Downtrodden

Jack here's something for you to chew on.......given an average flight duration of 10 min on a 4 oz tank...........the fuel order you just placed for, what 60 gallons?, would get you .............128 flights/case.........multiplied by 15 cases..........equals......1920 flights or 19,200 minutes of fly time..........or 320 hours! Ok, you paid what? $750 for the order? The cost of "your flying pleasure" is $2.34/hr! Cheap huh?


Peace,

Downtrodden.

















P.S.


Oh, I almost forgot..............




(I failed to mention the 10k you have tied up in airplanes and another 5k in support equipment, plus psychological damages to a long standing marriage, daily vehicle expenses driving to and from the three fields you fly at, the inumerable hours of sleep lost trying to ascertain just why any given plane is acting oddly, etc, etc, etc...........)


P.S.S.

Oh, and your dog..........have you seen the way he looks at you lately? I wouldn't want to be in your shoes!

rccardude04

"Oh, and your dog..........have you seen the way he looks at you lately? I wouldn't want to be in your shoes!"
You never know what dogs do to shoes when we're not looking ... [X(]
-Eric

Jack211

Down, let the flying gods keep us from counting our passion in dollars and cents. Rather let us count the depth of those cumulus clouds abuilding, or the texture of eagle fingers measuring the thermals we ply with the gliders; or the degree of control in a perfectly executed series of torque rolls; or the joys when your dog pees on your pal's feet; or yet the number of subjects covered while hovered over planes preparing for the next flight, the next adventure.

Witness your excitement and questions when Tim shows you a bird you can't quite recognize, because of color. Priceless.

Naw, the intrinsic value of this thing we do is found in the passion we spend, not the pennies, getting into the clouds, the winds, and the skies.

Adam G

My Feedback: (17)

Jack,

You certainly are a romantic! It is hard not to be when it comes to flying. There is just something about defying gravity that excites the soul. Throw in some good friends, and good conversation, and it is hard not to wax nostolgic. When I look at the dollars I spend on this hobby, it makes my stomach turn. I remedy this by not looking at the dollars I spend anymore. The benefit to this hobby over others I have obsessed over in the past is this one is all consuming, and I never seem to get tired of it. I think Down is on the money with his description of the time spent on this hobby, and flying is just a small part of it. That is the beauty of it. Flying is awesome, but when not flying one is building or working on the planes. Of course that scratches another itch that most of us have, and that would be tools, and working with our hands. When not flying or building/repairing, we can be modifying and making things better. When we find ourselves unable to do any of these things, at least we can go over in our mind repeatedly what we are going to do when we get back in our shop. If that gets boring than we can imagine the perfect hover, and the steps necessary to get our birds into the proper position for this to take place. When we have to sleep, there is always dreams of flying.

So the way I see it, let's say you spend $700 per month on fuel, parts, supplies, and new planes. Divide that by 30, that $23.50 per day, or about a dollar per hour, or less than $.02 per second. What a bargain! Come to think of it, this is the cheapest hobby I have ever had. Hmmm, I am at the inlaws without a plane. Where I am going to surf on RCU next? See, I am getting my moneys worth as we speak. Like I always tell my wife, cheap entertainment baby!

Adam

TimC

DownT, yes a venerable 4Ûž. Bill the builder was impressed with the Coverite 21st Century. He also was amazed with how well the laser cut parts went together. I'd say do the build, but clip the wings and enlarge the control surfaces. The .91 would be perfect. That's what is on my 60 size.

Downtrodden

I spend NOT of my passion, but rather add to it by whatever means possible.... be it pennies, hours conversing or dreaming, etc. Who's to deny me, my measure? Your dog chose to pee on my boot because my feet are well planted, as if one with the earth, unlike his master...... floating in a miasmic exhaust cloud while in a quixotic haze! Enrich your life.........embrace critical thinking.........and witness for yourself how I live this passion. I have no issue with your "flying gods", I only ask that you allow me my opinion.........you know the one..........precise, accurate, well thought out, and as much a matter of fact as clouds we fly amongst. Touche, oh Bantermeister!


Peace,

Downtrodden

Downtrodden

Tim C,

How much wing would you clip? What's the width of the ailerons now?

Thanks,

Peace,

Downtrodden.

TimC

DT, I think one bay is the most common bob job. Some folks clip two. The ailerons are tapered and meant for peaceful flying. I think the most common surface to enlarge is the rudder. It would probably roll pretty quick from just the clipped wings. Both my 4Ûž's are stock.

2HI2C

The reason the PNP is tail heavy compared to the ARF is the bolts used to bolt the tail on. Take the bolts out & glue it down & you can remove some of the weight on the nose.



