What Did You Fly Today

[Wildthing]

I flew my Shrubsmacker today, in a winter storm warning! I waited until later in the day when the wind died down a bit, not so much to make it easier to fly, but because if I flew earlier the wind chill would be -2 F or -18 for you crazy other people And I haven't gotten flying in gloves down that well yet. So I waited until the wind died down a bit and went out for a flight!
There was a pretty stiff crosswind so I had lots of fun crabbing the Shrubby. I did a few touch and goes, and without flaps I landed backwards one time, admittingly it was a kinda rough, but it was still backwards and I didn't have to go flip it over I also got a couple takeoffs where it was airborne in about 20 in. Overall flying in snow wasn't much different then flying on a regular day. As long as you have a bright orange plane and you keep your back in the wind because if not, snowflakes will fly into your eyes and try to blind you

For reasons I can't comprehend my dad didn't feel like standing out in the snow to point a camera at my plane as I was flying it, so I had him snap a few pics from the house window.
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oh boy -18 windchill, LOL, try -52

Those pictures aren't that bad, tell him to zoom in a little and shoot video

 

[Wildthing]

Yeah, I'm getting there slowly, I can fly alright but I don't have a lot of confidence yet, once I get some more flights with gloves, I don't think I'll have issues.

The ones I use my wife bought for me and are even suppose to work on your phone but they are a snug fitting soft cloth almost like a knitted material , not super warm but better then bare fingers.

 

[Wildthing]

Transmitter glove with heat packs inside ftw. One tends to figure ot out when it is winter 8 months of the year!

I have one but never tried it . Plus they don't work with hand launch planes, atleast mine won't.

 

[Grifflyer]

oh boy -18 windchill, LOL, try -52

Those pictures aren't that bad, tell him to zoom in a little and shoot video

I tried -60 last year I'll see if I can get him to shoot some vid next time.

 

[quorneng]

Cold in the NW UK this morning about 0 Celcius so there was ice on the puddles in the car park of which there are many as it has rained alot over the last week but clear blue and no wind - less than 1 kt direction variable.
Ideal for a light weight so out came the 3/4 size Depron Ballerina.

Not quite as streamlined as it used to be now it has a 3D printed scale Wright Cyclone around the 2812 motor. 40" span but still very light at 14.6 oz with a 1500 mAh 3s on board.
At the field the ground was very soggy and the grass too long so a hand launch.
Some simple aeros and then just gentle flying making the most of the opportunity to get some mid winter air time. Landed after 34 minutes 6 seconds timed on my DX6i.

The battery needed 653 mAh to charge to full from storage and another 240 mAh to bring it back to storage after the flight so 993 mAh had been used.
If I have done the sums right that means the average consumption of just 1.75 A, say 20 W, or just under 1.2 C from the battery. That of course includes the current used by rx and the 4 servos via the BEC.

The benefit of light weight, low wing loading and slow speed.

 

[Vimana89]

Here's my tandem wing stick plane. It's a really lazy, basic build so I'm surprised it flew so well! Two 20" one sheet thick, flat, unswept, no air foil wings glued to a craft wood spar I bought at Michaels or Joann's. 3ch elevons, 1806 motor, 5x3x3 prop and 650 mAH 3s battery. My CG is just a tiny bit aft of the trailing edge of the front wing. This was an awesome proof of concept that's telling me if this thing works, a more sophisticated tandem design with more thought and effort put in could really be worth doing.

 

[Grifflyer]

Here's my tandem wing stick plane. It's a really lazy, basic build so I'm surprised it flew so well! Two 20" one sheet thick, flat, unswept, no air foil wings glued to a craft wood spar I bought at Michaels or Joann's. 3ch elevons, 1806 motor, 5x3x3 prop and 650 mAH 3s battery. My CG is just a tiny bit aft of the trailing edge of the front wing. This was an awesome proof of concept that's telling me if this thing works, a more sophisticated tandem design with more thought and effort put in could really be worth doing.

That flew very nice!! The rolls looked really good! I'm imagining how cool it would look if you used a clear acrylic tube to joint the two wings.

 

[Vimana89]

That flew very nice!! The rolls looked really good! I'm imagining how cool it would look if you used a clear acrylic tube to joint the two wings.

It would look from a distance like two combat planks in formation or a chase, which is kind of cool lol... unless one put...LED lights in the tube🤔 great night flyer or what?

 

[Grifflyer]

It would look from a distance like two combat planks in formation or a chase, which is kind of cool lol... unless one put...LED lights in the tube🤔 great night flyer or what?

Don't give me any ideas

 

[Crawford Bros. Aeroplanes]

Here's my tandem wing stick plane. It's a really lazy, basic build so I'm surprised it flew so well! Two 20" one sheet thick, flat, unswept, no air foil wings glued to a craft wood spar I bought at Michaels or Joann's. 3ch elevons, 1806 motor, 5x3x3 prop and 650 mAH 3s battery. My CG is just a tiny bit aft of the trailing edge of the front wing. This was an awesome proof of concept that's telling me if this thing works, a more sophisticated tandem design with more thought and effort put in could really be worth doing.

Why is it that none of your planes look even remotely like planes? I thought I built some crazy stuff but this is getting ridiculous!

 

[Vimana89]

Why is it that none of your planes look even remotely like planes? I thought I built some crazy stuff but this is getting ridiculous!

The weirder, the better. My '39 special and Vulcan are a bit more conventional, but yeah, this one looks weird with the stick profile. It's really just a tandem version of an old stick flyer when you look at it that way. Also, there were/are full scale tandems, although they look a bit more like a "plane" with all the features.

