Further Flying Fumbling
Made 2nd excursion to flying field. Slightly breezy, but acceptable. Forgot motor peg for Cloud Buster, rubber motor for Moth and stuffing stick. Kept on anyway. I had enlarged the rear peg holes on the Cloud Buster and Moth for a 1/8" peg. I didn't get the ones on the Moth quite large enough and cracked one side of the rear mount and popped off the ply reinforcement trying to put the peg in. Switched motor peg to Cloud Buster and managed to get motor in after much fumbling and unpleasant language. After 3 attempts with increasing turns and a downthrust shim, got one slightly hovering flight of about 8' altitude. Ended when model suddenly snap rolled to the left. Now feeling frustrated, so called it a day.
Indoor test flights showed Cloud Buster not just turning a bit to the left, but sharply so. Trim tabs added to open up the turn. Seems to be successful. After calmer thinking, realized CB also needed increased decalage (angular difference between wing and elevator). Added shim at front of wing and moved it back. Allowed for removal of some nose weight. Yay.
Repaired Moth. Tried test flights on Polly (pic below). Needed right and down thrust and right rudder. Javelin #1 showed very floaty glide indoors. Promising. Fitted new, heavier gauge prop shafts on Moth and Cloud Buster.
Made 3rd and 4th excursions to flying field on Tuesday and Wednesday morning. Tuesday: Virtually no breeze when left house. Decidedly breezy when I arrived at field 25 minutes later. Weather pulled same trick on Wednesday. Tried Cloud Buster and Polly 2 anyway. Gusts upset both flights. Decided not to try a 5th time on Friday. Result? Very light breezes most of day. Would have been a good day to fly. Saw fellow flying RC parkflyer at field while making deliveries in the afternoon. Resisted temptation to throw something at him. May try again Monday.
