Ep 191: It is a crash if it breaks!

[unknown speaker 00:00:04] Hello, everyone. Welcome to the RC Plane Lab podcast. I'm Dave. I'm Ron. And I'm Tom. He gots it. He did. Yes. Good job, Dave. I'll be darned. How many tries is this?

[unknown speaker 00:00:23] I don't know, like 44?

[00:00:25] Ron: It's not that many.

[unknown speaker 00:00:26] No, it's not.

[unknown speaker 00:00:27] Third or fourth, I think.

[00:00:28] Ron: Yeah. Way to go.

[unknown speaker 00:00:29] Good job. Dave nailed it.

[00:00:31] Ron: Dave has done it all by himself. So. Yes. What? What? As usual. As usual. Dave's done it. So, I just wanted to start off by saying, honestly, one of the most difficult things about doing a podcast for me is coming up with episode titles.

[unknown speaker 00:00:52] It's always something.

[00:00:53] Ron: It's a pain. And you guys help not at all. Absolutely. Zero help. Not one time have you ever done it. Not one time, if I've been asked. Not one. Well, you could say, oh, we should call this blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. I don't want to overstep. But, no, there's nothing. Oh, my God. Can you overstep or overhop? Anyway. That's it. I'm gone. Bye. Give him time, guys. It'll be a bit. No, anyway. So, last time I was sitting trying to figure out a title.

[00:01:22] Ron: All I could come up with was, it's not a crash if it doesn't break. I thought, okay, that's fitting. I had no idea, by the way, how wonderfully that would lead into this episode that is now called, it is a crash if it breaks. I'm not going to give it away, but keep listening to see who of the three of us has had a crash. Good?

[unknown speaker 00:01:48] Yeah. Good.

[00:01:49] Ron: Sure.

[unknown speaker 00:01:50] Great.

[00:01:52] Ron: Well, that gave part of it away. Okay. Before we get into it, because you guys are really not talking much, I want to say congratulations to SpaceX. Did you guys see the launch yesterday? I watched the highlights. I caught the highlights, too. But it was very impressive. Yeah. I'm happy they finally got.

[unknown speaker 00:02:11] Did they say they didn't blow something up for a change?

[00:02:13] Ron: No, they did. Oh, they did. They did.

[unknown speaker 00:02:14] But they meant to. But it was, yeah, it was intended. Mm-hmm. Yeah.

[00:02:18] Ron: It was very fun to watch.

[unknown speaker 00:02:20] And spectacular.

[00:02:20] Ron: It was. I would love to see one of those in person just to hear. Oh, my gosh. Yeah. I can't imagine.

[unknown speaker 00:02:25] I can't either.

[00:02:26] Ron: So it's their Starship. That's the one they're working on. That's the one they launched for whatever, 10th time or something yesterday. And after, like, three explosions in a row, they hit every successful thing they wanted to try.

[unknown speaker 00:02:40] Yeah. They hit every milestone they wanted to hit.

[00:02:41] Ron: That was what I was trying to find.

[unknown speaker 00:02:43] Thank you. Yep.

[unknown speaker 00:02:43] That was a word that I couldn't get.

[00:02:45] Ron: Is this that Acme written on the side of it?

[unknown speaker 00:02:48] Mm-mm. No.

[00:02:49] Ron: I wish they'd go back to the original name, though. The BFR.

[unknown speaker 00:02:53] Yeah. Which stands for?

[00:02:55] Ron: Big friggin' rocket.

[unknown speaker 00:02:56] It is. It's huge.

[unknown speaker 00:02:57] Yep.

[00:02:58] Ron: But anyway, that's all I wanted to say.

[unknown speaker 00:03:00] Congrats to SpaceX.

[00:03:02] Ron: So we don't have a ton of stuff to talk about this week, but we do have a few things.

[unknown speaker 00:03:06] We've done a lot of stuff, though.

[00:03:07] Ron: We have. So we'll. Yeah. The list is short, but I think the discussions on each topic will be a little longer.

[unknown speaker 00:03:14] Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

[00:03:14] Ron: Before we get into the fun stuff, though. Well, it's still kind of fun stuff. Yeah. Should we talk about some new planes that were coming out that we're now? I'll let you start.

[unknown speaker 00:03:22] Oh, okay. Well, Extreme Flight has added to their stable of extra 260s. They now have an extra 260 in five different sizes.

[00:03:32] Ron: Five, you said.

[unknown speaker 00:03:33] Five sizes. Yeah. So they had a 49-inch, a 67-inch, which are. Both of those are really kind of designed more for electric power.

[unknown speaker 00:03:40] Mm-hmm.

[unknown speaker 00:03:40] And then they had an 88 and a 104, which were designed for gassers. Well, they've bridged the gap between the 67 and the 88 with a 75-inch, which is designed kind of around a 35cc, like a DLE 35RA or the DLE 40 twin, which would be like a perfect

[00:03:57] Ron: combination for this.

[unknown speaker 00:03:59] Or DA. Or a DA. Does DA make a 40-size twin?

[00:04:02] Ron: I don't know, but I don't think DLE is available anymore, is it?

[unknown speaker 00:04:05] Oh, that's a good point. I don't know. Stinger, maybe.

[00:04:07] Ron: Stinger, there you go.

[unknown speaker 00:04:10] Or, yeah, Stinger's RCGF. Anyway, $639 for the ARF. It's available in three colors. Well, actually, it was available in three colors. It sold out in, like, in the two colors, in the orange and white and the silver, red and white, I think. Yeah, those sold out, like, in 10 minutes. So, right before we sat down to start recording, they still had the blue, red, and white version. But anyway, brand new.

[unknown speaker 00:04:38] And, like I said, now you can get an extra 260 in five different sizes from Extreme Flight. Nice. And there's a reason. Because they fly really, really well. And it's a good-looking airplane. So, new from Extreme Flight. If you're looking for a 75-inch-sized, 30-ish CC-sized airplane, there you go. Brand new. Cool. Order it now, though. Because who knows when the next batch will get there.

[00:05:07] Ron: I mean, that's good they sell out so fast. That's also bad they sell out so fast.

[unknown speaker 00:05:10] Yeah. Well, I mean, I guess just a testament to… Not ordering enough? Maybe they, like, yeah, I don't know what the run was. Like, how many of each color they, you know, they had produced on the first run. But, I mean, a good position to be in. Like, if you needed to hit your numbers by selling out the first run, everything after that maybe is gravy. So, I don't know.

[00:05:33] Ron: Hopefully. That's awesome, though.

[unknown speaker 00:05:35] Eventually, there will be an Extreme Flight airplane in my stable someday. Just, it'll probably be a TBM, though. Turbo Bushmaster, sorry. Like we talked about a couple of hours ago.

[00:05:47] Ron: I'm not going to hold my breath, but we'll see. I know you. It'll be a while. Yeah.

[unknown speaker 00:05:53] So, that's, yeah, that's it. That was new from Extreme Flight.

[00:05:56] Ron: So, the other one that came out, this one I'm actually excited about. I probably won't buy one because I already got one close to it. Yep. So, E-Flight came out with their SWS version of the Erratix. So, it's a 3D airplane that is a built-up Balsa version of their very popular profile Foamy. Yeah, Flat Foamy. This one's quite a bit bigger. It's 64-inch wingspan. Yeah. And it also, what did I, hold on. Let's see.

[unknown speaker 00:06:28] I had, where did I write it down? I thought I wrote stuff down here.

[00:06:31] Ron: So, it has, the ARF itself is $549. And the Bind and Fly, $999.99. So, $1,000 for an airplane. Sounds like a lot. They got a lot of feedback on how expensive that was. But it's really not bad when you look at what it costs to build out an airplane with a receiver.

[unknown speaker 00:06:54] Yeah, exactly.

[00:06:55] Ron: So, I was happy to see this one.

[unknown speaker 00:06:58] I was, I had a similar reaction when I saw the price. So did I. But then, once reality set in and I started adding up what it would cost to make this, you know, a similar size and quality airplane flyable. I mean, it's in line. It's not out of line, actually. Yeah. But it is a large number to look at initially.

[00:07:21] Ron: Well, and so, here's the thing. So, I, at Joan, all this year, I bought the Flex Innovations Extra 360E size. Right. A little bit smaller of an airplane. Not much. Not by much. 4-inch wingspan smaller. I'm up there. Yeah. By the time I got all the servos and everything I needed to get put in it, it's that price. What?

[unknown speaker 00:07:45] Well, you said, I didn't know if you were going to say how much you actually had.

[00:07:48] Ron: I don't know. And I don't want to know. But going over all the stuff I bought separately, you know, it adds up pretty much.

[unknown speaker 00:07:55] I would wager that you're probably over the 1,000 mark.

[00:07:59] Ron: I would very easily wager that. Yeah. I think the ARF itself was about $5 or $5.50.

[unknown speaker 00:08:06] Well, it was a show special, too. Right. So, the regular. It wasn't that big of a show special? No. Not as big as others.

[00:08:13] Ron: Others. Yeah. And then, because I'm trying to think, because I went back and bought, because I was bored and needed something to do. So, that's when we went back and I bought the motor speed controller I got. So, that might not, well, that actually was, what, a quarter of what new price should have been on that one. Yeah.

