Ep 185: 2025 Joe Nall Wrap Up

[00:00:17] Hello everyone and welcome to the RC Plane Lab podcast. I'm Ron. I'm Tom. And I'm Dave. Joe Null wrap up 2025. Love that intro. That sums up the whole trip. That was certainly a highlight. The mixed emotions, the highs, the lows, many more highs than lows. All in one soundbite. Yeah, we'll get to that in a little bit. But that was the maiden of the Viper on Floats. Like I said, we'll talk about that in a little bit. However, Joe Null has now passed.

[00:01:03] Sad. Very sad. Next year will be fun. One would hope. I mean, it's always fun. Yeah. The rain.

[00:01:12] Leaving is the worst part. That was a long drive.

[00:01:16] We have. Oh, there's that. We have things we have, I think, learned to make next year a little bit better. Yes. But this year we left early. Like last year we ended up going Friday night is when we left here. Drove all night. Yep. I kind of like that. I got to sleep. But this year I didn't. So we, when did we leave? I don't even remember. Thursday morning.

[00:01:42] Yeah. It was about two in the afternoon-ish. One, two o'clock, something like that by the time we got on the road.

[00:01:47] Okay. So I'm talking about going there first. Oh, sorry. Yeah.

[00:01:50] That was like five in the morning, right? I think.

[00:01:53] Yes. We left here at five. Yeah, it was five. Yep. So that was actually probably the best idea I think we've had. Yeah. It gave us time to get there. We were there pretty late that night.

[00:02:04] Yeah. We didn't feel rushed at all during the day. We took, took our time, made as many stops as we felt we needed. Yeah. And we weren't driving at night, which was really nice. I mean, the first, what was it? You drove, you started first and that was what, maybe an hour and a half, two hours of darkness, maybe.

[00:02:22] Yeah. It wasn't bad.

[00:02:24] And then, yeah, and then it was daytime the whole trip, which is, yeah, if we, yeah, we should do it that way again.

[00:02:30] We got there while it was light and had enough light to set stuff up. Yep. Not have to worry about, just the dark sucks.

[00:02:40] Well, and not having to worry about waking up early to get everything set up so that you can, start your vacation.

[00:02:47] Yeah. And especially since, so the bell rings, I don't remember what time, is it 10 o'clock Friday or one o'clock Friday or something?

[00:02:54] I thought it was, I thought it was early after like one o'clock.

[00:02:57] Yeah. So when the, when the horn blows and people are able to come out, that's when flying officially starts. Right. So you're not supposed to start. So as, as a premium electric spot, a premium spot holder, we're able to get in early. So by doing that, we were able to go set up, get all of our camp set up, get the camper set up, get everything in order for us to enjoy it without feeling like we were missing out on anything because you couldn't fly yet.

[00:03:22] Yeah. Nothing was going on yet. So there was no shiny that was taking, taking my, my, my eyes going to other places or, getting my attention. Exactly. So I, like I said, I, I liked that. I think that was a great idea.

[00:03:35] Yeah. Yeah. We should, we should definitely do it that way from now on.

[00:03:39] Yeah. I 40 sucked.

[00:03:41] Yeah. Well, I mean, there's still some, still some construction going on from, from the hurricane damage. yeah, interstate 40 there for about what a 20 mile stretch is, was pretty hairy.

[00:03:52] It was pretty, I was glad that's putting it mildly. I was glad you were driving. I did make the mistake. It's rough. I did make the mistake of pointing out that you were getting really close to the, to the one side. Okay. So as we're driving away or driving down, let's put this in, in perspective. So it actually said clearance eight and a half feet. Right. And of course, by the time you saw that sign, I don't know, maybe you saw it before I did.

[00:04:18] By the time I saw it, there was no way of going around. Nope. So you were, you were on this. Committed. And then all of a sudden it just gets very skinny and you have a six inch curb on the left hand side. It's on the driver's hand side.

[00:04:31] A concrete curb.

[00:04:32] Right. That goes about six inches. So literally about curb size.

[00:04:35] To describe it. So basically it's two lanes from a four lane highway that two lanes had been washed away. So the two lanes that were left are basically the two, what would be the North-ish bound lanes? No, East. I think we're heading East on it, right? Well, we were, yeah, but we were actually in what would be the West-bound, North-bound, whatever lane. Yeah.

[00:04:59] So they, you take, you take two lanes of a four lane highway and then put a concrete curb in between the two lanes to separate the two lanes, so you got an East-bound and a West-bound. And then to the right, what would be the shoulder of the East-bound lane is drop off. Like you look over and it's a couple hundred feet down into, maybe not a couple hundred, but at least. Felt like it.

[00:05:23] At least a hundred feet or so down into the gully where the, where the lanes had been washed away by the river there. Right. So.

[00:05:32] So the, the, the road is gone.

[00:05:34] Gone. Like completely gone. Nothing there.

[00:05:36] Yeah. Scary. Yeah. With a 35 foot camper and a 14 foot trailer. Exactly. So anyway, as, as we're going along this, so in the center, like I said, there's a curb that has little markers on it. Reflectors, I guess. Yeah.

[00:05:51] It's probably a six inch curb, something like that.

[00:05:54] Yeah. And then on the right hand side, for some reason, which didn't make any sense to me, they had markers again, although the road went wider. Like they could have put them over two feet and we would have been fine, but they had it really close to the side of the road. And these also were like rubberized kind of things. You could tell a lot of people had taken them out because there were a lot of them that were missing. Yeah.

[00:06:15] And anyway, so you're driving through this eight and a half foot wide gap with probably an eight foot wide camper. I actually don't know how wide that is, but it's.

[00:06:23] My trailer is eight foot wide.

[00:06:24] Okay. So it's probably eight foot wide, giving you very little room on each side. On either side.

[00:06:30] Yeah.

[00:06:30] And so I'm, I'm trying not to watch while watching, because I'm not driving, but I'm still getting all like, oh my God, this, this sucks. We are so screwed. Sorry. That came out. Woo. Goodness. I forgot where I was. Anyway. So we were kind of, messed up a little bit and it was, it was scary as you're driving, you're, you're kind of moving a little bit farther over to the right.

[00:06:57] And you're, I mean, you're not hitting these things, but you're a couple inches away, like very close. There's a little window on the side of the camper down by your feet that you can see out. And you're, like I said, they're getting very close. And I made the mistake of saying, Hey, you're getting close to these things over here. And I knew at that moment that I messed up because the response I get was a very stern, do you want to drive? And I'm like, okay, okay. No, I don't.

[00:07:27] We're good. I'm going to shut up and we'll be fine. I mean, I knew I was close to those.

[00:07:31] Yeah. But of the two, so on my left, I had the concrete curb that's about six inches tall. Right. And on the right, the area you're talking about, I had these flexible things that if you hit them, they would just. I would much rather hit the rubber flappy things. Right.

[00:07:46] No, and you were absolutely right, but I could not.

[00:07:48] The last thing I wanted to do was catch the left front tire on that curb and then pull the camper over the curb into oncoming traffic. That would not have been. No, no, it would have ended badly. But I was white knuckle, man. And like, I was super, super concentrating. And this is not my RV, right? It's someone else's RV. So I'm trying to be as careful as I can. But of the two options, if I'm going to hit one of these, I'd rather it be the little flexible things.

[00:08:11] And then I'll pay a body shop to repair any scuffs I get on the body work or whatever.

[00:08:16] But man, it was scary.

[00:08:17] But you did a great job. We had no incidents whatsoever. You did a great job. But like I said, I was trying not to say anything. And then all of a sudden, my brain just couldn't stop it. It just came out. And like I said, I knew I shouldn't have. Like, I couldn't see how close you were to the left.

[00:08:34] I mean, to me, like, I didn't have the luxury of looking through that. I wouldn't call that a luxury.

[00:08:38] There is nothing on the driver's side, by the way.

[00:08:40] Oh, OK. All right. Well, I mean, I couldn't see directly.

[00:08:43] Yeah.

[00:08:43] Well, plus, I've got traffic in front of me. Right. Now, granted, we're not going very fast. 15, 20 mile an hour maybe through there.

[00:08:50] Sometimes a little bit quicker, but not much. Not by much.

[00:08:53] But yeah, I was just really, really, really concentrating. And then the last thing I needed was, hey, by the way, you're about to hit these things

[00:09:02] Over here.

[00:09:02] You need to, like, move over some. I mean, that's how I heard it in my head.

[00:09:07] Yeah.

[00:09:07] That's not how you said it, obviously.

[00:09:09] No, I get it. And like I said, I was glad you were driving because I don't know how I would have handled that. But we made it. We made it very well.

[00:09:17] And once we got through there, it was fairly smooth sailing.

[00:09:20] Oh, yeah. It was easy after that. All the stress was behind us.

[00:09:26] So.

[00:09:26] And then it was funny. The whole week, we were kept talking about we need to find a different way home. Find a different way. Find a different way. And then we left and we're like, eh, it'll be all right. Well. And it was easier, by the way.

[00:09:34] It was much easier heading west.

[00:09:36] Yeah.

[00:09:37] On that. There was definitely more room in that lane on the way home.

[00:09:43] Yeah. So. That all worked out fine.

[00:09:45] But kudos to, that was in, I want to say that was Tennessee. Was it Tennessee? That stretch of 40 there?

[00:09:53] I don't know why.

[00:09:53] I thought we were in, you're probably in South Carolina.

