I'm back in the races ....

[Michael]

I have my Nooner finished now, and I'm ready to practice.

My racing goals for 2014 are modest.

My new strategy is to practice flying smooth and steady laps, but necessarily too fast.

If I can fly 10 laps consistently, I'll probably place higher in scoring than I did last year, even if I don't win any races.
I figure that if I simply finish each race successfully, it will be better than crashing and not finishing, and I'm bound to beat faster racers who crash.

[sihinch]

Looks like your serious! Glad to have you on my team!

[thehaze]

Nice looking model.

Can't wait to start turning laps with you guys!

[Frank v B]

Michael

That's the spirit. 
One of my kids' coaches said during a basketball practice "First get good, then get fast".

Frank

[piker]

Lookin' good, Michael!  Seeing that makes me want to get going on my racer build.

Soooo, a co-worker here at work, asked me yesterday if I had a foam cutter.  I said "I used to, but I gave them all away years ago.  However, I do need to build one very soon".  So I took this opportunity to put a hot wire bow together, that we can use to cut some sections for testing in the wind tunnel in a couple of weeks. 

It's now done and tested with the charger that Ben graciously donated to the cause, as a power supply, and I'm ready for when I need to cut my racer wings.  One step closer 

[Michael]

OK, my Nooner flew today, thanks to the help of a member of another team!

Ed maidened my Nooner, I adjusted a the ailerons, and then Ed trimmed it. It flies very straight and smooth, and then I flew it about 10 laps but at about 60% throttle.

At this speed my flying is fairly precise and smooth. This is where my practicing starts.

Ed took the model home and will program the break in the speed control.

Thanks Ed!

[battlestu]

I have the castle creations field programmer if anyone else needs adjust their esc (just ask it is always in my box)

[Frank v B]

Welcome back Michael.  You will do fine.


re your comment "If I can fly 10 laps consistently, I'll probably place higher"


I found that my goal was to reduce the brain farts per race.  I would have 5 great laps, then one all over the place trying to catch up with my plane again and back under control. Once it got down to one problem per race, I tried to delay it as long as possible.  Luckily most other flyers.... except Ed, had the same problem.


Frank

[Michael]

I flew in the first set of races, but wasn't fast enough, even at full throttle; I was about 10% slower.

I changed from a 5" x 5" prop to a new 5.5" x 5.5" and noticed a significant increase in speed, but I broke the prop on landing. The brake works fine, and I even restarted the motor close to the ground to get it from a vertical position to a horizontal position, but it stopped vertical again, and then it was too late.

It was a great prop, but it was $12.

Ed suggested a source for a folding prop in similar sizes.

What is that source/link?

[piker]

You need to use @ed.... 


Glad to hear you found some extra speed.  Do you know what the fresh battery, static draw is?

[Michael]

I don't know. The ESC and the battery were warm but not hot.

[Ededge2002]

@Michael
The folding props we talked about are unfortunately expensive and a little less efficient than the conventional props available these days.  From what I understand the 5X5 is just under the APC 5X5 but it will fold and prevent breakage.  Most running these props use lots of power to make up for the slight efficiency losses.  The limited selection makes it tough to get a good match for the motor were running as there are just two sizes available!

http://www.soaringusa.com/GM-5x5-Pylon-set-3.2-shaft.html

Let me know if you plan on ordering one.....

[Michael]

Thanks Ed, but I don't want to 'save my prop' at the expense of flying slower with a less efficient prop.

Anyway, I really need a 5.5/5.5 to be competitive.

I guess I'll buy more non-folding props, but I'll try to be more careful.