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

[davegee]

Took the F/A-18C and the T Bird out to the field this morning. The latest scale addition is the Elbee tail hook extension/retraction mechanism, printed up from my printer. I flew two flights with the Hornet today, and tested actuating and retracting the tail hook on both flights. Worked phenomenally well, and scale looking. Elbee, your tail hook device gets my firm thumbs up 👍👍👍!
T Bird flew great as a warmup, and the JP brakes installed on both of these aircraft work well. Also installed on my F-4N that I'll probably fly later this week.

In addition, I got a decal sheet from an outfit in Texas called "Two Bobs." This has all the decals for the AIM-9 Sidewinder and AIM-7 Sparrow missiles with several variants thereof. I scanned the sheet which was like in 1/48 scale, and had Callie reprint them in 1/11 scale for the Hornet. One pic shows some of these scale decals on the missile. Not totally sure I have them right, but should be "reasonably close" for what I was trying to do.

Last, I had Dan Gross who arrived at the field take a picture of me with these planes after I flew them so readers wouldn't think I'm just a "meme."

Cheers

Davegee

[Elbee]

davegee Phenomenal Photos, my friends.

Very pleased your functional tail-hook assembly turned out so well.

As always, great work, Dave.

Best, LB

[f4u ausie]

Nice to meet u dave,,,,, great shots also dan,,that incredible mountain.
luv that f18 incredably detailed as usual... can i ask how does it fly compared to the f4?,

[davegee]

davegee Phenomenal Photos, my friends.

Very pleased your functional tail-hook assembly turned out so well.

As always, great work, Dave.

Best, LB

Hi Elbee: all of your ingenious scale designs that I have added to my planes work fabulously! I flew with the "Deluxe Elbee Cockpit" TM, today, it hung in there just great. I move the battery back about an inch and a half to put the CG right on the money. I have another marking in the fuse when I fly the standard issue cockpit from Freewing. The printed Sidewinders look SO much better than the foam "noodles" that come with these kits.

BTW, I'm working on a really beautiful model of the SpaceX Starship, with detachable stages. It is about 30 hours of printing involved for all the parts, and I had to switch out the silver filament for the black for those parts and was able to figure things out how to change filaments. I think I have that down now, and this was a good exercise in that regard. I should have the whole thing completed in a few days and will PM you some pics of it. You can even print up a stand, too, which I will do. Amazing, these 3D printer machines!!

Cheers

Davegee

[davegee]

Nice to meet u dave,,,,, great shots also dan,,that incredible mountain.
luv that f18 incredably detailed as usual... can i ask how does it fly compared to the f4?,

Hi F4u aussie: The Hornet and the F-4N are great airplanes. Flying them for me increases the "pucker factor" a bit over some of the other planes, but it gets your heart pumping seeing them fly by at over 100mph.

I still have some minor adjustments to do with the Hornet, mainly increasing the roll rate with the ailerons a bit more for better handling. Right now, I have it too low and it is sluggish in responding to roll commands, especially turning to get lined up from base leg to final for landing.

The F-4 is another great Freewing airplane. I have about 30 flights each on the F-4 and the Hornet. One of my first flights with the F-4 I got it a bit slow on short final approach, and it stalled and rolled over on its back and nose from about 4 feet high. I repaired it so you would hardly notice it, but the nose is slightly "bent" to the left after the "surgery" so I had to add some aileron trim to keep it straight. But it flies great with a lot of authority. Landings and takeoffs aren't bad from our very bumpy runway, and I don't put on the big wing drop tanks because one usually falls off right at or after takeoff, making for an "interesting" flight to get it safely back down again. A smoother runway and I'm sure I wouldn't have this issue.

The F-4 tracks well on the ground and the addition of the JP brakes gives me an extra amount of comfort that in most cases I can stop it by the end of the runway should it float too much before landing.

I like both of these planes. I hope to have them for a long time.

