2014 Flight Log

[jharkin]

Yea the weather ups and down have been crazy. For us in New England its been a litle colder than average but not ridicuolous. My company has an office in Minnesota and they have had something like a month with daytime highs well below zero F. Cold even by their standards.

And then the mess in Georgia yesterday. We would only call it a dusting here and and it would be a non issue, but they dont have sand/salt equipment so it basically shut down the state.


Back to us, its 10F right now, but oging up to the 40s this weekend and I have my tail grips back and reinstalled Its go time.

[LoveToFly1]

yea, I am in Birmingham. it was horrible. 6" of snow, but the snow stuck to the street first, before the grass. it only took 30 min from start of the snow for every road to become impassible. then you have all the fools down here and cant use common sense when driving in conditions like that and slamming their brakes and things. I saw probably 500 cars abandoned in the middle of traffic lanes.....it was insane man.

they NEVER put salt out down here because the guardrails and street signs, light poles, none of it is rated for salt. if they spread salt it would cost millions in repairs in just one year. the only thing they do is throw sand out. and all of this weather was supposed to hit about 100 miles south of us, so the entire fleet of sand trucks and DOT guys were down there. it took 24 hours to get sand trucks up here. the schools didn't let out until after the roads where impassable. it was just nuts man. we ended up having to walk the last 3 miles home, me, my wife, and my 8 year old daughter (in her catholic school uniform [skirt]). I have never in all my years seen such a mess. the local municipalities totally botched this one.....absolutely no help.

and come to find out the next day.....if you were forced to abandon your car because others had blocked the road and there was absolutely no way you could get through. the local wrecker services where towing them and charging you $175 to get them back.....even if you had no choice in the matter.....so the governor got on the phone with the local police around here and told them they absolutely cannot charge people for towing their cars because the people had no choice but to leave them there. so now the state if flipping the bill for all of the cars that got towed. talk about adding insult to injury.....

luckily we got both of our cars to a friend of mines gas station and hiked the rest of the way home, so we were not a part of that. but that sucks.

[jharkin]

Wow, LTF1 that is just crazy... Im glad you made it home ok.

I saw the pictures of that highway outside of Atlanta and it was amazing considering it looked like less than an inch on the grass in the Median.. But I figured that you just dont have the treatment equipment down there since you dont need it like we do. Up here we would not have such a mess at the beginning of the storm because we use de-icing chemicals and they often send trucks out to pre-treat the roads in advance of a big one. In fact we have gone over to the overcautious side becuase of a big storm that hit about 5-6 years ago mid day and every business and school closed early clogging the roads at 3pm before the sand trucks could get to work causing 6 hour commutes out of Boston.

[rbort]

it only took 30 min from start of the snow for every road to become impassible.

I used to live in Vermont and go to school there. Many many times it snows and it did hard and there were no sand or salt trucks in the 80's like "right away" and I remember driving on the snow. Sure it was slippery, and in some places there was ice, I remember being in Rutland going towards Killington and I was going like 5mph on ice or less and the car started going a little sideways but I managed to go with the flow and correct it in the end. I spent many a times driving through many storms and came upon places where people were wiped out all over the sides of the road from going too fast or locking up their brakes...which brings us to:

then you have all the fools down here and cant use common sense when driving in conditions like that and slamming their brakes and things. I saw probably 500 cars abandoned in the middle of traffic lanes.

and I guess that is the real reason to all of this, as with only like 2 1/2 inches of snow tops if it wasn't for those folks it would be a non issue for real. If I was down there during this time and there weren't all those crashes and such it wouldn't be a big deal to drive through the whole thing.

The key is to know the conditions, your traction and your stopping distance needed and stay within the limits of the car. I remember I used to often test my brakes to see how well they held while driving through the storms so I know in advance and its not a surprise. I saw on tv some people in traffic and some guy came right up to a van and hit the brakes at the last minute, well, surprise, it was slippery and it slid right into the van and pushed him into the car in front of him. That's just ignorance of the conditions that guy should have been slowing down alot sooner alot futher, you don't drive in snow the same way you drive on every other regular day.

Sorry to see what happened, but "Atlantians" as they call them on the news were their own worst enemy...

-=>Raja.

[jharkin]

... which is why when its snows around here most of the cars you see run off into the ditch are SUVs. People think AWD makes them immune to the weather and drive like morons... For the majority that doesn't know how to use it AWD only gets them into worse trouble, and as we all know does nothing for braking and cornering traction that is the cause of most winter accidents.

Like you whenever driving in snow I do a test stop well before I hit the first stop sign or intersection so I can plan lead times. I never assume the guy in front of me knows what he is doing and just follow.

