Up in the air

Yesterday was another solid day of training from home although I was actually late for class.  Before class I went to pick up the dogs, get coffee and drop off mom’s new ion/magnet bracelet.  I didn’t get logged into the remote classroom until 10:15.

The dogs chilled out, slept, hung on the pool deck, and whined (Nicki) while I was in the training.  During the breaks I did my best to entertain them.  They both closely supervised my lunch workout.

Before Ali came out to pick up the dogs I finally got out to try to put my flying wing back up in the air, a place it hasn’t been in a couple years.  I had 4 old battery packs, only one would hold a decent charge.  I gave myself a quick mental refresher on what I needed to do to get the plane in the air, turn on the transmitter, plug in the battery, adjust the initial aileron angles, hit full throttle and give it a good strong toss at an upward angle.

My toss wasn’t great but the power of the brushless motor was enough to overcome it, sending my flying wing upward.  Instantly I could tell my initial trim settings weren’t good.  With no stick the wing wanted to climb and circle right.  I clumsily adjusted the trim mid-air, making sure there was plenty of space between the plane and the ground.

Despite the battery being dormant for a long time it actually provided a decent amount of punch.  I was able to do loops, rolls and pull out of power dives without problem.

Luckily flying an RC plane is much like riding a bike.  Once you get accustomed to the controls it comes back to you.  I didn’t have any issues with disorientation regardless of the direction or angle the wing was flying at.

I had the plane up for maybe 6 or 7 minutes before I brought it down, not wanting to push it too far with an old battery.  I managed to land it cleanly about 10 feet from Sadie who was watching the flight along with Nicki.  I was quite pleased at my success flying after so long.  It was fun.  As long as the standing water stays away today I will probably try to get back out there again some time today.

Last night I finished the single player version of Heart of the Swarm.  It was a pretty epic storyline with huge battles along the way.  I used minimal skill in my play style, preferring to use the F2 key to just send my entire army around the map instead of doing careful micro-management of my units as you are supposed to.  Oh well, it got the job done, great game.

If you are looking for some epic tv by the way, watch Ray Donovan on Showtime.  It is a bit like a modern day Sopranos.

So Monday is Ali and my court date to finalize the divorce.  It has been tough on both of us as the date has grown closer.  Despite both of our assumption that this day was coming, the finality of it is still a tough thing to deal with.  It will be good in the long run to finally have it done with officially so we can both move forward in whatever path we wind up following. However I don’t think the little twinges of sadness and feelings of failure will ever really go away for good, at least for me.  I am happy that we have continued to be supportive of each other throughout the separation and I hope we continue to be good friends the rest of our lives.