well in the interest of full discloser,, and political incorectness,, ( blatant plug for membership to the PIST team!)
my adventrues with teh Freelancer,,
Randy, I did bench trim part of it,, lol,, with that beautifull eliptical wing, the CG was in question but I guessed as close as I could. in reality it was fairly close, it hunted slightly in level, but the real problem came when It went power off, and I came around into the wing it ballooned on me slightly and of course fell out of the air. sigh, sadly one of the wheel pants was damaged, as was part of the cowl, and a minor crack in teh bottom block. as Stated by Scott, reparaired easily , though not as pretty as it once was, dont look to close please,, I feel bad enough! Scott made me a new prop nut that was 1.3 oz and we installed that.
as was told to me,, fly it like you stole it,
First flights were with a REv up 13x6 ( actually measures 5.4) Engine Magnum 53, stock. Randy smith CNC muffler. Really felt unstable, almost lost it on a loop,, hmm should have been a first clue.
second day, tried a XOAR 12x6, was pretty solid,, engine happy, tried a thundertiger 12.5 x 5.5, lap times slower by .2 tenths, but better tension in manuevers. checked tip weight,, hmm the tube is empty,, sigh,, ok added 1.4 oz, rough balance, felt much better. Flew again with rpms bumped to 9000. wow uh, ok can you say transformation. Still felt a bit light overhead. Moved the leadouts forward 3/16" flew again,, oh MY what an improvement, I instantly knew I could fly it,, did a complete pattern until it hiccuped in the overheads,, then ran another 20 laps,, grumble,, probably need to cant the tank. OR second theory, may need to move the leadouts forward a touch more, it still isnt flying as square to the lines as I would like,, from the handle anyway. Before I do that however, I think I will cut my lines slightly. I am at 65' ( thats what I marked on the real, but I need to measure it to be sure. I tried a BY and O 12x6 that Bill had, ((thanks Bill) and tension was very solid in level flight and at 45, but whenever I pulled a corner, or loop, it did not seem to drive through the manuever. Scott said it didnt look that way from outside,, but I am sure I felt that at the handle. It just got a bit soft. so back to the 12.5 x 5.5. next flight got off a little lean,, I overthunk the needle setting , so basically just flew the tank, practicing my level flight at 4 feet with the wind was a good lesson.. Next flight, richened iit up a touch, got my 9000 rpm and as soon as I pulled the wingover something wasnt right, it was vibrating. I proceded to fly out the tank up at ten or so feet and about halfway through the flight a hawk, decided he didnt like the noise and flew right through the circle, from what I could tell, he flew through my lines about a foot inboard of the tip I felt it hit, but it was soft so I think it just slid over his back. no damage to anything but both our nerves,, lol.
It was time to go home, still had to drive 6 hours so cleaned up, and got on the road.
TO summarize, the first few flights did not leave me with warm fuzzies about the plane. I almost did not elect to make repairs. IO am glad I did, Now I am very comfortable the plane and its a joy to fly.
Next steps.
I still have a couple more props to try, though I have a great baseline now with the thundertiger.
Scott is making me a new prop nut that will be 1.5, or 1.6 oz. I still have a bit of twitch in level flight, just ever so slight. It is actually more noticeable inverted when it feels like if I breath down control into it, it jumps.. not so with up. If the weight doesn't help, or not enough, then I think I will put a couple turns on the elevator pushrod to input some down elevator on level flaps. ( psst randy, do you have your cool special tool for opening that super trick hatch? or do I gotta make one of my own,, lol)
I still think I need to move the leadouts a bit farther forward, but will not do that till after I get the nose weight settled in.
As I mentioned, I plan on shortening my lines a foot or so, before I mess with more tip weight .
It is so close now, that I would not hesitate to fly it in a contest tomorrow! i love it Randy, thanks. Untill this weekend, I was not likely going to fly in the portland contest, now I feel like I can with some level of confidence. It feels very comfortable and honest. I havent finished either of my projects so this gives me something to fly in PA this year till they are. My poor GBee profile is so tired,, I might get laughed out of the pits since I am flying Advanced,,, lol,,though, It flies so well, and I am so comfortable with it, it will be seeing duty in Profile,,
now, time to finish the AVenger
all in all, a very learning weekend, first lesson, COMPLETELY BENCH TRIM A MODEL EVEN IF SOMEONE ELSE FLEW IT FIRST, I could have saved two or three flights had I spent the time to really bench trim it thouroughly before I got to the field. Second lesson, persevere,, small changes can make a HUGE difference. third lesson,, Prop selection is baseline, huge, relevent, and worthy of every prop you can try, even if it is a cheap 4 dollar plastic one, you never know,, lol
Thanks to Scott, for your time and patience.
and especially to Leo and Bill for letting me hog the circle, it meant a lot to get some quality time in!!
Now to make sure that something wooden hasnt come loose inside her ! Pray for loose motor mount bolts ok?
Topic: Mark and the Freelancer (Read 2721 times)