Author Topic: I flew my L.A. HEAT yesterday---how sweet it is. (Read 5505 times)

frank carlisle · « **on:** July 16, 2007, 04:43:06 AM »

I finally flew the Heat. Man it was exciting. The two engines sound really cool. It doesn't pull much different than any other model I've ever flown.
I put up 4 flights and at eight ounces per the fuel jug empties pretty quick.
Here are a few pix and a link to the video we took. I hope the link works.

http://media.putfile.com/she-flies

Bill Gruby · « **Reply #1 on:** July 16, 2007, 04:56:21 AM »

Frank;

Those pictures are great, butthat video says it all. The link works perfectly. Congratulations my friend, the wait was well worth the end result.

"Billy G"

Roger Vizioli · « **Reply #2 on:** July 16, 2007, 05:36:56 AM »

What "Billy G" said!
Congratulations my friend.

Roger

frank carlisle · « **Reply #3 on:** July 16, 2007, 05:47:04 AM »

Thanks Roger and Bill.
I'll tell you what. I feel really bad for all the guys that fly ARFs and stick to simple projects. They just can't get the pay off the way you can when you really put your heart and time into a model. When I waved for the launch release and that plane started it's roll out I had 18 months worth of daydreaming about that moment plus hundreds of hours shop time in getting to that point. The thrill is indescribable.

frank carlisle · « **Reply #4 on:** July 16, 2007, 06:00:45 AM »

The secret to a successful first flight is all about having the right gear. This includes the t-shirt you wear.

Roger Vizioli · « **Reply #5 on:** July 16, 2007, 06:37:39 AM »

Frank,
You might be starting something -
"Mandatory Attire for a first flight!"

Good idea!
Roger

minnesotamodeler · « **Reply #6 on:** July 16, 2007, 06:39:02 AM »

Well, I have no picture at "putfile", but it sure sounds sweet....

--Ray

frank carlisle · « **Reply #7 on:** July 16, 2007, 06:44:39 AM »

I don't know what the deal is with Putfile. I just clicked the link and got nothing...........hmmmm.

Jim Oliver · « **Reply #8 on:** July 16, 2007, 06:49:50 AM »

Frank,

That was so good you should charge admission just to see the video. The sound of the engines made it worth all the time you invested.

Jim

Paul Taylor · « **Reply #9 on:** July 16, 2007, 08:42:53 AM »

Way to go Frank!!!

How did the new trailer work?

john e. holliday · « **Reply #10 on:** July 16, 2007, 09:20:47 AM »

That is some work of art. To see the video made it even better. Was that Jim Mowrey holding? Now a hint to get rid of the grass on the circle. Go to your local ACE Hardware and in the garden department look for an item called GROUND CLEAR. In about a week the grass will be dead as well as any other vegetation. Hope you have as many hours flying that beauty as you did building it. Have fun, DOC Holliday

Tom Perry · « **Reply #11 on:** July 16, 2007, 09:23:15 AM »

Quote from: frank carlisle on July 16, 2007, 06:44:39 AM

I don't know what the deal is with Putfile. I just clicked the link and got nothing...........hmmmm.

Worked fine first time for me Frank.

frank carlisle · « **Reply #12 on:** July 16, 2007, 10:19:30 AM »

Doc---that is Jim Moreway. He and a bunch of other guys came out and flew with me. They have all been hearing about this thing for a long time and didn't want to miss a thing. There was no shortage of help.

Paul----I still have to get a hitch installed on my truck check out this picture.

Garf · « **Reply #13 on:** July 16, 2007, 10:47:54 AM »

How do you download that clip?

Randy Powell · « **Reply #14 on:** July 16, 2007, 11:23:57 AM »

Frank,

The video is very cool. Man, you really need to look at lest pitch on the props. Those were some blazing laps.

frank carlisle · « **Reply #15 on:** July 16, 2007, 12:39:19 PM »

Those are zinger 12/5s on it now. I'm going to put APC 10/4s on it for the next session. I need to get some cool 3 blade props and spinners.

Clancy Arnold · « **Reply #16 on:** July 16, 2007, 02:01:15 PM »

Frank
Congratulations on a successful first flight. I timed your laps on the video and got 5.7 seconds per lap.

The video ends right after a loop, all OK I hope!!!

Clancy

frank carlisle · « **Reply #17 on:** July 16, 2007, 02:04:57 PM »

Everything is o.k. Clancy....We reached the end of the tape after that loop.

Dennis Vander Kuur · « **Reply #18 on:** July 16, 2007, 02:20:41 PM »

Frank,
Glad to see your successful flight after all the time and effort you have put into this gorgeous airplane. Congratulations on your success.

