My new Student Jay

[ATIS]

I picked up another student today. Jay had some 3 channel flying experience but it has been a few years since he flew. He arrived today with a new PZ T-28 (white and red version) and 2 lipos. We got him set up on the buddy box and off we went. He did great on his 3 flights and I never had to save the plane. He did some rolls and on the 3rd flight he even did the take off. Landings will be next weekend if weather permits.

At the pace he is learning I figure he will solo next weekend if we can get 4 flights in and then we can work on turning the T-28 loose and let him learn to fly her like a warbird! Thats the enjoyable part of teaching! :happy bounce:

[liquid1]

Nice he sounds like a fast learner..The T28 is an awesome warbird with spunk..I like my T28D more with every flight.

[rcdude07]

:clapping::thumbsup:;D:RC_Man::RC_Plane_Green:

[ATIS]

yep, the T-28 is a great flyer and if you have a short grassed field or a paved runway she is awesome for touch and goes, not to mention she flyes great inverted!

[phantomphan]

Cool. Another addict.
:RC_Plane_Red:

[ATIS]

Checksix (jay) got 3 more flight in today in 10-15mph winds with the T-28. He did great and I never took over. Take offs and landing went fine, Split S, rolls, loops all looked good. Next week 1 lat buddy box flight and then he will be on his own with his new PZ P-51.

[WJCJR1]

AWESOME! Congrats CHECKSIX!

Wayne

[checksix]

well first flight on the cord i took over at altitude as the PZ T-28 went by from left to right , She's a beauty ! Hands and knuckles were shaking the whole time ! lol . . . ATIS kept his cool and talked me around the patterns. I flew her around just getting my thumbs and orientation to become one. I let ATIS know when i noticed the rpm response getting sluggish, he said lipo was getting low and he would bring her in. I believe i started breathing again at that point ! ATIS talked to me about what he was doing the whole time while he brought her in for the landing. Next two flights went about the same , played with the high rates on the third flight and had a little fun with some basic rolls ! Think the hands finally stopped shaking on that third time up.

[checksix]

3 more flights in today , was a little nervous with the wind 10-15 i believe. Was enough that she shook her tail a bit into the wind , no bad up and down sheer so it was managable even for the newbie lol . . wind did make rolls and loops quite fun though , she was very responsive even without the high rates ! ATIS again was very patient and talked me through everything , landing into the wind was a bit nerveracking , super sensitive and slow ground speed made knuckles shake again. Got her down ok , just not as pretty as i would have liked - cant wait for next session !

[ATIS]

Next session the buddy cord will be there simply as a safety, its all you from roll out to taxi into the pits! (unless you manage to find a time to get out their on your own with the winds calm then go for it like we talked about and you will be fine). After that its all you and maybe the P-51. :)

[WJCJR1]

Good Job ATIS with the schooling CHECKSIX is learning Quickly.

CHECKSIX as a new member to HorizonRcFlyers welcome to the forum and the world of R/C Aircraft!

Wayne

[ATIS]

I am very happy to report that Checksix solo'd tonight in 15mph!! From take off to landing with loops, rolls, and a long inverted pass 3/4 around the field in between. He is official an rc pilot!

So now I get to video his P51 maiden this weekend!! :)

[liquid1]

Cool it want be long he'll have a video up from the T28..Sounds like he's a natural..

[checksix]

Well SOLO flight yesterday went well .... a bit windy again but I was eager to get the solo in and ATIS had just picked up his PZ wildcat and was dying to fly her. Take offs into the wind are effortless and the change in location was different but got used to the light poles and knowing where they were. Had a decent flight but gusts almost made me loose the nose while i was going around the field inverted. Told ATIS thats all for me and lets get the wildcat maiden in. floated around one last time at half throttle and coasted in hard on the nose gear and she bounded like a baby deer ! not pretty at all but was afraid of flaring too much into that wind and stalling her on the tail. much more practice needed ! After that i gave the camera a try and attempted to catch ATIS in the air , much harder than it looks guys ! lol

[checksix]

