flyingdoc Posted July 12, 2011 Share Posted July 12, 2011 Great flight last night. Weather was peachy in Cheshire. Or should I say great three flights. Laid out the wing set up the motor. Warmed up the motor. Wind was excellent for a simple super smooth reverse. Climbed to 120 feet and noticed that the left brake was a little stiff. Looked up to see it wrapped around the c lines. Tried to jiggle and shake and push it loose. To no avail. Brought it back in for landing knowing that it would really only easily travel in the down direction so only one chance at the flare. Fortunately the wind was still excellent so really a very easy if frustrating landing. Untangled the brake, laid out the wing again, again nice easy reverse from a single lift. Turned to take off and at around 70 feet looked down into my cockpit to see an empty space where my iPhone should be. S**t! and I had just taken off from a recently cut hay field so what's the chance of finding the phone again? Whipped back round with a quick 80 feet circuit. Landing roughly where I have taken off with no sign of the phone visible from the air! Once the wing is down and I'm starting to unclip a little voice in my head makes me decide to fully unzip the lid of my cockpit and yes I find the phone had just slid across to the other side. Third time lucky, airborne again for the remainder of 90+ minutes of really smooth air and a nice sunset. Moral of the story? Flight checks really are important. Just because the brakes are parked properly doesn't mean they are not tangled further up. Secure EVERYTHING in the cockpit. Don't rush! The air is lovely and there will be plenty of time. On the plus side, despite 12 ltrs of fuel in the bulldog, the speedster was just so easy to get off the floor that I don't really mind the three takeoffs. And even fairly fully loaded the bulldog didn't seem that heavy. Maybe tomorrow I'll do it again just for fun. The takeoffs, not the brake handle wrap thing... TTFN Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farmer_Dave Posted July 12, 2011 Share Posted July 12, 2011 Good advice Doc Here's another. I had a really nice smooth half an hour airborn too. But when you're checking everything, make sure you haven't melted a hole in your wing on a hot exhaust. I thought the frame would keep it off the pipe and have often bunched the wing and carried it before removing the motor from my back, just to get it all to the van..........Never again ! What weight you flying that 26 speedster at Doc ? Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyingdoc Posted July 12, 2011 Author Share Posted July 12, 2011 Hi Dave, That was spooky. I almost thought you had been watching me as I did exactly that. Will do it no longer... I'm about 80 kg naked. with the usual gubbins in flight, reserve, wing etc it makes 135kg ish... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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