[00:09:56] Or North Carolina. I think you're right, Dave. I think that stretch of it was North Carolina. But kudos to North Carolina Department of Transportation for keeping those lanes open and keeping traffic moving.

[00:10:07] Yeah. I would not want to work there. No.

[00:10:10] Me neither. Not at all. I mean, yeah, they had full, full on crews working the whole time. This traffic is going through there. Insane.

[00:10:17] Yeah. But anyway, that was the low light, I guess, of the trip. Yeah. I mean, that was the worst of it. And it started soon, like at the beginning.

[00:10:26] Yeah. The next, the next probably lowest thing was all the rain. At least at the beginning. the first three days were rain.

[00:10:34] I, I don't mind rain. Rain is fun sometimes. And the rain wasn't terrible except for one day. Like it was sprinkly, it was rainy, but it was more hit and miss Monday, Tuesday. Well, no, what was that? Saturday, Sunday, Monday. Right? Mm-hmm. I think Tuesday was the only day that we had, like, literally you're going to stay inside all day because of the rain. Right. And so other than that.

[00:11:02] I mean, yes, we did get, we did get a flight. Flight in here and there in between showers. We flew every day. But did we fly on that? I guess we did, didn't we? Yeah, we flew every day. That's right.

[00:11:15] That was one thing I did want to do at least. At least have one flight every day. Yeah.. Yeah, we did. How things went. So it was, it was a good day.

[00:11:22] It's a good week. Yeah.. But the mud is really kind of what puts a damper on a lot of that.

[00:11:29] Okay. But if, if you, if you think about it though, it was nice when we got there. We didn't have to worry about getting stuck. That's true. We had a ton of rain to where we were not leaving, even if we wanted to. That's true. And then by the time it was time for us to go, it was dried up enough to where we didn't have to worry about getting out. I mean, it could not have worked. The timing was good. Any better, honestly.

[00:11:51] Oh.

[00:11:51] If we had to have the rain. But I'm still not a fan of the mud. No.

[00:11:55] Yeah. I mean, I'm glad I didn't go because in this situation, that mud would have just completely shut me down. I would have been immobile most of the week. So.

[00:12:05] Well, probably not mostly. By Tuesday, it had firmed up enough to where you could get around without getting stuck, I'd say. I just sink. Well, I mean, I get that. Three points of contact.

[00:12:17] Yeah. But still, I mean, it wasn't, it's amazing how quickly that, whatever they have there, like whatever kind of mud or stuff they have there dries up quick.

[00:12:27] Yeah, it does.

[00:12:28] I mean, it doesn't, it doesn't take as long as like what we have here.

[00:12:32] I'm still prying that stuff off my truck from last week.

[00:12:35] Oh, the golf cart is still, I haven't washed it and I don't even, I look at it and I'm like, oh my God, like I, I probably bought or brought another 10 pounds at least of dirt home with it. Oh yeah.

[00:12:45] Or probably more than that to be honest. Probably more than that. I was going to say, we probably swept up that much out of the trailer when we got back that had fallen off the golf cart.

[00:12:53] Yeah, it was, it was pretty bad.

[00:12:55] And I did fill in a couple of holes here though, so it's okay. No, there you go. It's okay. Fill in some potholes with a Joe Nall dirt. Mm-hmm. Nice. A little mud. Yep.

[00:13:05] Ah, so what else did we do? We got rid of some planes. I got rid of some planes.

[00:13:09] You did. Yeah, you, Hank was there. Yeah.

[00:13:12] Our buddy Hank from the, the Toledo swap meet was there and he was set up, he kind of had a little swap meet area set up and, and was taking planes to sell. so I knew convenient because you had planes to sell. I know. Well, I brought one specific, one, I brought one specifically to get rid of. I had tried to sell the Stinger 90 at, at Toledo, had offers on it that were low.

[00:13:40] Glad I didn't take them because I got a good amount for what I think it was worth here. Mm-hmm. so I, I brought that one just to get rid of. And then there was another one that I had, the, the Schleicher glider that I bought at Toledo a couple of years ago, two, three years ago, whatever. Yeah. so I brought that for a friend of ours that when we were talking about this before Toledo, he said he wanted it. So I sent him pictures of it and he's like, yeah, I want that.

[00:14:04] Bring it to Novel. I'll, I'll get it from you. Yeah. He flaked. who I'm talking about. no, it actually, it worked out perfect because, he saw it, he, he came to the same, or same conclusion that I came to. It doesn't break down. It looks cool, but storing it is a pain in the butt. and so, and transporting it and they had a long drive to, to get back. So it worked out fine because it was pretty full. Yeah. It was fuller than ours was.

[00:14:36] And so it worked out fine because I took that to Hank too, and he was able to sell it for what I was hoping to get out of it, surprisingly. and then the last one I sold, which I, I can't believe I actually sold it. I did finally get rid of my Night Radiant. I know. I didn't like mine. It flew okay. I liked what it was.

[00:15:00] I liked yours.

[00:15:02] Yeah.

[00:15:02] I don't like flying mine. Which was mine. Yeah. They, they fly different. Yeah.

[00:15:09] I've not flown that one yet. I don't know what. I mean, I still have it, so you'll get to fly it eventually probably, but yeah, I don't know what or why is different about it. I never had a problem with how mine flew, but I always liked flying yours. It was one of those things. So I, I did put the, the, lights on my night or on the slow ultra stick for night flying.

[00:15:30] And after flying that in the pitch black, like at Jonah was the first time that I actually got to fly it pitch black with no other lights around. That is so much nicer, so much easier to fly, so much more fun than that Night Radiant was. So one less to bring home. So I finally got rid of that one.

[00:15:48] So then your, your net minus three at that point.

[00:15:53] At that point, yeah, we can talk about what we bought later, but, ended up being net zero for the whole trip. What about you? You didn't, you, you, I'm not zero.

[00:16:06] Yeah. I, I bought a new, Viper 70, the orange one. And then I, I rehomed my, my old one that was gifted to me. So I passed it along. who you are. You're listening. Jeff got it. So I'm net zero.

[00:16:25] That is the, the airplane that I think everybody here has owned. I had it. Didn't want to fix it. Dave had it. Fix it. Didn't fly it. Tommy had it. Fixed it more.

[00:16:36] I flew the snot out of it. And then I love that airplane. And that's why I bought the, the newer one.

[00:16:41] So I'm going to be honest. I, I was fighting that because of mostly because of the battery. I didn't want to have to buy a single battery because that's, it's a pricey battery. It's a six S4000. So it's not like it's, something small that you can just have.

[00:16:56] I got nothing that uses that.

[00:16:58] Oh, right. And see, I was the same way.

[00:17:00] That airplane is worth buying one or two for. It flies so nice. It's so small. It, it's just like the perfect EDF. If you ask me.

[00:17:11] So I do agree with that at this point, we, you let me fly the blue one. And it flies almost as good as the Viper 90. I think Viper 90 still flies a little bit better. It's bigger. It's got a little bit more weight to it, but where. So like, I like the fact that the Viper 90 disassembles quickly. It's easy to take apart. Assembles quickly. They have the quick connects on it. You still have to put screws on, which kind of sucks.

[00:17:35] But like the wings have the quick connects and all that for the, for the Viper 90. For the Viper 70, you're not taking it apart. It was a pain in the butt. But I don't like the fact that the wingtips don't come off. I don't like the fact that the, what are the, the strakes or whatever they're called on the back by the nozzle. Oh yeah. The ventral strakes. Ventral pins.

[00:17:55] Yeah.

[00:17:55] I don't like the fact that those don't come off like they do on the 90, but it fits in my trunk of my car. And it's, I mean. Without disassembling. Right. Like I said, you really can't take it apart, but it just, it transports so much easier. It's a great size for them. Yep. So I'm glad I bought it. So I guess we'll talk about what we did then if we're getting to that. Did you, did you get anything? I don't know.

[00:18:21] That was it. I don't know what all you bought. As far as airplanes go, that was it. I just bought myself a new Viper. I did buy some other stuff. Like I bought a receiver for the, for the Atom and fuel tubing.

[00:18:32] I forgot about that.

[00:18:33] Yeah. A lot of other, nitnoid stuff.

[00:18:35] But as far as airplanes go.

[00:18:38] Bought one. Nitnoids? Yeah. Nitnoid stuff. Never heard of that before. You've heard of that before, Dave. More like a Gribli. Yeah.

[00:18:45] Never heard of that either.

[00:18:47] God, these old people with their sayings. Doodads.

[00:18:49] Hey, I've heard both of those.

[00:18:50] Okay, there you go. So, yeah, I'm, yeah, bought one and sent one to a new owner. So, I'm net zero for the trip also.

[00:18:59] Yeah. Okay. Well, so I got the one I was talking about. And then they also had the, they had pretty good deals on them. They had the eFlight Extra 330, that Jim Rourke version or whatever their updated one was. I had kind of been wanting one of those for a while just to kind of get more into the 3D things and have something that I didn't mind crashing if something stupid happens. So, I picked one of those up. And then getting more towards the end of the week.

[00:19:24] No, it wasn't towards the end of the week, was it? It was before we had the rainy day. Walking around, I was looking at the Flex Innovations tent. And long story short, they had a nice Extra 360 eSize, a new one they came out with. Right, but initially you wanted the Bantique. I did.

[00:19:44] But they didn't have that one in the color you wanted. And I'm kind of glad they didn't. Because this one is actually more attractive.

