A Brodak thought or two

[peabody]

Some kind of inner ear issue kept me from flying this year.....but I got there Wednesday.....
I judged OTS Expert Thursday.....some good flying, and all IC.......
I also judged Expert PA Friday and Saturday.....LOTS of electrics! AND, LOTS of great flying!
Looking around and talking with the guys, it is apparent that the "electric revolution" has hit Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced as well, and I believe that there are a couple of HUGE advantages...primarily that the electrics are very repeatable and therefore bring a flier through the ranks faster. The quietness of electrics allows them to be flown in more places, too.
I am not fully convinced that electrics are a BETTER choice for an Expert level flier....IC power still works, and works well for a lot of guys.....
It was great fun!

[Tim Stagg]

And you don't have to reset your timer on IC when you changed it the night before to make some trim adjustments.

[peabody]

That too............

[Steve Fitton]

And you don't have to reset your timer on IC when you changed it the night before to make some trim adjustments.

Was that the 245 score?

[Brad Smith]

Hey Steve I think he short tanked it lol.

[ChrisSarnowski]

I think the reality of electric power is that it takes away a large set of possible problems associated with IC engine power, and replaces them with a smaller set of possible problems. There are still things that can mess up your flight.

-Chris

[Derek Barry]

I think the reality of electric power is that it takes away a large set of possible problems associated with IC engine power, and replaces them with a smaller set of possible problems. There are still things that can mess up your flight.

-Chris

I think most if not all of the problems in IC are caused by the user not the engine. Same for electric, so I call it even.

Especially when it comes to the top dogs, they know how to make whatever they are using work to the best of it's ability. That's why they are the top dogs.

Derek

[john e. holliday]

Well stated,  know your equipment.   That is where practice comes in.  But, then again Mother Nature has a way of throwing a wrench in the works.   And also there is Murphy's law to consider, "If something is going to happen, it will happen at the most inopportune time".

[Tim Stagg]

Steve,

You should have seen my score cards.

TO 40
WO 37
IL 34
IF 39
OL 38
IS 36
Engine....Boooooouuuuuuussssssshhhhhhhhhhhhhhh....................nothin

 

Of course if I had the chance to do any other maneuvers they would have been crappy

Such is life 

[Dennis Moritz]

Dead air on PAMPA days. Electrics did not need to demonstrate drive. A quality that, in my observation, ICs generally do better. Electric has it's hitches and difficulties. I know Mike P was busy diagnosing a few set ups that did not work. A good working electric will stay as is better than an IC.

[Bob Reeves]

I do understand how a small brain f4art can be embarrassing.

Two years ago in the Advanced circle at Brodaks I thought I would be smart and instead of filling the tank then removing what I normally do I would just count the turns on my fuel pump. Worked well for the practice flights but when I fueled up for the first official (hadn't flown that day) I forget to fill the tubing between the pump and tank before I started counting. With a 4 stroke on 4 ounces, the fraction of an ounce in the tubing was a pretty important piece of the equation. It quit just as I turned down on the last loop of the clover. Wasn't smart enough to whip it two laps for the landing but the airplane survived to fly the next day.

I feel it's kinda sad that when 4 strokes were being tried by almost everyone, someone didn't discover the setup that really works. Now that we know how to be competitive with a 4 stroke everyone is playing with electrics.

PS: A little bird told me he overheard a comment on the Advanced circle when Joe Gilbert was flying his T-6 with the Saito 40. "That airplane can't do that"

[goozgog]

Me and Lenny watching A yellow T-6 fly.

" Hey Lenny. How does it do that?"
" He's Joe Gilbert. That's how it does that."

Nuff said.  :-)

[john e. holliday]

And Joe does a lot of flying with a lot of different airplanes.   That is one of the reasons he is so good.

[Steve Fitton]

Steve,

You should have seen my score cards.

TO 40
WO 37
IL 34
IF 39
OL 38
IS 36
Engine....Boooooouuuuuuussssssshhhhhhhhhhhhhhh....................nothin

 

Of course if I had the chance to do any other maneuvers they would have been crappy

Such is life 

Dude, that sucks!    sorry it happened on an official!

[Alan Buck]

I THINK TO MUCH APPLE PIE LOL

[Will Davis]

I was up following Tim's flight, so as normal routine , I watch  the  early maneuvers of the flight before me, to check wind , etc, he was really burning in a good flight when his engine shut off,  bummer,