[unknown speaker 00:08:34] That's right.

[00:08:35] Ron: But motor was full price. They didn't have the speed controllers in stock, so I had to find one somewhere else, which, oddly enough, was the exact same one that recommended.

[unknown speaker 00:08:42] Turned out to be in the manual.

[00:08:42] Ron: Yeah. Propeller was $50 on its own. Well, because you have to have the carbon. Right. It looks nice. It does. Which the Eratix does not have. It has wood. Wood.

[unknown speaker 00:08:54] But that's okay. That's okay.

[00:08:54] Ron: And the, I'm trying to think, what the, I want to say it was at least $150 just for the receiver. So, by the time you throw all that stuff together, it adds up very fast. It does. Yep. Servos were the, I think they're the coreless, high torque, digital, whatever, blah, blah, blah. So, yeah. This is not far out of line.

[unknown speaker 00:09:14] No, it's not. But like I said, you know, when I first saw the price, initial thought is, oh my gosh, that's, and then, like I said, reality sets in and you start piecing together. An airplane of this caliber. It's, it's right there. Yeah. SW, is this, is this now the second in the SWS series?

[00:09:33] Ron: No. Third.

[unknown speaker 00:09:34] Oh, okay. I don't know what all they came out with. Well, there was a Timber, right? That was the first one. Mm-hmm. And I don't know what.

[00:09:42] Ron: I don't remember either. Yeah. I know that the Timber wasn't the first one that came out.

[unknown speaker 00:09:46] Oh, it wasn't. Oh, I thought it was.

[00:09:47] Ron: As an SWS, was it? I thought that. Yeah, that's what I thought.

[unknown speaker 00:09:49] I thought the Timber was the first one.

[00:09:51] Ron: Okay. Then it wasn't maybe the second one. I don't know. I didn't do homework on that. Oh.

[unknown speaker 00:09:57] No big deal. Well, anyway, it's a wood airplane from, from E-Flight.

[00:10:00] Ron: And it's, okay, so we had a chance to look at one and feel one and fondle one and Google over it. It's very well built. Oh, yeah. Like, it's, it's quality is up there with the high-end models. Sure, yep. has the quick wing locks, the tool-less assembly. Yep. And the thing that I like that they're starting to do, apparently, and the same thing they did on the Hangar 9 Cub I have, you can store the wing tube inside the fuselage.

[00:10:25] Ron: It actually has a built-out space where it slides in and holds it.

[unknown speaker 00:10:28] That's cool.

[00:10:29] Ron: I do like that.

[unknown speaker 00:10:29] Yeah.

[00:10:29] Ron: That way you have everything with you.

[unknown speaker 00:10:31] Yeah, and you don't forget your wing tube at home. Right. Provided you put it where it belongs when you're done for the, flying for the day. Well, you should.

[00:10:38] Ron: yeah, but so, I mean, it comes with the AR637 TA Plus. It has the transmitter files on the receiver. Nice. So, when you bind it up, everything is ready to go. Yep, that's cool. Avian motor, obviously, speed controller, all that fun stuff. High-voltage digital metal gear servos. Good-looking airplane.

[unknown speaker 00:10:58] Mm-hmm.

[00:10:58] Ron: We got to see it fly.

[unknown speaker 00:10:59] Yeah, flies very well.

[00:11:01] Ron: Very extreme.

[unknown speaker 00:11:02] Oh, yeah.

[00:11:03] Ron: Like it.

[unknown speaker 00:11:03] Yeah, with the rates turned up and the amount of travel you can get with the control services. Yeah. Yeah, it's a crazy plane.

[00:11:10] Ron: Now, what does surprise me, they give levels for their aircraft, and I think it's just one, two, and three, like EDFs and stuff, like the Viper 90 is a level three.

[unknown speaker 00:11:20] Oh.

[00:11:21] Ron: I don't know if it goes to level four. I haven't paid much attention. Level one, obviously, is beginners. This is a level two airplane. Hmm. So, it must easily calm itself down.

[unknown speaker 00:11:32] Well, yeah. You turn the rates down, there's a lot of wing there, and it's light.

[00:11:35] Ron: Yeah, it's very, very light. We picked it up.

[unknown speaker 00:11:38] That was, like, one of the first things I did when I saw it. I was like, oh, I got to see how light this is. And I'll tell you what, the construction is very reminiscent of, like, what you said, the higher end, you know, airplanes like, I consider Extreme Flight and Flex fairly high end. This one looks to be built very, very similarly. Yep. With the carbon or whatever, laminate, you know, wood and all that kind of stuff. It looks very well done.

[00:12:04] Ron: Yeah, I agree. And I like the color scheme on it. It's bigger than I thought it would be. I mean, like, seeing the pictures and stuff with, when they released it and all that, cool, looks good. Actually, seeing it in person, it presents better than pictures.

[unknown speaker 00:12:20] Yep, I agree. Okay. Cool. What else? So, that's the new stuff. That's the new stuff. Yeah.

[00:12:25] Ron: So, should we talk about what's coming up for us? Well, we could do that, yeah. Shall we talk about what's coming up and then talk about what we did?

[unknown speaker 00:12:35] Yeah, sounds good. Good? Yeah, so what's next on the calendar?

[00:12:38] Ron: So, next that I'm going to, I think Tommy's going to, I don't think Dave's going to, but maybe, I don't know, the Aligno Warbirds and Classics. It's this weekend, August 29th and 30th. By the time this comes out, it will be halfway over. And that's Eli Field in Monticello. Yeah, so we're getting back to doing that event. So, we'll see how well it goes.

[unknown speaker 00:13:03] Should be a good event. I think so. Well, I mean, as we like to talk about, it's a great location. And it'll be a good location for Warbirds and Classics, I think. It'll be a pretty good show. Hopefully, it'll be a pretty good show.

[00:13:15] Ron: Especially since we fixed the runway.

[unknown speaker 00:13:18] And let me just say, well, I mean, we'll talk about it later, I guess, but very nice. Yeah. So much better than it was.

[00:13:25] Ron: I was happy with how that turned out. Yeah. You don't have to worry about small wheels with airplanes and all that on it anymore.

[unknown speaker 00:13:31] So, you're thinking you're going to have more than one airplane this year?

[00:13:34] Ron: What do you mean?

[unknown speaker 00:13:36] Weren't you the solo pilot last year?

[00:13:37] Ron: Oh, yeah. I forgot about that.

[unknown speaker 00:13:39] Yeah.

[00:13:40] Ron: Yeah, you won pilot's choice. Yeah, because I chose myself. Well, see, last year, we really didn't expect to have a hurricane hit. And that hurricane had some really gale force winds. So, yeah. Unfortunately, I'm not going to be able to be there much. I'm going over Friday for just a little bit. And then I will be busy with other things the rest of the weekend. So, hopefully, it turns out well.

[unknown speaker 00:14:04] Yeah. I'm going to try to go, I think, a little bit Friday and a good portion maybe of Saturday.

[00:14:10] Ron: I hope you do. I'd like to hear what you think of it. Are you going to take anything to fly?

[unknown speaker 00:14:16] I don't really have anything that qualifies.

[00:14:20] Ron: You can take my Cree Cree, Cri Cri, whatever you want to call it. Nah, that's okay.

[unknown speaker 00:14:24] It's a cool plane. Sure. Whatever. So, that's the next thing.

[00:14:30] Ron: The weekend after, I don't know if any of us are going to make it down to the Route 66 jets in Litchfield.

[unknown speaker 00:14:37] I will not be able to because that's a work weekend for me.

[00:14:40] Ron: I'm going to try to, but I don't think it's going to happen. I have a lot of stuff that I have to take care of because I have not.

[unknown speaker 00:14:49] I got nothing to drive that far.

[00:14:53] Ron: Okay.

[unknown speaker 00:14:55] So, that's a no. Dave is still having transportation issues. Oh, boy.

[00:14:59] Ron: What's next? Okay. So, the weekend after that. So, that's September 4th, 5th, 6th, and 7th, by the way, in Litchfield, Illinois. Also, coming up that we enjoyed, but I don't know if we're going to make it up this year again, the Street or Fall Scramble Warbirds and Classics. It's September 11th through 13th, Thursday through Saturday, in Street or Illinois. Anybody going to that?

[unknown speaker 00:15:19] Probably not because weekday, event, and transportation.

[00:15:25] Ron: Okay.

[unknown speaker 00:15:27] Undecided.

[00:15:28] Ron: Undecided.

[unknown speaker 00:15:28] Yeah. If I go, I mean, it'll just be to spectate. Just be Saturday. Yeah, and it'll just be to spectate because I don't have a warbird.

[00:15:35] Ron: Yeah. Same. More classic.

[unknown speaker 00:15:39] Yeah.

[00:15:39] Ron: You should get one.

[unknown speaker 00:15:41] And I have a garage full, but you do. Anyway.

[unknown speaker 00:15:46] Anyway. That's always a good event, though. It is. It's very well attended and very nice people. And it's a nice, like, for being in a grass runway, it's, like, probably one of the smoothest grass runways in Illinois. Yeah. They take care of it. It's very well taken care of it.

[unknown speaker 00:16:00] My F-15 takes off on that, just like pavement.

[unknown speaker 00:16:02] Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, it's very nice. Hopefully, I'll get to go and at least spectate.

