APRIL 5 2011: We got the old girl out a couple weeks ago and have been working on her, mostly cleaning,
tightening the old monokote hinges and installing a new radio. She's ready to go with Dale in command. She's all
balanced, and she's all clean and shiny again. As soon as the weather turns into something that we can fly in (less
than 20+mph winds) she'll take to the sky again.
Can't wait!!!!!!!
April 10 2011: Alright! She's been up, with me flying. Had a chance to test her out with the "new" radio and
she's just fine. Dale gets her next.
May 29 2011: FINALLY!! A beautiful day, 6 planes at the field and we were the only people anywhere in sight.
Actually, it was a bit warm (88) but it wasn't really a half-bad day for flying. First plane up was the Falcon, still
uncleaned from last year but she flies just like she always did - great. Next was the Nexstar and all went well until
the landing set-up. Dale let her go soft while turning onto "final" and nearly lost her in the trees by the ballparks.
She chewed her way through some branches and ended up setting down perfectly on her wheels - nothing else
touched the ground, even though she was falling vertically. Guess you'd call it a perfect 3-point zero-airspeed
landing.
Then came the Spirit's turn. We did a few throw tests so he could get the feel of how she performs, then put her
up on the launcher. First launch was super-hairy - she made a hard right turn right after I let her go and I thought
it was all over right there but Dale's awful fast on the controls and he got her off the line, brought her around and
put her right on the ground about 50 feet away. Second launch was a bit better, 3rd gave him about 2 minutes of
flight. Then things improved and he got several pretty fair launches and some decent flight time. Never did get a
full-height launch but we got her high enough on several occasions that he could do some flying and learning. It will
get better, but I think he's hooked on gliders too.
Never did put the other 3 planes in the air.
tightening the old monokote hinges and installing a new radio. She's ready to go with Dale in command. She's all
balanced, and she's all clean and shiny again. As soon as the weather turns into something that we can fly in (less
than 20+mph winds) she'll take to the sky again.
Can't wait!!!!!!!
April 10 2011: Alright! She's been up, with me flying. Had a chance to test her out with the "new" radio and
she's just fine. Dale gets her next.
May 29 2011: FINALLY!! A beautiful day, 6 planes at the field and we were the only people anywhere in sight.
Actually, it was a bit warm (88) but it wasn't really a half-bad day for flying. First plane up was the Falcon, still
uncleaned from last year but she flies just like she always did - great. Next was the Nexstar and all went well until
the landing set-up. Dale let her go soft while turning onto "final" and nearly lost her in the trees by the ballparks.
She chewed her way through some branches and ended up setting down perfectly on her wheels - nothing else
touched the ground, even though she was falling vertically. Guess you'd call it a perfect 3-point zero-airspeed
landing.
Then came the Spirit's turn. We did a few throw tests so he could get the feel of how she performs, then put her
up on the launcher. First launch was super-hairy - she made a hard right turn right after I let her go and I thought
it was all over right there but Dale's awful fast on the controls and he got her off the line, brought her around and
put her right on the ground about 50 feet away. Second launch was a bit better, 3rd gave him about 2 minutes of
flight. Then things improved and he got several pretty fair launches and some decent flight time. Never did get a
full-height launch but we got her high enough on several occasions that he could do some flying and learning. It will
get better, but I think he's hooked on gliders too.
Never did put the other 3 planes in the air.
| The Chronicles of The Spirit Continue! |
| The Spirit-100 has a new pilot - Dale!! . |
| Member #94881 |
|
