into the air early morning or evening. As it turns out, I did both.

It was a lovely calm cool morning, without hint of the extreme heat in store, and the field was deserted when I arrived. Despite not having flown for the best part of a month everything felt familiar, as the ever trusty Walrus buzzed off into the air as easily and reliably as ever.

With a large contingent of floodlights as well as a few trees it's not the cleanest of flying venues, however with good calm conditions to fly it was good enough. The Walrus had a bit of a run over the freeway adjoining the ground without attracting any unwonted attention, and again came close to being retrieved on landing. This time it was a friendly black Labrador who ran up to me after having briefly investigated the motionless Walrus and found it to be less intriguing than expected.



With the heat of the day abated, I headed off to the local field for an evening fly in the cool breeze. It was an exuberant flight to celebrate the end of a scorching day, with the Walrus' agility put through its paces in the turbulent conditions of the refreshing southerly...

Walrus Moon Fly

... loops around the moon

A few days ago I took the Walrus for an evening fly at the local field, something of a regular occurrence lately and an opportunity to enjoy a calm and scenic flight as the evening set in.

It was lovely and calm, the sort of flying best suited to a Walrus whose slow and gentle characteristics match the serenity of deepening nightfall, yet with agility and manoeuvrability to graciously accommodate exuberance as well.



Of course the first priority on a beautiful evening like this, with the full moon rising orange above the eastern horizon, is putting the Walrus through a few loops around the moon

Flying aerobatics doesn't make for the best sunset footage however, with some creative editing and a lovely violin piece, I've managed to put together a video of the beautiful sunset and moon rising...

Radjet Repair Reaction

...a little heavy on the nose

The poor Radjet has had a very hard life, with numerous crashes in its short life. In fact I'd say the number of crashes to successful flights is about 50:50.

A not-unexpected result of this is that the front fuselage has slowly gained weight with layers of fibre tape and super glue to the point, when I flew it this morning, it was flying nose-down again and only barely neutral at full chat. Not a condition I enjoy, so unsurprisingly the landing wasn't the best. So the Radjet it will be subjected to some reconstructive surgery to restore it's flying balance.

On a more positive note, I've finally got a proper prop for the Walrus, the 10x6 carbon unit to replace the rather over-sized 11x6 blades I've been running with on reduced throttle setting. These new blades have a very nice contour to them and seem to run efficiently, so the Walrus was very happy...

Walrus Prop Wash

...unexpected benefit of low flying

Another lovely morning to fly, unseasonably cold and cloudy with a modest breeze.

Following heavy rains, the duck pond had reappeared and was being patronised by a flock of ducks as well as a host of swallows flitting low over its surface. A grey heron trod slowly through the shallow water searching intently for bugs.

Following a few aerobatics, I brought Wally down for some low flying again, over the pond and paddocks. During one of the passes buzzing low over the pond's surface the Walrus dipped a little, and suddenly the prop was kicking up spray; real prop wash!

Fortunately the Walrus had enough momentum to skim to the edge of the pond. A quick inspection revealed damage was limited to a few drops of water which had leaked in through the cooling  vents, nothing another fast buzz around the paddocks wouldn't dry out...

Shooting the Breeze

...another breezy but flyable morning

Just like yesterday, it was windy home but there was just a moderate breeze at the field, so I had the Walrus up and flying in no time. The breeze picked up noticeably a little later, but nothing too much to disturb Wally's stable nature.

For a little entertainment I stood at the paddock fence and guided the Walrus around the trees and on low passes over the paddocks. Low flying is good fun although something l only try if conditions are stable - it doesn't take much to drop the plane a few feet onto the deck!

I'm pretty comfortable with inverted flight now; it certainly doesn't give me the creepy feeling when I first tried it. However, despite increasing aptitude I still don't do it near the ground, giving myself the option of a positive loop pull-out just in case...

Cool Calm & Cloudy

...a chance to fly before the rain arrives in force!

Yesterday was very frustrating. The forecast was hot so, despite a beautifully calm and cool morning, I didn't take the Walrus for fear it might melt in the car during the day. However the hot weather forecasted never happened as a cool chance arrived early, so a perfectly good morning's flying gone to waste.

The calm evening boded well for a delayed opportunity to get into the air. Having waited for the sports practices to end, I eagerly headed out the door with Walrus in hand anticipating an enjoyable half hour of floating Wally around in the sunset. Except, as I stepped out of the door, the gentle breeze turned instantaneously into gusty winds. Turn on heel, unload Walrus and glare annoyedly at waving treetops from inside...

So this morning my expectations were not high with heavy clouds populating the horizon and the treetops moving despite the early hour. Nevertheless, somewhat desperate for the opportunity to catch some air I packed the Walrus and headed off to work.

Climbing out at the field I was delighted to find the breeze gentle and steady, and hints of drizzle on the windscreen happily abeyed. So, battery connected and camera in place, the Walrus headed off to say hello to the cloudy sky...

