Flying with Fred - Volume III, No 10
Well,
September is just about gone, and I’ve done more RC’ing
in the last 28 days than I have all year. Starting with
taking the week of Labor Day off, and working on the
“squadron” going up to the Mid-Hudson RC Society’s
Jamboree up in Rhinebeck. This is the 41st year
(incredible) for the event, and I finally had a trio of
planes ready and raring to go. First is “Old Faithful”
a.k.a. the 15 year old Balsa USA Bristol M1, with its
new 60 four stroke and on board glow driver- patched
& spruced up, once again flying beautifully. Its
vertical stabilizer is festooned with the registration
stick-dots which proclaim over a decade and a half of
flying at the aerodrome (with a few prangs along the
way as well).
Next comes what was intended as a stop-gap plane; a “backup” to have ready to fly in case everything else was… not ready? Being repaired? There was a pix of it a few years ago in one of the issues of the old (MAAW) newsletter. It’s an ARF of the Fokker D-VII, with shiny, non-prototypical red monokote covering, and extra wide (non scale) landing gear. It sports a Thunder Tiger 54 four stroke, and has proven to be a reliable ride and a great flyer. It was “The Answer” after the year- early on- when I tried to “re-kit” the M1 and swore I would never come to any flying meet again with only one airplane. It’s no longer in production, and it looks best if you stand about 10 feet away and squint, but it’s also a keeper.
The last item is one which required, I’m ashamed to say, over 3 years to get ready to fly. Ashamed because the damned thing is an ARF, and came 80% built! The Great Planes Fokker DR-1’s fuselage waited patiently on a table in the basement under a plastic covering until just recently, when I broke-in the O.S. 91 four stroke being attached, and test ran it again mounted semi-inverted on the plane. I seemed to have lucked out, as it did not (so far) need an on-board glow driver, and seems to idle reliably, albeit with a prop on the large side of the recommended list. Finally completed, it looked great (and kinda large) with all three wings attached, sitting on the workbench, with newly completed pilot Friedrich staring through his goggles at me. .
Tried to test fly it before I went up the Aerodrome on the 7th, but had to wait until around 1PM the afternoon of same, after all three planes were registered and I was settled in under my “10X10” midway down the flight line. Its first flight had an absolutely perfect landing (difficult to do with a tri-plane) but everything else about it was… exciting! It seems that, even though it was fairly nose-heavy with a larger engine (it specifies a .70 four stroke) you STILL need down trim on the elevator while you’re flying, otherwise you do a perfect imitation of a bad roller coaster. I opted to let it sit on the flight line for the rest of the weekend and look cool, pending some tweaking with components that required the removal of the wings.
I flew with the other two planes more than I’ve ever flown before at Rhinebeck this year- lucked out with the timing on the flight line, and frequency availability. The traditional Saturday night Roast Beef Dinner was great as always, and featured some great archival black and white film footage of long time pilot Dick King and his personal Sopwith Pup, in the early days (1960’s) of the aerodrome. The details are too many to present here, but the recent passing of Dick at the age of 74 (he flew at the aerodrome from 1959 to 1998) who was one of the “Originals” alongside Cole Palen, and rare personal narration by Dick that was added to the film, were nostalgic, bittersweet, and, yes- sad to experience- knowing that yet another wonderful chapter of the aerodrome had come to a close with his death.
Next was the weekend of the 14th up at Shinhopple, NY, for the 6th annual N.E.A.T. Fair for electrics. I’d hoped to have, in addition to my “Boomerang Banana” (a.k.a. my Zagi wing) a converted SE-5a ARF ready with my recently purchased electric system from Sky Shark RC. Once again, due to a lack of 36 hour days, it was not to be. I had spent some time sorting out the best (as in easiest to install and least expensive) components for my first true “big” electric, and a chance reading of a column in AMA’s Model Aviation magazine with Bob Aberle (one of the super-big electric guru’s) brought me to SS’s website. First outfit I’ve seen that provided everything (and I mean everything) you needed ready to just install, plug in (no soldering- yay!!) and go.
