...amidst the rain and the wind The weather forecast predicated rain to stop by dawn and a moderatebreeze to be, both of which appeared correct when I stepped out this morning. However it wasn't long before drizzle had appeared and the wind had picked up in places. Nevertheless, considering the dearth of flying opportunities lately, I wasn't about to be dissuaded by minor details so I headed to the field.
Alighting from the car conditions appeared OK, although marginal as the rain could well develop. Not a second to lose - unleash the Walrus! With checks hurriedly done, I launched to the north from into a slight breeze. The dark grey clouds hanging heavily in the sky provided an impressive backdrop, with the Walrus' occasional erratic behaviour belying the unsettled conditions above.
Following on almost two days of constant rain, the duck pond was as large as I'd ever seen, with a trio of brown ducks enjoying the expanse of water. A flock of swallows joined, swooping low over the water before sweeping into the air, sometimes almost hovering into the wind with their small wings beating rapidly.
The wind direction changed abruptly and with it the drizzle disappeared. Taking advantage of the respite, I swung the Walrus into land and popped on the camera. Unfortunately the SD card I'm using isn't fast enough which makes the video jerky. Fortunately help is on its way...
...and take the wind with you The run of miserable flying weather continues with a southern cyclonic cell now shipping in cold wind and soaking rains. I had hoped that the run of breezy weather would have abated for at least a few hours to allow a quick flight. Having obsessively observed the tree-tops for signs of slackening wind on the weekend, I dashed down to the field late Saturday afternoon to take advantage of a drop in the wind. Arriving at the field I noticed some occasional gusting in the trees but decided it was still calm enough to get the Walrus up for a bit of exercise. Very shortly afterwards, when the economical cruise speed left the Walrus stationary against headwinds, I had cause to reconsider my bravado. A few bumpy circuits later, including a full-power emergency climb to avoid a tree, I'd had enough and decided to bring the plane back in. Coming in on approach the wing kicked violently and I suddenly realised that things could go horribly wrong very quickly and that, if I managed to get the craft down in one piece, I would have done well. Fortunately, as the plane descended so the strength of the gusts eased, and I eventually could bring the plane in to kiss the grass in tranquil touchdown...
...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...
...and crashed it again That evening I did some searching regarding these lesser known flight characteristics of the Radjet 800. I found one video post indicating that the standard centre of gravity was too far forward and recommended moving it right back to the finger grips. I had used the specified battery, a 1300mAh 3S unit, which pushes up against a stop in the fuselage. Easy. Simple. Except that this doesn't seem to work, at least not in my case. So I cut nearly an inch from the internal stop so that the end of the battery is now just inside the fuselage tunnel. I also moved the receiver position a little further back, the combined result of which was that the centre of gravity had moved substantially rearwards, although not quite as much as suggested in the video, but that should be fine.
The repairs complete and the Radjet suitably taped-up, I returned to the field with high expectations of a fun flight. The launch went well, with the plane zooming low over the paddocks towards the hill. Having launched with generous elevator based on my previous experience, I was dismayed to find that setting the elevator to neutral caused the Radjet to dip swiftly down. Not good, and by now the plane was well away and heading towards the woods.
I tried to turn it but was rewarded with a multiple snap roll instead, so now having lost orientation as well as almost losing sight of the plane, the result was virtually a foregone conclusion. A second attempt to turn and climb ended up off course and the little jet ploughed into the hillside, triggering the sudden flight of a pair of frightened birds. It had been a while since I'd tramped the paddocks in search of wayward aircraft, but now I headed through the paddocks again, greeting the kangaroos as I headed up the incline towards the downed Radjet. The nose was still intact this time due to the fibre tape applied during repairs, however this had resulted in the nose to becoming a crumple zone instead which was probably worse. The canopy had also taken a beating with a section of the plastic shattered which would need fixing.
I'd chosen the Radjet because it looked different and fun but, so far at least, it hadn't worked out that way. Considering the problems I was experienci
ng it did cross my mind that the Rarebear probably would have been a better choice, with its conventional layout and more stable flight characteristics. On top of that it's also faster than the Radjet, although somewhat more expensive. Still a Radjet that doesn't fly isn't really much of a bargain...
With the parts in hand, I headed towards the car wondering what I should do next...
