What did you fly today?

[Grossman56]

Hey Dan: after the "less than optimum" flying conditions over the past week or so, yesterday was glorious! (Not to rub it in!) I was glad to be able to fly again. Did some important tests on my P-47D, and I hope to do some more flying next week. We'll see, but weather looks good on at least some of the days next week. Hope to see you out there. Which days work for you to fly with your work schedule, these days?

Cheers

Davegee

Going to head out there tomorrow morning, hopefully around nine. Maiden flight for the new Avanti and some fun flights with one of the Bearcats. Have to get Diane out to Powell by one for a Dr's appointment but can't resist getting some flying in first.
Grossman56

[shortround91]

Got to Maiden the J-10 yesterday what a beautiful flying plane

[davegee]

Yep I knew it! I said to myself as I was hauling out garbage this morning and the weather was perfect, I said, "I'll bet you that dang Dave is out flying right now!" Guess I was right, I could almost see the planes from the hospital (wishful thinking!)

Grossman56

Hey Dan: after the "less than optimum" flying conditions over the past week or so, yesterday was glorious! (Not to rub it in!) I was glad to be able to fly again. Did some important tests on my P-47D, and I hope to do some more flying next week. We'll see, but weather looks good on at least some of the days next week. Hope to see you out there. Which days work for you to fly with your work schedule, these days?

Cheers

Davegee

[Grossman56]

Yep I knew it! I said to myself as I was hauling out garbage this morning and the weather was perfect, I said, "I'll bet you that dang Dave is out flying right now!" Guess I was right, I could almost see the planes from the hospital (wishful thinking!)

Grossman56

[davegee]

We've had to stand down for close to a week due to winds and rain. But today, the winds died down and brilliant blue skies are in the forecast for several days ahead, which is good news.

I brought my T-33 and FMS P-47D "Ol Cock" that had been hanging in the garage over the winter. I found out how rusty I got to be on this airplane. I have others but this particular one was a devil for landings. I had a couple of less than perfect "bouncy" landings with those hard plastic wheels, but the last two flights I finally got back in the groove again. Turns out, these hard plastic wheels are the same ones, more or less, that E Flite uses on their 1.5M P-51D. For those who flew with stock tires on the Mustang, you probably found landings "challenging" with a tendency for the airplane to bounce on landings, at least I did. This was remedied by putting Robart 3.5 inch tires on the P-51, and that pretty much solved that problem.

However, with the FMS 1.5m P-47D razorback I didn't seem to have those problems, until recently. However this morning, the light finally clicked on in my brain and I got back to the proper landing position that works for nice smooth landings, for me. I found that if I keep the power up some even through touchdown and really work the landing to just "kiss" the runway, consistent landings are now back for me, after a lot of frustration. Everything else about this plane is great, I think. I love the big V3 Corsair prop on these planes and even with those hard wheels, that bounce issue can be overcome, most of the time. I left the field with a good feeling about my T-33 and the P-47s.

Have a great weekend flying, wherever you are!


Cheers

Davegee

[Grossman56]

Dang Dave, you seem to always hit the good mornings, I was out there yesterday (Sun Apr 29) just as the storm rolled through, no flights, and again today. Wind was up and it started to rain. The trouble with working, all the nice days seem to be week days.

Grossman56

[davegee]

Another beautiful spring morning, I took my Corsair out before heading for the pool for some laps. Hadn't flown this one for a couple of months, good to get it out again. For some reason my tailwheel steering needed a little tweak for a left turning tendency on the ground, but that was about it. I think the stock kit tires are probably fine, but I've had the 3.5" Robarts since it was new 3 years ago, and it really helps with tracking on the ground and sticking the landings. What a great plane! One of my favorites.

Davegee

[davegee]

I seldom get down to Cheyenne any more unless we are driving to/from Denver which is becoming a rare event. But next time we do go, we’ll check it out.