[unknown speaker 00:16:08] And their raffle prizes look to be spectacular this year.

[unknown speaker 00:16:10] Oh, really? I didn't even look at that. Yeah, neither. Cool.

[00:16:13] Ron: So, the next one that I'm pretty sure Tommy and I are going to, I don't know about Dave, as he rolls his eyes. This one I saw listed online, and I thought this is going to be cool because it's different. So, I've never been to the, is it SIRS field? SIRS field? SIRS. S-I-R-S field in Funks Grove, Illinois. Central Illinois, I didn't write it down.

[unknown speaker 00:16:41] Radio Society, I think.

[00:16:42] Ron: Okay. Central spelled wrong. So, it's a vintage model aviation gathering. This is right up your aisle, Tommy. Is that vintage? You're vintage. Yeah, you fight changes. But the actual, the flyer for it says, bring your favorite old gas or glow airplane and tell its story.

[unknown speaker 00:17:07] I mean, yes. I have several airplanes that are old, nitro or gas, with stories.

[00:17:16] Ron: And that is Sunday.

[unknown speaker 00:17:18] Yeah.

[00:17:19] Ron: The 14th.

[unknown speaker 00:17:19] Yeah, right after Streeter.

[00:17:20] Ron: Yep.

[unknown speaker 00:17:21] I have my Goldberg Electro I built in 87. See? I think we need to go. I'm scared to fly it. It creaks and pops so much.

[unknown speaker 00:17:28] Well, this is a perfect place to do it. Yeah. That would actually be, might be kind of fun to resurrect something like that and take it up there.

[00:17:36] Ron: Maybe. I've not seen, unless they've done this before and I've missed it, which is quite possible.

[unknown speaker 00:17:41] Oh, yeah.

[00:17:42] Ron: It all depends on what Facebook group you're in and where they post stuff. Yeah. That's the problem.

[unknown speaker 00:17:46] Algorithm and stuff.

[00:17:47] Ron: True. That's the problem with not really going out and searching what's going on around us, which we should. but it's only about an hour north of us. So I think it's a very easy drive that we should make.

[unknown speaker 00:18:00] Let's see. I could take, I could take the telemaster, the trash can telemaster. That is both. Well, it fits all three. It's vintage. It's gas. And it has a story.

[00:18:10] Ron: It was nitro.

[unknown speaker 00:18:11] It was. Yeah. I mean, it's been nitro and gas several times each.

[00:18:15] Ron: Nitro, nitro, nitro gas.

[unknown speaker 00:18:18] so yeah, I could take that. I could take the dualist, which is nitro with a story. I mean, yeah.

[00:18:26] Ron: If they're looking for stories, you got a couple of planes that fit the bill.

[unknown speaker 00:18:29] Yep.

[00:18:30] Ron: So yeah, that's what's coming up. I'm, I'm looking forward to that one. I think that'll be fun.

[unknown speaker 00:18:34] Yeah. Like you said, it'll be something different. Maybe we'll see some, cause I think the flyer said control line is even, is even a thing. So it wouldn't be kind of cool to watch some old control lines, you know, make people dizzy. That'd be kind of fun to watch.

[00:18:48] Ron: I don't think I could ever do that, but yeah. yeah, actually we'll have another episode before that one comes out. Just looking at the dates on it. So barely, I think.

[unknown speaker 00:18:58] Okay. I don't know. Doesn't matter. So cool. What about that one, Dave?

[00:19:04] Ron: Possibility.

[unknown speaker 00:19:05] Okay.

[00:19:05] Ron: I think that'd be fun. Yeah. I'd get Daniel to come up with this and all his sticks and stuff are big and old. The only thing now I did look this place up though, having not been there, it's not a huge runway. I think it's 250 feet paved. And then the grass strip they said is like 400 feet. And I think that's the full width of the entire field. Yeah. So, I mean, it's definitely doable.

[unknown speaker 00:19:29] Oh yeah. If it's the place I think it is, it's, it's definitely doable. It's a little snub, but it's fine.

[00:19:33] Ron: Yeah.

[unknown speaker 00:19:35] No hill for a climber. I don't know if that applies or not, but.

[00:19:39] Ron: I mean, that sounds like something a 70 year old would say. So there you go. Back in my day.

[unknown speaker 00:19:44] Well, I'm not 70 yet, but. No.

[00:19:47] Ron: You're fun.

[unknown speaker 00:19:48] Getting closer every year. Aren't we all?

[00:19:50] Ron: So that's coming up.

[unknown speaker 00:19:52] Cool. Yeah. Lots of stuff coming up.

[00:19:54] Ron: Yeah.

[unknown speaker 00:19:55] We're going to be busy.

[00:19:55] Ron: We're going to hit at least 50% of those. Hopefully more.

[unknown speaker 00:19:59] Yeah. Hopefully you can make it to Route 66 jets.

[00:20:05] Ron: And you can give us a report on that, hopefully. We'll see.

[unknown speaker 00:20:08] Because my understanding is that used to be like a really big jet event here in Illinois and the region, really. And then I guess it went away for a while and now they're bringing it back.

[00:20:18] Ron: So that's what I heard.

[unknown speaker 00:20:20] Yeah. Hopefully, hopefully it takes it off. Oh, gosh. But I won't.

[00:20:26] Ron: Anyway. Okay. So that was fun to talk about what we're going to do. Yeah. Shall we talk about what we did do? Yes. What we done did.

[unknown speaker 00:20:35] Yeah. Let's talk about that.

[00:20:38] Ron: So we went to a couple different events.

[unknown speaker 00:20:39] We have.

[00:20:41] Ron: Somebody else can talk, though.

[unknown speaker 00:20:42] Oh, I'll start. Unless Dave wants to start.

[00:20:45] Ron: No, go right ahead.

[unknown speaker 00:20:46] Well, we all went down to Booter Park, which we talked about on the last episode, I think. I was really excited and I had a blast. But for National Model Aviation Day, pretty good turnout, I would say. I mean.

[unknown speaker 00:20:59] Fairly busy. Yeah.

[unknown speaker 00:21:01] For considering how hot and humid it was. Right.

[unknown speaker 00:21:04] Hot. It was hot.

[unknown speaker 00:21:05] So. It was. It was hot and humid.

[unknown speaker 00:21:09] The truck said 104. Oh, my gosh. Yeah.

[00:21:11] Ron: That's. I saw that.

[unknown speaker 00:21:13] Hotter than I am.

[00:21:14] Ron: So the Greater St. Louis Model Association, G-S-L-M-A, to be exact. QSMA. Is that what they actually call it? I don't know. Okay. Well, because you were down there before. So I didn't know if that was the.

[unknown speaker 00:21:25] To be honest, it was such a long time ago, I don't remember even there being a club associated with that field. It was just.

[00:21:32] Ron: Oh, okay.

[unknown speaker 00:21:33] If you had an AMA, you flew.

[00:21:35] Ron: Okay. So Valley Park, Missouri, just northeastern, west of St. Louis.

[unknown speaker 00:21:41] I like how you had to run down that in your head. Well, I, yeah, I did.

[00:21:44] Ron: Yeah, west. Never eat soggy west. Waffles. So, yeah, just west of St. Louis. Very close to Six Flags. Yeah. Yeah. I mean.

[unknown speaker 00:21:53] Pretty close to Eureka.

[00:21:54] Ron: Kind of made me want to go to Six Flags. You should have. Because it's like 10 miles away.

[unknown speaker 00:21:58] You should have went because you didn't fly.

[00:22:00] Ron: What a jerk. Because it was 104 degrees.

[unknown speaker 00:22:03] Yeah.

[00:22:04] Ron: Actually, I was happy not doing that.

[unknown speaker 00:22:06] Well, you did technically fly. You flew of the stick, I think, wasn't it?

[00:22:09] Ron: No, it was the Electro Street. Oh, the Electro Street. Yeah, I got a couple laps in it. That way I can at least say that I flew on Model Aviation Day and down there. So, no, it was nice. Daniel brought his trailer. He brought a generator. Which, by the way, that's the first time I've heard that generator run. It's quiet. That is nice. It was weird because I was talking to my wife and I was talking to her. It's a Generac something or another.

[unknown speaker 00:22:36] Yeah. Quiet runner or something. I remember a model number, but it's a Generac.

[00:22:39] Ron: And so I was talking to her, telling her, I want a generator now that I've seen this generator. And she's like, why? You know, what's so special about it? And I literally stood over it. One leg on the one side, the other leg. It straddled it. And I talked to her. I said, can you hear the thing running? She's like, first off, I think she called me an idiot maybe for being dumb. She probably did. But she was not nearly as excited as I was about it.

[00:23:03] Ron: But I was very impressed with the quietness of it. Yeah, it's pretty quiet. There was another generator running probably 40 feet away. And it overpowered. And it was loud, even at that distance, compared to his that I was straddling like a racehorse. Picture this. Sicily.

[unknown speaker 00:23:21] You're an idiot.

[unknown speaker 00:23:23] God, nice. I think my wife tore down in the rain at Joe Knoll because it quit running. I guess I didn't realize that was the same one. Yeah, it's the same one. We didn't have the right tools, so I used a prop wrench. See, I never heard it running. Yeah, because it was broken.

