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Post by sham on Mar 9, 2014 11:49:35 GMT 1
In the UK, the sun is shining and the wind is down below 5mph for the first time in weeks and weeks. I've just spent the morning in the middle of nowhere using a deserted country road as a runway and the freshly ploughed fields as the necessary space to practice (at least 2km² with no obstacles at all). As well as 3 batteries and 3 landings where the worst damage was a bent landing gear leg, I managed my first loop... Which was awesome. I'm really starting to gain confidence, which probably means a big crash soon! Can't wait for the weather to be more reliable  |
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Post by Knackered Sailor on Mar 9, 2014 16:14:39 GMT 1
Yes, sham, it's a beautiful day, perfect for flying. last night I charged up the batteries ready for a good day today. Just before going to bed I got up from a chair and ......... Ooooo my back! Don't know how I did it but today I can barely walk so nu flying for me. ****
Glad you had a great time though. :-)
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Post by sham on Mar 9, 2014 17:52:44 GMT 1
Yes, sham, it's a beautiful day, perfect for flying. last night I charged up the batteries ready for a good day today. Just before going to bed I got up from a chair and ......... Ooooo my back! Don't know how I did it but today I can barely walk so nu flying for me. **** Glad you had a great time though. :-) Ouch! Get better soon - I'm sure it helps to know that you missed a perfect flying day. I'm actually off for another go in a minute or 2 if the wind stays low. |
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Post by flydiver on Mar 9, 2014 18:36:54 GMT 1
Just before going to bed I got up from a chair and ......... Ooooo my back! Don't know how I did it but today I can barely walk so nu flying for me. **** You simply made a small move that made an already bulging disc push a little too far and now it's impinging on a nerve. It can happen very suddenly from some apparently innocuous movement. Ask me how I know.  Those of you with chronic or sporadic sciatic pain should take a good long look it this also. That's the bulging disc pushing on the sciatic nerve.  Sitting is the 'new smoking'. We all spend way too much time sitting which places an improper load on the lower back, unless you are one of those rare people with excellent posture and a great chair. Those folks may not need to do this. Take a look at these videos and get to work. You can sometimes get great results rapidly for an acute problem. The longer you wait....the longer to undo the injury. If your problem has been chronic for a good while it can take a few weeks to massage the bulged disc back in to place. www.youtube.com/watch?v=vqzlbHsf5rwwww.youtube.com/watch?v=bPz9A4TWMCQThe book is cheap at Amazon and worth 100x what you pay for it. www.amazon.com/Treat-Your-Back-Robin-McKenzie/dp/0959774661I learned the above the hard way, the VERY hard way. It took about 3 weeks with a persistent and encouraging physical therapist to get decent results. This is after a 2 year search with MRI's, seeing neurosurgeons, chiropractor, acupuncture, and even getting a steroid epidural injection. All those interventions gave information and some helped a little. Only the McKenzie method got lasting and ongoing results. Since this sport seems to be populated with mature gentleman of discrimination I thought this off topic info was worth spreading. Get a back support for your cars and chairs, try to correct your posture both standing and sitting, and get off your butt more often. Do the extensions. You'll feel better for it. If it doesn't work or gets worse you should see someone knowledgeable. Often your regular primary care physician is NOT very knowledgeable so you may need to do some research. |
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Post by Knackered Sailor on Mar 10, 2014 19:55:49 GMT 1
Spot on fly. I should confess that I used to be a sports massage therapist and gave out out that sort of information whilst carrying out treatment. lol :-D
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Post by renard80 on Mar 11, 2014 0:14:38 GMT 1
Hey, Sham, where are you in UK for it to be ideal flying weather? Down here in Southampton, I got excited by the weather map showing high pressure, wide isobars, and my newspaper forecast "gentle winds" (that's a quote). But although the sun has shone, the winds have been blustery and definitely unsuitable for flying a foamy. So, my fortunate friend, where are you? (Fly, you are spot on with your advice re. back problems. Most of us (me included!) spend too much time on our backsides. A wise old doctor once told me, "Don't sit when you can stand. Don't stand when you can walk. Don't walk when you can run." At least I try to stand when reading my newspaper . . . ) EDIT: Sorry, Sham - after posting this, I remembered that you are in Norfolk. All the more reason for me to wonder why you on that windy east coast have got less wind than me down here in the south . . .  ) |
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Post by hghost on Mar 11, 2014 2:21:32 GMT 1
You guys across the pond are not the only ones with wind issues.
