For a while now the Trainstar has been grounded due to increasingly-bad prop vibration. Initially I thought the front fuselage was flexing from fatigue and installed stiffeners, which made no difference. Then I got a prop balancer & did the prop which likewise had a nominal effect.
It turned out that it was just the bell mount grub screws which, although I'd tightened them, were a little loose as the hex drive had stripped. Fixing this was tricky and painful as I couldn't get the originals out, and I couldn't tap new holes for fresh grub screws as there wasn't enough depth. Eventually it has been fixed, well enough anyway, and now the Trainstar is back in the air again, still full of character...
...getting there Lately I've been doing a lot of FPV flying, almost all of it with the Floater Jet, as I try to fine-tune the system and push the boundaries to determine what's reliably possible. Although the flying isn't spectacular, one benefit is that there's plenty of pleasant scenery and, on this particular afternoon, lovely clouds in abundance.
While the FPVsystem doesn't have the capability to go flying in the clouds, it's enough to get a pleasant view and see the cloud footprints dotting the landscape. So far the mobius and dock have managed to go 1.2km while still maintaining a clear, if graining, picture. As regards height I wouldn't not sure as my estimation is not very accurate. However we'll be getting a variometer with altimeter soon, so will be able to check how we're doing on altitude...
Of the times I've flown the Stinger I've had a number of bad launches, primarily due to it rolling, and several times where it's ended up inverted half a second after launch. Every time I have managed to successfully extricate it from such precarious positions and gone onto enjoy the flight.
This time, unfortunately, was different. With the Stinger inverted I panicked and killed the power, so that it nosed towards the turn in an inverted swan dive.
Fortunately the damage was very minor to the degree that I was able to straighten the nose sufficiently to give it another go. The second launch was perfect with a lovely flight to follow, against a backdrop of fresh clouds and beautiful blue sky...
Breezy afternoons don’t suit too many planes; of mine the pick are the Rarebear, Stinger and Radjet. This particular afternoon there was a fresh northerly blowing and I headed right into the paddocks, my favourite spot for speedy planes free of any obstructions making it great for low-level, high-speed flypasts.
I find the Radjet a very stable high-speed plane and able to handle wind with aplomb, so I had a great time speeding it upwind and downwind, always at full throttle as usual. Unfortunately, by the time I got to the fields this particular afternoon, the sky had got a little hazy causing glare.
As a result the video struggled a bit with the contrast and, although I tried to balance colours and lighting manually afterwards, it’s very difficult and the video still doesn’t look quite right.
Nevertheless, the flying is quite entertaining and the sky, although not as lovely as it had been earlier in the day, was still a lovely backdrop to the speeding Radjet...
...a few surprises The GeeBee got its chance for a first flight on a beautiful, if somewhat breezy, afternoon with lovely clouds spread across a giant canvas of bright blue sky. Playing it safe for the first take-off, I had the GeeBee on the dirt to give it a take-off smoother run. After a quick taxi-test, I headed it into the breeze and eased up the power.
It takes off pretty easily and without fuss, but the first surprise came when I eased off the elevator and found it nose-diving rapidly, so much so that I only just caught it in time. It was also turning right, so I had a tense minute or so as I steered it clear of trouble as I adjusted the trims.
After that things were a lot more enjoyable; it turns out that the GeeBee is very floaty, another surprise, and is fun and easy to fly. In fact its characteristics lead me to believe it has 3D capabilities, now I just need to develop mine! It turns very quickly and easily and, with full power, is pretty brisk without being super-fast, so it didn't take long before I was flying it with some confidence. Bringing it into land it floated in straight enough, rounding out well. I let it drop just a fraction, still a good landing, but this small jolt was enough to dislodge one side of the undercarriage and loosen the other mount. However this is easily corrected with a little superglue, and I'm looking forward to exploring the GeeBee's abilities further...
I’d had the GeeBee sitting in the corner for a while and finally got around to unboxing it.
It’s a nice quality kit, coming safely boxed and individually wrapped so that all parts were in perfect condition. The fuselage is even secured in place with velcro straps, a first for me.
The GeeBee comes in the classic Texaco livery which looks great and the decal application is nice. The fuselage is full EPO including the cowling which is nice, however there is a downside - the battery access is a small hatch on the underside.
The 5g servos, in wings and fuselage, are pre-installed along with the control horns. The high-standing tail wheel is also fitted, leaving only the tail planes to be screwed into place. The wing, with locating pins up front, is also screwed into place - a glue-free assembly.
The iconic GeeBee undercarriage comes pre-assembled, with integrated wire reinforcing which also serves as the mount slotting into the wing. Included is sprung bracing wires stabilising the undercarriage as well as bracing the wings to the fuselage, which should look great assembled.
The kit comes with two three-blade props and two spinners, the latter being the only disappointment - they're EPO, with the cone apparently needing to be stuck onto the base with double-sided tape! I'm not surprised to read that people have ditched these for real spinners. In fact, had I known, I’d have tried to get a replacement spinner when I ordered the kit…
Monday morning was grey and miserable but, just to be sure, I packed the DC-3 and Radjet. This was just as well because, by lunch time, the weather had cleared to a beautifully sunny and mild afternoon and I would have been most upset to have been flightless. Happily I headed to the field with the afternoon winter sun flooding the fields with warm afternoon light as it began to dip towards the western horizon.
The DC-3 is a docile creature suited to slow flypasts and modest aerobatics, so I spent an enjoyable quarter of an hour doing just that. I managed a really nice touch and go as well as a fast flypast.