I hope you do convert one of the Freewing T- birds to that paint scheme someday.

davegee

[SanExup]

davegee In Cheyenne at the Air National Guard Museum. I don't make it to Cheyenne much, twice in 25 years, but it'll be worth a visit the next time I find myself down there.

[davegee]

I had my FMS 1500mm P-47D Razorback "Ole Cock" hanging up in the garage all winter. The other day, I took it down, ran some checks on it, and today I took it out to the field early and got 5 flights on it. Went pretty well, every plane flies just a little bit differently, but it flew ok. I have some minor issues with it tracking properly on the ground during taxi, and after a smooth landing, I have some control issues keeping it straight down the runway. When it gets slow, it wants to do a ground loop, which is hard on the gear and structure, even while going pretty slowly. I'm going to work on that today before I fly again. It's possible I'm oversteering the tailwheel and rudder on landing rollouts, not totally sure on that. My other P-47s don't have this issue.

This plane has a 3D printed spinner to simulate the Curtiss Electric prop and also scratchuilt cooling cuffs at the base of each prop.

For those interested, this is a replica of a plane flown by Lt. Donavan Smith, 61st fighter squadron of the 56th Fighter Group in WWII. He eventually became a Lieutenant General in the Air Force, but unfortunately passed away at age 51 from a brain tumor. He is buried at the USAF Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Davegee

[davegee]

As I said earlier, don't go by a supplier's labeled C on any battery. It's all just marketing. I've tested a multitude of brands with the Progressive IR meter and the actual C is no where near the advertised C. SMC'S are the closest to real. I've found the real C in most cases to be only 20% to 50% of advertised. A popular 100 C tested out at 18 C.

MCS Guys independent study is quite eye opening and will help make lipo decisions.

Good info, as always.

Thanks, Hugh.

Davegee

[Hugh Wiedman]

I'm going to get a 5000 mAh battery, I can't remember the C value, but it is quite a bit higher than the Admirals, and price is much cheaper, too.

Davegee

As I said earlier, don't go by a supplier's labeled C on any battery. It's all just marketing. I've tested a multitude of brands with the Progressive IR meter and the actual C is no where near the advertised C. SMC'S are the closest to real. I've found the real C in most cases to be only 20% to 50% of advertised. A popular 100 C tested out at 18 C.

MCS Guys independent study is quite eye opening and will help make lipo decisions.

[davegee]

davegee Nice spring weather in the Tetons means cold rain and some snow, but we've had some warmth and I went south a few weeks ago to the warmth and got to fly. And I bet the lakes are thawed enough to go float fly, that'll be my weekend if the weather isn't too crazy. I'll have to post some pics if I can make it happen.

Here is the WYOANG T33, the shiny silver would be the crux but near scale would probably be satisfactory to pass the 70 mph rule, if it looks good at 70mph I'm happy with it. Cheers! I will make it to Cody this summer!

Hi SanExup: Great photos of the Wyoming ANG T-Bird! That would make an excellent and probably unique scale contribution to aviation history, as told by RC aircraft. I hope you go ahead with that scheme on a Shooting Star! Be sure to post pics for us all to see!

Do you know where those photos were taken? Where is this aircraft on display? Is it at Warren AFB in Cheyenne? Just a guess.

Cheers

Davegee

[davegee]

Don't get me wrong Dave, I do need to point out that Admirals are a solid pack, especially since they went to GreyPower (the 1000 pound gorilla of lipos ) to make them a couple of years ago. They're just a bit heavier. And the "advertised" C on all suppliers labels are pure fantasy. And the "Smart" batteries are way too expensive/heavy and generally suck for power!

Danny with SMC has spent years getting specific lipos to his specs manufactured and IMO has become the gold standard for Flight Lipos. I used to fly exclusively Admirals and must have tried out hundreds of different brands but in the last 2 years I have now gone to SMC alone. The 5900 pack (in 6S and 8S) is what I now use in almost everything, except the SMC 4400 HiV (8S & 6S) in a few aircraft. At 740 gr, the 5900mah is the same weight as the Admiral 5000 and the 6200mah at 850gr and 7200mah at 928gr compares to the Admiral 6000 mah at 910gr. The actual C of the SMC's is also above the Admirals. I suggest you go to the SMC Racing website and click on the area that takes you to the independent testing of over 30 batteries that MCSGuy posts on RC Groups. SMC is at the top of his studies. The price for the SMC HiV's is very competitive and the prices of his non HiV packs is about 1/2 that of others.