... All of which is why I love and use real snow tires X-Ice, Blizzak or Hakkapeliitta's over here please


From what I saw on the photos they got a lot of flash icing on the roads. I bet a lot of folks down there run summer biased tires that are just crap on ice. Add inexperience in winter driving and its a recipe for disaster.

[LoveToFly1]

the reason the roads became impassable so quickly is really a few reasons.

1) there is no such thing as a flat road here. I cannot name a road within 25 miles that you can drive more than 400 yards without going up/down a hill of at least a 15% grade, and a turn included.

2) it had been below freezing for 4 straight days before the snow. this made the asphalt and concrete so cold that the snow actually stuck to it BEFORE sticking to the grass. it was crazy, the grass was green, and the streets where solid ice. when the snow hit the road, and the cars ran it over, it compacted into ice immediately. I'm serious, no joke at all. the ice was so thick on most roads that the reflectors couldn't be seen. there was upwards of 1.5-2" of ice on most roads.


yes, putting your front wheel drive car in first gear and just letting it roll was the key. no brakes or gas unless absolutely necessary. that's what got everyone that didn't have any sense. trying to drive 30-40 on solid ice, switching gears in turns. hitting brakes in turns. not letting off the brake if you begin to slide.....all that kind of stupid stuff is what caused it. not to mention they let the kids out of school literally as the roads became covered in ice.

see, the original forecast put this storm 100 miles south of us. so the state moved every piece of equipment that they had to help with this type stuff down there. well, when it hit up here and not there, then they couldn't even get the stuff back up here to help with the clean up.

https://www.google.com/search?q=2014...=1057&dpr=0.75

those are some pics of the local area here. just about 5 miles north of me in actual Birmingham.

the road today are ok, the main ones anyway. the side streets that are in shade are still frozen. and its 42* now. it was total mayhem around here. but all is well now. I personally am not a total idiot, so I figured out how to drive pretty quickly in it. but most folks continued to drive as they usually would, like the ice wouldn't have an affect on the traction or something.....just nuts.

and yes, we all have summer tires here, we never get snow. the real spiked snow tires are actually against the law to drive on a public road here. snow chains are few and far between. the Wal-Mart's here don't even carry them....or they didn't anyway, they probably will now....lol

[rbort]

A short day, wanted to join Ansy and take a hike with Karen. Temp peaked at 29 degrees but by the time the hike ended at dusk it was back to 22F. Winds gusted out of the SW at 13mph today.

I got a chance to have a flight with Ansy's whiplash while he sat in his car freezing. That man never dresses warm enough. Gave him some feedback on cyclic, top end pitch, and governor gains which he applied later this afternoon and test flew in a school park at the last flight of the day and he said its way better now. Cool, will have to fly it again next time we meet.

1005 went up for a round of autos and some flying around - boom support and muffler leak fixed last night. I showed Ansy the rolling autos, he liked those! I said you need to learn to do this, looks scary he said not sure if he's got the balls to try it.

MA 1005 = 1
Whiplash = 1
Ansy's Whiplash = 1

2014 count:

Furion 450 = 1
MA 1005 = 6
Spectra-g = 32
Whiplash = 31
Ansy's Whiplash = 2

Total = 71
Gallons Mixed = 8.00

One more day tomorrow and that would round out the month. Looks at I'm running short of 1000 flights per year so far, but hey, no worries I did it last year this year I'm taking it easy

Oh YEAH, and I'm waiting on you Hillbilly to join in as well as Rcnut and whomever else is going to do this. Jeremy how about you?

-=>Raja.

[rbort]

Well think of the bright side at least old man winter came to visit you guys once and you got to see some white stuff and hopefully the kids had a chance to play in it. I'm sure by tomorrow most of it will be gone never even looked like it snowed.

I used to use snow tires in VT, those did help alot, but around here its all season tires all year round for us, I never bother with snow tires any more as I don't HAVE to drive in the white stuff but if I do I just take my time and plan the stops. Also when I used to drive down winding roads you always go to the inside end of the curve in the road as the car can only slide outwards when you turn and you never want to be on the edge where you can go off the road quicker. In other words if turning left then get in the left lane, if turning right then get in the right lane. If the car starts to slide foot off the gas and ease into it never turn the steering like more than an 1/8 of a turn. Too much (what some people do as a mistake) and as soon as the tires bite you're going to go around and do a 180.

But you most likely never have to worry about this ever again, its rare for you guys, I hope you enjoyed it more than it bothered you.

-=>Raja.

[jharkin]

Love to fly...

Not all snow tires are studded. You can't always drive those here either... Nor do we need them... That's northern Maine and Canada territory.

