1 step forward, 2 steps back.... 1 step forward

Flight Dates: 18, 19 March2009

Conditions
Equipment: (Super Cub 2.1 – Ailerons – LiPo Battery)
WX: ~10 mph, Temp ~50 F
Ground Conditions: grass
Field: (#3 )

Flight Summary

Flight 1 (~6 minutes) and Flight 2 (~4 min)

I found a new field near a very large soccer complex, however the exact spot I chose was sub-optimal. I was fling the SC fairly low to the ground and there was a tree that I needed to stay away from in the line of flight. Unfortunately, I had some kind of stall / nose dive at about 7 minutes into the first flight. The plane “landed” hard on its nose. Remarkably, the only thing damaged was actually the tail. Just like SC1.0 the tail snapped clean off. It was a disappointing error even knowing that I would be able to fix the damage with epoxy.

The following day I returned again with the re-conditioned SC and flew a short flight in a better spot. However, it was too cold and windy to make the flight last longer than 4 min. so I called it good.

This first flight felt like 2 steps back compared to the recent flying I had been doing with no major events. It primarily came as a result of poor field positioning / selection and the need to avoid the tree.

Flight Date: 20, March2009

Flight Summary

Conditions
Equipment: (Parkzone T-28 Trojan)
WX: ~5 mph Temp ~50 F
Ground Conditions: grass
Field: (#2 )

Flight 1, 2, 3 (20, 20, 21 Min)

I lucked out with some great weather last weekend. Saturday was 50 degrees, sunny with minimal wind- perfect!

I took the T-28 out again and had a great set of flights. I am really impressed with how this plane flies. It is easy to fly it very smoothly and it looks great in the air. I am having some problems getting the landings down because the plane does float. I am finding I almost need a throttle off approach to get it down. It makes for some fun low and long approaches. I am getting the hang up the no-touch, touch and go, but not quite ready to consistently make a touch. I had a number of decent landings and a few rough ones as well. The plane is holding up and so far I have not abused it too badly.

I did have a couple of landings where the plane essentially dropped straight down from about 1 foot in the air. The was brought on by either too much flair or inability to get it down and It just ran out of lift...

Damage
SC 2.0- Broken tail- fixed with epoxy

Stats
SC 1.0 Cumulative Flights: 15
SC 2.0 Cumulative Flights: 17
Total: 32
Cumulative Hrs: 7.3
successful Landings: 68
SC Maintenance / Repairs* ~$51

Stats
T-28 Cumulative flights 5
Cumulative Hrs: 1.9
successful Landings: 12
T-28 Trojan Maintenance / Repairs* ~$0

*Cost to replace items broken in flight