225° -- Weblog of ModemMisuser, et al.

Ok, well, we'll just call it a "failed experiment".

I had Ubuntu 9.04 all installed, configured, and customized as the only OS on my machine. The desktop was highly customized, with AWN, conky, and screenlets all setup and such. Sound was working, I had my media directories shared and everything. Then I installed WINE and copied over my EQ2 directory. Even though EQ2 is listed as "Gold" for WINE and Cedega, it doesn't work at all on my hardware combination. So...

Reinstalled Windows 7. Luckily W7 is a very quick and painless install and it wasn't too big a deal, other than having wasted all that time. The one cool thing is that this W7 installation, unlike my previous, wasn't done as a Vista upgrade so it's actually (subjectively) running a little smoother.

Speaking of EQ2, my old friend Lummy finally re-upped his subscription and is playing. Now it's down to just Onte that needs to get off her ass and re-up!

We got in about 10-12 miles on our bikes over the weekend. We're both unbelievably happy with them. If only we'd stayed with the hybrid/fitness geometry all along, heh. We'd be into the dozens of miles for the summer. Oh well. We've got Ergon GC3 grips on order for both of us, and when we take the bikes in to have those installed, we'll have hers outfitted with a light kit like mine is. Then both bikes will be fully kitted out for any kind of riding we'd want to do.

Still waiting on a part for MUS 2.0. Seems Horizon is refusing to replace the entire plane, and instead will only replace the tail section, which is out of stock. Leaving me to wait, as the flying season ticks away. This is not making me happy one bit. :/ But, not much I can do. At least the Fokker should be flyable at some point this week.

So at some point over the weekend, I'm planning to backup a few apps, and install Ubuntu 9.04 as the only operating system on my computer. Why? Well, it's kind of a long-ish story.

I've been running Linux for years as a dual-boot setup. First Slackware for a long, long time, then Ubuntu, though for a little while I ran Gentoo as well. I always had it setup as a dual boot with whatever version of Windows was current. The plan was always to run mainly Linux but keep Windows as the dual boot for "when I needed it". Well, "when I needed it" always ended up being "full time" and as time went on I booted Linux less and less. The dual boot was basically a crutch and I never really got weaned off Windows which always bothered me, as there's (obviously!) no question which is the better OS!

Fast-forward to now. 2 weeks ago I installed the Windows 7 Release Candidate. It's good -- very good. Now, I've been running Vista for 2 years, and I've never had a problem with Vista. I don't have all the problems people say they have. But, I don't consider 5 years to be a valid computer life-cycle. Hell, I don't consider TWO years to be a valid life-cycle either. I pretty much fully rebuild my machine once a year. The tech changes that much. Most of people's Vista problems relate to trying to shoehorn it onto much older machines than it was designed for. Anyway, Vista works fine for me. But Windows 7 is even better.

So I've been running Windows 7 for about 2 weeks. Now, yesterday, I learned there is a big, giant caveat to installing the RC. See, when I installed it, I ass-u-med (and yes, this is my fault for not reading more on the subject) that when it came release time, basically a big window would come up asking for credit card info so I could license a retail copy of W7. And I would have done that. It seemed like something Microsoft would do. But apparently, at least as of right now, that's not the plan. Anyone that installed the W7 RC will need to fully reinstall the OS using the retail copy. If I'm going to reinstall my system, I'm going to do it with an OS I actually WANT to install.

That also got me thinking... And I realized... I'd like to avoid giving Microsoft more money. I mean, sure, they provide a passably good product that makes most people's computers work and lets them do fun and cool things. But their products are horribly designed and bloated and... bad. And not to mention the horrible DRM in W7. Plus, I've given them a ton of money over the years. :( I was there on release day for Windows 95 and bought it. I bought 2 licenses of Windows 98 and Windows ME (by that era, we were doing ok financially and had 2 computers). Then went on to buy 2 XP licenses, then a single Vista license. She runs a lot of proprietary business software that doesn't work on Vista, so she is of necessity still running XP. That's a LOT of money over the years. I'd rather not buy W7.

So Ubuntu it will be! Luckily, my machine isn't a "production" machine. If my machine's down for a day or a week, or hell, even a month, I don't lose money or anything. It's basically an absurdly overpriced game console. I use it mainly for gaming. Sure I browse the web and check email, but I can do that on my netbook, or hell even on my Wii or PS3. Mainly my machine gets used for gaming. Right now I'm only playing EQ2, and it's "Gold" rated under both WINE and Cedega. Everything else I need has a Linux equivalent, or will run fine under WINE/Cedega. The only things I have that most likely will NOT run under Linux are my proprietary RC items, like my EagleTree data logger software, CastleLink for programming Castle Creations ESCs, and the interface for my ClearView RC simulator. But all that stuff will work fine on the netbook, which is running XP.