[00:23:37] Ron: Oh, and quiet when it did run. Well, at least it's fixed now. It seemed to have run really well for him.

[unknown speaker 00:23:43] Yeah, it ran the fan nicely.

[00:23:45] Ron: So the fan made all the difference in the world, to be honest. The night before, two days before, whatever it was, he decided to go to Menards and buy a fan. I had never thought of that for some reason. So you know what I did the day after? I went to Menards and I bought a fan.

[unknown speaker 00:23:59] It makes a huge difference. It's not like a standard house fan. It's like a big… Yeah, one of the high-velocity… High-velocity…

[unknown speaker 00:24:05] Like a contractor fan. Right. Yeah, yeah.

[00:24:08] Ron: It was like 50 bucks. Very much worth it. Ooh, it's…

[unknown speaker 00:24:12] It's time for RC Plane Labs Tool of the Week.

[00:24:18] Ron: And push that button for ages. I'm just surprised you remember which button it was. Well, I know the top three are the only ones I can touch and not mess up. Beginning of the show is on the left, middle for that, and then right is the end. So anyway, a fan. Tool of the Week. Take a fan with you when it's hot.

[unknown speaker 00:24:34] It made it from, we can't be here, to, okay, we can stick this out.

[00:24:38] Ron: Yeah, it really did. That and with the canopy that blocked a lot of the sun. Yeah. It helped a ton.

[unknown speaker 00:24:46] 104. That's what your truck said?

[00:24:48] Ron: That's what the truck said, yeah. I think mine said like 102.

[unknown speaker 00:24:50] Man. I wasn't even paying attention. I'm sure my car… Probably better then. Yeah, probably. Pretty sure by the time I left, I had heat exhaustion.

[00:24:58] Ron: Well, you did keep going up and you were working to try and get your stuff started, so…

[unknown speaker 00:25:03] Which I did. Yeah.

[00:25:04] Ron: Yeah, that just was a reminder of, I don't want glow airplanes.

[unknown speaker 00:25:09] Yeah.

[unknown speaker 00:25:10] But let's talk about it. But it was, yeah, it was really nice to return to the spot and sort of have redemption. I flew the Duelist, which if you've listened to episodes prior about the Duelist story, that is where the original Duelist met its demise, right there in Budapark. So, what prompted us to build the new Duelists and then returning to the spot and flying successfully, the Duelist 2 Mark… No, it's not a Mark 2. I guess it is a Mark 2. A Mark 2. I'm good with that.

[00:25:43] Ron: So, that was nice. The D2M2?

[unknown speaker 00:25:46] Yeah, it felt like crossing off a bucket list item, kind of.

[00:25:50] Ron: Without the bucket of parts.

[unknown speaker 00:25:52] Exactly. Which, funny, you should say bucket of parts, because there are some original parts from the Duelist that crashed there on the current Duelist, which that was kind of a neat tie-in for me as well.

[00:26:03] Ron: We hoped it wasn't like a, you know, the horror stories or whatever, where you hear, oh, they used the same door in this house, and now this house is haunted.

[unknown speaker 00:26:10] Oh, no, I've had pretty good luck with the Duelist so far. Yeah. Yeah. It's such a good flying airplane, though, really. Yeah. It flies like a pattern plane. So, what else did you take? Well, let's see. I took the Electrostreak, which, you know, I took all the, basically, I took all the RC Plane Lab planes, right? So, I took the Electrostreak, I took the Trashcan Telemaster. Forgot about that. Yep.

[unknown speaker 00:26:31] And then I took the, yeah, the Duelist, and then the Viper 70, which is, I guess, not an RC Plane Lab plane, but it's a fun plane to fly. It's a good plane to fly. And then I took five. What was the fifth one?

[unknown speaker 00:26:45] All in your tiny little car.

[unknown speaker 00:26:47] Yeah. Yeah. It's packed very nicely in my little car. I'm going to look at the pictures.

[00:26:51] Ron: I was going to say, I don't remember.

[unknown speaker 00:26:52] Walk amongst yourselves.

[00:26:54] Ron: Do, do, do, do, do, do, do. I should.

[unknown speaker 00:26:57] I don't know. So, you took the East Drake. Did you have anything? Oh, the Big Stick.

[unknown speaker 00:27:03] Took the Big Stick 60.

[unknown speaker 00:27:04] Wow. Poor Dave. You just popped right over him. I'm good.

[00:27:08] Ron: I was just wasting time. We're good. Wow.

[unknown speaker 00:27:09] Oh, yeah. So, that's what I took.

[00:27:13] Ron: I forgot about that, because that was one you had problems with.

[unknown speaker 00:27:15] Yeah. Yeah, I've never had problems with that airplane, and it did not.

[00:27:19] Ron: Well, it was 194 degrees.

[unknown speaker 00:27:21] Cooperate. Yeah, but.

[00:27:23] Ron: Okay, so tell the story. What, what happened with that?

[unknown speaker 00:27:28] The stick?

[00:27:29] Ron: Yeah.

[unknown speaker 00:27:29] I don't know.

[00:27:30] Ron: Oh.

[unknown speaker 00:27:30] It just wouldn't run. Like, you know, a dead stick, what, three times, I think it was? Yeah. Nitro problems. That airplane has never done that. Well, with that engine combination, it's never done that to me.

[unknown speaker 00:27:42] So, the Duelist ran fine, so it wasn't the fuel. That was my first indication. Yeah, no, it wasn't the fuel.

[00:27:46] Ron: I thought you had problems with the Duelist, no? Didn't you have it, you had it die at least once, if not twice, both of them on the, on the runway?

[unknown speaker 00:27:55] Well, it was always the right engine. The right engine is a little finicky on the low end, a needle setting. I need to either swap out that carb or swap that engine out for another one, which I have several of. Of course you do.

[unknown speaker 00:28:09] Of course, the heat, you made it, you couldn't hit.

[unknown speaker 00:28:10] That didn't help. Yeah. But like that, that OS engine that's on the stick, it's an LA 65, so it's a plane bearing.

[unknown speaker 00:28:18] Nothing special. Yeah, super simple carburetor.

[unknown speaker 00:28:21] And, you know, it's an air bleed carburetor, which means the low speed needle is controlled by an air bleed rather than a needle and seat kind of a thing. But yeah, it's, it's always been rock solid, reliable, but for whatever reason, just did not want to cooperate with me.

[00:28:36] Ron: And then to sound smart, I said, I think maybe you're having a problem with your glow plug. You did say that.

[unknown speaker 00:28:43] And that did.

[00:28:45] Ron: I'm just saying.

[unknown speaker 00:28:46] It did run better after that, but it wasn't ever perfect.

[00:28:49] Ron: When in doubt, change it out.

[unknown speaker 00:28:50] Yeah. Yeah. And the old one did, like when I hooked it onto the glow igniter, the last couple of coils didn't light. So it was time. But still, I need to, I'll get it out, you know, this fall sometime and tinker with it.

[00:29:04] Ron: Well, yeah.

[unknown speaker 00:29:05] Yes. Okay. I like flying that plane. It flies good. I know you fly it a lot.

[00:29:08] Ron: Yeah. You used to fly it a lot.

[unknown speaker 00:29:11] Yeah.

[00:29:12] Ron: Other things have taken its place now.

[unknown speaker 00:29:13] Yeah. We've been busy with other items, planes. Anyway.

[00:29:19] Ron: So anything else you want to say about that before we go to Dave?

[unknown speaker 00:29:22] No. I just appreciate them inviting us down there. I had a great time. Sorry it was so dang hot, but if they do it again next year, I'm all in.

[unknown speaker 00:29:32] Good deal. The turnout was fabulous for the.

[unknown speaker 00:29:36] Yeah. A lot of Warbirds.

[unknown speaker 00:29:37] Yeah.

[unknown speaker 00:29:37] A lot of multi-engine nitro planes.

[unknown speaker 00:29:39] Those were cool.

[unknown speaker 00:29:40] Yeah. I forgot about those. A couple of guys had some four engine.

[00:29:44] Ron: Two quads up there.

[unknown speaker 00:29:45] Yeah. Four engine nitro planes. And they all ran better than my stick.

[unknown speaker 00:29:49] They fought too. Well, they did.

[unknown speaker 00:29:51] But. They sounded pretty cool. They did sound, they did sound really neat.

[unknown speaker 00:29:55] Yeah. Neat stuff. About you, Dave. So I was traveling light just because I knew the heat. I ended up taking my NE1, which I didn't even use. I just didn't feel like fighting with a glow engine in the heat.

[unknown speaker 00:30:10] Understandable. Especially considering the issues I had.

[unknown speaker 00:30:13] Yeah. Yeah. I was like, eh, never mind. I was having that kind of a day anyway. No. Well, I didn't want to give it away. I had an XB70. Had the McTwist. Had the little refurbished Stenson. And E-streak. Did I say E-streak?

[unknown speaker 00:30:34] Mm-hmm. Okay. No, you did just now.

[unknown speaker 00:30:36] So, yeah. E-streak. So that's what I took with me. Little Stenson had a takeoff issue. Ended up flipping it upside down and skidding it across their asphalt runway, which did a number on the cowl, by the way. Yeah. Which I've repainted four times already. So now that I'm ready to do it the fifth time. Nice. I'm getting really good at painting.