[00:19:50] It's a very good looking airplane.

[00:19:51] But, yeah. So, they did have stuff there. Like I said, the Bantique was the one I was originally going for. They didn't have it in the color I wanted. So, I wasn't going to settle. Which, by the way, towards the end of the week, they were selling everything they had there. Had I known that, I probably would have waited and bought the Bantique. But I'm kind of glad I didn't. So, anyway, this is the red and, what was that, red, white, and gray. Silver. Silver. Black.

[00:20:17] That's your colors. Exactly. Extra 300. And like I said, this is, I think it's the second Balsa plane that Flex has come out with. So, it's not foam. It's an actual Balsa built-up Balsa fuselage and all that kind of stuff. And it's very well built. Very light. Oh, yeah. So, it's probably going to get me in trouble. But it'll be okay. It'll be fun.

[00:20:41] Yeah.

[00:20:41] That's the point. Fun. What actually, and this is going to be bad, but what actually kind of sold me on it and made me say, okay, that's fine, takes the same battery as the Viper 70. 6S 4000.

[00:20:52] Mm-hmm.

[00:20:52] Perfect. So, we're going to be fine on that. Which, actually, after getting it and looking at it, there's no reason it won't fly on a 6S 5000. It's got plenty of room. You can move it back a little bit for the weight. Yeah. Yeah.

[00:21:03] That's right here. I was going to say, 5000 is definitely not going to fit in the 70 millimeter Viper.

[00:21:08] No. No. But this has, like I said, plenty of room, and you can move the battery forward and back. There's a lot of room in that.

[00:21:13] And I think even the, what was his name, Jake, at the Flex Tint that we were talking to?

[00:21:20] No, I should remember. I don't remember his name.

[00:21:23] Anyway, I think he even said, yeah, 5000, move it back a little bit so it's not so nose-heavy.

[00:21:27] Yeah.

[00:21:28] It won't be as snappy, but it'll fly fine.

[00:21:30] And I won't be as snappy anyway. So, it's definitely going to be something for me that's going to take a while to get to

[00:21:37] The full effect of it, if I ever do. I doubt it, but we'll see.

[00:21:41] But it's a good looking airplane.

[00:21:42] I'm looking forward to flying it. What's the wingspan? 60-ish? 57? 60? Something like that?

[00:21:47] I don't remember. If you talk amongst yourself, I can look at it.

[00:21:50] It's not a huge airplane, but it breaks down pretty quick, too. It's got the quick disconnects for the wing, all that kind of cool stuff. So, it'll be easy to transport. And it's light. Like, I can't believe how much lighter it is than that cap that I bought at Toledo. Like, it's significantly lighter. And it takes a smaller battery, too, which is what it does. What do you take on yours? I put a 5,000 in mine. Oh, I didn't know that.

[00:22:14] Which I have to, because I'm going to have to add weight to the nose, I think. Because I think it's still a little bit on the tail heavy. It'll ratchet it a little bit. Yeah.

[00:22:23] So, 62 inches long, 60 inch wingspan. 60. 6 1⁄2 pounds.

[00:22:28] It's a popular size, too. Like, Extreme Flight makes a bunch of airplanes in that size, also.

[00:22:34] Well, I can see why. And one of the things I really like about this, too, is you were talking about the quick connects on the wings. So, there's no screws. There's nothing to assemble it. It doesn't have the quick connects for the electrical, which is fine. I mean… You could build something like that into it. You could, but I don't need to. That's one thing on this airplane that I've noticed, too, that's really cool.

[00:22:51] So, at the end of the wing, where the wire for the servo comes out, it actually has a piece of foam in there that they have slit. So, you can slide the extension into it, and then it leaves an inch and a half or so out of the servo wire. That way, when you plug it into the fuselage, it's right there just to be a single plug plugged in. And then, like I said, it's got the quick locks on it for taking the wing off, so there's no screws. Right. Push the wing on.

[00:23:22] You push the lock down, and it has a little detent in it so it can't come out, and that's all you have to do to put it together.

[00:23:29] And it's not locked because the canopy won't fit.

[00:23:32] Yeah. So, the canopy… Pretty slick design. Right. So, if the canopy doesn't sit all the way down, then it's not locked. And it's… I mean, like I said, I think it's a good design. Yep. Nice and quick assembly. I got the wing bag for it, too. That way, I'm not worried about mucking something up while I'm, moving it around, storing it, and that kind of stuff. So… Cool.

[00:23:52] And looking forward to it.

[00:23:53] Yep. So, those are the three new acquisitions. Mm-hmm. Nice. Which I've only flown one, just the Viper set.

[00:24:01] Oh, that's right. Yeah, we did fly those, didn't we?

[00:24:03] Mm-hmm. Cool. Yeah.

[00:24:05] I don't remember what else I bought, though. Like, I know there was a bunch of odds and ends. I bought…

[00:24:09] Well, you bought a lot of odds and ends for the extra, too. to… Because you…

[00:24:14] Well, yeah, okay.

[00:24:14] We had time, because you…

[00:24:16] And actually, I'm glad. So, I ended up… I bought the ARF, because that was all I was planning on doing. And then it was kind of rainy. I'm like, well, why don't I just go get the servos? That way, I can put servos in. So, I went and bought all the servos. I was like, okay, cool. So, then I was like, well, I mean, might as well get the motor, too. That way, I can kind of get through it. So, I went and bought the motor.

[00:24:40] And then I was like, okay, well, if I'm getting the motor, I'm just going to buy the speed controller. I'd ask him… They didn't have the speed controller there. So, I was like, well, fine. No big deal. I'm going to pick up a cheap one from Hank at the swap meet. They had a whole bunch of motors and all that.

[00:24:56] Yeah, TG connectors. TGK connectors, I think. TGK connectors was there, so, yeah.

[00:24:59] And so, they had all their stock on stuff. And so, I was going through it looking. And I just, I decided I was just going to buy something inexpensive. I didn't want anything pricey. I was originally thinking about going with Spectrum one, like an Avian, once I got home. So, long story short, found one that was there. It was 120 amp speed controller. Don't remember who makes it. Hobbywing. Hobbywing? I was thinking Skywing after you said that. Oh, maybe it's Skywing.

[00:25:27] Anyway, one of those two. And so, I ended up buying it. Like I said, it was a heck of a deal. And didn't realize it, but got back to the camper and started putting it in. That's the exact one that they recommend for it. In the manual? In the manual. Except they recommend 100 amp, and this one's 120 amp. Perfect. So, I'm just going to leave this in. Like, that was just one I was planning on using as a filler until I got something else.

[00:25:50] Right.

[00:25:51] So, I put it together at Joan Hall, except for a couple things I still had to do when I got home. I did go and had to buy some epoxy that was not good epoxy, which sucked. And then I completely forgot I was going to go return it to the guy, and we left. And it wasn't until we got to the first stop or something, and you went back and you moved something, and you're like, I thought you were going to return this. And I was like, God, I forgot all about it. So, no biggie.

[00:26:21] I just threw it away.

[00:26:22] I didn't think epoxy could go bad, but this stuff is definitely bad. It's powder, right?

[00:26:28] Well, it's all crystallized, and there's no way to bring it.

[00:26:32] Dry microwave in it. I had some that kind of got that way. It wasn't awful, but…

[00:26:36] Oh, this is awful.

[00:26:37] All right.

[00:26:37] Like, it's almost like sandpaper if you look at it.

[00:26:40] Yeah, well, that's probably too far going.

[00:26:41] Yeah.

[00:26:42] I had some that was a little granular. I threw the microwave for like 15 seconds, and it was fine.

[00:26:47] Well, this wouldn't even come out. Like, even with the whole top off, when you unscrew the top, you could get that to kind of bubble out a little bit. But then if you touched it, it was weird.

[00:26:58] Time to go.

[00:26:59] Yeah. I'm not going to trust it on anything that I need to make sure is glued together. That's my thought. So, yeah. That's what we came home with. Like I said, a few other odds and ends that I don't remember.

[00:27:10] But that was a good rainy day project or activity, I guess I should say.

[00:27:15] Yeah. And I'm glad I did it because I knew… Like, the reason I wanted to kind of start putting together there was, one, we didn't really have anything to do. And two, I knew as soon as I got home, it was going to be back to everything else. All the day-to-day stuff that you don't have the time that you do when you're there. Yeah. So, it probably would not be ready to go. Right. Had I waited to come home. Yeah.

[00:27:37] And at first, I didn't, I wasn't quite, like, I didn't understand why you bought it. Because it seemed like such a not-run type of airplane, number one, and a not-run type of thing to do to buy an ARF to put together.

[00:27:53] Yeah.

[00:27:54] So, I was a little confused at first. But then, when you explained, when I get home, this is hobby time right now. I have time to devote to this right now. When I get home, I'm not going to have it. And then it made perfect sense to me. Yeah. So, yeah, I got it.

[00:28:07] Well, I know. And that's funny because that was kind of your reaction when I went and bought the eFlight Extra 330.

[00:28:13] Yeah, I didn't really…

[00:28:13] You're like, are you serious?

[00:28:14] Like, why are you buying that?

[00:28:15] I didn't know you didn't do that. You shouldn't buy that. I wouldn't do that. Well, I didn't say that. You did try and talk me out of it, which I appreciate. Thank you.

[00:28:20] Well, but I didn't know that that was something you were interested in. I mean, I like to try it all. But I am. I think those are really cool. I've kind of been thinking about, getting one of those, too. But that's down the road.