So, Windows will go away entirely, and I'll enter the exciting world of being Linux-only...finally. It'll probably be difficult at first, because I'm sure I will have forgotten something. Some app I use like once a month or something. But again, my machine isn't "production important" so I'll find workarounds. ;)

Ok, so, go figure, I changed my mind on a plane! Amazing eh? But at least this time I did it BEFORE I bought it! I decided against the Taylorcraft for various reasons and instead ordered (from the LHS, so I will have it tomorrow) a Great Planes Fokker D.VII. This is a German WWI-era biplane, and supposedly a great flier.

I also got the exchange process started on my bad-from-the-factory MUS. The LHS is nice for this, they'll get one in as if I'd just ordered it new, and handle the return on their own time. I'll have the new and hopefully more pristine MUS tomorrow along with the Fokker. Woot, 2 new planes in the same week! Should be a blast.

I finally got to take my Trek 7.6 FX for a test ride last night. Weather had been bad since we picked them up, so I hadn't had a chance to ride yet. But last night, other than being hotter than hell, weather was ok, so I went out. Took a short, 5 mile ride, and wow. Yeah. The bike really feels like it was custom built for me. It has the speed of the road bike I had for a while combined with the shock-dampening and stability of a hybrid (which it is, so that makes sense). We kept the stock wheels (thanks to my wife -- I'd wanted to go with 32c wheels over the stock 28c's, but she insisted we try it all out totally bone stock... and she was right!), and the lower rolling resistance really does give a lot of extra speed. On our previous hybrids we had 35c wheels (the 7.3 FX's) and I had 32c's on my 7.5 FX. The 28c's are perfect! Good speed and good turning too. We have a keeper! I can't wait till she tries hers out -- she didn't want to brave the heat last night. Heh.

Yeah, going back to work after a week off SUCKS. Suck suck suckity suck. Anyway.

I'll be getting a new Mini Ultra Stick in the air this week -- this time with the full quad flap setup for all kinds of fun tricks. Should be fun. It'd be in the air already, but the one I got had some serious problems with it, so I'm RMAing it to get one in better shape.

I sold the SHP and as a result, I'll be able to get a Taylorcraft in the air! I wanted something scale and different, and that fits the bill! Everyone and their goldfish has a Cub and/or a warbird, but not too many have a Taylorcraft. Should be fun. Motor and servos are on the way, but I'll have the LHS order the ARF for me since it only takes a day to come in.

We finally reached the conclusion of our bike trying saga. The road bikes didn't work out for either of us. We both loved the speed, but for me, and my work commute, the road bike couldn't handle it. Our roads (and sidewalks!) are really bad. For her, with her CTS, leaning onto the hoods, after a 2 mile ride, she was in tears from the pain. Can't have that. So, awesome people that they are, Hodson's took back yet another pair of bikes, and we got Trek 7.6 FXs (hers is a WSD version). Upright riding position, but still have serious speed. We'll be happy with these...finally. ;)

I'm still playing EQ2, with Primordial Malice. Game is awesome, tons of content, and is gorgeous on modern rigs. Nothing else to really say, if you want a PvE game with lots of content and isn't bag of hammers dumbed down, EQ2 is it. We're on Befallen.

Anyway, likely more posts (and pics) to come this week as I'll be work on 2 new planes.

... for a week or so because my mom has been in town visiting from California. I'll be back to regular posting next week.

I'm sure I'll be posting about my next plane to be assembled and maidened and about our continuing bike saga!

Exciting stuff!

Haven't had a chance to write in several days; was a busy 3-day weekend for us.

Started by taking Friday off to attend Hoosier Hills Fiber Arts Festival. It was a fun road trip, and a lot of fun wandering around and seeing all the ... stuff ... for sale! Fiber in various stages of completion and all kinds of tools and gadgets for working with it.

Then on Saturday finally picked up both bikes! When they got in hers and assembled it on Friday, they called and let us know it was ready. But they'd forgotten to tell their mechanic/assembler that they had her old bike and needed to move all the accessories over. So when we went to pick it up, it was all nekkid, so we had to come back.

So Saturday we picked them both up and went for a couple rides. Mine's absolutely perfect, though I need to move the seat forward a bit. It's fast, very fast. We cruise at 16-17 mph fairly effortlessly. Hers is also very nice and she was able to ride much more confidently on it than on her old hybrid.

We do have a few issues to solve with hers though. She does have carpal tunnel syndrome -- and I mean actual, medically diagnosed, via nerve conduction (induction?) tests, carpal tunnel syndrome, not "oh, my wrist hurts sometimes, I have carpal tunnel". Of course on a road bike, your normal position is on the brake/shift hoods, and after a shortish ride her hand/wrist hurts a lot. We'll need to figure that out. I think her seat is back too far, which is causing her to have to lean forward too much, shifting too much of her weight forward onto her hands, but I'm no expert.

If anyone that reads this blog knows a lot about cycling with carpal tunnel, drop me a line at modemmisuser@gmail.com!

