Hi guys We had a fanastic soaring day in Orlando today, warm with calm winds, versus the cold and 27mph average wind yesterday. My goal on this trip was to get the two carbon fuse systems fully tested...as in under contest conditions. I had actually flown my Carbon Pike with the Catfish whisker system before I left Louisville and it showed excellent numbers and performance. But was only able to do a walking ground range test on the Supra...which 'seemed' to be fine. I flew the Pike yesterday for three rounds in that wind and Flight Log Said!!....all good. So today I thought it would make sense to vet the Supra and its Sputnik style install. Now keep mind that my install was the 'techy' version of Don Barkers simple system of shrink wraping servo wire to the existing whiskers, running them back thru the fire wall and out holes just behind the nose cone line, equally spaced around the circumference. I used actual 2.4 shield lead wire (same as found in wireless routers connecting the board to the exterior antennae and the same as the wire used to connect the 2.4 TX antenna to the module. I solder the shielding to the ground (neg) pin of the servo block, and soldered the inner wire to the spot were the original whiskers were installed. Then I ran the extensions thru some pushrod tubing that starts at the firewall and ends at the same locations in the fuse side as Don's. That allows me to easily route the wires in and out for the trials. This should have been the cat's whiskers (or meow:-)...I flew it for four rounds...the plane felt weird at most times and just seemed to be fighting me. Keep in mind that I know this plane from a few thousand flights...yes it is the World's Heaviest Carbon Supra Lite but like all Supras an easy and honest ship to fly. Flight log numbers didn't show any Holds but the fades etc were from 600 to 900's each of those 4 rounds. Those rounds were kind of fun actually because they were filled with excitement...as in one or two times it flew right past the landing spot, so that me and timer had to jump out of the way....stalls that almost put it in trees, turns that just seemed like they didn't want happen....in other words the same as a cell phone call that you can only get bits and pieces of words. With 3 rounds left I was now second from last, bottom row (MOM seeded, eat your hearts out).... Guys were walking by saying stuff like "sooner or later we all have a bad day... or geez you sure flew different a few weeks back in Punta Gorda!...etc). I figured four rounds was enough confirmation that 'Holds' are NOT the only concern with 2.4 systems, and it was time to quit fiddling and do some flying.
Rick Eckels is back in the grove, he was deadly from the first flight to the last, although his last two flights he got a little silly, having to do two hero saves to max the time. He was dead on his landings in any case. Mr.Johns from over on the west coast took third, Larry Squire and his Shadow was in the top group all day but in the end got caught by single most deadly mistake....not using his rudder stick...so lost time in two rounds. I roared all the way up from second last to second place with about seconds total of those final flights, a 75, and two 100s. It really looked like Rick might hand it over on that flight, but I was behind by almost 1,000 points... I even tried trash talking him during the flight (we were close to each other at the LZ area, my plane at about 2,300' and his about 230' :-)...but its his field, he's a fantastic thumb and he's flying a Perfect so barring some really crushing sink, I knew he was going to make it. I think he dropped about 5 seconds and nailed a 75 to insure there was no sneaking up on him. A great time had by all and some valuable lessons learned....as in when someone says "my 2.4 system is working fine in a carbon fuse plane....really!" After my experience today, I believe ignorance( about data packets) might be bliss but its not real good for contest scores...and there is no way to know if it was you or Memorex...that earned that crappy flight. Okay so back to the Sputnik install for slip on nose cones...I'm going to de-tech mine completely. I'll put the original whiskers back on, shrink wrap servo wire on, and leave the sacred 31mm whiskers exposed same as Don's. He's been running his Flight Log consistently with a good numbers. I suppose you could just get 2.4 friendly fuses now that there are some snow shoveling opportunities to raise the cash...but what fun is that? :-). So now its nose back to the grind stone...a few hours at Blizzard Beach in Disney World tomorrow, then tomorrow off to Montego Bay for three days at the pool, ..and three hours of actual face time with the customer's people...."don't go too fast, do go too deep and grease it here"...(my wife says I have been chanting that lately in my sleep). Gordy...I got Wood today, you? **************It's Tax Time! Get tips, forms, and advice on AOL Money & Finance. (http://money.aol.com/tax?NCID=aolprf00030000000001)
