Way to go Swag!

So, what plane are you getting for your second plane?

Greetings Aeajr!

I ordered and recieved a BTE Venture 60. A Super Tiger .61 ABC will be going in her. I haven't figured on a Radio yet, but I have decided on seperate servos for each aerilon. Im looking hard for a newer Futaba 8 channel with a RP148FP receiver. Might have to buy them seperate. Going to look at the local clubs. Hopefully someone is looking to upgrade to a 9C or 9Z and maybe I can get a deal.

I also received a combo deal from a guy on Ebay for covering tools. Came with a Top Flight heat gun, heat iron, heat trimmer, heat glove, iron socks and 3 full rolls of covering. Not too bad for $40.

Colors for monokote on the plane are going to be medium purple and yellow with a trim of white. Hopefully it will look OK.

Thanks for reading my little write-ups. Seems like no one was reading them so I quit writing them. I had some more experiences that I felt a newbie would enjoying hearing about, but it seemed I was writing them for naught.

Take Care and Clear Skies

Swag

Well lets see, I haven't posted in this topic since last Sept. WOW! Time flies!

Got my seceond plane, a BTE Venture 60 kit. Going to put a Super Tiger .61 ABC on her. I also ordered a SIG 4 Star 40 which will be mated with a OS .46FX.

Ordered a Futaba CAF7 transmitter package and a Futaba Flight pack. So the same channel will go into both the 4 Star 40 and the Venture 60. I will build the 4 Star first.

Flying season here starts in April/May depending on how the rains are.

Just waiting for the flying season and practicing on the simulator.

Clear Skies

Swager,

I imagine you forgot all you learned last season, so it is back to the beginning, right? (ha Ha )

Bet you can't wait!

Yea! No kidding! These Central NY winters are too long!! Actually the club I go to is having a snow fly soon, but I will just be a spectator!

Swager,

A fun thing to do, since you are just starting, is to keep a log book of your RC activities. I've been keeping one for 20 years. I record my flights, planes and building activities, and I include photos pf planes, friends, flying fields, events, projects etc. Now that we are in the internet age I have transcribed it all into electronic form, use digital photos and put it all on the web so I can refer to it from anywhere I happen to be with internet access.

One thing I notice from looking back at my log is the long layoff periods when I get distracted by things like going to graduate school, getting married, having kids etc. But I keep coming back to it! And hopefully you will to. It just keeps getting better.

I fly both gas and electric and love them both. I hope to get set up with a brushless motor and LiPoly batteries this summer. I went to the NEAT fair and was amazed. For those who want to stick purely to electric, that's fine. But gas powered model airplanes will only become obsolete at about the time when all the Harley Davidson club members are riding electric motorcycles.

Im keeping track of my cost also. Hidden from the wife, of course.

A flight log is a great idea. I'll get one going for this year.

Thanks



Clear Skies!!

I have about 8 flights in this spring. Way too wet!

I finished my PT-20 repair and just started my 4 Star 40 build.

Things are going together nicely.

Now we need it to stop raining and bring out the sun.

The previous post about this looking like an adventure story was RIGHT ON! This is a great thread! All newbies should read this, and the old timers can relive their first experiences thru your posts, Swager. This is one of the most exciting things I've read on RCU!! GOOD JOB--Keep 'em comin'!

This past thrusday night was an experience. 10-15 MPH winds and 25 MPH gust! I went to the field. Ya see, last week I had a little crash (broke the nose wheel bracket and ripped out two hinges from the port aerilon) and my idle was acting strange. So if anything I could at least do a good engine check. Well the Lead Flight Instructor is there and he ask me, "Are you flying?"

"I dont know, kinda worried about the wind."

He looks at me and says, "Ya have to learn sometime to fly in the wind."

So we took her up. Now my take off and landings have been pretty good, but not in a crosswind. So the instructor does the honors. For him, no problem, but he talks to me about flying in a crosswind and things to watch out for. I flew the plane around in the high wind, which was an experience in itself. I am so glad I decided to fly. I learned alot.

I got in three flights and no problems. My instructor perofrmed all takeoffs and landings. What made me feel good was my repairs on the Superstar must of been good. The wind thru her around alot and she flew like a real trooper! Looking forward to this week!

OH, I started my engine without turning on the XMitter and Receiver, AGAIN!!! I hate when I do that!!

Clear skies!

Hi and Welcome Swager,

Sounds like you have you R C plan worked out just Great!!
Loads of help and great tips here at RCU.. And a lot more at your
local club.. Nothing like hands on and instant information/help!!

Watch the "BUG" It takes hold and it won't let go)

Again Welcome to a great hobby..

Well here is me and my ole Superstar, right before her 37th flight.

Well had flights 38 thru 42 tonite. Take off, approach, land! Take off, touch and go....whoops, sorry, landed. Take off, wind change reverse your pattern, approach, touch and go........whoops, sorry again, landed. Take off, land.

Fixed the nose wheel, ah much better! Take off, winds shifted again! Bring it all the way around to reverse pattern. OK, approach, get your nose up! get your nose up!! Wings level, cut throttle, nose up........perfect landing! Take off again.

This is the way it was, I was the only trainee for the first hour. It was the busiest time I ever had flying! I was doing pretty good, but getting exhasuted. Probably due to the fact the number of times I ran onto the field to get my plane. She took a beating tonite but flew like a trooper! She was flying better as time rolled on! Mud and grass all over! Our field is kinda ......moist! I called it a day after someone showed up with the same frequency. My battery was at 4.7 so I disassembled and cleaned her up!! I stuck around and took some pictures with my digital camera. I'll post some pictures later!

Over all a most excellent day at the field!

There's nothing like a little dirt and grass stains to make a plane fly better

No Kidding! The field was not at its best for a pilot of my limited talent. With all the rain we got it is amazing we can fly at all. The guys do a great job getting it ready. A few pictures.

