RE: South Central Basic Bootcamp
 

Guys

We have been invited to have an IMAC Practice at the seagoville field. The president Warren Young called me and stated he has pilots in his club that are interested in learning. The date of the 25 of feb is good for him. He is running it by the officers at the next meeting but has said he sees no problems at all for us to fly there. He said he will invite general spectators to help expose IMAC. The field is open enough to fly at and has over a 600 foot runway. www.dallasrcclub.org

Well what does everyone think about this. It will give you a chance to practice and maybe we can get Rick and Wally and Keith to come if they can. The Crosby Contest will pnly a couple of weeks after this.


Eddie

RE: South Central Basic Bootcamp
 

Any takers on the invite by the Seagoviile club?

Their field is centrally located and close to several folks

Eddie

RE: South Central Basic Bootcamp
 

I should be there unless my wife has off that day, then I am stuck home. Will know 4 sure when the date gets closer

RE: South Central Basic Bootcamp
 

Cant make it going snow skiing.

RE: South Central Basic Bootcamp
 

Hi Eddie...I'll be there. This is Greg from the bootcamp. Remember you and some others helped me with my fuel tank issue on my little red Extra? I really appreciate everyones effort in helping me. I never did get to fly though due to an extension connector going bad while I was breaking in the Saito 100. But I guarantee I'll have a bird ready to go for this. Finishing up a WM 60 Extra and might have my Gene Soucy Extra finished and broken in by then!

RE: South Central Basic Bootcamp
 

Hey Greg

Great to hear from you again. Should be a fun day. Dean Younger called me this evening and he says about 3 -5 new guys will be there also .


Eddie

RE: South Central Basic Bootcamp
 

Steve

did you get engine installed and running yet?

RE: South Central Basic Bootcamp
 

Short answer; not yet.

Long answer: As I suspected, the mount will require some thought and finagling, as the metal angle support brackets inside the motor box are "in the way". I had to order some long bolts; those arrived Thursday. Tobe and I did the mount stand-offs yesterday; another coat or two of polyurethane will see those ready to use.

Once I get the engine actually mounted, then I can do the rest of it; relocate the throttle servo/linkage, re-plumb, install the ignition and switch, etc. The learning curve on gassers is extensive; every time I turn around, I discover something ELSE I didn't know about that is important. So, I'm feeling my way along. Some would call it a methodical approach; some would call it anal; some would call it just plain slow.:D

Take your pick; bottom line is I'm not rushing into it. Once my Tower order with the Hayes neoprene line and rubber gas tank stopper arrives next week, I THINK I'll have all the components I need. I'm hoping my machinist buddy can open up the Tru-Turn spinner to fit these larger props, without damaging the looks or function of the spinner. Otherwise, that's ANOTHER 20 bucks to get it right...

And I thought helicopters were bad about nickle-and-diming you to death...:eek:

RE: South Central Basic Bootcamp
 

Hi Steve: take heart - once you get everything in place and going it's fairly low maintenance from then on.

Eddie, I don't know if I can make it to Seogoville. That's pretty close to the contest date and far enough away to make it a "contest" trip for me. Chances are I won't make it.

Bobby

RE: South Central Basic Bootcamp
 

Bobby

I understand, it would be a long drive for you for sure.

Eddie

RE: South Central Basic Bootcamp
 

I will plan on making the Seagoville weekend. It is only about 45 minutes away for me. What time do yall plan on starting on that Saturday?? Hopefully I can some practice in between now and then. Looking forward to seeing all you guys.

See ya,
Howie

RE: South Central Basic Bootcamp
 

Howie

Not sure about time yet but I will be in contact with Dean about mid week. We talked about starting early around 9am or so and flying throughout the day.


EDDIE

RE: South Central Basic Bootcamp
 

Eddie,

I'm in for Seagoville on the 25th.

Matt Fritz

RE: South Central Basic Bootcamp
 

Come on J-rod we want to see the pic with the D Mercier hovering and smoking behind us.

RE: South Central Basic Bootcamp
 

I should have the picture online of Doug's plane behind us. Jarrod is coming here to up load some stuff for our new club website. He had problems with his desktop computer.

Seagoville is on.............. I will call Dean tonite and get an idea of what time in the morning we can start.

If anyone has any of Dan's stuff , red book, neck strap, socks, shoes, etc.. bring em with you. Just Kidding

Eddie

RE: South Central Basic Bootcamp
 

Toyse brought me my red book, and I found My neck strap! Looks like the only thing I left in Mt Plesant is a lot of Smiles...

RE: South Central Basic Bootcamp
 

YEA Dan

e

RE: South Central Basic Bootcamp
 

Everyone our club has set our spring fun fly/swap meet for april 22, 2006. Not sure if there is anything IMAC that weekend. There will be all types of planes flying but you are all invited to join us, in Malakoff TX. Malakoff is 80-90 miles south east of Dallas, about 10 miles west of Athens. We have 3000 feet of grass private airstrip, 1000 of that is cut real short. Eddie knows, its a good place for IMAC or any type of flying.

