Yesterday was finally a decent day, after 5 PM (87°F) - not beastly hot like it's been the last week, or too windy (<2ms) - so I took this puppy out for some real flight testing.
There was an impromptu "party" at the field with about 15 flyers with their better parts, and I seemed to have caused somewhat of an uproar
![Smile :)](./images/smilies/icon_e_smile.gif)
, as many were not aware of my FF activities
![Laughing :lol:](./images/smilies/icon_lol.gif)
. Lots of photos were taken, delaying my getting any "work" done - but I couldn't convince any of those present to video my test flights
![Sad :(](./images/smilies/icon_e_sad.gif)
.
I had re-armed the plane with 2 strands of 1/8th x 13" (3/32nd was only for the back-yard hops) starting with 150 turns. NOT enough, but did show that a bit more weight needed in the nose. Next was 200 turns with a bit of porpoising - again too short to determine if more nose weight or "down" thrust was needed, but did expose a rather tight left turn with very little altitude gain.
Upped the turns to 400. LOTS of porpoising but got some height - maybe 30 feet - and a tight left turn! As the turns ran out, it settled into a decent glide, but the remaining height was insufficient to determine HOW good.
Next was with 500 turns, a bit of weight on the right wing tip. I moved onto the main field as many were not aware that I had been flying and wanted to be able to observe. I was already fairly confident that not much could go really haywire so I obliged. The porpoising was MUCH worse (the tight turn of the earlier flights dampened the oscillations) but the plane got up a lot higher and as the turns ran out the glide looked really nice - left under power transitioning to right in the glide.
Changing to a fresh motor, I went for (almost) broke cranking in 750 turns. I had added a small shim to the prop block to reduce/cure(?) the porpoising - wasn't quite enough, but the puppy climbed up to about 100 feet - the left turn still a tiny bit too tight - where she cruised for a bit and then went into a nice glide to the right. Touched down about 50 feet from the launch with a nice greased landing. Flight was timed by one of the women at nearly 40 seconds. We were well into dusk, so I called it quits. I hope to break in my West Wings Spitfire this weekend, but temps are expected to get up to 100°F thru Monday
![Shocked :shock:](./images/smilies/icon_eek.gif)
! I usually don't even leave the apartment when it gets over 90!
Now to paint and add the permanent greenhouse - and possibly up the motor to 4 strands of 3/32nds. AUW of the model as tested: 22.07gm. Motor weight: 2.27gm.
Me happy!
Yesterday was finally a decent day, after 5 PM (87°F) - not beastly hot like it's been the last week, or too windy (<2ms) - so I took this puppy out for some real flight testing.
There was an impromptu "party" at the field with about 15 flyers with their better parts, and I seemed to have caused somewhat of an uproar :) , as many were not aware of my FF activities :lol: . Lots of photos were taken, delaying my getting any "work" done - but I couldn't convince any of those present to video my test flights :( .
I had re-armed the plane with 2 strands of 1/8th x 13" (3/32nd was only for the back-yard hops) starting with 150 turns. NOT enough, but did show that a bit more weight needed in the nose. Next was 200 turns with a bit of porpoising - again too short to determine if more nose weight or "down" thrust was needed, but did expose a rather tight left turn with very little altitude gain.
Upped the turns to 400. LOTS of porpoising but got some height - maybe 30 feet - and a tight left turn! As the turns ran out, it settled into a decent glide, but the remaining height was insufficient to determine HOW good.
Next was with 500 turns, a bit of weight on the right wing tip. I moved onto the main field as many were not aware that I had been flying and wanted to be able to observe. I was already fairly confident that not much could go really haywire so I obliged. The porpoising was MUCH worse (the tight turn of the earlier flights dampened the oscillations) but the plane got up a lot higher and as the turns ran out the glide looked really nice - left under power transitioning to right in the glide.
Changing to a fresh motor, I went for (almost) broke cranking in 750 turns. I had added a small shim to the prop block to reduce/cure(?) the porpoising - wasn't quite enough, but the puppy climbed up to about 100 feet - the left turn still a tiny bit too tight - where she cruised for a bit and then went into a nice glide to the right. Touched down about 50 feet from the launch with a nice greased landing. Flight was timed by one of the women at nearly 40 seconds. We were well into dusk, so I called it quits. I hope to break in my West Wings Spitfire this weekend, but temps are expected to get up to 100°F thru Monday :shock: ! I usually don't even leave the apartment when it gets over 90!
Now to paint and add the permanent greenhouse - and possibly up the motor to 4 strands of 3/32nds. AUW of the model as tested: 22.07gm. Motor weight: 2.27gm.
Me happy!