Well I did it!! I have had this plane for 3 weeks, was trying to be patient to fly it but at this time am unable to join the local flying club. So We pulled out the farm equipment and made an air strip!! I worked up the never after taxiing for a while to test out the ground and gave her full throtle. Off she went!! ( I got an Avistar) My nerves were a total wreck!! After i had her in the sky for about 10 minutes and trimmed it out and finally relaxed. I started to enjoy it and then it hit me, I have to land soon :stupid: LOL. Well After watching people at the local club in my area i decided to make several quick passes over the strip to make sure i was going to make a center landing. Finaly on my final approach every thing look great!! Perfect angle, speed etc ( atleast I think so ). Down she went, first the rear tires and then the front. I had only one misshap. The ground was dry when we disked it and the dovauled it. The roller smothed it out ok but the soil was too dry to pack it tight ( we need about a quarter of an inch rain for this to happen) Well there was a root sticking up and it caught my prop. It split it but the plane taxied down the runway till it ran out of steam. All in all it was a great day. I will include some picks. My wife was taking pictures and was not expecting me to land so she just happened to get it but there is a little tall grass in the way.
Caj.

i forgot to fix and filter the picture hope this is better

here is the air strip

here you can see the fron wheel is about to touch and a couple of yards from there I hit the root and that ends my flying for the day..better than totaling the plane I suppose.

I would also like to add I am 98% self taught. After flying a sky scooter for a couple of months and mastering that unstable pig and countless hours on FMS I felt this time was as good as any. Also i had visited the local club here several times. I watched closely and got to know a couple of people. A member here, Tierod, Took me up for the first time couple of weeks ago. He took the plane off and he landed. I did get disoriented a couple of times but was not worried about getting out too far due to the fact he had me on a "buddy cord". other than that one flight i have been on my own, I am kind of enjoying it that way.

WOW!! You're lucky to have your own strip, with room for expansion
Get some nice short grass growing and fly to your heart's content. How long and wide is it?

Two things you should always have spare are propellers and glow plugs, also comes handy clear tape to patch any hole in the cover, you know, not all landings are perfect, or even some times the prop wash on take off throws pebbles to the wings.

Causeitflies I really could not answer you in feet. Roughly a 1/2 acre wide by 1 acre long. Really not big enough to land a real plane but when you put an RC on it it looks like you could. Thank you for the advice on the spare parts. I have packing tape that was originally for the scooter. I did have an extra prop but I splintered it as well by taxiing around on the runway and yes I hit a root. I should have known better but i was ready to fly so what the heack!! This week i will pick up a surplus of props and a couple of extra plugs.
As far as the grass goes perhapse we will have some before winter. Ofcourse down here we do not have that bad of winters. Between my being in the lawn and landscape business and my friends son-in-law ( which owns a huge well known landscape business here) we ought to have it pushing green in a month or so. I will hook the seeder to my 4 wheeler and overseed with bermuda. It germinates fast as long as we get water to it. The field next to that one has irrigation so I may speak with my buddy about running a line over. I can not wait to take my Super Chipmonk out..that is my first plane but I refuse to fly it till I get another trainer, which will be a cheap tail dragger. Once i get the landings down then I will work up the nerve. In the mean time I will be studying the controls for the Super closely and try to educate my self as best as possible. Also I am sure I will have a lot of questions on the web site pertaining to it.
Thanx for the congrats!!

That's great news Cajun. Just hope you don't hit one of those roots with a wheel just as you touch down, might rip the gear right out.
Dennis-

Hopefully we will get the rain they predict this week. if that is the case we will roll and pack a couple of more times. After that one of my workers and I will take the small walkbehinds out there and mow the strip down to 1/2 inch. So if there is anything left it will only be 1/2 tall rather than 3 to 4 inches. i was just ready to fly :stupid:

At first I used wood propeller, but they break very fast, then I switch to MasterAirscrew not the best but they last for ever, no matter how many times I hit something with it they don't break.

I fly off a bumpy grass field so propeller touching the ground is every day thing; I would recommend you get a BigStik, this was my second plane, and boy I'm happy with it, a very fun plane to fly and sooner or later I bet you will end up with one.

What is the MasterAirscrew prop made of? will it pull as well as the "stock" ( forget the name of the company) prop that comes with the Avistar?

Cajun, looks like you have a nice setup there. Be sure and move those rollers out of the way though. You never know when you might need that extra room.

Nice, nice runway!!

They are made of nylon. Search for them at www.towerhobbies.com

Get someone with a root plow to hit the area and your set. Get one of the big ones used in Forestry (they should be all over NW LA, NE TX) if you happen to know someone that has one. About 12 feet wide and pull it with a D-9 or so and your set.

BTW if your runway is a little rough with roots go to a little bit bigger tires. I went up to a 3" rubber wheel on my avistar and it taxis a lot better than the 2-1/2" foam wheels.

