| Image Comments |
| SteveM | 18-May-08 14:39 |
| Spent some time this morning practicing landings. On one landing I was not straight and messed up my touch down and it bounced and went nose first into the ground. I was actually able to glue and keep flying, break it again, re-glue, and repeat. |
| David Duckett | 18-May-08 14:56 |
| I guess this is what they call the joy of flight. It looks like a lot of fun! |
| John M Oshust | 18-May-08 15:05 |
| Maybe magnets are the solution. Hold the vitals together so they break upon impact. May save work??? |
| SteveM | 18-May-08 15:44 |
| At 9am two guys showed up with their gas planes. They are at the field nearly every morning and one guy said he tries to make 50 landings (touch and goes) a day. The other makes just as many landings each day and has been doing RC flying for some 38 years. So I was thrilled to get some advice from them as they watched me try to land. Now I need to take what they told me and practice.
When the pilot lands the plane nose first something has to give. A new prop is almost $3 so I almost don't mind repairing the stick as it seems to be the weakest point. I'm afraid it I made the motor stick detach on impact I'd just end up transferring the crash energy to somewhere else. I'm getting pretty good at drilling out and installing new plywood to repair the stick, and the Aero-Star kit has given me enough repair plywood scraps to last for many rough landings to come. |
| jgood | 18-May-08 19:15 |
| Keep at it Steve. I think it took me about 3 months before I was not coming home from the field with a repair to make every time. I'm no expert now, but I can repeatedly take off and land without breaking anything. And touch and go's are amazing - an evening doing them in zero winds is the best! I much prefer the look of a tail dragger, but the Tyro's trike gear makes touch and go's really nice with the improved ground handling. So - keep at it - sounds like you're making good progress. Coupled with your amazing building skills, I can imagine some great flying pictures to come in the future. |
| poppy | 18-May-08 19:22 |
| That little electric motor takes poundings a lot better than a glo engine. If you are lucky only a needle valve breaks, but always dirt requiring a take apart and cleaning. I don't know why anyone would fly anything but electrics nowadays. |
| SteveM | 18-May-08 19:42 |
| I'm told that after 100,000 landings I should be pretty good at them. But like you said James, I'm just trying to have a trip to the field that does not result in some sort of repair.
On our field I see a lot of sport and 3D planes and precious few warbirds, and as near as I can tell all are ARF/RTF and foam. I just don't relate to the people that gush over how wonderful someone's foam plane is (that may not even be painted). When I get my flying skills up expect to see me fly warbirds and even attempt some Guillow's conversions like James did on the DR-1, but maybe on something else...like a P-39.
Poppy, I don't know except that to buy the electronics and battery for a 40 or 60 sized plane can really set you back, even more so than a 4 stroke engine. But in the long run the electric should be cheaper along with many other advantages like no oil messes and hardly any noise to upset the neighbors. |
