Smoke Stack

...and nearly a Walrus stack as well

I did some flying this morning at the field down the road - a heavily overcast morning with a breeze coming in from the South.

The Walrus's prop pulling off is happily already a distant memory, with several launches and a fair bit of powered flight without so much as a hiccup. Here's holding thumbs it stays that way. As always the Walrus launched with ease and really is so stable to fly that it always makes for a very relaxing outings.  

Having done a few circuits of the field I headed off to the north and overflew the old brick factory, with its landmark smokestack rising a hundred feet or so. I ambled the Walrus around and then headed back to the field for a bit more aerobatics and general flying around.

It wasn't until later when I was having a look at the video that I realised how close the Walrus had come to the stack - its left wing had literally shaved past the huge brick stack.

A few inches closer and I'd had spent the morning scaling fences trying to retrieve the remains of Wally...

Motor Shaft Fixed

...and the Walrus flies again

I wasn't too sure of fixing the Walrus motor, although I had read that replacing bent shafts appeared to be common enough, so re-securing the shaft in the motor shouldn't be too hard. However The circlip really didn't inspire too much confidence.

As it turned out I couldn't get an 3mm external circlip anyway, but what I did get I think is better, although it required a little modification to the motor mount. The external locking ring has almost full engagement around the shaft and I really can't see that coming loose, unlike the sad little circlip (which I found hiding in the fuselage).

The only problem is the outer diameter (10mm) is much larger than the circlip, so the hole in the bulkhead had to be increased from the original 8mm to about 12mm, which I did with a round file.

Having re-assembled the motor and done a brief power test (happily the prop didn't fly off) I checked the weather then dashed off to the field with the Walrus for a fly before the rain came returned...

An Action-Packed Morning

...never a dull moment

It was another lovely calm morning so I packed the Radjet and Walrus and headed to the field. Having got to a manageable skill level with the Radjet I was looking forward to getting some good airtime to explore capabilities and responses. And I got just that, plus a little more than I expected.

As said before, the little jet flies beautifully and it's speed is now not so intimidating with a little better understanding. It climbs without bound, rolls well and does beautiful loops. I did encounter something completely unexpected - a flat spin. As often with the gliders I put the Radjet into a vertical stall, expecting it to flop over and continue flying. Well, it did flop over but into a flat spin. And, like a Tomcat, I've discovered the Radjet doesn't recover from it - don't do it.

The best I could manage was elevator and opposite aileron which helped to slow the spin so that the Radjet sort of fluttered to the ground. Landing in longer grass the damage was limited to the tip of the nose coming off, again. This time I couldn't recover it, but it flies well enough without it!

I was about to pack up the Radjet when I had an urge to do a bit more launch practice, that being the a little nerve-wracking as it usually rolls and dips to the left, requiring quick correction to keep it off the deck. On my second launch the Radjet climbed steeply so, to avoid another flat-spin scenario like earlier, I let it drop until the speed was well up before I started to level it out heading back towards the field. 

Unfortunately its trajectory coincided exactly with a goal post, so its swift progress was suddenly reduced to a burst of parts. It didn't look pretty, however putting on the wing and aileron should be fairly easy, however restoring the dented leading edge will take some doing, if at all.

I returned to the car for old faithful, the Walrus, for a bit of post-traumatic stress therapy. The Walrus is great because you can launch it at almost any power and it just cruises up. Well, this morning I flipped up a little more throttle to get it buzzing right up. 

Unfortunately, and most unexpectedly, the prop pulled off the front and the Walrus turned into a real glider for a second or two. As it turns out the circlip retaining the motor shaft got a little tired and went to lay down in the back of the fuselage.

So a little work to be done at home so I've got something decent to fly. Odds are on the Radjet, just hopefully it doesn't get crashed again as it's running out of lives...

Radjet Takes to the Skies

...and flies beautifully

This morning was absolutely perfect, with cool, calm and sunny conditions prompting me to pack the recently refurbished Radjet. Having previously established it was flying stably, before it ploughed into the paddocks on its next ill-fated flight, I was looking forward to having an enjoyable flight with it.

Despite it's now very battered appearance, the little propjet flew beautifully - as stable as you could wish but still very manoeuvrable. I'm still adjusting to the "bank and yank controls", sometimes finding myself wondering why it isn't turning after I've put it into a bank. However it flies so well now that small pilot delays are accommodated without disaster. Orientation miscues, like looping down instead of pulling up, are likewise rectified by the quick responses of its aerobatic nature.

