My personal RTTF (Return To Turbine Flight) occurred at about 2:07 PM yesterday 12/31/08. What a way to end 2008!
I maidened my new Boomerang Sprint at our club’s new field. Sorry for the lack of photos of it flying, I was the only person there all day.
I got there at 10:45 and left at 4:15 without seeing a single soul. I did several hours of range checks with FASST until I was satisfied. The final range checks were with the AMT Netherlands Mercury running. As I was the only individual there, I had to use a HUGE Craftsman screw driver, hammered into the center of the runway, tied to a rope around the Dreamworks Pro-Link strut to hold the plane. I recall thinking to myself “Dummy, don’t forget to pull that Craftsman out of the ground before the maiden, cause if you hit it on takeoff or landing, it will seriously mess up the Sprint AND be the best stupid Pollack trick of ‘08”. [X(]
Well, the maiden and the next three flights went very well (just some down elevator trim and some aileron), but you guessed it: I was talking to Pulsejet Harry on the phone, post-maiden, when I noticed that I indeed had forgotten the screw driver!!! What a dope! Luckily the plane was veering to the left on the takeoff roll and it was missed.
One sad note is that we finally have a flying field now, post-Katrina. It is a gorgeous grass field, as good as they come. But our club took a BIG hit from Katrina: so many members lost everything and moved away while others still have bigger life issues to worry about and no time/money for R/C. All of that combined with the fact that the new field is 37 miles away (where as the old one was just a few miles) I am afraid is killing our club. Most days when I go out there, there is no one. If this continues, our club will die in a year or two. I sure hope that changes. [
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Thanks Alan for a great airframe!!! Now to get started on the Boomer XL II that resides in the garage.
P.S. BTW, that was the very first turbine flight EVER at the new field!!!
