Dubai – FangoParis

Having booked our flights over a year prior on the new Emirates / Qantas partnership flying directly out of Adelaide, we arrived in Dubai on Thursday May 2nd 2013. Be booked two nights accommodation in the hope we might be able to spend some time with our dear friend Andrew. Our first impressions were mixed. Yes it was very hot (even at 5.00am). The first car I saw was a porsche. Our ‘met on arrival’ process involved at least four people and the car was very flash indeed. Our hotel (Ascot) was one of those deals where you pay for the cheaper room and can use the facilities (pool, sauna etc) of the flash one but, it was in the old part of town. Definitely not the ‘top end of town’ although rates were about the same. The only bonus was a free early morning check in, which landed us in a smoking room on the ‘smoking floor’ of the dodgey part of the hotel (complete with the dodgiest Irish pub in town ‘waxy’s’ according to a local).

Being too tired to think straight and not yet having any means of communication we dropped our bags in the room and walked around the block. By now it was about 7am and uncomfortably hot. We seemed to be in a ‘computer district’ and there were a whole bunch of people carrying shopping bags that looked like they would contain electronic gadgetry. The people on their way to work seemed to be mostly from India. Our Telestial SIM card burst into life and we were able to get in touch with our friend Andrew who gave us a few suggestions on things to see and an invite to his church the following day (Friday).

We took Andrew’s advice and used taxis instead of booking on one of the circular bus tour things. This worked out well and it was quite cheap to get to the places we wanted to see – like the famous Dubai Mall with it’s rather fancy fountain. It was almost deserted by the time we got there and we treated ourselves to an american hamburger at an empty Johhny Rocket franchise followed by a look at the aquarium.

By the time we got back to the Hotel, a non-smoking room was available and we changed rooms with a minimum of fuss – phew. We then took a short walk down to the Dubai Creek and caught a Abra over to the spice souk (market) on the other side.

We walked a bit too far then lost the will to live searching for a supermarket for some brekkie cereal and instant noodles. Finally found one & staggered back to find that we had no kettle with which to prepare the noodles. Had one beer at the very smelly Irish pub and went to bed.

Next morning we grabbed a cab to the ‘Madinat Jumeirah’ and enjoyed a fantastic breakfast looking at the Burj Al Arab then wandering the resort shops. A very short cab ride took us to the convention centre at another very flash hotel where our friend’s church meets. That was quite an interesting experience with heaps of ex-pats working in Dubai. We even met the Emirates pilot who flew our plane from Adelaide!

Next we enjoyed a wonderful lunch at an even flasher resort followed by a wonderful cruise out of the Palm marina in his boat. The feel from out on the water on a Friday was awesome. We jumped overboard and sat in the clean, safe water surrounded by locals and ex-pats having fun boating & skydiving around us for about two hours catching up on our respective life journeys. Something I will always remember fondly.

Feeling adventurous, we grabbed a metro to the Dubai Mall so we could check out the fountain again (they say it is better at night). In stark contrast to our Thursday morning visit, the place was packed – we saw the blasted fountain the joined an uncomfortably long queue for a cab back to the hotel. Slept well, off at the crack of dawn for our flight to Paris.

Search flickr for ‘fangoparis‘ to find a whole bunch more of our photos from this trip.

Fang - Mike Seyfang

YAK EPP indoor – my Model Planes

When I purchased my ‘OSIRIS” EPP ‘kit’ from the lounge room of Mr Schneider, I also got a YAK.

YAK:

It looks like this and has served me extremely well – indoor flying at ETSA park with SSL one Thursday per month and most mornings out on Glenelg Oval.

