Blog
11/08/07
Had a great time at the Bwlch racing 60 inchers on the f3f course, uh, must have been two weeks ago, my how time flies by. I was definitely quicker at it this time, but so was everyone else, so just better lift I guess, flying my Nitro with 5ozs ballast , my best time was 57 and a bit seconds, still rubbish really, but the nerves are getting better, will have to try the Tragi soon, guaranteed to bring nerves back into the equation. We managed to get in some rounds of foamy pylon racing later on Saturday afternoon, seemed like great fun until a head on collision with Dave Rumbles plane took us both out, I was last anyway so didn't affect my position much, just repair time in the workshop. The evening was a riot, lots of real ale, take away curry in the pub and mini helicopter combat for desert, great fun. Sunday was for combat, was prepared with a proper combat wing this time, just had crappy blue foam elevons which took too much abuse and let go. Had to resort to the 48" lumberjack again but didn't quite make it to the final. Scoring for Matt Brett in the final gave me a chance to watch someone else fly combat, more aggressive attacking practice for me.
4 planes needed attention after that weekend, but well worth it. Still have the skua to repair but everything else is good to go. In between flying and repairing, I have also added some info to the molding and wet seam pages along with some video. 3 videos in total this week which I am quite happy about, finally getting some useful information on here about molding.
15/07/07
Have been mainly flying and working, busy time of year for me, so very little building is going on. Shot some video of Rob Holgate maidening his Acacia II a couple of days ago, very nice plane. Just loaded it onto the video page. Have been trying out ballast in my Tragi, have used 4 of 9 so far and it sure gets a move on with the extra weight on board.
25/06/07
The second half of the Negus mold has been done, and have now started work on the nose boat. Thought I would have a go at documenting how I am currently doing it, so will shoot some video and do a write up about it as I progress with it, it will appear on the mold making page in the workshop over the next couple of weeks.
Laid up and bagged the Backdraft II wing, turned out awful. Was trying out different epoxy, it has a 5:2 mix ratio and I am used to the west systems stuff which is 5:1, may have got all muddled up and confused, (it doesn't take much) as its taking ages to cure, its a lot runnier as well and the fabric may be under saturated, ah well give it another week and I will smother it with filler, its way beyond a pinhole finish!
Bought a beat up Tragi 702 last week, not enough patience to build the Negus, I want a fast plane now. Guess this means the Negus build will slow down, and to be quite honest it is more of an F3J type fuse anyhow, will definitely finish it over the winter though, and make more of a Supra type wing for it. Anyway, back to the Tragi, flew it on Saturday...I like it. Extreme precipitation on Sunday so never made it to the Bwlch to try it out on a F3f course, but had a couple of hours on it late this afternoon between showers. My local NW slope is a bit uh...rubbish really, I have killed more planes here than all the other slopes I fly, it finally dawned on me that it may not be the best of landing areas.
As you can see, its a little humpy bumpy, someone must have dug out enough flint arrowheads to outfit an army. Trees at the bottom of the slope, trees at the top too, lots of barbed wire (strung up more than one plane on it) lots and lots of little bushes scattered about too, however its a 5 minute drive and 5 minute walk from home and is just too tempting not to fly there now and again. Having rediscovered epp I have been flying here a lot more lately, as long as I stay away from the barbed wire, flying foamies here is perfect. But today of course I had a 3m f3f plane, 15mph wind, just too tempting. Its not what you think, there is a happy ending, as long as I have plenty of altitude I can go cross country and land quarter of a mile or so back behind those trees where there is a nice flat field, so no ballast on board today but had some great flying never the less. The Skua was going well too on half ballast, but had to land it quick and scarper back to the van just before the rain set in for the evening, what a result.
27/05/07
Summer has kind of started, workshop activity slows down as the evenings get longer and more time is spent flying......unless, after going to The Bwlch to watch some top guys fly f3f, the following weekend is wet. Having decided that I want a plane like that, but not prepared to fork out for a second hand one to fly and crash, quickly decided a mold had to be made. Will then be able to adapt and improve on it as I crash and learn. I am no f3f pilot anyway, but something that goes fast, retains energy and turns like a ping pong ball looks like fun to me, got to have one.
Got to call it something, so decided on Negus,
nice short name to put into my transmitter. No decisions yet on plan form or
wing section, but the plug is adapted from my old Milan, that has had one to
many breaks.
I have modified it a fair bit, it will now have a slip on nose cone and molded nose boat, which should make it much stronger and is also smaller in size around the nose too. Wing mount is still mh32 with 1.5 degrees positive to the v tail, so I will be able to use it to replace the Milan fuse, but will have to alter it and re-mold for f3f. Should be able to shim the wing in the wing seat to get a flying prototype though, play around with it a little and see what works.
there is also a set of Backdraft II wings on the bench that I have just finished sanding and are ready to bag, also working on a lighter Nitro, (Nitro-lite) for 60" f3f and to replace my Dynamite which is looking a little sad. A half done Jart, unfinished Toucan and a strong desire to make a little epp wing for light slope and dlg flinging, so have got plenty to do if its too wet to fly. Nearly time I did some more building videos too!
This site was last updated 11/03/07