Pastel Shades of Flight

...after a very hot day

As evening approached, the heat abated and winds dropped enough to scramble down the road for a dusk flight.

Clouds had amassed with the dropping temperatures, so the setting sun had a blank canvas on which to display fading pastel hues of orange and pink, a vivid contrast to the increasingly dark grey of the clouds.

The gentle cool breeze was a welcome change from the heat of the day as I let the Walrus loose through the skies in a cathartic display of aerobatics and low-passes across the field. Eventually satiated, I dropped off the power and gently cruised the plane as evening approached until, the light fading I turned the Walrus in on finals.

A typically floaty landing would have rounded off a lovely evening's flying, however I had misjudged the wind direction and had the Walrus side-on to the breeze. This sharply tilted the wings, causing the Walrus to thump onto the turf in one of the worst landings it's had.

There's always something...

Smoke Stack

...and nearly a Walrus stack as well

I did some flying this morning at the field down the road - a heavily overcast morning with a breeze coming in from the South.

The Walrus's prop pulling off is happily already a distant memory, with several launches and a fair bit of powered flight without so much as a hiccup. Here's holding thumbs it stays that way. As always the Walrus launched with ease and really is so stable to fly that it always makes for a very relaxing outings.  

Having done a few circuits of the field I headed off to the north and overflew the old brick factory, with its landmark smokestack rising a hundred feet or so. I ambled the Walrus around and then headed back to the field for a bit more aerobatics and general flying around.

It wasn't until later when I was having a look at the video that I realised how close the Walrus had come to the stack - its left wing had literally shaved past the huge brick stack.

A few inches closer and I'd had spent the morning scaling fences trying to retrieve the remains of Wally...

Motor Shaft Fixed

...and the Walrus flies again

I wasn't too sure of fixing the Walrus motor, although I had read that replacing bent shafts appeared to be common enough, so re-securing the shaft in the motor shouldn't be too hard. However The circlip really didn't inspire too much confidence.

As it turned out I couldn't get an 3mm external circlip anyway, but what I did get I think is better, although it required a little modification to the motor mount. The external locking ring has almost full engagement around the shaft and I really can't see that coming loose, unlike the sad little circlip (which I found hiding in the fuselage).

The only problem is the outer diameter (10mm) is much larger than the circlip, so the hole in the bulkhead had to be increased from the original 8mm to about 12mm, which I did with a round file.

Having re-assembled the motor and done a brief power test (happily the prop didn't fly off) I checked the weather then dashed off to the field with the Walrus for a fly before the rain came returned...

An Action-Packed Morning

...never a dull moment

It was another lovely calm morning so I packed the Radjet and Walrus and headed to the field. Having got to a manageable skill level with the Radjet I was looking forward to getting some good airtime to explore capabilities and responses. And I got just that, plus a little more than I expected.

As said before, the little jet flies beautifully and it's speed is now not so intimidating with a little better understanding. It climbs without bound, rolls well and does beautiful loops. I did encounter something completely unexpected - a flat spin. As often with the gliders I put the Radjet into a vertical stall, expecting it to flop over and continue flying. Well, it did flop over but into a flat spin. And, like a Tomcat, I've discovered the Radjet doesn't recover from it - don't do it.

The best I could manage was elevator and opposite aileron which helped to slow the spin so that the Radjet sort of fluttered to the ground. Landing in longer grass the damage was limited to the tip of the nose coming off, again. This time I couldn't recover it, but it flies well enough without it!

I was about to pack up the Radjet when I had an urge to do a bit more launch practice, that being the a little nerve-wracking as it usually rolls and dips to the left, requiring quick correction to keep it off the deck. On my second launch the Radjet climbed steeply so, to avoid another flat-spin scenario like earlier, I let it drop until the speed was well up before I started to level it out heading back towards the field. 

Unfortunately its trajectory coincided exactly with a goal post, so its swift progress was suddenly reduced to a burst of parts. It didn't look pretty, however putting on the wing and aileron should be fairly easy, however restoring the dented leading edge will take some doing, if at all.

I returned to the car for old faithful, the Walrus, for a bit of post-traumatic stress therapy. The Walrus is great because you can launch it at almost any power and it just cruises up. Well, this morning I flipped up a little more throttle to get it buzzing right up. 

Unfortunately, and most unexpectedly, the prop pulled off the front and the Walrus turned into a real glider for a second or two. As it turns out the circlip retaining the motor shaft got a little tired and went to lay down in the back of the fuselage.

So a little work to be done at home so I've got something decent to fly. Odds are on the Radjet, just hopefully it doesn't get crashed again as it's running out of lives...

Radjet Ready & Camera Card

...but not necessarily together

The Radjet is now glued together again and ready for another fly. This morning would definitely have been too breezy for the little craft, however I'm keen to get it into the air again for a bit more high-speed fun.

