Monday, October 29, 2012

And then there were two.

 The weather was cloudy and not too windy Sun. morning. After breakfast at the Roadside Diner in Central Village I loaded up the former PT-73, now the Honey Bee, and headed for the land fill. I had installed an APC 11 x 4 but took a 11.5 x 4 just in case. After getting the lines out and clips evened out, one was longer than the other, I changed the props. The engine started up with a little lighter fluid and I set the needle for 9000 rpm. With only an ounce and a half of fuel on board i pulled the release string and the plane rolled a bit and lifted off. The winds were 10 mph or so, not too much for some straight and level test flights. The plane flew very steady unlike it did before the rebuild. I did some inside and outside loops and the planes controls felt real close what they should. Before the lines were about 3/4" difference in length because of the clips and the handle was offset to give even up and down control. I didn't change the push rod length only "zero'd" the lines and handle. Just like the red and white plane it flys very stable now with a good turn and level wings. In the words of Phil Robertson "I'm happy, happy, happy.
  Storm update; Several trees in town have been completely denuded of leaves because of the 20 mph winds and ,so far, 1/4 inch of rain. Film at eleven, or maybe not.
  I have to order some drill rods to make a wing jig for the Strega kit. The engine will run close to $350.00. a .61 rear exhaust. There are blocks up to 40 inches long by 1 by 3. I'll try to mold sheets instead of carving.

1 comment:

BtnFlyGuy said...

Perry,
I've recently returned to C/L and I'm mighty impressed with your blog. I used to live in Groton, CT and now live in MA and have recently met with fellows who fly in Saugus and Wrentham. I enjoy your detailed articles and look forward to more. Justin in Ayer
jt_benham@hotmail.com