DennisV

Bill Little · « **Reply #19 on:** July 16, 2007, 03:14:33 PM »

Mr. Carlisle,

I am speechless.

Awesome video and we already knew it was going to be an awesome plane.

Congratualtions on a job well done!

BTW: APC is making the molds for some 10-5 three blades right now. Might be just the ticket for that plane! Have you tried the 10 1/2 X 4 1/2 APC on the Brodak 40, yet?

frank carlisle · « **Reply #20 on:** July 16, 2007, 04:14:07 PM »

Thanks Bill.........of course anyone could do the same thing if they wanted too.

I'll be trying lots of props. I really do like to play with these things and what better way than to try on props?

Randy Powell · « **Reply #21 on:** July 16, 2007, 04:41:29 PM »

Frank,

I know what you mean about that first flight. I spend a lot of time thinking did I do this, did I do that. Seems I'm always scared to death that I forgot something. And while you think you know what you've got, you're never really sure till that first flight. Those seconds while you walk out to the handle and test the controls (again) are some of the most fun in the world. And when it takes off and is flying, well, there just aren't any words to describe the feeling. Especially for a plane that is built from a pile of balsa. As one artist said it, "the ecstasy of creation". I look forward to those moments.

Enjoy it. Sure looks like fun.

frank carlisle · « **Reply #22 on:** July 16, 2007, 05:00:20 PM »

I couldn't have said it better Randy. And for me there is that sense of fatalism where you know you did it as right as you could and yet you've mulled over the thing a million times but then you put it into play and good or bad right or wrong you're in it and in the moment.
I can't imagine how an astronought feels at launch.

Rudy Taube · « **Reply #23 on:** July 16, 2007, 05:10:26 PM »

Hi Frank,

Thank you for sharing your project with us. Looks way COOL!

You and Sparky have been an inspiration to us all. You even motivated me to actually get off my duff and build a REAL model, not just another ARF.

Thanks for showing those of us who are "builder challenged" the way it should be done!

Regards,

frank carlisle · « **Reply #24 on:** July 16, 2007, 05:57:16 PM »

Rudy I'm honored that you would consider me an inspiration and that you'd use my name in the same sentence as Sparky's, Thanx man. And I'm so glad to hear you're building a plane. I hope you plan on sharing the build here on Stunt Hangar.

I just got a bunch of pictures from Dwight Fletcher ( Fletch) I'm going to start getting them posted here.
The first one is "the pull test". You gotta do the pull test and you gotta do it with gusto. Greg Bossio held the handle and I really gave it a good pull. In the picture you can see I'm hanging my weight on it. I'm fat so when I was done I knew the control system was stout.

Rudy Taube · « **Reply #25 on:** July 16, 2007, 10:16:56 PM »

Hi Frank,

I will post some photos of my build, but I have to warn you, I build sloooooowly so it may be a while between photos. ;-) It will be one of the new Classic kits comming out soon from Eric at RSM. It is a scale model of one of my all time favorite planes. As I mentioned to you the other day, I am doing the prototype electric version for Eric.

That looked like a Professional size pull test on your new plane, at least 50 Kilos?

BTW Frank, we are not fat. You and I are "Husky", or "Prosperous", or "Stocky", or "Linebacker like", or Rubinesk, or "Mature build", or "Powerfully built", or "Well Fed", or "Too Short for our weight", or? ..... But NOT fat!

Please keep us posted with your flight results as you get your awesome twin dialed in.

Regards,

Leo Mehl · « **Reply #26 on:** July 16, 2007, 10:55:10 PM »

Congrats Frank, Nice looking BIG plane. Looks like it flys good and it has a real presence. If I made one of these I would have to to make it a takeapart because I have bungee cords but no Pickup. What a great project.

taildragger-j3 · « **Reply #27 on:** July 17, 2007, 10:26:36 AM »

I hate to sound like a dunce, but what if the inboard engine dies? Does the outboard one try to pull it into the circle on you? Do you have a shut off for both engines?

minnesotamodeler · « **Reply #28 on:** July 17, 2007, 04:18:51 PM »

I think in fact the inboard engine did flame out on him during the second flight...Frank, is that correct? It appeared to handle it OK. My old double-.19 twin would fly on the outboard alone, with just slightly less line tension.

--Ray

Richard Grogan · « **Reply #29 on:** July 18, 2007, 10:15:27 AM »

Awesome Frank, just Awesome! Congrats buddy!!

Tom Niebuhr · « **Reply #30 on:** July 19, 2007, 10:14:26 AM »

Frank,
Great to your success!.. Now we need pictures of Gruby's P-38!