The last surprise is how well it now glides. Coming into land with power off and full elevator, it floats along as if it were a glider and lands with as much elegance as you could expect from anything.

I'm still a long way from mastering this little firebrand simply because it's so much faster than anything else I've flown and I need time to adjust - the flight this morning was at no more than half throttle. I've also experienced some difficulties in picking orientation which is a little worrisome, although I think it's mainly as it's been getting a bit too far away ("why isn't it turning?").

So I'm looking forward to exploring it's capabilities of the Radjet, hopefully without further damage. And, when the nerves are a bit shot from high-speed manoeuvres, there's always the dependable Walrus to take for a relaxing fly...

Radjet on the Mend

...and hopefully flying soon

Well, the routine maintenance on the Radjet is progressing well, with the nose re-attached as well as the wingtip, which got ripped off as well. The nose will need additional work, however it is at least attached and reasonably well aligned, which is a step in the right direction.

It will probably be a couple of days before it gets in the air again, enough time to make sure the glue has fully cured. 

However, I am confident based on the brief flights this morning that the Radjet's balance issues have been resolved and that it is now quite manageable to fly, as well as capable of impressive turns of speed as well as being highly manoeuvrable.

Here's looking forward to the next test flight...

Radjet Success

...followed shortly by misfortune

After completion of the now-routine crash repairs, the Radjet was up for its first flight with all mass balance mods completed, giving it the best possible chance of flying decently.

A gentle westerly was blowing as I launched the Radjet on max power, helping it climb quickly into the overcast sky. Happily, I soon discovered that the Radjet was now flying much better, although I still had it blasting around the skies of full throttle as I was still concerned about it losing lift and stalling. However, after a few heart-stopping episodes, I managed to calm the beast down and bring it in nicely for a good landing.

Reflecting on the flight I realised that, with it's improved flight characteristics, I no longer needed to be flying it at full pelt just to keep it in the air, so I decided to give it another go at a more moderate pace. Finally an opportunity to experience how the Radjet should fly...

Which, I can tell you, is really very well. It's stable, fast and responsive, with a super-high snap roll rate with just a flick of aileron. Also, its now docile enough to be able to fly around at moderate throttle settings. So all good except that, as I made a circuit of the field, the Radjet passed behind one of the trees. Now this is a common enough occurrence that has happened frequently with the gliders. But this wasn't a stable-flying glider...

After a second with still no sign of the little plane I ran to the fence for a better view, occasionally feeding a bit of elevator in the hope keep the plane from crashing. As I stared across the paddocks hoping to catch a glimpse of the Radjet in flight it was as if the plane had vanished into another dimension. It had just disappeared!

Not for the first time I climbed through the barbed-wire fence and went walkabout in the paddock. The cattle had fortunately gathered to graze at the far end so there was no trouble from them, and I greeted the curious observations of the kangaroos with a friendly hello.

After tramping through the swamp and up and then down the hill, I finally spotted a small orange fin of Radjet sticking above the grass. I hoped that gliding down without power it had managed to land without incident, however on reaching the plane it was clear this was unfortunately not the case: the nose was almost completely ripped off and the fuselage splayed open. In fact it exhibited the classic "peeled banana" look as if there had been an explosion in the cockpit.

Still, at least it would be repairable with the usual suspects, super glue and fibre tape...

Radjet Ready & Camera Card

...but not necessarily together

The Radjet is now glued together again and ready for another fly. This morning would definitely have been too breezy for the little craft, however I'm keen to get it into the air again for a bit more high-speed fun.

As far as mass-balance is concerned, I'm now packaging the receiver into the fuselage as well after the battery, and I've put a couple of screws in the rearmost section of the fuselage so as to get the maximum counterbalance for the minimum weight, and without disrupting the airflow.

I have also received the new micro SD card for the wing cam, a class 10 U1 speed rating. I'm not sure that the U1 rating will do much in this application as I gather it's some sort of software driven feature aimed at mobile devices.

 Anyway, it won't do any harm. I'd love to put the camera on the Radjet however, considering its delicate balance and propensity for crashing, I think we'll reserve on-board video for the Walrus and Floater Jet...