307 Simms

Another Downwind Launch!

It was a 890 ft downwind run out through the weeds.

30 mph take off speed 2833 ft AGL...42 minutes flight time.

When I got to the field it was dead calm, so I set-up SSE on a gentle grade with 200 feet of short weeds. Sure nuff...by the time I had hooked up the buggy and put on my helmet the wind was coming from directly behind me at 4 mph. If I were going to reset I would have had to move more than 150 yards and the odds were that the wind would have shifted again. So...I cussed and decided to wait. After 5 minutes it looked like the pattern was set against me.... so I watched the wind sock and when it looked like it was slacking ...I punched it.

Off we went, like something out of a Disney Movie, a couple of times I hit a particularly big weed (more like a small bush) and felt the buggy slow down. It was very like the launch a week ago in Colorado Springs. I was moving fast and could feel it wanting to fly but the tall weeds were keeping me in the ground. I finally popped some brakes going 30 mph and the buggy came up. It's lucky I didn't damage my delicate IVO prop because I was plowing through some pretty thick stuff. It broke the ignition off the stem but it was only a spot weld on less than 1/4 inch rod and inherently weak. My fleece jacket was impregnated with hay seed, each one is going to have to be pulled out individually and I bet it's going to take an hour.

Very nice flight. I saw a Delta trike flying between the hogback and the foothills moving like a bat out of hell North to South. At first I thought it was two in a tight formation until I realized that the trailing craft was really his shadow on the mountainside. Worked on level flight and steeper spirals. I really pulled some brake on the final flare ans was surprised by how much resistance there was. I'm thinking that this wing can take allot more input than I've been giving it. I picked up a big twig during take off it was in the brake lines close to the wing. There was enough drag on the right side that I had to let out the right trim to fly straight.