I used to fly my F-18, F-16 and both F-4's on the Admiral 6000 packs, then went to the non HiV SMC 6200 pack (definite improvement in power-weight 830gr). Then when Danny introduced the 740 gr HiV 5900 pack I tried it in all those and loved them, actually got more flight time with the loss of some 90 gr and the aircraft flew much better and got off grass runways much quicker. I've since converted the F-16 and the 2 F-4's to 8S (using the SMC HiV5900 8S) but still use the 6S in both F-18's and in the A-10 (which saved 180 gr and allows me ridiculous flight times). That same pack in the Corsair gives me over 10 minutes of flight time and over 12 minutes in the Spitfire. I've sold off all my other 100 packs and brands.

I sound like an SMC advertiser, but am finally content that I have been able to reduce my inventory of lipos from over 100 to about 20 and don't have to worry about flight pack issues-kinda. Concerning SMC, I'm now like the mass murderer on death row claiming I've "Seen the Light" and should be released into society to change the world of RC. Danny also has the best customer service I've experienced.

I'll get off my soap box now, but you'd be remiss in not giving those packs a looky loo

Not at all, Hugh! I appreciate your opinion on batteries and electrical systems for RC airplanes. I went online last night and read through some of the tests they do to rate the power of their batteries. I was going to buy one, but it is out of stock right now. I'm on the notification list once they come in again. I'm going to get a 5000 mAh battery, I can't remember the C value, but it is quite a bit higher than the Admirals, and price is much cheaper, too.

I'll get back to you with a flight report once I do get one of the backordered batteries to test out on my Hornet and F-4.

Appreciate your comments and recommendations!

Cheers

Davegee

[Elbee]

Hugh Wiedman

Thanks Hugh, these are now on my to do list.

I've been wanting some fresher packs and by your comments the 5900 sounds like a solid replacement for my RT 6250s.

Best, LB

[Hugh Wiedman]

Thanks, Hugh. I know you are the "guru" of power systems, and your word means a lot to me. I did order a 6S Admiral which has been my "go to" for years as a replacement for an old battery that went south. I've had a few of the more expensive Horizon Smart batteries 6S 30C, but have been disappointed that it loses a cell here and there even though I "baby" them. I only have one of those left to fly, but the 30 C rating seems low for my Hornet at this altitude (5,000 feet MSL) if I understand the "C" rating correctly. My Admirals are 50 C and they seem to perform ok at this altitude.

I'll buy one that you recommend and try it out. For most of my prop planes, no big deal, but for my jets like the F-18 and F4, I want more power at this altitude.

Thanks for the recommendation!

Cheers

Davegee

Don't get me wrong Dave, I do need to point out that Admirals are a solid pack, especially since they went to GreyPower (the 1000 pound gorilla of lipos ) to make them a couple of years ago. They're just a bit heavier. And the "advertised" C on all suppliers labels are pure fantasy. And the "Smart" batteries are way too expensive/heavy and generally suck for power!

Danny with SMC has spent years getting specific lipos to his specs manufactured and IMO has become the gold standard for Flight Lipos. I used to fly exclusively Admirals and must have tried out hundreds of different brands but in the last 2 years I have now gone to SMC alone. The 5900 pack (in 6S and 8S) is what I now use in almost everything, except the SMC 4400 HiV (8S & 6S) in a few aircraft. At 740 gr, the 5900mah is the same weight as the Admiral 5000 and the 6200mah at 850gr and 7200mah at 928gr compares to the Admiral 6000 mah at 910gr. The actual C of the SMC's is also above the Admirals. I suggest you go to the SMC Racing website and click on the area that takes you to the independent testing of over 30 batteries that MCSGuy posts on RC Groups. SMC is at the top of his studies. The price for the SMC HiV's is very competitive and the prices of his non HiV packs is about 1/2 that of others.