[00:28:34] Yeah.

[00:28:34] I've got so many other airplanes I need to spend time on.

[00:28:37] Yeah. I'm looking around and seeing the same thing. So, we'll get there one day.

[00:28:41] Yeah. One day.

[00:28:42] Like, I've got a jet that needs lots of lots of… Flight time on it. Diesel fuel run through it. Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. So, maybe in a couple weeks.

[00:28:51] I'm hoping. Yeah, I've got to work this weekend. But then after that, it's game on. No drill in July. So, I'll be… I'll have some time.

[00:28:58] Well, next weekend is out for the field. We have an event.

[00:29:01] Yeah, yeah. Eli Toe.

[00:29:02] But then, after that…

[00:29:04] I mean, definitely going to go out there and watch. But probably… Well, yeah. I will, too. Probably going to spend some time at home flying, too.

[00:29:10] Yeah. That weekend.

[00:29:11] So, I'm not going to go spend probably a few days there.

[00:29:13] No, I don't. I plan on going probably once. We have something Friday night. I think we actually have something Thursday night, too. So, Saturday, I might be able to head over there for a little bit.

[00:29:22] Cool. So, let's talk about stuff we did while we were there. So, we flew.

[00:29:26] Yep. We actually… It was fun. We got to record with Lee and Fitz. That was a nice time. It was fun spending some time with them again, too. Hadn't seen them for a year and a half or whatever it was.

[00:29:37] Yeah.

[00:29:38] What? No.

[00:29:40] I've given you two. Oh.

[00:29:41] Two-ish years. Yeah.

[00:29:42] Well, I saw them since the last time. Yeah. Yeah. But I forgot you were up in Wisconsin. Yeah.

[00:29:46] But anyway. So, it was good to see them again. We need to schedule recording better next time. Yes. And it always happens. The week gets away from you. It does. So, we literally recorded as we had everything packed up in the camper. Like, we were just waiting to hit the road. So, we'll do it earlier next year so we can hit the road earlier next year. Okay. So, stuff we did, though. So, I did take, sorry, I'm a little, I'm off tonight.

[00:30:15] I did take the little zigzag racer boat and got to play with that a little bit on the pond. Boring.

[00:30:22] It was fun.

[00:30:23] You even said, you even said, well, this is really kind of more fun when there's more of them.

[00:30:27] It is more fun when there's more of them. Absolutely. But it's fun, too, to be able to go. So, actually, what we did yesterday, believe it or not. So, we had a lot of rain here yesterday. A lot of rain. And there's that spot out front here. I don't know if you've ever been out here when it rains a lot. But it floods. And it's weird. It's a drainage ditch that goes, like, out to the culvert. But the culvert, before it hits to it, kind of goes up, like, six, eight inches or so.

[00:30:56] So, it never actually, like, if it rains too much, it floods there. So, we were able to go out yesterday with that. And Piper went. And she had a whole bunch of fun playing with her little zigzag race. So, that was the first time she actually got to play with it. There's a little, I know it's not helping anybody else much.

[00:31:11] But that's a pretty good puddle.

[00:31:13] I mean, it was probably.

[00:31:15] Yeah, that's almost a pond.

[00:31:16] Yeah, probably 30 feet by 10 feet, give or take. That's enough for those little boats. Well, as long as you stay in the middle. Well. But anyway, so, we did get to do that yesterday. I did that at Joe and all, too. Anyway, I also floated the bait boat. That was the first time I got to get it in water. Which, it was fun. But it's not something I would get a lot of use for here. Does that make sense? Like, I don't have a pond. It was huge. It was big for what it was.

[00:31:49] It's a big, yeah, it's a big boat. So, I did end up being a good steward of the bait boat. Passed it on to Lee and Fitz.

[00:31:58] You made improvements.

[00:31:59] Oh, I did. It has cool graphics on it and stuff now. So, it should be pretty fun for them. It was clean. Redid the wiring in it and all that kind of stuff. Put a spectrum receiver in. And it's all set for them to go. But like I said, pass it on to Lee and Fitz. They have their little flotilla things they do in Texas. So, they now are the owners of that and will do whatever they want with it. But it was fun working on it. It was fun getting to drive it. Float it, whatever.

[00:32:29] And then pass it on. I'd say it's accurate. You even let me drive it. It's different.

[00:32:37] It's slower than I was hoping.

[00:32:38] Yeah. Well, and I think it probably… It does your boat. Right. I know. Well, but I mean, I think it needed some weight. Yeah. It was almost too heavy in the back. Yeah, because it never looked like it really got on the step. It was always kind of nose high.

[00:32:53] So, but anyway, it was interesting. Does it really have a step, though?

[00:32:57] It's just like two pontoon things.

[00:32:58] But I mean, you still… I guess I don't know.

[00:33:00] It would never get up on a plane, though.

[00:33:02] Because there is no plane to get up on. I don't know the terminology.

[00:33:08] I mean, like on a boat. All I know is it rode around nose high and it never really seemed to get up on whatever. To really get going. Yeah. If that makes sense. I don't know.

[00:33:17] Eh. But anyway. But still. It was fun. It was a project I enjoyed. I'm glad I have given it to somebody that will hopefully enjoy it more than I will. Yep. Because we have no lakes that we go out on. We have no water here. So… Yeah. And speaking of lakes…

[00:33:32] Yeah.

[00:33:32] You want to tell that story?

[00:33:34] No, go ahead.

[00:33:34] No, go on. No, you do it. Why? Because it's your airplane.

[00:33:37] But you crashed it.

[00:33:38] I mean… Okay. So, let's talk about the Vipron floats. It finally… It works. I don't know how far back to go.

[00:33:47] So… We can start by saying it works. It does. It actually… It actually flies nicely.

[00:33:52] It could use some refinements if we do it again. Yeah.

[00:33:56] Learned a few things on the first attempt.

[00:33:58] So… So here's what happens.

[00:34:01] There's video, by the way, on our YouTube channel.

[00:34:04] There is. So after I crashed that originally, we were talking and just decided it would be cool to put floats on it. Dave had a set of floats he gave me, so I put them in. And then that was a few months ago. And then I just kind of… I don't want to say forgot about it, but got busy with other things. And then like two days before we left for Joe Nall, I knew it was time to hunker down. Buckle down. Get it done. Finish this up.

[00:34:29] And so having done this all last minute, I never had time to test it. I mean, it still has its gear on and all that kind of stuff. So you could have taxied it around and all that crap. But no. No, no. We just… We decided it's going to be fine. So everything was hooked up. Got everything set up on the transmitter. So you could turn off thrust vectoring, turn on thrust vectoring. I had what I thought like it was set up nice and straight.

[00:34:56] Because it's hard to tell, just looking at the nozzle to see if there's any degrees off where it's… Well, you could…

[00:35:03] There's ways you could do it.

[00:35:05] Well, not in the amount of time I had. But anyway, so I just did it by eye. And then we got there, got it all put together and stuff. And I told you I wanted to take pictures because I did. You're better at flying things like that. And I'm better at taking pictures. How's that?

[00:35:20] That's a polite way of saying I am terrible at taking pictures and video. Which I concur.

[00:35:26] Oh, okay, good. Yeah, I concur. Yeah, I mean… I'm working on it, but… I love… There was a picture that after I… After we did this, you took a picture for somebody else. I don't remember what it was. And you showed it to me. And you're like, look, I did a good job on this picture. I'm like, God, you did great. It was wonderful.

[00:35:46] You can barely see the thumb in it.

[00:35:48] Well, it was one where when you originally showed me, I was like, oh, that's actually pretty cool. And then you zoomed out. You had to zoom out. The actual rest of the picture, I'm like, oh, never mind. But anyway, so we know our strengths. Let's put it that way. And then we decided to… Like, the plan was…

[00:36:09] Yeah, we talked about it.

[00:36:10] And we had… Yeah, we had discussions. Like, we actually, we thought this through a little bit. We did. Since there was no water rudder, once again, that's why we had to have the thrust vectoring on it. So, you were going to go out and practice turns and stuff just to kind of see how it handled. And then the plan was to point it into the wind, start your run a little bit, so you still had some control with thrust vectoring, and then flip that thrust vectoring off.

[00:36:37] Yes.

[00:36:37] That way, you would have a little bit of control over y'all with the rudder, once you got a little bit of air over it. Solid plan. Great plan. I mean, ideally, it was perfect.

[00:36:48] What happened? Well, I choked. I mean, basically. So, yeah, the takeoff, we did, I did exactly that. taxied it around, kind of got the feel for it, and then I think we brought it in, swapped batteries, because I did quite a bit of taxing.

[00:37:03] Yeah, you did quite a bit of taxing stuff.

[00:37:05] Swapped batteries, and then, yeah, put it out there, pointed it into the wind, and then forgot, basically, to turn the thrust vectoring off once I started the takeoff run. So, the takeoff run starts, and it's heading down the lake, and I'm keeping it straight, and I'm like, oh, I still have thrust vectoring on. Well, I don't remember exactly which switch it is, so I'm going to leave it for now. It breaks the surface of the water and immediately points the nose straight up.

[00:37:40] So, it took a lot of back, up elevator to get it off. To get it to break, yeah. And once it's off the water, the stick is buried, so the thrust vectoring is, buried also. Right.

