Big Dave’s Blog

  • That’s Not Supposed To Happen

    That’s Not Supposed To Happen

    Got out early on Friday, and since the family was all off doing something, I decided to hit the field and get some practice in before the heat came in this weekend (forecast was for 95+ for the next several days). I’m finally starting get a more comfortable with the plane, so my sequences are…

  • Kam Aero First Practice Flights

    Kam Aero First Practice Flights

    After several trim flights, I started working on practicing the IMAC Advanced Sequence. I have a long way to go — more trimming, more tweaking, more getting used to. This plane snaps a lot differently than previous planes I’ve had. Then again, it also flies smoother than any plane I’ve ever had. Loving it! Skip…

  • Kam Aero IMAC Finally Flies

    Kam Aero IMAC Finally Flies

    Back in My IMAC Airplane Odyssey and then again in Rookie Mistake Painting, I described my multi-year odyssey getting my Kam Aero IMAC plane finally in the air. Well, it finally happened, but it wasn’t without some drama. As I explained in Rookie Mistake Painting, I didn’t get the colors to match, so Kevin at…

  • Rookie Mistake Painting

    Rookie Mistake Painting

    Weather finally started to cooperate for painting the big plane in the garage. Until this past weekend, it’s been surprisingly cool here in northern Virginia. Finally had two days of 75+ and low humidity when my schedule allowed. Time to paint the red parts of my plane. Everything was already primed a while back, so…

  • Scientists Drop Absolutely Stunning New View of the Milky Way Galaxy

    Scientists Drop Absolutely Stunning New View of the Milky Way Galaxy

    Saw this article during my morning reading. Scientists drop absolutely stunning new view of the Milky Way galaxy The above article references the main one. Billions of Celestial Objects Revealed in Gargantuan Survey of the Milky Way Space is so humbling. Here we are in what is generally considered a below averaged sized galaxy, but…

  • My IMAC Airplane Odyssey

    My IMAC Airplane Odyssey

    I know. I haven’t posted in a long while. Been a lot going on. I’m still fly IMAC, but I’ve changed jobs, moved, and crashed my main contest plane. It’s the crash that started the odyssey to a new contest plane. I’m writing this post to force me to ensure my new plane is ready…

  • Adding the Motor

    Adding the Motor

    Time to install this baby: That’s four cylinders and 200cc of awesomeness. This will turn a 3-blade, 29 inch prop, and produce about 19 hp. It should be more than enough for a 40+ lb plane. First order of business is to wire up all the necessary electronics: Time for some more extensions… Next up,…

  • Adding the Brain

    Adding the Brain

    I need to equip the new plane with a brain and servos. This plane will require nine servos. All servos come from ProModeler. Rather than use some of the more name brand servos, I decided to go with this small business that specializes in servos for military drones. It’s a great, local business where the…

  • IMAC for Better Flying

    IMAC for Better Flying

    Full scale or models, I’ve always been interested in precision aerobatics. Since I’m not able to fly full scale aerobatics, I stick to models. There are two styles of precision aerobatics. Pattern – The has been part of RC since the 60s, and it has evolved a lot over the decades. These planes are all…

  • My New Toy – The Beast

    My New Toy – The Beast

    As an engineer, I feel the need to build stuff all the time, and it’s not always software. Aviation is another passion of mine. If I can’t fly the real ones, the radio control models work for me. After a long layoff from the hobby, I jumped in again with both feet. The best part…