Runs 2s batteries to power trusty TURNIGY 2204-14T 19g Outrunner with 8×4.3 props. Other bits:

• TURNIGY 2204-14T 19g Outrunner
  
• TURNIGY Plush 6A /.8bec/6g Speed Controller
• OrangeRx R410 Spektrum DSM2 Compatible 4Ch 2.4Ghz Receiver
• HXT500 5g / .8kg / .10sec Micro Servo
• ZIPPY Flightmax 350mAh 2S 20C (AUS Warehouse)

Fang - Mike Seyfang

Thunder Tiger Trainer 60 – my Model Planes

One day I was trying to fly my radian glider around the Holdfast Model Aero Club in circuits with the other power planes. A nice chap named Ashley gave me a test fly of his electric ‘Thunder Tiger Trainer’ which could automagically keep it’s wings level with the horizon (using a fancy sensor or three). I decided I would try to build something similar. I did, and the result was awesome – a sturdy, reliable trainer that has flown hundreds of times and has not had a single repair! I have replaced the 4260 AeroDrive motor which I needed for another model with a G60 and moved the elevator servo to the tail to get rid of the long pushrod.

60 Size Thunder Tiger Trainer:
I jumped on the HobbyKing website and ordered:

• 13/4/2011 Turnigy 5000mAh 6S 20C Lipo Pack (AUS Warehouse)
•  1/4 /2011 H-King 60A Brushless Speed Controller – Helicopter & Fixed Wing
•  1/4 /2011 TGY AerodriveXp SK Series 42-60 500Kv / 1475W
•  1/4 /2011 APC style propeller 12×6-E
•  1/4 /2011 PolyMax 3.5mm Gold Connectors 10 PAIRS (20PC)
•  1/4 /2011 EC3 plugs (10pairs/set)

Then I started scouring the web for a ‘Thunder Tiger 60′ model – to no avail. So I started wandering around the local hobby shops and when I got to ‘Model Mania’ in Morphett Vale I found one that had just been bought in on consignment. $130 later I had my plane!

RX – 14ch Futaba that shipped with my 12FG TX.

DATA:

Running on 6s with a 14×7 prop gives 1381 watts of power at a max of just under 60 amps.

# Note – Flight Thu Nov 17 2011.
# Note – Thunder Tiger Trainer with ICE100.
# Note – Various props tested:
# Note – 13×7 session a b
# Note – 14×7 session c d
# Note – 12×6 session e
# Note – 13×6.5 session f
# Note – Max: 58.3a 25.3v (1382Watt recorded]

Ashley’s is the red one, mine is the blue one.

Fang - Mike Seyfang

R2DIAN – my Model Planes

Having repaired my first Radian many times the time had come for a new one. Also having purchased a Futaba 12FG transmitter (copying Ashley West as I tend to do) I had to come up with a short name for the model in the TX memory. R2adian was born. A shiny, straight, new foam glider. All good.

R2DIAN:

Still flying at the time of writing this post (April 2013). In fact, I flew it today!

Fang - Mike Seyfang

Osiris – my Model Planes

After the ‘FMS open source ‘Flight Model Simulator’ I got the most ‘stick time’ flying EPP indoor models by Mike Schneider. The first was an ‘OSIRIS’ built just in time for my first appearance at ETSA park thursday night flying EASTER 2011. Designed to fly slowly with an 8×4 prop on 2S batteries, I found it would zoom around outdoors with an 8×6 on small 500MAH 3s batteries. And zoom around I did, morning after morning at glenelg oval, and anywhere else I could get outside on a calm day.

I literally flew this thing to death. It just plain collapsed from EPP/Tarzan’s grip repair fatigue.

OSIRIS copy:

This one is a ‘Mike Schneider’ special. Cut from EPP foam with a home-made laser cutter in his loungeroom. These shots are the closest thing to an ‘instruction manual’ you will find. Wish I had recorded Mike’s narrative while he assembled the bits on his lounge floor.

