=========== “From the Pits” Field Activities, Sep.
18, 19 & 20, ‘09 ===========
…….... All photos and videos by Frits Jetten unless otherwise
indicated …….....
What do you say we start with a safety item? Those of you using rechargeable
lithium polymer batteries should read this and see the pictures!...
Club member Ken Tow has many electric planes, several of them homebrewed.
He’s definitely not a novice and has collected a large assortment
of li-poly batteries, some of them costing hundreds of dollars. I
will let Ken explain in his own words and pictures:
“While getting ready to head to the field today I decided to
"top off" my packs so they would be ready to go when I got
there. So I hooked my charger to my truck as usual, put four new packs
on to charge and went about loading the rest of my goodies in the
truck. Well, about 10 or 15 minutes go by and I noticed some smoke
out of the corner of my eye. I proceeded to investigate and found
the front of my truck and the grass below it on
fire!”
“Best I can tell the charger must have shorted
out. The dead short on four 3s 30c 2000 mAh batteries is roughly
60 amps per battery. Bad part is I had a couple of more packs sitting
next to the ones being charged that also burnt to a crisp, and my
battery box with 15 or so batteries in it (including a couple of $600
packs) was on fire too!”
“Luckily the box burnt, but not the batteries in it. The use
of a good balance charger greatly reduces the risk of fire. Lipos
should be charged at or below 1c ( e.g. 2000 mAh pack= 2 amps), and
not discharged above the peak rating.”
“I spent Sunday and Monday fixing the truck.
It’s back together, no worse for wear, but the other stuff is
history. Just when I was going to order the motors and electronic
speed controllers for my B-25! Oh well, stuff happens… I talked
to Great planes about this and they requested pictures and details
of what happened.
Not sure what/if they will do anything about it but I guess we will
see.”
Because I’m not very familiar with li-po batteries, I asked
Ken for some explanation of that “c rating”. Here’s
what he came back with: “The "c rating” of a battery
stands for its capacity, for example: 1000 mililiamps=1 amp. Charging:
Most li-pos have a charge rate of 1c (1 x capacity, so if you have
a 1000 milliamp pack it should not be charged above 1 amp (1 x capacity).
It’s fine to charge below 1 amp, it will just take longer. Smaller
packs (below 1000 mAh) are charged with the same principle (e.g. a
850 mAh pack should not be charged above .85 amps.)”
“Discharging: If a 1000 mAh pack has a constant discharge rating
of 10c it shouldn’t be discharged above 10 amps (10 x capacity.)
Most packs have a constant and a burst "c" rating, so If
it had a 20c burst the maximum burst current would be 20 amps. Over-discharging
will cause a fire just as quick as over-charging. That’s why
it’s so important to check the current draw on a motor/prop
combination when setting up a new plane.”
Now to the field activities. Friday… Newcomer Jim Jordan showed
up with his new Ultra Sport, the one Gary Johnson built
for him. Frits made a test flight on it, and all went very well…
Russell Ward had one of his many his Cubs and his Avistar trainer
with him. Not
sure if he flew at all. He should have, to blow the dust off of this
one… Spotted another of those wingless wasps, also known
as “cow ants” or “cow killers”. This one was
a little smaller. Don’t mess with them. They’re
BAD!
Saturday… Jonathan Festa was flying his giant scale 3D plane,
the Edge-540.
His dad, Jerry, was in town from Phoenix, AZ. He also flies these
big birds. While
flying Jonathan likes to spread them wide.
It’s a hereditary condition known as the “Festa Stance”…
Sam Chest showed up with his Extra-260.
Still no decals on this nice
plane… Jon Koppisch flew his big Yak-54.
He and Jonathan did some formation
hovering. Nice
show!
This was the day of club President Enzo Finizola’s surprise
40th birthday party. Enzo’s wife Susan (on the left) had been
planning this event.
The birthday boy (he’s the big one) didn’t have a clue!
