I was up in the upper valley today since no one had called to fly. Bill and Dan had called and were wanting to fly R C sailplanes and they had out just about everything...
I had not flown any RC since last winter so I started with a 2Mtr RES type and had a 30 minute flight straight out of the box at 10am. I was instantly thinking too bad no one is in town flying CHIEFs today. Bill had his new 200 inch, I think a Ash 26 scale plane out and Dan had a older 180ish inch span I think a DG 800. However I was a bit slow to step up and fly the BIG GUNs still. As they flew thier first flights with thier full house 3mtr set ups..
I flew a 3 mtr full house glider and lead the way for Bill in his BEAST out to a huge thermal near Happy Valley school... The new flight systems they have are INCREDABLE to say the least. There from over seas "I think" and have varios and air speed GPS and all in them right in front of you... Bills first flight was just over a hour and he landed sbout 1145am and the data had him at 4100ft and max Airspeed at 48 MPH and climb of 700ft a minute. It just plugs right into the lap top when your done flying with a track log and all.
Dan offered me his 800 and it is a massive bit of radio and 12 channels to fly. The 6 servos in the wing alone was a LOT for the flaps and ailerons, plus 2 more for the spoilers etc...He has the same glide slope tech in his plane as well... I launched right about noon and struggled to get the thing above 300ft for what seemed a eternity. Listening to all the beeps bloops and tone sounds was confusing as I circled. I was BEGGING as I had Dan shutting down everything but the vario and air speed sounds while I was flying. Soon after I was climbing in the typical Ojai Convergence pushing Up through the upper valley near Happy Valley School as I drifted Back east out over the field in my light lift. All I know is the Vario started to really make some HIGH pitch tones and it started Climbing and Bill is on the way UP. I was probably about 1k over the field and the Airspeed was up to 30MPH and the climb was a solid pitch tone. I flew for a hour and a Half and topped out so HIGH I could no longer see the tail feathers on the plane at all.
What a Great way to spend a SAT with some friends. I topped out at 5,500 according to the data, and Bill with his Larger plane topped out at over 6 GRAND... Landing that HUGE plane on that little soccer field was a lot harder than I remember when I had my XC plane. Then again being a bit rusty and not flying anything that big in over 3 years might have had a LOT to do with it. I enjoyed flying my 2mtr and thier Full house planes. Yet the Big Boy was the best. I need to look into that new system. They said they got it through North East Sailplane. It seems to be the ticket compaired to just a basic thermal sniffer like I have...
Thanks Bill and Dan... I had a GREAT time and I hope your back so we can fly again...
ED S