Glen Watson's Precision RC Aerobatics Blog

Western PA Tuskegee Airmen

2012-01-20T17:24:00.000-08:00

To celebrate the Tuskegee Airmen "Red Tails" movie at a theater near you I would like to recognize and honor the many Tuskegee Airmen from Western PA (my home).

Western PA Tuskgegee Airmen "Red Tails"

2012-01-16T15:48:00.000-08:00

Futaba 18MZ update

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=grg_i_IgI-E

2011-11-17T19:24:00.001-08:00

2012 Wish list

CITRIN Biplane from W. Matt (EP)

Splendor from Quique (EP)

ZN line CAELESTIA FC

Link to Details

2011-10-25T09:06:00.000-07:00

Futaba 18MZ overview

2011-10-16T20:35:00.000-07:00

Pics from Oct 15th 2011 flying session with the CA Models Visa.

2011 US Nationals Re-cap

2011-08-31T18:03:00.000-07:00

It's now late August and I'm just getting caught up on work and personal stuff from being away for 12 days attending the F3A WCs and US Nationals. My 2008 Honda Odyssey LX van equipped with aftermarket XM radio and GPS navigation made the trip comfortable and affordable. How many vehicles on the market can haul two 2-meter pattern planes with support equipment at an average of 75mph on the highway and get 26 mpg? Not many I'm sure.

I departed Houston the morning of July 27th. First stop was Southern Indiana to practice about 100 miles south of Muncie, IN. I arrived on schedule late morning of the 28th and put in several flights. Retired around 4pm to the hotel to regroup, rest and return the next morning for more practice. The next morning I was pleasantly surprised to find Mike Harrison already practicing at the southern IN super secret practice site. Mike decided to leave early to view some P-11 fights at the worlds. I stayed to practice the remainder of the day. My original goal was stay an additional day in Southern IN however I was contacted by a good friend which said there was a unanimous vote for me to join him and other D6 pilots who for years had been practicing at a super duper secret practice site nearer to Muncie. I headed that way the next morning and was blown away by the facility first, then by the land owner's hospitality second. Let me just say, how would you like to practice pattern on a 2500 ft north-south and east-west full scale runway with a flat (no trees) over fly area. The owners even went out of their way to provide a buffet style country lunch one afternoon. All dishes were made from scratch i.e. bread, pasta, deserts to name a few items. Truly pattern practice heaven.

This year I chose to fly a recently completed CARF Integral powered by a Hacker C50 comp 14xl. This is my first season flying ePower. There's a lot to learn regarding how to manage and fly with ePower equipment. I must say tho ePower does make it easier to schedule practice sessions around a busy work schedule. I'm looking forward to being better prepared and more efficient with ePower next season.

The 2011 Masters class participant list read like a who's who list. Four returning Masters champions, two former US F3A team members, and a former TOC competitor. Goes without saying it was tough going this year making it to the finals. Given the amount of practice I had before the Nats and flying a plane which only had 50 flights I feel pretty good finishing in 6th place this year.

Here are a few pictures from the finals.

Nats News Picture

Brother's RV-10

2011-08-27T19:30:00.000-07:00

My brother, Bill Watson is all smiles following successful test flight on 8/26/11 of his recently completed RV-10.

For details of his building experience click here Build Log.

E_Integral 2011

2011-07-07T09:42:00.000-07:00

Latest Build Comp-ARF Integral, test flown 7/2/2011
6th place 2011 US Nationals in Masters
Motor - Hacker C50 14XL
ESC - Castle HV 80
Batteries - TP 5000
Radio - Futaba 14MZ

Space City 4th Annual Pattern Classic

2011-05-24T09:46:00.000-07:00

The fourth annual Space City RC Club’s Spring Pattern Classic event was held this past weekend. Many thanks to the club and the members who made it possible to hold a very successful event for the 4th year in a row. This event has grown each year in sheer numbers of participants attracting an incredible talent pool of competitors and contestant judging. We are fortunate to have access to some of the top flyers in the country participate along with an extremely knowledgeable and experienced list of current certified judges among those who compete.

Flying conditions were challenging, wind gusts on both days were in the high 20s according to weather reports however the level of flying was some of the best I've witnessed all classes. The last several weeks it has been very windy in this part of the country leading up to the contest. Competitors came very well prepared for the conditions. We had 34 compete on Saturday with 30 returning on Sunday. There were 12 FAI which is an unusually large turnout. FAI flew 3 rounds of P and 1 round of F throwing out their lowest P round. In addition our Intermediate winner was 14 years old and we had 3 other young men in their late teens early 20s participate…Pattern is alive and doing well in this part of the country. To my best recollection 16 out of 34 flew glow remainder was electric.

