I arrived at the airfield at around 10:30AM or so this morning on Saturday March 30th, 2013 to a gorgeous Colorado springtime day with plenty of sunshine and a few high clouds with breezes at around 6 knots out of the West, but by the time I got set up to fly my SIG 4 Star 60 with the OS 75 AX engine on it the winds had become a bit heavier and more out of the northerly direction so more of a slight crosswind for take offs and landings.
Dennis Sporing called me right after my arrival and he also decided to come on out to fly too.
No sooner than I had gotten off the phone with Dennis and Steve Anderson shows up to fly his new Comanche ARF plane and his Goldberg Tiger too. He sure put them both through their paces very well, as well as did Dennis with his yellow Telemaster he flys so well.
I had some engine break-in tuning difficulties to adjust on the engine on my SIG, and a prop size change which Cloyce Mann correctly diagnosed and recommended the 13x8 prop also. I took off again to a much nicer running engine that had a lot better peak performance characteristics and great transition functions too.
Marlowe Cassetti showed up with his nice flying Piper Cub with the gorgeous sounding Saito 4 Stroke .65 engine on board that pretty flying plane and got in several flights too.
Both Kenny McMullen and Cloyce Mann stopped in to visit everyone flying and enjoying themselves on this perfectly great springtime Colorado day with nice temperatures and moderate winds to fly in.
I was really surprised that not more members were not there enjoying the great weather and flying conditions today, and tomorrow's forecast is for more of the same nice weather too, for Easter Sunday.
Ed Vincent and myself have pooled our resources and supplies and have come up with what we hope will be a really great asset to the club members needs, and that is the battery powered charging station, for everyone to use to recharge whatever they need to while at the field. I am also planning on putting a small 1.5 amp solar powered panel up on the roof of the building to allow the battery to remain at peak charge for every one's needs at a later date, when I can get to Pueblo to purchase the necessary items to add to the system.
I hope to see everyone out flying and enjoying this great weather we are experiencing right now, and I will be figuring out when to reschedule our missed Field Work Day for sometime in the month of April at our regularly scheduled club meeting and auction this coming Friday evening April 5th, 2013. Bring lots of goodies to sell and lots of money to purchase items from your fellow club members then as well too.
Happy flying everyone!!!
Saturday, March 30, 2013
Sunday, March 17, 2013
A Big Thank You!!!
I'd like to report that I received a telephone call Sunday morning from Kenny McMullen, and that he called to inform me that he had just dropped off a sealed gel style battery for the club members needs when charging their batteries while at the field.
We will keep the battery tied down inside one of the buildings and out of the weather and such, and also to try to avoid another possible theft of this battery now. I am going to the field now to check the charge state on this battery as per Kenny's directive, and will try to come up with ideas for a "through the wall" battery post set-up so a member can simply leave their plane and/or battery out on the table under the canopy and still hook up their charger conveniently.
Any suggestions please let me know of your needs and ideas soon.
Thanks again Kenny!!!
Reported Sunday, March 17th, 2013 by Mark J. Sullivan
We will keep the battery tied down inside one of the buildings and out of the weather and such, and also to try to avoid another possible theft of this battery now. I am going to the field now to check the charge state on this battery as per Kenny's directive, and will try to come up with ideas for a "through the wall" battery post set-up so a member can simply leave their plane and/or battery out on the table under the canopy and still hook up their charger conveniently.
Any suggestions please let me know of your needs and ideas soon.
Thanks again Kenny!!!
Reported Sunday, March 17th, 2013 by Mark J. Sullivan
Saturday, March 16, 2013
March Fun Fly Activities
We had a nice turnout of pilots for the March 2013 Fun Fly rescheduled event held just this morning on Saturday, March 16th, 2013, and we even had some visitors show up to spectate and possibly join our club.
As in the past, anytime a scheduled event of ours is not held on the regularly scheduled day, we use the following weekend as a make up date, which is what was done today due to last weekends inclement weather.
Kenny McMullen was here flying with his Super Sportster, and as usual he put it through it's paces in a very fast and aerobatic fashion.
Marlowe Cassetti attended the event and brought out his SIG LT-40 airplane to use in the Touch and Go portion of the Fun Fly activity.
Club President Ed Vincent was in attendance and was using his newly acquired Goldberg Tiger for the Touch and Go competition and also for tearing up holes in the sky in his skilled manner. Ed went on to win the event today with the most TnG's performed in a 3 minute event. Congratulations to him, and he set the bar high for landings in both directions during the course of the competition.
Dennis Sporing was on hand and brought out his Telemaster and naturally had it going skyward in no time at all, and appeared to be having a great time flying it with skill and daring.
Terry Davis stopped by to try his hand at the Fun Fly event and brought out his beautiful Hangar 9 Pulse 60 plane, and promptly got it ripping and flipping through the air.
