This was a great day. We had a party last night and I woke up this morning feeling 70 years old. Every joint hurt like I had spent the week bucking bales of hay. I knew Robert was going to Vance Brand and wanted to go but had a hard time motivating. BUT .... I managed to drag my butt of the couch and get out to the field by 2 pm.
The wind was 5 mph from the ESE and Robert was getting Zach (Mindy's son) ready for his first flight. Marek and Ty went up for a short flight and reported moderately bumpy air. I set up by the swoop pond, to give myself a little more runway. The wing came up clean and I carved it up for 20 minutes until my hands started to go numb from the cold.
The next hour was spent trying to get Zach off the ground. The wind had come down so the reverse that he had beem practicing was out. I'll give him credit for perserverence, Zach wore the motor for 45 minutes and 8 or 10 attempts before he finally go up. At first he was having a problem getting the motor up to full power, I'm not sure if it was a motor problem or his hand got between the lever and the grip. Eventually that was straightened out and he had to deal with several attempts where the wing came up crooked. I'm not going to second guess Robert but maybe it would have helped if he had him take off the motor after two aborts and reset the wing very carefully. I'm not sure but I think if he did that and placed the motor where he wanted to be standing when he started it might have come up a little straighter. It would also make each attempt " THE ONE". It's great to have a guy reset for you when you abort and it saves taking off the motor but it is hard to get positioned exactly right when the wing is pulled into position without the pilot seeing exactly where it is. It just seemed a little rushed. Never the less , he got off and landed well with the "first flight grin". I wasn't able to get any stills but did video his first launch. If I can get it on IMovie I'll send it to him.
The wind was 5 mph from the ESE and Robert was getting Zach (Mindy's son) ready for his first flight. Marek and Ty went up for a short flight and reported moderately bumpy air. I set up by the swoop pond, to give myself a little more runway. The wing came up clean and I carved it up for 20 minutes until my hands started to go numb from the cold.
The next hour was spent trying to get Zach off the ground. The wind had come down so the reverse that he had beem practicing was out. I'll give him credit for perserverence, Zach wore the motor for 45 minutes and 8 or 10 attempts before he finally go up. At first he was having a problem getting the motor up to full power, I'm not sure if it was a motor problem or his hand got between the lever and the grip. Eventually that was straightened out and he had to deal with several attempts where the wing came up crooked. I'm not going to second guess Robert but maybe it would have helped if he had him take off the motor after two aborts and reset the wing very carefully. I'm not sure but I think if he did that and placed the motor where he wanted to be standing when he started it might have come up a little straighter. It would also make each attempt " THE ONE". It's great to have a guy reset for you when you abort and it saves taking off the motor but it is hard to get positioned exactly right when the wing is pulled into position without the pilot seeing exactly where it is. It just seemed a little rushed. Never the less , he got off and landed well with the "first flight grin". I wasn't able to get any stills but did video his first launch. If I can get it on IMovie I'll send it to him.
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