The 3rd photo is of Mike Graham watching a trainer land. Mike is our Flight Line Boss. He keeps things running smoothly during Training night. I call him "Pit Boss"!

Your field looks great. One I would like to fly at is back by the geese somewhere.

Dave,

I meant airfield, not corn field!!

Is this a recent picture?

aeajr,

I'm coming in late on this thread, but thought I would clarify a few things regarding learning, instruction, etc.

Maybe some of us are more 'instructor' oriented than you wish because we have been around the block a few times. I'm relatively new to rc, but I did instruct in real aircraft for a few years. The one thing that I notice about rc fliers and real a/c pilots is that they fly the way they have been taught. You can spot things right off. Technique, or lack thereof, shows when you fly. Some people desire to learn the subtle skills and some don't give a hoot. Some wish to fly around massive levels of flying experience, hoping it will rub off on them, and some don't give a crap with all that stuff. What you consider good or safe may not look that way to more experienced folks.

I'm not knocking your fun at the field, but there is a lot to flying models and real planes. Maybe you don't want to learn pilot lore, time tested pilot technique, and other basic tasks. That is okay. But, don't knock the rest of us who do want to learn and practice it.

Yep, electrics are fun. That still doesn't make it okay to call glow/gas/diesel flying things like smelly, noisy, etc. To each their own. Some people like that stuff. Me, I like noise when flying. There is a certain love of glow engines that won't be replaced by electrics, turbines, or whatever. You obviously love the cleanliness and quietness of electrics. I'm glad you do and I won't sneer at it. I expect the same in return.

There is a nice grass strip back in there in front of the tree line. We were back there flying on the 9th. Then the rains came. This is as close as any one dared go this week.
+++++++++++++
Added picture of current dilemma and past glory of Western Michigan
Radio Aircraft Flyers AMA Club # 1569 pictures from http://www.wmraf.com

Well the ole Superstar had 5 more flight tonite! Numbers 47 through 51. She sure was a workhourse tonite. We had alittle wind and my landing were spotty. My nose wheel was alittle low and one little mistake and "prop stop"!! I ran out on the field to get my plane about 8 times, which beat my personal record of 6 retrieves on to the field 3 weeks ago.

I had alot of fun tonite. That ole Hobbico Superstar performed better as the night wore on!! Did about 10 takeoffs, and three touch and goes. The wind was playing tricks on me and made me alitte bit edgy. I tend to overcompensate when the wind throws the plane alittle. Also I dot not turn tight enough and the wind will catch my plane (On the top of the wings) and "push" it out.

Overall another great night at the field!! Instructors were once again, super!!



PS Dave our field has improved greatly due to the work of the field maintenance team. They rolled it last Friday and the good weather we have been having made the field a complete joy.

Three flights tonite. Darn wind was coming in from the East so we had to takeoff left to right. I got in some good time but the wind neve really died down until 8:15 pm. So learning in the wind again! It was quite fun. I had 2 great landing and one Booms-A-Daisy. Here's a few pictures from a few weeks ago.

First is of our lead instructor, Bob Rowe, with a student

Second is of Bob Rowe an Pete Sieffret, two great instructors!

Pete had to kindly explain to me not to take my eyes off my plane tonite. I looked another plane that was landing for a brief second and he caught me. And he was right to do some explaining, for I looked back at my plane and it took me a second or two to find it!! I kinda scared me!!

Third is Bill Orr and his nephew. Bill is a great R/C pilot and his nephew should solo soon.

Well, another training night tonite. I got in 5 flights. Numbers 55 through 59. For some reason I felt shakey on the first two, then I settled down. I was basically all over the place. Its like my thumbs did not want to work right. I felt clumbsy! It got to the point on the 3rd flight I asked my instructor, Pete Sieffert to fly the plane for alittle. Well he flew it with no problem. Multiple loops, rolls, flying inverted, nice smooth turns. No problem with the plane. After Pete gave me the transmitter again, it flew better. He must of put the special Instructor "touch" to it!

Once again all the instructors were execellent.

Overall a good night. I wont be flying for a few weeks due to other commintments. My instructor told me tonite he only improved steadily after he was able to fly twice a week. To keep his skills up.

I went over to the field Sunday and got two flights in. It was a beautiful day and the wind was down. The two flights were good ones but I had other commitments. Hopefully Thursday (Training night) will be a good night.

Swager,

Keep the posts coming. they are great. Love reading them.

I think I read that you are doing a 4*. I just went to a 4* 40 the other week and have already run about 15 -20 flights on it. I started with a LT-40 Kadet.

The 4* flys well and lands even better than the trainer and that is saying allot.

I have dual rates setup. I started with the high rates set to the book throws and eventually set the low rates to book throws and did the high rates at 125%. I am using a Saito 56 on this plane with a 12x4 prop and this thing is just, well let me put it this way WOW [sm=spinnyeyes.gif]. Nice rolls, loops look good, Cubans, inverted, and all of the other basic aerobatic maneuvers are just smooth as silk. Crosswinds do not effect this plane much as the wing is very efficient, but you have to be careful with the rudder as it tends to drop the nose if to much rudder is added (rudder to pitch coupling), but once you are used to this, it becomes second nature. I practiced for the pitch coupling by doing rudder only turns up high and only used the ailerons to keep it level.

You are gonna love the 4*

I am just about ready to maiden my H9 twist but am still nervous about it.

BTW... I still fly the Kadet as it has had the control surfaces sealed, stronger landing gear added and the thing took on a whole new life.

BG,

I have a thread started about my building of a 4 Star 40. I am getting close to the end of the project, I think! I have alittle bit more covering and that part will be done.

Im looking forward to flying it soon!