...lovely surprises This morning I packed the Canadair 415 and the Sukhoi 29 as I headed out; the sky clear except for a ring around the moon from a hint of mist in the east. I'd been wanting to film the Sukhoi 29, the diminutive rubber-band powered mini-plane, but hadn't had any success due to a broken rubber band. So I was hoping that this morning, kitted out with a fresh spare band, would be the day.
Heading now into Autumn, the sun wasn't yet risen when I arrived at the field, so I readied the Canadair for a flight. Glancing up at the sky I decided there was nothing worth filming, so I hit the throttle and had the Canadair skimming off the grass into the sky. I'd barely done a circuit of the field when, looking over my shoulder, I saw the rippled forms of the high clouds suddenly lit up with the first rays of sun in a beautiful spectacle. The Canadair was immediately put on finals and fitted with the Mobius as soon as it touched down. All secure, and the chubby plane was skimming into the air again, headed for the best seats in the house to witness the spectacle of a beautiful autumn sunrise.
Afterwards I readied the little Sukhoi for another try, but was surprised by a giant tractor taking to the field to give the grass a trim. Ducking out of the way at its first pass, I started winding up the Sukhoi now that the tractor was busying itself on the far field. A hundred and fifty winds, as per the booklet, and I let the little plane go with underwhelming results; the plane tottering along the grass before coming to a standstill a few yards off. The noise of the tractor nearing again decided me to pack things up for the morning, and I turned for the car as soon as it passed, experiencing the second pleasant surprise of the morning, the gorgeous smell of freshly cut grass...
...rediscovering the joys of flight
I'd come across rubber band-powered models whilst browsing for my latest purchases. I remember having fun with these planes from my distant youth, along with the sore finger resulting from doing hundreds of propellor-winds! Having spare space in my parcel I opted for two - a small Piper Cub and a larger Sukhoi 29 aerobatics plane. I also got the battery powered winder - an absolute must especially as you can have it for only a few dollars! Arriving in a large parcel of other aircraft and ancillaries, it was not altogether surprising that these diminutive craft were left sidelined for some. However they eventually piqued interest and were assembled easily enough. I had thought that both models were of similar scale, however it turned out that the Sukhoi was an altogether larger and more powerful craft compared to the diminutive Cub.
A lazy sunny afternoon was the perfect opportunity to take the little craft to the field for an outing. The Sukhoi was the obvious point of interest being much larger and equipped with quad rubber bands compared to the mini-Piper with only two. The Sukhoi was needed 200 turns (the battery winder is actually equipped with a winding counter, believe it or not) while the Cub needed just a quick 70. Now, considering the total package cost only fifteen dollars one would not have expected much entertainment from these little planes, but we were soon convinced otherwise. Launching the Sukhoi revealed a marvellously-well balanced plane that flew gracefully like a much larger craft. Remarkably it would often manage to execute an excellent landing, quite remarkable something of such rudimentary construction. The Cub, which appeared to be much too small to be used outside, proved perhaps the biggest surprise, accelerating at a jaw dropping rate before executing loops and stalls. It would also often finish with acrobatics landings, cartwheeling before flipping or landing on its nose, all without the slightest hint of damage to its delicate frame and wings! It was many launches later, when the winder's batteries was beginning to run low that we finally picked up the little flyers and headed for home. The Cub had made one bad landing which had split the wings in half, causing spontaneous mourning for the plucky little craft. However we reassured ourselves that two piece of sticky tape carefully applied would restore it to pristine flying condition, ready for another afternoon at the park...