...and crashed it three times I was very excited when I watched the video clips of the Radjet flying - high speed and lots of fun on a modest budget appeared to be the order of the day. So I happily put the plane together anticipating an exciting outing when the weather cooperated with a calm morning. Well, a few days later and I was at the field on a calm cool morning with cattle happily absent on the adjoining paddocks and the regular kangaroos contentedly foraging for their breakfast. I wasn't too sure with how much power I should launch theRadjet, so I opted for around two thirds throttle and hoisted it aloft at a fairly steep angle to give it plenty of air.
To my astonishment i was rewarded with the Radjet diving down rapidly and hitting the deck before I had a chance to react. With no apparent damage done and not to be put off, I put the battery back in place, refitted the canopy and had another go with a little more power. Unfortunately the result was much the same with the Radjet again behaving like a brick, except that this time the tip of the nose was broken off. The brief flight has demonstrated clearly that the Radjet wasn't generating enough lift to stay in the air, even with the amount of elevator I had applied to try getting it airborne. My final response was to add a healthy dose of up-trim on the elevators which finally managed to get the Radjet into the air at the third attempt. All was not well, however, as I quickly discovered that I could only keep the plane in the air by applying full elevator. Furthermore, as the Radjet rapidly disappeared towards the forested rise, I discovered it was turning to the right probably as a result of the elevators not being completely even. I managed to turn the Radjet around to head back towards the field, however having to keep full elevator and compensate for its bent towards the right finally got the better of me and it plummeted to earth, just across the boundary fence but fortunately short of the flooded drainage ditch, in a brief flurry of scattered parts. The damage was bad but repairable with the front of the fuselage snapped clean off. After a short hunt in the grass I also managed to find the battery which had disconnected and been flung out of the plane during the impact. So I headed back to the car disappointed and with handsfull of parts. As always I didn't get a shot of the crash as it's a sad sort of occasion, imprinted on the memory so it doesn't really need a photograph...
...and the ESC hasn't exploded yet I've fitted the fittedWalrus with an oversize 11x6 carbon propellor instead of the underwhelming white plastic unit 9x6" with which it comes standard. I've previously flown it with a 10x6 carbon carbon prop which went very well.
The 11x6, as you might expect, is a bit of an overkill, being twenty two percent larger than standard, however it does make for very quiet flying as the prop barely needs to tick over to keep the Walrusflying.
I've limited the throttle to ninety percent so the ESC doesn't explode and so far have used full power only sparingly as I want to get the feel for its capabilities first - I certainly don't want the Walrus to end up as a smouldering wreck...
...waiting for a calm evening Anticipating the successful restoration of the Floater Jet I'd splashed out and purchased a Lumifly LED system, comprising a controller, manual switch and four half-metre white LED strips. I also got a small 1000mAh 2S battery, one which has with the small red connector whose official designation I don't know but it's not the regular yellow XT connector. Packaging these additional components into the Floater's nose was a challenge to say the least, and also raised a concern about it becoming excessively nose-heavy with all the extra gear packed up-front. First of all, to clear some space and transfer a little weight backward, I pushed the receiver right back into the rear of the fuselage where the ESC resides. To ensure no loss of signal will all the gear on board I made a hole in the side of the fuselage and taped the antenna to the outside. I didn't bother with a satellite receiver as I'm not planning to let the Floater stray too far from base these days...
With limited space between the battery and servos, I opted to lay the extra battery flat on top of the main unit and placed the LED controller on top of thisheld in place by velcro tabs. I also pushed the whole lot as far rearward as possible for better weight distribution. The LED strips, which are not the self-adhesive kind, I taped onto the wing and fuselage with clear tape placed in between the LED's themselves. The result is quite spectacular when viewed in low light, with each strip having five high-intensity LED's shining a clear white light. The kit comes with four strips as standard but I'll be adding another pair to the underside of the wings for better visibility from below.
With all this gear on board I was understandably a little nervous regarding how the Floater would respond, particularly on launch with its unfortunate predisposition for nose-diving into the ground. Well, having tried a few launches with success, I can happily say it manages the extra weight with little apparent effect. One does still require care not to launch with excess power and to be ready with the elevator as it noses down on launch, but otherwise it flies pretty much as well as ever. The characteristic porpoise effect is still there as a result of the large disparity between powered and unpowered flight regimes. However it's at its happiest when gliding, its large wing area allowing it to float peacefully and silently as if magically transformed into some sort of ethereal whisp...
