Late winter practice and fun fly session

I have not made many posts here recently but it is not because I am not flying! I have just been so busy at work and building planes.

We are now heading into spring so with the temperatures rising we will be flying even more, if that is possible! It has been a mild winter, other than one Sunday with really high winds I managed to fly every day I wanted to fly.

Since it now appears that the first F5J Work Championships will be in 2019 at the earliest I have slowed down a bit with practice sessions and even skipped a contest or two. I am flying more for fun but still building skills. Since the first WC is so far away I think I need to fly in at least a few EU contests over the next 18 months. With the EU summer just about over for 2016 I will be aiming at a few selected contests in 2017.

I went to SGC early this morning for  trimming and fun flying session. I have recently changed the programming on my Maxa since the camber setting was not working well so the main "mission" this morning was to setup the camber for minimum sink and best rate of climb in weak thermals.

Maxa ready for trimming session

I also wanted to fly the Pike Perfect again, the last time I few it was in a contest and it suffered a mid-air collision, it is now fixed (rudder and stab replaced) but I have not had the chance to fly it much since the repair.

Pike and Maxa, field still dry from the winter.

The camber settings I configured at home seemed perfect, soon I was looking for a bit of lift, it was still early, before 8am but soon I found an area of light lift, the Maxa is really superb when working light lift, lots of fun! The flight below started as a low launch, just over 35m, intended as a landing practice flight, as I turned final I could feel a bit of weak lift. The next 8 minutes or so was spent carefully working it, trying to center the light lift to make the most of it.

I finally managed to work the plane up to 85m, you can see the peaks where I found better spots in the lift. I eventually left the lift and landed because a flying friend arrived and I wanted to say hi to him. It looked like conditions were going to get really good!

Maxa playing in light lift.

The next flight was even more fun! I launched to 100m, initially I could no find any lift, eventually when I was below 50m I found some light lift, the plane did not climb much but I managed to keep it in the air till eventually, after about 4 minutes the lift broke away and I rode it up to 150m before screaming down to a practice spot landing.

Maxa low level scratching.

The next few flight proved similar, light lift making for lots of fun!

Maxa dropping below 40m before climbing out again.

I then assembled the Pike, the lift was now a bit stronger, it was great fun thermalling up high then screaming down before looking for the next thermal.

Pike playing in the thermals!

What a great days flying! Next weekend it is the Postals contest and the weekend after that it is round 7 of the F5J league. My primary and secondary planes are ready to go, hope the weather is similar. When the lift is really weak I love it as low level and light lift conditions are areas where I am happy to take on any other pilot, more fun than when conditions are good and it becomes a landing contest!

Early morning trimming and practice session.

After the recent successful test flight of my F5J Pike Perfect ET I decided I need to play around a bit with things like camber, CoG and crow compensation before I could be sure that the Pike should be my primary plane for the next F5J contest.

Setting up just the right amount of camber for minimum sink for those dead air early morning flights is best done when there is no wind or thermals, so best time is just after dawn.

Sunday morning dawned absolutely quiet and quite cool for this time of the year, I was at the field assembling the plane just before the sun rose, after the very hot summer we had the 10C was really refreshing but I knew the temperature would soon rise to the predicted 30C.

The Pike ready to go, the grass was sopping wet from dew during the night

The first few launches was spent getting the launch trim right, the plane seems to climb best, at around 10m/s with neutral elevator trim. The best climb angle, after the initial vertical zoom, is around 80 degrees. A quick bit of down elevator before switching off the motor allows the plane to transition nicely into level flight. The Pike needs 20-22 seconds, depending on the wind, to get to 200m, during contest conditions the motor run will be seldom more than 10-12 seconds, when conditions are good it could be 5 seconds or less!

Checking the battery, a 3S, 1300mah 45-90C pack, shows that I can get 3 full launches and 3 10 minute flights on a charge. I change the battery after every round during a contest but for practice this is great.

Between flights, resting the pilot!

Trimming for minimum sink, using a FrSky Vario feeding telemetry back to my Taranis transmitter, showed  that for level flight around 2-3mm of camber provides the lowest sink rate. When in a thermal turn a bit more, 3-4mm, works best. The vario is a really useful tool to get to know your plane and getting the settings just right.

More club members arriving to enjoy the perfect conditions.

Soon the sun was a bit higher in the sky and the first signs of lift appeared. I love flying in marginal conditions since it is really challenging to keep the plane in the air working every little bubble of lift.

It soon became obvious that the Pike is really great at low level scratching, once setup she can turn really flat and the bigger wing span, 3.8m, is an advantage in marginal conditions. It did not take long for me to decide that the Pike will be used in the next contest! The powerful flaps also make precision landings easy, I just need to get used to how the plane just stops in the air with full flaps!

