Archive for December, 2008

Mike’s Cessna 140

Tuesday, December 30th, 2008

The Cessna flies in a sunny, blue sky: perfect winter weather.

The Cessna flies in a sunny, blue sky: perfect winter weather.


A few weeks ago, Mike Nadler bought himself an early Christmas present, an almost-ready-to-fly Ultrafly Cessna 140, which he ordered from a Taiwan dealer.

After a long idyllic warm fall, December temperatures have plummeted into the the 40s and 50s, slowing down our building days and nipping into our flying time, especially when rain reinforces the wintry weather.

So it took Mike awhile to finish the plane—he builds in an unheated storage space with an open garage-style door—but today he brought the Cessna to Baylands for its maiden flight.

The day was overcast, just starting to clear, when Mike took off.

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Now We Are 2

Friday, December 19th, 2008

Two Years Old!Saturday marks the second anniversary of Ups & Downs.

I posted my first entry, Half Moon Bay, Dec. 20, 2006.

It wasn’t very promising: six colorless paragraphs written diary-style.

Back then, I thought maybe the blog would consist of a series of weather reports and police-blotter-style notes about my frequent plane crashes and rare successes. (“Cloudy. Lost orientation & flew into a eucalyptus,” “Cold. Lost orientation & crashed into a hill,” “Breezy. Stayed aloft for two minutes!” etc.)

Nine days later I began to find my form with an entry introducing Crazy Ted, recounting my first trip to Baylands and my encounter with Ted Cooper, who helped me get my Slow Stick in the air for the very first time.

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The Wild Wing Mothership

Friday, December 12th, 2008

Streamer Combat. Dave North and Mike Bowns added streamers to enhance the combat experience.

Dave North and Mike Bowns added streamers to enhance the combat experience. See the movie.


This Saturday (that’s tomorrow!) we’re hoping that the weather forecast (possible rain) is wrong.

Kasra has invited our Dublin/Livermore Wild Wing compatriots to come down and battle at Baylands. That would include Boomer Butch, who started this craziness with his Boomer design and Wild Wing variations, and Kevin Chin, who first introduced Baylands flyers to the Boomer.

We just might top our record of 11 simultaneous combatants.

In preparation, we’re repairing our battered combat craft and considering a few events beyond combat: a pylon race, perhaps, a limbo contest, spot landings, perhaps more.

Mike Bowns has his own ideas. He brought orange crêpe streamers to extend the combat target area. He also designed a Wild Wing Mothership, a jumbo Wild Wing which he hot-wire cut from EPP.

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The Future’s not What it Used To Be

Tuesday, December 9th, 2008

Popular Science  September, 1922

Popular Science September, 1922


I learned from Gizmodo, my favorite gadgets blog, that Google has added complete archives of several magazines, including Popular Science (est. 1872) and Popular Mechanics (est. 1905), to its books search—complete with vintage advertisements and great illustrated articles.

There are lots of flying machines, real and imagined, to contemplate in these pages, including the “Whirling Leaf” helicopter concept shown on this September, 1922, Popular Science cover.

And, of course, you can learn the inside story of the inventor of the crystal detector (“With a nine-turn loop aerial, three feet across, using a crystal detector and tube amplification, I have enjoyed loudspeaker reception in Boston of radio-phone broadcasts from Schenectady, 160 miles away”) and the solution to the motorist’s biggest problem:

To owners of 9,500,000 autombiles in the United States the rapid depletion of our oil reserves is causing real concern. The following article, giving assurance of underground reservoirs of the precious liquid still to be tapped, and of shale mountains to be crushed and distilled as a last resort, may serve not merely to allay immediate alarm, but to stimulate greater care in conserving the diminishing supply of wealth from existing wells.

More Indoor Flying

Saturday, December 6th, 2008

Decked out in winter finery, Don Cohn maneuvers in tight.

Decked out in winter finery, Don Cohn maneuvers in tight.


Fourteen flyers showed up for the second session of this winter’s indoor flying at MVP.

As at last month’s event, the day was dominated by Blade mCX helicopters and tiny Vapor planes.

I brought a couple of new things to fly: a Mini IFO and a Micro R/C 4-Channel Flying Saucer from ThinkGeek.

Neither one worked as well as I had hoped. The Mini IFO was too fast for the room and I had to wrench it through turns to keep it within the space. I actually did pretty well with it, thanks to all my Wild Wing combat experience, but my friend Don Cohn joked that he was going to stand outdoors in the parking lot if I kept flying it indoors.

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