Skyray flight report

TDbandit Mon May 04, 2015 12:23 am

Yup finely happened! I finely got a flight in today with my new skyray. I was going to maiden my Wildcat as well but my help never showed up and I wasn't fully confident enough to try the doormat stooge with it so it's gonna have to wait till next time. The Skyray however flew well with the stooge *Thanks Rusty!* and while I'm still getting used to it, I still got eight flights in before my starter battery kicked the bucket. Skyray specs Engine: Red Arrow .049, Fuel: Cox Superpower 25%, Prop: Cox Grey 5x3, Lines: 35' Dacron
Besides a light variable breeze the day was beautiful, temp was around 83 deg when I arrived at the club's C/L circle. I setup the stooge, stuffed the skyray (the white one with the Red Arrow on it) in it and fueled er and started er up it was a bit cantankerous on the first start due to me forgetting to tighten the glowhead but after tightening it, it fired right up. Once I got it set, I headed out to the handle and pulled it free but managed to pancake the first time since i didn't add enough elevator to get the nose up, kinda funny heh so it was back to the stooge for a refuel and restarted er then headed back to the handle making sure the camera was in view I pulled it out adding up elevator and success! It pulled free nose pitched up and off it went. Since the Red Arrow has a standard non-stunt tank, I couldn't do any crazy stuff so I just flew it and did it haul butt with the Arrow. It wasn't that bad but it was faster than expected and I did several level laps and then towards the end, I did some climb and descents to get used to it just before it ran out of fuel and once it did, I set it down for a softie right in front of the stooge! Several flights followed before the Glow head ate the battery and all in all it turned out to be a great day!
Heres the video for your entertainment!!! (the Bandit is content)

roddie Mon May 04, 2015 4:49 am

Hey Bandit, I definitely enjoyed it! That's a FAST little airplane! I think it could handle longer lines. Flying "alone" is something I am quite used to. I have a NIB Skyray that was given to me more than 20 years ago! This makes me want to build it now. I've been working on these complicated self-designed models which is taking a lot of my time.

Congrats on the flight.. and thanks for posting!! Thumbs Up

getback Mon May 04, 2015 8:59 am

That was faster than I thought it was going to bee nice Median, sound like the arrow needs a little more run in , had some flutter to it but was pulling good . Thanks for posting glad the stooge worked out for you Very Happy

**Cribbs74** Mon May 04, 2015 10:13 am

Thanks for that Bandit.

Looks like you had a good time out there. I am pleased to see others doing videos, I have taken a break from those myself.

Even without a stunt tank a bee will do basic loops, just keep them open and not too jerky.

If you already knew that I apologize.

Ron

TDbandit Mon May 04, 2015 1:12 pm

roddie wrote:Hey Bandit, I definitely enjoyed it! That's a FAST little airplane! I think it could handle longer lines. Flying "alone" is something I am quite used to. I have a NIB Skyray that was given to me more than 20 years ago! This makes me want to build it now. I've been working on these complicated self-designed models which is taking a lot of my time.

Congrats on the flight.. and thanks for posting!!

Yeah It was defently fast in fact it surprised me I'm going to try 42' lines on it soon to see how it does, got to be careful though because of it's weight. The Skyray is a dirt easy build, getting a bunch together with black widows would make a neat event. I shutter of the though of what it would do with a KB on the front or my tach race engine. Hmm tempting! (Bandit)

TDbandit Mon May 04, 2015 2:45 pm

getback wrote:That was faster than I thought it was going to bee nice Median, sound like the arrow needs a little more run in , had some flutter to it but was pulling good . Thanks for posting glad the stooge worked out for you

Yeah it's still a little tight it's getting better though I hadn't been able to run it much before the flight so its gonna finish it's messaging on the skyray. Still pulls it around like it has nothin' attached to it though the Stooge is working out well just haven't tried it with the Wildcat yet, can't wait to fly it, it's next BTW Smile

(Bandit)

**RknRusty** Mon May 04, 2015 4:11 pm

Hey Bandit, looks like a good Skyray, even has a pretty good glide when the power cuts.

If you're launching a plane that likes to pancake right out of the stooge, make sure it has some headwind. A mix of headwind to get up under the wings and crosswind to keep it tight helps. You probably know that. And stand a step aft of the stooge so it has some outward yaw as it's set free, just like the way your human launcher should know to point it with either hand or rolling launch. Thanks for the stooge credit too, though I'm sure I wasn't the first to make the wing-wrap stooge.
Love that Georgia accent. I like it even better than the SC accent Lol
Rusty

dckrsn Mon May 04, 2015 7:16 pm

Sweet Skyray, Bandit.
Really nice video, and what a sweet flying field.
Keep up the good work. +
Bob

NEW222 Mon May 04, 2015 8:01 pm

Good job. Looks like it flies nice and straight.

TDbandit Mon May 04, 2015 10:45 pm

Thanks all it was fun indeed and I'm going to do it again this weekend and hopefully I'll get a vid of my wildcat's maiden, I know some are waiting on that thing to fly lol. Smile

Anyway since the speed of my Ray has surprised some, it got me to thinking, What if we had a racing event run like reed speed for the skyray? rules would be a stock Sig 1/2A skyray built to the instruction sheet, only mods allowed would be a through bolt for the bellcrank, leadout wire change, pushrod support and what ever mods would be required for the fuel system for your engine choice so long as it didn't alter the models shape. The only engine allowed would be a Reed valve, No Tee Dee's and the like what do you guys think?? The Ray is dirt cheap and dirt easy to build on top of it. and would be a good way to get new people in to joining us for comp? (Bandit)

Sig Skyray Tue May 05, 2015 1:10 pm

Good job Bandit and thanks for sharing the video! Hopefully I'll be posting a similar vid of my Skyray 1/2A's maiden flight!
Greg

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