jross
Well-known member
Started work on an Otter two weeks ago. Wanted it ready to fly for our local club's float fly on Slocan Lake this weekend. Build was rough. Haven't built anything for a few months. Got most everything done last night and did final touches and battery charging this morning. Went looking for the 8 inch prop I was sure I had. Turns out it was a 9 inch and the only prop I have for my Explorer so I wasn't about to butcher it. Hummed and hawed and said to hell with it. Loaded the plane in the truck and headed north to the lake. Figured someone would have an 8 inch prop. Asked around. Watched some guys do an amazing job of flying some large gassers and electrics. Most were home builds. Everyone was flying big stuff and after much hunting around, they all came up empty handed. I went to say goodbye to the larger group so I could go home and mutilate a 10 inch prop. Then I headed over to show the Otter to a guy, Life, who was interested and knew all about Flitetest planes.
Life was flying this beautiful hand-built balsa plane. Called a Lakemaster and designed by Ivan Pettigrew of Victoria, BC. If you've ever seen the large scale RC Martin Mars videos, that's one of the planes Ivan sells balsa plans for. The Lakemaster is gorgeous and a pleasure to watch take-off, fly and land. Guy was an amazing pilot. Seventy four year old retired machinist. You should see the spinners on his planes. When I showed him the Otter, he said he had a 7 inch prop that might work. After some rummaging, he pulled out an 8 inch prop. I loaded up an 1800 4S and we went to the beach. Water was like glass.
I haven't flown for about 3 months. As soon as the Otter went in the water, I started shaking. Applied power slowly. Added more power. Then more power. And then it took off! Life helped me trim it out as he could see I was shaking. I flew around a bit and then did a rough landing. Kayakers were incoming and the last thing I wanted to do was hit them. After they passed, I took off again, flew around for a bit, tried another landing and flipped it in the drink. I hollered up the beach for a boat. Some guy poked his head out and said I could use his kayak. Some random camper not even there to fly.
So out I went. Got to the plane, picked it up, removed the hatch and the battery. Drained a half liter of water out of the plane. Paddled back to shore. Life blasted my ESC and receiver with WD40 and after a bit of monkey business, the motor fired up. Back in the water. Did a couple of beautiful take offs followed by a couple of rough landings, the last of which loosened the battery enough that when I climbed out hard, the plane went squirrelly. Cut power. Splash. Kayak. More WD40 followed by a great BS session with Life, an RC pilot of 50 years. He wants to build some Flitetest planes. Loves the idea of smaller planes with minimal build times. His Lakemaster took him all winter to build.
Sun was about to set and I had an hour drive home so I said goodbye, promising to return tomorrow with a new and improved battery tray and some bacon and eggs from our farm for Life and his wife. All he does in summer is travel around to RC fly events. On the drive home I thought about how flying with others is way more fun. All my flying has been alone until today.
The Lakemaster Life was flying has a great design feature. The rudder extends down low enough that when you hit the throttle and the plane rocks back, the rudder digs in and becomes effective in the water. So simple. Good rudder authority in the water with one rudder. Going to modify my Otter to include this. Perfect for this plane.
My Otter, a little worse for water and wear.
The Lakemaster. Life's plane was much sexier than the one in this photo. He modified the wing and fuselage. Gorgeous. Will grab a shot of it tomorrow along with some of the large gassers which were pretty cool. Gotta say, I was really impressed by the balsa and gasser community today. These guys are artists. Planes that weigh 25 pounds and fly scale. A beautiful thing to see.
Gonna ask Life if he'll video me flying/splashing tomorrow. Never had that opportunity before.
Life was flying this beautiful hand-built balsa plane. Called a Lakemaster and designed by Ivan Pettigrew of Victoria, BC. If you've ever seen the large scale RC Martin Mars videos, that's one of the planes Ivan sells balsa plans for. The Lakemaster is gorgeous and a pleasure to watch take-off, fly and land. Guy was an amazing pilot. Seventy four year old retired machinist. You should see the spinners on his planes. When I showed him the Otter, he said he had a 7 inch prop that might work. After some rummaging, he pulled out an 8 inch prop. I loaded up an 1800 4S and we went to the beach. Water was like glass.
I haven't flown for about 3 months. As soon as the Otter went in the water, I started shaking. Applied power slowly. Added more power. Then more power. And then it took off! Life helped me trim it out as he could see I was shaking. I flew around a bit and then did a rough landing. Kayakers were incoming and the last thing I wanted to do was hit them. After they passed, I took off again, flew around for a bit, tried another landing and flipped it in the drink. I hollered up the beach for a boat. Some guy poked his head out and said I could use his kayak. Some random camper not even there to fly.
So out I went. Got to the plane, picked it up, removed the hatch and the battery. Drained a half liter of water out of the plane. Paddled back to shore. Life blasted my ESC and receiver with WD40 and after a bit of monkey business, the motor fired up. Back in the water. Did a couple of beautiful take offs followed by a couple of rough landings, the last of which loosened the battery enough that when I climbed out hard, the plane went squirrelly. Cut power. Splash. Kayak. More WD40 followed by a great BS session with Life, an RC pilot of 50 years. He wants to build some Flitetest planes. Loves the idea of smaller planes with minimal build times. His Lakemaster took him all winter to build.
Sun was about to set and I had an hour drive home so I said goodbye, promising to return tomorrow with a new and improved battery tray and some bacon and eggs from our farm for Life and his wife. All he does in summer is travel around to RC fly events. On the drive home I thought about how flying with others is way more fun. All my flying has been alone until today.
The Lakemaster Life was flying has a great design feature. The rudder extends down low enough that when you hit the throttle and the plane rocks back, the rudder digs in and becomes effective in the water. So simple. Good rudder authority in the water with one rudder. Going to modify my Otter to include this. Perfect for this plane.
My Otter, a little worse for water and wear.
The Lakemaster. Life's plane was much sexier than the one in this photo. He modified the wing and fuselage. Gorgeous. Will grab a shot of it tomorrow along with some of the large gassers which were pretty cool. Gotta say, I was really impressed by the balsa and gasser community today. These guys are artists. Planes that weigh 25 pounds and fly scale. A beautiful thing to see.
Gonna ask Life if he'll video me flying/splashing tomorrow. Never had that opportunity before.
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