Launching 150m into sink and then working some weak lift.

A 75m launch into very light lift.

After a few flights I can confidently say that the Pike can scratch as good and even better than the Supra. The lighter Osprey might still float a bit better but the Pike's better speed range allows you to search far and wide for lift.

Pike waiting for the next flying adventure.

With a bit more practice I am really looking forward to flying the Pike in a contest, next round of the F5J league is on 16 April....

The fun of scratching for lift at low level.

I think one of the most satisfying things about thermal soaring is working hard scratching for lift at low level and then finally managing to get the plane to climb to a decent altitude.

During a F5J practice session last Sunday I had a few flights where I ended up really low. Below is the download from the Altis log showing a flight that initially started in huge sink and then for many minutes I was at around 20m altitude and not gaining. With some careful flying I managed to keep the Osprey from descending any further, hard work but very satisfying when you get it right.

I slowly worked my way around the area trying to find the best air. I must say the Osprey is really superb at this, you can circle tightly at low level without any fear of dropping a wing. Careful adjustment of the camber also allows you to fine-tune the plane for the condition.

Eventually the thermal broke away from the ground and I managed to climb up to about 130m. After that the fun was over and I brought the Osprey down at high speed listening to the distinctive sound a hollow molded glider makes at high speed!

The more I fly this Osprey the more I love it, I think I should keep the second one.....

The hero in this story, the Osprey!

Saturday morning practice and fun session

Saturday 5 March 2016 dawned with a clear sky and light winds, it looked like perfect flying conditions so the Osprey and Taser was quickly packed into the car before heading to SGC.

On arrival the light wind was coming from a strange direction but the planes were soon assembled, first the Taser for a few stable air trimming flights. She is really flying well other than with full flap down. With full flap if you want to turn she yaws in the opposite direction quite strongly, I need to increase the differential a lot!

Under the early morning light lift conditions it was really fun to fly the Taser, she can circle so tightly and indicates the smallest bit of lift. Several 10 minute flights were flown never going higher than 100m, great practice!

Taser ready to go

Once I had a few flights on the Taser I assembled the Osprey for a bit of landing practice. I managed to dial in a bit more flap movement the day before so landing it is now easier, but it still needs more to make landings as easy as my eSupra. Task for the week ahead!

Osprey ready for action under some clear skies.

With the sun now higher the first decent thermal activity started and rather than just practice landings I had some thermal-ling fun. On quite a few flights I rode a thermal for a while before a fast decent, either while doing aerobatics or with full crow, once low down again I would look for the next thermal and repeat the cycle. Great fun!

The first flight with some thermal activity.

The graph above shows a flight with a launch to 140m followed by working a few patches of buoyant air, never climbing but just slowing down the decent. towards the end of the flight a thermal broke away but I did not follow it long as a friend arrived at the field and I wanted to chat to him.

Working some weak lift

A thermal ride followed by some aerobatic fun on the way down

The next 2 flights, shown above, produced a few more thermals, climbing out a bit was followed by some fun aerobatics on the way down. The Osprey can loop, roll and do a split S quite well. It also flies surprisingly well upside down!

4 thermals in one flight!

By now the conditions had changed, the wind direction changed by 180 degrees and it picked up a bit. The thermals were now starting to pop all over the place and you could fly as long as you wanted. On the flight depicted by the graph above I worked 4 different thermals in different places, followed by intentional descends before catching the next thermal, lots of fun!

Last flight, strong thermal followed by low level fun.

By now it was getting very hot and I decided I would fly one more flight before heading home. A 110m launch right into a thermal resulted in a climb up to just over 300m before I pulled full crow for a quick decent. At this point I decided it was getting too hot and I would land and pack up. 

While setting up the landing, at about 35m high, I felt a slight bump and could not resist....

Over the next 6 minutes I worked 4 very weak low level thermals never going much higher than 50m before the lift dissipated and I had to find the next bubble. Eventually  the fourth bubble broke away and I rode it up to 100m before pulling full crow for landing. What a fun flight!

Tomorrow would hopefully have similar weather, then it will be time for some serious practice, I want to work on my landings and more importantly time precision. During the last 2 contests I could have moved up a place or 2 if my timing for the landings were better.

Carbon Taser test flight

I managed to get a few free hours in a rather hectic work schedule yesterday. I did not have time to do a decent setup on the radio, just the basic V-tail setup with flaperons. No camber or reflex settings, will get that done later.

Assembling the Taser for the first flight

A quick hand launch with the motor off showed that the trims were perfect, and also that she glides really well!

Ready to fly!

