All us newbie pilots, lets share..

[STOOPIDMONKEY]

RE: All us newbie pilots, lets share..

for not much money at all Home Depot has asphalt in a bag, spread it compact it crack in the runway goner. Might even make a friend or 2 for doing it. Or you can come stay at my place for a while and use my flying field. probably cheaper to go the other route.

[Grossman56]

RE: All us newbie pilots, lets share..

Asphalt in a bag!!
What a concept!
I'll have to go and take a look and see what I'm going to need, then drive to Billings and see what they cost!

Thanks Sean!!

Grossman56

[Grossman56]

RE: All us newbie pilots, lets share..

Like the old fart that I am, I ordered two A3L's and forgot that I need at least a 7 channel receiver to operate them on the Mustangs, duh.  So, hopped on the MRC site and ordered two of those as well (already had an 8 channel receiver in BBD)  They seem like good receivers and cheaper than the 8 channels.  Got everything rigged up in Old Crow and it works great, but now I have a main gear that doesn't want to retract, so into the wing to find the loose wire.  It'll give me a chance to tidy up some of the wiring and I'm thinking of relocating the gyro from where I have it now, to sitting it on the light box at the front of the wing.  I can still get at it if I get rid of the rats nest.  Then I'll take on Shangrila.  The B model  seems to be a lot tighter in the access hatch than the D model (FMS) so I may have to do some trimming.  It'll give me an edge over the wind out here.

Grossman56 

[Grossman56]

RE: All us newbie pilots, lets share..

Very strange weather this weekend, none of it flightworthy.  Rain wind snow, now its warming up a bit again but the wind is still there and everything, for once is wet.  A rarity in Cody!
In other words, a good day to work on the planes.
Got BBD all rigged up with her A3L, such an easy plane to work on, lots of room in the hatch.  Old Crow was a challenge, ended up having to pull the wing and put the Gyro on the LED box on the forward part of the wing.  I had her out for taxi trials a week ago, just to get a feel for her ground handling and to loosen up the landing gear struts.  As I mentioned somewhere else, when I got the wings back on, the right retract wouldn't work.  I eventually solved this by going into the DX8/servo adjust/travel/landing gear.  The values default to 100%, I had to turn the left one up to 105%.  Solved the problem, but not before I had pulled the wing again.  Live and learn!  While I was dealing with her L/G, I noticed that the same retract had some play in it, like the other one had, so I tightened the grub screw at the base and it seemed to tighten it right up.  I also pulled the wheels and greased the axles with some bearing grease.  Now she doesn't sound like a turkey when she taxis. 
Shangrila was a tight fit as well.  The B model doesn't have the hatch room that the D model has.  Got the new receiver in and routed the extension aerial to the top of the aft fuselage which seems to be an ideal spot.  Had to trim the hatch cover some to get it to seat, but all is well now.  Has anyone tried filling the gap between the bottom of the hatch and the fuselage?  Mine leaves a bit of a gap on the starboard side and I'm thinking of trying to build it up with something, any suggestions?

Grossman56  
 

[Grossman56]

RE: All us newbie pilots, lets share..

Back in the saddle again!
Beautiful day for flying, so broke two props stripped a servo and, of course, the Waco motor mount came loose again!!!!!!! :huh: :@
Anyway, got serious with it and if it comes off again, the whole back end of the plane will come with it.
Did make one sweet landing with Pandora one but the wind came up so called it a day.  That dang little Waco is going up whether it wants to or not.  I'm not sure if it was something I was doing or the motor mount, but she likes to grind up props when she's mad.

Grossman56

[Lon]

RE: All us newbie pilots, lets share..

[img=500x339]https://scontent-ord.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpa1/v/t1.0-9/1507101_802186849868035_7944313082191508554_n.jpg? oh=fa242dd45d77605500e9b72e2fbe7262&oe=55CE8B30[/img]

[Grossman56]

RE: All us newbie pilots, lets share..

Just got home from a long drive to the last airfield that the Wyoming Sagebrush Hoppers have.  I'm sure I mentioned that they have one out in Cowley, but I hadn't been there, so Diane and I decided  to take a drive out there to check it out.  48 miles from our place.  Its a pretty nice field located right beside a small airstrip (saw one plane on the line, small).  HUGE runway, must be clos to a mile long at least and very wide.  Nothing but prairie all around it!  Could be ideal especially for maiden flights as you can almost wear out a battery just on landing, its so long! But almost 100 miles round trip, that's something to take into consideration.
Also, it was windy, welcome to Wyoming!!

Have to take a camera next time, oh yeah and maybe an airplane or two?!

Grossman56

[Grossman56]

RE: All us newbie pilots, lets share..

Took a drive today to check out this other field in Cowley, Wy. Its pretty nice!  A runway about a half mile long, you could wear down a battery just flying the thing.  Wide and no obstructions as its in the middle of the prairie.  It was windy there today, as it is here at home, but a nice field.
The only drawback is that its 47 miles one way from here which makes it a bit of a trip!
I'm going to have to rethink the way I load airplanes in the truck by the looks of things when I go out there, don't really want to pull wings, soooo....


Grossman56

[STOOPIDMONKEY]

RE: All us newbie pilots, lets share..