[00:37:52] So, it points straight up, and then I'm like, oh, gosh, overcorrect, and then, so I point the nose down, and I get it kind of level, and I'm like, okay, I've got it to a point now where I can reach up and turn the thrust vectoring off and get some semblance of control.

[00:38:06] Well, I think you took off, though, and then you landed again, right? It skimmed. Skimmed, okay.

[00:38:11] Yeah, I had straightened it out just before it touched the water. It skimmed the water, and then it was on a nice climb-out trajectory, at which point I thought, okay, I've got it. I'm going to switch the thrust vectoring off, and I reached up, and I flipped what I thought was the thrust vectoring switch, but no. I'm relatively certain I hit the reverse thrust switch. And what did that sound like? Yeah, and you can see it in the video, too.

[00:38:45] It points straight up when it breaks the water. I get it kind of level. It just skims the water, and then it's on this perfect, nice, if I'd have left it alone and let it climb and then taken some time and get the right switch, I think we would have been okay. But I'm pretty sure I hit the thrust reverse switch, which I lost all my forward thrust, and down.

[00:39:09] Not only lost it all, but you had it sucking you the other way.

[00:39:13] Yeah, I don't know if it actually engaged thrust reverse, because I don't know if that's an instantaneous thing. It does.

[00:39:18] I was wide open. Because it goes all the way, like even wide open, it will, it has a time, not a timer, but it ramps itself down and then to reverse. So you don't have to be at zero to turn it on. Right, right.

[00:39:27] But I mean, yeah. So that's what I'm saying. It didn't go instantly into reverse thrust. Like it had to spool down and then start. But by the time it was starting. Which is a tenth of a second. But yeah. That's about as much time as it took to lose all that momentum and impact the water. Yeah. The damage was relatively, speaking, minor, honestly.

[00:39:46] The plane was fine.

[00:39:48] The airplane itself was resting on top of the remnants of the floats, so the airplane wasn't getting waterlogged. When I picked it up, yes, another trip in the boat of shame. But when I picked it up out of the water and took the canopy off.

[00:40:05] That's my favorite, favorite part of the whole week.

[00:40:11] The inside of it was dry. So the left float, I think it was, was three big pieces. The right float was one piece. Obviously, they had been pulled out of the mounts that attached to the wire. But I mean, I had it ready to go again the next day.

[00:40:29] Yeah.

[00:40:30] Three big pieces of foam to glue together and then glue the floats back into the mounts and it was ready to go.

[00:40:36] Yeah. There was, I mean, nothing wrong with it.

[00:40:38] We got really, I got really lucky, actually. Had it been, faster, the pieces would probably have been smaller and less likely to go back together.

[00:40:50] Yeah. I mean, no, honestly, everything worked out probably as good as could be expected for what happened. And especially because we got this.

[00:41:01] I love that.

[00:41:03] Yeah. So, yeah. So you got it all put back together. And then I think the next day might have been rainy or something like that.

[00:41:09] It took a couple of days before we were able to try it again.

[00:41:11] And then what happened the second time?

[00:41:14] Well, the second time was much better. I had, since you were recording, I had Jeff stand next to me and I showed him the switch that I wanted him to turn off for me, which was the thrust vector switch. So, yeah, I told him, I was like, okay, I'm going to take off with thrust vector on. As soon as it breaks the water, I'm going to have you flip this switch. I'll tell you, hey, flip the switch. And then, and then off we go. And that's exactly what happened.

[00:41:41] I pointed it into the wind. I tried, I think, a couple of takeoff runs without the thrust vector and it wanted to veer mostly to the left, but occasionally to the right. And I didn't have enough rudder authority to correct it. So I had to take off with thrust vectoring. And that's why I had Jeff stand next to me to hit the switch. And, yeah, I pointed it into the wind and corrected with the thrust vectoring.

[00:42:04] And once it broke the water, I had Jeff flip the switch off and away we went.

[00:42:08] Yeah. You had a nice fight.

[00:42:10] It was a nice fight, actually. I mean, so it was wide open almost the whole time. Yeah. Those floats had a lot of drag. There were no drag. Yeah. I can imagine. But, yeah, the flight, once the takeoff is under your belt, it flies just like a Viper, only a little slower.

[00:42:29] Yeah. And it still looked pretty quick, to be honest with you. Like, you kept saying that it looked and felt slow to you. But to me, I mean, you were zooming around pretty quick.

[00:42:38] It looked like it was, okay. Okay. But, I mean, it was wide open. Like, I was, I don't want to say afraid, but I did not want to get it too slow. You don't want to stop it.

[00:42:46] Because I didn't really know what it would do with the floats on it,. And come to find out for your landing. I landed hot. Well, it did fine, though.

[00:42:54] It did.

[00:42:54] I mean. Yeah, the landing was fine.

[00:42:56] I think I landed with half flaps, I think. Yeah. I had half flaps for landing. And, yeah, I mean, I just flew it down to the water.

[00:43:03] I mean, I did. It needs even more drag. Yeah. Well.

[00:43:05] Right.

[00:43:06] And lift. Yeah.

[00:43:08] But.

[00:43:08] No, but, I mean, there was no, like, the landing, I wasn't sure how, because you did slow down, obviously, a little bit. But there was no adverse conditions or anything that happened to it that made me worry.

[00:43:20] No, it just dropped right in. Yeah, it behaved itself. But, like I said, I flew it down to the water. Right. I didn't, chop the throttle and glide it. That's not a glider. It was under power. So, you shouldn't do that no matter what. But, I mean, I had power on, I think, almost until it touched the water, I recall. But, no, I was really hoping that you would fly it after that. So, I didn't.

[00:43:42] And, actually, there's two reasons, two big reasons for that. First off, I had seen it fly. It flew. Good. Objective. Completed. Secondly, I really want to fly it thrust vectoring without floats. So, by the time I knew the thrust vectoring and stuff was working on it, I kind of want to try it, like I said, just off the field. Yeah, off the gear. And if something happens, then so be it. I did it. But I actually got to experience it without.

[00:44:11] And the last thing, the servo on the elevator was very twitchy after that last flight. Oh, was it? I don't know if you noticed that or not. I noticed that. No. When I plugged the battery back in and stuff, I don't know why I did it. It was the next day. It was jittery quite a bit. One or both? No, just the elevator one. Or just the one that was tied to the elevator on the thrust vectoring.

[00:44:36] Oh, on the thrust vectoring.

[00:44:37] I got you. Okay. So, I mean, the nozzle was moving up and down at the tip a good quarter inch. Yeah. And so, I might have to change a servo on that.

[00:44:46] Or it might have dried out by now and we're fine. Exactly.

[00:44:48] So, the day after, it hadn't. Yeah. But.

[00:44:51] Well, we can make a checklist. Like, if you decide to fly it off the floats with the thrust vectoring, I think.

[00:44:57] I would take and get rid of the elevator part.

[00:44:59] I was just getting ready to say that.

[00:45:01] A mix without?

[00:45:02] Yeah. Yeah. Yep. Just totally eliminate the elevator portion.

[00:45:06] Well, do you think you needed it, though?

[00:45:07] The elevator portion? No.

[00:45:08] To break the. I don't think so.

[00:45:11] Okay.

[00:45:12] It would have made you run just a little bit longer. A little longer.

[00:45:14] But yeah, I don't think.

[00:45:15] But extra airspeed's not going to hurt you. Well, but you don't think you hit, like, top speed with the amount of drag that you had on it?

[00:45:22] No, because I was easing kind of into. I never really. I mean, I obviously was at full throttle when it broke the surface of the water. But, I mean, could probably have made the takeoff run shorter had I gone to full throttle sooner.

[00:45:36] Yeah.

[00:45:37] But, no, I don't think you need the thrust vector to get it to break the water. But I could be wrong. I don't know. I didn't. I think it would be. Or at least turn it way down.

[00:45:47] Yeah.

[00:45:48] So, it doesn't do the whoop, when it breaks the water. Yeah. Because you've got so much of it,.

[00:45:53] See, honestly, when I fly it, though, that's kind of what I'm looking forward to. I want to be able to throw it around.

[00:45:58] For sure.

[00:45:59] And not.

[00:46:00] Once you're done with the takeoff.

[00:46:01] Just put it on the switch. Yeah. Well, it's on a switch. Just slide mode it.

[00:46:06] Yeah. We did. But that's the switch I missed.

[00:46:09] Just put two flight modes in it. Just rudder only and then full. Oh, I see what you're saying. Yep.

[00:46:14] You could do that with it. None. Then just rudder. And then full on a three. Because I think it's on a three position switch now, anyway. I think, yeah, it's on the top left one, I think. Yeah. So, anyway.

[00:46:23] So, there you go.

[00:46:23] It was fun. It worked.

[00:46:25] Objective completed. Viper 90 will fly on floats. Mm-hmm.

[00:46:31] And if it survives until next year, I'll take it and try and fly it on floats.

[00:46:35] Well, I hope it does. I mean, because you're going to take the floats off and fly it off the gear the rest of this year.

[00:46:38] Yeah, that's what I mean. Yeah. It survives.

[00:46:40] Oh, it'll survive.

[00:46:41] With all the thrust vectoring and stuff.

[00:46:43] That'll be fun to play with.

[00:46:44] One thing I should have told you, I heard some guys talking with thrust vectoring. If you ever are flying and you have a, one of the servos locks up on the thrust vectoring part and it's all messing with you, just cut the throttle and get it down as soon as you can. Don't try and correct. I should have said that beforehand. Although, if something happened, I probably would not remember that, honestly. Yeah.

