That's really cool, Tom. I'm still not sure I'd have the stones to put that much money into the air, but I do enjoy watching them.

_________________
Chris Boultinghouse

It's not about stones, it's more about stupidity. My investment is no more than that of a 700 class heli. In fact, I haven't done the math, but I'd bet my 7HV had more in it when new. So it's not about stones or intestinal fortitude.

Here is where it's about stupidity, the plane is worth significantly more than that. And if I crash, and the engine is lost, well that would be an end to a very short turbine career!

Tom M

Update

My club had its annual jet meet last weekend, Fresno Jets. In years past, we could get 30, 40, even as many as 70 pilots. Well, the economy has changed, the people driving the event have changed and this year we had 14 or so. Even with that, it was a good time, and a great event to attend as a new turbine dude.

I logged 18 flights during the event. Only two on Thursday and four on Friday due to family obligations, but Saturday made up for it with 12 flights. Burned through a total of 13-14 gallons of kerosene for the weekend, and had a real good time doing it.

The other attendees varied from club members just getting back into jets, to a couple notable names from SoCal that just wanted to fly. One pilot brought two 55 lb Futuras and a large SIAI Marchetti turbo prop, and they would probably be hangar queens if I owned them, this guy flew the proverbial snot out of them. That 30+ lb Marchetti was flopping around like a large foamy, really impressive.

Another notable pilot was a friend of mine’s son. I went to high school with Jim a number of years ago (too many), and he and I used to fly together, build together, and work in a hobby shop together. He brought his 15 year old son and he flew his TamJets F-16 and BVM Bobcat extremely well. Was his first event too, but by the end of the weekend he was very much at ease. We don’t have many kids who fly at our club, so our club members gave this kid a round of applause with every landing (greased them all BTW ).

Below are some pics from the event, some borrowed from my club’s site, some I took. Had a great time, saw some people I hadn’t seen in a while, met some others for the first time. Next month is the Best In the West event, something like 140 pilots are predicted. I’m pre-registered and looking forward to it. If I remember my decent camera, I might take a few pics and post them here. The “big boys” go to this one from all over the world, should be some interesting things to see.

I’m really enjoying the change of place flying this jet. It moves along pretty good when you want to, deceptively so at times. When I have the sky to myself I tend to fly it... well not like a jet. Lots of tight loops, rolls, cubans, whipping it around this way and that. The engine is constantly spooling either up or down, and the plane is never level for long. It’s a lot of fun, but once you get another plane in the air, you have to fly the racetrack pattern, and that is less fun. It’s still fun, but I think I would prefer something a little more speedy for those types of events. Looking at a Bandit maybe, but I have to start saving (not sure THAT will happen!).

One last thought. I have flown with a lot of different types of groups in this hobby. Pattern, giant scale 3D, IMAC, jets, sailplane, helicopter. And I have to say, I was amazed at the friendliness and support from the seasoned jet guys, not to mention the generosity. It was really unexpected and made me feel really good about getting into jets even if I’m just really dipping my toe in. I can’t say that about all the other groups I listed above, some of them were just outright rude at newcomers. But that’s probably a geographical thing. We’ll see how the Best In The West goes... there are a lot of pilots and not a lot of slots to fly, might not be as friendly as this event. But so far I really like what I have seen.

Tom M

Very cool

its always exciting to see turbines up close and personal, cant imagine what it must be like at a dedicated Jet event.

_________________
Home of Burntwood RC

Okay, so at the Best In the West jet show a couple weeks back, I handed over my ECU to the distributer for updating. The firmware I had was original to the engine, and didn’t have the subsequent updates. One is after shutdown, the engine will spool up for a couple of seconds (no fuel) to cool the engine, dry-motoring the engine. It will spool up for a few seconds, then shut off, spool up, shut off, until the temp is under 100 degrees C. The new(er) firmware does it continuous... not hugely better, but a small improvement. It also allows for kero-start, eliminating the need for propane to get it hot enough to introduce the fuel to run the engine. But the main reason, for me, is to allow for the possibility of telemetry. My version 5 firmware did not allow that... after V6, you could feed that into your radio, should your radio choose to accept it...

I’ve been contemplating a radio change, wanting to gain the ability down the road to be able to not connect my “magic box” to watch the start sequence. Futaba, Graupner, and Jeti all have this capability. Here is a Jeti example...

https://youtu.be/mVJr11DHEeQ

Anyway, I sent it in after my engine worked perfectly for four flights at the jet meet (and for 26 flights previous to that). Got it back this week, update was only about $38 with return shipping (not like a FBL unit that you can update at home!), not too bad. Except that now it won’t start. Not at all. I spent 4 hours checking this, trying to research this and that, asking friends advice. Nothing, will not start, essentially a hung start each time.

Each component works... you can test the solenoids via the GCU (ground control unit, test box of sorts), pump, almost everything. It all works, but something is buggered up. Obviously the new firmware, or a setting related to it.

Have last event of the year next weekend. If I can’t get this to work, not much point in going (unless the distributer will be there). Tomorrow some friends are getting together at a former military training airport that is now privately owned. The owner wants to have jet guys use his field with an eye on doing large events down the road. So I’m going to go, hoping one of my friends will have the solution to my problem. If I have to send it back again... well, my season will have ended a couple weeks ago...

I know it will get resolved, sure it’s some setting that I didn’t know about, but it brings up another point. For the last few years I have been mostly involved with helicopters. And if you have a question with those, issue with an ESC or FBL... google is your friend, you almost always can find some illumination within a few minutes of using google.

Turbines? Not so much... the info is out there, but it’s a whole different animal. Most of the information is in peoples heads, not on some thread somewhere. Very frustrating given what I’m used to.

Hopefully I can get a couple flights tomorrow... If not, well, I dunno.

Tom M

Here are some pics from the Best in The West event. I didn't take a whole lot of pictures, regrettably, but this will give you an idea of some of the fantastic models.

Getting ready to leave:


Campsite. I brought the Christmas Vacation trailer, my friend brought a T-6....






Flightline













Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

An after hours pic. I'm in the far right, DONE flying obviously. The other two guys stayed in my trailer and have been my friend since we were 12. Not sure why pic is upside down on computer but right side up on Tapatalk... odd...



The Rare Bear lasted about 30 seconds after that photo... Apparently not enough elevator. No adult beverages involved for those curious..,



After hours party/karaoke


Friend giving rides:





Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

SWEET!

_________________
A.K.A. ben_beyer

The culprit with my engine issues was a plug. Just a plug. Four hours wasted on... A plug. Was fine with the other ECU. But something about this new one didn't like it. Whatever... Works now. Starts quicker and smoother now, not really sure why.

Flying site is in one word. Epic.





Can fly on either side depending on where the sun is. No obstacles except a windsock and the occasional farmer truck going through.


Fueling up...


But never got to fly that last flight, because this hit my plane instead.


Damage to mine was minimal but will require a couple hours of work... Time I don't really have before next weeks event. Oh well, these things happen. Was still a good day.




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Ouch, poor little SLUF. Was that a mid-air?

_________________
Chris Boultinghouse