Ignoring my better judgment to take the bait of a troll'ish kind of post... I will say:
How odd... That is almost the dead OPPOSITE of my experience...
I just roll out of bed, toss my stuff in the van and just go to the field. When I get to the field, I drop my plane on the line, hook up lines, fuel up, spinner flip, look at the needle position, yup, it's hot out, put it at 6 o'clock, oh, it's cool out, 4 o'clock... and put in a pattern. I can usually put up as many flights as I have fuel... a gallon gets me 16 flights on a 8 oz tank and I can put up as many back to back flights as I want, engine temp is a non issue. I have a stooge if no-one is around, but find it is safer to fly with other people to chase people out from wandering into the circle.
The epower guys I fly with have to either spend time pre-charge batteries at home, or bring them up out of storage mode at the field to top them off. Hook up the meter to make sure they are as charged as the charger says they are. Oh, it's hot out? Get out the programmer while it's on it's back, set the rpm/gain, or oh, it's cold out? ... same thing the other way. Then they bring a plane stand to the flight line, flip their planes on their backs, pull the cowl, install a fresh battery, shim it, Velcro it, and connect wires, make sure everything isn't going to come loose and blow off the magnetic cowl at the bottom of a square, then go to the flight line, put in an arming plug, hit a button, wait for the delay, then take off... rinse lather and repeat.
Shew! I sure feel like my way is much less effort! PLUS...No standing around playing mother hen to batteries, and not worrying about balancing batteries or putting them into storage mode after flying. I just give one quick wipe with a paper towel under the rudder, stick it back in the van and I am done!
It is all in how you perceive things and your comfort level in doing them. Poking a little fun at your expense aside, I am very happy you found a system you like and are comfortable with. As long as you are having fun, it's all good!
EricV
I note how convenient, easy, and practical electric CL is.
1. No need to spend time adjusting and tuning a glow engine.
2. Very quiet-can fly at any place that allows electrics that is big enough without worrying about the noise issue. In Los Angeles County, glow CL has only 2 legal fields.
3. Just plug the battery, turn on the timer and head to the center and get ready.
4. As soon as the flight is done, grab another battery, and repeat. My motor is absolutely cool to the touch after a full throttle 3 min. flight.
5. No need to depend on another person to hold the plane on takeoff.
6. No need to fuel proof anything or clean oily residue from a plane.
All this really was emphasized today. I was the only electric CL flying; I managed to fly 6 times while, in the same time frame, other glow pilots flew only once or twice at the most. The rest of their time was spent tuning the engines, making adjustments, fueling, starting the engine, engaging in conversation, and so on. You see, I like to maximize my flying time and I don't like to spend time in no flying things/this includes all the conversation and small talk I see at all flying fields.
Topic: The beauty and convenience of electric CL (Read 4667 times)