As far as mass-balance is concerned, I'm now packaging the receiver into the fuselage as well after the battery, and I've put a couple of screws in the rearmost section of the fuselage so as to get the maximum counterbalance for the minimum weight, and without disrupting the airflow.

I have also received the new micro SD card for the wing cam, a class 10 U1 speed rating. I'm not sure that the U1 rating will do much in this application as I gather it's some sort of software driven feature aimed at mobile devices.

 Anyway, it won't do any harm. I'd love to put the camera on the Radjet however, considering its delicate balance and propensity for crashing, I think we'll reserve on-board video for the Walrus and Floater Jet...

Breezy Morning

...but still good to fly

The treetops waving indicated the chances of getting some flying in weren't good, but it turned out that the breeze, although reasonably strong, was actually pretty smooth so the Walrus was unpacked rapidly and sent powering quickly up into the sky.

Conditions were quite pleasant, as it turned out, so did a little more inverted flight practise and tried flying knife edge as well - quarter snap roll then full opposite rudder. The result was just a slowing down of the Walrus heading down, however that's at seventy percent travel. Next time I'll put the rudder onto full travel and have another go!

I also had the flaps down for the latter part of the flight, slowly driving the Walrus around and seeing if I could get it at "standstill", which it managed on occasions when the breeze stiffened. With things getting a little too gusty, I brought the plane round to land, with flaps still deployed, and had a bit of fun trying with VTOL.

Unfortunately I think the Walrus suffered tip stall while I tried to correct a wing drop due to gusting, and it dropped a couple of feet onto the wing. There was a tell-tale crease in the wing decal, but otherwise everything was fine thanks to the robust EPO...

Where You're At

...and how you fly

Friday morning at the paddocks relaxing and enjoyable with the calm weather, beautiful clouds and varied wildlife contributing to an engaging and relaxing morning's flying. By contrast, despite the immaculate morning, the flying at the local field was less than ideal with the challenge of dual-level fields surrounded by trees adding stress and detracting from what might have been a lovely morning's flying. Location, location, location...

Unfortunately in the suburbs the potential for open paddocks is virtually non existent, certainly not nearby. One needs, therefore, to find the best spots available and then learn how to fly there. The local field in question, the nearest potential flying spot to home, was the location of my first crashes of both the Phoenix 2000 and then the Floater Jet. Not exactly brilliant credentials, however neither incident was locatio-related, just inexperienced driver.

While I managed to fly both the Walrus and Floater without incident (although the latter did come agonisingly close to ending up in a tree, twice) it wasn't an entirely relaxing experience.

Fast forward to that evening, with the sun just setting and the full moon freshly over the horizon, throwing the Walrus up from the top field gave things a completely different perspective, with space to move aplenty giving the loops around the moon a sense of freedom...

A Perfect Flying Morning

...tranquil Zen flying

This morning dawned still and overcast with the promise of lovely flying conditions. Happily things were still calm and settled by the time I arrived at the field, and I wasted no time in getting the Walrus into the air.

The Radjet is actually ready to go again, looking a little battered and worse for wear, but with the limited flying opportunities lately I wasn't going to risk wasting a lovely morning searching the paddocks for errant aircraft.

There was the slightest of breezes blowing and, despite heavy rain clouds forming in the east, no imminent threat of rain. To add more texture to the beautiful canvas of the morning, lighter cumulus clouds  were framed by fringes of bright blue sky.

The calmness of the morning meant a worry-free flight, barring a close call with one of the flood lights, so low passes, slow flying and aerobatics at will were all on the cards. On one of the flights I also trialled cap-cam, the RD32 camera attached to the peak of a cap. It seemed to work OK so I'll have a look at the video this evening.

So, a lovely morning's flying and communing with nature...

Finally Some Luck

...amidst the rain and the wind

The weather forecast predicated rain to stop by dawn and a moderate breeze to be, both of which appeared correct when I stepped out this morning. However it wasn't long before drizzle had appeared and the wind had picked up in places. Nevertheless, considering the dearth of flying opportunities lately, I wasn't about to be dissuaded by minor details so I headed to the field.

Alighting from the car conditions appeared OK, although marginal as the rain could well develop. Not a second to lose - unleash the Walrus! With checks hurriedly done, I launched to the north from into a slight breeze. The dark grey clouds hanging heavily in the sky provided an impressive backdrop, with the Walrus' occasional erratic behaviour belying the unsettled conditions above.

Following on almost two days of constant rain, the duck pond was as large as I'd ever seen, with a trio of brown ducks enjoying the expanse of water. A flock of swallows joined, swooping low over the water before sweeping into the air, sometimes almost hovering into the wind with their small wings beating rapidly.

The wind direction changed abruptly and with it the drizzle disappeared. Taking advantage of the respite, I swung the Walrus into land and popped on the camera. Unfortunately the SD card I'm using isn't fast enough which makes the video jerky. 

Fortunately help is on its way...