If you’re ever in Houston Texas around the first weekend in May be sure to bring an plane and plan to attend the Spring Pattern Classic at the Space City RC Club located in Katy, TX a west suburb of Houston.

Additional pictures http://cindywick.smugmug.com/RCAirplanesandFlying/2011-4-30-Space-City/16849020_JDRh9L#1271898061_CnF5g2T

Also wanted express thanks to the event sponsors:

F3A Unlimited
Morgen Fuel
Randy's Hobbies (Ritch's Brew)
YS Parts and Service

...Glo vs. Electric Power continues

2011-04-19T18:54:00.000-07:00

The Texas 2010/2011 winter months allowed many flight hours. Majority of these flights were spent flight trimming, battery break-in and trying different props on the Visa. I've ended up liking the APC 22x12 prop, the least expensive I've tried to date. Flew this in 20mph+ wind in the 2011 D6 season opener with great results. As for YS power at the end of the 2010 season I was very confident with the YS Integral setup. It proved very competitive in the final two contest in 2010 placing first in both. I still feel the Integral design is the best windy condition plane I've flown to date especially in quartering and cross wind conditions.
Because of the favorable wind handling characteristics I've ordered another Integral with the goal to ePower it either with a Hacker comp 14xl or perhaps the Q80 11S out-runner. I was fortunate to fly a well trimmed local F3A competitor's Integral with the Hacker Q80 11S out-runner combo with a 22x12 APC, all I can say I am extremely anxious to get my own ePowered Integral in the air.

Glo vs. Electric Power

2010-09-13T15:33:00.000-07:00

This past Saturday 9/11 I had the opportunity to practice with my YS powered Integral and Hacker Comp powered Visa. I am still in the battery break-in and flight trimming phase with the Visa so at this time it is not fair to truly compare performance and flight characteristics. The Integral is a contest veteran with wins in Masters in D-6. the last win was in June against the 2010 NATS 2ND place finisher flying a Neu powered Visa, hmmmm. I will post more as the Visa begins to come into it's own.

YS power aircraft have been very good to me over the years never costing me a contest. I am experimenting with ePower for a couple of reason, one to see if there is a competitive advantage, the other is equipment maintenance/longevity.

2010 Space City Spring Pattern Classic

2010-06-14T08:33:00.000-07:00

Fantastic weather, 30 competitors plus a wonderful facility with very supportive club members made for a successful Space City 3rd annual pattern event.

Visa after polishing ready to be shipped

2010-04-01T14:09:00.001-07:00

2010-03-30T14:53:00.000-07:00

Glen's new Hyde/Colombo Visa fresh from CA Model's paint shop waiting for clear coat...

SCRCC 3rd Annual Spring Pattern Classic (Houston)

2010-02-26T19:31:00.000-08:00

May 1st & 2nd Space City RC Club a west Houston TX suburb is hosting their 3rd annual Pattern Spring Classic. Any AMA legal aircraft can participate in Sportsman class plus FAI will fly P11 and F11 sequences.

See flyers below for more details.

2009-10-28T18:48:00.000-07:00

Newly completed Comp-Arf Integral with custom color scheme...

RTF weight 10lbs
Equip List:14MZ FASST
R6008HS FASST
9252 - ail
9650 - elev & throttle
BLS151 - rud
Lipo RX battery 2100 2S
Jaccio 6.0v regulator
YS DZ-170
Hyde ARA mount
Hatori 823/821 exhaust
ZNLine landing gear
GraphTech wheel pants

Tru-Turn red anodized spinner

Space City RC 2nd Annual Pattern Classic

2009-05-07T20:18:00.000-07:00

Pattern activity in D6 appears to be thriving. This is based on the recent attendance at my clubs 2nd annual pattern event recently held May 2nd and 3rd. This year’s event we had 3 more in attendance than last year, 29 in all. The surprising thing was 1/3 in attendance this year were not at last year’s event. That being said if personal schedules permitted there is the potential to have near 40 in future events.