Last and most certainly least <especially in the Touch and Go competition> I showed up to fly my Great Planes UPROAR 3D style plane, and I just could not hit the runway with two sticks much less skill. Every time I tried today, I plopped it in trying too hard and stopped the prop when I would pancake it in too hard during my landings. Some days you just have to put the transmitter down and watch everyone else, which is what I had to do.
Doc Brown and his son showed up to fly electric planes just as I was loading up to leave for the day, so I am unable to report how they ended up flying, and for that I do apologize. Anyone else that showed up after I left gets the same apology too.
The weather started out a bit chilly and variable winds kept you guessing as to what was in store for you while flying at different times during the first part of the event, while later on the winds laid down, the sun burned through the overcast clouds and the temperature started climbing to a very comfortable level quickly, as the day moved on. Folks were able to shed their light jackets that they wore during the first part of the morning as it became warmer. Not too bad for the very last day of Winter of 2013. I noticed on the Weather Channel online that the sunrise today was at 7:09 AM and todays sunset will be at 7:09 PM. Can warmer days be just around the corner for us soon? Todays forecast is also calling for a 20% chance of rain showers late today, so let's hope that much needed moisture graces our parched Earth here also.
Sonny Hodges was also at the event recording video of the days activities for the club archives too. Hopefully he will be able to include some of these recordings and pictures in the upcoming newsletters too.
I took some pictures at various times throughout the event while I was there, and have posted them below for your enjoyment.
Thank you to everyone for all of your great efforts and volunteering so much to our club, anytime someone has a need or something needs done for the club's benefit also.
A quick reminder of the scheduled workday coming up on March 23rd, 2013, starting at 10:00 AM for everyone to make plans to attend and get some of the necessary maintenance items accomplished, and possibly some of our improvement projects started also on that day too. See you there then!
Happy Saint Patricks Day to each and every member and all of their family members too.
Posted by Mark J. Sullivan on March 16th, 2013.
As in the past, anytime a scheduled event of ours is not held on the regularly scheduled day, we use the following weekend as a make up date, which is what was done today due to last weekends inclement weather.
Kenny McMullen was here flying with his Super Sportster, and as usual he put it through it's paces in a very fast and aerobatic fashion.
Marlowe Cassetti attended the event and brought out his SIG LT-40 airplane to use in the Touch and Go portion of the Fun Fly activity.
Club President Ed Vincent was in attendance and was using his newly acquired Goldberg Tiger for the Touch and Go competition and also for tearing up holes in the sky in his skilled manner. Ed went on to win the event today with the most TnG's performed in a 3 minute event. Congratulations to him, and he set the bar high for landings in both directions during the course of the competition.
Dennis Sporing was on hand and brought out his Telemaster and naturally had it going skyward in no time at all, and appeared to be having a great time flying it with skill and daring.
Terry Davis stopped by to try his hand at the Fun Fly event and brought out his beautiful Hangar 9 Pulse 60 plane, and promptly got it ripping and flipping through the air.
Last and most certainly least <especially in the Touch and Go competition> I showed up to fly my Great Planes UPROAR 3D style plane, and I just could not hit the runway with two sticks much less skill. Every time I tried today, I plopped it in trying too hard and stopped the prop when I would pancake it in too hard during my landings. Some days you just have to put the transmitter down and watch everyone else, which is what I had to do.
Doc Brown and his son showed up to fly electric planes just as I was loading up to leave for the day, so I am unable to report how they ended up flying, and for that I do apologize. Anyone else that showed up after I left gets the same apology too.
The weather started out a bit chilly and variable winds kept you guessing as to what was in store for you while flying at different times during the first part of the event, while later on the winds laid down, the sun burned through the overcast clouds and the temperature started climbing to a very comfortable level quickly, as the day moved on. Folks were able to shed their light jackets that they wore during the first part of the morning as it became warmer. Not too bad for the very last day of Winter of 2013. I noticed on the Weather Channel online that the sunrise today was at 7:09 AM and todays sunset will be at 7:09 PM. Can warmer days be just around the corner for us soon? Todays forecast is also calling for a 20% chance of rain showers late today, so let's hope that much needed moisture graces our parched Earth here also.
Sonny Hodges was also at the event recording video of the days activities for the club archives too. Hopefully he will be able to include some of these recordings and pictures in the upcoming newsletters too.
I took some pictures at various times throughout the event while I was there, and have posted them below for your enjoyment.
Thank you to everyone for all of your great efforts and volunteering so much to our club, anytime someone has a need or something needs done for the club's benefit also.
A quick reminder of the scheduled workday coming up on March 23rd, 2013, starting at 10:00 AM for everyone to make plans to attend and get some of the necessary maintenance items accomplished, and possibly some of our improvement projects started also on that day too. See you there then!
Happy Saint Patricks Day to each and every member and all of their family members too.
Posted by Mark J. Sullivan on March 16th, 2013.
Rescheduled Fun Fly
Due to last weeks inclement weather the monthly Fun Fly was not held at the field last Saturday the 9th of March, 2013.