What I'm talking about are studless ice and snow tires, like bridgestone blizzak or Michelin XIce. I have those on my car because I do have to drive in snow at times. They make an enormous difference over all seasons, the improvement in breaking power on ice has saved me a number of times.

If your roads where truly an ice sheet with no sand than even all season tires wouldn't do you any good. I can understand. ( we have hills here too)

[jharkin]

Originally Posted by rbort

. Jeremy how about you?

-=>Raja.

Hahaha man you have met my kids, you know 1000 inst happening for me I did set my personal goal to do 100 gasser flights or better and I still think that's doable. maybe even a couple hundred including electrics and airplanes.

Im in for this Saturday for sure.

[LoveToFly1]

yes, it was actually a lot of fun once I got to the house. the kids loved it and we did too. had plenty of fire wood, and plenty of heat, never lost power. it was great. back in 1993 we had a blizzard and got 3'6" of snow. but it wasn't ice like this. the roads took about 4 days to get cleared, but the snow stuck around for 9 days. it was in the middle of March too! lol but that was my snow storm as a kid, and this was my kids experience with the snow. I personally love the snow. always have, I am glad I don't live up north were I would get used to seeing it and It wouldn't be as fun. there is still a little snow left, but not enough to play in.

it was a fun experience. now we are all playing catch up at work! lol


yea, I googled those tires after I posted that. I see what you mean, and looks like they would help a lot. too bad I didn't have a set of them, that would have been great!

[jharkin]

Originally Posted by LoveToFly1

yea, I googled those tires after I posted that. I see what you mean, and looks like they would help a lot. too bad I didn't have a set of them, that would have been great!

Where you live I wouldn't bother with snows. not worth it at all. Like Raja says, snow tires are only usefull if you live in an area that gets a lot of snow AND you have a reason to be out driving before the roads get plowed (like to commute to work). Once the roads are plowed plain old all seasons are just fine if you are careful.

If I lived down south like you Id probably have something fun, RWD with max performance summer tires on it But I just cant stand hot, I like it up here

[rbort]

Got to the field a little late, but daylight has been extended by at least 30 minutes so that made up for it Temperature made it up to 44 degrees in nice sunny weather, then the clouds rolled in and it slowly dropped from there down to 34 degrees by 5:15pm. There was a peak of sunshine towards sunset, and then the clouds filled in. Winds were brisk out of the NW gusting to 21mph, but the warmer temps helped keep us from freezing. As in most cases, that last couple of flights of the day were in dead calm weather, the best time to be in the air!

I put up all 3 birds today, going around in round robin fashion, ran out of daylight for the 1005's 2nd flight so it never happened. Pete got just as many as me, and he's starting to get frisky with the controls. Today he said he just realized that he's more comfortable sitting down on the tailgate than standing up and flying, boy oh boy becoming just like me!!

MA 1005 = 1
Whiplash = 2
Spectra-g = 2

2014 count:

Furion 450 = 1
MA 1005 = 7
Spectra-g = 34
Whiplash = 33
Ansy's Whiplash = 2

Total = 76
Gallons Mixed = 8.00

So now I'm on the eve of 600 flights for the whiplash, I think it might be a sure bet now that I have pole position on the whippy running just about 600 tanks through her, not sure if anyone else has managed that since it became available. Jeremy will have the honors of watching flight 600 go, I can still remember flight 75 which was recorded by Mike and posted to view here when was that...let me check...back on Nov 23rd, 2012...!

Pete and I are anxious to see Jeremy's nice work on the lighting kit that he put up on his whippy. We looked at our watches and both decided that we're keeping Jeremy at the field until the end of the day and that he's taking the last flight up at 5:00 to 5:15pm when the lights will shine their best - Jeremy' you're doing it, if you chicken out due to daylight concern, then Pete said I'm doing it!!

As far as the yearly tally, at 76 flights after the first month I'm batting around 900 now.

-=>Raja.

[jharkin]

I'm not chicken, but I might not be able to stay that late depending on my wife plans dinner... We have dinner guests coming today.

[rbort]

Today everybody is at the field! Pete, Ansy, Jeremy and myself, 6 gassers in all and could be more if Pete and Ansy brought their other ones. A warmish day with mostly cloudy skies, temps made it to 49 degrees at the peak of the day and dropped back down to 38 degrees by the time we were leaving. A brisk wind gusting to 15mph made it feel colder than it really was, as well as me dressing down thinking its warm enough and I cut back too much especially with the sneakers, should have wore boots for sure as my feet still feel frozen NOW!!