The weather has gone to pot here in southern Utah... Wind, wind, and more wind, followed this week by storms, no flying for me. I do however have lots of parts on the way and a couple planes asking for attention, so I will do the things I have been putting off in favor of flying vs working on planes. I hope to get a brake in this wind and weather to fly this week.

[retiredflyer]

RE: All us newbie pilots, lets share..

OK, well lets compare notes here.  Is it just me or do we all usually have to do repairs/fixes every time we come back from flying?  This morning I went out for the first time, nice and warm and no wind, to get my fingers back into shape from winter.  Took my CTLS which I have only flown once.  Went to a great rec center parking lot which is totally smooth...the ONLY place you can land the CTLS!  Went through two batteries just trimming and adjusting rates and mixes.  Landed nicely, a little hard on the second try but I have beefed up the front gear so she held great. 
  The third takeoff was....well, unexpected!  On the roll out, just about ready to lift off, and the battery hatch falls off!!!!! It is on the bottom and the rear wheels hit it and flip the plane forward, hitting the prop (which breaks), and the pieces fly backwards and hit the rudder, (which rips off), and the front motor mount breaks as it nosed into the pavement!  GOOD GRIEF! 
  I just stood there with my mouth open!  Really?  Is it just me?
  Back to the house for "repairs".  WHEW!!!!!!!!!!

[STOOPIDMONKEY]

RE: All us newbie pilots, lets share..

LOL, Nope it isn't just you! :D

[Flygirl]

RE: All us newbie pilots, lets share..

Sounds like one of my flying days GMan!!! I had a Sig Cub a long long time ago, back in my nitro gasser days. I was just starting out and I put the whole thing together with Elmers glue which was okay for the airframe, not so okay for the firewall. You can guess what happened.... ;)
[hr]

LOL, Nope it isn't just you! :D

Amen to that!! 

[boomer108]

RE: All us newbie pilots, lets share..

Sounds like one of my flying days GMan!!! I had a Sig Cub a long long time ago, back in my nitro gasser days. I was just starting out and I put the whole thing together with Elmers glue which was okay for the airframe, not so okay for the firewall. You can guess what happened.... ;)

[hr]

LOL, Nope it isn't just you! :D

Amen to that!! 

I think that's true for all of us. Always tweaking,modifying,and repairing. Normal perfect days would be boring don't you think? Got to love this hobby!

Roy B.

[Grossman56]

RE: All us newbie pilots, lets share..

I really can't complain so far this year, a couple of props and that's it, with the exception of the servo on P-1.  The rudder still works and she still steers, but there's that ratcheting sound that just doesn't impress me.  Beside, I have P-2 to fall back on.  My Waco is where the real challenge lies.  She just doesn't like taking off, or more accurately she doesn't like keeping her motor mount secure, so I really did a number on it this time, putting braces behind the motor mount to keep it forward as well as epoxied the dang thing in so it won't (hopefully ) break loose again.
Speaking of which, has anyone had any success in removing the motor mount from the RocHobby Waco?  Maybe that's a good thing, because she may loosen off, but she doesn't leave me hanging, literally.  The dang little bird is going in the air, that's all there is to it!!  Once she's up, I have to admit she's fun to fly and looks great, I've got the trim pretty well sorted out and she's a lot better than she used to be.  I just figure if I can master her, the Mustangs should be a snap.  The newly discovered field is going to be a great place to fly the Mustangs from, although, being almost 100 miles round trip, it won't be a regular thing.
17 days and counting 'til we're off to Wisconsin for the flight course, can't wait!!!!!!!!!!!

Grossman56

[Grossman56]

RE: All us newbie pilots, lets share..

Hi gang, just got finished building a stand for the Mustangs.  I've seen several different designs from the guys here and got some inspiration from them.  I came up with one that is based on a large square, giving it great stability, them doing the usual front and aft fuselage support as well a wing support.  Turned out really well!
I'm taking the P51B to Shawano with us, its an 16 hour trip so I need something that'll get her there in one piece.
Weather has been weird here, even for Wyoming.  After yesterday's tremendous hail storm, it still can't make up its mind what its going to do, so I'm not chancing any flying, maybe tomorrow.  The planes are wondering what the heck!!

Griossman56

[Grossman56]

RE: All us newbie pilots, lets share..

Here's how she will look when she's all ready for her trip.  I made sure that the gear was off the ground so I can retract and extend while in the she's still in the stand. 


Grossman56

[Hippie 64]

RE: All us newbie pilots, lets share..

Looks nice and secure there Gman

[Flygirl]

RE: All us newbie pilots, lets share..

Here's how she will look when she's all ready for her trip.  I made sure that the gear was off the ground so I can retract and extend while in the she's still in the stand. 


Grossman56

Looks like a great idea GMan!

[Grossman56]

RE: All us newbie pilots, lets share..

She's solid as a rock.  I also did myself a favor and made sure it was high enough to retract and extend the gear, I can also remove the vertical bars if I want to reconfigure for another type of plane.
I'll also put great quantities of bubble wrap around the wing tips, just in case.  Should be fine
Hey, glad to see you two getting up in the ratings, I add to your rep each time I'm on!!

Grossman56

[Flygirl]

RE: All us newbie pilots, lets share..

Ha!!! You crack me up GMan.....!