Canadair on the Lake.

...an afternoon cruise

It's not often that I get to the lake; access is restricted so it's only on nice afternoons when it's not to windy. And only on a few couple of days a week.

On this particular afternoon things were looking good, so I arrived at the lake only to find that it was pretty windy.

Now the Canadair is a very capable and stable flyer, but I'm nervous about mishaps on water, necessitating getting my inflatable rescue craft out, blowing it up before paddling across the lake you're not supposed to go boating on.

Anyway, I decided to fly nonetheless and, fortunately, things went fine. The water wasn't too rough nor the wind too gusty, so I had a pleasant afternoon cruising the Canadair around and doing takeoffs and landing without having to call the rescue squad...

Floater Jet. Lake & Country.

...scenic flight and more

A trip to the country was an opportunity to take the Floater Jet to see whether there might be an opportunity for lift off the adjoining hillside.

Also, an opportunity for a gentle scenic flight the next day, with a tranquil morning and the lake mirror-calm.

Not that it was an uneventful flight, with a flock of corellas passing through and a very close call with a radio tower.

And to end it, probably the worst judged approach I've made in a long time, with the docile Floater Jet over-flying and floating straight into the garage door...

Canadair CL-415 1390mm. Scenic Outing at the Little Lake

...a bit more successful

Following on from my rather unsuccessful previous expedition to the lake, I returned a week later with the Canadair again for another attempt.
I find flying off water to be rather stressful, due mainly to the inconvenience of failure, namely having to the boat out to rescue the plane and then pack it all up again. As a consequence I am much more nervous and therefore tend to fly much worse than otherwise.

The Canadair is easy to fly and I can generally fly it off the grass, not dissimilar in nature to taking off from water, with little issue. The takeoffs on this occasion were, happily, more successful although most were still a little nervy and one, which didn't make it into the video, was absolutely awful.

One contributing factor is that you don't always get to stand near the plane like you do at the field, and as a result you are literally distanced. I probably should've just gone to the large lake where I could have launched from right next to the jetty. However the little lake looked so scenic with the clouds in the afternoon sun..

Canadair Flips on Takeoff...and Survives!

bad and good...

The other day, after a long hiatus, I finally got the Canadair back to the big lake to have a bit of a fly. The big lake is good for its large expanse of water, meaning less issues with dodging trees or having to constantly turn.

Being a large expanse of water does however mean that it does pick up more of a breeze though, due to the large expanse of open water. Nevertheless, on the afternoon, there was a moderate westerly blowing in, noticeable but not sufficient to unduly affect the water.

So I got the Canadair ready to fly and, at the last minute, decided to shift the battery back a little to help with the landings, where I kept on finding I didn't have enough elevator to float it in for gentle touch-downs.

All ready then, and I hit power with full elevator to get the Canadair on the plane. Unfortunately, the combination of the fresh westerly and th enow nose-light Canadair meant that, as soon as it begun to rotate it just kept on lifting and, quickly reaching a stall, the left wing dropped and dipped into the lake.

So, within a second of hitting the throttle, the Canadair was floating upside down, both motors immersed in the water. I didn't feel like getting the inflatable out, so I waited for the breeze to transport the Canadair to the far side of the lake.

Finally fishing it out of the lake a leisurely quarter of an hour later, the Canadair had shipped just a smidgen of water, and the receiver and ESC's were all dry and safe, ready to go again...

Floater Jet Aerial Lake Tour

...camera at the ready

Having packed the Floater Jet it seemed opportune to load it up with the camera and give it a fly for a scenic tour around the lake.

The brisk northerly, however, made this anything but a simple exercise, having to launch the Floater over the lake without having it ending up, well, floating in the lake. Fortunately the Floater launched OK and soon powered over the lake against the gusty breeze.

I'm always fascinated at the different perspective provided by the aerial camera, obviously the same reason that people want to fly FPV, and the view of the lake and trees spreading out below the Floater as it climbed in the sunny blue skies was both intriguing and lovely.

The approach to landing seemed impossibly high however, as is clear and evidence of the headwind the Floater was experiencing, it worked out ok although it did end up a little close to the rubbish bin...

Canadair at the Big Lake

...on a warm windy day

Access to the lake is a bit restricted and, along with variables of weather thrown in, the opportunities of actually getting a plane on the lake are not brilliant. So, despite it being a warm and windy afternoon, I headed past the lake just in case.

It turned out that it wasn't that windy, although the lake surface was covered with ripples. In the end I opted for a partially sheltered spot between some willow trees and decided to give the Canadair a go. The rougher water caused some problems with the wing floats, as would be expected, and I had some issues with the Canadair turning because one float was still on the water.

