...now just to fly it Today I finished the assembly of my Trainstar, a high-wing Cessna-type taildragger. It's a great looking plane, complete with soft foam tyres and spats! It's got rugged aluminium undercarriage which also doubles as suspension.
I took it to the field last night although ended up not flying it, but instead doing taxi-training to get a feel for its behaviour on the ground. Also, for someone who's never had an aircraft with undercarriage, taxiing it around was deeply groovy...
...and getting a bit carried away This morning was my second attempt at Radjet launch with correction, this time with a little more power, perhaps around fifty percent, and again it launched just beautifully. With the extra power there was no concern of it hitting the ground, just a nicely controlled launch with a gradual climb, making the transition to full power and fun flying a real breeze. TheRadjet, as I said previously, is flying amazingly well despite it's battered appearance and lack of canopy. One does need to be a little careful, as now high-g maneuvers result in a spin to the right, and the speed is a little down on its heyday, whether that's the airframe drag or the battery getting a little tired I don't know.
Nevertheless flying the radjet this morning was a real treat - a perfect launch followed by a series of relaxed swoops and climbs over the field, with the odd roll thrown in. And, when the power tailed off, it glided in for a nice slow easy landing. It would have been great if things had stayed on that high note. I had taken some footage of the launch to make a video however, apparently due to the cold, only some of the the camera's array worked, giving a streaked picture in something like inverse-colour. More annoyingly, about five seconds after theRadjetlanded, the video came to life showing the gorgeous morning..
Secret the First - Keep the Nose Light TheRadjetis extremely sensitive to mass balance. Make sure the centre of gravity is centred on the hand-hold grips, otherwise it'll fly like a brick...
*****
Secret the Second - Launch with Control TheRadjetwill roll to the left on launch - the more power, the faster it will roll this way. Launch with proportionate right aileron - two-thirds power, two-thirds aileron...
...finally getting Radjet launches under control This morning was exquisite, starting out misty across the fields as I flew the Phoenix in lazy loops and low passes, before clearing almost imperceptibly so that, by the time I headed back with two depleted batteries, the morning was clear and crisp as you could possibly imagine.
Today I scored a major victory of the small-step variety - I launched the Radjet without crashing. However it wasn't just the fact that it launched it successfully, but morehow I launched it that was significant: it was the first successful launch with opposite aileron. And it was very successful, launching on about one third power with about the same degree of opposite lock, the Radjetbuzzed off happily, in an almost perfectly straight line. I was that flabbergasted that I left it for a bit long, then flipped onto full power causing it to jink left.
These, however, were minor issues and, managing to quickly correct the attitude, theRadjetsoared into the crisp morning air, relishing the novelty of an outing without incurring structural damage. The little buzzy jet flew beautifully, the latest restoration being sufficiently rejuvenating that I could actually reduce the amount of elevator trim with which I usually fly. However, having suffered through multiple impacts, the Radjetis now not without vices; pulling a little too much G will cause a high-speed stall, and I suspect more than that may result in an irrecoverable spin...
...flocking together This morning the field was host to the largest variety of birds I've seen yet; the resident ravens and magpies, larks waltzing politely around the field, a wing of corellas flying past and a raucous flock of gregarious cockatoos, yellow crests displayed vividly as they strode around. By comparison the conditions were rather disappointing - a heavy sky complemented by a strong breeze made for unpleasant flying conditions, the Phoenix unsettled by the gusts which precluded low flight and slow fly-bys. The morning ended with a loud buzzing from the Phoenix as it climbed under full power - the prop adapter had started to strip and this was an audible warning that things had deteriorated. So I glided the Phoenix round into land, taking the opportunity to enjoy slowly navigating the plane in through the breeze for a nice smooth touchdown...
...and others of a similar nature I've been having idle thoughts of procuring a Stinger 64 Jet for my flying pleasure and, as such, have been watching some footage of its flight and launch.One thing which has struck me watching launches of this creature is a twitch to the left a few seconds after it's in the air. Now, knowing the characteristics of the Radjet (the familiar snap-roll to the left), and imagining similar behaviour from the diminutive Stinger, I surmise this crafty has been launched with right aileron which input, once flight is stabilised, is released, explaining the hint of roll to the left.
This, in turn, suggests to me that I should attempt to employ a similar device on the launch of aRadjet. Now, thus far, my guiding principle has been to minimise the torque reaction from the propellor and therefore circumvent any need for loading up the wings during this critical phase. However, considering the chequered results of this philosophy, I think I'll conduct an explorative regime of roll-corrected launches to test the effect of said input, as well as any potential deleterious reactions...
...in a bucket of water Due to a recent unscheduled landing, for the first time I have tried EPO repair using hot water.
This method is surprisingly effective and, after leaving the wings to soak for about twenty minutes, the EPO shape had largely been restored. In fact it appeared that the grain structure had somewhat overdeveloped, so a little smoothing-down is required This method seems to work a lot better than a hairdryer as the temperature is controlled (no risk of melting the foam) and the heat transfer immersed in liquid is improved. All in all a low-risk well controlled method to uncrumple your dented EPO parts...