Past few days have warmed up and as always Sun shines, winds blow....
Got to go out into the field today ...to get a look at how large the field is. ( been a few years since i been on it and Interstate took allot of it )
It is grown up and will need allot of work to be able to fly there ( tree removal and grass as tall as me )
But I got permission to use it, and that is great....it is just below my house , I can almost see it from here.
Now at least i know i will have a place to fly with no people in the way. And is as large as that small park I was using, should be good.
Will leave it much as it is...will remove tree's from flight path will leave all others...and cut grass to take-off and land and a place to stand other than that
will leave grass grown up .
But after tomorrow ( suppose to be even warmer ), they are calling for more cold weather and snow the rest of the week.
It's March, and around here it can be 60-70 degree's one day and then 10-20 the next..snow in the morning and sun and melting in the evening .
It also is known for Kite season...the winds in March are usually pretty strong .
But spring is around the corner, can't wait to do some clearing and than some flying.
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Post by sham on Mar 11, 2014 9:22:22 GMT 1
We got lucky over the weekend, and the wind was coming over the land and not from the North Sea. I live on the clifftop, so the direction makes a big difference to where I can fly, lots of open area but its affected a lot by the wind... Which is why I took the cub inland a bit, I could only fly and home on an absolutely still day. But it would be an awesome landscape to fly in.
It was dead calm a couple of miles inland in the morning, but by lunch time the breeze had got its act together and was blowing steadily.
The wind has switched direction again now though and although the speed is about the same it is much more blustery and there's no chance to fly... Its utterly unpredictable.
Weather sucks!
Good luck with your field, it sounds ideal! My problem here is not space, its enough flat area to land on... Its all farmland, best chance is deserted roads - but there's obvious problems with that, power lines and such.
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Post by Knackered Sailor on Mar 11, 2014 10:41:44 GMT 1
Congratulations Mr. Ghost; your own private airstrip ... WOW!
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Post by sham on Mar 11, 2014 15:42:05 GMT 1
Well - the wind dropped enough (or so I thought!), so this afternoon she flew again. A few things were wrong.
1) It was a lovely flight, in a nearby park - but I shouldn't have done, it actually was too windy. This led to...
2) I flew well, and coped with the wind OK - but approaching the landing with very low flight battery, one aborted landing and the second I thought I had to get her down. Too much wind meant she just wanted to climb - I ran out of room and this led to...
3) A noseover But, a gentle one - the only damage being the landing gear slightly bent (AGAIN!)
I have a video, I do love flying the little cubby - had a blast even though she ended up upside down again. WobblyCam™ by Mrs Sham.
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Post by flydiver on Mar 11, 2014 16:32:34 GMT 1
3) A noseover But, a gentle one - the only damage being the landing gear slightly bent (AGAIN!) Bending LG is a fact of life with the Cub. Pull it out and reverse it to bend it back the other way on other funky landings. The LG absorbs the forces of bad landings. When it gets too bad put it in a vise and straighten it out. FWIW that's the kind of landing that leads to cartwheels and breaking the tail off. Too much wind > catching a wingtip on landing > cartwheel. |
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Post by sham on Mar 11, 2014 16:40:44 GMT 1
Yea... I knew I was running out of space and battery (the first aborted landing only just cleared the tree due to lack of power.. Don't know if thats clear in the video) so I just cut the power and made sure the wings were as level as possible to avoid a proper crash... Just pleased she is unscathed after stupidly flying in wind I knew was too strong.
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Post by flydiver on Mar 11, 2014 17:33:06 GMT 1
Pretty exciting though, eh?
Most folks learn what too much wind is the hard way.
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Post by sham on Mar 11, 2014 18:15:03 GMT 1
Pretty exciting though, eh? Most folks learn what too much wind is the hard way. Something like that. I have still not made a landing I'm particularly happy with, but the approaches are getting more controlled and straighter, I like to think that in less wind todays would have been wheely good but the plane having survived up to now is more luck than judgement I fear... Hahaha I'll get it though, whether I get it before or after some pretty extensive glueing is another matter... In the meantime, I'm having a lot of laughs with this tough little plane  |
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Post by hghost on Mar 11, 2014 18:55:45 GMT 1
One could tell it was windy by the way the Cub was flying...still a great video.
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