RE: South Central Basic Bootcamp
 

Here it is guys the pic eveyone wants :D:D

RE: South Central Basic Bootcamp
 

Nice thanks Jarrod

RE: South Central Basic Bootcamp
 

Looks like we might have the plane Gods on our side again, should be a nice weekend.

eddie

RE: South Central Basic Bootcamp
 

Is there an official start time for this weekend at Seagoville?? Looking forward to it...need some practice...been hard with the weather lately. Any chance of getting some flights in on Friday afternoon too??

See ya,
Howie

RE: South Central Basic Bootcamp
 

Howie

I will be there around 8 to 830 in the morning, not about Friday you might want to contact the local club guys.

Eddie

RE: South Central Basic Bootcamp
 

So how did the first contest go? I missed it because of work but I would loveto hear if any of you went.

Also, Eddie I left my "fork" or "tail holder" at the mount pleasant field any way of getting this back? I had only used it once, it was homemade with rubber ends and foam padding.

I have upgraded form my 25% EDGE to a TOC YAK 54 with a DA-50. Man what a plane this thing is one awesome combo. Here is PIC.


See ya,

Conrad

RE: South Central Basic Bootcamp
 

Hi Conrad. go to the SA list to see result of the Tru Turn Challenge. Here is the link to subscribe:

[email protected]. You may have to send an email to get the moderator to sign you up.

Bobby

RE: South Central Basic Bootcamp
 

here you go this is from the SA group

RE: South Central Basic Bootcamp
 

Hey Steve: how is the 260/gas combo coming along? Have you flown it yet? What's the story?

Bobby

RE: South Central Basic Bootcamp
 

I'm on my second gallon; still feeling my way around the engine.

Top end is great, and way too much for the airplane. Best sequence speed is about 1/3 throttle. Unfortunately, I've got a pretty wide "rich zone" from just above idle to just under half stick where the engine is burbling and in general very unhappy.

Tobe said that was classic signs of a rich low-end; but when he leaned it, we lost the smooth transition it had. We tried several different needle settings, and then I had to leave. Of course, he's out of the picture now for the next six weeks...

I called Keith, thinking perhaps it was the white gas. Given how strong it runs wide open, he said it wasn't the fuel. He told me to check the carb insulator and a few other things. He offered to check it out, but I'll wait a while before pulling the engine and sending it to him. Its probably just my inexperience. It IS, however, somewhat cold-natured and finicky to start.

Basically, I think once I get some more fuel through it, I'll be okay. This is my first gasser, so I'm still learning about them.

But yeah; I like the concept. Gobs of power, practically no mess to clean up, and most important is the reliability. Even with screwed-up mixtures, it still runs.

RE: South Central Basic Bootcamp
 

Sounds like you are on the right trail. The instructions probably say to adjust the low end first then the high end. As you have found, the needles on these gassers are not very sensitive and it sometimes takes a half rurn for anything to happen. One other thing to do is that before you do any "real" adjusting you should run the engine at least a coule or three minutes to get it warmed up. Then turn it off and lean it out. I found on my BME that it too was hard to start - it has more to do with the ignition and timing than it does with the carb. Oh, one more thingy to check is the spark plug gap. If it is too wide - that's bad. If it's too narrow - that's bad.


Hang in there and call or email me if you need help on anything.

Bobby

RE: South Central Basic Bootcamp
 

Thanks.

Actually, the needles on this one are quite sensitive. But I'll get it figured out... eventually.;)

RE: South Central Basic Bootcamp
 

Steve,

On the low end start leaning it out a little at a time until you come up on it. While you are doing this you may need to back the top end off a little. I run my motors real lean on the bottum end to help get a better mid range. Also, some of the midrange problem can be fixed with a throttle curve tio a point.

hope this helps,

Rick

RE: South Central Basic Bootcamp
 

I intend to explore the throttle curve option. Used to do those with the helis, so I'm familiar with the basics. But this eccentric-shaped throttle arm has me wondering...

As for adjusting the mixture, we approached it exactly as you describe. When we began tweaking the high end too, things really got FUBAR.

So, I dunno...

RE: South Central Basic Bootcamp
 

Steve, we have had a few good weekends since your last post. How about an update on your progress? I practiced the Sportsman individual maneuvors last weekend - flew three 14 min flights and actually got mentally tired from concentrating so much!!

Bobby

RE: South Central Basic Bootcamp
 

Eddie, are you still alive? Haven't heard a word from you since your cruise. What's going on with you these day? Que pasa usted mi amigo?

