2016 Flight Report #1 - Kicking off a new year at Fort Jackson

It's been since the week before Christmas. Over that soggy windy time I had made changes to my three main fliers and I've been itching to test them out. Thursday was a complete surprise that popped up between endless bad-weather days, and when the afternoon forecast was updated, we scrambled like a chinese fire drill calling, texting, and emailing each other about going flying.

First up was the Oriental, who's .40fp has been running away since I rebuilt the nose. I've flown it about five or six times since its post-repair maiden(I flew it into a dust devil back in late summer). I'm in denial that it's vibration in the repaired engine mount. I rebuilt it strong and stiff. but it ran perfectly before the wreck. I was testing two additional head gaskets, and it ran beautifully, just like old times... until it started to lean out and sagged in the first loop of the OH8. I bailed out and proceeded to fly about 96 more laps(felt like it). I have a spare head and Bob is going to radius it for me to additionally lower the compression. I also have a head-bolt hole problem in the crankcase, so I may need to use my spare crankcase when I swap heads. But! ...But, this plane flies so much like it's on rails, I just love having its handle in my hand. She, in all if her fatass 50 ounces, turns effortlessly, confidently. It really soothes some of my nemeses. Before I go all radical with engine work, I'll blow out the filter and make sure it's not just a booger.

I took a break to rig up the Shoestring. Wayne flew JFA President Jim Malek's big RC foamy T-28 Trojan. Wayne is a damn good RC pilot, he just greases touch and goes, dead center of the runway. And Bob flew his Euclid. It had a big patch on the wing. He told us this is the first time it's been out of the hangar in 20 years, and dirt daubers had built a big crusty mud nest inside the wing.  He cleaned it out and bolted a Surpass 40 fourstroke in it. It was one of his few muffled engines. It looked great in the air to me. I love the look of it, it's Bob's own design, and a one of a kind model. After the flight he said, This plane sucks!, and that he was going to abandon it at the field for whoever wants it. Lol A while later I noticed the engine and tank were gone. Damn... not a thing wrong with it. Wayne took it home. I turned it down since I have plenty to work on, including Bob's old Pieuma(Feather).

Here's the Euclid and the Trojan:



Later I'll post a video including the Euclid, and the twin Fox powered Jezebel again.

Last time when I tried out the Shoestring with its new Max-S .35, I really liked it. It has a great loud growl with no muffler, and with the RC carb it ran steady but too slow with an MA 10x4. Bob made an aluminum venturi for it and I put a stock OS NV in it. I upped the pitch to 10x5 or 6 to give it a little more authority, and boy it has it now. The new venturi helped get an easy needle setting, and it sounds sort of Fox-like. It flies at a great speed with a distinctive 4-2 break and lots of horsepower for climbing into wingovers and such. About 5 seconds, and I wouldn't want it any slower for such a small plane on a windy day. So the old SS, my first stunt plane is a pleasure to fly. Boy, she's twitchy though. It's no wonder I had such a hard time learning the beginner pattern. Maybe I need a narrow combat handle for it. It turns loops the size of a hula hoop Lol.

Here's my tour of the pits:
https://youtu.be/F3p9WzaAT0g


Wayne flew his new Ringmaster and I busted the rudder off launching it. I didn't think I'd touched it when it flew off during his rollout. But after some CA, next time I launched it I saw how my gloved wrist must have pushed it over. It's in an inconvenient place for the pit guy... actually I always thought it was in a dumb place anyway... sorry Ring lovers. I bet he cracked the rudder himself before I ever touched it. He also flew his Primary Force. That's the coolest looking profile ever. I want one of those. Both of his planes have LA25s.

I finally figured out how to get these action shots with my phone:



As for the Cardinal, three or four of my peanut gallery want me to try assorted things like a different prop and two different mufflers on the Cardinal's LA46, so rather than argue, I'll hope some of their ideas is magic. They don't all quite agree with each other . I felt like I'd been honing in on the run I want with a Zinger 11x5 and a light little OS #746 muffler, straight through with the stinger straight out the back. I ground the stinger off and opened it up to +3/8". I thinned the rear half of the case too. That idea came to me a long time ago when I got Mark Boesen's Pro BB Thunder Tiger .25, and it came with one that had been seriously thinned all over, super light with a big hole. Anyway the thing is, the Zinger I use is a wooden old style, straight, flat tipped 11x5. Perfect steady beautiful 2-stroke song and 5 second laps. But I don't want to fall in love with a prop that can't be dependably replaced. The new wooden Zinger I tried, a mild scimitar shape, sucks. The performance fell on its face. So I bought an assortment of MA('cause it resembles the shape of the old Zinger), and APCs. The one everyone agrees is the magic prop for C/L LA46s is the APC 12x4.

So I bolted the APC on it with a tongue muffler and put her up for a flight. Bingo! That was everything I want in a run. Tune it so there,s the slightest wet crackle when held level and a clean 2 stroke when held up vertical. And best of all, it's repeatable, no need to bother with a tach. I did tach it, but didn't write it down. I busted out a couple of decent patterns. My outside maneuvers are all much better and more comfortable than my insides, so a little elevator trim maybe for next time.

Later, I'll crunch and post some video of Bob snatching his planes around in his usual high speed freestyle stunt form. All in all, it was a pretty decent way to start the year in flying.
Rusty