Jucava I order 6 of them today as well as another set of the wooden ones

Borzack we used one behind a JD 6410. It was called a Duvall. We are getting rain right this second. In a couple of days when it begins to dry we will then roll it again. it should pack tight. After that we will get the 36 inch Exmarx walkbehinds and mow it 1/2 (lowest we can go). After that I will attach the seeder to my 4 wheeler and over seed with bermuda. it should push green in a couple of weeks. By next year it should be a plush carpet of green grass. Good thing about bermuda you can keep it 1/2 inch short with out killing it. This should make the runway perfect. Well the only other thing that would make it perfect would be to black top the thing but that is big bucks

Well after a week of playing with FMS and flying for a couple of hours Friday evening I felt that I was ready to do some basic "tricks". Well I played around with the typical roll, I did so many I got dizzy. Then twords the end of the afternoon ( with the tunes cranked ) I was pumped up and decided to invert the plane. I remember a guy telling me that the ailerons do not change, so with that in mind I trimmed her out best I could inverted and made about 7 passes or loops. That was the best feeling watching that plane and relatives and friends ewwwing and awwwing in the back ground. Today i made somewhere in the neighbor hood of 40 touch and goes and about 20 landings, and to date I have done this all on my own. Very satisfying feeling. 2 things I have not done, 1 learned the rudder (when interface cable comes in this week I will play with that on the computer, and second is the basic loop. I have done it with my electric skyscooter but avoiding disorientation for the moment I chicken out about the time I think I have worked up the nerve. In time I am certain it will come to me....this hobby has to be worse than a drug addiction.
Oh one other thing, and I would like some input since I have limited rc plane knowledge, I plan on ordering a spy cam or equivilent of that rund on the 9 volt battery. Where is the best place in the fuse to locate the battery, seems awfuly tight. Any input would be greatly appreciated.
Caj

ahhh loops are easy with the avistar... if you can touch and go loops are easy... just get some altitude and pull full elevator when you get to the top of the loop reduce throttle and keep the elecator at full will loop easily... try to loop into the wind as this will make it easier, you dont have to but its easier i think.... i have the avistar and if you can make inverted circles you are ready for loops avistar will do inside and outside loops try going inverted with good altitude and give it FULL down elevator it will do a nice outside loop or you could even end the loop at the top and use it as a turn around manuver.... what size engine do you have on your and what prop... i have the 40LA and 10x6 master airscrew

I have the same as you. It is not that I think the plane is incapable...it is me. For some reason I get disoriented quickly doing the loop..well I did. I can do inside and outside loops on the electric and have done a couple of full loops but it takes a toll on my vision for some reason. Also for now I keep the plane close and venture a little each day. When the sun is beaming in my eyes I will loose the plane for a sec and I begin to look for tires or tail wing. I keep it high enough just incase so I will have time to recover. I almost lost it Sat morning due to the sun and did some unplaned rolls and an unplaned short inverted flight but I did finally regain controll but was very close to the ground. I heard guys at the local air club to stay 3 mistakes high and I have been watching them. I believe in 4 high for an untrained person like myself and it came in handy yesterday.

Also I tried out the 10x7 prop and it seems to work well. To me it is a little sluggish but more thrust. It made the very slow fly bys neat. Especially when I was about 10 inches off the runway and would putter along and then mash the gas...that was fun

try to keep the sun at your back and fly the plane infront of you... since you have a homemade runway you probably dont havr a designated flight station just fly early in the morning or in the afternoon ... keep sun to your backand you shouldnt have to worry about it... at our field its better to fly in the after noon cause the sun ends up at your back... if you getting disorentated with the plane direction maybe you could put a stripe or something on one of the wings.... like on the bottom left wing put a black stripe or something... keep it up its a fun plane

It certainly is fun. I have a road about 100 feet behind me. Runway runs north and south. Facing away from the road is the west and the road is at my east. Morning flights are ideal but in the evening I do cross the road, rural area I mind you. There is a power line that runs on the east side of the road, I just keep it high. also there is already a stripe on the wing, I noticed it yesterday while flying. At first I was thinking what the #$%^ is that for, :stupid: but now I am more relaxed I thought about it for a minute while circling and I figured that is what it is for.

Also I want to add as an update on my field. Today we put out bermuda seed. It may survive the winter it may not but hey, for farmers bermuda is cheap!! Also I plan on putting out annual rye in September. This should give me a year round green runway and prevent errosion, which is common on bare ground during the winter months in this neck of the woods. After spreading seed today we rolled and it flatened nicely. Couple of more rains and it will be nice and tight. Only problem thus far is dem dang fire ants. There mounds look like a goffer lives there. they just pop up over night.

im glad i dont have to put up with fire ants!!! but living here in minnesota we have gophers here... and moles... thankfully the grass on the outside of our runway is pretty good... im already thinking about a 2nd plane... i like the four star but i also like the funtana.... i need to get a new job soon so i can ponder the decision... i will probably get the four star but... would really rather have the funtana... if i find a good job maybe i can get both just remmber altitude is your friend and when trying new manuvers make sure you have plenty of it.. after you do a few tricks up high you will figure out how much room you need something that is really cool is a verticle 8



click that link it will show you how to do it, i know im not a good graphic artist but, you can get the basic idea... doing it that way you can do a inside loop and an outside loop... or you could start inverted do an outside loop, then a regular inside loop then when you come out your still inverted 1/2 a roll and your done... or you could do another 1/2 inside or outside loop to turn around

Can I borrow that roller?

Well here it is 22 days later. I am getting bored with the avistar! I need some advice on a second plane to work my way up the ladder twords my Super Chipmonk 90s. I am talking with a guy right now about a Dragon Lady. Only thing that concerns me right now is the fact that my runway is dirt, no grass. Even though we have rolled it 2 more times since the grand opening day it is still a little bumpy. I make very smooth landings but every once in a while I get a bumpy one. I know I got to start with a tail dragger sooner or later but with no experience I would hate to rip the rear wheel off the plane. Every time I land I pretend I am putting a tail dragger on the ground, basically ride a short wheely if you will, and let the front down very slow. I am just rambling but back to the dirt issue..the front tires seem awfully small on some of these 40 size tail dragger's some what I am getting at is what 40 size tail dragger's out there have 3 inch wheels on the front and a sizable wheel in the rear to handle these conditions?
Regards
Louis