[00:47:07] But I saw a guy at the field flying a jet with thrust vectoring that had a servo go out on him. Oh, dear. And it was one of those things where he cut the throttle all the way down, turned the turbine off, and then came in and landed and said to the other guy that was there, I'm so glad you told me last week what to do if that happened. He said, I would not have thought to turn it off. But apparently they had a conversation, like I said, the week before, one of the other guys.

[00:47:32] Yeah, that's probably better than trying to fight it.

[00:47:35] Yeah, because there's no way you're going to be able to overcome at that angle on what most of those are with regular control services. Yeah, just shut it off and hopefully you've got enough glide.

[00:47:47] Anyway, remember that. Yeah. So now that my Viper 90 is in the condition that it's in, I may have to have you print a nozzle and stuff for mine as well.

[00:47:57] Oh, yeah. If that's something you'd want to do, absolutely.

[00:47:59] Yeah, I mean, I think it'd be fun to experiment with. See, it's fun having one you don't care about. It is. I mean, I still care about it a little bit, but I don't.

[00:48:07] I mean, I don't want to crash it. But if it happens, I'm not going to be like all, it'll be a learning experience. It won't be upsetting. So one other thing I want to talk about, I will start you off and then I want you to tell the story.

[00:48:23] Okay.

[00:48:23] So we were, it was one of the first nights we were at Joan Hall. Our buddy Dan Landis came over to say hi to us from Boomerang RC Jets. And somehow we got on the topic of my trailer. And so we took him back to show, because he'd seen pictures on Facebook and stuff, but hadn't seen it in person yet. So we took him back to show him the setup and all that stuff.

[00:48:45] And one of the planes that you took was your newly acquired cap that you got and had put together since the Toledo swap meet. Yep. And it has, it's the splat scheme, Matt Chapman splat scheme. Mm-hmm. And so he saw that and you tell the rest of the story.

[00:49:05] Yeah. So we got to talking about it and I'm not sure how we got on the, on the conversation of Matt Chapman himself. And Dan's like, you should have, you should have Matt Chapman sign it. I'm like, oh yeah, that'd be kind of cool. And then Dan's like, well, he's here. I'm like, what? So, so yeah, it didn't happen that day. I think it was maybe the day after, because I had to do some volunteering.

[00:49:31] Had, I did some volunteering and some other stuff and it was raining and other stuff. But yeah, Dan facilitated an introduction. He had a part that he had brought for Matt that he had me deliver to Matt. And that was the introduction. And so, yeah, Matt Chapman signed the aileron on my Matt Chapman's schemed cap, which was really, really cool. And I got to figure out a way to preserve that. I still haven't quite cracked that.

[00:50:02] Yeah. Not yet.

[00:50:03] I was thinking maybe some clear monocode over the top of it, but.

[00:50:08] I don't know. Depends. Is it Sharpie or.

[00:50:10] Sharpie. Yeah.

[00:50:12] Because it'll wipe right off with alcohol and that spray away alcohol or cleaner has alcohol. I just shoot some clear over it.

[00:50:20] But I mean. Just like a spray. Oh, I see. Like a, like a clear poly. Yeah. Oh, I could do that. That would be easy, actually. Mm-hmm. I could just mask off the whole aileron.

[00:50:27] Well, yeah, especially since it's just the aileron. Yeah. Good idea, Dave.

[00:50:32] There's no distortion from the. Yeah.

[00:50:34] And it's yellow.

[00:50:35] I was going to say, well, yeah, I was going to say, as long as it doesn't change.

[00:50:38] It doesn't change the color of it.

[00:50:40] And even if it does, Matt Chapman signed my cap.

[00:50:44] Yeah.

[00:50:44] Which is pretty cool.

[00:50:45] That is pretty neat. And I will admit, like, so when I bought the extra from Flex, when I was putting it together, I noticed that it had a decal that was a signature from Jace Duccia. Apparently, this is one that he, before he left Flex, by the way. Yeah. Big news. Yeah. That was right after he got back. I didn't expect that. But anyway, this is one he designed, I guess, or led the design work or whatnot.

[00:51:13] And so I was thinking, okay, well, it comes with a decal that has his signature on it. Or I can just copy Tommy and take a wing up and say, hey, do you mind signing this? Because it's the same thing. He's, down in the 3D line all the time. And so I took it up there and I had him also sign my aileron in the same spot that you had yours signed.

[00:51:32] I think that's cool.

[00:51:33] I do, too.

[00:51:34] I mean, it's not every day.

[00:51:35] You have to figure out how to preserve yours, too. Just shoot some clear on there.

[00:51:37] I'm thinking that's probably what I'll end up doing. I might yellow it, though. We'll see.

[00:51:40] I'll let you do yours first.

[00:51:43] No, but I thought that was kind of neat, too. So, yeah, we both, I stole your idea, or I guess Dan's idea.

[00:51:49] It was Dan's idea. I can't take credit for it. I would never have even, of course, had I known that Matt was there, maybe I would have thought of that.

[00:51:56] No, I don't.

[00:51:57] I doubt it.

[00:51:58] You might have thought of it, but I don't think you would have had the cojones. You're probably right. I wouldn't have. You're probably right. Yeah. Nice guy, though.

[00:52:06] Yeah, super nice guy. I'm sure he thought we were weirdos, that, hey, can you sign my airplane? But apparently he's been asked to sign weirder, so.

[00:52:17] Other things, let's put it that way. Yeah. So, going back, you were talking about your volunteer schedule and stuff. So, when you volunteered, there was one day you volunteered, and this is the day that Hitech was giving away their T-shirts. So, I guess this would have been Thursday. And you volunteered at 10, I think is what time it was. Yeah, yeah. And so, I didn't even think about it as I was, so I dropped you off.

[00:52:48] And after I dropped you off at your little volunteering area, I was going down through the mainline stuff and hopped off the golf cart and was just going to kind of go hang out and walk and see what was going on. And I saw a guy there that was wearing the Hitech giveaway shirt. And it was really cool one this year. And so, I was like, oh, I forgot all about that. I'm going to run down to the 3D line and see if I have any left. I don't know how this works. Okay?

[00:53:10] This is the first time I've ever gone to do that. So, anyway, I got down to the golf cart and got down to the 3D line. It was about 10.15. And there were, all the shirts were still sitting out. And there was people lined up probably 20 feet back, maybe 25, 30 feet of line starting at, where they're giving the shirts away. I'm like, oh, well, it must start at 10 or 10.30. it's 10.15. I'm just going to stand here. No big deal. I'll wait for a little bit.

[00:53:43] And so, I guess, here's my tip. If you're going to drone all and you want the time to stand still and make it feel like you're going to be there forever. Go stand in a line. Go stand in a line somewhere. Like, literally. So, I, and, there's still 3D guys flying. So, you can kind of watch the flights and stuff. And so, I looked at my phone. It's 10.20. I'm like, all right, cool. We're getting there. And so, then, I mean, it feels like it's been a half hour.

[00:54:13] And I looked down at my phone and it's 10.22. I'm like, oh, my God. Okay, eight minutes. I can do this for eight minutes. The line behind me is getting, like, hugely long. It's starting to snake around, like, the shower house and all that kind of stuff. And then going out into the parking lot. Oh, my. Yeah. And so, I'm like, all right, there's a lot of people for this. This is surprising. Eight more minutes.

[00:54:34] Okay, I got it.

[00:54:34] Yes. So, five minutes rolls around. Two minutes rolls around. 10.30 hits. I'm like, all right, cool. Here we go. And nobody starts moving. Nobody's giving stuff away. Nothing like that. So, I'm like, what? Okay. So, they're running a little bit late. it happens, but whatever.

[00:54:50] Yeah. Nothing starts on time.

[00:54:52] Right. So, like, 10.32, same thing. Nothing is going on. So, I got on my phone really quickly and looked. 11 o'clock is when they start to give away. Oh, my gosh. Oh, my gosh. And so, by this time, like, all right, I've been in line for, like, 17 minutes. I'm not giving up. I wish you were with me, because you would have talked me out of it. But now that it's over, yes, I waited until 11 o'clock. By, like, 11.02, I had my shirt.

[00:55:18] And then I was done and able to go do everything else. But they have very cool shirts this year. I was very happy with that.

[00:55:23] I haven't seen it.

[00:55:24] Oh, really?

[00:55:25] You'll have to show it. I'll show you.

[00:55:26] Yeah. So, yes. I guess next year, if I decide to do it, I will at least know what I'm getting myself into. Yeah. And I will realize that it's 11 o'clock, not 10.30. Yeah. But the line, I could not believe the line of people that were waiting. Like, I could not even see the end, the way it all wrapped around. It was, honestly, it was probably a good 300-foot line, just all snaked around the 3D area. Wow.

[00:55:51] For a lot of people. Mm-hmm. Cool. Yeah.

[00:55:55] Nice t-shirt, though. Yeah. I was happy with that. Just not the length of time I didn't think it was going to be.

[00:56:02] Well, you'll have to take snacks next time.

[00:56:05] Well, actually, next time, if I plan on doing that, I will bring a chair with me, because there were other people that were doing that. And I was like, oh. Smart. That is very smart, knowing now that it's going to be an extra half hour. But that's okay.

[00:56:18] It all worked out pretty good. Yep. I'm assuming they had plenty of shirts.

