...a brief flight of hopefulness Today was going to be warm, so it wasn't entirely unexpected that the morning was already a bit breezy by the time I got to the field. I had opted for the Floater Jet today as it fit's more comfortably into the car so was less likely to suffer thermal effects than the Walrus. The Radjet was, of course, in for routine maintenance (crash repairs). Eager to get into the air I rated the weather flyable and readied the Floater for an outing. This was the first time I'd had a camera on the Floater, and was interested to see the the difference from having the camera in front of the prop. The fresh northerly would assist getting the plane launched, the Floater's Achilles' heel, so that was good...
The good feeling lasted several seconds until the Floater climbed a few metres into the mainstream breeze, at which point its characteristically floaty nature disappeared out of the window. Things were clearly quite gusty above tree-level, and after a few busy seconds of trying to steady the craft, I was convinced that today really wasn't the best day to fly and I turned the Floater into a landing circuit.
Despite the considerable altitude the plane had achieved, understandable when flying into that much of a headwind, I was surprisingly able to land it straight ahead, quite evident from the camera footage. Having watched the video I can tell you that, while there's no buffeting from the propwash, the Floater's annoying noise prop noise is still dominant, perhaps not unexpectedly as I mounted the camera just ahead of the engine pod. I have a couple of propellor options on their way, however, with a 6x4 triple blade to be followed shortly by a 6x5 twin blade. I am hopeful that, while generating more thrust, these might also abate the dreadful droning. Having successfully brought the plane down, the final foot or two of descent were a little less successful, with the Floater bumping down onto the turf a little roughly. No damage done, fortunately, although you do get an insiders view of the rather busy workings of the cockpit, crammed with batteries, controller and wiring for the lighting...
...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...
A warm northerly followed in quick succession by a cold front had put paid to my aspirations for a flight this morning. I’d seen the forecast yesterday but was hoping I’d be able to beat the change. However in bed this morning I could hear the gusting through the trees and, as a bonus extra, by the time I neared the field there were showers as well.
Sitting at my desk I can see puffy Cumulus clouds, painted a warm pastel yellow, floating past at a rapid pace and the sun, not quite risen, is setting the cloudy horizon aglow. The tumultuous weather is still upon us, so the best is to enjoy the heavenly stage show...