_______________________________________
If you remember the 70s you weren't there

rccardude04

I thought the same thing when I put mine together, but I really had to modify nothing. I just screwed it together and it balanced on my fingers right where the manual suggested. I should probably get a CG machine to check it for sure though. I can't really afford more r/c stuff right now though . Darn car payment and insurance are coming up
-Eric

PropHanging

Off the current topic, but I saw this and thought of you guys. Was it Jack who was talking about going fishing? Or maybe it was Down or Waldo. Anyway, it made me laugh.

2HI2C

Another fun day of flying. notice the author is not in pics, someone has to run the camera.



_______________________________________
If you remember the 70s you weren't there

Waldopepperaxel

That is an awesome shot !!!!!! I believe Jack was looking for the fishing pole and using the twist as a lure.

well its the last 2 days of Vacation for me, so I loaded up the van Friday night for some serious flight time today, the Wife was even joining me for the first time in years, (she is usually working when I fly) So I was going to finally teach her how to be a pilot of the Twist, we woke up jumped in the van load of planes at 7am,, pulled out of the driveway turned right and it started RAINING,, But of course,, why wouldn't it be raining on flying day,, Why?? [:@][:@][:@]%^%@^%$@&^%$($&(^$&!$$!%*#)*#^)#^)(!^#)(#^)!#^()!*#^()!*^#*^#%%^#$^!% $#$!#&*$#^$%&((_@(_^@(_^(!~%%%#^&$$$$$$$$###@@@@@@@@@ it just came down heavier and heavier we even pulled into the field and tried to wait it out, but it just got worse and worse with nothing but Black skies all around us for as far as the eye could see. I have officially had it!!!! and went to Walmarts [sm=idea.gif]and bought a little baby rain coat with a hat, and I'm wrapping the Twist in that now. its much easier then mono-cote as the little 1 clip buckles work great to lock her down, YES its a little heavy now.. God with all the rain we've had this year so far I should probably have you guys send me all your un built planes so I can finish them up and send them back to you, maybe I'll even send you some of my planes so maybe someone can take a picture of it actually in the sky, It has been 4 weeks since my last flight, I feel like my Mommy grounded me for something.

Timc that is a great Color for the 4* I never cut out any bays on mine, but I'm sure it would make the plane much more snappy in rolls.

DownT as Tim said, BUILD THAT PLANE, you will love her, it is a very easy build as well. and it rebuilds awesome also, I'm speaking from personal experience here, I flew my 4* for about 7 years, it wasn't suppose to do any 3D to speak of, but add a little wind and some good high gusts, & you'd be surprised on what it can do, and thats just stock out of the box, I never enlarged any surfaces, but the things I could do with that plane,,, I do miss her now.

I had the 4* 40 with a 40 sized Max on her, I never changed or added a thing, she flew great, I had about 10 rebuilds on her, 4 to 7 of them completely overhauled, I'd say most of my crashes were to pushing that envelope just a little too far, for instance flying inverted about a foot off the ground at WOT leaves only a milisec of error time, especially when an overgrown ear of corn is sticking out that extra 6 inches over the others, once the fin hits an ear at that speed, there is not really much your going to do.

another incidence I was having so much fun I just had to go up one more time, battery left me,, the last command was, WOT a slight nose pitch down, and level, she flew about 300 yards all by herself gaining speed and getting lower to the ground every foot, I had a nice firepit ritual for her that evening. and all the rest of the stories are quite similar, twas only the pilot who killed off that plane. I must buy another now..... thanks for the memories.

rccardude04

The water hovering picture is awesome. I wonder what it'd look like with a harrier dragging the tail thru the water
And waldo... I know how you feel. I've been lucky enough to not have rain constantly like that since I got my twist a couple months ago, but I do remember when I was racing cars every week and it'd seem to rain every single night and flood the track. Man that sucked, lol.
Anyway, you can send me your planes and I'll take pictures of them flying for you... might give me a chance to try an over-water hover (whether or not I'm ready for it)

-Eric

PropHanging

Don't feel bad Waldo. I too have been stuck at the house all due to rainstorms. I had everything ready this morning, went back in to fill up the thermos, came out and everything was wet. My whole day ruined in 30 seconds. I had planned to spend the day with my twist, so I did. We opened up the bay door to my shop and sat there and watched it rain. At one point, I looked over at the beautiful plane and thought I saw a tear being shed, however, it ended up being only a drop of oil from the Saito's crankcase. So sad......

Jack211

Eric, see pic below of my high-tech balancer. It cost the price of a small Porche, but there's a life-time guarantee that comes with it. The rubber tips on the 3/8ths dowels are from the protectors of two glo-igniters. I get on my back on the livingroom floor and carefully slide the plane on the balancer.

I'd love to see the video of the water bird, but if the link isn't in a Windows Media Player file, it comes up goblledeegook..

