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Thursday, April 30, 2009

Flight 272 Simms

70 degrees and sunny
winds 10-12 at 6:00
decreasing to 4-5 at 6}45
Smooth air / some puffs

Marek pulled up just as I finished driving the truck out of a mud bog.
In trying to avoid a muddy and rutted gully I drove right into it's feeder and packed up the tires big time.
My first thought was to use the ramps to give the back wheels some traction but without a shovel to get them placed under the tire it was easier to work the transmission and power my way to the dry ground. The wind was northeast and strong enough to create a rotor from the water tank North of the high school.
Marek and I kited for 15 minutes while the strong winds that had been blowing all afternoon finally died down. We chatted with an ex skydiver during set up and Marek was the first off at 6:45...I followed by a couple of minutes climbing to 1000 AGL. Marek stayed low and did some touch and goes.
While he was playing in the dirt I finally took the time to let out the trimmers on Monte's PowerPlay 250. There is more travel in the trim tabs and while I was fussing with them I discovered that it's possible to get a twist to run through the buckle. Not a good thing...I could see the possibility of it jamming if I wasn't careful. Without the GPS I can't say how much faster the sting flew but the brakes felt better...less spongy but still not as firm as the Eden III.
I was able to modulate the throttle better than last time but I didn't feel like messing with the cruise control . It was enough to do gentle maneuvers and get to know the wing. Inconsistent is the best word I can come up with to describe the turns. Sometimes there is a noticeable delay before the wing starts to turn. It sure doesn't want to bank I wish that I had 62 inch blades because I could use some more power from the B&S 4stroke .

One thing to work on is the throttle. The way the risers are set my hands are even with the bullet bars and the kill switch is getting bumped. Tomorrow I'll fit a piece of plastic hose to act as a guard.
Marek gave me a great helmet....Thanks buddy!




Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Flight 271 Simms

First flight in a long time
The wind was coming from the South and East at 5:00 pm.
It was a warm 65 degrees
For 45 minutes it shifted back and forth at 8 knots and for a brief time it swung around to the West. Marek stopped by on his motorcycle and while we chatted the winds came down...He left and I set up. First attempt in light breeze the wing over flew me and I had to re-set. Second was better when I damped the surge a little quicker. I must have got off a bit early because the buggy drifted down a bit. I was a little disappointed by the climb rate it hung at 140 ft/min for awhile but there were areas of lift where I was climbing at 260 and better.
The new FB Throttle is better but I still don't have a good hold yet. I think it might help if I lowered the brakes a little bit. I was not comfortable in the mixing air and had to force myself to go "hands free". I'm still working on fine motor control, the short throw in the throttle and quiet motor make it a real challenge to find the sweet spot.
I'm also a little disappointed by the Power Play Sting 250. It feels mushy compared to the Eden III. Maybe it will firm up with the trimmers out. The wing wanted to turn to the left and after fooling with the trimmers a bit I got it figured out. But I just felt like the wing was doing it's own thing. There was a bit of weed high on the left side and perhaps the drag from it was what I was feeling.
Landing was good.... power on...
Next time try a moving the foot steering so that the arms can go farther back. Use the cruse control and go trimmers out.

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

No Fly Day in April

This is interesting
Below is the weather history by my house
Notice the wind was not to high...Too gusty to fly
But the pictures below and the Simms History show a different story under those clouds


Simms History