I used to fly my F-18, F-16 and both F-4's on the Admiral 6000 packs, then went to the non HiV SMC 6200 pack (definite improvement in power-weight 830gr). Then when Danny introduced the 740 gr HiV 5900 pack I tried it in all those and loved them, actually got more flight time with the loss of some 90 gr and the aircraft flew much better and got off grass runways much quicker. I've since converted the F-16 and the 2 F-4's to 8S (using the SMC HiV5900 8S) but still use the 6S in both F-18's and in the A-10 (which saved 180 gr and allows me ridiculous flight times). That same pack in the Corsair gives me over 10 minutes of flight time and over 12 minutes in the Spitfire. I've sold off all my other 100 packs and brands.

I sound like an SMC advertiser, but am finally content that I have been able to reduce my inventory of lipos from over 100 to about 20 and don't have to worry about flight pack issues-kinda. Concerning SMC, I'm now like the mass murderer on death row claiming I've "Seen the Light" and should be released into society to change the world of RC. Danny also has the best customer service I've experienced.

I'll get off my soap box now, but you'd be remiss in not giving those packs a looky loo

[SanExup]

davegee Nice spring weather in the Tetons means cold rain and some snow, but we've had some warmth and I went south a few weeks ago to the warmth and got to fly. And I bet the lakes are thawed enough to go float fly, that'll be my weekend if the weather isn't too crazy. I'll have to post some pics if I can make it happen.

Here is the WYOANG T33, the shiny silver would be the crux but near scale would probably be satisfactory to pass the 70 mph rule, if it looks good at 70mph I'm happy with it. Cheers! I will make it to Cody this summer!

[davegee]

Dave, you should check out the SMC High Life Cycle packs. I use the 6S HiV 5900 packs in virtually all my 6S aircraft now,; Corsair, Spitfire, FW 190, and all my 80-90mm EDF's. If you're not into HiV packs, his standard packs are also exceptional. Lighter weights and higher actual C. The HiV 5900 weighs in at 740 gr.

Thanks, Hugh. I know you are the "guru" of power systems, and your word means a lot to me. I did order a 6S Admiral which has been my "go to" for years as a replacement for an old battery that went south. I've had a few of the more expensive Horizon Smart batteries 6S 30C, but have been disappointed that it loses a cell here and there even though I "baby" them. I only have one of those left to fly, but the 30 C rating seems low for my Hornet at this altitude (5,000 feet MSL) if I understand the "C" rating correctly. My Admirals are 50 C and they seem to perform ok at this altitude.

I'll buy one that you recommend and try it out. For most of my prop planes, no big deal, but for my jets like the F-18 and F4, I want more power at this altitude.

Thanks for the recommendation!

Cheers

Davegee

[Hugh Wiedman]

Thanks, Elbee. I am finishing up painting the wingtip repair tonight and ordering some new batteries from MRC now. I still have a few newer 5000 6S batteries I can fly, but I really need to have some fresh ones to replace the ones I've been using for years!

Cheers

Davegee

Dave, you should check out the SMC High Life Cycle packs. I use the 6S HiV 5900 packs in virtually all my 6S aircraft now,; Corsair, Spitfire, FW 190, and all my 80-90mm EDF's. If you're not into HiV packs, his standard packs are also exceptional. Lighter weights and higher actual C. The HiV 5900 weighs in at 740 gr.

[davegee]

With better Spring weather taking hold, I'm able to dust off planes I haven't flown for awhile and test them out. Today I flew one of my P-47s, Penrod and Sam, and my E Flite LOU IV. They both flew beautifully, and the weather was just perfect. Just a little headwind, which helps for takeoffs and landings, and very smooth weather that allows these planes to fly like they are on rails. A good time to get some flights in today, before heading for the pool to do some laps.

Cheers

Davegee