Cheers

davegee

[davegee]

Took my venerable Flightline Spitfire to the field this morning. Hadn't flown it much or any throughout the winter. Except for missing finding a slightly loose set screw for one of the landing gear, it flew great, getting in 4 flights. I've had this airplane, with almost All original parts, since I bought it in 2017. I never logged how many flights I have on it, but I would venture to say it is at least a couple hundred.

The plane is based on an actual aircraft that operated in WWII, and a real pilot who flew it. In this case, it was a plane flown in the RAF, and the pilot was a famous Polish ace who was able to escape the Nazis when they conquered Poland. He and other Poles made it to England, flew with the RAF, and some eventually flew with the American USAAF in the 56th Fighter Group, flying P-47 Thunderbolts. The pilot's name was Witold "Lanny" Lanowski. I know his son, Rhys, who lives in England. I decided on this paint scheme back in 2017 as a nod to Krys and his famous father and ace Lanny.

Here's a few pics from today, a cool, cloudy day that reminds me of England in some ways. Plane flew great, as always.

Cheers

Davegee

[Grossman56]

Looks good Dave. Got the gear doors and the RX for my new-to-me Spitfire installed yesterday. I want to weather it so I'm sourcing out pics, got a book on Canadian Spitfires that shows some wear and weathering. I'll have to get some pics of your bird. On a side note. I augured in the Avanti on the 2nd flight. Just lost connection, my own fault though, I for some reason, placed the receiver right beside the battery. Dumb, expensive mistake on my part. At some point, I'll buy the motorless version and install the motor/ ESC from this one.

Grossman56

[davegee]

Hi Dan: proper scale weathering has always been important to me, as it has undoubtedly been for you, too. The story I always allude to was when I was in a competition for the US Scale Masters many years ago. The guy parked next to me had a nice P-51D gasser. Unfortunately, he weathered it so much that it looked like it had gone through an Earth reentry from space! It was hideous. Of course, I didn’t say anything to him about it, but it is true sometimes that “less is more.”

My take on UK based RAF aircraft is that they didn’t suffer as much weathering as planes from other theatres, like the South Pacific, did. And, they had access to paints and repair on the ground to keep them somewhat presentable for their pilots. I haven’t seen any photos of UK Spitties that look like hell. I think if you go easy on it and make judicious use of weathering in the usual places, based on photos and any other supporting sources, it will come out great!

If I can be of any assistance, let me know.


davegee

[Wild Man]

I flew this bunch of goodies today had a blast

[Wild Man]

I took these three out to fly today and set all three up to use as Instructional Aircraft. My older brother helped with the Three to make sure I had them correctly slaved to my IX20 as Master and a DX9 for the slave all flew great and my brother got a little time flying the B-25. just getting ready for the Season. An older gentleman out riding his bicycle stop by and I gave him a couple flights with the Aero Scout. We had a light North wind of 8 to12. I took up the little mini Draco, a Little breezy and I landed it in 3 feet the mini Draco is a blast.

[Wild Man]

This is what I flew TONIGHT My new mini Draco night Flyer LOL!!! needs a couple more lights on the tail like big brother Draco has

[davegee]

Last couple of days I've gotten in a few flights. I took my B-2 Spirit out yesterday as the winds were pretty light (the only conditions that I'll put it up in the air) along with my T-33 as my faithful "weather ship."
This morning, I flew my FMS Penrod and Sam and E-FliteThe Hun Hunter from Texas. Both flew great, although I had a crack in the plastic mount for one of the main gear on P&S that cracked on landing. Shouldn't have done that, I was trying to execute a two-wheel, tail low landing, which I screwed up and converted it to a three point, which probably put a little more stress on the gear. I think there had already been a crack in that cheap plastic part that finally gave, but I have it glued up now and should be ready for another flight next time I take it up.