ATIS gave me a shout and we were off again this evening to get a flight in. As i had promised him a better video of the wildcat. Had to redeem myself after the last one (sorry) We were back at our usual location and i decided i would go up first , i was very eager to show off for my instructor ! had an exuberance of confidence today with a slighty calmer wind (should have been the first clue in my mind) Took off at 3/4 trottle to get a nice rolling lift off . I like the look of a scale take off ! At the end of the field at WOT I stepped on the elevator and banked her to the left on the tip ! beautiful ! I was smiling ear to ear (second clue) After a couple of rolls and split S's and low passes i caught ATIS looking at his watch ! WHAT ! was i boring my instructor ! NO way ! my mind was thinking "show him something" (third clue) I gained some airspeed and went for a big loop directly over us that i was planning on rolling twice out of going straight ahead , As i was coming out on the backside I must have not got her level and the wind pushed me out right over our heads , I stayed committed to rolling out of it and lost orientation over my right shoulder and pulled hard up on the elevator when i caught a glimpse of the wings . . . . . . . . . she was inverted ! That must have been the loudest noise I have ever heard foam make ! It looked like a little cloud of snowflakes ! ATIS and I stared at each other for a moment and started walking over to her 50 yrds away , seemed like it took me an hour to get there. She nosed completely square on the nose. It took both of us and all four arms and hands to pick it all up. Brought her home and started assessing the damage. To my surprise it looked worse than it is. (really) lol. Fuselage is toast ! Broke completely in half at the battery mount, impact pushed the motor through two spars on the motor mount and the cowling is tweaked and scratched but is salvagable with some paint. Thats it ! propeller, motor electrics, wings, canopy , all survived without even scratches ! (oh and the right landing gear popped off but i think i had knocked that loose yesterday with that pogo landing) It did knock everything off the fuse except the decals though ! Got a fuselage and motor mount and cowling coming friday for the rebuild ! LESSON : Never fly beyond your skill level ! As soon as you feel yourself getting cocky , throttle back , and re-assess your skill level. I got way ahead of myself too soon trying to impress the teach. ATIS even warned me about flying a little too much behind us, keep the plane in front of you ! Side note : we did find a aeiloron clevice off the horn post crash that might explain why she just kept rolling but the impact could have done that as well. If i had the parts I would be up tommorow but it does hurt the ego a bit , she never did me wrong learning on her. Ill keep you guys posted on the rebuild and maybe we can video her on Sunday.

[ATIS]

I still swear she is repairable except the motor mount. It did look cool going in so I have to give you bonus points on a quality crash. Its a learning experience and no matter how much you fly your going to have those moments where the plane gets 3 steps ahead of your brain and you end up donking her. Look at me with the Wildcat tonight...donked her.

[ATIS]

I will let Check Six explain the video...


http://www.vimeo.com/13563566

[checksix]

Well while waiting for T-28 fuse to get here we had a good two days of perfect weather and I couldnt just sit back and video ATIS fly his wildcat around. I had to get back up in the air, actually i needed to , so i could quit replaying the T-28 "event" . I was saving the P-51 for that special occasion but ATIS convinced me I was ready. Mind you there was a bit of wind , we werent at our usual location , this was the maiden for this beautiful plane , it was my first hand launch ever , AND i was coming off a crash. Needless to say i was shaking again. The PZ P-51 flies great ! Hand launch was easy at 3/4 stick just make sure you throw the wings level ! In the air she was definately quicker than the T-28 I learned on . Very quick response on the surfaces and didnt tail shake into the wind. Again the flight was short without any special manuvers but then again this time all i was thinking in my head was "you are still a rookie" "you are still a rookie" Hopefully weather cooperates and I can let her loose a little next time up. She is a great second plane with spirited handling but yet docile enough to fly around at half stick. I havent added the rudder but I didnt notice the need for it on the maiden. Time will tell if I add it on or leave it stock.

[liquid1]

The P51 is a good looking War Bird..Good to know the rudder is not noticed Looks like it would make a great bush plane.

[checksix]

Well folks the learning continues ! Last event before the site upgrade Was about 2 weeks ago where ATIS and I flew my PZ P-51 ( first hand launch ever ). As to keeping my promise on my training log. I believe i have 8 flights on the P-51 since that first video. She is a very stable platform to fly even when a bit windy. Has plenty of power and ATIS recently "juiced" my settings to where she is rolling and flying the way a warbird was intended to fly ! I have even flown with CRASH27 and his P-51 trying to chase his tail around the field TIP: as hard as you want to watch the other plane , ALWAYS watch yours ! especially when it's thw same style of bird ! No incidents to report thankfully , and we did actually got a 0 wind day one afternoon last week ! ATIS and I couldnt resist and we took off with mustang and wildcat in tow ! WOW what had i been missing ! I now know that i was spoiled that day ! The planes were so smooth and precise ! I wont want to go back to flying in the wind after that day lol. I havent flown the other PZ warbirds yet , but as far as the P-51 goes she is great. My second plane and is tame enough for me and still has the lines and power to keep me happy for some time to come, would highly recommend her as a second or third plane. And i still havent noticed not having a rudder but then again I'm still learning, future upgrade ?



