Sunday flying report – June 25, 2017

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It was a beautiful and comfortable day to fly yesterday. We had John, Bob W, Rich, Tony, and myself out yesterday at the field.

John brought his launch trailer equipped with a winch and retriever setup that works really well. John was flying his Perfect, Bob his Xplorer/AVA, Rich his Super Ava, Tony his new to him Maxa, and me, my Shadow.
Everyone had a pretty good time and several of us were working on trimming out our ships. There weren’t any spectacular flights as the wind seemed to obliterate any lift after a short period of time. On one flight soon after the launch, I seemed to hit a wall that flipped my Shadow verticle which was exciting. I haven’t had that happen before.
It was good flying with everyone and it was great flying with Tony again.
I send some pictures later when I shrink them.
Dave Quist

Clear days at the sod farm — or — how to have fun without lift.

Dave, Bob W., John, Rich and I launched and launched but with the exception of one burst of lift that elevated John to altitude, we went all day without thermals. Hard to understand on such a sunny day after a cool night, but we just couldn’t get above launch height.
Nonetheless, it was a beautiful day to hang out at the field. Rich and Bob brought beach umbrellas, and we sat in the shade and swapped stories. Dave recounted the many fields that the club had been kicked off before we found our present fabulous accommodations. Rich was trying to settle on a good CG for his Super Ava, which started the day definitely tail-heavy and may still have ended up a bit that way even after the addition of several slices of lead taped to the nose. The major thrill of the day was when he was trying a dive test and pushed over a bit too far, pointing the plane straight at oblivion. Fortunately, he recovered in time — all’s well that ends well.
John’s winch trailer is a thing of beauty. Like many others, I have gotten hung in the retriever line, and have seen a number of sad accidents, so I was a bit of a retriever skeptic. However, the present setup worked flawlessly, gave us all great launches, and required practically no fiddling. The engineering is first-class: John even has a little generator to keep the batteries topped up, and a custom cover that just fits the trailer! If you haven’t seen it, you have to check it out. No shagging!
The uncooperative air made it hard to do any extensive trimming, but I came home with a bunch of mental notes about programming fixes, and I’m hoping to like my new plane better the next time out. Anyway, it was a gorgeous day and great fun to fly with new and old flying buddies.
Tony Estep

Thanks for posting the excellent pictures, Dave. We had a good turnout and enough lift for everybody. The winds were light and did not bounce you around, which allowed everybody to make impressive landings while aiming at Rich’s seat-cushion. The only negative was the heat and direct sun, which chased us all of the field a bit after noon. While we huddled under the one bit of shade from the lone beach umbrella, Ed regaled us with stories of exotic trips, including his most recent trip to dive in the Caymans. Our reputation for putting on an exciting display must be spreading, as we had two visitors who came out to spectate.
Tony