DC-3. Morning Clouds.

...surprise and delight

A couple of days ago the weather quietened enough to take the DC-3 along for a morning flight. Although calm enough to fly, a grey blanket of cloud and the imminent threat of rain wasn't a promising outlook.

A few large raindrops beginning to fall as I unpacked the Dak, determined to get a quick flight in if possible. Fortunately the rain held off and, more surprisingly, the heavy clouds has dissipated sufficiently for the dawn to illuminate firstly the adjacent clouds and then, a little later, those floating on the opposite horizon.

The clouds didn't clear enough to actually get any sun, so conditions were a little dull. However it was nevertheless a lovely morning's flying; a beautiful morning cloud show always turning an outing into a special occasion...

Tranquil Morning Clouds

...why I like flying

By the time I reached the field this morning the dull overcast sky had developed interesting cloud shapes, with the light of the just-rising sun beginning to colour them.

I had the Canadair and Rarebear along, anticipating a morning of gentle cruising and low flying over the paddocks. The Canadair is nice for this; easy to fly but also capable of gliding quite happily, although obviously not as efficiently as a glider.

Flying in a beautiful sky is wonderful therapy; gazing up and enjoying the changing colours of dawn is relaxing and refreshing, but having a plane in the sky makes this experience even better...

Spectacular Cloudshow

...a stunning morning display

With rain forecast later in the day, the sky was studded with an amazing selection of cumulus and stratus.

The northeast was already tinged in orange when I arrived as the remainder still slumbered in hues of blue and grey...

The views were so spectacular and rapidly changing that I interrupted the Phoenix's morning exercise to capture the moment...

A flock of black and white Ibis wheeled across the field as they arrived for their morning feed...

The first rays of the morning ignite the head of a cumulus in vivid explosion of light...

Breezy Flight

...a breeze is stealthily approaching

I had an interesting flight this morning. The forecast was for a moderate breeze although when I got to the field there was just a suggestion of breeze from the North. So I happily launched the Walrus and set about cruising around. However it was soon apparent that something was amiss - sometimes control response was slow and occasionally a wing would kick up for no apparent reason.

Now, with the history of failures I've had while flying my RC aircraft,  random behaviour is cause for instant panic. I had resolved the wing-warp issue with padding in my car so it wasn't likely to be that. Also, with the receiver configuration in the Walrus as well as the high-power US transmitter settings I've happily not had any issue with signal loss lately.

Testing the Walrus showed normal response to inputs, although it was now clear that the relative calm at ground level was masking the approach of a growing breeze. Realising this I was quite happy, as knowing what to expect is much more reassuring, even if it's the unexpected!

I made a camera-run over the kangaroos to try and get some better video than I've managed up till now. I was probably a little too far away to judge the distances well, so I had a rather closer encounter with them than I had anticipated but did little more than pique their interest as the Walrus pulled into a climb over their heads.

By the time I came in for the final landing the breeze was quite strong although smooth. After an initial approach was aborted due to the Walrus running out of height, I tried again coming in much higher. The Walrus flew it at snail's pace against the wind, having to make constant adjustments to keep it on the level before finally dropping it onto the grass at the far side of the field...

Walrus Magpie & Retriever

...not the most peaceful flight ever

I had a quick fly at the local field just down the road this morning, but it turned out to be not as good as I had hoped. Being between two busy roads made it quite noisy, also there are a couple of lamp posts to be careful of as well as some trees and cars parked at the end of the field. Not very relaxing.

Moreover there were a pair of territorial magpies nesting in one of the trees bordering the field who flew into attack me as I walked onto the field. I ended up having to defend myself from their repeated attacks with the Walrus. I'm not sure whether it was me or the fact that the Walrus looked like a large white bird, perhaps the latter as I had an angry magpie following inches behind the glider for the whole flight.

The video actually looks a lot more relaxing than the flight actually was - you don't get to see the magpie trailing about two inches behind the wing with its feet down and beak snapping, although you can hear it calling during the much of the early part of the flight. In fact I was half expecting the magpie to physically attack the plane and cause it to spiral out of the air. However the "attack" remained just a scare tactic - it didn't bother the Walrus but I must say that I found it a bit off-putting!

And finally, after a nice smooth landing, the Walrus nearly got retrieved by a friendly dog out on his morning walk at the field. He couldn't resist coming in to have a sniff at the just-landed aircraft, despite the strident yells of his owner calling him back. He probably thought it was just a high-tech version of a stick being thrown. Fortunately he didn't actually take the plane - whilst it would have made a lovely video I'm happy just to have the Walrus in flying condition.

Walrus Flies a Goal

...and a smooth landing

Grey clouds hung heavily in the morning sky, with just a int of colour showing through above the horizon. Not the most spectacular dawn, however the morning was still and cool, perfect for flying which was great!

The kangaroos were on the field in force this morning, grazing on the pitch. They seemed a little less shy this morning, hanging around near the fence as I prepared the Walrus. However the noise of the propellor revving up for launch was a bit much for them, and they had hopped off to join their friends in the paddock by the time the Walrus had cleared the fence.

I had a few good flights this morning, just easy circuits with a few low passes nearby. I also managed some good landings, without flaps though, as I still haven't changed the settings for the flaps.

One thing I have been missing is the relaxed floatiness of the Flyer. That's not to say I don't like the Walrus - it's a great straight flyer without the pitching characteristic of the Floater. However the Floater does produce magic when it floats silently past you, seemingly weightless.

I've just been considering flying the Walrus with flaps (on a reduced travel, perhaps twenty degrees). I think this might give the best of both worlds, clean flight for straight balanced handling, and flaps deployed for slow, floaty relaxed cruising. If the weather permits I think I'll give that a go tomorrow.

On the last flight this morning the Walrus flew a goal, flying its approach through the posts, a first for me...

Final Flight of the Flyer

...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...