[unknown speaker 00:30:55] This is the one you refurbed. Yes.

[unknown speaker 00:30:56] Right? Yeah. I think it stalled.

[unknown speaker 00:31:00] That's kind of what it looked like, but I still, I don't know.

[unknown speaker 00:31:02] No, the wing was warped. Oh.

[00:31:06] Ron: But it still had a bit of a look of a stall to it. Is that just because of the warped wing? The warped wing. It rolled really hard to the right. Right.

[unknown speaker 00:31:17] Yeah. And so I jammed a bunch of left into it, which flipped it. And yeah, it landed upside down and slid down the asphalt runway.

[unknown speaker 00:31:27] That's probably actually a blessing because if it had caught the grass, probably would have cartwheeled. Yeah. Because it didn't, it didn't roll over and hit exactly flat. It did hit a wing tip first. Right. So probably a blessing that you were still over the asphalt so that it just skidded instead of catching a tip.

[unknown speaker 00:31:46] Yeah. It just ground up flat in the cowl. Yeah. That's the only problem. So a little Bondo, it'll be all right. Just went in, stripped the wing down. It is completely back to bare foam. So what, what caused the warp?

[00:32:00] Ron: Because this is a plane that you had, or Daniel had fallen quite a bit before, right?

[unknown speaker 00:32:04] It looked like it had been stored up against a wall standing on a wing tip and being foam. Yeah. And it warped the tip up, which during the original refurb, I didn't catch it.

[unknown speaker 00:32:18] Well, you would, I mean, why would you have been looking for it? Why would you have been looking for it?

[unknown speaker 00:32:22] So I think that's how it twisted it.

[unknown speaker 00:32:24] Okay. Yeah, that makes sense.

[unknown speaker 00:32:25] But I broke the wing and straightened it back.

[unknown speaker 00:32:30] Fix it.

[unknown speaker 00:32:30] Yeah. And I'm going to go ahead and glass it to keep it straight now. Nice. Good.

[00:32:39] Ron: I mean, that should be back in the air before too long then. Yep.

[unknown speaker 00:32:42] Yeah. The goal is to have it back up and then go in the air in a week or so.

[00:32:46] Ron: Sweet.

[unknown speaker 00:32:46] Nice. Try to get it glassed this weekend if everything works out. It's a good looking airplane.

[unknown speaker 00:32:51] It is. I really like the paint. Turned out nice. Looks nice. Yep.

[unknown speaker 00:32:55] And then I had the XB-70, which has flown previously and it flew great before. Yeah. It did what it did. This is from Terry Dunn.

[00:33:05] Ron: A little profile for me. A little profile. A little pusher.

[unknown speaker 00:33:07] Yeah. And it just kind of wasn't flying right. It acted like it had no power. Yeah. It was flying around very nose high. It had a lot of up elevator in it. And it was just mushing through the sky and just really wasn't getting it. I had thought possibly I'd put the, propeller on backwards because the, it's one of those prop savers with the O-ring and that dry rotted between the last time I flew it and this time.

[unknown speaker 00:33:34] so I thought, okay, may I put the prop on backwards because it's one of those little GWS propellers and they look the same either side. There's no real camber to them. but that wasn't it. But I tried a different battery thinking, okay, you know, these small batteries, they just go bad. Eh, whatever.

[unknown speaker 00:33:52] yeah, but you check the voltage on. The voltage looked good. It was fine. Yeah.

[unknown speaker 00:33:55] Yeah. the prop was fine. We flipped it around and it definitely made that noise they make when they're on backwards. So yeah, that wasn't it.

[unknown speaker 00:34:02] Nope.

[unknown speaker 00:34:03] battery was fine. Swap batteries. It was good. In fact, the second battery was worse because I couldn't even get it back to me. It just kind of mushed around in the sky. kind of gave up on that. I thought possibly due to the heat, the prop is extremely flexible to start with. I thought maybe the heat, it was softened it up so much and it was black. So I thought maybe the prop had softened up. But now that I've thought about it for a week, it was flying around nose up.

[unknown speaker 00:34:32] I had to have a lot of up elevator in it. And I remember Terry telling me, put a 250 milliamp battery in it. I forgot and grabbed the 300s. Oh. You wouldn't think it was 50 milliamp. It was nose heavy.

[00:34:47] Ron: Mm-hmm. Because the battery mounts in the back.

[unknown speaker 00:34:50] Oh, the battery's in the front. Okay, yeah. So I was having to pull the nose up. Mm-hmm. A lot of elevator to keep the nose up. So I'm thinking, you know, it's only 50 milliamp, but it's something that size.

[unknown speaker 00:34:59] Yeah, the airplane weighs nothing.

[unknown speaker 00:35:00] Yeah, every couple grams makes a difference. Yeah. So I'm kind of thinking it was excessively nose heavy. Mm-hmm. so next time we get some calm weather, I'll throw the 250 in it that's supposed to be in it.

[unknown speaker 00:35:12] See what that does.

[unknown speaker 00:35:13] And see what it does, yeah.

[unknown speaker 00:35:15] Mm-hmm. Well, and 104 or 102, whatever, degrees.

[unknown speaker 00:35:20] Yeah, the density altitude is pretty thin as well.

[unknown speaker 00:35:22] Yeah, so, I mean, that could have been part of it also.

[unknown speaker 00:35:25] Tail heavy, nose high, thin air.

[unknown speaker 00:35:28] Absolute worst possible condition. Flexi propeller. Yeah. But it's still in one piece.

[unknown speaker 00:35:33] Oh, yeah. It flew fine. It was no danger of crashing. I just couldn't keep it airborne.

[unknown speaker 00:35:39] Yep.

[unknown speaker 00:35:39] Nice lead-in, Tommy.

[00:35:40] Ron: So what else did you fly, Dave?

[unknown speaker 00:35:42] Had the Electrostreak. Nice. Yeah.

[unknown speaker 00:35:45] Always a good flying airplane. I love the way those things fly.

[unknown speaker 00:35:48] Yeah, I did. Sorry. So mine is fast, but not excessively fast.

[unknown speaker 00:35:57] Yours is torquey.

[unknown speaker 00:35:58] Yours is, yeah. Mine climbs like a rocket.

[unknown speaker 00:36:00] Yes, torquey. That's what I would use to describe it as well.

[unknown speaker 00:36:04] So all three of us had a, actually all four of us had an East streak of some form. Right. Somebody cheats and buys foam, but.

[unknown speaker 00:36:13] Yeah. He brought it. He just didn't fly it.

[unknown speaker 00:36:16] And I heard somebody say, you know, let's get together, you know, like PhotoPass and pass together. I was behind a pack, so I popped the throttle to catch up, and that lasted for about 10 seconds, and whack.

[unknown speaker 00:36:30] Yeah. I thought there had been a midair. That was the sound. Like, you know, if you've been around and you've heard a midair, they have a sound. And that's what it sounded like to me.

[unknown speaker 00:36:41] Daniel thought my prop folded. Yeah, like it hit the. A violent prop fold. Okay.

[00:36:47] Ron: Yeah. That kind of was the sound. Yeah.

[unknown speaker 00:36:49] So it was a good smart crack. Yeah. And the next thing I know, I'm in charge of a lawn dart. Oh, no. The wing sheared the mounting peg at the front of the wing.

[00:37:00] Ron: Which means not much in control.

[unknown speaker 00:37:04] Sure. I was able to. I thought enough to keep the throttle on slightly to keep the prop out to add more drag. Just to slow it down. Just spin it enough to keep the prop open for drag.

[unknown speaker 00:37:19] Maybe to slow it down.

[unknown speaker 00:37:19] Yeah. So it didn't hit the ground at it.

[unknown speaker 00:37:21] But you've flown that wide open before.

[unknown speaker 00:37:23] Yeah. Actually, I've snap rolled it really hard second flight just to make sure things weren't going to come apart. And it didn't come apart. So I was very comfortable with it.

[unknown speaker 00:37:30] That's really bizarre.

[unknown speaker 00:37:31] And it sheared it off flush. I mean, it looked like it had been cut with a razor blade. So just that front pin gave out. The front pin pulled, and then it pulled the blocks out of the back of the wing, or back of the fuselage. Yeah. The wing landed about a minute later. Yeah. So. 15, 20 foot from the fuselage.

[unknown speaker 00:37:51] Yeah.

[00:37:52] Ron: Let's put it this way. I had enough time. I had my phone with me. I took a couple pictures, saw you lawn dart, and I, my phone, I think by the time that happened, I had put my phone in my pocket. And I had enough time to think, oh, I should get a picture of that. And so I got my phone out of my pocket, unlocked it, got to my camera app, got it all lined up, and ended up taking a video, short video, of your wing coming down.

[00:38:21] Ron: So for everybody that gets to see our podcast art this week, this, Dave, is what it shall be.

[unknown speaker 00:38:26] There we go. That looks great.

[00:38:28] Ron: I just love their tummy, just so you can giggle at it a little bit.

[unknown speaker 00:38:32] And I will have to say, other than the dowel pin, there is zero damage to that wing. Yeah. Well, I mean.

[unknown speaker 00:38:38] That's good. It fluttered down like a fall leaf. Yes.

