Good Flight. I took my time paying attention to the little details. The wing came up fast...I damped the surge and for the first time in awhile kept the power down and taxied a bit before committing to the launch. I don't know where I got into the habit of hammering the throttle until I was 100 feet up ... maybe with the Thumper ... maybe from launching in short fields. Anyway it felt much better. I was more aware of the situation... I could feel the weight coming off the trike and I could tell when I was about to leave the ground. Gotta remember that and keep it happening.
The weather was good ... warm enough that I didn't change after work. Just grap the maching and go!
The flight was 50 minutes of boating over the field and the golf courses. I left the trimmers in and got to know the Eden III 30m. I climbed to 4000 agl and practiced basic maneuvers. Diving turns ... mild wingovers ... spirals. I was surprised by the trouble I was having at getting a flat turn. It might be that it is just a bigger wing and I wasn't patient but flat turns seemed far too slow. The real challenge is to time the 4 stroke so that the power is there when I need it. At one point I was diving fast and it seemed like the motor was extraordinarily slow getting up to power so I could climb out. I'm going to have to move the pulleys down so that I can fly trimmers out and still be able to reach the toggles.
Toward the end of the flight the wing picked up and was shifting on a 120 degree arc. Fling a straight ling my speed was vacillating between 22mph and 42mph. I was worried that I might have to land in gusty conditions but once back over the field it was calm. The landing was as smooth as the take off and I was surprised by the huge temperature drop at 15 feet. All in all a good night ... I'm glad that I took 7 weeks off. It has forced me to pay better attention and I appreciate the flights more than when I'm flying every day.
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