Headed out right at first light to the site to pick up the model and my flight bag and caught the bus to Ali Al Salem International Flying Site....at least that's what I now call the weird patch of concrete that looks almost like a parade field. Nice, flat, clean blacktop
Didn't want to bore people with an 8-minute video of a pattern that everyone has seen hundreds of times, so the attached video is a sufficient 20 seconds of "proof it happened".
I figured that if I couldn't put a ringmaster together, and fly a pattern with it right off the board, then it's time to hang it up and pick up golf, so that's what I did. Temp was a pleasant 103 degrees with wind around 10 gusting 15. Model is kinda heavy--it weighed out at 33 oz with battery and pinned together when I test fitted everything at home, and after assembly and some beefing up of the nose joint, I estimate it's about 34-35oz now, and it showed in the air with the higher DA. Controls were a bit quick so a line spacing adjustment might help the stalling. Otherwise the model flew well and the electric setup worked just fine. Didn't really notice anything spectacular other then I could hear a lot more stuff going on with the model (e.g. Wind buffeting the covering, prop noise changes going into and with the wind) that the engine noise usually covers. Got 4 patterns in, and before I was wishing that I brought more batteries, but after being up for 18 hours and fighting the wind, I was pretty beat! Nonetheless, had a blast. Very quiet morning with not allot of air or road traffic, so the "zen" aspect of modeling was strongly felt; just being alone at the field and enjoying some piece and quiet! It was a fun "build"...nothing too complicated about a ringmaster, or an ARF for that matter, but the challenges of getting models to and from the states and flown on very limited resources is a ton of fun, and the first flight made me feel like I just won a contest...and perhaps I did against the obstacles
This guy is ready for the ringmaster fly-a-thon!! Are you?
PS: Already got one concerned email. Don't worry, someone would need much more than this thread to get to me
Topic: Liftoff in Kuwait (Read 1730 times)