[00:38:43] Ron: It went very slow.

[unknown speaker 00:38:44] Like even the three or four laps I made while we waited for it to come down, I saw it every lap I made when I went by.

[00:38:51] Ron: Yeah.

[unknown speaker 00:38:52] And I couldn't believe it landed that close to the rest of the fuselage. Yeah.

[00:38:55] Ron: Yeah.

[unknown speaker 00:38:56] Well, it went down at an angle. So, yeah, the lawn dart was pretty, it tracks really straight without a wing, by the way. Okay.

[00:39:03] Ron: Yeah.

[unknown speaker 00:39:03] There's not a lot to control. So.

[unknown speaker 00:39:05] So how much was left of the fuselage?

[unknown speaker 00:39:08] From the front of the wing saddle, Ford is gone.

[unknown speaker 00:39:13] So will you try to rebuild an entirely new fuselage or will you just fix the front?

[unknown speaker 00:39:18] I'm just going to slice what's left off the front and just graft a new nose onto it. It's going to be a couple of evenings work. Yeah. One to frame and one to recover. Yeah.

[unknown speaker 00:39:27] They're pretty simple airplanes. So construction wise, yeah.

[unknown speaker 00:39:30] Cost me a battery. One of my best batteries.

[unknown speaker 00:39:32] Yeah. That's the part that hurts.

[unknown speaker 00:39:35] And ironically, that battery is still sitting on my counter. I keep meaning to get rid of it.

[unknown speaker 00:39:38] Get that thing out of your house.

[unknown speaker 00:39:41] I've cut all the wires off of it. Oh, that's even better.

[00:39:45] Ron: This is the guy that, by the way, said, oh, I don't want to take this home with me. I don't want it riding in the trailer because it could go off.

[unknown speaker 00:39:53] And somebody must have put it in my flight box because it ended up at home with me. I started putting stuff away. I was like, oh, where did this come from?

[00:40:01] Ron: Wow.

[unknown speaker 00:40:02] So, yeah. Dave. It hasn't gone anywhere for two weeks now, so it's good.

[00:40:05] Ron: Dave's getting a new house? Yeah. Anyway.

[unknown speaker 00:40:11] So, that was the McTwist. And, of course, it's always a blast to fly. Yeah. That one's always fine. I was kind of worried about it being so hot and being foam like that. I thought it might get a little flexy, but it seemed to be fine. Yeah.

[unknown speaker 00:40:23] It seemed like it was fine. How about you, Ron? What'd you fly? Oh.

[00:40:29] Ron: I flew your Electrostreak.

[unknown speaker 00:40:31] That's true. You did.

[00:40:32] Ron: Like, you guys had fun flying and all that stuff, but I think probably out of the group, I was the smartest one because it was hot and I got nothing out, so I had to put nothing away, so I wasn't cussing stuff not working. I wasn't sweating my buns off.

[unknown speaker 00:40:46] I don't remember doing any cussing.

[00:40:48] Ron: There was a couple times you were getting kind of cranks. Cranks McGee.

[unknown speaker 00:40:52] A little crankiness. I never heard anything, but you could tell. It's just like, I'm staying away from Tom.

[00:40:55] Ron: Yeah. We gave you your space. My apologies.

[unknown speaker 00:40:58] I ran out of juice when it came time to put away the canopy. It's like, I can't move anymore.

[unknown speaker 00:41:03] Oh, man. As soon as you guys took the canopy down and I was putting all my stuff away in the sun, yeah, that was rough.

[00:41:10] Ron: Yeah.

[unknown speaker 00:41:11] But I also didn't want you guys waiting either because it did take me a little bit to get all my stuff put away, but I'm still glad I went. I'm still glad that I took the planes I took and I had a blast and I'm already looking forward to next year or any time I can fly down there again. Yeah. It's such a nice facility.

[unknown speaker 00:41:29] Yeah.

[00:41:29] Ron: I think. I still, I know we said at the beginning part of the year and we haven't done a very good job of it, but going to new fields was one of the things I think we wanted to do. Yeah.

[unknown speaker 00:41:38] And we are. We're going to SIRS and we went to Booter Park.

[00:41:42] Ron: So there's that.

[unknown speaker 00:41:44] And we might go to Streeter.

[00:41:46] Ron: So, well, that's not new. We've been there. Well, that's true.

[unknown speaker 00:41:49] That's true. Anyway. You're going to go maybe to, you know. We'll see. 66 Jets. Maybe. We'll see. Maybe. So anyway.

[00:41:56] Ron: Yeah.

[unknown speaker 00:41:57] But that was fun. I had a, I had a really good time. And once again, thank you guys for the invite. we'll, I'll definitely, for sure. I'll definitely be back. Hopefully these guys will come with me.

[unknown speaker 00:42:06] Yeah. We'll get there at some point.

[unknown speaker 00:42:08] Yeah.

[unknown speaker 00:42:09] Okay. So last. 104 degrees.

[00:42:11] Ron: Yeah. Well, you never know. So last event, shall we talk about the creme de la creme, the event to end all events?

[unknown speaker 00:42:19] I mean, it's a good event.

[00:42:21] Ron: So Illini Jets was last weekend.

[unknown speaker 00:42:24] This was beautiful weather. Oh, it was such a change from the weekend before.

[unknown speaker 00:42:29] So, I mean, you could not have asked for anything better.

[00:42:31] Ron: No, it was nice. Literally, there was a, at least a 10 degree difference between Tuesday and Wednesday. And I think we didn't even hit 80 the whole time that was going on.

[unknown speaker 00:42:41] It was so nice.

[00:42:42] Ron: like I said, it was a bunch of fun. I only flew once, but I did fly. Did a lot of, not behind the scenes work, but a lot of work at the field. Yeah, you did CD type work. Right. Cooking, cleaning, just general fun stuff, behind the scenes stuff that I enjoy.

[unknown speaker 00:43:00] Yep.

[00:43:00] Ron: we had a lot of cool airplanes. We had a lot of people with some different airplanes that you don't see every day. I kind of enjoyed that.

[unknown speaker 00:43:13] Yeah. It's the first time I've seen a nitro ducted fan in a long time, let alone a twin.

[00:43:22] Ron: Twin 91s.

[unknown speaker 00:43:23] Two OS 91s on an F-15. Yeah. It was very, very cool. And I, that was my, that was my pilot's choice, vote just because it was so different.

[00:43:32] Ron: And that was the one that won.

[unknown speaker 00:43:35] Oh, was it? I missed that because I was talking to some folks out there that were just visiting and I was trying to get them into airplanes. Nice.

[00:43:43] Ron: No, that won pilot's choice.

[unknown speaker 00:43:45] So did, oh, that's awesome. Good deal.

[00:43:47] Ron: By a landslide, apparently.

[unknown speaker 00:43:48] Really? Yeah. Okay. Dave, David did a great job flying that thing. I mean.

[00:43:54] Ron: Even with one motor, pretty much. Yeah. Yeah. Like when you heard, so you could hear, you could hear when it got out of sync and then one just almost completely dropped off and then, and then it would pick back up.

[unknown speaker 00:44:06] Well, but when he landed, it was not coming back. Oh yeah, it was completely done.

[00:44:09] Ron: I was expecting, not to end as well as it did. Oh, it ended beautifully. But I could not, like, I kept thinking this, it's going to stall, it's going to stall. It keeps getting slower and slower and it just, it flew wonderfully.

[unknown speaker 00:44:23] Like I could not believe it. I, I got actual video of it. I'll have to show it. Of the landing? Yeah.

[00:44:27] Ron: Nice.

[unknown speaker 00:44:28] and it's, yeah, it's, it's impressive how high alpha it was. Right. And did not stall.

[00:44:35] Ron: I know.

[unknown speaker 00:44:35] I, and he just set it down on the runway, just, just as pretty as you please.

[00:44:39] Ron: Makes me sick. Yeah. I mean, he's got skills. Watching some of these guys fly, it's just like, man, quit showing off. Yeah.

[unknown speaker 00:44:46] But there were some, there were some other really nice airplanes too. They're also the same guy that owned that F-15. He had quite a collection of.

[00:44:53] Ron: Did he have the ME262?

[unknown speaker 00:44:54] That. He had, he had the A-10. I didn't realize that was that A-10. Yeah, that was his too. The 262 was his. He had that, not a vampire, but it's a, it's a British single engine vampire-ish looking. you got a hunter and. Might have been a hunter.

[unknown speaker 00:45:12] Hunter is basically, yeah, roughly a vampire without the twin booms.

[unknown speaker 00:45:17] Okay. That might have been with it. But anyway, something like that. He had quite, like I said, quite the collection. really nice flying stuff too.

[00:45:25] Ron: Yeah. So. Yeah, there were a lot of cool airplanes. We ate well.

[unknown speaker 00:45:29] Yeah. There was. Steve did a wonderful job on the, on the meats.

[00:45:33] Ron: Yeah. So he has a big smoker. Um. Huge. I don't even know where to describe it. Just say it's a big smoker that you have to babysit a lot, which part kind of sucks, but man, the food tasted good and came off of it. It's really good. We were fed very well. Yep. all in all, like I said, I think it was a very successful event and I'm, I'm happy with how things turned out on it.

[unknown speaker 00:45:53] Yep.

