Indoor flying

Went to the local market venue Junction 24 last night and met about fifteen other pilots having a go in what was a very enjoyable evening. There were loads of mid air collisions (I had two, one with a helicopter) and no-one suffered any damage. I've heard people talk about the Vapour but I've never seen one untill last night. Even more lightweight than the Ember, and it can fly a lot slower.

Phil shows how its done.

One thing that surprised me was the noise, it got very loud at times and the high pitch really gets on your top note. Its not the propeller or the motor, but the speed controller that makes the noise. Next time I'll wear ear muffs and maybe, if I remember, I'll take along a decibel meter. We might have to fit silencers for indoor work.

The Vapours

The best conditions...

...for flying today. Jim flew his Mig, Ian flew his F16, I flew the Yak, and Brian flew his Piper Pawnee. The weather was so good, I managed a couple of flights with the Ember.

Brians Piper Pawnee

Brians Piper is a nice model, built from a Hangar 9 kit, its an ARTF powered by an OS 52 fs four stroke engine and guided by Spektrum 2.4 Ghz radio.

Ians F16 was impressive, together with smoke system, he has afterburners in the tail pipe. Actually, its an array of ultra bright LEDs switched on by a micro switch at 3/4 throttle and above. Had me and Jim fooled as there was some flames exiting the tail pipe on start-up, so we thought it was alight while it was flying.

There was a lot of microlight activity today, this is a particular menace to the jet pilots as jet aircraft use up so much airspace. Microlight pilots don't seem to be aware of the dangers of flying through our airspace. A record of the number of movements was taken today.

Fantastic day

Definitely the best day so far this year. Wall to wall sunshine and WARM! The pits were nearly full all day, that's amazing for a Monday. Jim who was there yesterday said there wasn't as many people.

Good for a Monday

I've been flying the Yak 54 today and doing some engine tuning. The engine runs fine on the ground but when it gets airborne it misfires even at full throttle. I've changed the plug for a cooler type and it has improved a little but the biggest improvement came from a change of propeller. A 15" x 8" Master Airscrew for a 15" x 8" APC. It hasn't cured it but it has improved.

One other little thing, I've acquired an indoor R/C aircraft. It comes complete with everything you need to fly now - even the batteries. On the aircraft there is a very small circuit board with two servos, a receiver and a speed controller mounted on it. The transmitter has trims on all four channels, is switchable mode one or mode two (throttle right or throttle left) and is on the new 2.4Ghz frequency. As there was no wind first thing this morning, and I gave it its first outdoor flights. Its not easy to fly as its a bit twitchy and needs some expertise.

The 16.5" wingspan Ember

I'll finish todays blog now, I'm going to try the Ember in the garden before it gets dark. Until next time...