i had very high hopes for today and had planned on putting on a show. i def put on a show, just didn't figure it would go like it did.
we will start with the maiden of the EDF delta. things were good last night when i did programing but it was quickly apparent that things weren't right. the first launch ended in an immediate, uncontrollable, hard yaw left and nose into the ground. on inspection it was clear that the left motor wasn't spinning up like the right resulting in the uncontrollable thrust diff. i attempted to reset the throttle range but due to my genius of putting both ESC's on 1 plug, i could not get both to activate and time together. i tried to launch 2 more times, each ending in the same. after that it was taken back to the jeep, the crowd was talking just not about good things.
next was the Twin Hacker. this one had the crowd giggling, especially after watching my last attempt at a twin. first attempt it taxi'd out and all seem good. as soon as it lifted it started a violent roll left and into the scrub it went. now the crowd was really talking smack. i quickly ran across field and grabbed it, and upon inspection the ailerons were reversed. duh...
i quickly fix that, then taxi'd out again and pulled into the sky. on low rates the thing is active, on high rates @ 100% throw things are nuts! the thrust diff is working like a charm, snap rolls are insane! flat spins no problem. then, it started acting up. i would be fine, then loose it, then recover, it was so quick i wasn't sure if i was just not used to the plane or it was a real problem. well, it was real and few moments laters it took a nose dive straight into the dirt from about 40ft. now the crowd was rolling on the ground. they were getting a real joy out of the fact that i was failing.
after that i had no choice but to grab the F-22 and shut them all up. i have to say, this thing is hands down one of the best looking planes when in the air, it just has a presence. don't know what it is but it just looks amazing. flew it twice with w/o incident. used a higher C rated 4S-1300 and got almost 3 mins.
rest of day was an uneventful flight of the FT Spitfire which always flies great, and my 2M Radian. I think my timer was @ 35 mins when i finally decided to land the radian. with temps really beginning to climb here in tucson, thermals are everywhere. i love that i can just pull up a chair, sit and talk smack with the guys, while floating around. one of my first, and favorite planes ever.
i also finally got
@Rasterize to fly his Big Corsair that we built. Told ya you could do it!
in all, not a bad day even with my 2 epic fails. both have been "fixed" and we will attempt again tomorrow.
laters,
me