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Monthly Archives: September 2016

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

LAFFS Report- 15 Sep 2016

It was another nice day for the LAFFS gang at the VA Lake. Steve & Tom flew their Tidewater seaplanes and Don flew his Apprentice seaplane. It was perfect—calm winds and glassy water. Landings were all perfection, just sliding on to the surface. There were a bunch of active duty military guys and several resident vets out today who watched us for a while. There were also boats there as usual. Ray sailed his new sailboat, along with Steve’s Surmount, Clem’s Nirvana and Paul’s Surmount sailboats. The wind was lighter than we would have liked, but as I’ve said before, sailing is an aerodynamic experience and light winds teach you how to get the most from a sailboat’s airfoil. Larry ran his Rescue/Fire boat and squirted water at us all with the water cannon. He really likes doing that! He also blasted around with a little Rio, a really fast small boat. Clem ran his ski boat around and got so interested in watching the sailboats, he forgot about his boat until he heard yelling from the shoreline. The ski boat had crashed into the reeds near the dock. More entertainment for the spectators. Steve even drove his recovery boat around the lake for a while to demonstrate its capability.... Read More

Sunday morning at the VA Center

The real world interfered with me getting there early enough to get some airplane flight shots, but apparently there were three planes in the air at the same time, attesting to good conditions before the wind picked up. Attached are some shots of the boating activities, highlighted by Paul joining the sailboat brigade. Also are shots of Ron’s great tug, my new Rio Off Shore boat, Clem’s two airboats, Dan’s swamp buggy, and Dan’s “Skipper” heading to the dock after experiencing a quirky aileron during flight.... Read More