Nevertheless, I still managed to get the Canadair airborne and flying without incident, although the strong wind made it more of a reactive flying session than anything else. Landings, however, were a breeze with the Canadair descending almost vertically to literally plop down onto the water.

Although slow and stable, the Canadair still needed careful watching in the wind, with its large wing area and so many winglets and stabilisers making crosswind effects more pronounced.

So a bit more experience with the Canadair, but the take-offs still need some work. But at least its fairly easy to fly. Next time, perhaps some aerobatics...

Floatplane Landings

...don't try too hard

Conditions today were idyllic, a beautiful warm afternoon with a light easterly blowing, and the lake deserted as usual except for a flock of moorhens and the odd duck.

With the Trainstar now fully sorted, I was looking forward to a leisurely afternoon flying the floatplane around and enjoying the gorgeous weather.

With the rudder servo keeping things straight on launch I could concentrate on managing the liftoffs; this takes a little doing as one needs to ease off the up-elevator required during the takeoff run, however the liftoff is quite sudden and tricky to anticipate. Anyhow, the launches were a little better but still need some work.

The landings, however, were atrocious, with the first attempt off an awkward approach being all over the place and ending with the Trainstar nosing into the lake. Fortunately it was close to the shore and the breeze assisted in bringing it back without the need to haul out the dinghy.

The flights were otherwise very pleasant, with the 2700mAh battery giving good power on launch and surprising endurance in flight. The controls are still a bit sensitive, and with the weight of the floats the Trainstar is quite sensitive, however I think I just need to dial up teh expo a bit to calm things down.

My last landing, by default, was off a nice long approach after my initial botched effort, and I greased the floats in on what I thought to be my best landing so far, when suddenly the float dug in and the Trainstar was suddenly nose-down in the lake, again.

I have made lots of bad landings, but never has the the Trainstar actually gone in. I think I was trying to get it too smooth and was lacking up-elevator to keep things on an even keel...

HMS Rescue

...first retrieval of the floatplane

Today the planets finally aligned, with it being calm, the rain remaining in abeyance and access to the lake being open. Things hadn't gone smoothly on the way, however, having to dodge a police roadblock and then having to hunt for the secret access point.

Finally, however, with all missions successfully completed, I arrived at the launching point ready for the Trainstar floaplane's second flight. There was just the slightest suggestion of a breeze, the lake calm and reflecting the tranquil palette of the surroundings.

The Trainstar was equipped with the new larger battery, which I hoped would provide the extra flying time to avoid awkward situations (plane marooned in the middle of the lake with a flat battery) and also provide a little extra grunt when necessary.

The takeoff runs I'm still finding problematic, with the Trainstar being quite skittish at speed and having a tendency to veer. Nevertheless I did manage a few launches and some pleasant flying across the lake.

The one issue I have encountered, twice in this session, is turning; sometimes the Trainstar will get into a tightening turn, whilst other times it won't turn tight enough. It was the latter cases which proved problematic, with the Trainstar ending up stalling and flopping nose-first into the lake.

In a testament to the unsinkability of the floats, both times the Trainstar settled back down onto the floats however, by the second occasion, the ESC had a little too much to drink and went for a lie-down. As a consequence I had to break out HMS Rescue for the first retrieval attempt.

Due to the inflatable being nicely packaged up I hadn't bothered doing a test run beforehand, however I found that, in conjunction with the electric pump, the boat was ready to go in a few minutes and, once I'd figured how to install the oars into the oarlocks, I was on my way out onto the lake.

The inflatable did surprisingly well, although my rowing skills left something to be desired. For the future I think I'll get some sort of tow rope for returning the plane, as trying to shepherd the untethered plane back to shore was rather taxing.

So all ended well, except to see whether the ESC can be resuscitated or needs replacing...

Dam Lakes

...somewhere for the Trainstar to call home

My efforts at getting the Trainstar floatplane in the air again have been unsuccessful, in part due to the weather, as in the case of today, in part due to misinformation, like yesterday, and partially because I want a completed deserted venue as I'm rather shy when I'm learning.

Yesterday I visit a great potential site, however it's bordered by houses but, mainly, had several fisherman whom I'm sure wouldn't be impressed with a buzzy floatplane invading their tranquility. However, on the way home I passed the lake where I'd first flown the Trainstar and was surprised to find the gates open, it being advertised as open only a few days a week.

I'm now hopeful that this is the case on most days, so will be taking the Trainstar along in the hope that I will be able to fly it more regularly and with less complication than thus far.