Next comes what was intended as a stop-gap plane; a “backup” to have ready to fly in case everything else was… not ready? Being repaired? There was a pix of it a few years ago in one of the issues of the old (MAAW) newsletter. It’s an ARF of the Fokker D-VII, with shiny, non-prototypical red monokote covering, and extra wide (non scale) landing gear. It sports a Thunder Tiger 54 four stroke, and has proven to be a reliable ride and a great flyer. It was “The Answer” after the year- early on- when I tried to “re-kit” the M1 and swore I would never come to any flying meet again with only one airplane. It’s no longer in production, and it looks best if you stand about 10 feet away and squint, but it’s also a keeper.
The last item is one which required, I’m ashamed to say, over 3 years to get ready to fly. Ashamed because the damned thing is an ARF, and came 80% built! The Great Planes Fokker DR-1’s fuselage waited patiently on a table in the basement under a plastic covering until just recently, when I broke-in the O.S. 91 four stroke being attached, and test ran it again mounted semi-inverted on the plane. I seemed to have lucked out, as it did not (so far) need an on-board glow driver, and seems to idle reliably, albeit with a prop on the large side of the recommended list. Finally completed, it looked great (and kinda large) with all three wings attached, sitting on the workbench, with newly completed pilot Friedrich staring through his goggles at me. .
Tried to test fly it before I went up the Aerodrome on the 7th, but had to wait until around 1PM the afternoon of same, after all three planes were registered and I was settled in under my “10X10” midway down the flight line. Its first flight had an absolutely perfect landing (difficult to do with a tri-plane) but everything else about it was… exciting! It seems that, even though it was fairly nose-heavy with a larger engine (it specifies a .70 four stroke) you STILL need down trim on the elevator while you’re flying, otherwise you do a perfect imitation of a bad roller coaster. I opted to let it sit on the flight line for the rest of the weekend and look cool, pending some tweaking with components that required the removal of the wings.
I flew with the other two planes more than I’ve ever flown before at Rhinebeck this year- lucked out with the timing on the flight line, and frequency availability. The traditional Saturday night Roast Beef Dinner was great as always, and featured some great archival black and white film footage of long time pilot Dick King and his personal Sopwith Pup, in the early days (1960’s) of the aerodrome. The details are too many to present here, but the recent passing of Dick at the age of 74 (he flew at the aerodrome from 1959 to 1998) who was one of the “Originals” alongside Cole Palen, and rare personal narration by Dick that was added to the film, were nostalgic, bittersweet, and, yes- sad to experience- knowing that yet another wonderful chapter of the aerodrome had come to a close with his death.
Next was the weekend of the 14th up at Shinhopple, NY, for the 6th annual N.E.A.T. Fair for electrics. I’d hoped to have, in addition to my “Boomerang Banana” (a.k.a. my Zagi wing) a converted SE-5a ARF ready with my recently purchased electric system from Sky Shark RC. Once again, due to a lack of 36 hour days, it was not to be. I had spent some time sorting out the best (as in easiest to install and least expensive) components for my first true “big” electric, and a chance reading of a column in AMA’s Model Aviation magazine with Bob Aberle (one of the super-big electric guru’s) brought me to SS’s website. First outfit I’ve seen that provided everything (and I mean everything) you needed ready to just install, plug in (no soldering- yay!!) and go.
The only
down side to all these electric goings-on was the heavy
dollar hit (when it’s all said and done, I’ll be
looking at about $700) but I’m hoping that, since these
are all one-time purchases (or in the case of the lipo
batteries, a long-term purchase) I’ll be recouping the
investment going forward. The plug in setup means I’ll
be able to use the battery and ESC on other planes. I
had also made a last minute purchase of a Park Zone
Spitfire to have as a backup. Park Zone makes a number
of small (36” wingspan typical) ready to go combos that
basically have you flying “out of the box” as soon as
your battery finishes charging. Everything- including a
radio- is included. Steve Bitondo showed their P-51
Mustang at a meeting earlier this year, and the
Spitfire had recently picked up some nice reviews in
one of the hobby mags, so I figured I’d have one ready
as a second plane to fly.
