Re: "Forcing My Brain To Learn Things It Doesn't Want To Learn" Herding More Electrons in the Front Yard.

getback Thu Jun 16, 2022 6:44 am

Yea Kim if you have a millennium minor friend they mite could help in set up lol!

Just picking . That plane don't need much room to get airborne for sure .. 4.00 AM Damn thats looking for Fun ! Did that radio come with the plane ? I got to get some things straightened out on my Speck. 6i and watching U-tube videos is the way to go for us / me but keeping up is hard / all the mixing binding and stuff that's farun to me recently

Kim Thu Jun 16, 2022 7:52 am

Oh Yeah!

I'd joked that a kid would go right through this stuff, while wondering what the big deal was for me. I remember back in the day thinking that, when servo reversing and dual rates came along, that was gonna be good as it gets!!!

It IS cool to be able to "assign" functions to switches without having to pull plugs on the receiver, and insert them into different channel positions like an old-time telephone operator.

I got the transmitter, charger, voltmeter, and smart batteries ($$$$$!!!) separately from the plane, and all are Spektrum brand to hopefully avoid conflict with each other. So far, that's working out. Both planes I bought came with receivers and all servos installed and ready to rock, and can share the batteries.

While I was throwing money around like a fresh divorcee, I also sprung for a flight simulator, complete with a transmitter that matches my new one, and I have to admit that this was a really good move.

I'd become what I call a "Mechanical Flyer", in that I had to think about the control inputs rather than being a "Natural Flyer" and just making the plane do what I want it to do. Flying a lot of control line, and basic R/C (elevator-rudder) caused some rust to form in the area of roll control and using throttle as an actual flight control rather than something to make the plane "Go Fast or Slow".

The sim has REALLY helped me polish my skills back to where I'm truly ahead of the plane, and can just "think" it through its maneuvers. As a result, I've become a lot more relaxed when flying the real thing, and this has kicked up the enjoyment factor quite a bit.

So, on we go...

Kim Sat Jun 18, 2022 8:31 am

After double-confirming that I had the correct book values entered for Draco's Flap/Elevator ratio...and STILL having pitch problems...I decided to go all "TLAR", and just punched in some numbers I thought might work...and they did.

Draco got it's first launches from the front yard yesterday, though, for safety's sake, I still landed it in the west pasture due to a northerly breeze that would have been a tail wind coming down "The Chute".

With the plane at a moderate altitude and about half throttle, I dropped the flaps to the "Takeoff" setting, which caused it to noticeably slow down, but with almost no pitch change. The steeper "Landing" setting brought more deceleration, but no pitch up or down. Happy Times!

Once over the west pasture, I brought the flaps to landing position again, and practiced dragging Draco around the field with power...kinda like driving with one foot on the gas, and the other on the brake.

By my standards, this is a big, heavy airplane (got to weigh it sometime), but blending the input of flaps, elevator, and throttle let it float around the pasture like a light trainer. The ailerons never got sluggish in any part of the speed envelope, and I was REAL happy to discover that I could easily pick my touch down spot. This makes me feel a lot more confident about landing it in my front yard...along with taking it to my hometown and flying from my beloved ball field there.

So, gonna do some more time with it today, if the winds allow, and maybe try the reverse-thrust option to REALLY shorten the landing roll outs. Then, it'll be the Cessna 150 Taildragger's turn.

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rsv1cox Sat Jun 18, 2022 9:04 am

Sounds like you have transitioned from stone-age flight to space-age Kim and enjoying the fruits of it. From escapement to this.

I remember when I built my Blue Max four channel and installed it in my Lanier. Thought I had really hit the big time!

Enjoy.

Bob

getback Sat Jun 18, 2022 9:18 am

That's Good , Things are starting to come together and I know that makes you happy boy ! what are the white flap looking things on the LE of the wing ? Flying

Kim Sat Jun 18, 2022 9:38 am

rsv1cox wrote:Sounds like you have transitioned from stone-age flight to space-age Kim and enjoying the fruits of it. From escapement to this.

I remember when I built my Blue Max four channel and installed it in my Lanier. Thought I had really hit the big time!

Enjoy.

Bob

Yeah Man!

But with a decidedly different set of "stresses" and "thrills"! I remember (and cherish) the memories of staring at my original Minnie Mambo for wing warps and checking its rubberband escapement, trying to spot anything I might have done wrong, along with the repeated fantasies of what it would look like, climbing out over the clover field next to Uncle Wayne's house.