Didn't get a lot of flying in, as we had a lot going on all weekend, plus the weather kept threatening to be bad. That and the club's Public Day was Saturday so no open flying during the day then. I did get in my 3rd and 4th flight on the Helios on Friday evening though. This time with a 14x7 prop producing 900-1kw, and wow, this is a much better setup than the absurdly over-powered 13x10 setup. I'm going to try a 13x8 when I can get my hands on one, and I'm betting that will be perfect. This plane is everything I'd hoped it would be: big and easy to see, straight flying, and has no weird or bad characteristics. I'll be making a "review format" post for the Helios within the next couple days, and I'll try to do that with all future planes.

That little bit of comedy gold above is courtesy of Chad. :D

Anyway, it's true. The Helios is pure win. It's beautiful, big, and flies like an arrow with a rocket bolted to it: super straight and FAST! It's over-propped currently, due to our misinterpreting a ">" symbol used on a spec sheet. ;)

I'll fix that issue, but, wow, the plane completely rocks.

In other news, I got a call last night around 7 that my bike is in at the shop. Too bad the shop closes...at 7. :D Anyway, that was fast! I had them order it Thursday, and it's already in! That means my wife's should be in tomorrow (or maybe even today...) Anyway exciting times!

Busy morning, as I'm late doing a big update for a client... So I'll leave you with a picture of Roxy and the Helios...

Weather's been wonky lately, so not a huge amount of flying going on. Typical Midwest Spring weather. It'll threaten rain all day, rain off and on for 5 minutes at a time... makes flying a pain. But I have gotten several flying trips in. Flown mostly my SHP and Slick. Fun stuff. :)

There was a fairly serious safety incident at our field yesterday. A guy was tuning the engines on his glow-powered B-25 and had a prop strike his hand. It nailed two of his fingers, shearing off 2 of the blades on the 3-bladed prop. Needless to say, it cut clear to the bone, and there was a lot of blood. It's amazing that it didn't actually cut OFF either of the fingers. This just goes to prove what they always say: model airplanes are not toys! They can hurt you if you're not careful while operating them. His wife came and took him to the hospital and other people at the field saw to making sure his airplanes were taken somewhere safe until he can pick them up. That's one of the great things about the hobby: if something happens and you need to leave, there's nearly always someone that'll see to your airplanes and gear.

I'm still waiting on my aforementioned new bike to come in - should be this week! I'm pretty excited for sure. My wife also has one on order; basically the women's version of the bike I ordered. Hers is the Specialized Dolce Elite and it should be in near the end of this week too. She rode a road-style bike (what everyone used to just call a "10 speed") quite a bit when she was younger, and looked to be instantly at home on the roadie she tried out at the LBS, so we got it on order for her. :)

Gaming-wise, I've been playing EQ2, with some old friends. If you like content-heavy games, EQ2 fits the bill. There's so much to do in that game, that its common to hear people that have been playing since release say they've still not seen everything there is to see. I left WAR due to lack of real content, so being in a game with a ton of content - at all levels - is refreshing and good. Plus, of course, EQ2 has a very well-done Necromancer class, which is always a plus for me. And it also has Ratonga, another plus! (Even though my Necromancer is a Dark Elf and not a Ratonga... Heh.)

So, I hadn't flown at all this week, due to stupid random off-and-on rain/thunderstorms typical of Spring in Indiana. There were 15-20 mph constant winds. And, it was training night at the field. But flying had to happen! So I drug out my war-battered Mini Ultra Stick and went to the field!

When I say "war-battered", I mean it! This thing was in terrible shape when I bought it used (and fully setup) from my LHS. Since then it's endured all manner of abuse, from cartwheeling, to near-full-speed "landings", to being dropped, even halfway shut in a car door more than once. I keep pronouncing this thing "dead on next flight", but it still keeps flying. It'll probably outlive all my other planes, and all the planes I'll ever buy.

So yeah, drug out the MUS, 2 packs, and my TX, and went to the field. Chad brought his 3DHS 40" Edge. We slapped packs in and went for it. Flying these small, cheap planes in stupid wind is actually...amazing fun! The planes are so cheap that you don't really care what happens to them, so you just push them around the sky and have fun. We got in 7 flights between us in about 30 minutes and took off. Most fun I've had flying in a long time! Sometimes everyone in this hobby gets caught up in wanting and being excited about the next "big super-awesome plane", and we lose sight of just having fun with the planes and not worrying about setup, good weather, all that stuff. :D

Before the flying trip, I was at the LBS (Hodson's Bay; they rock!) to pick up my bag that finally came in, and to try out a Trek 1.5 they had ordered in. Meh.

Have you ever ridden a cheap, sub-$100 department store bike? Remember how loud, rough, and "hesitating" the derailleurs operate? Yeah, that's kind of what the front derailleur on the Trek 1.5 is like. It's a Shimano Sora, which is (scarily!) NOT their bottom-of-the-line component set. The rear derailleur wasn't too bad; it's a Tiagra.

Then, the shop d00d had me try out a Specialized Allez Sport (Double). It uses Shimano 105 components all around, and, yeah, if you want a graphic demonstration of the differences between the levels of components, this is it. Both front and rear on this thing shift ultra-smooth and quick, and nearly silent too. Ride position is good. Braking is very good.