Today was Jeremy's day, so Pete and I let him fly as much as he could. We got some flights in between. Longer at the field (6 hours), we managed 16 gasser flights between us all. Rule #1, someone is always in the air.

For me the day was uneventful, a round of flights with all, on the Spectra the right front canopy mount broke so on the 2nd flight an Ansytised it and flew it "naked". The whiplash went up for flight #600 at 4:45pm, and I had it down right at 5pm in time for Jeremy's "reserved" time slot 5:00-5:15pm to fly his whippy with all the nav lights on it. Looked really nice, I had a couple of suggestions for him on moving things around, I think next time around its going to look Fantastic and I'm thinking I might need to do the same on my helis

Jeremy also got to try out his new "cabin heat" furnace, as we piggy banked his car battery with my truck batteries (2) so both of us could fly the 11 flights in-between us with heat on battery power.

Jeremy has a few things to add about his day, I won't steal his thunder I'm sure he'll be in shortly to comment

MA 1005 = 1
Whiplash = 2
Spectra-g = 2
Jeremy's 450 = 1

2014 count:

Furion 450 = 1
Jeremy's 450 = 1
MA 1005 = 8
Spectra-g = 36
Whiplash = 35
Ansy's Whiplash = 2

Total = 81
Gallons Mixed = 8.00

-=>Raja.

Look at that below....yes ladies and gentlemen, 600 whippy flights...woo hoo!

[jharkin]

Originally Posted by rbort

Jeremy has a few things to add about his day, I won't steal his thunder I'm sure he'll be in shortly to comment

Thanks for the intro man! Yes, indeed quite a day. Over the last month since I last made it out I haven't had time to fly due to kids, work, repairs, and weather but I did make use of the time getting a lot of stuff done. ..

• I got one of Raja's Jewel generators installed with his superbright LEDs,
• I added more LEDs of my own to simulate full size nav lights with the red/green directionals, strobe and tail light
• I got the tail grips fixed
• I built a glove heater copying Raja's design
• I desoldered and moved the 14SG switches to put the hold switch on the proper side
• And I fixed the TRex after the stupid New years incident

So on to today... First off, thanks to Raja and Pete giving me priority a couple times to get airtime since I dont make it out often. I got a LOT of airtime... 6 flights is a new high for me and almost doubled to total airtime on this new whiplash. Still got a long way to go with it but I'm starting to get a little more comfortable and tried a couple new things today. Flight one I tried Captain Rescue for the first time just to get the feel (which was a good thing - see below), then I tried my first flips without incident, and tried some pirouettes during forward flight.


In between all the fun, I had two incidents today that made me a believer in both the helicommand and the generator!


First off the generator... I had previously been using a 2300 A123 pack, but when I installed the generator I swapped it for an old 1100 pack stolen from one of my planks to keep the weight gain down. Well, sometime in the third flight of the day (#12 overall), the pack died! went to power up for #13 and I had nothing. The balance tab showed one cell at 200mV and the other at 3.9v!!! So obviously one cell shorted internally and the generator was trying to overcharge the other. If I hadn't had the Jewel I would have lost the heli. Luckily I live so close I was able to drive home, grab a spare battery, come back, install and be ready to go by my next turn in the rotation.


Well, next flight (the ominious #13) I had to use rescue for real. I was getting frisky and going pretty far out on circuits and at on point I was doing a banked turn down by the far treeline and somebody walked by and I got disoriented and suddenly couldn't figure out which way it was going. I kicked rudder to try to straighten it out, but then it started skidding sideways and I lost track of if it was nose in or tail out and I banked to check and turns out it was nose but I didn't expect that so it started heading for the trees and..


.... I hit CR


... And it zoomed up giving me the chance to collect myself, reorient and fly back.


I am amazed and extremely happy that I didnt panic and actually thought to hit rescue. Especially considering I had just moved the switch. If I hadnt, would have cost hundreds of dollars for sure and might have involved calling the tree climber!


The rest of the day was uneventful, and as promised Raja and Pete gave me the 5pm spot. the lights look really cool at dusk, the strobe on top was reflecting off the spinning head which was neat... now Ive got marching orders to add some more lights and a request from Pete to build him a heater. Going to be busy...


Oh and while we were at it we did a couple of electric flights and Raja helped me tweak the 3x on my 450.




2014 Flights today

Whiplash 6 (1:30:00)
Trex 450 1


2014 Totals:
Whiplash-G: 8 (2:09:00)
Trex 450: 1
Airplanes: 0


Whiplash all time total: 15 (4:12:00)



I gave Pete my phone to take some pictures but the battery died. This is the best one I found...