[00:45:54] Ron: And the whole time, the whole four, was it four days? Mm-hmm. Yeah. The whole four days that it ran. There was only two times that we had crashes. Yep. and that we, you know, had to go pick them up with the, the trailer and stuff.

[unknown speaker 00:46:09] Mm-hmm.

[00:46:09] Ron: one of which was you.

[unknown speaker 00:46:12] Yes. So the Ranger went down. I don't know if you knew that, Dave.

[unknown speaker 00:46:17] No, I don't know anything.

[unknown speaker 00:46:19] so it was on the sixth or fifth flight. I think fifth. Fifth flight. and I was getting really, really comfortable. Like I was really, really enjoying flying it. Like more so than I ever really thought I would. I mean, it's just, it's a good flying airplane, but not so, not so much of a glider. It, with no power, it, it loses altitude pretty quickly.

[unknown speaker 00:46:49] so on this fifth flight, as, you know, a couple minutes, three minutes or so into the flight, I did have just done a gear pass, which is, if you don't know, it's you drop the gear and run by at least close enough to where you can observe the gear and make sure they're down and locked.

[unknown speaker 00:47:06] and I was getting ready to do either another lap or maybe I was going to turn that lap into the final for a landing because there was a couple of other airplanes that were wanting to, to, to fly and I didn't want to hold anybody up and there was already two in the pattern.

[00:47:20] Ron: So this is a clockwise pattern.

[unknown speaker 00:47:22] Right.

[00:47:22] Ron: Okay.

[unknown speaker 00:47:23] so I had made, you know, the gear pass made the right turn, which would be, not the base leg, but it would be a base leg if you were landing. Does that make sense? So you were going to turning the way. Yeah. And then, was getting ready to make the next right turn to go downwind, to do the downwind leg. And just before I made the turn, I think I was actually still banked a little bit from the right hand base turn, whatever you want to call it.

[unknown speaker 00:47:49] And, the engine flamed out just, just without any warning, it just quit. at about the worst possible moment, cause I'm heading away from the airfield. I'm low, a lot of drag cause the gear's down. I got one notch of flaps in, and just not enough altitude. So hindsight being 2020, I've made a lot of mistakes. And this, yeah.

[00:48:13] Ron: So it's a learning experience. Yes. And I have not been through this yet, but I'm hoping this will also be enough to stick with me.

[unknown speaker 00:48:19] Yeah. Yeah. so what I did, I'll talk about what I should have done after I talk about what I did. I immediately, I didn't do anything. With the gear or the flaps, left them right where they were because the hope was to make it back to the runway. And in my head, one notch of flaps is yes, it's a little extra drag, but it's also a lot more lift, especially at low airspeed. So I wanted to protect against the stall. So I left the flaps out and that was one mistake.

[unknown speaker 00:48:51] probably should have just continued the right hand turn and put it in the beans, but I didn't. I tried to make a left hand turn to get back to the airfield, which would have been a down wind situation on landing, which is not ideal either, especially with a, you know, with an airplane with a glide ratio of a brick. so I didn't make the airfield. It went down in the beans, with the gear and the flaps down.

[00:49:16] Ron: So you were probably, I would say 200 feet from the runway?

[unknown speaker 00:49:22] I was way short. Yeah, it was, it was, it was beyond the grass boundary of the field plus another probably actually, yeah, maybe 300 feet then. Probably another 50 feet of the beans that we had to walk to go get it. so I mean, the damage is, is, you know, it's damaged, you know, it's, it's almost all fixed now.

[00:49:44] Ron: Well, before we go on, let me say if you would have continued on your turn and come in from the right, because of where you were, you might've actually made the runway still. But if you overshot and tried to come in and didn't make it to the runway, the right-hand side of the runway slants down so much that you don't ever want to crash there. Yeah.

[00:50:04] Ron: Because you, you will, no matter what angle you're at, you're going to be more nose down than if you have something happen and come in from the left.

[unknown speaker 00:50:12] Yeah. yeah, hindsight, I should have, I should have pulled the gear up. Immediately. Immediately. And I probably should have also raised the flaps to make the airplane slicker so that I would get more distance as opposed to protecting against the stall. Because as I discovered, this airplane is pretty forgiving in the stall. It just sort of mushes straight down.

[unknown speaker 00:50:34] So, when it got below the, the, the end of the field and I couldn't see it to maintain wings level, I think, I think it caught a wing tip cartwheeled and that's what did the damage. But at any rate.

[00:50:46] Ron: Well, and I think, so like, I didn't see the whole thing when it happened because I was watching other airplanes and trying to call out stuff. Right. when I heard you say flame out, it looked like you tried to make too big of a turn to come back. Like you were, you were not past or too far past the runway when it happened. And I think by trying to go out as far as you did, it just, you had way too much airspace that you were covering. you're right.

[00:51:16] Ron: If you would have continued and just landed that way, I, if I were you, I probably would have still gone left and tried to hit the grass to the side of the runway. Cause you've got a thousand feet of grass. Right. That's 60 feet wide or something to where you can try and hit.

[unknown speaker 00:51:31] Yeah.

[00:51:31] Ron: I mean, you did good though, really for not knowing, like I said, I've not been in that situation yet. So I, I'm not, I don't know what I would do.

[unknown speaker 00:51:42] Yeah.

[00:51:42] Ron: I've seen a flame out in an MB 339 before, and it glides a lot better than the plane you were flying. Yeah. but you, I mean, all things considered for your first time, you should be proud of yourself.

[unknown speaker 00:51:53] Oh, well, thank you. the damage is, is not bad. It pulled the right main landing gear out of the wing and it pulled the nose gear out of the nose. so I already have the, the jigsaw pieces, you know, the puzzle pieces already, put back together and I've already braced up the main landing gear in the wing. I still have some bracing to put in the nose. and that's really it. It busted up, one of the wing tanks, which I already have that glued back together.

[unknown speaker 00:52:21] I haven't painted it. May or may not. I don't know. We'll see. And then, it pulled one of the stabs. I believe it was the right stab left. Wasn't it? Yeah. You're right. It was a left stab. it pulled it back. It broke internally the structure that holds the tube, the receptacle, for lack of a better word. It broke that inside the, inside the structure.

[unknown speaker 00:52:46] Oh, the channel.

[unknown speaker 00:52:47] Yeah. Like you mean. So it wouldn't, you know, wouldn't line back up, but that was an easy fix. Pulled the servo hatch off and there it was. It was all right there. So I put it back on the airplane, got it straight and epoxied it back together and put a little bracing in there. And it's, I mean, it was a learning experience. I, like, I know for sure now, kind of what the limit is as far as glide ratio. and definitely learned a lesson with it. Pull gear up.

[unknown speaker 00:53:15] Even if I think I'm going to make the runway, pull gear up, clean the airplane up, reduce the drag, get as much time as you can, because you can always lower the gear right before you land if you need to, or belly landed in the grass.

[00:53:28] Ron: Just slide it on its back. I was going to say, you have nothing underneath that airplane.

[unknown speaker 00:53:32] Yeah.

[00:53:32] Ron: It is just flat as completely. It's completely slick.

[unknown speaker 00:53:34] So, yeah, I learned some stuff and the damage is not too bad. So all in all, a fairly inexpensive lesson. I do need to figure out why though, there was, you know, there was air apparently in the system. According to the, to the data log on the GSU, it's telling me that it was a fuel related issue, which is more than likely a bubble in the fuel line.

[00:53:57] Ron: So with the amount of smoke that came out with it, that came out of it, that's a telltale sign to smoke is air bubble.

[unknown speaker 00:54:03] So, so I need to figure that out. I'll, once I get it all back together, I'll run it extensively at home and see if I can recreate, find some where, you know, the air is getting into the system.

[00:54:16] Ron: So one of the guys told me to tell you to make sure you check the lid on your UAT, make sure it's tight. Okay.

[unknown speaker 00:54:24] I'll do that for sure.

[00:54:27] Ron: I mean, like what, what angle were you at when that happened? cause when you landed, you had quite a bit of fuel still, so it's not like you were out of fuel.

[unknown speaker 00:54:36] No, it was not, it was not even close to being out of fuel. No.

[00:54:39] Ron: You were over half tank, weren't you?

[unknown speaker 00:54:40] Oh yeah. Yeah. cause I had been landing with, even with my eight minute timer, I had been landing with almost a half a tank, like just under a half a tank. So fuel quantity wasn't, wasn't the issue. and it happened so fast. I, I don't remember exactly the attitude that the airplane was at, but I think it was in a slight right bank when, you know, when it startled me, cause it does, it, it makes a noise when the, when they flame out.

[unknown speaker 00:55:09] and I recall leveling it off, just trying to figure out what just happened and then immediately go into panic mode and, Oh, I've got to turn back and get, and the reason I took the turn so not sharply is I didn't, I'm just terrified of stalling it and spinning it now I've, I've got all these beans, thank goodness there. So I knew if I leveled it off, I could put it in the beans, but you know, well, and that's

[00:55:35] Ron: anyway, that's the, the, the good thing about going through when you're learning to fly these and actually a few flights, like in the first few flights with an airplane, just go up high and stall, stall at every angle, stall, you know, bank it and then see what happens when it stalls and that way you kind of, yeah, you were with me for those first few

[unknown speaker 00:55:53] flights and suggested to do that, which I did. And yeah, I mean, I should, I was more, more afraid of stalling than I needed to be. And I should have just done like what you said, either made a sharper turn to give myself more, less distance to cover or continue that right turnaround. But yeah, for sure I should have pulled the gear up. I mean, that's like, if there was a lesson to learn, if there was only one lesson, that would have, that would be it. Pull the gear up.

