Some Days are Diamonds...Some Days are Stone...

Kim Mon Jul 08, 2013 9:23 pm

The Good News:

My Uncle's Ace "Sky Scout" made it through it's first test-flight...up and over the tall corn at the edge of Wayne's backyard, and back down down again in one, unscratched piece. The old-new Veco .19 R/C hauled the plane through the hot humid air just fine at half-throttle.

The "84" on the fin is Wayne's age this year, and he wanted to see it fly before his 85th...so...we did it !

Wayne and my Cousin Bob prep the "Sky Scout" for it's first flight:

Some Days are Diamonds...Some Days are Stone... 4_14

Some Days are Diamonds...Some Days are Stone... 4_15

Some Days are Diamonds...Some Days are Stone... 7_13

Some Days are Diamonds...Some Days are Stone... 1_10

Some Days are Diamonds...Some Days are Stone... 5_14

Some Days are Diamonds...Some Days are Stone... 6_12

We also flew the Goldberg "Eaglet" Wayne built back in the 1990's. We got in a couple good flights, one with one of my little cameras scotch-taped to it's wing.

Some Days are Diamonds...Some Days are Stone... 5_15

Some Days are Diamonds...Some Days are Stone... 2_12

But on the third flight, the Eaglet pitched forward after climbing to about 60 feet or so, and plummeted at full power into the corn. I had full back stick, and throttle back all the way, but the plane ignored the commands and went straight in.

Bobby found the plane, and it's rough, but rebuild-able. Doesn't look too bad on the outside, but the impact scrambled it's innards. Wayne's gonna do the fuselage, Bobby's got the engine cleaned out, and I've got the wing to rebuild.

Some Days are Diamonds...Some Days are Stone... 6_13

duke.johnson Mon Jul 08, 2013 9:29 pm

That's a nice plane! Thanks for sharing it with us.

**RknRusty** Mon Jul 08, 2013 9:31 pm

Good on the Scout, great pictures too. Too bad for the Eaglet. I know it was disappointing to have that happen to the old bird. Do you think the electronics gave out? Battery?

Kim Mon Jul 08, 2013 9:45 pm

RknRusty wrote:Good on the Scout, great pictures too. Too bad for the Eaglet. I know it was disappointing to have that happen to the old bird. Do you think the electronics gave out? Battery?

Yeah...my main suspect IS the battery, but it's also an old radio. Wayne likes to brag that this is the same Futaba we flew in the Eaglet 15 years ago, which may not be a big deal where we fly, interference-wise, but he also insisted on using a dry cell pack with off-brand alkaline batteries, both in the transmitter and flight pack. He's got some quirks like that, and I just have to roll with them and hope for the best.

We flew hundreds of flights with those spring-loaded dry cell boxes back in the day, but I hate to see them in a plane these days. The radio worked when we got it back, but that doesn't mean that vibration from the engine could have had them moving around and causing the crash.

he's got a much newer radio, and I'm hoping he'll use it in the rebuild..but we'll see...

**RknRusty** Mon Jul 08, 2013 9:48 pm

Haha, crazy old men and their toys. I bet nobody says that about me. Is Wayne the one who likes to test the limits of how long of a set of control lines he can fly a 1/2A plane on?

Kim Mon Jul 08, 2013 10:02 pm

RknRusty wrote:Haha, crazy old men and their toys. I bet nobody says that about me. Is Wayne the one who likes to test the limits of how long of a set of control lines he can fly a 1/2A plane on?

Nope...that would be my bud, Patrick. As I may have mentioned in an earlier thread, I just stand back and give him his lead. He's currently flying a new Sig Skyray on fifty feet of spiderwire and enjoys it...so who am I to judge? AND the Skyray DOES glide very gracefully across the circle when the engine quits....

Wayne was never able to take turning with control line planes, even back when Bobby and I were kids, but he's always taken great pride in turning out planes for us to fly.

I'm trying to get Bobby to show up more and log more flight time. He's busy with golf and his wife's horses, and tends to fly just enough stay in that "No-Man's Land" area of flying skill where things seem just fine for a while, but can suddenly go REALLY wrong in a heartbeat with him seizing up on the controls, or reverse-controlling the plane into the ground.

Just some of my little world.....

andrew Mon Jul 08, 2013 11:14 pm

Well, a great day and a tough day. All of our planes have an expiration date --- some sooner and some later. Another set of great pics ---- I hope when I add a few more years that I'm still able to enjoy the hobby the way your uncle and cousin do.

Jason_WI Tue Jul 09, 2013 12:03 am

If the RX has an external power switch I would check it for intermittent operation. I have had them go bad and all you can do is watch........

Also check for corrosion on the Tx battery contacts as I also had this problem on an old Futaba Conquest AM system.

You would think corn would coushin the crash but I think it really wrecks havoc with the wing when it goes in.

Kim Tue Jul 09, 2013 3:48 am

andrew wrote:Well, a great day and a tough day. All of our planes have an expiration date --- some sooner and some later. Another set of great pics ---- I hope when I add a few more years that I'm still able to enjoy the hobby the way your uncle and cousin do.

Thanks Andrew! Wayne has had a bunch of stuff to overcome, and still wrestles with reappearing skin cancer and bad tremors that REALLY frustrate him when he tries to work on anything from lawn mowers to model planes. He managed to avoid the alcohol and substance abuse that has messed up so many lives in my family.

He still plays country music with his group of friends, and I think this "brain exercise" has also served to help him stay sharp all these years. The Eaglet will fly again, and I'd happily buy him a new radio for it, but got to watch my step as he is easily insulted by what he sees as condescension from "young-whipper-snappers". I accepted a long time ago that Bobby and I will always be 13 year-olds in his eyes so, I'll take the tact that I "came across this great deal", with the set costing me practically nothing, and couldn't pass it up. It may seem silly to outsiders, but this is the way my family works!

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