Stooging in Walkersville

Good news. Two more flights on the Yankee Nipper. This time the needle valve assembly stayed together. The needle setting was fine. I fixed the needle problem by replacing the NVA with an O.S. R/C one purchased new from Tower Hobbies. The other part of the fix was to switch props. I switched to a Master Airscrew 10x4 prop. The larger prop resulted in lower rpms and I liked the engine behavior a lot better. And the speed of the plane was manageable. All in all, a good result. I am pretty sure I will be able to fly this thing often enough to get used to it.
The first flight was a fairly normal takeoff run. It actually took off level and reached flight altitude smoothly. I did a few climbs and dives. And I did an inside loop. And nothing fell off the plane. And the engine run was good. And the engine ran until it was out of fuel. So then I knew I finally have a working combination on this plane.
The second takeoff was a bit erratic. I had trouble getting the stooge to release. As it turned out, the stooge did release, but the string used to release the stooge also broke. The takeoff looked like a stair climb, but I got it airborne. The flight was good. I was feeling frisky so I did a couple of inside loops. Then I flew it inverted. Then I decided to try an outside loop. But the engine stopped just about the time the plane was vertical near the top of the loop. I was able to back up quickly enough to regain line tension. And the plane proceeded to fly into an inverted glide and a gentle landing. So no harm done. But why did it stop? Well I just remounted the plane on the stooge and fired it up. It ran for about 15 seconds. So the problem was I did not know I was almost out of fuel. Should have waited for the beginning of the next flight to start maneuvering. Just typical teething problems. I am not really used to flying this plane. It will take me a while to get a good feel for the amount of time this plane will fly on a tank of fuel.
It does seem to be pretty well trimmed. About twenty more flights on it should begin to give me the feeling that I know what I am doing when I am flying it.
Pictures to follow.