skeeter_ca
Posts: 389
Joined: 11/30/2005
From: Yucaipa,
CA, USA
Status: offline
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Sorry it’s taken so long this time. I’ve been very busy. Hope to bang out as much as I can now.
It’s July 1st. 12:01am. I can’t sleep. I’m laying on the couch watching TV and everyone is asleep. Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse (or a rat in my case). I was finally getting sleepy and I pulled myself up off the couch and went to bed. I don’t know about you but what is it about getting off the couch and going to bed that ends up waking you back up again. I set the alarm for 7:00 and lay down in bed now going through my check list of everything for tomorrow. I have the plane, Tx, Rx, glow plug and starter battery all charging. Everything is in my field box or my tool box. I feel I’m ready to go and slowly drift off……………………….
BUUZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ……………………I don’t even open my eyes as I hit the snooze button. I lay there for a few seconds and then realize this isn’t just another ordinary day. My eyes are open and I’m up. I go straight to the shower and get in. The warm water wakes me up all the way and before I know it I’m getting dressed. I wake up my boy and tell him it time to go to the field. He’s up in a flash and gets dressed. I load up the plane and equipment in my little scooter again and were off to the field at 8:30. I don’t really know how it got so late, so quickly, but were still on time. It’s a beautiful day again here in Southern California. Sunny and warm but no wind. We stop and get drinks and something to eat on the way. Del Taco again. We get there quickly and it’s about 9:00. As I pull up I notice there are still some RV’s here from the day before. I guess a few people decided to stay here over night. There was only a few other cars there. Maybe 4. The boy and I get out of the car and I see Darrell. I go over and say “Mornin“. He’s in a good mode again just like I’ve always seen him. He quickly goes over to his car and brings me my 3 winning prizes from the raffle. What a way to start off the day. The Cosmos plane from Cermark is a small (35”) 3D style plane. It will be awhile before I can fly that one. Hmmm….. Maybe I can converted to glow. I love the smell of nitro. Any recommendations on what to change to beef it up for a glow engine? I look around and see Alfred for the first time in person. I recognized him from his picture on the Gilman Springs website. He looked more than familiar from just his picture. I walk over to him and introduce myself and my son. He shakes our hands and introduces us to his boy, Bubba. He’s 14. Alfred is tall and big, but has a gentle look to him. Looks like he had blonde hair that is turning gray. Not sure how old he is, he could be anywhere between 45 to 60. I’m not at good guessing ages. He smiles back at me and you can just tell he has a very friendly attitude. We talk a little and then my son and I go pull my plane out of the scooter and set it up on one of the safety benches.
Looking up and down the pits, I see only about 10 people total. It looks like there’s some regulars hanging around on one side of the pits and some of the RV’ers on the other side. The RV’ers look like people that are hanging out at the river just soaking up the sun and drinking beer. They seem to have several Heli’s out including a large gas powered one. Cool. I also see some type of large 3D type aircraft, maybe 33% Cap or something similar. Looks like they have all the toys. Yes I’m jealous. The other side of the pits has what looks to be the regulars. Several older people relaxing under the shade with just a few models. Nothing outstanding to report there except they looked very content. Like they could live 100 more years as long as they could come out and fly their planes and BS with each other all morning.
Alfred looks over my plane and comments how good it looks. Papa feels proud. I mention to him that a thought about what he said about my engine being 20 years old and may not be reliable. I then tell him that I decided yesterday to go ahead and buy the new OS .46. I told him how I bought it and installed it yesterday afternoon. He looked at me kinda funny and asked where I bought it from. I told him from the Hobby People in Redlands and he looks at me even funnier. He seemed to not believe what I was telling him and then said that he works at the hobby people. I’m like “no way“. We then compare stories and find out he is the one that sold me the engine. We laughed a lot at that one. No wonder he looked familiar! Small world. I have him look in fuse at the setup to see if he can spot any potential problems. He looks in and pokes his fingers around checking this and that. Says it looks ok and to go ahead and put the wing on. I connect up the aileron servos lead. I torque down the wing bolts with my large 12” screw driver. The driver is way to big but I like it because the blade fits into the ¼-20 bolts head perfectly. Once I get down to tightening them I use just two fingers to snug them down. Alfred has me do a range check. I walk out a ways and stop. Alfred waves me to go out farther. I set back more and stop. He waves me even farther. Gezz, am I going to walk all the way to the cows. I stop again and he yells that’s good. I walk back to the pits. I fuel up the brand new engine and I’m ready to go.
