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Post by Richard on Dec 4, 2004 7:27:53 GMT -7
Its that time of year that the good planes are put up for the winter with engines oiled for storage. There is about 12 of us in the club that fly year round and today is that day. With tempatures above freezing and hopefuly not too much wind we meet for breakfast or lunch before going to the field. We usually fly trainers or 40 size fun flyes that can be transported with the wings on, as installing wings at the field is not fun when the tempature is just above freezing. At 9:00AM the tempature is 32f with 9mph and predicted to go up to 38 as a high today, so looks like a good afternoon to fly. As there is still snow on the ground some guys will have skis installed on their birds, as for me and others that fly high power to weight planes a couple of picnic tables end to end make good take off areas, and landing we worry about when the tank goes dry. My Sig SE with a K&B .48 makes a great winter flyer as transport in the back of my van, or with the wings off in my pick up truck is transported easily and it only takes a few minutes to fuel up and start the very reliable engine. Who else likes to fly in the winter when the snow is on the frozen ground and what do you fly? Flight report to follow.
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Post by Richard on Dec 4, 2004 13:32:41 GMT -7
Eight flyers showed up at the field where the tempature was 38f partly sunny with the wind out of the wsw at 10-14mph. Conditions at the field were sloppy from the melting snow with patches of snow still on the ground. First up was Ron with a trainer and also first down after a cross wind attempt to take off the bird came off too quick with not enough speed on the take off roll and down she came on the nose shredding the covering on the wing with no apparent damage to the structure. Next up was Ralph with his good looking LT40 that he built from a kit. Facing into the wind she took to the air like a champ and flew for a good 12 minutes before a uneventful landing. Three combat planes went up next with ribbons trailing behind for some winter combat fun. Seems like they flew a very long time with the 6oz tanks of fuel and .25 engines. Two guys cut a ribbon early on, and the rest of the time thay chased each other across the sky. Next up was a Twin star with matched OS .40 FX engines that really sounded great on a low pass from west to east. As the wind started to kick up and fingers started to get cold the rest of the guys got into the air for their flights. Out of 20 flights only one minor crash happened, all and all a very enjoyable afternoon of flying was had bye all. The next time we will all get together at the field will be our Jan 1 2005 fun fly no matter what the conditions. Sometimes this can be a very tough day to fly, but our group is committed to keep flying all year. See ya at the field.
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Post by Britbrat on Dec 4, 2004 16:07:23 GMT -7
38F -- that's luxury. We fly ski & float planes in the snow. Some combat action already this year -- Seamasters at 40 paces.
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Post by Grug - American Neanderthal on Dec 5, 2004 19:50:54 GMT -7
It was pretty warm and calm here the last couple days, unfortunately the wind piled the snow up in places the other day, it made some nice swells on the runway...which would be great if I was RC skiing.
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Post by Patch on Jan 23, 2005 13:27:08 GMT -7
38F, maybe it will be in a couple months here got the skiis on the Tiger2, snowblower has a full tank of fuel. On real (meaning -10F) cold days, we use a squirt of lighter fluid in the carb to start the engines. 38F... must be nice
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Post by Britbrat on Jan 25, 2005 7:33:20 GMT -7
Patch, I find that Quick-Start works better than lighter fluid -- gives a better high as well. ;D
I tried flying my Ski-master SPAD a couple of days ago at -20C. I could get it started, but I couldn't keep it lit for landing -- dead stick every time -- and then an unpleasant wade through deep snow to recover it. I quit after three flights (incipient frostbite was a big motivator).
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Post by RonMiller on Mar 6, 2005 16:00:57 GMT -7
When you guys say lighter fluid, do you mean like Ronsonal lighter fluid for Zippo lighters, or like the starting fluid like you use on diesel engine, ie ether?
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Post by Britbrat on Mar 7, 2005 11:51:19 GMT -7
I can't imagine what lighter fluid Patch uses (he's strange that way), but Quick-Start is an ether-based starting fluid.
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Post by Patch on Mar 7, 2005 15:24:47 GMT -7
I use Ronsonal lighter fluid. Only crazy people use ether I remember when I ran a locomotive at a grain terminal that we had to give about a 45 second shot of ether to get the engine running. Don't smoke ;D on real cold days, we had to leave it running all the time
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