I've got one ordered in 52cm. :D (Test bike was 54cm, which was ok, but I'd be more comfortable on the 52... so that's what it'll be!)

NEWS FLASH: THIS JUST IN: Chad isn't selling out of the hobby! Thank the gods (that don't exist)!

Woot.

That is all. Film @ 11.

I haven't posted in several days, mainly because there isn't much worthy of posting about. I'm waiting on several shipments which comprise all the stuff I need to get the Helios in the air -- all that stuff will be here by Friday. Weather has been not-so-good, so haven't flown much, other than the requisite "demo flights" of the SHP for my dad-in-law on Saturday. :) That was fun though.

My friend Chad had another equipment failure and is selling out of the hobby, which kind of sucks, but he's had really bad luck lately. :/

I've been out on my bike quite a bit though. My wife's started riding with me, which has been completely awesome. She wasn't so sure how she'd do, after not having been on a bike much in many years, and after having a nasty problem with her tailbone when she tried riding a year ago. But we've been doing 4-7 mile rides and she's enjoyed it and done very well at it!

I'm looking into maybe switching bike styles. I upgraded from the Trek 7.3 FX to the 7.5 FX, which is the same "fitness-style" geometry, but then got to thinking I might be able to get more speed out of a road bike, if I can deal with the ride position. I went to the LBS and tried out a Trek 1.2 (very entry level road bike) and actually... found it more comfortable for me than the FX series geometry! They're getting in a 1.5 for me to try out, and I'm looking forward to that, but I'm really thinking of the 2.1 or 2.3, or one of Specialized's high-entry-range models (Allez Compact Sport Double perhaps). We'll see!

Yesterday was an amazing day for flying. Clear, warm, and max 1 mph winds! And paradoxically, very few people were out flying! I got in 6 flights in a row. 1 on my MUS, 2 on the 40" Edge, and 3 on the SHP. I'm getting really comfortable with that SHP!

While flying the SHP and just trying different maneuvers, I started to see how much I've learned since I started flying last season. I got myself into situations, three separate times, that last season would have ended with a destroyed airplane. But I pulled out every time -- and didn't panic in the process. Oh, sure, it looked bad to the other people watching, but I was in control and not panicked, and the plane lives to fly again!

I'm still working on trying to do harriers. In order to do it, you've really got to re-learn a lot, and it's almost all done with rudder control, which isn't even used much in "normal" flying. Ah well, I'm getting there.

I have a new airplane on order - and a big one too. It's a Hyperion Helios "63e" size. 57" wingspan. And it's a pattern plane. Now, of course, I don't fly pattern, and I'm certainly not going to start marking out a box and flying strict IMAC sequences, but a pattern plane will provide a very stable, fun-flying airplane to fly normal aerobatics with. And it's a really, really nice looking plane...

Did a little more on my Simitar build last night. Well, progress-wise it was a little, but time-wise it was 3 hours! Every time I work on the build, I get it hammered further into my head "building planes takes a long damn time!!!!!". It's bizarre to think that this was once a very common way to get a plane into the air. It was either scratch build, or build from a kit that wasn't a lot better than scratch building, because the kits were die-cut back then. There were no ARFs at all, and even when ARFs started coming out, they were really, really bad and you were still better off building.

Anyway, got the leading and trailing edges of both wing halves sanded flush, and the 1/4 balsa glued to the leading edge and set aside to cure. This will then be sanded to shape the leading edge of the airfoil. I am not looking forward to that step! At all! I'd pay good money to avoid it! However, once that is done, a good portion of the hard part will be over with and it should be smooth sailing. I'm told that all the time-consuming stuff is being done first and that once the wing is done the build is way more than half over.

If I had my own shop, and the skills to do this build without massive supervision, I'd probably have 4 of these in the air by now. But I don't have a shop, and there's no way I could do this without Claude's help, so I've got to do it slowly, when he's available, and when I can set aside time. He's about a 20-30 minute drive, one-way, and of course he has other commitments, so I can't work on it every day. Plus I've got flying and other stuff to do too! Oh well, if I can get it flying before Winter I'll be happy.

While at Claude's working on the build, I got to see a thoroughly destroyed Mustang that a newer flier in the club had crashed. A lot of the "totaled" planes end up at his house, given he's the club President and an avid builder. This particular Mustang was slammed into the pilot line fence and the wing was sheared off and destroyed. To compound that damage, the pilot in his anger kicked the plane, causing more damage. Seeing this plane reinforced what I've already learned: "assuming you're not dead-stick, if a landing is going poorly, punch the throttle and setup again; don't keep fighting it in..." Heh.

I also spent 5 minutes setting up the 40" Edge I got in trade. Was easy to setup to the recommended throws and I'm looking forward to it's first flight as my plane. This should be a fun little plane to drag out to fly when I don't want to do a full pack-up for a longer day of flying. Just throw it in the trunk, bring a couple batteries and my TX, and I can fly it almost anywhere.