Bobby

RE: South Central Basic Bootcamp
 

Bobby

Still here just a little water logged. Had a blast on the cruise, needed the time away. I am trying to get some practice in for the next Houston meet. Maybe Jonas, Duane, Alan, and Jeremy wont plaster me to bad. I am trying get motel leads from the JETERO website but haven't had any luck. Hmmmm Have you had any time to practice yourself? I tried to call Jonas but can't seem to get through as of yet. He wanted to practice somewhere too.


Eddie

RE: South Central Basic Bootcamp
 

Yes, I've had a chance to practice all of the individual maneuvors between rain and wind storms - not totally pretty but better than at Mt. Pleasant. I got tired of having to rebend the landing gear on the WH 260 - which folded back even on a glass smooth landing. So I replaced the gear with one I had from my Carden Edge. Maybae a little more weight but so what?

Todd and I may go to an IMAC contest over in Prattville, AL which is about 4.5 hours from me and 3.5 from Todd. It's not too much farther away than Shreveport is. Since Alamaba borders Mississippi any points we earn should count in the SC region according to Dan's criteria. I'll keep you posted. We do plan to go to Little Rock but not to the Houston contest.


Bobby

RE: South Central Basic Bootcamp
 

OK

Little Rock should be a fun contest this year. I wish I could have made Allans also. Sorry to hear about your landng gear problems, maybe the new one will hold up better. Well if you go to Alabama have fun!!!!!!

Eddie

RE: South Central Basic Bootcamp
 

Bobby,

No good news. The low end continues to be FUBAR, and seems to have gotten worse. It acts like it is sucking air somewhere. I did the usual checks for that sort of thing, with nothing immediately apparent. Again, my inexperience with gas engines is probably in play here. Tobe is still unavailable; but he tried what he knew last time we flew together, with no luck.

I'm pretty well tired of fooling with this airplane. It seems as if nothing I do with it is right. Its hanging on the wall right now, and will stay there for a while. I just don't need the aggravation. My plan is, once I get over being pissed :D, to get with Steve Reinke and take him up on his offer of help he made at Mt. Pleasant. Last resort is pulling the engine and sending it back to Keith; looks like its going to come to that. In fact, I'm thinking about just hauling the airplane over there and letting him check it out as is; if he'll do that. Could be it doesn't like the white gas; if that's the case, so much for "gassers" for me, since gasoline use is a non-issue in my situation.

Bottom line: no IMAC for me this year. Tobe has too many other commitments as well. We discussed it, and plan to practice well into the fall (if I can ever get the Extra going), with the idea of making a few contests next year. In the meantime, I'm back flying my slimers, and actually enjoying myself again. Normally, when something gives me this much grief, its sold and forgotten. But I've got so much invested in the airplane now, I have to go the extra distance to try and make it work.

I did buy myself a "depression present" the other day; a GP Matt Chapman CAP 580.... the little one with the paint-splat finish. I had an OS 91 Surpass lying around begging for a job; this little sucker ought to be a hoot.

BTW; Tobe scored a WH Extra like yours; his is blue. He's working on it sporadically in the evenings, using the gear from his Edge and his ZDZ 80. His Comp-ARF Yak came in too; he'll jump on that when he gets off the turn-around.

I devoutly hope I can make this BME do right. I love the concept of non-glow (remember, I'm running white gas/camp fuel) and the larger planes. But this is supposed to be fun, and all I've gotten so far is aggravation.

Anyway, all that is probably more information than you wanted to hear. But thanks for asking...

.

RE: South Central Basic Bootcamp
 

Steve Curiously what motor did you get and why do you choose to use camp fuel?

RE: South Central Basic Bootcamp
 

BME 50.

I store my models in the house. I've heard all the lore about draining the tank, capping off the system, etc., etc., yielding no odor. That simply was NOT my experience with a gasser helicopter some years back, and the basic plumbing is no different on these planks.

My gracious wife would have my stuff in the back yard if "my" room (and soon after, the whole house) suddenly began to smell like the utility room where we store the weed-eater, blower, etc.

A conversation with an experienced gas guy last night suggested I might have a pin hole in the carb diaphragm. Again, I simply do not know enough about these things, right now anyway, to do any more than look for the obvious. And I simply do not have the patience right now to do a serious trouble-shooting job, guided by telephone/e-mail conversations. I imagine that the intelligent thing to do is pull the engine out of the airframe and send it to Keith. But I've BTDT with a YS; it ran perfectly for them, ON THE BENCH, and while they were diplomatic about it the attitude was I simply did not know how to handle an engine. Well, it ran great on the bench for me too. It was in the air where it displayed bizarre behavior.

IOW, I don't want to be told 'it ran fine for me', when my conditions are not being duplicated. Hence, the option of taking the thing to him, still mounted in the model, with my fuel mix.

When my main flying buddy gets back into circulation, I'll be motivated to to fix the problem. Right now, I just don't even want to look at the thing.