Texas weather can be brutal and unpredictable. Monday before the event the Northwest and West Houston areas received 11 inches of rain in an 8 hour period. Tuesday morning the news was all about roads and homes that were inundated with flood waters stranding motorists in high water on Houston roads. The club field is located in Katy, TX an area hit hard by the rain. The surrounding area mainly cow pastures is very flat which drains very slowly. I planned to meet Jim Sheffield Wednesday evening to setup the center poles and paint the box lines. As I drove to the field the drainage ditches along the road sides were filled to the brim some were spilling over onto the roads even though it was 48 hours after it had rained. I was certain the flying field would be under water and unusable. To my surprise all the hard work the club membership had done in the past to facilitate drainage worked optimally. The runway was wet in some areas however there was no standing water. With no additional rain forecasted before the weekend, the runaway had the opportunity to dry out by Saturday morning.

There has been chatter on the NSRCA list recently about how to manage time especially with a high number of Masters entries. We had 8 Masters this year. What worked for us was dedicating a resource to run and maintain the flight order and judge assignments. This ensures you keep a plane or planes in the air throughout the contest. Both Saturday and Sunday flying started around 10am four rounds were flown on Saturday with a finish time of 6ish. Two rounds were flown on Sunday and including the awards ceremony attendees where on the road around 2:30. Other tangible elements that impact the flow of the event is the great job our area of D6 does in training contestants to judge any class, (thanks Don Ramsey). This reduces unnecessary time spent negotiating whether someone feels qualified of judging when asked. In addition familiarization and preparation of the scoring system, we used PACSS. Contestants are there happiest and most cooperative when raw scores are available soon after their flight and the round status is posted in a timely fashion.

Special thanks to:

Leonard - field preparation

John Underwood - chef

John Blackmon - line chief

Kyle - score runner

The Space City Club is looking forward to hosting a bigger and better 3rd annual event in 2010.

2009-03-02T11:58:00.000-08:00

The Space City RC Club located in Katy Texas a west Houston Suburb has confirmed hosting their 2nd annual spring pattern classic May 2nd & 3rd 2009. See flyer above for details or contact:

1) Dale Dickey CD @ 281 463-8462 events@spacecityrc.com

2) Glen Watson Event Coordinator @ 281-300-1619 ghwatson@comcast.net.

2008-11-20T09:18:00.000-08:00

Hey fellow D6 competitors my RC club (http://www.spacecityrc.com/) is planning to hold its 2nd annual pattern event this coming May. We are shooting for May 2nd-3rd, 2009. Details will be published when available on the NSRCA site. For those who missed last year's event you can read about it at the following link:

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_7412021/anchors_7412021/mpage_1/key_space%252Ccity/anchor/tm.htm#7412021

Space City Club I like last year unanimously voted to hold an event in 2009 and beyond. Please help me say thanks to the Space City Club by supporting this upcoming event. We have an outstanding facility for holding a pattern event in addition this event will draw such notables as Brett Wickizer, Mike Harrison, Earl Haury, Todd Blose, Mark Hunt, Don Ramsey, Jim Sheffield and many other D6 top National contenders. Please contact me for details and questions at ghwatson@comcast.net.

By the way I was honored by the Space City Club by receiving November Model of the Month with the Beryll GP I flew at the 2008 NATS.

2008 Nationals

2008-07-31T12:55:00.000-07:00

The 2008 AMA Nationals are in the record books. My flying buddy, Jim Sheffield and I had more fun than the law should allow. We left Texas Saturday am and drove through to a location about 80 miles south of Louisville, KY. The following day we drove a short distance to our super secret practice site in southern IN. We both flew several flights and decided to call it day because of approaching bad weather from the west. It's a good thing we did, as we were loading the last of our equipment into the van winds that we later found out were estimated to be gusting up to 50mph began to blow. As we drove from the practice site we saw trees and power lines that had been blown down from the high winds. We arrived at our hotel only to find out the local area was experiencing a power outage due to the storm. However the upside to this was others who were wanting to check-in to the hotel like us decided to have a tail gate party in the parking lot. Let's just say a good time was had by all. After a couple of hours of waiting for the power to be restored we decided to move onto Muncie that evening. Early Monday to our surprise the AMA site was fairly unoccupied. Jim and I were able to get in several practice flights each fairly quickly before others arrived after attending the judges clinic. All classes were well attended and the level of competition across the board was the best I've ever witnessed at the Nats. The scores in the Masters class in particular during the prelims were closely packed. I attribute this not only to the level of competition but also to the great weather we experienced during the Nats. Especially the weather on the finals day, there was only a 60 point spread between first and fifth place. In light to moderate wind conditions everyone flies well.