[00:56:22] Yeah. And they actually said that, if there's enough shirts afterwards, you can go back through and get a second one. And there weren't. So they went through quite a few of them.

[00:56:34] Cool. Yeah.

[00:56:35] It was a lot of fun. It was… We've learned some things for next year. Yes, for sure. And it was pretty good. So talk about your volunteering. How did that go?

[00:56:43] Oh, so I don't know. This is our third year. I felt like… And I learned about the volunteering thing from Jeff, who did it. I think he's done it probably every year.

[00:56:55] Every year.

[00:56:55] But yeah, he was telling me about it last year. And it just kind of feels like… I mean, yes, I understand we pay to go and we pay to camp and we pay to fly and we pay to do everything there. But it just felt like kind of… That place is ran like 80% by volunteers.

[00:57:13] I think it's probably more than that, to be honest with you.

[00:57:15] Well, he does have… He does… I was talking to one of the guys that runs the volunteer program. There are some people that are on a payroll that work there. But by and large, the rest of it is all volunteer. People who volunteer their time to go out there and mow and fix things and build things and whatever. So I thought…

[00:57:35] It's a place to be proud of. Yeah. I understand that completely.

[00:57:37] So I thought in some small way, if I can, kind of…

[00:57:41] Give back a little?

[00:57:43] Yeah. Or feel like I'm contributing to the overall, niceness of the place, I would volunteer. So I did. There are three ways you can… Well, there's lots of different ways you can volunteer. But during Joan All Week, there are three ways you can volunteer. You can drive the People Mover, which is a big golf cart with six seats on it that, you can move people between flight lines. You can drive the water truck, which we didn't need because we had rain.

[00:58:12] And then you could also be a, like a traffic director, warden… Like a coordinator or something….guy. Yeah. So I tried all three. The People Mover was more fun for me because I wouldn't say I'm a people person, but I don't mind conversing with strangers and introducing myself and talking to people about,

[00:58:32] What they like and what they, get out of Joan All and where they're going and what they like to fly, whatever.

[00:58:36] So the People Mover is the way, if I volunteer again, that's, I'll just stick to that. The water truck, like I said, we didn't need it. But I don't foresee that really kind of fulfilling that need for me to feel like I'm getting back. And the traffic director thing, yeah, they got that covered. I didn't feel like they need volunteers. And it's boring, if I'm honest.

[00:59:01] And maybe it depends on time you do it, too. Like, I don't remember when you were doing that one.

[00:59:04] It was like Thursday, Wednesday or Thursday.

[00:59:07] That would have been a busier day. So I don't know.

[00:59:09] Yeah. I mean, there were people, coming in and we were directing them to park here, park there, whatever. But to me, I didn't get as much out of that as I did driving the golf carts. So next time, yeah, I'll probably volunteer again, but less, not as many days. I think I was volunteering every day from like Tuesday through Monday through Thursday, I guess it was. Yeah, you did. So I'll do a little bit less probably next time.

[00:59:38] And I'll just stick to driving the golf carts because that was that was actually I did enjoy, talking to people and, taking people to the 3D line and seeing them get excited when they'd see the planes, do crazy flips in the air. And that was that was actually neat to watch.

[00:59:51] Yeah. Yeah. That's always one of the highlights is watching the night flying at the 3D line for me.

[00:59:57] Yeah, for sure.

[00:59:59] It's just you don't see that anywhere else. No, I mean, we don't, at least not sure it happens other places where we get to, but we don't ever get to see that.

[01:00:07] So it's something that you don't and the floats line. we don't get to do that here at all. So that's nice, too.

[01:00:14] Yeah. But which I did fly my cub on floats. You flew my club on floats. Flies nice. It does. Really nice. It's a very fun. And it looks really good, too.

[01:00:23] They did a good job.

[01:00:23] It does. Like, I'm going to be honest. It looks better on the floats than it does.

[01:00:27] Those are inky dink wheels.

[01:00:28] The wheels are going to change.

[01:00:29] Did you get those hubcaps there changed out?

[01:00:31] No, I'll make it more of a bush plane eventually. Okay. All right. Cool. Like, I do have thoughts on what I want to do with that airplane.

[01:00:39] I was going to say, are you going to buy the short wing?

[01:00:41] No. No? No. So don't hold me to this. Okay. By any means, don't hold me to this. But what I would like to do, what I would like to do, see, now I'm saying I would like to do. I'm not saying I'm going to do it or anything like that. I understand. But I would like to recover that in the, what the heck's it called? The Red Bull scheme.

[01:01:01] Oh, that would be cool.

[01:01:03] Mm-hmm.

[01:01:03] That would be really cool.

[01:01:04] I'm not a huge fan of the old, just yellow cubs. I mean, they're classic. They're cool.

[01:01:08] Yeah. I got you. I saw a really cool-looking cub on Facebook the other day. It was in one of the RC Cub Facebook groups that I'm a member of. But somebody had painted it or covered it in a non-traditional scheme. And it was almost like a starburst, but it was like different colors. And the bands, instead of just being a starburst, it was the entire wing. It looked really, really, I'll see if I can find that to you. But it was, yeah, it's really sharp.

[01:01:38] Yeah, it's non-traditional, cub yellow.

[01:01:42] I get it. I don't know if you saw the ones at Jonah, all the big ones, the 170cc Cub Crafters Cub or whatever they have that Hangar 9 has that are redone in the Red Bull scheme.

[01:01:54] Those are sharp. Yeah, those are nice. Speaking of ginormous cubs, how about that new Legacy AV or Extreme Flight T-Cub?

[01:02:04] Oh, I forgot about that. That was an impressive landing to see him make with one wheel.

[01:02:09] Yeah. And then to see that thing on floats, too, was awesome.

[01:02:15] Yeah. So last time when we recorded, before we left with Lee and Fitz, we lucked out because it was probably five to ten minutes after we finished. He was flying down the float line. And that is very loud. Yeah. So I don't think we would have had very much. You wouldn't hear us very much.

[01:02:33] It would have been background noise. Yeah, yeah. We got lucky with the timing on that. But man, what an impressive airplane, that thing.

[01:02:38] Yeah, that's huge.

[01:02:39] Pretty cool. Yeah. So that about does it, I guess, for the, well, I did, I guess, I guess we did kind of end on a sour note, or I did anyway. the day we were going to, Friday morning, I was like, well, I've got all these 5,000 milliamp batteries that I had charged for flying other airplanes. I need to just fly these down because that's more fun than discharging them on your charger, right?

[01:03:02] Sure way.

[01:03:02] So I took the old Viper 90 and four, I think I had four charged batteries, down to the E-line. I forget why you weren't. You were doing something else.

[01:03:12] I was going to say goodbye to…

[01:03:13] Oh, that's right.

[01:03:14] You were going to see Jeff and the Rhode Island. And the Rhode Island guys saying our goodbyes. Yep.

[01:03:19] So I get to the E-line, and it's early, fairly early, about 8 o'clock, maybe, something like that. And so, yeah, you went to go say bye to the guys. So I'm there on the E-line by myself while I don't have a spotter. So that's a problem, because you have to have a spotter. So I put the battery in the plane, and I'm kind of looking back at the pit. I'm, like, making the face, like, hey,. Anybody? Somebody of mine spot me.

[01:03:43] So one guy jumps up and says, yeah, yeah, I got you. So thanks to… I didn't catch his name, whoever that was. He was wearing a high-tech shirt. Probably the same high-tech shirt you got. Was it blue, dark blue? It was gray. So no, it's not. Okay. So I take off, no problem. I get in the pattern. I think we're doing right-hand pattern. Doesn't matter.

[01:04:07] So I'm, like, I tell my spotter, I'm, like, hey, I'm going to probably cut the flight a little bit short, because I'm just flying these down to my storage charge. So I'll probably, fly for two and a half, three minutes, maybe. And then I'll probably try to land in the grass right here in front of us. Because, there's no brakes, and, this thing likes to roll, and, it lands hot, whatever. I'll put it in the grass to slow it down.

[01:04:33] That way, I'm not taking up the runway. And, because there was a few other airplanes in the air. I didn't want to take up the runway for any length of time in case somebody was trying to land behind me. Anyway, so I lined up for the landing. I lined up, on the grass, outside, well, I think I was outside the, so on the E-line, you've got your pilot stations, right?

[01:04:56] And then there's a strip of grass in front of the pilot stations, and then there's a white marked line, and then there's another strip of grass, and then there's the textile, geotextile runway. So you can land, so between the pilot station and the white line in the grass, it's supposed to be, I guess, a no takeoff landing zone. That's where you, you set your airplane, you can get it ready, whatever, and I guess not worry about getting hit by planes.

[01:05:24] In theory?

[01:05:25] I wouldn't do that anyway. I would stay behind, just myself, I would stay behind the pilot stations. At any rate, I'm lined up on what I'm pretty sure, I didn't take pictures of the aftermath, but I'm pretty sure I was on the other side of the white line between the textile. Well, yeah, Lee said you were. Yeah, between the textile runway and the no-plied line. So I'm lined up on that, and I'm just about to touch down, and I hear very quietly, go around.

[01:05:56] I'm like, by the time that registers, wheels are on the grass, on the ground, and then I hear it again, hey, go around. And I'm like, and by the time my brain processes that, my plane has already run into a sea wind, I think it was, one of those sea winds that they were selling, the tower version.

[01:06:18] They're all tower versions, I think.