The event will use the make up date as is the customary situation in cases such as this one, which is March 16th, 2013, and it is still being held at 10:00 AM for everyone to participate.
The festivities for the day include "Touch-and-Go" flying on a timed course.
The highest combined number should be declared the winner.
The event will use the make up date as is the customary situation in cases such as this one, which is March 16th, 2013, and it is still being held at 10:00 AM for everyone to participate.
The festivities for the day include "Touch-and-Go" flying on a timed course.
The highest combined number should be declared the winner.
Saturday, March 9, 2013
Overcoming Problems with AnyLink
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| Flyzone Playmate Micro EP |
Good write up by Mark reporting on the happenings at the Harrison School flying Friday night. This was my third session flying my little Playmate. This little electric plane uses the Tactic Anylink system that converts a regular transmitter to a 2.4 Ghz module that links to the Playmate's receiver. The two previous times it was a struggle since the receiver maps the rudder to the transmitter's left stick ... channel 4. I found it really challenging to fly with the right stick controlling only elevator and the left stick controlling both the rudder and throttle. Anyway Buzz Haviland suggested coupling the aileron and rudder on a computer radio. And I did just that. Additionally, I added exponential to the rudder and elevator controls which makes flying less of a chore. All this proved to be an excellent fix.
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| AnyLink module plugs into most transmitters |
I spent the Friday evening flying around the gymnasium flying very comfortably, enjoying the little Playmate. An added benefit ... Flying habits are hard to overcome and this trick with coupling the rudder/ailerons allowed me (without thinking) to use the rudder stick on takeoffs and the aileron stick while airborne. Making the indoor flying a good wintertime practice sessions.
We have only three remaining flying sessions this spring. Let's make the best of it!
Friday, March 8, 2013
Indoor Gym Flying
Well we didn't have as large of a turnout as normal tonight for the indoor gym flying....only 4 members flew tonite, but we did have some youngsters stay over after their basketball practice time was up to watch us do some flying with helicopters and foamy planes.
Cloyce Mann and Marlowe Cassetti had fun trying not to lose track of who's small foamy plane was who's, due to the fact that both of them had identical ParkZone brand "Playboy" airplanes they each brought to fly. In the interim Cloyce Mann also flew his 120 size electric helicopter too.
Ed Vincent brought out his MSR heli and also a park flyer T-28 Trojan to enjoy, and he put on a great exhibition flying it around.
Later on I was up flying using my tried and true ParkZone Champ airplane and decided to try an inside loop,.....it went well and I expected about what I observed tonight.
Later during that same flight, I decided it was time to attempt to slip thru the rafters while attempting another loop with the Champ airplane, but instead it got wedged tight into the metal rafters, hanging there with the propeller and engine wedging it in place.
We located a lighweight whiffle ball in the gym equipment storage area, and after a few practice throws at the plane stuck in the rafters, Ed Vincent was finally able to hit the plane with the ball, and dislodge it.
It fell approximately 24 feet striking dead straight down on the propeller and now the engine doesn't act like it has any power going to the motor. I will inspect it in the morning to assess the damage, and go from there.
Here are some pictures of the plane.
Reported by: Mark J. Sullivan on March 8th, 2013.
Cloyce Mann and Marlowe Cassetti had fun trying not to lose track of who's small foamy plane was who's, due to the fact that both of them had identical ParkZone brand "Playboy" airplanes they each brought to fly. In the interim Cloyce Mann also flew his 120 size electric helicopter too.
Ed Vincent brought out his MSR heli and also a park flyer T-28 Trojan to enjoy, and he put on a great exhibition flying it around.
Later on I was up flying using my tried and true ParkZone Champ airplane and decided to try an inside loop,.....it went well and I expected about what I observed tonight.
Later during that same flight, I decided it was time to attempt to slip thru the rafters while attempting another loop with the Champ airplane, but instead it got wedged tight into the metal rafters, hanging there with the propeller and engine wedging it in place.
We located a lighweight whiffle ball in the gym equipment storage area, and after a few practice throws at the plane stuck in the rafters, Ed Vincent was finally able to hit the plane with the ball, and dislodge it.
It fell approximately 24 feet striking dead straight down on the propeller and now the engine doesn't act like it has any power going to the motor. I will inspect it in the morning to assess the damage, and go from there.
Here are some pictures of the plane.
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| About 24 feet UPPPPP in the gym rafters!!! |
Reported by: Mark J. Sullivan on March 8th, 2013.
Saturday, March 2, 2013
New Members at club meeting
At last night's monthly club meeting, we had a new member Ken Conway join our club. Also Jim Aultman was in attendance. Not quite a new member, Jim joined a few months ago. I took their pictures so the rest of our club members will recognize Ken and Jim at future meetings or at the flying field.
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| Our newest member Ken Conway. What a great smile! |
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| Not a "new member" but recently joined, Jim Aultman. Great smile too. |
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