Ares trim report

[Matt Colan]

The Ares is fully trimmed, and is ready for Brodak. It weighs 43 ounces, and balances almost perfectly. When the motor quits, this plane just glides, and it does not want to go down, which with that I have made some really slick landings on grass. Since it glides soooooooo much I can see the grass slowly get closer to the wheels, I can get it down really smooth.

The plane turns a dynamite corner, and I think it flies better than my Smoothie, which also flies really good. This plane turns and stops, so there isn't any overcontrol in this plane. So all in all, this plane is a winner and those who are heading to Brodak, will be able to see it.

The one thing I am not happy with this is the way this motor starts. I have got the starting routine better than I did have it. Now before I fly it, I'm going to burp it and get rid of that initial charge that always spins the prop loose. I do have to put fuel in the venturi in order for it to start, because I can't get my finger in there to prime it.

We are leaving tomorrow and would've left today, but it is my brother's 6th grade graduation and he said we had to be there, oh well we'll just show up a day later. I do just hope I have a late flight draw for classic, that way I can get a practice flight in.

[Gary Anderson]

Hi Matt,

Hope you bring home the bacon. If you're using muffler pressure you can prime the engine bye placing your finger over the exhaust and this will prime the engine. I don't prime any of my engines I use a starter and let the starter do the work. Most mine start up very quickly this way. If I'm at a contest I'll start the engine before my turn, this way the engine is set and doesn't take very much from the starter to start her. A lot of people don't believe in using a starter, afraid of engine damage. If you turn the engine over bye hand before you use the starter you can tell if its flooded. Each to there own, I vote for the easy way. Good luck and great to have you on the forum, Gary

[Matt Colan]

Hi Matt,

Hope you bring home the bacon. If you're using muffler pressure you can prime the engine bye placing your finger over the exhaust and this will prime the engine. I don't prime any of my engines I use a starter and let the starter do the work. Most mine start up very quickly this way. If I'm at a contest I'll start the engine before my turn, this way the engine is set and doesn't take very much from the starter to start her. A lot of people don't believe in using a starter, afraid of engine damage. If you turn the engine over bye hand before you use the starter you can tell if its flooded. Each to there own, I vote for the easy way. Good luck and great to have you on the forum, Gary

Would it still prime if I put the pressure on and took it off before flying?

Thanks a lot Gary for the compliment!!!!!

[Steve Helmick]

Matt...Yes, you could hook a line from the muffler pressure outlet to the uniflow vent and give it a couple of pull-throughs (pinky over muffler outlet) to push fuel into the venturi. Disconnect it if you must...but it's a good thing if it is WINDY (not Windy U.!), so keep that in mind, too. If your engine richens going into the wind and leans going downwind, stick that hose back on! Or just run it all the time...but do make sure your muffler doesn't come loose in flight or the engine will lean out.

I've been running M.P. on both my Skylark and Profile, and have gotten to like it a lot. The Magnum XLS .36 likes three choked pulls through, followed by three blocked muffler pulls, followed by about 6 or 8 flippeties. Should check for a bump. Often starts first whack forward. I'm not big on back flipping, because it tends to kick the prop/spinner/shaft extension loose! JB WELD WILL FIX THAT!!!! John Brodak should have it in stock, tho I don't think it was named for him.    Steve

[Gary Anderson]

Hi Matt,

How did the Ares work out for you at the contest? Did you get the prop, starting problem solved? I see you have brought home another kit, the Cobra. I purchased one a few months ago and haven't done anything with it as of yet. There is several articles on the Cobra on this forum. Randy Powell has a beautiful Cobra on this forum. Good luck to you and I hope you had fun at the contest, Gary

[William DeMauro]

Matt,
I enjoyed watching your Aries fly at Brodaks. You certainly fly it well. Thanks for your help with my SV11. It was really appreciated.
William

[Dennis Adamisin]

Matt:
Enjoyed meeting you and your Gramps at the Fly-in.  You have that Ares flying real well and you make a great combo.  The Cobra should be even a little better...

Keep practicing!

[Matt Colan]

The Ares worked out great for me.  I came in 6th in advanced classic, and 5th in advanced for PAMPA classes.  At the top of the hill on the paved circle was some very shifty winds on Thursday.  One lap I felt the wind at my back fr a whole lap.  Big Art told me after one flight, I was flying at 4.5 so I continued to richen it up until I got to around 5.0.  He also helped me with a couple of things about my body language, that I should work on.  John D'Ottavio also helped me out a little bit.  But one thing, even when I was flying at 4.5, the motor was in a nice deep 4 cycle.  After the first round of PAMPA, I was in 2nd.  The Next day the winds came up a lot.  The wind was so bad that a lot of experts passed their flights.  Windy flew and scared everybody when he got blown out of the vertical 8.  I went down to 4th so I had to fly.  The wind didn't die down for my flight like I was hoping for, but I flew instead.  I turned the needle in a little bit and flew.  Dan Banjock gave me a couple of tips to fly in the wind.

The Ares never lost line tension in the terrible conditions until the wingover of the last loop of the 4-leaf.  I saved it and now the Ares is in my grandparents garage.  I also have my engine starting problems worked out and the prop only came loose once, when I put a little bit too much prime in it.  Buddy Weider was also telling me stuff about the rule book and asking me what some fliers were doing wrong with their pattern.

I met too many guys to mention here on the forum, and I HAD A BLAST and can't wait to go next year  

[john e. holliday]

I would bet that you tried like so many in that you tried to fly on down to level flight from the top of the circle after the clover.   Remember it ends at the top of the circle.  Even in calm conditions I don't try to bring the plane straight down to level flight.  As soon as I get to the top I start my turn to come down. 

I also am hoping that grandpa is your coach and learned what to look for in your pattern.  I will be looking for you name in the winners circle soon.  Just don't push yourself too hard.  Congradualations on doing well at your first Brodaks.   DOC Holliday

[Matt Colan]

I would bet that you tried like so many in that you tried to fly on down to level flight from the top of the circle after the clover.   Remember it ends at the top of the circle.  Even in calm conditions I don't try to bring the plane straight down to level flight.  As soon as I get to the top I start my turn to come down. 

I also am hoping that grandpa is your coach and learned what to look for in your pattern.  I will be looking for you name in the winners circle soon.  Just don't push yourself too hard.  Congradualations on doing well at your first Brodaks.   DOC Holliday

I was just trying to get through the pattern, my level flight and everything else was high because I would get slammed and the plane would just go down, and it was very tough to fly in those conditions.  The first half of the loops were really fast, and then it slowed right down.  The triangles were just, BAM, BAM, JAM, at about the speed you just read that.

The 4 leaf I just bring it down to about 30 feet, and pull out, same thing as the overheads