The training wheels are off my SHP, or at least that's how it feels. I was a little nervous about how it would handle with the full 3D arms and throws, especially after what happened during the maiden flight with that setup. But, wow, yeah, I was nervous for nothing. It flies great! And it's tons of fun with the full throws. I even forgot to flip it to low rates for the first landing, and the subsequent next takeoff! I was still fine! What an awesome airplane!

Yesterday was one of those crazy days at the field, where everyone in the club that actually flies, was out flying... seemingly at once! Our club is weird, a lot of the guys don't like to fly if there's more than 1 other person flying at the time. Not yesterday! I think at one point there were close to 10 planes up! Was cool to see, though a little scary when you're not used to that many people being up!

There are now 4 3DHS planes in our club...owned by 2 pilots. :D Myself and Chad. The picture up top shows all 4 of them. My SHP, the AJ scheme Slick that Chad has, the yellow Slick that used to be mine, and the red 40" Edge that is now mine. Yeah, I traded off the Slick. It's a really fun plane, and I really do like it, but for me and where I'm at in the the learning curve, I'm better off flying the hell out of the SHP (and I need to get the Addiction out and fly that too). Chad wanted another Slick and I kinda wanted the little Edge for a "keep in the trunk" type of plane, so we traded up + some cash on his end to even things up. He now owns 2 Slicks. Heh.

I'm also going to re-start my Simitar build. Claude, my club president, emailed and said "since North field is all flooded, do you want to work on it more?", and so I said... "sure, let's do it!". I'm headed out there tonight. It'll be a slow build, but I'm still excited about my first actual build. Plus I get a lot of control over the finished airplane. I'm already wondering how much throw I can get out of the elevons and rudder... ;)

The money from the Slick <--> Edge trade helped partially pay for a bike upgrade. The Weather Gods™ haven't exactly smiled on us here in Indiana lately, and I'm waiting on a bag to come in so I can carry things, so I haven't biked to work yet, but I did some longer (for me!) rides on my 7.3 FX over the weekend, and I realized, that as nice as the 7.3 is, and it is a nice bike, for doing 5 miles each way work commutes, I might want something a little nicer. So I talked to my LBS, the awesome Hodson's Bay Company, and asked if they'd do a trade-in on my 7.3 for something newer and nicer. They said "hell yes" and so I traded up to a Trek 7.5 FX. It's a big, noticeable upgrade over the 7.3. It'll be ready Wednesday. Can't wait. :D

The Wabash river is at around 20', and the North flying field floods out at about 14', so, yeah, it's long gone. :D South field is available of course, but it has its own set of issues. It can be totally calm or near-calm in town, and you go out to that field and the wind is all over. That was what it was like yesterday when I headed out, so I didn't get in any flying.

Mainly just watched one of the big glow guys fly his 60 and 90 sized glow planes and fight the wind with them, and try to convince a guy that, yes, his Blade 400 really is mostly junk. :D

I put the 3DHS long arms back on my SHP and set the plane up with the Stoops-recommended low and high rates. I had a kind of breakthrough the last time I flew my Slick, and I realized I'm to the point where I can handle flying things with absurdly high control throws. So those long arms are back on the SHP and I'll see how it goes. I've yet to fly it since.

The Slick is still away from home. It was at Chad's for landing gear repair, and he also needs a pair Slicks for a Top Secret Project™, so I haven't had it home yet. But I'm definitely (probably) keeping it (maybe). Heh. The landing gear repair he pulled off, though, is amazing. It looks like it's never been repaired, yet it's easily twice as strong as stock. If the landing gear breaks again, it'll be because the plane is mulched.

I also realized I need to drag my Addiction out to the field. I've only flown it once since I bought it!

The weather's supposed to be good today, so I'll be heading out to South field (North still flooded, of course) after work to do some flying. Hopefully I won't be posting pictures of any mulched airplanes later... ;)

... in judging the Slick as "not a plane for me".

The landing gear was repaired, and the thing was sitting there, able to be flown. So it was flown. On high rates. A tad tail heavy. And wow. It was nice. :D I even did some new maneuvers on it -- walls and parachutes. And did them pretty well, especially considering it was the first time I'd ever flown them!

So the Slick earned it's place in my hangar. I'm keeping it.

Well, I maidened the Slick. It didn't go so well, and I'm not sure I liked its flying characteristics. I'm a "transitional" pilot -- able to fly normal aerobatics and very comfortable doing so, but I'm just baaaaarely moving towards learning 3D. I'm very comfortable now with my SHP and I'd hoped the Slick would be a slightly larger, better flying version of that plane, but I'm thinking now...maybe not so much.

It was fun though flying it around, it just all went to hell when it came time to land. I had to make a few passes before even getting a shot worth taking, then I put it in kind of hot. Not super hot, but yeah, fairly hot, and it did way more damage than I would expect. The landing gear sheared at the blind nuts; just ripped right out of the wood. And of course, the wheel pants said "NOM NOM NOM, wing covering!" so now my wings are always going to look like ass. And not nice ass either. :/

So, I'm not sure what I'm going to do. My friend Chad is interested in buying another Slick, so mine may end up in his hangar, and I'll go sulk in my SHP-corner. :/

Oh well. Maybe I should've stuck with warbirds!

