Texas City Contest

This weekend I competed in the Texas City Pattern Classic.  I understand the last pattern event the club held was 30 years ago.  Their facility is perfect for pattern along with the club's energy and support for hosting a first-class event is second to none. 

I've been flying with and coaching  Justin Wells who is preparing for the 2021 Nats.  Helping him has rejuvenated my pattern spirit.  I am practicing and focused again on airplane equipment preparation, trimming/setup, and practice.   This weekend's event demonstrated I am still competitive in Masters at least in D6.

As a Futaba Field Rep, I always have an ear out for radio comments from users.  Futaba continues to be the dominant brand in this part of the country.  Because of the integrated telemetry with their ESC's and recorded voice playback options a few have migrated over to Jeti.  The next popular radio would be Spectrum, JR and Airtronics are pretty much non-existent.  Propulsion systems, contra drive systems have become very popular among competitors in all classes.  For the most part, the Adverunn is what I see the most of, then Brenner's system.  For me, the Hacker geared inrunners C50 and C54 is what I continue to use. Pairing these motors with Adam Debowski's D3 swinging an APC carbon 22x13 is an ideal power system in my Invitation G2 and Epic + and Evo.  The invitation served me very well this weekend at the Texas City event.

Texas City Contest Results

Here are a few pictures from the Texas City event:

 

Futaba 32MZ signal disruptions

Passing along info from Futaba USA tech support.

Recently with a newly acquired 32MZ at a certain flying site, I began experiencing momentary failsafe episodes/signal disruptions.  This same plane and equipment for the past two years were flown with a 14MZ at the same location with zero signal disruption occurrences.  So I reached out to FUSA tech support for help with troubleshooting. 

The following is the feedback I received from tech support.

1) Exchange the 7008 RX with the 7108 RX that came with the 32MZ.  Here is the quote from tech support:

“The idea of the R7108SB is to increase its reception in RF by adding high gain antennas. It doesn’t increase the range however it is best described as having more sensitivity to RF. However, we do not claim it increases range. It will perform similarly to the R7008SB, in some regions with higher ambient RF we have heard people express issues with the Standard R7008SB that were then fixed with the R7108SB.”

2) Regarding differences between transmitters.  There is a difference in mW output power between the MZ series.  Tech support provided a link that enabled me to input the FCC-ID from the transmitter and the T14 module which validated the mW output power of the 14MZ is indeed greater than the 32MZ.  Here is the link https://fccid.io/. A friend used the link to validate the mW output of the 18MZ is also greater than the 32MZ.  Tech support did not substantiate what the effect of the difference would be however, their comment about using 7108 with high gain antennas vs. the 7008 makes sense.

3) I also asked about the difference between FASST vs. FASSTest protocols.  Tech support quoted the following. 

“FASST is transmitting full time where FASSTest has less transmission time compared to the FASST protocol”.  

Based on this information plus my past personal experience using the 14MZ (FASST Protocol) at my primary flying site. I have personally elected to configure the 32MZ to transmit in the FASST protocol linked to the 7108 in FASST mode.  Results so far have been positive.  I have logged a small number of flights with no detectable signal disruptions. Again, just sharing information that may be useful to some 32MZ users.

Perfect flying evening

Arrived at the club airfield around 16:30 with 4-10s packs charged thinking I would be alone. To my surprise a fellow club member, dedicated pattern flyer was already there logging practice time. Conditions were unbelievable for pattern practice. Mostly cloudy with a light 2-3 mph variable breeze and mild temperatures. Gotta love this time of year in SE Texas. To date flights logged on the BJ Craft Invitation G2 have been in gusty windy conditions. Today's conditions provide an outstanding opportunity to validate trim configurations on the G2. All flight elements roll, pitch up/down vertical track, and snaps performed great. In the light wind condition stall turns and spin entry which worked well in windy conditions require some tweaking for light wind. The same prop used in windy conditions was easy to adapt to in the light wind. The combination of the Hacker C50, D3, APC carbon 22x13 is a very versatile power system. I continue to be amazed of the braking abilities of the D3. Down lines even in light wind conditions require a throttle position something between full low and mid throttle to achieve desired braking effect and pace. Glad I was able to fit in some late afternoon practice after completing my daily assigned chores. Hope there are more days like this in the near future.

Practice & Funday at BomberField 4/12/21

Perfect SE Texas April spring day. Light wind down the center of the runway, cloudy with mild humidity. Logged some much needed time on the Invitation. I'm getting more comfortable wtih the C50/D3 combination swinging an APC 22X13 Carbon prop. Pace control has become easier to manage in calm and windy condition with the combo. I am excited to have an Epilogue on order from m F3AU, I plan to configure it with a C54/D3 combination. This should prove to be great setup for this plane. I also logged time on the Mini Avanti, the 8S/JP fan setup is proving to be a perfect power option. I am used to landing light wing loaded 2M pattern planes, so I am still figuring out how to achieve high alpha landings with the Mini blending power with flaps.

Space City RC's 2nd annual throwback event

Had a great time participating in my club's 2nd annual throwback event for aircraft designed 1994 an earlier. We had 18 total registered pilots who each brought multiple planes. There were 049 powered planes to giant scale plus and added bonus of a club member flying contol line. My Como 51 powered Hal Debolt P-shooter and my OS 46AX powered Avistar both performed well with the Futaba 32MZ and CoolPower 30% heli blend. Given the hard freeze the Houston area experienced ealier this year our club's runway has rebounded back very well. The club is looking forward to hosting its upcoming annual pattern and other events in 2021.

Air Plane Rack - Honda Odyssey

Built a new airplane carrying rack for the trusty 08 Odyssey. I used 1 1/4" sized PVC which supports the weight easily of two 2meter fuselages with minimal flexing. The cup holders we used to support one end of the rack snuggly in place. The V shaped saddles were designed to accommodate various airframes from 2m pattern, low and high wing sport and EDF fuselage types. The saddles are set at different heights to allow clearance for stabs and fix landing when hauling two 2meter planes. Not pictured are the pipe insulators used as padding and the bungy cord and Velcro straps used to secure fuselages in place.

AMA Nationals Flashback...

Year: 2003 Location: Muncie, IN, AMA RC flying field, site 1 Masters Prelims Plane: PL PROD Smargd Motor: YS DZ140 Radio: Futaba WC 9ZAP PCM Caller: BW Ponder

Bomberfield, pattern and EDF fun

Another nice day at Bomber Field. Logged 4 flights on the Avanti, it is feeling more comfortable especially landing with full flaps. I'm carring some up trim from being nose heavy, I will begin sliding the motor back to reduce the up trim and improve the stick feel during inverted flight, and knife edge and high alpha landing.

Sebart Avanti EDF

Dipped my toe in the EDF world. Test flight on the Avanti went better than expected. It will require some tweaks to improve its handling characteristics. Overall, I am pleased with the performance of the 8s setup and the JP 90mm fan.