Adam, "Like I always tell my wife, cheap entertainment baby! " And she buys that, huh? Have her talk to my wife. She asked me today how much I spent per month. I said nothing. She offered, $250 a month?" "Yeah, that sounds about right."

I didn't tell her the PNP with a couple props and 30 min epoxy went over $300. Then there was the 700 buck order of fuel (15 cases to be shared with the fellas); then the new Triton (90 bucks, so I could have one while I returned the other for repair); plus replacement servo gears, the UpStar glider (only 87.99!) and various extensions, switch harnesses (3) and Goldberg plastic nylon landing gear. (Total Tower order: $291.45). Yeah, hon, about 250 a month.

See what DownT gets us into? "DT" I like better, maybe plural, as in "DTs,) which I get this time of evening, before my toddy. Sleep well, DT. Sleep well, Waldo (and get some flight time, please. I've been crying enough here over your predicament, rain, etc. But what I REALLY want to know is what you did in the car with your wife while you "watched the clouds." Hah.) Sleep well, Tim, Jim, Adam, 577 (who has a flying buddy, constant and dependable, who is young enough to take directions).

I've got to go change out those servos on the PNP. And I'm gonna need a stiff drink, first. Who bets it'll be lemonade?

J

Jack211

Yeah, Prop, we're a sorry bunch, seeing our Twists drip. Now, DTs, all heart, would tell you exactly WHY that Saito was dripping oil (too much AFO), then he would define the oil, by atom, indicate its source (which well in Saudia Arabia, not OK, as you might have thought) and tell you what the guys on the rig who hauled the oil did with their money, toooooooo the penny!).

I actually heard DTs today, while speaking of the price of birds and getting started in the hobby to a passer by, that he wouldn't mind if a herd of buffalo ran over his Twist--because he had enough time on the bird (since last October) to justify every PENNY of the cost. Now where's the heart, the sensitivity, in that statement. Is there no justice for a lady who has given so much satisfaction in DTs' fly experience. Sad, I'm telling you. So sad. Hey, that's reason for another double lemonade, hm?

Now, in DTs behalf, I'll also tell you, in 95% humidity and 80 degree weather, I watched DTs tune his .61 Twist today. When the engine calmed, I said, "I hope you richened her a bit." He smiled at me, you know the way he does, well, imagine lips coming off half of his teeth, more like a growl, like "I was there way before YOU, son." He's still running that 13x5 MAS prop on that bird. I DON'T know how he gets away with it in this heat. I don't. And he kept her under 20 feet, often under 10, insulting me with perfect hovers. It was gusty, but when he was up, the wind quieted. The Twist sat still as could be 5 feet off the deck. He doesn't BELIEVE in the flying "gods," but they sure as heck serve HIM better than me. Damnation.

And, Waldo, that bipe you have really, REALLY needs some wind in her hair, not rain. Send her my way--and anything else that'll fit in the box. I'll make DARNED sure they get some wind in their hair--and pay return postage, too--as soon as you get some flying weather. Ha, ha.

Downtrodden

Waldo, I don't know what's come over me! I came home from flying today with one heck of a smile on my face........thanks to Jack's invite to fly and the impeccable performance of the Impress. Well, anyway..........I go into the partially cleaned workshop and see that empty table.....I then look in the corner at the CG Extreme 540 that's close to being done..........and what do I do? I grab the wrecked Funtana 40 and begin the rebuild...........the last six hours had me stripping the plane of it's covering and rebuilding the elevators, rudder, horz. stab and fuse! I looked up at the clock and couldn't believe that I had worked straight through! I'm hooked! I'm no longer looking at ARF's, I'm searching for kits! My condolences on the weather.

Peace

Downtrodden

Waldopepperaxel

Rock n Roll Boys glad to hear of the flight time you guys are getting....

Jack my wife and I didn't have room to do anything with all my crafts in my van, so me my wife the Twist, the Kadet, the Bipe, and the pt-20 and the workbench table set up I have, all sat there and cried for about 2 minutes then we were gone. were going to go and try right now,,,, Sunday Morn, and its SUNNY,,,,,,, WOWO,,,, Happy Fathers day to all you Fathers

goin flyin

rdileepan

Finally finished building my Twist. This is my second airplane. It requires about 5/6oz weight to balance at 4". Is it expected? Any one has tried this before? Thanks in advance.

Downtrodden

Don't add weight........move things around.......you'll be all the happier for it.

Jack, we made it Duluth, MN in record time. Oh happy day........there's a for-real, authentic, plain-as-day hobby shop just down from the hotel.......but it's Sunday and it's CLOSED!!!! This is ALMOST as bad as Waldo not flying for a month! I guess I'll have to wait until the morning! Damnation! Any requests? You'll have to post it here as I'm unable to check my email from here for some reason. I'll check it tonight. Hope you're feeling ok.

Peace,

Downtrodden.

