| Mad-CAP Adventures Chronicles of the CAP-21 |
| The Great Planes CAP-21 is another really strong plane of mine, good thing too. This page is going to chronicle my adventures with her so check back from time-to-time for updates. I'll be flying her almost every weekend so the adventures should be fairly frequent. |
OCTOBER 7, 2001: First test flight. She's a brute! First flight wasn't all that successful;
she was only up for a few seconds - far too much aileron for me. She's already had her first
crash and survived it with just a little damage. Rudder and right aileron-tip broke off when she
came down in the tall grass and the prop spinner didn't fare so well either. Repairs took about
an hour and she's ready to go again.
Click on any picture on this page for larger renditions.
she was only up for a few seconds - far too much aileron for me. She's already had her first
crash and survived it with just a little damage. Rudder and right aileron-tip broke off when she
came down in the tall grass and the prop spinner didn't fare so well either. Repairs took about
an hour and she's ready to go again.
Click on any picture on this page for larger renditions.
Actually, the first flight was a real GAS! I'm more used to the Sr. Falcon with that
semi-symmetrical 6' wing and the fairly gentle handling characteristics. The CAP-21 is nothing
like that - she has 44" of symmetrical (aerobatic) wing and goes like a scared cat! First lift-off
was OK but at 10' altitude I started my customary right turn and it did an immediate snap-roll.
I corrected to the left and it did a double snap-roll left. I finally got it out over the grass
where it came down and took out the rudder and aileron tip, then shattered the spinner when it
flipped over. WOW! What a critter!
Just below are a couple pictures of that very first flight. They're a bit fuzzy but this critter
was really moving!
semi-symmetrical 6' wing and the fairly gentle handling characteristics. The CAP-21 is nothing
like that - she has 44" of symmetrical (aerobatic) wing and goes like a scared cat! First lift-off
was OK but at 10' altitude I started my customary right turn and it did an immediate snap-roll.
I corrected to the left and it did a double snap-roll left. I finally got it out over the grass
where it came down and took out the rudder and aileron tip, then shattered the spinner when it
flipped over. WOW! What a critter!
Just below are a couple pictures of that very first flight. They're a bit fuzzy but this critter
was really moving!
October 28th, first truly successful flights - ALL 7 OF THEM!!!!! Boy! What a day! I've been doing some rather major modifications of
the control surfaces and they're now such that she's a fairly decent machine now! Sunday, I managed 7 excellent flights, all with
landings in which the engine was still running. With the Sr. Falcon, the only way I ever get good landings is with the engine off; the CAP
likes to have power, even at idle. She definitely lands long, fast and hard though. I'm now increasing the elevator throw a bit (like
almost double) so I can slow her down a bit more on landings. She's definitely turning into a pretty good airplane.
Sunday, November 4, 2001: DRAMATIC END OF CAP-21. The short but illustrious career of the CAP-21 was
brought to an end today due to RFI. No doubt about it, I was getting interferrence from a local source that was
switching on and off. Got a couple good flights in, but on flight #3 this young critter went into a steep dive for just a
second - no apparent reason. So, I decided to bring her in to take a look-see at what the problem might be and as I
was coming around onto final she did a pair of sharp rolls to the left and dove straight into the ground - no more than
15 feet from me. I'll probably never find the source for this RFI but when I checked out the Spirit-100 radio (I fly
them both on the same channel) the controls were doing very squirrelly things with the transmitter right next to her.
May need to get new crystals and go to another channel.
Anyway, sum total of flights: 11, total successful flights: 9
A real shame - she was a good plane and getting better all the time.
the control surfaces and they're now such that she's a fairly decent machine now! Sunday, I managed 7 excellent flights, all with
landings in which the engine was still running. With the Sr. Falcon, the only way I ever get good landings is with the engine off; the CAP
likes to have power, even at idle. She definitely lands long, fast and hard though. I'm now increasing the elevator throw a bit (like
almost double) so I can slow her down a bit more on landings. She's definitely turning into a pretty good airplane.
Sunday, November 4, 2001: DRAMATIC END OF CAP-21. The short but illustrious career of the CAP-21 was
brought to an end today due to RFI. No doubt about it, I was getting interferrence from a local source that was
switching on and off. Got a couple good flights in, but on flight #3 this young critter went into a steep dive for just a
second - no apparent reason. So, I decided to bring her in to take a look-see at what the problem might be and as I
was coming around onto final she did a pair of sharp rolls to the left and dove straight into the ground - no more than
15 feet from me. I'll probably never find the source for this RFI but when I checked out the Spirit-100 radio (I fly
them both on the same channel) the controls were doing very squirrelly things with the transmitter right next to her.
May need to get new crystals and go to another channel.
Anyway, sum total of flights: 11, total successful flights: 9
A real shame - she was a good plane and getting better all the time.
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