Riding the Tuesday Wind

 

It was a gorgeous June day today; cool, sunny, and a constant breeze. Okay, maybe 10-15 mph wind is not exactly a breeze, but it was still nice. However, the "breeze" wasn't the ideal condition for flying small or light RC aircraft, so most of the club pilots kept their planes parked in their hangars. A few brave (or foolish?) souls took to the air despite the wind. It turned out to be a fabulous evening of flying.

Prepping aircraft for flight. Notice how the large flag in the distance is stretched out?

Donnie and Rob tested the wind with their Wacos. The Waco model handled the wind with ease.

Mike rode the wind with his Conscendo sail plane, while Danny did aerobatics with a Multiplex Weekender. 

The real fun began when Danny took flight with his four-stroke nitro bird. The plane was designed by one of our late club members, Azar. It looped and rolled in the wind without issue. (Well, almost.)

Profile shot of Danny's plane. Take a good look, because you'll be quizzed later...

Can you find the plane in this photo? Hint: it isn't in the sky...

Okay, quiz time: What has changed about the airplane between this photo and the first photo?

Another view...

So...here's the story. Danny was negotiating the wind without a problem; loops, rolls, inverted passes...he's a pro. He puts the aircraft into an inside loop, but suddenly it's not going where he pointed it because of the stiff crosswind. Uh-oh. The correction causes an unplanned loss of altitude and *BANG*...it skims the ground ripping off the landing gear, the gear mount, and snapping one of the balsa longerons.

It's a testament to the pilot's skill that he recovered, that the plane didn't end up in a pile of mashed balsa and plastic covering. He made several passes down the runway before gently setting the plane down on its belly. Nice Job! 

Are you an RC pilot looking for a place to fly, or looking to start an RC aircraft hobby? Our members fly all kinds of aircraft, at all skill levels. We have one of the best flying fields around, and an active membership that flies throughout the week. 

If you want to check out the field and meet some of the members, we usually fly on Tuesday and Thursday evenings, and Saturday mornings. You can also contact us at smacohio@gmail.com to arrange a meeting time at the field.