[01:06:19] And foam flying, and pieces flying, and it's like, I didn't know what happened at first. I mean, obviously, I knew I ran into something on the runway, but yeah, there was a guy with one of those sea winds. I'm pretty sure he was on the other side of the white line, on the landing area, who did not communicate that he was out there, number one, and my spotter could have been a little more authoritative about, hey, go around, somebody's on the runway.

[01:06:49] So like a perfect storm of circumstances of non-communication led to two airplanes, I don't want to say destroyed, I'm pretty sure that sea wind was in a rougher shape than my Viper.

[01:07:01] Yeah.

[01:07:02] But still, it just, it was needless. It didn't need to happen like that.

[01:07:06] How did you feel? Did you feel like this?

[01:07:09] I did. I did feel like that.

[01:07:14] But anyway. Well, the good news is, you crashed your Viper, which means you're okay doing thrust vectoring and all that kind of stuff.

[01:07:22] Yeah, at that point, like it's already fixed, it's already back together, it just doesn't look as pretty, not that it was pretty to begin with.

[01:07:28] It wasn't pretty to begin with, no offense.

[01:07:29] But it was not like it is now.

[01:07:31] Right. It's really ugly.

[01:07:32] But that's okay.

[01:07:33] So now, I don't mind.

[01:07:33] Now we both have ugly ones that we can play with.

[01:07:36] Yeah, so.

[01:07:36] Yeah.

[01:07:37] So we ended, I ended on that note, but that's okay. We got to record with Lee and Fitz right before we left, and that was fun. Yeah.

[01:07:44] And so. Kind of made up for it. After flying everything on the floats that I flew, I did take the old twin otter with me also. The last time I went to fly that, I did flip it over. I don't know what I did wrong. It just, it seemed, it just happened. It flipped over before I could even realize what was going on. Luckily, though, in our years of going to Joe and all, I still have not been in the boat of shame.

[01:08:09] I lucked out enough with that being upside down that if I gave it a little bit of throttle, it would work like a boat and it would pull itself forward. And then I could actually control the steering with the rudder because the rudder was now upside down in the water. So still, no boat of shame for me.

[01:08:29] Nice.

[01:08:29] I was happy about that.

[01:08:30] I made exactly one trip this time, which I'm pretty happy with that because I've made multiple trips the years prior. So I'm down to one trip.

[01:08:39] And you've done it for other people too, so.

[01:08:40] Well, but still, a trip in the boat of shame is a trip in the boat of shame. Yeah. And I took one this year.

[01:08:47] So we have learned from this year a couple things different next year. Yep. first off, I think Thursday leaving again is good early, early Thursday, take the day off. Yep. actually come home if we come home Friday, which I, at this point I'm fine with leaving early Friday. Yep. The whole waiting till two, three in the afternoon sucked coming home. Oh boy. Like I felt bad. You drove the whole way. well, you drove 15 minutes or so. No, actually that's not true.

[01:09:18] I didn't drive really, no, no, I drove a whole three or four minutes actually because, well, so here, okay, it doesn't matter, but I don't like driving that thing in the dark. And you knew that like before we, yeah, we talked, we had talked about this beforehand. I was, I was wanting you to take it through the mountains and I didn't want to drive it at dark. and then we just never got to a spot in the center where we had to stop for anything. We did. You just kept going.

[01:09:44] We stopped at Bucky's. Oh, but you said you were fine going or continuing to drive. We, we had a short conversation.

[01:09:55] Yes. when we got back in the RV after fueling it up and you asked, do you want me to drive? And I said, if you feel up for it, fine. If not, I'll drive. And you're pretty much exact words were, well, I don't want to, I'm like, got it. I can, no big deal. I can drive.

[01:10:17] No, I think, I don't think you said if you're feeling it up for it, I think you said if you want to, because in my mind, I, what I think I said, I could be wrong is I don't want to, but I will, if you need me to. Gotcha. Okay.

[01:10:30] So either way, either way, I was fine at that point.

[01:10:32] Anyway, then when it got to the point where I did try to drive, it was not good. Well, oh my God, I don't know how you could see, like, I had so many problems seeing more than like 10 feet in front of that thing, which was weird because I was okay when we left. Like, I don't know if there were more stuff on the windshield or, I don't know. It was windy. So it was, so yes, I drove.

[01:10:55] That's right. I forgot about the wind.

[01:10:56] The wind sucked. So yes, I drove literally from one gas station to the very next stop, which was a rest stop. And I think that was three miles away.

[01:11:09] So I didn't help. I did drive. I did drive a little bit.

[01:11:13] Probably wasn't worth it.

[01:11:14] 15,000 feet.

[01:11:15] Yeah. But on the way there, I drove quite a bit. That's okay. So anyway, that, and then we also know, take less planes.

[01:11:23] Yeah. I took entirely too many. I brought planes home that I didn't even fly.

[01:11:28] Me too.

[01:11:29] So.

[01:11:30] Some didn't even come out of the box.

[01:11:31] It seems like three is like, in my mind, three is like the ideal number. One for the float line, one for the E line, and then something interesting. Whatever that is. Like, telemaster, jet, next time, whatever. But definitely one for the float line that's a solid, solid performer. Like, for me, it would be the turbo timber. That thing is just awesome on the water.

[01:11:57] Maybe two for the float line in case something happens.

[01:11:59] One for the E line. Well, that's got to be a Viper.

[01:12:01] Yeah.

[01:12:01] One or the other.

[01:12:02] Yep.

[01:12:02] And then something interesting. Either, whatever, whatever that is. But three is, is really plenty. Because let's face it. If you happen to, if some, if the worst happens and you, and you put one in, there's plenty of opportunities to acquire another one.

[01:12:20] Not necessarily on the floats. That's the only reason I said maybe a backup for floats. Okay. Well. But I mean, yeah, you can buy. Even still. A ton of airplanes for the E line.

[01:12:30] It's just new. Yep. Horizons, going to be there. Like, you got to flex. Extreme Flight had lots of airplanes there. Like, I mean, there's no shortage. Yeah. Of airplanes to buy. Yep.

[01:12:41] There.

[01:12:42] So. Agreed. Anyway. I think three is a, is a, is a good number. Not. Which only becomes.

[01:12:48] Eleven or whatever. Between the two of us. But here's the thing. Like.

[01:12:52] Okay. The old tricks. Oh, it's in a little pizza box. Whatever. I can just throw that anywhere. Oh, the, the, the. Conscendo. The. What? The UMX Conscendo. ah, that can just fit. Oh, the. And next thing. Old Jed's a millionaire. Yeah, exactly.

[01:13:07] Yeah. I agree. I did the same thing. I think between the two of us in that trailer when we went, there were 21 airplanes. 21. And that's. That's. That's silly. Too many.

[01:13:16] Yeah. It's too many airplanes to drag that far. Like if we were just going to Champaign. Sure. Keep them in the trailer. Whatever. But.

[01:13:25] Yeah.

[01:13:25] To take them that far.

[01:13:27] And to pack that much.

[01:13:28] To pack them. Yeah. To worry about them getting damaged. And getting damaged. Like there's, there's a couple of spots on my decathlon that weren't there, when we went. And same for the timber. Yeah. They're foam airplanes.

[01:13:40] They're going to get dings on them. But you can avoid all that if there was a little more space.

[01:13:44] Right.

[01:13:45] If they weren't stacked on top of each other and all that kind of stuff. So. Good to know for next year. There you go. And then. Lessons learned. Anything else? Nope. Dave?

[01:13:56] I had nothing to start with.

[01:13:58] So do you have anything to finish with?

[01:14:00] No.

[01:14:01] How about next year, Dave? Maybe.

[01:14:03] Maybe. But. Maybe. Okay. We'll see. We'll see as we get closer. We got a maybe. It's an 80% no at this point.

[01:14:10] So there's a 20% chance of yes.

[01:14:12] Yeah. Okay.

[01:14:13] That's. If I'm honest. I'm sitting about 50-50 right now. For next year. what I mean? I want to go. I mean. Obviously I don't want to miss it. But.

[01:14:25] But there are logistical things.

[01:14:28] That. And I will also say. By the way.. You miss Mother's Day. Yeah. I mean. I understand.. Whatever.

[01:14:35] I will say. By the way. Next year might be the year that we need to go. Because. After that. I'm not sure about availability on the camper. Oh. I got you. They will be retiring. And plan on going. Places. Everywhere.

[01:14:50] Yeah.

[01:14:50] As they should. Absolutely. Yeah. For sure. Except for that week.

[01:14:54] Well. But I mean. There's workarounds. Right? There is. But I mean.

[01:14:57] Let's be honest. This is the way to go. Oh. For sure. I don't want to drive a car there again. And then have to rent a camper. That's just. We will if we have to. Yeah. But I think this is the easiest way. Anyway. Stuff we'll talk about later. But yes. We will see what next year.

[01:15:11] That concludes our Joe Nall 2025 wrap up.

[01:15:15] Thank you everybody for listening. Until next time. I'm Ron. I'm Tom.

[01:15:19] And I'm Dave.

[01:15:20] Oh. Nice. Enjoy this episode of the RC Planelab podcast. For topic suggestions. To ask questions. Or to give anything back. Connect with us at RC Planelab. Or email us direct. At either Ron at RC Planelab.com. Or Tom at RC Planelab.com. You can also text us. Or leave us a voicemail. At 818-351-9846. Please subscribe. Rate and review us. On your favorite podcast app. Until next time. May your landings be gentle.