Unfortunately, the supplied receiver was defective, and I ended up sending it back to Park Zone for a complete replacement. My plans for an overnight Saturday to Sunday also went South, and I spent more time going and coming (5 hour round trip Sunday- where’s my Preparation H…) than flying, but it was worth it to see this year’s crop of super electrics, and see the latest and greatest from the vendors. Pete Peale had the right idea- rent an RV camper, complete with shower! The event is held at the Peaceful Valley campgrounds, a beautiful location nestled between two small mountains and next to a small river. Next year I think a tent, sleeping bag, and air mattress, at least…
Finally, this last weekend I visited Farmington, CT. for the six annual “Multi-Wing” Fly In, sponsored by Model Airplane News’ tech editor Gerry Yarrish. My gas dealer was happy to see me again, just prior to schlepping just under 2 hours to get there (thank God for my donut seat cushion). The Good News was that it’s a VERY large flying venue, being basically flat farmland with plenty of room, and a great runway area neatly groomed. The Bad News is that at about 3 PM the sun in flush in your face, and there was a variably gusty and nasty crosswind at 90 degrees to the runway for the majority of the day. I had planned to fly the DR-1, but conditions definitely were against it (only two other triplanes flew- both made hair-raising landings, and one was the worse off for it, cracking a lower wing).
I got two flights in with the D-VII. The first one was a delight, thanks to a lull in the atmospheric conditions, with a perfect landing. The second one was an adventure, as just after I took off, for some reason, I realized I was down on power, and coming in for a quick landing the wind decided to kick the poor guy in the rear, resulting in a particularly interesting landing attitude, which ended up with the nose in a plowed furrow of dirt just short of the runway. Damage could have been worse, and I made yet ANOTHER mental note to check the fueling valve for trouble. Other than that, it was a great event, with Gerry’s family doing the bulk of the volunteering, along with members of the Central Connecticut RC Club. Some absolutely gorgeous models were in attendance, some of which had also visited Rhinebeck.
Anyway, it looks like I have a little repairing, replacing and general cleaning up to do. I guess I should do the lawn, too (who says it’s too long at your shins?). I did finally get a replacement Spitfire from Park Zone, which I’ll be bringing up to the picnic this Sunday, 9/30. Yes, the picnic… you didn’t forget, did you? Looking forward to seeing everyone there-Until then…
Fly safely, but… FLY!
Unfortunately, the supplied receiver was defective, and I ended up sending it back to Park Zone for a complete replacement. My plans for an overnight Saturday to Sunday also went South, and I spent more time going and coming (5 hour round trip Sunday- where’s my Preparation H…) than flying, but it was worth it to see this year’s crop of super electrics, and see the latest and greatest from the vendors. Pete Peale had the right idea- rent an RV camper, complete with shower! The event is held at the Peaceful Valley campgrounds, a beautiful location nestled between two small mountains and next to a small river. Next year I think a tent, sleeping bag, and air mattress, at least…
Finally, this last weekend I visited Farmington, CT. for the six annual “Multi-Wing” Fly In, sponsored by Model Airplane News’ tech editor Gerry Yarrish. My gas dealer was happy to see me again, just prior to schlepping just under 2 hours to get there (thank God for my donut seat cushion). The Good News was that it’s a VERY large flying venue, being basically flat farmland with plenty of room, and a great runway area neatly groomed. The Bad News is that at about 3 PM the sun in flush in your face, and there was a variably gusty and nasty crosswind at 90 degrees to the runway for the majority of the day. I had planned to fly the DR-1, but conditions definitely were against it (only two other triplanes flew- both made hair-raising landings, and one was the worse off for it, cracking a lower wing).
I got two flights in with the D-VII. The first one was a delight, thanks to a lull in the atmospheric conditions, with a perfect landing. The second one was an adventure, as just after I took off, for some reason, I realized I was down on power, and coming in for a quick landing the wind decided to kick the poor guy in the rear, resulting in a particularly interesting landing attitude, which ended up with the nose in a plowed furrow of dirt just short of the runway. Damage could have been worse, and I made yet ANOTHER mental note to check the fueling valve for trouble. Other than that, it was a great event, with Gerry’s family doing the bulk of the volunteering, along with members of the Central Connecticut RC Club. Some absolutely gorgeous models were in attendance, some of which had also visited Rhinebeck.
Anyway, it looks like I have a little repairing, replacing and general cleaning up to do. I guess I should do the lawn, too (who says it’s too long at your shins?). I did finally get a replacement Spitfire from Park Zone, which I’ll be bringing up to the picnic this Sunday, 9/30. Yes, the picnic… you didn’t forget, did you? Looking forward to seeing everyone there-Until then…
Fly safely, but… FLY!