Being that next Monday, May 27 is Memorial Day, my flight with the B-2 Spirit took on a little bit of personal meaning for me. I changed the markings on the main gear doors from the stock to Spirit of Missouri, which is based (as all B-2s are) at Whiteman AFB Missouri. I was born nearby in Warrensburg while my dad was stationed there as a B-47B Stratojet pilot in the 1950s during the Cold War with the Soviet Union. If the weather is nice on Monday, I might take it out again to fly it. It's just a cruiser, but really looks great flying past in the air. I logged my 35th flight on it yesterday.

[Elbee]

davegee a fitting tribute, Sir. Best, LB

[davegee]

Here's a pic I took of my B-2 back on its maiden flight 2 years ago. It was "lost" in my computer files and I just found it. I had a friend actually fly this flight while I manned the camera. It has great presence in the air. Up here, it's hard to take inflight pics as I am usually flying the airplane and I don't have a camera man with me.

Davegee

[paulrkytek]

Whilst waiting for our main field to dry out enough to be able to cut and roll the grass before I can fly my warbirds or edf jets I have been flying the Havok and a couple of scratch build chuck and ducks. ( 630mm edf with 40mm 12 blade 4s fan and a 570mm delta.) Also the Panther hand launch. It looks like a couple of weeks yet before the field will be ready to cut!!!

[davegee]

Whilst waiting for our main field to dry out enough to be able to cut and roll the grass before I can fly my warbirds or edf jets I have been flying the Havok and a couple of scratch build chuck and ducks. ( 630mm edf with 40mm 12 blade 4s fan and a 570mm delta.) Also the Panther hand launch. It looks like a couple of weeks yet before the field will be ready to cut!!!

Planes look great, paulrkytek! I especially like the Grumman F9F Panther. I hope they come out with a larger scale version of it someday, I'll buy one.

Cheers

davegee

[Grossman56]

I'm hoping for a windless Monday as well, time to put BBD back in the air for a salute to the vets. She always does such a great job and she's my reminder of exactly why I got into this hobby in the first place. Don't forget that June 6th is the 80th anniversary of D Day as well!

Grossman56

[Hugh Wiedman]

Here's a pic I took of my B-2 back on its maiden flight 2 years ago. It was "lost" in my computer files and I just found it. I had a friend actually fly this flight while I manned the camera. It has great presence in the air. Up here, it's hard to take inflight pics as I am usually flying the airplane and I don't have a camera man with me.

Davegee

Great Shot Dave! And paulrkytek outstanding looking Panther.

Got out yesterday after a long time not flying due to miserable and windy weather. Had a rather odd bunch of planes to see if I could remember which direction on the TX was up. The Euro/F16 & F4 are all 8S, flown on SMC HiV 8S packs. Still feel the 8S F4 is one of the best flying aircraft in my hangar. The FW 190 is balsa made by Aces High/Extreme Flight and flies incredibly well for 12 minutes on a SMC 6S HiV 5900. I also put 2 speakers and the Model Sound System in it and that sounds great, even has the 13mm guns and 20mm cannon sounds. Unfortunately, he's no longer in business and has closed down like the other sound guys. The SU-30 flies on 2 SMC HiV 4400's for over 5 minutes, which makes it worthy to take out to the field, although it is still not has nice to fly as the FW Mig 29 with TV. Fortunately, no mishaps this time around, but there's always tomorrow.

[davegee]

Great you got out to do some flying with your fleet. You have such a nice field to fly from. I have never done a 8S battery set up yet, and at my field elevation of 5100 feet, not to mention what the density altitude becomes with hot summer weather coming on, I might like to do a test airplane someday on one of my jets to see if it improves performance much for me.

I just got a new Freewing F-15. I had one a long time ago, but forgot how cramped the fuselage is for batteries and electronic stuff. I have electric brakes and afterburner lights set up and, talk about putting 10 pounds of stuff on a 5 pound bag!!! But it did barely fit in. Maiden next week.

cheers

davegee