Falcon Maidened- fantastically

   You always know when you’ve got a model to maiden, everything is built as fast as possible and then the wind stops.  The Falcon was looking at me from my work bench and so despite the wind dropping to next to nothing I found myself hurling the Falcon into the air.  A couple of adjustments and the cg was settled at 96mm.

  At 2.3kg the Falcon is a light model and she was flying on a breath of wind.  Just like my old favourite – the wizard compact, pulling too much elevator can scrub speed but she never felt close to letting go.  When the air did come through the Falcon picked up speed remarkably quickly.  I’d set her up with a reduced throw settings option, she was still very responsive.

  I’ll be waiting for the big wind days and ballast to really ring the Falcon out with a good lump of ballast.  But I’m so happy with the first day out!

Build progress

   Getting a new model always gets me keen to build, but when the model arrives on the same day as the keys to your new house, time is short.

  Having the wiring loom and King max servos ready to go has helped.  The crisp accurate molding really helps as the whole thing slots together.  I'll take some pictures of the wing build soon, it follows the same pattern as my other models

  The fuselage has come together really nicely, it is the slimmest fuselage Zhou and I have put together, it feels really nice and stiff.  

  The picture gives a good idea of the fuselage size, it's fitted with my trusty 19mm i/d ballast tube.  The King max servos have fitted in nicely into the servo tray.

  After another evening's decorating I'll get on with fixing the tray.

An exciting day!

 It's been a while in the coming but my prototype 100inch Falcon model has arrived. 

  If I can stop myself being too distracted I'll post some more as I go. But here are a couple of pics to show the model, joiner and comparison with the harrier wing. 

The finish and stiffness feel stunning to my first fondle

King Max Servos ready

 With a house moving coming up this week and the Falcon prototypes only held up by Easter it's time to get ready.

  Like the Harrier, the Falcon is designed to take the King Max servos and frames.  So time to get the servos in the frames and wiring loom finished.  I've been flying the Harrier prototype wing for over a year now with my first set of King max servos with no issues or slop.

  yes I'm excited and yes I really need to get out more.

It feels like spring is in the air

   2 consecutive days flying does not happen to me very often any more but today it felt like spring had arrived on Whitesheet.  The wind did fill in during the day but remained very variable and intermittent.  If you had the nerve to keep going after scratching around and looking for a land out option, there was usually a thermal coming through for you to wish you had put ballast in.

  Every reason that Whitesheet can infuriate as a race venue made it an excellent day's sports flying.  

  As with just about all conditions I felt most comfortable flying the Harrier and as usual I didn't think to use both models.  Having the courage to launch and a well set up model rewarded the growing group of pilots.  It is nice to fly in such calm conditions to really see the shape of the turns I was pulling and how the energy was carrying through.

  Each person, enjoying the slope in their own way, from foamies (must build my Ahi) to scale models ejecting bits just after launch.  A good humoured day that left just about everyone with a smile and probably a little bit of sun burn.

  Regular up-dates on the Falcon's progress through the UPS international airports were a reminder of the work to be done next week!

Back to flying and new toys on the way!

 It's just great to be back flying and seeing other guys on the hill.  The spring winds have been cold but it's fantastic that the Harrier has been getting some air time.  Combining the model that I have learnt the characteristics of, with a new Radio that gives me more options is proving good fun to change set up slowly and progressively.

  I've been flying more inland slopes recently with the variability that this brings.  The Harrier has proved that it can carry more ballast than I have got used to in previous years.  Different set ups have aloud me to widen the wind range that each ballast weight will fly fast in.  Driving the Harrier through the turns (really rolling before touching elevator) carries the speed through the turns nicely- I'm enjoying this spring more than I have for a good few years.

  With the Harrier making me so happy it almost feels like I'm being unfaithful that I'm so excited that the new prototype 100 inch model is in the air and coming over for me to put together and thrash.  Pictures will follow! 

New Jeti radio to learn

   Setting up a model like the Harrier and getting used to that set up is a very personal thing that takes a good while to get used to, like any new relationship.  With the limited flying over the winter, this process had taken me quite a while.  The Harrier’s characteristics makes it very easy to get to a ‘good’ set up and its tempting to just leave it.  Combined with the variability of inland flying conditions its easy to convince your self that you’ve got the set up all right or completely wrong.

  My lockdown big spend was the Jeti DS 12 radio, after I decided to ditch the old Multiplex Evo pro.  The first impression in the workshop was the increased servo speed and resolution from the new radio but what about in the air.  The Jeti can do more things and has more options to fiddle with.  Time to start trying some options, snap flap on some different curves, some free mix options and turn off the volume.

  It’s my first new radio in quite a while and the different radio made me feel that I was flying a new model again.  I always liked having differential and elevator DR on the dials with my multiplex, this is still available with the Jeti- but after only a couple of flights the thing that I missed more than anything was the dials clicking as you rotate them.  Between this, cold fingers and the different shaped box I soon got confused and turned this option off.

  Adjustments are going to have to happen on the ground for a while!  This has turned out to be quite a good thing, being forced to flying for longer between adjustments has meant that the Harrier has flown in good bad and indifferent conditions between set up changes.

  The thumbs on the controls haven’t changed but it does feel that I have made some noticeable incremental improvements to the set up.  While it’s not surprising that with the Harrier ballasted up to 4kg, when the lift booms she zooms it’s been great fun to fly it using the Jeti as I get more comfortable with my new relationship.