[00:56:18] Ron: And that's, yeah.

[unknown speaker 00:56:20] Because that's a lot of drag.

[00:56:22] Ron: So let me ask you a question. That happens again. I know you don't like people yelling at you what to do and all that stuff. You like calm.

[unknown speaker 00:56:29] As a reminder? Yeah. So gear up would have been fine?

[00:56:32] Ron: Yes. Did you hear Dan telling you to put flaps in?

[unknown speaker 00:56:35] He, he did.

[00:56:36] Ron: Yeah.

[unknown speaker 00:56:36] And then he told me afterwards, like after we were talking about what happened, he's like, yeah, I told you to put flaps in, but you probably should have left the flaps up. And I said, well, I already had flaps in. So I just left everything the same because I was setting up for landing.

[00:56:48] Ron: Right.

[unknown speaker 00:56:49] You know, so I had, like I said, I had one notch of flaps in, which is half flaps. Yeah. And the gear were down. So I already had flaps. And so when he said that, I didn't do anything because I already knew the flaps were down.

[00:57:00] Ron: Yeah.

[unknown speaker 00:57:01] You know what I mean? Does that make sense?

[00:57:02] Ron: And you tore a flap out. I did. I mean, that's. Because they were down. That's the other thing. If it, if you're okay and you think you can get it back with a clean. Clean is always better.

[unknown speaker 00:57:10] Yeah. Yep. And that's, like I said, that's the biggest lesson. And then, you know, don't, on this particular airplane, don't be so afraid of the stall that you don't, you know, do everything you can to shorten that distance between you and the, and the airplane. Yeah. Even if that makes, you know, even if that means making sharper turns and you think you're able to. Yeah.

[00:57:32] Ron: So. Yeah. I agree. I mean, it could have been a lot worse.

[unknown speaker 00:57:36] Could have been some. It could have been like the other one that went in.

[00:57:39] Ron: Right. I didn't see that one, but I saw the aftermath and that was not getting fixed.

[unknown speaker 00:57:43] Oh, really? I didn't, I didn't go down and look. Yeah. I mean. It's a shame because that was, that was a havoc, right? The big havoc.

[00:57:49] Ron: Yeah, that was a big one.

[unknown speaker 00:57:50] The lead aerosporist havoc.

[00:57:51] Ron: I think it had a 180 in it. Oh my. Luckily, no fire. So, yeah.

[unknown speaker 00:57:54] Luckily, no fire. No. Nobody. I didn't see any fires this year. So that's cool. That's always a good thing.

[00:58:01] Ron: Yeah. Compared to last year. Last year, there is still a nose cone that's buried about eight inches down in that field from last year.

[unknown speaker 00:58:08] Yeah. Not far off the runway, actually. No. He was pretty close. But yeah, other than, I mean, I still had a good time. Like I, I'm still glad that I took the jet and flew at an event like that. I was a little leery of doing it at first, but it turned out to be not a big issue. There was plenty of time to fly. And I, you know, that happened on Saturday, Friday.

[00:58:31] Ron: Yeah.

[unknown speaker 00:58:31] I went back Saturday and I took the two Vipers and had an absolute blast.

[00:58:35] Ron: Like I said, that's the, that event pulls a good group of guys.

[unknown speaker 00:58:39] It really does.

[00:58:40] Ron: So.

[unknown speaker 00:58:41] Yeah. Lots of people were just willing to help and.

[00:58:43] Ron: Yeah.

[unknown speaker 00:58:43] Yeah.

[00:58:45] Ron: Yeah. Very, very happy with how everything went. And now, I mean, like, I hate to say it, but with that jet being broken and fixed, you don't care about it as much. So I think you're going to be able to have more fun. Maybe. And less stress flying it.

[unknown speaker 00:59:01] I mean, I was already, I was already less stressful. Like after getting two or three flights right before that one, I was getting super comfortable. And, you know, doing, you know, not crazy things, but like, you know, Emelman's and, you know, vertical eights and things like that. And just really, really having a lot of fun and flying a little closer in and maybe a little lower. Where I was, it was just really, I was getting really comfortable and enjoying it.

[00:59:30] Ron: And then there.

[unknown speaker 00:59:31] UNKNOWN: And then that. But.

[00:59:32] Ron: I still say before the.

[unknown speaker 00:59:34] I'm still going to enjoy it. Because it's, I'll probably, like you said, I'll probably enjoy it more now because I'll be a little less concerned.

[unknown speaker 00:59:39] Yeah. Yeah. It's scratched. You're done. Yeah. It's not new anymore. So you can enjoy it. Speaking of scratched and not new anymore. You cannot glue that antenna on the FreeSky radio.

[unknown speaker 00:59:50] Really?

[unknown speaker 00:59:51] I have super glued it. I've epoxied it. I've even tried to heat weld it. Really? I ended up coming off. Yeah. It snaps almost immediately. Really? Dang it. So 40 bucks later, I've got a new one on the way.

[01:00:01] Ron: The lesson is don't sit on your radio.

[unknown speaker 01:00:03] Yeah, don't. But the scratch is in it now. So I don't have to worry about it.

[unknown speaker 01:00:07] Right. Yeah. So.

[01:00:09] Ron: Yeah. Anyway. All in all, good couple weeks.

[unknown speaker 01:00:11] Yeah. Great, great couple of events we've been to. And I'm looking forward to the events we've got coming up.

[01:00:16] Ron: And I'm still wanting probably one mid to late September hits to just spend the day at the field, just the jet day and just do nothing but back to back.

[unknown speaker 01:00:25] Yeah. It's good. It helps. Yeah. It really does. Well, you already know.

[01:00:29] Ron: I haven't done it as much as I should, but I agree.

[unknown speaker 01:00:33] UNKNOWN: Yeah.

[unknown speaker 01:00:34] Yeah. You won't. Yeah. You won't have the stress of running an event.

[01:00:38] Ron: You can just go and fly. Yeah. Yeah.

[unknown speaker 01:00:41] And have fun.

[unknown speaker 01:00:41] Yep. Take some EDFs too.

[01:00:44] Ron: Just in case.

[unknown speaker 01:00:45] Yeah. It's been a while since I've flown at 15. It's due.

[unknown speaker 01:00:48] There you go. See? Perfect.

[01:00:50] Ron: Well, we'll pick a maybe early October, even late September, early October, and just have a full day out there. Yeah. I would like that. We can get some pizzas from Domino's.

[unknown speaker 01:01:00] Oh, and I owe pizza. I have to buy it this time because you bought it last time.

[01:01:04] Ron: Okay. But it'll be a good time.

[unknown speaker 01:01:06] Mm-hmm.

[01:01:07] Ron: Anything else you guys want to talk about? Are we good?

[unknown speaker 01:01:10] I think that's all I got. Is there anything we're forgetting?

[01:01:13] Ron: I don't think so. Mike, of your own.

[unknown speaker 01:01:15] I have not done much.

[01:01:17] Ron: So… Well, you crashed several times. Shut up, Tommy. You too. Anyway.

[unknown speaker 01:01:24] Just once. So, yeah. All my spare time has been eaten up by that.

[01:01:31] Ron: Okay. Well, thanks for ending on a high note, Dave.

[unknown speaker 01:01:36] Hey, it was fun. I will replace that with a carbon rod.

[unknown speaker 01:01:41] Yeah.

[unknown speaker 01:01:41] Yeah. You might want to look at yours.

[unknown speaker 01:01:42] I'm going to look into mine also.

[01:01:44] Ron: And double, by the way. And we're talking about the… The electrostreak. The electrostreak front bolt.

[unknown speaker 01:01:49] Mine's not as heavy as yours and not as fast. So, maybe mine will be okay.

[unknown speaker 01:01:54] But I'm going to look at it. Maybe. But, you know, I thought mine was good too. That's true. Now they're all good until they're not, right? Yeah.

[unknown speaker 01:02:00] I think mine actually has two.

[unknown speaker 01:02:02] That was the other thing. Mine only had one. I'm thinking about swapping it to two. Yeah. But the structure's not inside the wing for two. So, I'm not sure. I can't remember if mine's one or two now. I'll look at it. The plans were one. So, that's what I planned.

[unknown speaker 01:02:16] Well, that's probably what mine is then.

[01:02:18] Ron: Hmm. I haven't done mine. So, couldn't tell you. All right. We good? We're good. We good? Yes, sir. Thank you, everybody, for listening. Yep. Until next time, my name is Ron.

[unknown speaker 01:02:29] I'm Tom. And I'm Dave. Have a wonderful evening. Good night. Good night.

[unknown speaker 01:02:34] We hope you enjoyed this episode of the RC Plane Lab podcast. For topic suggestions, to ask questions, or to give any feedback, connect with us at rcplanelab.com or email us direct at either ron at rcplanelab.com or tom at rcplanelab.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.