.

Also, they did motorize what's basically a paper dart in shape, and Neil Armstrong flew it.

 

[BATTLEAXE]

Here's my tandem wing stick plane. It's a really lazy, basic build so I'm surprised it flew so well! Two 20" one sheet thick, flat, unswept, no air foil wings glued to a craft wood spar I bought at Michaels or Joann's. 3ch elevons, 1806 motor, 5x3x3 prop and 650 mAH 3s battery. My CG is just a tiny bit aft of the trailing edge of the front wing. This was an awesome proof of concept that's telling me if this thing works, a more sophisticated tandem design with more thought and effort put in could really be worth doing.

Where is the balance point on that thing, 1/3rd the length of the stick?

 

[mrjdstewart]

tomorrows line up...
Opttera 1.2M x2
FT Racer x2
Mini-Demon x3
4S FT Mini-Arrow FPV
and 1 CRAZY CHICKEN.

so....

flew the optera 2 times. first time with the member that gave it to me. convinced him he could fly it, and even passed him the Tx mid flight. 2nd flight wasn't really mine other than launching for him. he completed the entire flight and even made a half way decent landing for his first attempt with this beast of a lander. upon landing i immediatly gave him his airplane back. he was pretty tickled with himself.

FT racer is still a hit or miss. i really think the prob is the vert stab gets blanked out at low speeds and it just does weird things when it happens. i flew it 2 times and on the first i had 3 aborted landings due to the issue. when i finally did get it down it was at the expense of the prop. found a 9x4.5 SF for the 2nd flight and same issues but i was better prepared for the landing this time and got it down without issues. in flight at speed it is fun, needs to be faster but still fun.

what can i say about the mini-demon other than i LOVE it! easy launches, almost silent flight, and an absolute bullet! not for the feint of heart to say the least. only issue is getting sand in the motor on landing. i designed and 3D printed a little skid that has helped but on the 3rd landing today i stuff the motor full of dirt. this one get's the high pressure airgun treatment when it gets home. can't wait until the micro-demon shows up in the mail.

4S FP Arrow was my last flight of the day. i did not fly FPV but instead handed both my goggles off to all the members watching to pass back and forth to see what it is like to fly FPV at that speed. to say i took them on the wildest roller coaster ride of their life would be an understatement. everyone had a blast. i will fly it myself tomorrow FPV when no one else is around.

we had 6 crazy chickens in the air today. glad to report no chickens were harmed in the frivolities.

also spoke to a crazy psychic lady today, she said she saw one of these in my future.... 52" Slick 580 EXP . i don't know if she is right but i like the way she thinks...

question now is what to fly in the morning???

laters,

me

 

[Vimana89]

Where is the balance point on that thing, 1/3rd the length of the stick?

CG is a little bit behind the trailing edge of the front wing. Supposedly this gets positive lift contribution from both wings while getting the negative lift/ pitch stability on the trailing edge of the back wing...or something. Otherwise you've just got a regular plane with an inefficiently large tail surface.

 

[BATTLEAXE]

FT racer is still a hit or miss. i really think the prob is the vert stab gets blanked out at low speeds and it just does weird things when it happens. i flew it 2 times and on the first i had 3 aborted landings due to the issue. when i finally did get it down it was at the expense of the prop. found a 9x4.5 SF for the 2nd flight and same issues but i was better prepared for the landing this time and got it down without issues. in flight at speed it is fun, needs to be faster but still fun.

Have you checked out the Slow and Steady Wins the Racer thread? In there we discuss the rudder authority where you can extend the rudder below the fuse to get better tracking at slow and high speed. It would be easy to add to a Racer that is already built

 

[Vimana89]

Second vid of the Tandem before it got dark. This one I used 5x4x2 props.

 

[Vimana89]

Camera was out of battery at the moment when I went to fly this morning, but my tandem plane does inverted and can keep it up pretty stable. I'll get that on vid next time I fly it, and get some footage of some of the planes I haven't flown in a while like the Charlie. I've also gotten high alpha down better on the Arrowhead with just ailerons.

 

[Grifflyer]

Camera was out of battery at the moment when I went to fly this morning, but my tandem plane does inverted and can keep it up pretty stable. I'll get that on vid next time I fly it, and get some footage of some of the planes I haven't flown in a while like the Charlie. I've also gotten high alpha down better on the Arrowhead with just ailerons.

Ooh inverted, I haven't seen you do much of that yet!

 

[CarolineTyler]

Was a beautiful winters day here in Yorkshire, took advantage of it to fly my FT Racer, My Cessna 162 and my Mini Talon along with my TBS Source One quadcopter (

)

 

[The Hangar]

I had an epic flying day! I buddy boxed with a friend on his scout, and that went well. I maidened the FT Mustang - that was so much fun! It was my first time using my new radial motor, and on 4s it was pretty fast! Then me and another buddy did combat! He flew my spitfire and I flew the mustang, and we chased each other and tried to knock each other out of the sky! We couldn’t hit each other, so we finally landed. Then we switched planes and kept at it until he crashed my mustang. I kept on flying and he and the beginner I was helping threw snowballs at the Spitfire while I did low inverted and right-side-up passes. One guy got my tail and when pulling out of the pass I didn’t have the snap I was wanting so I went down. Then I took up the viggen and it seemed slower than I remembered, but it was fun. My buddy flew it and (white on white) finally nosed into the snow. Not much damage though. All in all a great day, and my buddy is gonna build some warbirds to to combat with me now!