Well, enough fussing with the radio. It was such a nice day today with 50 degrees, light wind, white clouds and occasional sun, I decided to fly the ship in spite of what I considered insufficient down flap available. With 5 oz. lead I had built into the nose, the all up flying weight was 97 oz. . . .just right! The smaller receiver, smaller R & E servos and smaller battery pack require the extra lead to balance and the wing had been moved forward an inch over prior versions.
At the community college grounds, I had it all to myself. . . .not a soccer player, kite flyer or baseball player in sight. This was a rare occasion! After the first handlaunch, which required no change in trim, I ran it up on the highstart 200 feet or so using no down flap. All was stable and I did some easy turns for starters. I have 100 feet of that 3/8" black rubber with 1/8" walls Aerofoam now handles. There is 630 feet of line on it. Give me 20 MPH wind and I can get about 700 feet high on it, kiting up. Next I stretched it further and got to 300 or so and poked around for thermals. Like its predecessors, this GENIE's tip and tail are fine lift indicators. Those new light stabs weigh 1/2 oz. each. The center section is like a board, but the tips, as expected using the clockspring steel for supports, flex a little where they butt the center. The RDS drive shafts slip into pockets at the inboard ends of the ailerons. . .nothing to hook up at all and the wing is totally clean. Soon I was into lift and nicely rising and turning. I started my little tests with the infamous "dive test". Ah. . .just a slight "hands off" pull out tendency from an induced dive. All is going smoothly. I gingerly input down flap (finally got them to drop about 65 degrees) at safe altitude. Great. . .the ship has a slight diving attitude and is slowing well enough. It is behaving without drifting off to one side as could occasionally be a problem when the center section was 6' long and all flapped. I left off the dreaded "shark's teeth" skid and as expected, it went about 50 feet after touch down on the mowed grass. Next launch, I stretched further and dropped the flaps 3/8". Oops, I had to input some down elevator to keep up the airspeed or it wanted to fall off to one side. This wing transitions from the thinned SD7036 at the center to the SD 7003 at the tips without twist washout and is supposed to give aerodynamic washout. Well, it won't go up as steeply on the highstart without dropping off as does the 7036-7038 combo with a little twist tor tip stall control, but it's faster. However this wing will be fine on the high start with more wind or under winch power. It's great. . .better than I figured it would be. It should zoom like crazy. On another launch I went for broke and probably got to 350. Little thermals were everywhere and I could easily go up at will. I shot up to 500 feet as part of a 10 minute flight.The CC is only a mile from the airport and the people in the tower are cooperative if traffic is light and my intentions made known. Heidi welcomed my call, we arrived at an understanding and I had her blessing for good flying. With gentle lift all around the place I could really cover ground with a bit of down pressure on the elevator stick. Only a couple of planes came by in my 2 hours there, so the sky was sort of all mine. From that 500 feet, it was a good time to check the vertical descent capability. I dropped the flaps that full 65 degrees and put it into vertical descent. It was was totally controlled and I continued with down flap to a landing. It slowed well and I punched the nose in for a short skid. AOK! I went for broke again, again got into good lift. Time to check inverted turn capability. A half loop and push the stick forward to hold it level. Ah. . .very easy to keep in a 360 turn. Okay, time for a fast flyby. I made a dive from 400 feet toward my eyeballs and then veered off about 10 feet off the deck and headed out again and back up to 300 or so with the energy retention from the 6 pound ship. It is so quiet! Great! Another nice landing and there was nothing more to prove. I packed up and headed home to enjoy some of the navy bean, sauteed onions and ham hocks soup that had been simmering in my absence. It was just right, too. Wish you could have been with me. What a great day! I'll bet not one other 80 plus year old senior in this town had as much fun as I did today! A pic of #24 by the pickup be on the website as soon as friend Loren Jennings gets it added. In a day or so, check out www.proptwisters.org/genie/genie.html. If you want to see it now, ask me for it. I like the new wing with the shorter 58" center and longer tips to make up the same 145-1/2" span.The proportions look nice and a 58" center is easier to handle and transporrt than the prior 72" one. Harley Michaelis, 26 S. Roosevelt, Walla Walla, WA 99362, ph. (509) 529-2562 RCSE-List facilities provided by Model Airplane News. Send "subscribe" and "unsubscribe" requests to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Please note that subscribe and unsubscribe messages must be sent in text only format with MIME turned off.