[rbort]

A short outing today, looked nice but the clouds rolled in, the wind died, and rain droplets started to fall. It was as good as 50 degrees with winds gusting to 10mph at the worst, and died off nicely but the day got cut short due to rain. Anyways I had other ideas I wanted to do, wash the car, gas up for the heli cans, and get some shopping done so no big deal.

Dave showed up today, long time no see and he's got a fleet of electrics, one of which used to be Ansy's Goblin 600. Ansy showed up as the rain was starting while I was finishing my 3rd flight. He;s working on debugging his new whiplash.

I put in 2 flights on the Spectra and looks like the canopy mounts are holding strong, I upgraded them from 3mm to 4mm last night, took me a good hour and a half to do the entire job, but I'm very pleased with it. Looks like the heli is even smoother...I think the canopy used to "wave" around if you can imagine that and cause the HC unit to pick up some of that at idle up 2. Now there is nothing its smooth and rock solid, woo hoo!

Whiplash = 1
Spectra-g = 2

2014 count:

Furion 450 = 1
Jeremy's 450 = 1
MA 1005 = 8
Spectra-g = 38
Whiplash = 36
Ansy's Whiplash = 2

Total = 84
Gallons Mixed =12.00

Never got to get the 1005 out, it rained...

-=>Raja.

[Mr.HillBilly]

BigBird is back!

Got to play with the G30 for the first time this year. The first 2 tanks were not relaxing at all, Rebuilt motor, new model in TX (due to snapped THold switch) new setup on CGY 750 and first flight after a crash. Bird did not feel right and it took me 2 1/2 tanks to get things to start feeling right. After fighting with her for a hour or so she started working like she used to and I started to relax and have fun with her. Burned 3 tanks went back to house to warm up and charge up again.

Got back out to burn another 3 tanks before it got dark, Now all 3 of these tanks were relaxing and bird was acting the way she did before. She is running so good that I do not even need to change anything on it before I take her out again. I do need to tear TX apart and move a switch so I can get Thold where I want it again.

Anyways 6 tanks on the rebuilt motor and all is well. Motor is still running rich but bird looks good even thou I have some 4 cycle going on. Flew around today at 1600, 1700 and 1800 HS, I even did not realize that I was in idle up 2 and threw +12 pitch at the thing a few times today. After I get another 6 or 8 tanks though her I will lean her out a bit more and get back up to my 1950 HS I like.

Time to get the G20 going next. I do not figure I will have it ready for next week due to ordering some parts, but who knows it might still make it.

YAHOO Gasser Time again!


G30 6
G20 0
130 2
MCPx 13
TRex 250 0

[rbort]

The calm before the storm, a picture perfect day, , blue skies to start with almost no wind to speak of. The gage showed a gust to 10mph, but I'll tell you it was a "puff" of wind here and there otherwise calm you could see Pete's exhaust just hanging in the air. Temps rose to 39 degrees and back down to 26 by the time we left. Pete's last flight at 4:40 took off at 35 degrees and landed at 30F!

I took the Taylorcraft today fitted with Skis. What a beautiful sight skiing down the fresh snow covered runway, you could see the snow blowing behind the plane. I really wish I had the camcorder today, you guys would have enjoyed some really cool videos. Had a flight with the TC but at the end of the flight the skis got loose from the wire holding it up and it dropped nose down in flight...yikes! I was thinking what to do, thought maybe to land inverted after Pete was not so eager about the "hover and catch" idea and it ran low on fuel thinking about it and quit in the air. Came in upright and landed luckily just right, ski flipped around inverted and the plane slowed before catching and flipping inverted in the snow. No damage lucked out and I was able to fly it again 2 more times.

Pete and I alternated and I got in 2 flights each on the 1005 and Whiplash as well. Everything is flying beautiful and I was doing some backwards sliding autos landing on 1 skid as well as some ground pirouettes nose down that were blowing a cyclone of snow dust as I went around and around. I really wish I had the camcorder, today would have been perfect for it.

MA 1005 = 2
Whiplash = 2
Taylorcraft = 3

2014 count:

Furion 450 = 1
Jeremy's 450 = 1
MA 1005 = 10
Spectra-g = 38
Whiplash = 38
Ansy's Whiplash = 2
Taylorcraft = 3

Total = 93
Gallons Mixed =12.00

-=>Raja.

[rcnut]

The calm before the storm...

Storm...what storm?! LoL! We haven't seen 30+ temps in over a month. We have seen -20 degrees! Like to see you fly in that! LoL!

Sorry for the rant, just got hit with more snow and heavy blowing winds now. I'm sick of all this snow! And, the next 6-7 nights are single digits below zero! Winter, please stop!