Those present know some of this, but this is my NATs story, pretty crazy overall. It goes back a few years...
2020 - I have new airplane, essentially identical to the previous two, and I can measure pretty good. I get a few flights in before the NATS and off I go. Once I get there, a few more flights and it is obvious something is very wrong. This led to much more flying than usual, and it won't turn inside without inordinate effort. This is highly distracting, I am having to think about it - which led to doing the wrong number of inside loops on both Thursday (which I overcame) and Friday (which bombed me out of the Top 5) .
2021 - Same airplane, nothing has gotten much better, I have to thrash away far beyond the bounds of wisdom would dictate, in particular, the inside turn problem is becoming hopeless despite some significant trim changes, and, for the first time in 25 years, even a blown-out pipe coupler. Later in the week, in the wind, I know it will be hopeless, leading to an embarrassing 1st flight on Top 20 day.
2021 (Week before golden state) - Paul, David, and I are flying, airplane is still hopeless and, if anything, worse, leading to me nearly crashing in the triangles in 10 mph wind.
2021 Golden State - After last weekends embarassment, I realize I cannot just fly around this problem, so, wholesale changes - different engine (back to #2 from #3) and about an ounce of weight on the tail. Immediate improvement, and on contest day, no problem with 25 mph over the hangars.
2022 NWR - Still have some confidence left, so good first flight. Wind comes up over the tower building and hangars for the second flight, really bumpy. I almost crash several times, confidence back to nothing
2022 Stunt Farm practice - take off and something is very obviously wrong, handle is well off, airplane flies nose-down when upright sometimes, other times kind of OK. Inspection of the controls shows nothing obvious.
2022 Napa Practice (a month ago) - still something wrong, and I cannot complete inside squares or triangles on about half the flights, have to bail out in benign conditions. I am thinking of withdrawing and judging, or digging out the other airplane, because it is hopeless as is, why waste anyone's time.
Get the airplane home with plan to make a massive adjustment to the flap/elevator neutral, including bending the horn if necessary. Remove the elevators, and find that the elevator horn is flopping around in the hole, it is no longer connected to the stabilizer. This explains everything, works normally on outsides when it pulls it up against the stab, pushes the horn backwards and away from the stab on insides, putting in a ton of effective down elevator rigging.
Unfortunately, this also means I have to cut up the airplane to fix it. I make a long diagonal cut from the tailpost to the hinge line, and straight back from the hinge line through the fillet back to the tail post, remove a wedge of the fuselage. Elevator horn just falls out. Glue it back, reinforced it, glued the fuselage back together, start finishing. No time for SuperFil, repair is pretty clean, so Bondo it is. Start refinishing, get it up to the white epoxy, time to test fly. Test fly, immediately, it works just like the other airplane, good to go, confidence abounds. Start back into refinishing, get clear on it Monday night, reassemble Tuesday night, airplane goes in the car for the trip on Wednesday,
2022 NATs - take off driving, no problems. Stay second night in York Nebraska. Wake up in the morning with a vaguely scratchy throat, nothing too unusual. No problem to the gas stop in Davenport IA. About an hour out of Davenport, I notice that my throat is really getting croaky, I don't feel so good, then the shivering starts. After about an hour of this, I call David, "Sorry, but I am going to have to quarantine because I have COVID-19 symptoms". After some scrambling, David it thrown out of our shared room and will stay with Tim and Dennis in Tims AirBNB. Last 200 miles or so, I am running the seat heater on full to try to keep from shivering, and Honda Lane-Keeping Assist and cruise control are all that is keeping my on the road. I tell them to come to the hotel to pick everything up, because I cannot go one mile further than necessary. I end up just lying in the grass at the Comfort Inn getting bit by ants because I can't stand up for long. They get their stuff and go, I manage to make it to the room with my small suitcase and my 25 lb weighted blanket, take Excedrin and sleep aid, turn the thermostat to 63 degrees, collapse in to bed. Sleep for about 18 hours, look out the window, it torrential rain all day. Sunday night, I feel OK, no fever, I take one of my free Lockheed rapid antigen tests, negative.
Monday - looks flyable but dark. Another negative test, I feel OK, so I grab the stuff and go to the site, avoiding contact because even it it wasn't Wuhan Flu, it was something no one wants to get. Get everything set, start up, stand up to go to the handle - and feel that little "thunk" when my back goes into spasm. No problem in flight, but big problem walking, picking up the handle, starting the engine without falling into it. Limp around the rest of the day to get through appearance judging, then back to the room.
Tuesday - back some better, slightly better otherwise, get in several practice flights with some OK flights. No coaching because I was not to any consistent performance, but confidence coming back again. PCR test also shows negative, it was not COVID-19.
Wednesday- Circle 2 with 15 MPH over the pagoda, I do a OK safe flight. Check the scores, I end up second on the circle for the day. Pass second round. We come back for Golden Hour that evening, it's that perfect crystal-smooth air, so I start to get the feel back, feeling pretty good about my chances. Then I start having dehydration symptoms and couldn't stand up any more, it's a function of my prescripton, so I call to try to get that changed and slam a bunch of Gatorade.
Thursday - Circle 4, decent air. I didn't get anything to eat so I have a very fluttery stomach, back is much better, but am able to start paying attention to my posture, feel coming back some more. Two pretty decent flights, second again behind David again. Came back early after noon, not great conditions, back to light-headed, give up for the day and to get a hamburger with Tim and Dennis at the AirBNB. Resolve to have a talk with Dennis about party planning, plan it so you can get back to the field for Golden Hour.
Friday - after my previous problems I am just excited/relieved about managing to qualify - which, 3 weeks ago, was not going to happen. Everything from here on out is gravy. Two pretty good flights, some misfortune from my competitors (Joe D., Joe G., Paul, and Derek {who made one relatively small mistake that I saw, that's it}) and I am in the Top 5. Golden hour practice that night, I feel almost completely locked in, one more day and a little luck, and I might give Dave/Howard/Orestes a run for their money, particularly if the wind becomes challenging.
Saturday - well documented. I flew second in the one and only round, made a few relatively minor mistakes like the wingover, and looking forward for my #5 draw in the second round. The rest of the day everyone knows. While I can't say I was *happy* about finishing 4th, I always want to win, all things considered, I went from *absolutely no chance* in Early July and looking at a repeat of 2020 and 2021 at best, to figuring I was about two flying sessions away from being the favorite with at least 3 different health issues just during the contest. OH, and I got the same appearance points and the repair, while not invisible if you know where to look, was certainly not obvious.
So, in case anyone was wondering what the deal was, that was it.
Brett
Topic: My (admittedly self-indulgent) NATS story (Read 2082 times)
