Windy Day Flying DG505

I was there ... where were you all?

Got to the slope about noonthirty and it was howling. I'd guess about 25 to 30mph. Met two new folks flying wings, but they were cold and leaving. I brought the DG 505 as it is a heavy bird at 130oz. I got everything ready, checked the flight controls ... "yep that wiggles," and waited for others to show up as I needed help to launch. Well after some time I decided to try the launch myself. Better get out the neck strap. Ok, Tx clipped on to strap, model tightly grasped with both hands, I walked down to the little edge on the hill. Man it’s a job to hold 3.7m of model in those gusty winds. Well here goes, hope the trims are close, and HEAVE.

Off she went, down the hill and veering to the right but I quickly fumbled and found the ail stick to get her back on track. Heading back to the south across the slope and up I went. Soon I was specked out. Now back and high above the slope; "lets try a high speed pass". Wow ... that "moldy" sound too, cool. It’s really amazing the speed these scale planes can achieve. With their size, you don't realize how fast you’re going until you fly in close.

The model kept dropping a wingtip, and no amount of trim would fix it. So I setup to land and have a look. Spoilers worked perfect ... spot landing. Added 2oz to the light wing tip. Another marginal launch and again specked out, but wing tip still dropping. We'll just deal with it this flight.

Did some huge stall turns, diving deep and skying high. Loops ... no problem, rolls ... marginal at best ... lot of wing to spin around. And speed … oh yes, lots of speed.

Time to land and check that wing again. We'll add another oz and see. Still no one else at the hill, so we will try that launch again. You know what they say, "Three times a charm" ... and it was. Well I launched and again that wing dropped but this time she was a little to low and snagged a weed, ground looped, and over on her back … smack. It happens so fast in 30mph wind. Well I fetched the model and walked back up the hill to check the damage. Surprisingly not too bad. The fuse and wings were fine, that's good, but the rudder post in the fin was broke and needed glue, which I didn’t have. And then Mark and Cathy showed up. "Got any glue?" … "Sure." … "Ok!" We spread the crack in the post and dropped in the glue. Then I noticed the stab had cracked also. Well, better just wait and do a once-over at home. So that was it for flying today.

Got home and started to check things out. Turned on Tx, turned on model, and no elev up or down. Hmm. I took out the rudder post and, well, yep, I glued the servo arm in the fin during the field repair. Glad I didn’t launch again! But all in all, it was a fun day in big wind, and the DG 505 will see another day.

Mike

This page was last updated on 10/31/04.