Rudy,
You will never regret building a "real" airplane. There can't possibly be any pride in having one of a row of identical arfs.

rob biddle · « **Reply #31 on:** July 20, 2007, 12:35:09 AM »

Hi Frank,
Congratulations. You have turned out one wicked machine, that's for sure!

I think this is a lesson to a lot of us (me especially!) of what can be achieved with a bit of patience and a lot of persistance.

I really hope that it does well for you.

Cheers, Rob.

Bill Smith · « **Reply #32 on:** July 22, 2007, 07:56:52 PM »

Very Nice

minnesotamodeler · « **Reply #33 on:** July 22, 2007, 08:24:19 PM »

This is the man that played with a guillotine...he ain't afraid of blades.

frank carlisle · « **Reply #34 on:** July 22, 2007, 08:43:43 PM »

Quote from: taildragger-j3 on July 17, 2007, 10:26:36 AM

I hate to sound like a dunce, but what if the inboard engine dies? Does the outboard one try to pull it into the circle on you? Do you have a shut off for both engines?

I've read all the posts up to this one I'm posting right now. I really appreciate all the great replys you guys have posted and your encouragement. Thankyou. Thankyou very much.

Dave I chose your reply to quote and respond to directly because your question is one that worried me for the whole year and a half that I was building this model. The question is---what if the inboard engine dies?
If the inboard engine dies the plane slows down. Period. It will still fly and hold line tension. I've flown this model 8 times now in two different flying sessions. The inboard engine quits prematurely every time. And the plane slows to 6.04 second laps instead of 5.01 second laps. There is never a time when controlling it is unmamagable.

After the first flying session I took the engine and tank out of the inboard nacelle. I checked torque on the backplate and head bolts and flushed out the spray bar. All was well. When I shook the fuel tank something rattled inside. I opened it up and found a solder pellet that was too big to pass through the pick up tube but just the right size to starve the fuel supply. I took it out and capped up the tank and dunk tested it. Again all was well.
I took the Heat out to the club field and felt certain that the problem was solved. It wasn't. The engine ran further into the run but still quit prematurely. It's really hard to tell what each engine is doing when they're both running, but I did notice that the problem engine (inboard) was pulsing as if the tank was pressurizing and decompressing. I changed the tanks over from muffler pressure to straight suction. The inboard engine ran nearly the whole run, but off and on it would still pulse. I tried the next flight at 10 grand and everything stayed the same. The inboard engine still pooped out. I tried it at 1011 grand on the next flight and got the same results. I rolled up the lines.
Next thing I'll do is move the inboard engine to the out side and the out board engine to the inside. If the problem follows the engine I'll concentrate on the engine. If the problem stays on the inboard side I'll concentrate on the fuel tank.
Either way I feel like I'm getting my moneys worth.

During the periods when both engines are cranking properly away I do parts of the pattern. Squares, overheads, all of the eights and the plane handles them really really well. I already know that at some point the inboard engine is going to quit so I stay away from flying it inverted for too long. My next test session is set for Wednesday morning.

frank carlisle · « **Reply #35 on:** July 22, 2007, 09:01:18 PM »

Quote from: Ty Marcucci on July 22, 2007, 08:19:27 PM

My main concern is how you bend over the props to adjust the needle valves. Please do that from behind the engines. This is just too scary if you slipped, and it has happened.

Wish the flight could have been longer, great show.

I have a tail skid on the plane Ty, and when we're starting the engines my pit man holds the tail on the ground so I have lots of clearance to remove the ignitors. I start the inboard first. I am way more worried about hurting myself that anyone else so I move with all of the determination I can muster. I do handle the needles and the removal of the ignitors from behind the props and I move from side to side to get the work done. This is not to say that I won't get hurt but I'm working at developing a non varying routine to get everything going without losing any fingers.. I've been thinking of making a harness to light the plugs that can be tugged off from behind by the pit man.
I'll be careful-I promise.

john e. holliday · « **Reply #36 on:** July 23, 2007, 08:10:17 AM »

Remember the old glow plugs clips that Du-Bro and Perfect used to make? Well MBS Model Supply has the glow plug clip that looks similar. Use them in racing as all you do is grab cord and pull, then release plane. They might work in your situation. Have fun, DOC Holliday

PS:Sliced fingers and thumbs are no fun. How do I know, you want to see the scars. jeh

minnesotamodeler · « **Reply #37 on:** July 23, 2007, 08:49:02 AM »

Now, now, let's not start comparing scars...we've all been bit.

--Ray

taildragger-j3 · « **Reply #38 on:** July 23, 2007, 12:09:39 PM »

I'm sorry to hear about your challenges keeping the inboard engine lit, but I'm VERY please that it will fly well on the outboard engine alone. My only experience with a control line twin was one my uncle built 40+ years ago (I was just a baby, of course). On its first flight, the inboard engine died and the plane cut across the circle burying itself in the ground just a few feet from where he had been standing (he ran like crazy when it started to come in). Since then I've always been leery of twins.