AND...that fantastic dose of elation to push the transmitter's spring-loaded switch, and see the plane break into a right turn!!! Today, we have R/C, but back then, that was "Magic"!

You can "pre-live" all this stuff now, via computers, along with getting all the tutorials you can stand. But we were on our own back then, with only typed instructions and magazine articles, so what success we had is still a point of pride for me.

My original Minnie's cost was obviously a tiny fraction of Draco's...numbers-to-numbers...but the Minnie STILL represented a huge investment considering my "budget" of the time. A regular kid had to really WANT to do this stuff back then, and I was ate up with it.

This stuff ain't easy for a time-slowed mind, and I've never had to study so much "non-flying" stuff just to get it going. But, we're getting there!

Kim Mon Jun 20, 2022 8:48 am

So, presented with a beautiful Sunday, I decided to work on the still-quirksome Horizon Hobbies Cessna 150 Taildragger I got as a companion plane to Draco.

A goodly amount of time was spent with my trying to figure out or turn off the various "Help Factors" (my term) included with these radios. Designed to assist beginners in not over-controlling their planes, the "SAFE" setting can instantly spook an old-timer like me, when the plane stops rolling past a certain point, even though I got the sticks shoved to their limits.

They need to include an "Old Guy Switch" that automatically disables this stuff, but I finally tracked it all down and killed it. We then went from "Driving Miss Daisy" to "Grab Your Socks and Hang On!"

The Cessna uses the same batteries as the big red lizard, and I claim to have been somewhat brainwashed by Horizon Hobbies' repeated video ads, showing someone with much greater skills, causally knife-edgeing and rolling the plane in CLOSE proximity to mother earth.

I'll never be that loose and easy, but DO love tucking these big dogs into tight places.

The Test for me is always "The Chute": the up-hill approach and landing in my front yard. Following the power lines (why must there ALWAYS be powerlines?!) up across the north pasture, with a right turn at the cedar tree, and chopping the power that's been dragging the plane through the air, you plop it down. Adding to the suspense, I was too lazy to move my camper to its spot around back after a post-trip cleaning...so it was hogging a few precious square feet that I might need.

After a full day of flying, the last flights, when the winds totally went away, were the best ones, with the Cessna making several front yard landings just before sunset.

So, I put this together, and it may seem a bit monotonous, but I was VERY happy to get these landings accomplished. It always seems that, after the first ones are done in near-perfect conditions, additional landings can be done with some breezes without scattering foam or balsa across the front yard.

Draco's turn is coming.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6blMJnHt0Oc

Wile E. Coyote wonders "WAAASUPP?"

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How to tell if the pasture grass you're landing in is Too Tall or Too Wet...or Both:

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andrew Mon Jun 20, 2022 9:04 am

A great story and video. I always enjoyed reading about Rusty's exploits and his stories, but your videos and comments are coming pretty darn close. You keep this up and you may well be christened CEF's new storyteller. Depending on the time of day, sometimes I catch your vids on YouTube before seeing them here.

Kim Mon Jun 20, 2022 9:19 am

andrew wrote:A great story and video. I always enjoyed reading about Rusty's exploits and his stories, but your videos and comments are coming pretty darn close. You keep this up and you may well be christened CEF's new storyteller. Depending on the time of day, sometimes I catch your vids on YouTube before seeing them here.

Dude,
That's putting me in rare company! Rusty's updates on his various exploits were always anticipated, and it's some kind of complement to be compared in any way to that great guy!!! Thank You!!!

I do have to laugh though, at the aggravation I can put myself through, trying to get my old brain cells to accept new things.
I often imagine them quoting Goose: "Is this what you call 'Fun', Maverick?"
Laughing

balogh Mon Jun 20, 2022 10:58 am

Great flight and presentation of the story, Kim...I wish I could afford placing my lil keychain cam on top of the canopy....we all know that unmuffled COX engines would just smear it in no time... lol!

Your Chute landing is really well maneuvered. With its dedicated direction, I assume that it is a bit more complicated when winds blow along the Chute, towards the house i.e. giving the plane some tailwinds?

Kim Mon Jun 20, 2022 11:58 am

balogh wrote:Great flight and presentation of the story, Kim...I wish I could afford placing my lil keychain cam on top of the canopy....we all know that unmuffled COX engines would just smear it in no time...

Your Chute landing is really well maneuvered. With its dedicated direction, I assume that it is a bit more complicated when winds blow along the Chute, towards the house i.e. giving the plane some tailwinds?