The one thing about flying at a club is you learn a little patience. There was someone flying so we just stood around watching them and talking. Then Bubba takes up a hot little aerobatic profile bird and burns a lot of holes in the sky. It is apparent he likes to fly fast and rarely level. He seems to fly pretty good and Alfred tells me he’s been flying for about 2 years. I am standing around waiting to take up my plane. I’m ready. Did I say I’m ready. I am surprised my boy is so patient. He hasn’t really bugged me about flying my plane to much today. Maybe only 10 times. I keep telling him I have to wait my turn. He’s not doing too bad. He is keeping himself preoccupied looking at the other planes and talking to some of the other people. Erik wants me to teach him how to fly with the buddy box when I learn how to fly myself. I tell him that it would take along time for me to get good enough for me to teach. I mention that it would probably be better if Alfred taught him. He just says “no” he wants me to teach him. Nice to be loved so much. I’ll get back to having him fly later.
Alfred says the magic words “You’re up”. Bubba is holding the plane from the rear to make sure it doesn’t go anywhere. I hold my finger over the carb and flip the prop a couple of turns to prime the engine. I turn on the transmitter and then the switch on the left side of the plane under the wing. Check and make sure the throttle operates and is set to idle. I clip on the glow plug igniter and pickup my starter. I hold my breath as I place the cone against the spinner. Please, please start, I think to myself. I hit the switch. ZIP. The engine starts on the first full turn and idles richly. It is music to my ears. Alfred checks the throttle response. It feels good. He fiddles with the mixture for what seems like an eternity. He thinks he has it adjusted good enough for flying. A little on the rich side since it‘s new. Bubba picks up the plane and carries it out to the taxi area. He holds it up and Alfred revs it up to check the engine in a climb attitude. Ok, seems great. Bubba puts it down and Alfred gooses the throttle just a little to get it moving. It rolls out onto the runway and Alfred taxis it back and forth to check how it tracks. It’s a little sensitive in the steering department but does track straight. I’ll have to change the steering rod on the servo. For now though it looks good to go. Rolls a long distance before it starts to go off the runway center line. Alfred says it is easy to taxi at high speed. I’m getting all excited now. I’m starting to sweat. I can’t tell if it’s from the sun beating down on my receding hair line or the anticipation of the first flight. All the work I have put into this plane. Building it the first time and then rebuilding it again 20 years later. It all comes down to this one moment of truth. He takes the plane to the end of the runway and turns it around to face west into the wind. I think we are both nervous. I scan around the field and it looks like everyone is watching this first flight. Talk about pressure for Alfred to perform. I would crack. He advances the throttle nice and slow. By the time it reaches directly in front of us he has it at full throttle, and it seems to be at flying speed. I think he should pull back now but he doesn’t. It lets it roll faster and a little farther. He then adds a little bit of back elevator. I see the nose lift off. I remember it so well. Like it was in slow motion. I felt the side of my face lift a small smile from the corner of my mouth. Then the worst thing happens. The plane sudden banks to the left. Hard. It was at a 90 degree bank in a nano second. My heart pounded as I saw the life of my plane flashed before my eyes.
It’s getting late. My wife just came in and told me to come to bed now or else. I’ll have to finish this tomorrow.
See ya……………………
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Skeeter
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RE: Beginners Logbook? or what I learned today - 