The first launch with the motor was perfect, I have the motor on a slider, at a fast idle she just maintains altitude and at full power she can go up vertically. Once the motor is shut down she glides really well, you can turn really tight and flat. On the first flight I found a weak thermal at below 10m while getting ready to land. I managed to work the thermal up to over 100m before having some fun with loops and rolls.

The stall is an absolute non-event, she just nods her nose and continues to fly with no noticeable height loss. Even in really tight slow turns I could not get her to drop a wing, really great for working weak lift low. The first flight ended in an easy hand catch, this plane is so responsive you can put her exactly where you want her!

On the ground after the first flight, I love this little plane!

The two photos below show the Taser, for size comparisons, next to my eSupra, she might be small but she flies exceptionally well!

I am planning on flying her in a few local ALES TD contests this year entered in the 2m class, she should be really competitive!

Low level fun in weak lift!

I went out early yesterday morning for some practice and also a bit of fun flying.

Since the wind was light and there was not much lift around so early I was using the Osprey. After a few low launches to just practice landings I launched a bit higher, first try was launched to 116m.

At first I did not find any lift and slowly descended to 40m, there as I was getting ready to land, I found a bit of buoyant air, not enough to climb but it did allow me to maintain altitude for the next 3.5 minutes. Finally after 3.5 minutes the warm air broke away forming a small thermal that with careful flying allowed me to climb to about 95m, there I lost the thermal but managed to find it again after a decent to 70m riding it up to 90m again.

At this stage a friend arrived at the flying field so I decided to cut the flight short, total time around 10:30 and never higher than launch height!

I find flights like these really fun, it is hard work as you have to fly very carefully and work the weak lift as best you can but you learn a lot and it is extremely satisfying!

A really fun low level flight!

The Osprey is really great for this kind of flying, it can make use of the lightest lift and can be circled really tight and flat.

Taking a break between fun flights.

The next flight produced similar results, launch was to around 80m, very careful flying produced a very slow climb, peaking at about 118m and eventually making the 10 minute target after working another weak thermal towards the end of the flight.

Slow climb to 118m and then an even slower decent till the 10 minute target time.

The next launch was to 95m, over the next 10 minutes I worked 4 weak thermals twice peaking at around 160m before the 10 minute target was reached. Really fun and great practice for when you need to stretch a contest flight!

4 different weak thermals worked in 10 minutes.

I am really getting to know the Osprey now, unless the next contest is really windy I think it will be my #1 plane. The one thing I need to do is to try and get more flap movement, the current 60 degrees is not quite enough and it makes precision landings difficult.

The F5J journey continues...

Since the last post about the Supra to F5J conversion I have managed to do quite a bit of flying. My main aim was to get rid of some of the rust still troubling the pilot and also to trim the planes in all flight modes.

Since I now have three functional, decent F5J planes (Osprey, Supra and Xplorer) I need to get to know them to the point where it would be easy to decide what plane to fly based on the conditions.

One thing I did notice while practicing with the different planes were that flying 3 different planes, and changing between them all the time might not be ideal. They all fly well but subtle differences in handling, mostly while landing, makes it difficult to be consistent. I find that I get it right with one plane, then when I change I miss the spot/time again for a while till I am used to the different plane.

So I have to decide, do I keep on changing planes and getting to know them all, or concentrate on one (but which one?) and get it as perfect as possible? I think my progress would be quicker if I stick to one plane for now.

Early morning at the flying field, best time to trim a plane!

 Trimming and getting to know the Osprey and Xplorer.

With the first F5J League contest rushing up (17 January) I decided to concentrate on the Osprey and the Supra since between than I would be fine for just about any weather other than really strong winds.

 Pre-contest practice session with the Supra and Osprey.

I am at the point where I can now read the air reasonably well again, on most flights, if there is lift around, I can find it. So I decided it is time to practice landings.

I took out the Osprey and Supra on a few occasions, in different conditions, to purely practice landings. Initially the plan is to just practice landing precision and then to later add accurate timing as well. To practice accurate timing I have MP3 recordings on my phone for 1 to 15 minute countdowns. As things turned out I never got around to the timing practice before the first contest, but that is another story!

By launching low, 30 - 50m, it is possible to get quite a few landings in in a few hours of practice. I had a couple of sessions doing around 25+ short flights each to to practice landings, with a few longer flights added for fun!

Supra landing practice session, I have fallen in love with this plane!

I have to admit I am a bit apprehensive about the first contest, it has just been 3 months since I started flying, and due to my back operation I have not been able to fly nearly as much as I wanted to. Not much more than 2 months ago I was still nervously trying to keep my foam glider in one piece, maybe it is expecting a bit much to go and mix it with the big boys in a contest at this stage? Time will tell.....

I decided that my main goal for the first contest would be to fly all the rounds and keep the plane in one piece, with no worries about my score some of the pressure will be off!

Next post will cover my first contest......