Go look at these:
http://anjo.com/rc/aircraft/dr1/dr1.flying.6.jpg
http://anjo.com/rc/aircraft/dr1/dr1.flying.7.jpg
http://anjo.com/rc/aircraft/dr1/dr1.flying.8.jpg
http://anjo.com/rc/aircraft/dr1/dr1.flying.9.jp
http://anjo.com/rc/aircraft/dr1/dr1.flying.a.jpg
The first and last of these are my favourites! :-)
We had our Christmas BBQ yesterday, with 17 aeroplanes attending (and one heli., but they don't count!) including three planes of mine, the old BriteStar, the Fokker, and the Elder, complete but not covered. I did not expect the Fokker to fly, because that aircraft was still considered "not
yet fully sorted out" so test-pilot Rudy and I agreed that we didn't want
to risk an out-of-tune aircraft in less-than-ideal conditions. And the
wind yesterday was variable and gusting. So we left her on the ground, to
the dismay of a load of people who would have been happy to see her fly
(and crash) for their entertainment.
last night I couldn't get everything in the car, so the Fokker went into
the shed and was locked up for the night. Today Dotty and I went up to collect it. There were very few people present, and the wind fell to a
dead calm, so Rudy suggested we try it!
I'd added a piece of lead to the firewall, hoping that would nudge the CoG
to the right position for proper and safe flight characteristics, and this
was the flight to prove or disprove my theory. At first we couldn't get
the &^%#$@ engine to start, and I'm going "WTF PoS did DM bring for me?"
RThen I noticed the remote glow lead was off the plug. Slap wrist! Fixed that and... Bang! She was running like she's accustomed to, with the 4-stroke hauling like a locomotive. Rudy took the sticks, and up she went with me on camera.
Rudy sings out "No vices! Stable as a billiard-table! Pussy-cat!" and
thrust the tranny into my hands. I tossed the camera to Ericson, and had about 15 *great* minutes on the sticks. I'd say the throws are good, but
I'll try a little exponential to de-sensitize the sticks near center-
throw, Otherwise I really enjoyed flying. I may mix a bit more AIL->RUD because she doesn't like to turn on aileron alone. When you bang on the rudder she *HAULS* round in a blink, tho. Richthofen said she "Climbed
like a monkey and manoeuvred like the devil." and he wasn't wrong!
With a tickle of throttle she climbs out high and fast. Three wings
generate bags of lift and I have several pictures of her just a *speck* in
the sky!
http://anjo.com/rc/aircraft/dr1/dr1.flyhigh.1.jpg
That's taken at full 10x zoom on the camera! :-)
Rudy said "take her up high and do a stall-test." But I said, "You know,
I'll save that for next time! For now, I'll just enjoy flying her!" It wasn't long before we had to bring her in. She runs 23+ minutes on the ground, but the last thing I want to do is unexpectedly go dead-stick with three wings, bulky 'cart, and leaders streamers on the wings giving high
drag and making her glide like a rock! So with regret she was brought
home to the strip and then brought home in the car!
I was very pleased! I even had a cocacola to celebrate! :-)
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þ Synchronet þ Made of wood and glue, but mostly glue!
