March 12, 2013
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Tuesday 12th March 2013
Tuesday Evening: Today has been cool and very windy, in fact every day for the last two weeks has been windy. We had a very cold snap a week ago and a storm with the worst red rain we ever saw, which has turned the pool green. The shops have all sold out of chemicals too, so there is nothing we can do about it at the moment.
Febuary was very cold, with the exception of a few days toward the end when it was warmer, but no less windy. Seem to me this winter has been longer and darker than before, many more cloudy days and very cold winds, with no let up yet according to the forecast.
I decided to make a Skylark, which was my first commercial kit in New Zealand, it took about six weeks, although a significant amount of that time was due to bad weather and waiting for bits. Daniel came out at the beginnig of the month for 9 days and bought some wire strips, covering film and trim, the rest of the parts came from Hong Kong, although the longest I had to wait was for the nose leg, which took over two weeks from the UK and where I was ripped off for £6 to post it.
Anyway the model is finished now and has had a couple of flights, still waiting for another opportunity to fly it, those hot summer nights will suit this one well though..
The Skylark model under construction. The model uses all Turnigy equipment including radio, ESC and servo's and is powered by a Turnigy 3530/06 brushless outrunner motor.
The model, seen here after it's first test flight with flying fan Saffie cat, who regularly accompanies me to the flying strip and waits to chase the models when they land. I gave her a fright a couple of weeks ago when I did a touch and go with Piwaka, she wasn't expecting it to take off again and puffed up like a blowfish, it was really funny.
The finished model with solar trim added
The main difference between this model and the original it the addition of ailerons making the model 4 channel and not just three. It flies really well and fits perfectly into the "basic trainer" slot, being very slow and forgiving. This model is also nearly 1/3rd lighter than the orginal due to lighweight modern equipment.
A mock-up of the first Skylark kit label.