TimC

rdileepan, what kind of engine are you using? Where did you add the weight? I think most Twist users have been able to balance by moving the engine and battery pack. Some with extra heavy engines have made a special battery compartment behind the servo bay.

rdileepan

I am using Evo .46. It's nose heavy. I was experimenting the weight right in the front. amount of weight sounds strange given all the others can balance with out weight. Thanks again...

suitcase

My Feedback: (1)

Jack, never do what I did recently. I went to tower and checked my account history. I've been flying going on three years and the twist was my first ARF. My total at tower alone was over $2400. Then consider Horizon, Central Hobbies, Servo City, and the local hobby shop, the total is well over $4000. You would think I would have a large hanger but all I have is, Mayhem 3D , Twist, Jerry's Big Boy, and a Ultra RC e X300. Futaba 9CAPS. I gotta quit thinkin about it........................[]

Jack211

Down, ask if the LHS has one of those anti-bubble clunks, made by OS, I think, but any will do. I just want one. I know I need another prop, too, but I can't think which one. Will you intuit for me? Something between 8x4 and 17x5.

I spent an hour at Massie Rd., walking through wet grass without boots, looking for the Perfessor's (who remembered boots) Skeeter, lost Friday, the red and blue bird. No joy. Damn, and I really wanted to find that bird. He flies it so well, usually. I don't think he marked well where he lost it. Just dues? [JJ was looking, too, and I've trained him with monokote-covered dummies.] Perfessor said there's a thingamajig you can buy that sounds off so you can find a lost bird. "Too expensive," I offered. "No," says he, "they're only 10 bucks." So," says I, "isn't it easier to learn how to control your plane?" I said it. Just like that. I got a snide, "Yeah," in reply. LOL Can't blame him. I was just as bad. By the way, I wonder, if I ever lost the Hirundo, I could hear a beep a mile or two away. I think not.

Chuck left then. Wind too high for anything he has. Hell, too high for anything I have. So I flew alone from about 10:00 to 1:00 (the sky and clouds were incredible, but the Hirundo would have gone backwards in that wind). I was about to quit when Kevin came out with RJ--and the brand new Tequila Sunrise. Whoa! Remember when those guys wouldn't fly unless it was calm? Well! I had the PNP (with new servos and arms for the tailfeathers) dancing in the wind when he arrived (got in 5 flights with the 330 first--just to check the winds aloft). Whoa! Winds gusting to 33--so says the KRC station--then they went to 40 mph at 2 pm. Kev put up his Fazer to check the winds, too. Going down wind, he hit full up elevator to go high. She did, and fast, but on the next downwind leg I told him there was something out of line with the tailfeathers. He landed and we found the starboard stab all but OFF of that bird. Then he put up the Tequila Sunrise. He done good! So did the bird. First flight he was having so much fun, at 100 mph (140 down wind, I think), he ran outta gas and came in dead stick, about 50 yards short of the newly mowed field (Carl did it again, bless him. Oh, Carl came, too, and witnessed the maiden.) In that tall grass, Kev didn't hurt her at all. He put it up again and had a fine time with it. Greased it in, perfectly, too. I put the PNP up one more time, landed almost backwards, but no bounce, thank you, and called it a day.

That Tequila Sunrise is my July bird, methinks. I'm putting the OS .40 LA on it. Oughta scream! Kev and I will fly formation--and I'll beat his pants off. He thinks my 40 will fit--and may be the same weight as his engine (a .25 something). I'm hoping it's heavier because Kev had to put an ounce of lead in the nose. He was kind enough to give me some pointers on setting up the bird. I can't wait. Kev's fascination with speed is contagious. And, gaw, you shoulda seen that Sunrise ROLL! He did a magnificent job of painting signs on the wings and tail--including the "worm" that goes in the tequila drink. That guy's an artist. No pix. Sorry, I forgot the camera.

Suitcase and all: do NOT mention dollars spent any more. DTs done it to us all--and he ENJOYS it. It's like arguing with an engineer, which is like wrestling with pigs. Everybody gets filthy dirty--and the pig LIKES it. I shall NOT review my Tower, Horizon, Wisc. Bats, Central Hobbies, Bruckner, et al accounts. Never. It AIN'T about the money!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! DTs confessed to me once that he had about 12,000 bucks invested--in three years. Misery loves company, I gather. So do "grandeur," "passions," and plenty of rain free days.

Waldo, I know, for your wife's sake, you were discreet about what you did--and the explanation. I expected nothing less, but I know you for a passionate man, and inventive. I just hope you didn't have any "sex rashes" on those birds when you did what your creative mind led you to. LOL And what great news that the sun's shining, at last, in E. Nassau.

Gaw, what a challenging day of flying. I did things with those birds they never thought they could do. The wind is your friend.

2 pilots, 4 birds, all home safe (save for a loose stab on a Fazer).

J