Siloam Springs RC Modelers

Archive for February, 2010

About 10:30 this morning the clouds parted, and the sun popped out. I was hopeful that the weather forecasts were wrong. Unfortunately, about 11:30 the clouds regrouped and blocked out the sun for good. At least it was still in the mid 50s with very little wind. The forecast for Sunday was horrible, so any flying this weekend would happen today. I had all my stuff charged up and headed to the field about 12:30. I got there without any receiver batteries in the Abbra, but Beth was able to bring those out to me. She stayed and called the Intermediate Sequence for me twice. The first flight’s sequences weren’t very good, but the pair of sequences I did on the second flight was much improved. I’m looking forward to the springtime when I can get in 10-12 practice flights a week.
About 1:30, the rest of the Saturday gang showed up: Mark Labadie, Dave Husher, Bill Bergen, Tony Fox, and a new member, Dennis Keigley.
Mark had his 40-sized Ultra Stick, and he had replaced the y-harness on the ailerons and checked it out, so it was ready to maiden. Mark had also replaced the battery in his transmitter, and that seemed to be holding a charge much better. Mark and I went over the model, and he fueled it up. We got the engine running pretty well, and Mark carried it out to the runway. It didn’t run quite right and wound up dying what I was taxiing. Hmmm… Mark carried it back, and we wound up going in on the high-speed needle 1/4 to 1/2 turn. Mark carried it back out, and it was much improved. I gave it the gas and headed down the runway when I hit some mole hills on the east side of the runway and ripped the landing gear off. How embarrassing Luckily, Mark is a big believer in nylon landing bolts, so it was an easy fix. Mark fueled it back up, and carried it back out. The takeoff was uneventful this time, and the plane flew nice. It took about 1 click of up elevator, and it was in trim. Yay! Mark flew it around for quite a while (getting his February flight in), and then I landed it. Those are sweet-flying airplanes.
Dave Husher had the foamie electric he’s been scratch building out for show-and-tell, and it looked very nice! Dave said he expects the all-up weight to be around 9 ounces. Yikes! Dave also had his electric Edge 540, and he flew that once. His transmitter battery was going down quickly, so he brought it in and called it a day.
Bergen said he had a plane, but I didn’t see it, so I can’t confirm that When the rain started about 2 or 2:30, Bill headed for the house. I chose to put my stuff up at that point, too, but the rains quite, and it continued to be a decent flying day.
Dennis had an Alpha 40 trainer that he’s been flying by himself, and he got Tony to check it out and stand with him while he flew. Dennis did a terrific job, and he should be cleared for his green card, since he took off and landed by himself. Nice! It was Dennis’ first day as a member, and already making progress towards his gold card. As I was leaving about 3pm, I saw that Dennis had pulled out a foam T-26. It was great to see an enthusiastic new member!
Marvin Hendrix came out about 2:30 with his 25-sized SNJ. Marvin hadn’t gotten his February flight yet, and today might have been his last opportunity! He barely had enough juice in his flight box to fuel up the plane, and he had to borrow Dennis’ starter, but by golly he got that plane into the air! Yay!
Hopefully warmer temperatures are on the way. The days are getting longer, and the time change is only a few weeks away (March 14), so we should start getting more and more flying in. Keep you stuff changed and ready to go, because you never know from one day to the next

It looked to be another nice day in the middle of February, and work was stressing me out, so I chucked it all and went flying. It was 46 degrees with a moderate NW wind. The wind made it feel much cooler, but luckily it didn’t blow very hard or very often.
I got out to the field about 2pm, and the rest of the gang was already there: Max Freeman, Bill Bergen, Dave Husher, Mark Labadie, Ed Jordan, and Grover Parent. Only Bill, Dave and I flew, however. Bill had his electric Gee Bee and flew twice. Dave had his electric Edge 540 and had one nice flight. I had my Abbra and flew twice.
Mark Labadie had a 40-sized Ultra Stick that hadn’t been flown yet. Mark, Max, and I piddled with it off and on during the afternoon getting it ready. We got the servo throws and directions set up, and Max and Mark found a bad aileron y-connector. The engine (Thunder Tiger 46?) was a bit stiff, so Mark loosened it with a bit of fuel and it was fine. Mark also found that his transmitter battery was weak. He suspects that might has been the cause of his Tiger crash a few weeks ago. Bummer. By the end of the day, it looked like Mark had a few pieces to replace, but he ought to be ready to fly the next time he’s out. Yay!
Hopefully the weather will get better and better from here on out. I’m sick of winter. I did notice that the days are getting noticeably longer: the sun is pretty bright at 7am and it still pretty bright at 6pm, which is a vast improvement over a few weeks ago. Of course, it’s been cloudy and overcast for the most part, so it’s hard to know
Sunday looks like a wash-out, but Saturday might be nice. Get your stuff ready just in case!