Thanks Andras!

I totally ruined one of my key fob cameras several years ago by attaching it to the stabilator of my Big B.O.T., somehow figuring most of the castor would fly by above it. WRONG!!! I DID get some nice footage, but at the cost of a camera!!!

Even slight tail wind landings in the front yard are NOT a good idea (don't ask me how I know!). When winds are from the south, I often use the cow lot or pasture next to the house.

A couple decades ago, when taking flying lessons from a great instructor, he had me intentionally land with a 5-6mph tailwind. This was to make the point of how even a slight tailwind can affect a light plane's landing...AND IT DID!!! The illusion of speed from the rushing pavement can draw a pilot's attention away from the actual airspeed (which is ALL the airplane cares about), and cause him to dump the plane with an unexpected stall. I've experienced and seen the exact thing happen to R/C planes on windy days, when planes stalled and spun in because of the illusion of speed, vrs their actual AIR speed.

Even with a southerly wind though, passing by downwind side of the cedar tree can really mess with a long-winged, aileron-less type, and has eaten a few of these: see 2:50

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqWtLGqEffA&t=92s

The thing I always try to remember is that there's no shame in just jamming the throttle and going around...though sometimes, my brain slows down and doesn't think of this.

GallopingGhostler Mon Jun 20, 2022 11:41 pm

Kim wrote:The thing I always try to remember is that there's no shame in just jamming the throttle and going around...though sometimes, my brain slows down and doesn't think of this.

Short of catching that small tree, you would have had another non-eventful landing.

Sometimes, especially in a dead stick situation, landing with the wind is the only logical option.

getback Tue Jun 21, 2022 8:08 am

Not near as much extras with the Cessna i guess , cheers

for getting it down the chute !

Kim Tue Jun 21, 2022 11:47 am

GallopingGhostler wrote:
Kim wrote:The thing I always try to remember is that there's no shame in just jamming the throttle and going around...though sometimes, my brain slows down and doesn't think of this.
Short of catching that small tree, you would have had another non-eventful landing.

Sometimes, especially in a dead stick situation, landing with the wind is the only logical option.

Yeah Man,

I've got an Super High-Tech Aerodynamic Term called "Death Wobble". This is what caused the smack-down. After hitting the turbulence on the downwind side of the tree, I was actually making things worse, because I was reacting to the plane, but not leading it. The big rudder and polyhedral wings give a real strong aileron effect when the rudder is slammed around.

In close quarters, you got to neutralize controls for a 1/2 second to let things calm down, bring in power, and start over.

So, in all honesty, I sort of steered the plane into the impact, where the proper escape would have been going to full power, dropping the nose and just making a pylon turn AROUND the tree.

Luckily, in spite of the Butterfly falling straight to the ground, it suffered only a small bit of damage.

Kim Tue Jun 21, 2022 12:02 pm

getback wrote:Not near as much extras with the Cessna i guess , for getting it down the chute !

Thanks Eric!

Yes, the Cessna isn't nearly as "STOL-Looking" as Draco, but I'm telling you---with full flaps and power-jockeying, the 150 will slow down to almost a crawl. I've only done this at about 100 feet altitude to give me an out if things got crazy.

I had put on full flaps at about 1/2 throttle, brought the stick back super slowly, and had it almost pegged against it's stop, when the Cessna started gently rocking its wings to tell me it was about to stall. At full break, I let go of the stick, added a bit of power, and the plane was instantly flying again.

I ain't got the nerve to try it (yet), but am pretty sure I can do a "Tailwheel-Touch-Roll & Go", without touching the mains. I've done this silliness many times with Mud Dabber, and he ain't even got ailerons!!!

Kim Mon Jun 27, 2022 9:16 am

So, Draco finally lands in the front yard. The winds and impressive heat went away at sunset, and I got one flight, with this big, heavy monster actually behaving all the way to touch-down.

It was packing three GoPro cameras, which didn't seem to bother it at all as I dragged down final approach with power and flaps in their first notch.

And, the silliness lives on.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0tqKPQTDLIk&t=14s

balogh Mon Jun 27, 2022 9:47 am

Amazing take-off angle, and landing accuracy...I saw you stood right next to the powerlines to make sure Draco passes under them after turning on the chute for landing... Clapping

with my delusive eyes I wouldn't have done it differently... Very Happy

getback Mon Jun 27, 2022 10:20 am

Would it not bee easier to just mow the whole lawn if your not going to hit the strip lol!