Several club members contributed to the party by bringing drinks and
food. Thanks to all who brought something. The birthday cake looked
very colorful and patriotic.
The blowing out of the candles was done with safety in mind.
Jim Quint ‘s wife Annette enjoyed herself.
Jim did too, of
course. So did Dean Ritola, and Ed and Mike
Callen… Henry Waltman tried to hide the enormous piece of
cake that he cut for himself.
Tony appeared to be on a diet, while René threw all caution
to the wind and had herself a generous helping of cake.
Speaking of enormous — how about
this?
Rod Gilbert, who is a member but doesn’t fly often, brought
his pretty daughters Jennifer
and Nicole… Larry and Belinda Rodgers and brought their
cute-as-a-button granddaughter…
After the meal some needed to relax…
Here are Max Needels with wife Nikki and son Dale.
Terry Brownlee brought his newest plane, a very nice-looking Yak.
He also had a couple of smaller
planes… Max flew his profile
Edge-540… Henry and Tony flew Henry’s Radian sailplane.
This really is a great-flying powered
glider. It has an electric motor and it’s hand-launched.
Henry made sure Tony didn’t get too wild with that glider…
Tommy Shields flew his CAP-232 “Breitling”.
Larry Rogers flew his Airstar International “Mongoose”
gasser. He’s getting farther and farther out with it now. Flying
nicely!…
And finally Tony showed off his newest
Cub. Tony had taken the easy way to get it finished. He had contracted
Wayne Boudreaux to build this ¼ scale
Cub. And it’s coming right along. Wayne added nice touches
such as a working, spring-loaded door handle.
Ken Tow brought some of his planes and his family. He had his electric
Funtana X and another home-brew plane, the one I have decided to name
the “Blue Surfer”, which I had never seen in
the air. It didn’t fly today. Ken’s sons Jonathan
and Jordan had a good time with their Air Hogs CyberHawk.
It’s a wing-flapping ornithopter.
The boys did great keeping the flapping aircraft airborne.
It’s an amazing little flying
machine!
Ken asked Frits to fly another of his electrically powered creations,
a speedy little yellow and green
racer. Well, Ken’s hand-launch was perfect and the flight
went just great, until… Frits did a roll! The plane rolled slower
than Frits anticipated, but then, as it finished the roll, it spun
out at the bottom and crashed. Luckily only the prop
broke.
Sunday… When I got there, the scavengers were
hard at it… Johnny Turner showed up with his big Raptor
90 helicopter and his small, electric Align T-Rex 250 helicopter.
That little heli flies very
well. Frits couldn’t resist taking some close-up pictures…
Jon Koppisch brought his profile Yak-55SP, an airplane I don’t
remember seeing before.
I didn’t see it in the air today, though.
Henry Waltman showed up with a brand-new plane, a 2-seater Spacewalker.
I never even noticed until Henry insisted I take a picture of it with
him. Al Ayler got to fly it also, which was some cause for concern.
Henry was happy to get it back
to the pits… Paul Verger flew his red Aeroworks Extra-260
(I think…), Lee Carroll also flew an Extra, a small electric
(I think…) and Roger Hagler flew his Lazy Bee (THAT I know!)
It was the third Sunday of the month and that meant it was time for
combat!… There were only three participants. Combat organizer
Andrew Smith was ready with his Phence Post combat
plane. Russ Green flew a Battle
Axe. And Johnny Turner had his Phence Post ready.
Andrew lost his elevator in the second round, crashed and was grounded.
The three rounds were rather uneventful.
There were several close
calls. It all ended in a tie between Russ
and Johnny.
Sam Guirges got three flights in with his Solo Star trainer. He’s
done takeoffs and landings, and is improving his skills. Frits keeps
after him to “Line up with that pole!” and to keep “Wings
level. Wings level!” Sometimes Frits thinks that Sam is hard
of hearing! The last flight ended in a steep landing in the grass
that broke the nose gear mount out of the firewall.
