|
Carl Goldberg Eagle II
|
This is my first (and currently my only) Carl Goldberg Eagle II. A friend and I built it in seven days. It was a
concentrated effort - a challenge that we put to ourselves on a whim when my friend came to visit me back in October of
1996. This was my first dedicated night flying aircraft, designed with LEDs in the wing, fuselage and tail. Therefore,
it was only fitting that its maiden flight took place at night.
Its maiden flight took place on the night of October 16, 1996. It actually flew two five-minute flights, and we
discovered a number of problems with the plane (including landing gear misalignment, bad connection to the lights in the
tail, something loose causing radio interference, bad generator coupler causing the batteries to not charge, and a warp
in the wing). But it was a successful evening - we brought the plane back in one piece to work on correcting all the
problems we had noted. After all, that's what a maiden flight is all about.
Over the years, this plane has had notorious problems, either with the generator, the lighting system, or the batteries.
In many ways, it was an experimental airplane, and it was wired with green LEDs that we had never tried before. Green was
too dim, so I have since converted it to red LEDs (which also required an alteration to the electrical system). In fact,
at one point I added a switch that allowed me to switch between red and green in flight. But this proved to be a bad idea,
as the green was nearly invisible, anyway.
Even the red LEDs were not very bright (I was not using the superbright LEDs), so I have since replaced 12 LEDs in the
wing with superbright LEDs, making it a much more enjoyable plane to fly at night. Also, through all the revisions of the
electrical system to accommodate the red and green LEDs - and the switch to switch them - a rats nest had developed in the
wiring harness. But this all changed early in 2002.
I removed the rats nest of wires and replaced them with a much cleaner wire harness and have permanently disconnected the
green LEDs. I have also added a new set of batteries to the plane. I worked on the generator earlier in 2001, so it
should be in good shape for a while. I even have a spinner on the nose, now, and I rebuilt the fuel tank. I anticipated
that 2002 would see many trouble-free flights on this aircraft, but this wasn't the case. I did not fly the plane until
November, and at that time determined that the electrical system was flawed and needs to be seriously reworked. So, the
Eagle is relegated to day flying unless and until I decide to perform the required major surgery.
One interesting aspect about this aircraft is that it has been modified from its original design in order to reduce
weight and increase lift. The airfoil of the wing is an undercambered airfoil (making for an interesting challenge to
get the wing film on it), and the holes in the fuselage structure have been widened (to reduce weight). Therefore, this
plane is not built to take heavy stresses or loads. Subsequently, my flying habits while flying this particular aircraft
are rather tame (and sane), as I have never done so much as a loop with it. It was built strictly for relaxing
flights under the stars, although I am beginning to think this plane is afraid of the dark.
In hindsight, there are many things I would have liked to have done with this aircraft. One thing I would have liked
would have been to take it up on New Year's Eve (12/31/2000) and land it on New Year's Day (1/1/2001) so that it would
have taken off in one millennium and landed in another. I almost unwittingly flew it through a total lunar eclipse. I
went out flying one night, and a brilliant full moon rose up over the mountains at one end of the runway. It was a warm,
quiet night, and I had a wonderful time flying. However, the plane developed a battery problem, causing ths charging
system to malfunction, so I grounded the plane. I sat and watched the moon for a while before going home. It wasn't
until the eclipse was nearly completely over that I learned of the event that night! If I could have flown for another
hour, I would have seen the beginning of it.
I also would have liked to have flown through the Leonid meteor shower on November 18, 2001. But, all these great events
are behind me, and I can't go back. I'll just have to look for some future events to fly through. A total eclipse of the
sun would be great!
Copyright 2002
11/20/2002