APRIL 1-2, 2001: First test flights. She's tail-heavy and not very responsive to the rudder but definitely has
possibilities. Have already limited the elevator travel quite a bit which helps.
MAY 18, 2001: Well, she's had her first crash and survived it. While flying from one of the local sports fields I
was making an approach for landing and flew it right into the soccer goal-post. Crunched up the right ring outer
panel a bit but I don't think it's anything serious. Need to pay more attention to where she's going.
MAY 22, 2001: Back in trim and ready to go again. Took a total of 3 hours to rebuild the outer panel leading edge
and ribs. Can't hardly see the repair. Also, added some lead to the inside of the nosecone and dropped the
launch-hook back to the last hole to help on launches. Cool!
MAY 27, 2001: Alright! She flies just as good as before, actually better. The extra lead helps a lot! The hook in
the last hole makes her go up a lot better and higher on the shortened (only 300 feet of line because of limited
launching area) hi-start.
JUNE 3, 2001: I can't believe it! While flying in the EMCO field she simply dropped out of the sky and into the
top of a 40+ foot Hemlock tree. This is going to be fun getting her out of it!
JUNE 4, 2001: She's out - with a tiny rip in the monocote of the right wing tip. That poor right wing is really
taking a beating. Took having Dale climb the tree to get my baby out. Sheesh!
JUNE 9, 2001: Not a bad day at all, got 2 flights of about 20 minutes each - nothing to write home about.
JUNE 10, 2001: WOW! What a day!!! Four flights, two over an hour and one of those over two hours. Got
UNDERFLOWN by a Cessna-type. Gonna have to watch that altitude! Things are definitely getting better. New
wingtips should be ready by next week or so.
JUNE 17, 2001: Oh, yeah! The wingtips did the trick, she turns a lot flatter now. Still working on the enlarged
rudder. Most of the bad traits are gone now and she's turning into a real soarer!
JULY 8, 2001: Well, things are progressing rather nicely. Flew most all of last week (vacation) - quite a few
flights of 45 minutes or better. She likes a bit of speed, found that a touch of down-trim works nicely. Turns are
now quite a bit flatter too - the enlarged rudder helps a lot too. Only mishap the entire week was a broken launch
hook when she touched down on a rock that was sticking up a half inch out of the ground.
July-Nov 3: Nothing unusual to report. She's behaving like a well-groomed lady should! Very nice plane!
November 4, 2001: Got a couple good flights today - as per usual, when she started acting a bit squirrelly. As I
brought her in she suddenly turned left, hit the ground and broke off the wingtip, right at the dihedral joint.
Shouldn't be much to fix and get her up again by next weekend.
NOTE: A bit later in the day, the CAP-21 went down "with all hands" - also a sharp left turn during
landing. No doubt about it - RFI!!! Now, who's playing in the 72 mhz band around here? What a pain!
Click this line to continue the Chronicles of the Spirit.
possibilities. Have already limited the elevator travel quite a bit which helps.
MAY 18, 2001: Well, she's had her first crash and survived it. While flying from one of the local sports fields I
was making an approach for landing and flew it right into the soccer goal-post. Crunched up the right ring outer
panel a bit but I don't think it's anything serious. Need to pay more attention to where she's going.
MAY 22, 2001: Back in trim and ready to go again. Took a total of 3 hours to rebuild the outer panel leading edge
and ribs. Can't hardly see the repair. Also, added some lead to the inside of the nosecone and dropped the
launch-hook back to the last hole to help on launches. Cool!
MAY 27, 2001: Alright! She flies just as good as before, actually better. The extra lead helps a lot! The hook in
the last hole makes her go up a lot better and higher on the shortened (only 300 feet of line because of limited
launching area) hi-start.
JUNE 3, 2001: I can't believe it! While flying in the EMCO field she simply dropped out of the sky and into the
top of a 40+ foot Hemlock tree. This is going to be fun getting her out of it!
JUNE 4, 2001: She's out - with a tiny rip in the monocote of the right wing tip. That poor right wing is really
taking a beating. Took having Dale climb the tree to get my baby out. Sheesh!
JUNE 9, 2001: Not a bad day at all, got 2 flights of about 20 minutes each - nothing to write home about.
JUNE 10, 2001: WOW! What a day!!! Four flights, two over an hour and one of those over two hours. Got
UNDERFLOWN by a Cessna-type. Gonna have to watch that altitude! Things are definitely getting better. New
wingtips should be ready by next week or so.
JUNE 17, 2001: Oh, yeah! The wingtips did the trick, she turns a lot flatter now. Still working on the enlarged
rudder. Most of the bad traits are gone now and she's turning into a real soarer!
JULY 8, 2001: Well, things are progressing rather nicely. Flew most all of last week (vacation) - quite a few
flights of 45 minutes or better. She likes a bit of speed, found that a touch of down-trim works nicely. Turns are
now quite a bit flatter too - the enlarged rudder helps a lot too. Only mishap the entire week was a broken launch
hook when she touched down on a rock that was sticking up a half inch out of the ground.
July-Nov 3: Nothing unusual to report. She's behaving like a well-groomed lady should! Very nice plane!
November 4, 2001: Got a couple good flights today - as per usual, when she started acting a bit squirrelly. As I
brought her in she suddenly turned left, hit the ground and broke off the wingtip, right at the dihedral joint.
Shouldn't be much to fix and get her up again by next weekend.
NOTE: A bit later in the day, the CAP-21 went down "with all hands" - also a sharp left turn during
landing. No doubt about it - RFI!!! Now, who's playing in the 72 mhz band around here? What a pain!
Click this line to continue the Chronicles of the Spirit.
| The Chronicles of The Spirit |
| The Spirit-100 is a really strong plane, good thing too. This page will chronicle my flights with her so be sure to stop back from time-to-time for updates. I fly her almost every weekend so the adventures should be fairly frequent. |
| Member #94881 |
|
