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The Cumulus 2000
A
two-meter electro-thermaller, monokote-covered balsa wings, and a gel-coated
fiberglass fuselage. It came as an ARF kit and was mostly easy to put together
(installing the pushrod housings for the tail was a pain.)
It's not particularly light, but it's very efficient. With all the weight of
the motor and batteries, though, it'll flutter if you push it too hard.
Some photos of the maiden voyage:
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Final field assembly. The wings
are held on with wooden pins in the LE and a pair of nylon screws at the TE. |
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Terrence provides a second pair of eyes to
make sure that none of the control surfaces are reversed, and that
everything seems to be solidly attached. The nervous pilot is too distracted
to notice. |
First, a test glide to make sure balance is reasonable, check the trim, and
get a feel for sensitivity. I'd never flown a plane with both ailerons and
dihedral, so I wasn't sure how it would respond. Very predictably, it turns out,
though the recommended control throws are considerably larger than they need to
be.
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Ready for the first throw.
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It's off, nice and straight.
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Smooth landing coming up. |
With the successful trim flight complete, it's time for the real thing. The
day was a bit gustier and more turbulent than I would have liked (our Zagis were
getting upended) but I couldn't resist the toss. I tossed, motor off, into a
little lift and started gaining altitude. Almost immediately I hit a sink pocket
and some turbulence, so I flipped the motor on. It penetrated the gust pretty
smoothly and began gaining altitude. Afraid of hitting turbulence near the
ground, I gained altitude, headed to the backside of the hill and started
planning the landing.
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Looking good... |
...oh, my that's high. |
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