http://www.vimeo.com/13811570 (http://www.vimeo.com/13811570)

[checksix]

I am happy to report that the T-28 lives again ! Teardown and rebuild went pretty smooth even though it was my first crash repair ! I hooked everything up except the motor and turned everything on outside the plane just to make sure the servos zeroed. Then installed everything back as neutral as i could get the arms and linkages back on the plane. The canopy seemed to fit very tight on the new fuse and was about to cut on it and I thought I would let the guys at the filed look at it for me ( more on that later ) Other than that I actually got to learn alot on the plane and feel confident now on getting in her and fixing stuff. Good learning experience all around ! I did add some red stripes to the bottom of the elevator to help with orientation ! First little 2 min trim flight went well just had to add some down elevator and she was going around the feild smooth untill the canopy decided to depart the fuse ! . . . Brought her down with a good landing for once ! And all the guys starting helping me look at cutting or taping or using a band around it to keep the canopy on. We found that the magnet in the new fuse was backwards ! Meaning it was facing with the same polarity as the magnet on the canopy ! We flipped it around and whola ! Stuck to it like glue ! Just a heads up to everyone ! ATIS came out to video the re-birth lol and we got some good flights in , although we did notice a wierd noise coming from the motor/prop , like a clicking that corresponds with rpm, prop unbalanced or the motor was hurt in the crash ? inspected the motor and found no cracks or blemishes even ran it up before dismounting it from the old fuse, prop is new . Going to check motor mount tonight but other than that dont know what it is. Cant really describe it , I just know it sounds different. Wondering if anyone else has experienced something similiar after a nose crash ? Anyways it was great to see her back in the air ! And with the high rates on she is acrobat ! Turn down to half throttle and she floats around like a princess ! Put three lipos through her and am liking her more and more every time ! Now if i could just remember to start the dang timer so ATIS quits yelling at me ! He says bad things happen when you hit low voltage cutoff , something about an AT-6 . . . . . .

[WJCJR1]

Now if i could just remember to start the dang timer so ATIS quits yelling at me ! He says bad things happen when you hit low voltage cutoff , something about an AT-6 . . . . . .

Add my POGO to the list of incorrect Timer setting victims as well, hitting LVC stinks especially at an airfield where you have a dedicated landing area only. Some fields are VERY large and if you had to you can land anywhere in a 10+ acre area, lucky ones they are.

Glad you are liking the T-28, you will enjoy it for a long time to come.

Within the rebuilding process as you found out you learn A LOT about the models. Can be fun, not sayin' you should smash some stuff just so you have rework but not all is lost when an incident occurrs.

Wayne

[checksix]

3 weeks have gone by since the T-28 resurection and my first hand launch with the mustang , and now the addiction continues ! After going out with ATIS a couple of evenings with the mustang and his wildcat , I had to get that warbird for myself ! At first was almost contemplating going for the PZ extra 300, but dont know if im up to that skill level just yet. I'll have to see when ATIS thinks im ready. Maidened the wildcat on a brisk wind day and she flew very nice right out of the box . . . couple of down trim and she was good to go ! Having a shorter body I think hurts the wildcat in the wind , she will tail shake and slide a bit more in a heavy wind. Being still the rookie at the park (Before Nolfi maidened this past sunday) I didnt expect I would notice much of a difference in the three planes. Even so I have been able to notice slight differences they do have. ATIS did help me trim them all out the same as he knows how I fly, but in my rookie opinion heres how i would categorize them :
T-28 Trojan= stable , predictable , and forgiving , dial in the high rates and she will dance all over the sky !
P-51 Mustang= faster, clean straight lines , takes a lot more wind before it phases this bird , not so acrobatic even on high rates.
F-4F Wildcat = I would put her right in the middle, quicker than the T-28 but not as fast as the mustang, more acrobatic than the mustang but not like the Trojan, Wildcat is the most touchy to some wind but the easiest to launch and land , floats very well !
My 2 cents for what its worth - Have fun guys