Paul Kelly brought a whole fleet of planes. A NexSTAR trainer, the
Lancair, a yellow Four Star 40 and a new Uproar. By the way, Paul,
how’s that red Four-Star
40?... Paul made a nice landing with his Lancair.
Craig Robison helped Paul take the Uproar off. For the first time,
I believe. Paul
had a good flight.
But then, while flying the NexSTAR, things turned sour for him. The
trainer had a problem and went in east of the runway. The damage looked
pretty bad, but I’m sure Paul will have it fixed
soon.
Andrew flew his newest addition, a small, electric Corsair that used
to belong to Steve Drake. It came to Andrew in rather dismal condition.
Many scars. But Andrew had it all fixed up and it flew extremely
well. It’s much, much faster than Mike McLaughlin’s
little Corsair, Andrew told me... Billy Toliver (on the right) flew
his Hangar 9 T-34 Mentor.
With him was Devin Wieniewitz, who flew his Cermark biplane.
Dewey Brown flew his CAP-232, the “Alitalia”.
This is a nice-looking plane capable of some fine aerobatics.
Dewey had a great
flight… At that same time Russ was flying his small combat
plane, a green streamer attached. Dewey didn’t even notice that
his CAP had snatched the streamer from Russ’ little combat plane!
Whew, that was close!...
David Doss flew his Yak-54. Here he is with Paul Kelly, who acted
as ground crew.
David was elated because nothing fell off of the plane this
time!... Some of you may remember Mike
Richardson. He flew as a guest today. Nice U-Can-Do 3D
airplane… Frank Madison had brought his P-47 Thunderbolt.
This plane has had several nice flights so
far…
Billy Ray Krebs Piper showed up with a J-3 Cub 40, which is for sale,
by the way, for those of you who may want to join the Cub craze that
appears to be sweeping Irvington Field. Billy Ray also had a nice,
blue and yellow AT-6
Texan. Jon gave
it a go. A little later, Billy Ray consulted with prominent member
of the North End’s Senior Advisory Group (SAG), Wayne
Boudreaux.
Al Ayler was back with his 1/3 scale Aeronca Champ, and the relatively
new Douglas SBD “Dauntless” and yellow Bearcat, the “Beetle
Bomb.” The Champ had a nice flight, after a rather shaky
takeoff. Trimming problem? Trim? What? Al TRIM? Well, he managed
to land it all
right. The Dauntless flew well, and looked fine when it swooped
in for some low
passes. The Beetle Bomb also did
great. The landing was a bit swervy.
But Al was happy!
Our Azalea City Model Aeronautics Annual Fall Scale Fly-in
is scheduled for Saturday Oct. 24 & Sunday 25. Blow the dust off
of your scale planes, scale helicopters and scale jets, charge your
batteries and plan to be
there!
Notice: Forum Administrator Alvin Reed informed me that there is
a new rule in the Swap Shop/Flea Market on the Mobile Area RC Model
Aviation Forum. More information below…
That’s all for now. I’ll see you at the field. Be safe!
========== Advertising Your For Sale Stuff in the Swap Shop/Flea
Market===========
You know that you can advertise your For Sale items in the Mobile
Area RC Model Aviation Forum’s Swap Shop/Flea Market. You can
even include photos, which is always helpful when you try to sell
RC stuff.
To use this feature, go to the main menu
shown on the left of this report and select Swap Shop.
First-timers must register with a username and password, but that’s
free and it is very easy.
New rule! - Inactive topics will be pruned when 160 days old. Listings
will be displayed for about five months before being pruned. Please
edit your topic to reflect any changes, if the item(s) sold, or if
they are no longer for sale.
======== If You Have Any Comments About These Pits Reports…
=====
I welcome any comments regarding these Pits Reports — good
or bad.
E-mail me > fjetten@aol.com.
Azalea City Model Aeronautics Website > http://www.acma-rc.com/index.html
Frits Goes Hollywood - Click For Details
