Probably not the smartest decision I've made this week, but just maidened my F-18. Got to the field, and the wind was a 90 degree crosswind, gusting about 10-20. It's too hot to work in my shop for any period of time, so I cannot do the weathering job I want to attempt, might as well fly it. Planned on the first flight with no configuration changes, so gear down, flaps down. All went pretty well, trimmed for level flight with only a few clicks, but I think unfamiliarity with the plane and the overshooting crosswind got me. Classic approach turn stall. About 45 degrees off the runway heading, it stalled and rolled inverted. Luckily, I had altitude to recover, neutralized, rolled wings level, added power and slowly increased back stick, and flew out of it. Second approach, kept my speed up a bit more, did fine, but the x-wind had the jet up on two wheels once on the ground. Not pretty, but safe on deck. Second flight, I flew the jet around clean for a few minutes, but was more concerned with the approach, and got to it quickly. This time, the whole approach was better, but the x-wind was still kicking my behind. Nice touch down, but immediately up on two wheels, and I could not recover. Ended up in the weeds on the downwind side of the runway with a broken sidewinder and missile rack. Easy fix. Done for the day.
I'm using a Futaba radio with the stock setup, all running through the blue box. Haven't had any glitches or nonsense as of yet. No gyro on these two flights, but I will add an A3-L for the next trip. Took this photo AFTER the flights. Hid the broken missile on the other side!
I'm using a Futaba radio with the stock setup, all running through the blue box. Haven't had any glitches or nonsense as of yet. No gyro on these two flights, but I will add an A3-L for the next trip. Took this photo AFTER the flights. Hid the broken missile on the other side!
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