...still a blast to fly The Stinger got another run today, on a beautifully clear afternoon with a fresh southerly blowing. However, despite having flown it many times, I still feel that flying it is always a risk.
It's fast, twitchy and relatively small, and I don't think the multi-colour scheme helps, to the degree that I'm contemplating stripping the techno-camouflage off the wings to make it more visible. The launch is also often a bit of a heart stopper, with the throw usually leaving the Stinger alarming half-inverted, although its jetstream somehow allows it to hang in the air long enough to get it corrected without ever having any problems.
While not being over-powerful it's still pretty fast, with the best view of it being coming in low and fast with its sharp nose pointed straight at you and the swoop of its canopy giving a menacing look.
And, of course, being a jet, it's sleek shape and addictive howl compensate for the edge-of-your-seat experience you have when flying it...
...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 Floaterover 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...
...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 Canadairairborne 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...
...without disaster or mishap This afternoon was gorgeous and sunny, slightly warm with a gentle breeze from the south west, perfect for letting the recently-refurbished Radjet loose with its boisterous battery pack, the 1800 4S 40C borrowed from the Stinger. As mentioned previously, I'd had several concerns relating it being too heavy with the oversize battery or simply bursting into flames due to the ESC being overworked. Fortunately, neither happened, with the Radjettaking to the skies without incident and flying well.
I did a few circuits before bringing it down, needing to make a few adjustment to the elevator settings after the servo change, and also to dial in a little more expo with the new servos having a bit more travel than before. Having sorted out the details, I threw the Radjet up again to give it another run. The battery, significantly larger than the recommended 1300 and substantially larger than the 850 I'd been using, is rather oversized for the power system and changes the characteristics of the Radjet into something of a grand tourer. I think a 1300 4S battery is probably the ticket, providing enough current and flight-time without carrying any excess. So, while this exercise answered one nagging question, it also raised another; considering it can comfortably carry the 1800, what if you uprated the motor and the ESC...
...and a servo upgrade
Following my conversion of the Radjet to give it a battery hatch for easier insertion of the chubbier 4S batteries, I was playing around the other day and discovered I could actually get an 1800mAh battery in without much effort. This was rather remarkable and something I had thought of doing before but never taken much further as I thought it unfeasible. My concerns are that the sustained current supply from the larger battery might overwhelm the stock ESC, and the other that the additional weight might cause issues with the Radjet, especially on launch. Regarding the former, the 1800 is a 40C while the little 850 is a 45-90C, so I don't think there should be too much difference, except for duration. To hopefully reduce the heat-load, I have installed an extra cooling port (slurpee straw) directed straight onto the ESC and of course the Radjet runs without a canopy these days.
In the case of the latter, I think the Radjet should be OK with the mass, considering the Stinger runs with this battery on a smaller wing area and with a heavier body. I've also replaced the original wing servos with Turnigy TG9z's due to these stripping when I pancaked the Radjet on its most recent flight. I'd bought these servos as the HXT 900's were out of stock and, while expecting much the same, I was amazed when first powering these up at how quiet they were in comparison. I gather these are not quite as strong as the HXT's, however they should are well rated and sound super-smooth! So, since today was just way too windy from start to finish, I'm hoping that I might be able to get the Radjet into the air tomorrow and see how it goes...
...the last piece of the puzzle The Canadair 415 has been somewhat of a trying exercise; first the several hurdles in getting it built and then the issues on the water, namely non-functional rudder, researching proportional thrust and then, finally, figuring out how to launch it without the wing floats diving into the lake.
The solution for the latter was, fortunately, quite simple, requiring just a few millimetres (I took off five) trimmed off the front of the float-mount to increase the angle of incidence of the float. I'd actually considered doing this up-front but had decided to try it out unmodified. The default configuration may work, but only in mill-pond conditions in my opinion, as the scale-float cannot manage even the most modest ripples ,which simply wash over the float and causing it to immediately submarine. As I said, I randomly chose a 5mm trim which has worked fine, although I have seen videos where the floats have been tilted significantly more than that. I think it's a matter of "horses-for-courses", however I think that some increase in incidence is required to avoid frustration...
...my first soaring flight! This morning I had, rather unexpectedly, my first soaring flight with the Phoenix 1600 glider. Rather unexpected is as much as I had no expectation of there being lift about at that time, a leisurely nine o'clock departure due to sleepy disposition precluding getting out any earlier.
It was a lovely sunny morning following a clear cool night, although the breeze was already beginning to pick up from the East. I launched the Phoenix but saw immediately that it was turning to the left, an affliction which I have annoyingly been unable to eliminate satisfactorily, although twisting the left wing a little is a topical remedy.
Whilst bringing the Phoenix down for repairs, it was accosted by a very annoyed magpie flying down from its nest, the episode spurring me to mount the camera on the Phoenix to capture the antics. So it was, with the wing corrected and the camera running, that the glider powered up again into the blue morning sky.
Having previously tried to get the Phoenix in lift with only very moderate success, I was amazed to find that, once up a few hundred feet, that the glider didn't seem to be coming down in a hurry. Without having a variometer it was of course difficult to determine where the lift was, but flying over the road seemed to work well. The first run lasted a good few minutes before the Phoenix fell foul on sink and headed towards the field. The next run was more successful, the glider staying up ten minutes, having to turn it back at one point as it climbed and drifted into the distance. Finally the breeze grew too strong, pushing the lift too far away...