Let us know how your experiments work out with the engines.

frank carlisle · « **Reply #39 on:** July 23, 2007, 12:36:44 PM »

It was probably the leadout position that did your uncles plane in.
Before I flew the Heat I set the leadout rake so that the plane definitely yawed out board some. I also loaded up on tip wieght.
When I fastened the nacelles to the wing I gave them each a couple degrees of offset toward the outboard side.

Ironbomb · « **Reply #40 on:** July 24, 2007, 07:06:21 AM »

You guys gotta hear this thing run. It is the sweetest sound ever. Both engines make a cool angry growl that is just pure music. Sunday, a few of the R/C guys came over the C/L area to see what was making all the noise. Frank and his plane made an impression. And the sight of the Heat in the air is impressive. Its so big in the sky, that when its on the far side of the circle, Frank looks like a munchkin out there. I mean he's like 1ft tall, and the plane is 747 size in comparison, wow! The scale of what I am used to seeing in the air is thrown into confusion when its flying.

Nice job Frank, way cool.

Greg

frank carlisle · « **Reply #41 on:** July 24, 2007, 07:17:26 AM »

Hey thanks Greg.

I love the way guys just stand there and look at it.

It is a little confusing to fly it right now. The two engines set up a racket that I'm just not used to hearing.

Right now it looks like we won't be taking it to Muncie.

Paul Taylor · « **Reply #42 on:** July 24, 2007, 10:56:14 AM »

Quote from: Ironbomb on July 24, 2007, 07:06:21 AM

You guys gotta hear this thing run. It is the sweetest sound ever. Both engines make a cool angry growl that is just pure music. Sunday, a few of the R/C guys came over the C/L area to see what was making all the noise. Frank and his plane made an impression. And the sight of the Heat in the air is impressive. Its so big in the sky, that when its on the far side of the circle, Frank looks like a munchkin out there. I mean he's like 1ft tall, and the plane is 747 size in comparison, wow! The scale of what I am used to seeing in the air is thrown into confusion when its flying.

Nice job Frank, way cool.

Greg

Hey Greg,
Nice to see you on the boards again!!!

I got to meet Frank at Brodaks. Super nice guy, you are lucky to get to fly with him.
He did not have the LA Heat, but maybe next year.
Keep posting.
Paul

wwwarbird · « **Reply #43 on:** July 25, 2007, 06:49:53 PM »

CONGRATULATIONS FRANK!!!

Looks awsome Frank, and hopefully I will be lucky enough to see it in person sometime. I am truly honored that you went with the paint scheme, and sincerely wish you a long enjoyable relationship with the Heat, very impressive.

frank carlisle · « **Reply #44 on:** July 25, 2007, 07:18:10 PM »

CONGRATULATIONS FRANK!!!

Looks awsome Frank, and hopefully I will be lucky enough to see it in person sometime. I am truly honored that you went with the paint scheme, and sincerely wish you a long enjoyable relationship with the Heat, very impressive.
[/quote]

WAYNE!! son of a gun! Man it's good to hear from you............I always tell the story about how you sent me a color drawing of the Heat's paint job .....and even picked the colors.
Usually the conversation starts off with someone telling me what a great eye I have to come up with something like this. That's where I tell the story about you.
Thanks for the scheme....it really works.
Now how about something for a Fierce Arrow?

frank carlisle · « **Reply #45 on:** July 26, 2007, 06:28:49 AM »

I'll be ready to test fly the Heat again over the weekend. I've swapped the engines back and forth to see if the inboard engine runs out the fuel on the outboard side. Because the plane is big I can't just throw it in the car and go to the circle. So testing is only happening on the weekends. It's likely I won't be contest ready till the next season.

I bought a tent and air mattress the other day so I could cut contest costs when I go out of town. The tent is 10X14 and the airmattress converts into a couch with beer can holders on each end. I slept in the tent last night and the air mattress is more comfy than my bed. Go figure.

John Paris · « **Reply #46 on:** July 26, 2007, 07:20:56 AM »

Going to be living the good life now. Got an airconditioner for it?

Randy Powell · « **Reply #47 on:** July 26, 2007, 08:28:33 AM »

Frank,

You should talk to John Miller of Utah. He comes to contests with a palatial tent with air mattress, stove, fridge and all manner of accouterments. Lives like a king.

frank carlisle · « **Reply #48 on:** July 26, 2007, 02:48:02 PM »

If I like doing contests this way I'll probably add to the gear.