Got the 3DHS Slick in, took it over to The Shop(tm) and, well, it's nearly ready to maiden. The weather needs to cooperate. Thunderstorms and 20mph winds supposedly today, so that's Right Out. Tomorrow, maybe. Friday I've got something else scheduled and Saturday we'll be at Sheep Street, south of Indy. I may be able to fly towards evening on Sat, but probably not till Sunday!

The Slick's every bit as nice as I'd expected. Everything is perfectly built and goes together like it's supposed to. The "bad" part of these planes is the covering is so high quality it's hard to cut the openings for servos and the like. ;) That's a good "bad" thing, though.

There's 3 motors people commonly run in this bird, and I got the kind of "middle of the road" one, the 720kv Torque motor. It should be a good match for my flying. My friend Chad's putting the Hacker setup in his, and that's the motor the plane was more or less designed around. Then there's the Reaper GR-45, which has insane power. Chad's planning to build a second Slick with that setup. I expect the wings will rip off. :D

There was a thread started on RCGroups, asking which plane was better, the 55" 3DHS Extra SHP (which I own the 47" version of), or another similarly-sized plane from one of the "Big Guys". I personally think it was meant as a troll post, since that's sort of akin to asking "what's better, a 1970 Toyota Corolla that's missing 2 tires, or a Ferrari..." But anyway, various people responded, most of them with surprising restraint and class, especially for Teh Intarwebbernetz. Even Ben, the owner of 3DHS, finally responded, basically saying that the two planes really fill completely different needs, and that both of them were very nice, for what they're meant for.

My take on it is this (and I posted such). The planes from the "Big Guys", many of them fly pretty well. The fit and finish on the ARFs is "ok", if highly variable from time to time. These items fill a niche in the hobby. They're widely available, because every LHS carries them. So, basically, they get people into the hobby, and if they don't have bad luck and choose the wrong model, they provide a (sometimes) nice experience getting in. But when you get a little experience and start looking at what else is available, you end up finding the smaller guys, the more customer focused companies. These are companies such as 3D Hobby Shop, Precision Aerobatics, Hyperion, companies like that. Then you start to see huge gaps in quality -- which directly translates to a smoother building/assembly process, and also translates directly into better flight. I compared it like this: The "Big Guys'" planes are the beater you got when you turned 16 and got your license. Sure, it was cool, YOU HAD A CAR!!!!!!!@@ But, it was pretty basic. The higher quality stuff is the car you bought when you became an adult and bought the first car you wanted to buy. It's what you wanted, and it drove, looked, and performed much better than that beater.

I didn't manage to do the biking thing yet. I realized I don't really want to hang out at work all day in biking shorts, and I've got nothing to tote a change of clothes in, LOL. So I ordered a bag at Hodson's and it'll be in soon. And today it's supposed to pour anyway. I'm going to do it though! Heck, it's one of the reasons we bought the bikes in the first place. The vehicle I drive to work, while nice (and we have equity in it!), has a 5.7l gas sucking beast in it so it's not exactly a great idea to put a lot of miles on it anyway!

You may notice that I mentioned up there that we'll be at Sheep Street on Saturday. About 3 weeks ago we bought a spinning wheel. Apparently you can't just buy them off the shelf; they're more or less custom-built as needed. So now it's time to go pick it up! Which means a fun road trip! And a stop at The Strange Brew, easily the best coffee shop in Indiana! (Though Greyhouse is a close second, and local!) It'll be a fun road trip.

This weekend we took my bike, a Trek 7.3 FX, into our awesome local bike shop, Hodson's Bay Company to get checked over and ready to ride.

There's probably an old entry here on SoD from when we bought these bikes (she has a matching one); I believe it was back in 2006 (maybe 2007). I did ride it a bit after I got it, and she rode hers a bit. She starting having some hardcore tailbone pain after a short ride, and so she stopped being able to ride, and so I didn't ride much either. Now, though, I really want to ride to work a couple days a week. It's only 4.8 miles one way, no big deal at all. It'll save money, and the scary thing is, it might save time on certain days, the way traffic gets sometimes. Either way, it'll be fun and good for me.

While it was in, I had them put on tail lights and a headlight, since when I leave in the morning it'll be dark, as I come in at 5:30. Lots of gadgets strapped to that bike now. ;)

I also picked up a pair of Specialized biking shorts. I've rode in jeans all my life, but what the heck, it's supposedly a lot more comfortable if you wear proper clothing, especially in "certain areas" (use your imagination) so I picked them up. They're the style that look like normal shorts, and have the form-fitting "biking shorts" concealed inside. Very comfortable.

So I'm probably going to ride to work tomorrow morning. We'll see how it goes!

Got in a couple more flights last night on my SHP. Getting very comfortable with the plane, and landings are definitely getting better. Not flipping it on landing anymore. The SHP lands quite a bit differently from other planes I'm used to, so it's taking several flights to get landing dialed in. I'm going to try a suggestion from many people on RCGroups and that is to put in a programmed mix with a tiny bit (2%) of down elevator on low throttle only, to help combat the ballooning that the plane wants to do when you slow it for landing.