In summary even thought I had aspirations of repeating as the Masters National champion, I am proud to have placed 2nd 15 points out of first. Congrats to Ken Velez this year's Masters champion, he flew extremely well.

I've included some random shots taken of me, my plane and Jim during the Masters' finals and awards ceremony.

Results available at:

http://www.modelaircraft.org/events/nats/NatsNews08/0726.pdf

http://www.modelaircraft.org/events/nats/scores.aspx?yr=2008

http://pages.suddenlink.net/donramsey/ (go to Contest/Results/Nats history)

2008-07-08T20:04:00.000-07:00

Beryll GP by OXAI

Late 2007 I contacted Sam Johnson of http://oxai.us the US importer for OXAI products to explore the opportunity of purchasing an aircraft. Aircraft I have selected in the past had to meet a short list of minimum requirements. Those requirements are use readily available accessories from US pattern suppliers like Central Hobbies, easily transportable (two piece wing), and be on the cutting edge of current design trends. The Beryll GP (glo power version) by Oxai met those requirements. In addition the craftsmanship, fit and finish far exceeded my expectations for an ARF.

I opted for the gray/silver/orange/white/black color scheme. For years my airframes have been red, yellow and black which have proven to be extremely visible in most light conditions. Once assembled the Beryll’s color scheme is striking however much different then anything I have seen over the years. In the air I was pleasantly surprised how visible it is even in moderate to low light conditions. The orange and white bottom scheme clearly distinguishes the top from the bottom.

To date I have logged approximately 45 flights. I am very pleased how quickly I was able to trim the Beryll GP to obtain a competitive feel. Rolling maneuvers are easy to manage, snaps are crisp and predictable. I look forward to competing with this aircraft at the 2008 Nationals. First pattern plane I’ve ever owned that required zero mix with rudder application.

Equipment list:
YS DZ 170
APC 15X11 4bld
Hatori 821 muffler, 822 header
Futaba 14MZ 9154=ail, 9155=rudder, 9650=elevator & throttle

Finished weight 10lbs 5ozs

Pattern Fashion

2008-06-29T13:12:00.000-07:00

Protective cover by www.planewrappers.com what the best dressed pattern plane is wearing this season.

2008-06-28T06:47:00.000-07:00

The road to the 2008 Nationals is going well for me this year. As for equipment I am well ahead of last year. Currently I have 3 aircraft flying, an Integral, Twister and GP Beryll. The Integral and twister are contest proven and ready with 5 Masters wins in District 6 between them. The Beryll is in the trimming stage with approximately 2 dozen flights logged to date. All are powered with the DZ 170 swinging an APC 15x11 4-blade.

The following are various pictures taken at the 2008 contest I have attended to date:

Space City RC pattern contest, May 3rd-4th 2008

2008-05-05T12:14:00.000-07:00

WOW! Just hosted my very first pattern event. Based on feedback from those in attendance the event was a huge success. Support from the Space City club members along with the 24 contestants and their cooperation exceeded my expectations. We got in 6 rounds total FAI flew 3 rounds of P-09 and F-09 each. Go to Don Ramsey's Pattern Site for a complete listing of results. For those not able to make it this year the Space City RC Club encourages you to mark your Calendar for the first weekend in May 2009.

Special thanks to:
John Underwood -- chef (BB ribs Saturday night were outstanding)
Dale Dickey -- CD
John Blackmon -- my personal scoring assistant
Finnis Hopson -- Line Chief
Leonard Fangue -- Grounds keeper
Event Sponsors -- Futaba/Hobbico, Morgan Fuel/CoolPower, Randy's Hobby/Ritch's Brew, Tru-Turn, YS Parts and Service

Temple AeroModelers contest, April 2008

2008-05-05T11:21:00.000-07:00

Temple AeroModelers kicked-off the 2008 pattern season with an event April 19th-20th. There were 29 competitors in attendance, pattern continues to be alive and well in the South Central US. Masters was the largest with 9. We are fortunate to have some of the best Masters competitors residing in Texas. Attending this contest including myself there were 3 2007 Masters' National finalist. I was thrilled to start the season off with a win considering the high level of competition. Go to Don Ramsey's Pattern Site for a complete listing of the Temple contest results.

Todd Blose debuted his e-powered CA-Models Passport. The aircraft is very impressive in both finish quality and flight performance.