Being quite slow I have been pondering a few possibilities to see if it can be made a little speedier, but we'll keep those musings for another day...
...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..
...a pleasant afternoon out Sunday afternoon turned out sunny and mild, a nice opportunity to take the Raptor for a leisurely cruise around the field. With the local venue busy, I headed for a field at which I'd previously considered flying but never got around to going there. The field had had the grass cut back for some reason, leaving it with an interesting geometric finish, combined with its contrasting brown colour would make an excellent spot for a first FPV flight; you'd easily be able to find where home was!
Getting the Raptor out, I installed the Mobius atop the fuselage and sent the big glider soaring skywards. There northerly wind was quite mild but choppy, making the flight a little interesting when the Raptor approached ground level and curtailed most low and slow flying, which is can be the most fun. Nevertheless it was a lovely afternoon to be out, and floating a slow glider around is likewise a suitably relaxing occupation. The most anxious bit was a brief inverted flight towards the end when, pushing the Raptor in an inverted pull-out, I realised there was insufficient charge in battery to execute this power-sapping manoeuvre. Rolling the Raptor out, I pulled up steeply and came awkwardly close to a flood light pole, hitting which would definitely have ruined a lovely afternoon outing...
I ended up terminally bending the shaft adapter on my Trainstar some while a go as the result of colliding with a light pole. While, in the past, I have managed to straighten the adapter by hook or by crook, this time my efforts were in vain.
Now, it must be said, the Volantex (nee Lanyu) prop adapters are rubbish, a conclusion based on my experience of both the Trainstar and Phoenix planes, and I've heard this sentiment echoed by others as well; the adapter material is very soft and prone to both stripping and bending.
I've previously looked at the Volantex store but, despite having the items on display, it seemed impossible to actually buy anything. And I couldn't find anything on the web either. However reading through a thread about Volantex spares yesterday, the website had apparently become functional.
My optimism at this news was unfortunately was short-lived as, while the prop adapter is there (and on sale!) an error came up when I tried to finalise Paypal payment and, despite repeating the checkout exercise, I still had no success. So I again abandoned Volantex for spares (why is it so hard?) and headed to Hobbyking. The Volantex motor for the Trainstaris a 4023/850KV and fortunately Hobbyking have an exact equivalent, the D4023-850 Out Runner Motor. This, however, comes fitted with a steel prop shaft instead of the aluminium of the Volantex, and is also only about half the price. So, while I really didn't want to buy another motor when all I needed was a prop adapter, it all got too hard...
Winter can be a bit challenging when it comes to flying with grey rainy days and dull mornings. However, one bonus it that you do get to see sunrises, when they happen. Taking the Canadair to the field the other day I was treated to a lovely sunrise, made more enjoyable by having the Canadair to cruise around.
As usual, if there's something worthwhile I get the camera out, and in this case put it on top the Canadair to get an elevated view of the sunrise. And, for a bit of extra fun, included a couple of takeoffs and landings in the flight...
...leave them in peace Driving in to the field this morning I glanced over to see if anything was happening on the field; sometimes there are dog walkers, occasionally someone else flying a plane and every now and again there is a kangaroo or two foraging for a nibble on the field. This morning all the kangaroos were there, and I mean literally all of them; perhaps about a dozen or so, large and a few youngsters as well, dotted all around the field quietly having some breakfast. As my car came to a standstill in my usual parking spot, the nearest adjacent 'roo was disturbed and leaned forward to hop away. Feeling terrible that I would scatter the entire, um, herd of 'roos, I decided to rather leave and head for the other field a little down the road to leave their community to enjoy breakfast in peace...
...going to be better than new Reconstruction of the Stinger EDF, after its ultimate smash, has begun with the wings and tail being removed from the buckled fuselage in preparation for being transferred onto the smart new fuselage I've got for it. I have managed to reconstruct the fuselage before but, having been smashed again, I didn't think that I'd be able to get it straight again. The wings were slightly dented in the mid section from the impact, but a little hot water got that straightened out easily enough.
I've also bought a replacement EDF fan, the stock units that comes in the Stinger, but the big news is I've upgraded batteries from the previous Zippy 1800 4S 40C to a 2200 4S 45-90 Nanotech pack. Now I'm not sure exactly what difference this will make, but Nano's I've used previously, especially the 45-90 variety, pack extra punch and the larger capacity should help with slightly longer flight times. So I'm looking forward to getting the Stinger looking smart, ready for a double-test flight; reconstruction and more power...
...beautiful morning for flying Clear still mornings are perfect for flying and, when the clear night provides a light blanket of mist on the paddocks, it's even better. The other morning was exactly that, and I had the DC-3 out for a bit of enjoyable low cruising around the field and over the misty paddocks.
The DC-3 is now flying very pleasantly; in fact it doesn't really do much more than that. Most of my aircraft, even the Raptor or the Canadair, have got a bit of grunt and, at full throttle are quite quick, even fast in the case of the latter. The DC-3, however, with its factory-spec motors, is quite pedestrian. In fact, one could miss the difference between going from half throttle to full if one wasn't paying attention, so moderate is its performance. And that's with exactly the same battery as powers the also-twin engined Canadair. And yet, punting the Dak slowly and gracefully around the field is quite entertaining, and you get to enjoy a variety of classic views; head-on, side view and, of course, the instantly identifiable outline of its beautifully curvy wings...
...having fun learning to fly radio control Welcome to Zen Flying. Join us having fun flying a variety of radio controlled planes; gliders, pushers, mini-fighters, quadcopters, taildraggers, floatplanes and EDF jets.
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