The weather is getting a bit better. Still getting hot, but the winds are moving the smoke to other areas. The winds are due to die down as the month moves along. Things are getting a bit tight as the fly-in is on the 4th of September. I still have lots to do. The Tumble weeds are still threatening to take over the place. Connie wants a "Catio" (cat house) for her place, and Bud is getting to the point that his training has intensified-a lot!
I haven't been able to fly much this year at all. The flight that I took the other day exposed a problem with my fuel pump. It was leaking gas all over the place. I eventually broke down and robbed the pump from my spare diesel tank, at least until I buy a kit to repair the other one.
I did go flying yesterday. The wind was actually forecast to a maximum of 4 knots for most of the day. Of course it was supposed to hit 98 degrees by 2 PM. I have reached the point in my life to where procrastination has been perfected. It was touch and go for a while, but I finally rolled the plane out. I wanted to test my camera mount as I had been getting a bit of a jello effect lately. I was fairly certain that it was due to my attempts to cushion the mount by using rubber bumpers between the nose and the mount. I took them out and I think you will see a bit of an improvement once I am in the air.
I decided to go down the river to what I call fish camp. Its about 50 miles north almost to where the river runs into the lake.
password owyheeflyer
All of the video is at double speed. While I was flying at altitude it was smooth and not noticeable, but when I got down to river level the different currents were tossing me around like a walmart bag in the wind. I hadn't flown this stretch of river before and will not feel the need to do so again.
I had decided that I was going to fly Bud loose that day, so I turned back home after I cleared the Canyon.. I did fly for an hour and 30 minutes, burning four gallons of very expensive non ethanol gas. It was starting to develop thermals by the time I was on the ground.
I was forced to use a kite for Buds first flight, as both of my drones seem to be inoperable. Drones are a bit cleaner and a lot easier to set up than a kite, but I didn't have any choice. What I wanted to do was to suspend the lure from a kite at altitude, so that Bud could learn where his meals will be coming from. This will allow me to keep his condition and training flights under control. Eventually he will be climbing as much as 4 or 500 feet to get his lure.
https://vimeo.com/237006215 password owyheeflyer
This is a link to an earlier video that I did of Jessie and the drone, for further explanation of what I am doing with Bud.The kite does the same thing with a lot more variables to make it more fun.
This was going to be the first time that I have felt that I had a reasonable chance to get Bud back on the fist after turning him lose. I was quite surprised every thing went quite well right up to the point that Bud decided that a lure hanging about 10 feet off the ground wasn't a mirage. He flew by it studying it, then turned and grabbed it off the release. Of course he then tried to fly on the other side of the 4 wheeler with it. The line was too short so he left the lure and took a few turns around the house. By then I had gotten the lure back and tossed it down for him and he landed on it. It went much better than I expected.
Today the wind was marginal and in an attempt to allow him freedom from being connected to the kite line I substituted a system with a 18 inch parachute that would break away from the line. Well the boy did not like the red parachute, so he did not grab the lure choosing instead to fly around the house several times before he came to the lure minus the chute. With the 90 plus temp and the fact that he has not been able to exercise, he got quite a workout, but all ended well for us.
That would be fun to float. Thanks
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