On these last two flights, I did quite a bit of tumbling and other "insane, sticks into the corners" type maneuvers, and started trying to harrier it a lot more. Harriers will take some work for me, as I've always been a lazy rudder flier, and you've got to use that rudder in harriers.

I bought my friend Chad's Precision Aerobatics Addiction, blue version. He had a bad run of luck last week and blew out no less than 3 (!!!) motors. 2 of them due to a completely faulty ESC, the other due to, well, probable abuse. ;) So he needed some cash to get back up and running, I wanted an Addiction anyway, so... I bought his. Flew that a single flight last night. It flies weird, of course, as it is a pure 3D airplane. While the SHP and most of the other 3DHS birds can fly normal, the Addiction really is meant to do 3D only. Got it trimmed out on my TX and flew it a bit, tumbles and sloppy-ass harriers. It's a fun plane. ;)

Tomorrow my 51" AJ Slick from 3DHS will come in. I got the full setup direct from 3DHS: the airplane, Torque motor and speed control, and servo package with Du-Bro long arms and extensions. The plane should fly exactly as it was meant to, since it's being built with all recommended components. I'm pretty excited to get that plane up and going. As nice as the SHP is (and it IS a very awesome plane!), the Slick is even nicer (and a bit bigger too!).

These smaller airplane manufacturers, like 3D Hobby Shop and Precision Aerobatics, are doing an amazing thing for the hobby. For a little less than it would cost you to field an airplane from one of the "Big Boys" such as Horizon or Tower, you can field one of the 3DHS or PA birds, and have a much, much higher quality airplane. And the customer service is amazing. The owners of these companies actively participate on forums such as RCGroups, and engage in friendly talk with the pilots of their products. It's really cool to be posting about a plane you own, and the owner of the company that made it (or in many cases the very designer of the plane!) will chime in and offer advice, or even just say "hey, cool, glad you are enjoying the plane!". You rarely, if ever, get that with the "Big 2" companies. And again, these airplanes are considerably better quality all around... for less money!

So, there I was, wondering if the hundreds of rabid fans were just dead wrong about the SHP being an awesome airplane. I saw a little of it, with the big 3700mah pack in there; it balanced with that. But that pack is 330g, vs. 184g of the ~2220mah packs. And the plane is designed for the smaller, around 2200mah battery packs. And I have a lot of packs in that size. I want to use them!

So I figure... The plane flies fine with the heavier pack. How much weight would I need to add to get it to balance with the lighter packs? Turns out, 28g (1 ounce!). That's it. 4 7g pieces of lead in the nose, and she balances perfectly with the lighter packs!

As far as flying, wow, yeah... I'm in love! It lives up to everything I'd hoped, and more! Inverted? No problem, only a tap of elevator needed. I did my first (albeit sloppy) knife-edge flight, and some really, really sloppy harriers. Very happy now!

The next plane to enter my hangar will be another 3D Hobby Shop plane -- the 51" AJ Slick. I flew one, briefly, as my friend Chad owns one. He flies with full 3D-style control throws and zero expo (lunatic!), so it was "interesting" but I see with some expo and slightly lower rates I'm going to love that plane too. It should arrive early next week. This will also be my first 4s-powered plane. It seems such a little difference, only 3.7 more volts, but everyone says 4s vs. 3s is a night and day power difference. I can wait to see how it goes. I have 4 3000 mah packs coming from China.

We went to Indiana Beach yesterday, and rode some rides!

Normally that wouldn't be a big deal for anyone living around here. But if you've been following this blog for a while, you know we're finally able to be able to do this. Sure, we could've gone last year or even the year before, but we didn't. Before that, we wouldn't fit on any of the rides.

Heh, so, we went, and ... it was awesome. We had a ton of room even. Which of course made the rough wooden roller coasters feel even rougher. ;)

If you've never been to IB, wow, they have some awesome wooden coasters there -- the Hoosier Hurricane and the Cornball Express. Both very rough, well designed wooden coasters. There's also the Lost Coaster of Superstition Mountain... a very unique coaster that starts with an elevator, and then plunges into a very twisty, droppy, mostly dark insane trip. Very fun.

It was also nice just walking around there and having it be "no big deal". The walk up and down the boardwalk used to feel like a hike, but now it's just ... nothing.

Now, of course, we want to hit the bigger parks we haven't been able to go to in years, King's Island and Cedar Point. Hopefully this summer we'll make it to at least one of those!

Well, I got 2 flights on the SHP on Saturday.

