Yup! I'm hooked again, and I
can't wait to get back into it! Showing up at Visalia after a 4-year
hiatus with a plane I'd never flown before (an X-21) and without any practice to
speak of (6 bungee launches Friday afternoon for programming/trimming flights)
is not the way to do it, but hey, I figured it's like riding a bicycle, you jump
back on and it's no big deal WRONG! The level of competition is such
that a couple seconds off your time and a less than perfect landing and you are
way down in the middle of the pack! Despite all that, I think I would have
had a respectable finish but fate ruled otherwise.Over the course of
the middle rounds, myX-21 became subtly but increasingly difficult to fly,
and at first I thought it was me that was the problem and I was becoming very
exasperated by what seemed to be a case of dumb thumbs, but then it finally
became apparent that the RF module in my trusty MPX 4000 was dying and was
responsible for some of the weird flying characteristics that my plane had begun
to exhibit. As an example, on one landing approach, the flap/elevator
compensation suddenly and spectacularly reversed itself! Coming up on the
runway, I pulled a little more flap and the plane suddenly pitched hard nose up
and though I shoved full down elevator, she just sailed over the entire runway
and planted itself at my feet. Talk about frustration!!! Earlier I
had thought I was being hit, and now I thought maybe I had done something wrong
in the programming. I won't go into all the details, but after a close
look at the programming on the Tx and another range check and freq scan, several
people with me were surprised to see the flight controls just start moving
around on their own and settle into different trim positions, all without me
touching the sticks. At that point I took myself out of the contest and
just watched the rest of the second day. A DNF at Visalia.
:-(
Despite that, the trip was worth the
trouble and expense and I still had a lot of fun and got to see a lot of old
friends. The Friday and Saturday afternoon/evening antics are just too
much fun, especially when there are that many people with so many different
"toys" to play with. Big thanks to Mike Lee for the Slow Stik combat
contest (absolutely hilarious) and for letting me play around with his HLG,
doing aerobatics off the launch and a lot of inverted hand catches,
etc. And thanks to Paul Anderson for letting me fly his superlight
3D foamie electric! At under a 3oz wing loading, this thing is a real hoot
to fly and everyone should have one!!
Those of you who weren't there will not
understand the real meaning of "limbo" as defined Saturday night by Paul
Anderson and Joe Wurts. Now THAT was fun to watch!! If you are
really into soaring, you owe it to yourself to go at least once!
The top 10 spots in open class were
nailed down by people whose names are synonomous with winning in this
hobby. Any of these guys can hold their own against the best anywhere else
in the world. And you know there is serious firepower in the lineup when
you see names like Daryl Perkins, Joe Wurts, Larry Jolly, Ben Clerx and a
multitude of other stellar performers and contest winners. Guys like Tom
Copp, Mark Taylor, Edgar Vera, Arthur M., Keith Kendrick the list is long
and the soaring skills displayed by those people are impressive indeed. I
just hope that I am able to work hard enough to earn the right to rank myself
among them next year!!!
Time to start working to get ready for
next season. Anybody within reasonable distance of eastern PA want to join
me in putting together an F3J team and a Cross-country team, please get in
touch!
Keith McLellan
Northampton, PA
484-894-0463