The build for these EPP planes takes a couple of days and requires:

• Tarzan’s grip (glue)
• Some 1mm, 3mm carbon rod
• A length of carbon strip 3-4mm wide for wing leading edge
• Cut up old floppy disk mylar to make hinges that are glued in (Mike tells me that blenderm tape works much better, but I like the nostalgia and durability of the old floppy disks)
• No 13 hose Oring to attach prop to motor (Prop saver)
• Servos, Motor, prop, ESC, receiver, batteries (the orange list was hand written by Andy at my first appearance at Aberfoyle HUB indoor flying one Sunday morning (with input from Scott Gage, Mike Schneider and Bob Tait).

Fang - Mike Seyfang

Chatterbox – my Model Planes

My second real radio controlled model plane – bought from a chap flying at Victoria Park in the city of Adelaide early 2011. A lovely balsa and tissue plane purchased for $25. Just needed ESC, Receiver and 2-3s battery to fly. Only has rudder and elevator (tiny ones at that). A real vintage gem.

Flew it once on Glenelg oval one calm morning and decided to put it away before I trashed it. Just love the hand-stitched hinges on elevator and rudder.

Decided I am going to fly it on the next calm morning – stay tuned for update.

UPDATE:

This morning was calm and fly she did – what a joy to control something that actually flies through the air – as opposed to being dragged around by brute force and ignorance. Such a graceful, gentle craft – totally affected by any tiny gust of wind or rising air. First flight was a tad hairy because I had too much up elevator trim – she would oscillate quite badly in a series of very gentle stalls while turning or on descent. Threw in about 20 clicks of down trim and all good. See for yourself on the sneaky iPhone video I took with one hand, while flying with the other!

Chatterbox:

2s 10a esc, TURNIGY 2204-14T 19g Outrunner 1450Kv motor, 8×6 prop. (also flew i2th 8×4.3 a tad under-powered if a quick burst of upwardness is required).

Fang - Mike Seyfang

Radian – my Model Planes

My first real radio controlled model plane – ordered for my 50th birthday in October 2010, arrived in time for Christmas 2010.

Parkzone Radian:

What a fluke – this foam glider model by ParkZone turned out to be a real ripper and kick-started my radio controlled flying obsession and kindled a love for aircraft of the soaring kind. Having recieved a ‘looxcie’ bluetooth video camera (as a gift from friend and twitter follower mr VAF) I thought it might be fun to get some footage from a radio controlled airplane. A few google searches later I had discovered First Person Viewer (FPV) flight and a foam glider called the parkzone radian.

I (eventually) got hold of a ‘Ready to Fly’ version that included a Spektrum DX5e 2.4ghz transmitter for a couple of hundred dollars. I put it together on Christmas day 2010, and took it over to Glenelg Oval for a test flight. I was expecting to gently circle around a few times and land safely. I had no idea the radian was designed to climb rapidly then catch thermals and eventually land! After a brief but terrifying flight I decided to join a club (with a bit more space than a footy oval) and learn how to fly. I joined the Holdfast Model Aero club and was eventually (and somewhat reluctantly) granted my solo license on an electric glider.

My first real flying was done in Feb 2011 at the Bowman’s farm near Ororoo (site of my motorcycle accident). All pieces were carefully transported in the original foam box and I had a great time learning to glide about and land safely. I also learned a lot about charging the LiPo batteries and went back to basic electronics to revisit OHM’s law and to finally figure out the relationship between Coulombs, Amps, Volts, Watts and Amp-hours.

After a time, or few times anyway, the ratio of adventure to mis-adventure began to climb and I started to get the hang of basic flight control. Soon I would be ready for my first ‘solo’ flight as a fully fledged club member. Little did I know that my first ‘solo’ flight would include a head-on-collision with a large nitro powered plane!

I lost!

But that was not the end of this radian. It was repaired and resurrected as ‘franken-radian’ which subsequently had a few more crashes, was stiffened with carbon fibre and gave me the courage to attempt slope-soaring with zero tuition! At the time of writing (April 2013 – two and a quarter years later, the franken-radian was still flyable). This flickr set has more photos of my model planes and their flying adventures.

Fang - Mike Seyfang