The first, out at the club's North field, got cut a little sort by impending floodwaters. Sigh. It went fairly well, much better than the maiden. It was still flying very tail heavy but not quite so bad. With the improved control resolution it was easier to deal with. Landing was a pain; it wanted to balloon like mad every time I dropped throttle below about 1/4, which makes landing a pain. But I got it down and fled the oncoming flood. :D

Later that day I took it out to the club's South field, which doesn't flood, and gave it another shot. The plane had been flying as if it were very tail heavy, and according to the recommended balance point, it was. Even sliding the battery all the way forward it still was. So, I tried a heavier battery. The batteries recommended for this plane are 3-cell (3s) lipo packs, in the 2200 mah range. These packs weigh around 180-190 grams. I have a 3s 3700 mah pack that weighs 330 grams so I tried that. With this pack, the plane balances where it should. And it flies like it balances properly!

Now, all the guys in the RCGroups thread for this plane say basically "as long as the battery is on the tray the plane will fly fine"... I don't know what these guys are used to flying, but, umm, yeah, it doesn't fly right with the balance point an inch back of where it's supposed to be. It flies very tail heavy and it's a pain. It flies 1000% better with the balance point where it's supposed to be.

I did some work on the balance situation and have it balancing more or less where it's supposed to, with the smaller, lighter packs. They need pushed way forward, but it should be manageable. Flight testing of this setup should come today or tomorrow.

I'm also going to be getting up one more plane for this season, and I'm not sure which one yet. I have the Hyperion Extra 260, 40e size that I traded a friend for, and I can't wait to fly that. It's a big plane, 54" wingspan, and flies on 4s packs. I've flown it before, when my friend owned it. It flies very well. But, I've got one more plane I can do, and I'm not sure what it will be.

I could go with the Precision Aerobatics Addiction. It would be an awesome plane, probably the best, for learning 3D-type maneuvers on, but 3D is kind of all it can do. I've got sport planes sort of covered with the Hyperion 260 and the SHP (and my MUS as well), but I do like versatility...

There's also any number of 3D Hobby Shop planes I could get going... An Extra SR, 51" AJ Slick, 47" Edge or Velox, or even the 49" Sukhoi. They're all good planes, and have some versatility.

Or I could go with a Hyperion plane. They make a lot of very nice airplanes in a wide range of sizes. Warbirds and aerobatic models. I've been looking at their 70e size Chipmunk for a long time. It's a big 64" bird, for flying airshow-style aerobatics with.

So, I've got decisions to make... But I can't do it until an annoying non-paying-bidder situation is worked out with eBay that's tying up some funds.

Ah well.

Well, the SHP finally had it's maiden flight on Wednesday. It survived the flight, but it was certainly a challenge to get it back down safely. I thought I had it all setup perfectly, according to the infamous Extra SHP Sport Setup, with greatly reduced control throws compared to the hardcore 3D setup and all. But...

I forgot to consider mechanics. :D See, I used the 3DHS 3D control arms, since I will eventually progress to flying 3D maneuvers and will then need the full 3D control throws. But right now, I'm just flying on "sport" throws which are very small compared to 3D. So, ok, I needed a lot less throw, so I dialed it down using end points and dual rates in the radio setup. Some of my rates were as small as 17%. Everything's fine right? Just get the throw you want, using any means you can, right? No. I was wasting around 80% of the servo's resolution, completely losing all mechanical advantage, and making the plane fly a little weird.

But, I got it in the air, flew it around, and landed it. And it's in one piece, looking good as new. After checking with RCGroups people, I realized where I'd gone wrong, and so I took off the 3D control arms, and installed the standard Hitec arms. Boom, proper sport throws @ 100% endpoints/rates. It should fly a ton better now. :)

I also just upgraded my transmitter, from a Spektrum DX7 to a JR 9303. 2 extra channels, a lot more programming features, and a much higher build quality. Gimbal and case quality is much higher. It's likely the last transmitter I'll ever need, unless I become very wealthy and get into turbine-powered jets and need 12 or 14 channels.

Well, after an annoying soldering job, the SHP is very nearly ready for a maiden flight. The speed control I'm using (a Castle Creations TB-54) had apparently been used, even though I bought it as new. Someone had apparently pulled the red wire out of the connector to the RX previously (which disables the built-in BEC - a normal thing to do), and then re-inserted it. Badly. So, when all 4 servos were asked to deflect to full, not enough current was able to be delivered and the servos would all twitch and the RX would brown-out. Not good. Had that happened in flight, I'd be out a plane. Sooooo, desolder the Deans connector, and solder in an external BEC. Pain in the butt. But, it's done now and all works fine.

The only thing really left to deal with is some control slop in the rudder and one of the ailerons. Not sure how I'll fix it, but I'm sure someone from RCGroups will have ideas.

Then, the bird can fly! That is, once the wind goes away. We've had 15-20 mph winds for the last 3-4 days. And not just steady winds -- it's gusting randomly from all directions. Bad for any flight, triply bad for a maiden. Oh well. Save the plane, be patient!

But I don't want to be! I want to fly this bird...badly.

My new transmitter, a JR 9303 will be here Wednesday. I got a fantastic deal from an RCG'er so I went for it. This is likely the last new transmitter I'll ever need. I'm pretty excited to get it -- the feel of the controls is considerably better than my current TX, plus the 9303 is 9 channels vs. 7 and the programming is a lot nicer.