I want to thank those at the VRCS Yahoo Group
for providing this fabulous rendition of
the original DMECO decal.
| The Dmeco Models Mark-2 version of the Hal DeBolt LiveWire Champ is my newest plane for 2010. I've heard about these incredible old planes since I was 15 years old, and on Sunday, 20 June 2010 I took delivery of my very own Hal DeBold LiveWire Champ!!!!!!!! . |
She's an old design, one of the oldest I've ever had. Originally designed in 1954 (a year BEFORE I started flying control-line
planes) by Hal DeBolt, the prototype plane apparently took the whole world by storm - winning its first contest series by a very
wide margin. Actually, it had a hand at revolutionizing the whole sport.
The plane I've got was built fairly recently, probably in North Carolina, and I know very little of her history, other than the fact
that she's a Mark-2 version and has been modified to include ailerons on the wings.
She was apparently test-flown some time back and was declared to be tail-heavy, and that was pretty much the end of the story.
She has a slight bit of damage to the nose section but it's been pretty expertly repaired so, as I received her, she's pretty much
ready to go.
First job was to re-balance her. That was accomplished by adding 5 oz. of bullet weights to the nose cheeks. Pics of her on my
dining room table are just below.
.
planes) by Hal DeBolt, the prototype plane apparently took the whole world by storm - winning its first contest series by a very
wide margin. Actually, it had a hand at revolutionizing the whole sport.
The plane I've got was built fairly recently, probably in North Carolina, and I know very little of her history, other than the fact
that she's a Mark-2 version and has been modified to include ailerons on the wings.
She was apparently test-flown some time back and was declared to be tail-heavy, and that was pretty much the end of the story.
She has a slight bit of damage to the nose section but it's been pretty expertly repaired so, as I received her, she's pretty much
ready to go.
First job was to re-balance her. That was accomplished by adding 5 oz. of bullet weights to the nose cheeks. Pics of her on my
dining room table are just below.
.
| Ready for her first take-off . |
First flights!!!! After finally getting the balance something close to right, I took the leap and there we were at the flying field.
The first pic above, center, was just before I lined her up for her first lift-off, which wasn't all that successful. I was
taking-off downwind and knew it would be a long liftoff but it was even longer than I thought and I had to cut her and bring her
back for a 2nd try, which turned out just beautiful.
The 3 flight shots were taken after that 2nd try, which was pretty as a picture - a classic (read that "BEAUTIFUL") take-off
and flight, followed by one of the most incredible dead-stick landings I've ever made - and that was with the trims so far off she
was a bear to keep anything close to level on that first flight. However, I touched her down 50' from me and she rolled right up to
my shoelaces anyway.
I made a total of 4 flights that day. First was mainly to see what she needed in the way of trimming after my addition of 5 oz of
weight to the nose (10 1/2oz bullet-type fishing weights inside the nose cheeks - 5 on each side (and 1 oz came back off her, she
was actually just a tad nose-heavy). Ailerons were off and I had to use full left trim on both ailerons and rudder to keep her even
close to level, and the elevator was set WAY too high - even full down-elevator trim had her trying to climb for the stars at little
more than 1/2 power.
After getting the controls right, and the trims back to center on the xmtr, the 2nd and 3rd flight shots were taken.
I actually got brave on the 3rd flight and tried some basic aerobatics with her. She loops, does rudder-rolls like any other
3-channel bird but more graceful, aileron-only rolls aren't possible - they just don't seem to be very effective, if they work at
all. Hammerheads are just a bit off from a true "straight" but stall-turns are really nice. Spins are fair but not tight - probably
due to being a bit nose-heavy.
At roughly 1/3 throttle she's a pussy-cat, at full throttle and the elevator trimmed down a bit she's a howler. This is a great little
airplane and HUGE fun to fly. I can hardly wait for Jason to come back to Luray to try her out - he's going to be sorry he parted
with her.
.
Next was to take her out for a test spin. That happened on Monday, 28 June 2010.
.
Three flights, three pics. The pic on the right was taken while she was flying at about 1/3 throttle, HANDS-OFF the transmitter. Very stable plane now. . |
| Hey! This plane's looking like she just might turn out to be one of our more popular planes out at the field. Click these lines to take a look at her flight chronicles. Click here to see early versions and specifications for all versions The Champ, once I brought it back to its original design configuration, was/is classified by the Vintage Radio Control Society (VRCS) as a Class-2 aircraft, for competition purposes. As a future reference (for me, mainly), I've included some links to various VRCS documents. Each is a .doc and will open with MS Word in a new window. VRCS Pattern Competition Guide VRCS Pattern Sequences VRCS Maneuver Descriptions . |
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