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Yearly Archives: 2016
LAFFS Float Report- 29 Nov 2016
The day was too windy to fly, so some of us went out to Lake Helen to sail in the afternoon. Ron, Paul, Clem, Don, and Larry got there at various times, but by 2 pm we were all there comfy in our chairs. Wind was nice about 8-10 mph. The sun was shining and it wasn’t even chilly. We noted that it might be really hot in summer out there, so we will enjoy the covered pier at the VA Center. (more…)
Friday’s sailing (28-Oct-2016)
The forecasts of marginal wind conditions were correct—except instead of the 9-14 mph prognosticated by several weather centers, the wind speed at 9 a.m. was nada—zip—zero! About 10 o’clock or so breezes started to come and go and permitted some nice runs across the lake; however, the wind did not become steady until just before I left about 11:00. (more…)
Liberty Lake sailing this morning.
Six intrepid sailors showed up at Liberty Lake this morning and had a fine session with all six boats in the water at one time. Everyone had a great time, even when figuring out how to get a snared boat off of the fountain buoy by bumping it with other boats. Don Haines’ custom 17 ft. pole with its “shepherd’s crook” proved very useful for putting boats in the water at an acceptable depth and retrieving them so they didn’t bang against the concrete footings of the little dock at the south end of the lake. It was also just the ticket for shoving boats back into deeper water when they ventured close enough to the shore to get their keels mired in the muck.... Read More
Wingz-n-Dawgz 2016
This year’s “Wingz-n-Dawgz” is now history with 32 club members and relatives who came to the event. We managed to duck under the rain that came as far west as Lowes along Cache Road, but nary a drop on Elkins Field! The cloud cover provided a bit of a challenge in the air, as did the wind as it increased down the runway throughout the morning.... Read More
Landing a Taildragger by Clem Wehner
The objective in landing a taildragger is to get the aircraft on the ground without bouncing while maintaining directional control. With this in mind, there are generally two methods to land a taildragger—the 3-point landing and the wheel landing.
THREE POINT (FULL STALL) LANDINGS: In the 3-point landing, the aircraft is slowed to stall or near stall by holding the aircraft off the ground by gradually coming back on the stick (up elevator), attempting to hold the aircraft just inches off the ground until the airspeed depletes and the aircraft settles onto the ground. At this slowest possible flying speed the nose will be very high, the tail will be low, and all three wheels will touch down at the same time, or the tailwheel may actually touchdown first. Touching down at near stall is the desired method because it means the aircraft is barely still flying, is out of energy, and is unable to bounce back into the air. It is also at its slowest airspeed and the landing roll will be very short. It is the right type landing for a short field and for the RC model pilot to show off his skill at flying a taildragger. (more…)
LAFFS REPORT- Indoor Flying- 17 Sep 2016
There was flying, crashing, at least one midair, rubber-band winding, super glueing, BS’n, retrieving from the basketball net, bouncing off the ceiling, round-n-rounding, and much more. There were about 9 flyers there, which is a nice turnout for indoor. We covered our expense and then a little–perfect.... Read More
Today’s flying. 16-AUG-2016
My apologies for not having my camera with me on what would prove to be a memorably weird and wonderful day in several respects. ... Read More