Hangin with the Warbirds at Bomberfield

Hangin with the Warbirds...The forecast predicted perfect weather for RC flying. I reprogrammed the 14MZ to the EPIC+ and headed for BomberField. With a light breeze down the runway and temps in the mid-60s I was not alone. There were two other club members there flying warbirds. We took turns flying, swapped some stories, and had a very enjoyable afternoon.

Integral, 10 year anniversary

Today I logged several flights on my 10-year-old Integral which survived a mid-air at the 2013 LARKS contest. The goal was to test a refurbished Hacker C50 14xl with a Castle Lite 85 ESC. Motor/ESC combo ran great and the radio setup I flew back in the 2011 NATS in my 14MZ proved more than capable to execute all maneuvers of the current Masters' sequence competitively.

Sun Fli IV tail feathers

Both the horizontal and vertical stabilizers are built and rough sanded. Sheeting was added top and bottom of the stab. I did this to enable sanding and shaping a pronounced symmetrical airfoil shape plus a thicker trailer edge to desensitize pitch. Dowel hardpoints were also added and drilled for control horns to each elevator half.

Texas winter flying

Low 70s, light wind down the runway, gotta love Texas/Houston winter. Great day to revisit trim and radio setups. Logged four flights on the Inviation which resulted in minor changes to the throttle curve, elevator AFR and Expo plus down line and knife edge elevator mix. I'm really liking the APC Carbon 22x13 and D3 combo on this plane powered by a C50 14XL. By paying attention to the growl produced by the grear box similar to motor noise when I flew YS combined with the braking ability of the D3, visual airspeed is simple to manage.

Sun Fli4 IV wing construction

Decided to utilize the recently acquired A-Justo-jig on building the SF4 (SunFli IV) I've had in inventory for a few years.  The jig instructions were fairly straightforward on how to assemble the jig. I substituted most of the jig's screw hardware with socket-head screws.  This makes the jig easier to assemble and makes adjustments of setting rib spacing and dihedral much easier.  The jig's instructions lack practical examples and or pictures on how to configure the jig for different wing platforms.  I had a couple of false starts setting up for the SF4 wing but managed to produce a high-quality wing.  The jig allows constructing up to a 70" wing in one piece.  Plus having the ability to rotate the wing 360 degrees on the jig enables applying top and bottom sheeting, cap strips servo bays, landing gear blocks among other elements before removing the wing from the jig.  I'm looking forward to using the jig to construct the fuse.

Wing Jig

 I recently picked up a NIB  A-justo-jig which included complete jig fixtures for constructing wings and fuselages. This will come in handy for building the Dirty Birdy and Sun Fli IV kits I have in inventory.  Many years ago I was given a used A-justo-jig for wings.  It was missing some parts, however, there was enough there to enable building a few wings and to appreciate the value it offered. Glad  I came across the opportunity to own a complete jig. 

Sebart Avanti EDF

 Mini Avanti S is ready for its maiden flight.

Equipment:

• JP Hobby 90mm 8S fan
• Castle Edge Lite HV120 ESC
• effflux RC heavy-duty struts
• Roaring Top 8S 5000mAh
• Roaring Top 1200mAh Rx
• Futaba HV MG servos on flying surfaces
• Futaba HV mini nose gear steering
• Futaba 5v regulator on retracts
• Maxx Products wheels

RTF weight = 9lbs 4ozs

CA Model's Epic+ vs Epic Evo

 Did some testing and performance comparison today between the Epic+ an Epic Evo.  

Epic Evo update

 Epic Evo update:

Have logged 10 flights to date...I continue to make adjustments to achieve the feel I desire.  To improve the pitch feel the elevator clevis was moved in one hole at the servo.  I am planning to move that in an additional hole before the next flying session which should reduce/minimize the expo amount and improve the resolution.

The last couple of flights were in front of a fellow pattern pilot who commented on how constant the speed was with the up, down, and horizontal lines. I mentioned I had changed to an APC 22x13 carbon prop plus made adjustments to the throttle curve and in-out throttle channel response.  I like this prop a lot and plan to test its performance on my Epic + and Invitation G2.

CA Model's Epic Evo

 Epic Evo

A successful an uneventful maiden occurred 10/27/20 at my club field. Today (Saturday) conditions were perfect for fine-tuning trim feel of throws, expo, CG, and wing incidence.  Having gone through this with the Epic + knowing what was possible shorten the process somewhat.  By the fourth flight, I was able to fly through the current Masters sequence reasonably well. The Evo is proving to be an improvement over the Epic +.

Evo:

Futaba 32MZ w/HV servos

Hacker C54 - Budd mount

D3 Controller

TP 5000 10s 25c

TP 910 2s 25c  rx

Tech-Aero regulator

APC 21.5x13 carbon

Falcon spinner, gear, and pants

RTF weight - 4762 gr