Pike Precision maiden

After 3 months on the bench my repaired Pike Precision is in the air!

The north-east wind almost tempted me to walk to the slope half-way to West Lomond but I chickened out having never flown there in good air so I pitched up at Putrid Hill on the north side of East Lomond. There is a reasonable area to land with not much rotor. 

At the last minute I had pulled the magnetic switch out of the model yesterday and went for plugging the battery straight into the receiver. I remembered the unexplained crash that had befallen this model in the hands of it's previous owner and that magic switch troubled me! What a woose!! When I was getting ready to fly I discovered the model completely dead. After a much fiddling, cursing etc followed by a cup of tea I spotted the cause. Remember:- Battery wiring only works if Red goes to Red and Black goes to Black. Muppet!!

All setup with Pierre Rondel's settings it flew great. No aileron trim needed just a couple of clicks of down. The first flight without ballast in the 15-20mph wind saw the model tossed around in the bumpy air so I landed and added 520 grams to the wings and it still felt a bit light. Quick though!! EM and reversals both working well. Happy? Absolutely delighted!! Better think about how to paint it now without making it looking worse!!

Landed after first flight. Nice.

Yes, it is a small grainy picture but I took it while I was flying the model on it's third flight of the day. Lucky it is easy to fly!

I was joined early on by Mike who I met briefly at the last comp and he flew his Blaze and a bitza F3F type mouldie. Nice to see a new face.