It was a beautiful day for a flight ! Very Happy

andrew Mon Jun 27, 2022 10:50 am

Interesting how the noise increased when the flaps were down.

Wires to the left of me; trees to the right; stuck in the middle with you.

Kim Thu Jul 21, 2022 2:47 pm

"Sending the Cessna out for a couple sunset flights as I steadily get more use out of its flap system. While a bit hypocritical, I've always said, "Gadgets Kill Airplanes" because they can distract a pilot from the basic chore of flying the plane.

But flaps are just-so-cool!

So, packing 3 GoPro's, the Cessna gets more flight time, coming up the Chute with flaps and power on to keep it hanging in the air.

The second landing was the best, with it going to a 3-point flare, and touching down a little smoother than some of my previous "Log Truck Falling Off a Loading Dock" arrivals."

The Cessna gets a new GoPro mount:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQyo79szvWM&t=12s

GallopingGhostler Thu Jul 21, 2022 6:21 pm

Kim on Jun 18, 2022 wrote:But with a decidedly different set of "stresses" and "thrills"! I remember (and cherish) the memories of staring at my original Minnie Mambo for wing warps and checking its rubberband escapement, trying to spot anything I might have done wrong, along with the repeated fantasies of what it would look like, climbing out over the clover field next to Uncle Wayne's house.

AND...that fantastic dose of elation to push the transmitter's spring-loaded switch, and see the plane break into a right turn!!! Today, we have R/C, but back then, that was "Magic"!

Yes, magic indeed it was. I love the magic of single channel RC. It was a thrill to command your own airplane, and I also know the thrill from my humble Minnie Mambo some 20 years later, but with a little twist, pulse proportional rudder and quick blip lo-med-hi throttle on the then new R/C Bee engine. Silk covered wing made it lightweight along with transparent yellow Pactra Solar Film for the rest, trimmed with red dope (wing) and monokote (film surfaces).

It taught me that less is more. lol!

The Minnie today:

"Forcing My Brain To Learn Things It Doesn't Want To Learn" Herding More Electrons in the Front Yard. - Page 3 Minnie13

Kim on today wrote:"Sending the Cessna out for a couple sunset flights as I steadily get more use out of its flap system. [...] But flaps are just-so-cool! [...] The second landing was the best, with it going to a 3-point flare, and touching down a little smoother than some of my previous "Log Truck Falling Off a Loading Dock" arrivals." [...]

Nice going, Kim, I see that the flaps helped keep the nose down for good 3 pointers, unlike the nose high tail first landings I've seen on some other flyer's flap-less system. Electric motor system is very smooth running, (although I enjoy the drone of glow over the sewing machine / electric knife like sounds of the electrics.) Laughing

getback Sun Jul 24, 2022 6:48 am

Using the flaps does give it more airplane like characteristics, you appear to bee having some good fun with the 150 with inverted , knife edge , loops and what all coming out of the cameras eye . Getting there with the hairy landing Very Happy

Kim Sun Jul 24, 2022 8:09 pm

"Hey George...yeah, beautiful Minnie...and sometimes "Less IS More"...then other times...it's "Let's Make With The Gadgets!!!!!!"

The flaps have definitely been fun---going to the "Full" setting, and dragging it in with power.

The sound (for me) is somewhat realistic, at least compared to that of the PT-6 turbo-prop engine of the original Draco, but it WOULD be cool to have a version with a growling O.S. .80-something out front.

After adding some more flap travel, I now have the Cessna in making "Tailwheel-First-Drag-On" landings, so Draco will be next.

I'm seriously tempted to add "flaperons" to Mud Dabber's wing...which was my plan before deciding to make it three-channel for simplicity.

Kim Sun Jul 24, 2022 8:18 pm

getback wrote:Using the flaps does give it more airplane like characteristics, you appear to bee having some good fun with the 150 with inverted , knife edge , loops and what all coming out of the cameras eye . Getting there with the hairy landing

Hey Eric!
Yeah, the C-150 is really getting a workout as I mess with its flap settings, and knock the rust off my approaches to the front yard. I squeezed in 4 flights late in the day on Friday, and am feeling better about dragging the big foamer into the front yard. It's sort of the worker bee, while Draco is more like a "Prom Queen"...waiting for the grunt work to be finished! Very Happy

Knife Edge Flight has always been a problem for me, so the Cessna is ALSO getting some of that thrown at it...with a bit of altitude of course... Smile

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