Flew my new Dominator tonight!!!!

[MrGrey]

Ok, for those who do not know, I purchased Ron Awads old dominator and took it on its maiden flight tonight. Once I broke ground I could hardly believe how rock solid those machines are in the air. I am now totally sold on those machines and their capabilities. I had a grin that went ear to ear as I was cruisin along at 80 mph and yanking that thing around. The stability was unsurpassed and never even so much as deviated from my cyclic inputs. I can't wait to fly it again!!!!

[dragonflyerthom]

Matt

It is amazing how great a machine flys when it is set up right. Congrats and good luck flying it. If memory serves me correct he added additional fuel capacity to it so you can fly longer.

[Passin' Thru]

MrGrey, I commend you on the purchase of such a fine machine and am delighted that that you are so excited about it.

But MrGrey, I gotta tell you, your avatar just bugs the hell out of me! That is just plain WRONG! :sad: :lol: :lol: :lol: :D

[scottessex]

So I guess you are comfortable with it now? Dominators look goofy as all get out, but they sure do fly sweet! :)

[verroi]

Those of you should know that the skill with which Matt now flys came with the machine. I blessed that ride with my very own phonominal flying skills and the machine was simply performing through Matt. He was just a vessel to be used. I can withdraw that skilled blessing at anytime within 30 days of Him recieving the machine.

[scottessex]

Hey Tim, Mine must have been the same way. :)

[Timchick]

Matt,
Glad to see you get a sweet ride.

[iconnary]

Hey Tim, could I get you to bless my machine as well? What do you charge for that?

;)

[Screw]

Screw-In

Could you bless my wife?

Screw-Out

[MrGrey]

Flew my new Dominator again tonight for an hour... did a bunch of touch and goes and then I left the patch and flew some fields and rang that thing out...... I still cannot believe what I was missing. Again the word that comes to mind is stability. The phrase that kept coming to mind was "plug and play" as in Plug in a pilot and go play...I will get some flying pics shortly, but i did not want any distractions as i log my first few hours. Everyone should own a dominator!!!

[scottessex]

Sounds like another convert......now all we are going to hear is......dominator this and dominator that, like He is trying to get Ernie to give him a free T shirt or something. :) Glad you like it Matt, just wait until you get some wind and then go fly. :) and enjoy!

[MrGrey]

we had 15-18 mph winds tonight when i flew, and normally I would have to stay a little ahead of my ol' bee in those winds, but the dom just seemed to eat it up... what was very impressive is when i was on my way back to the airport after toying around I got up to about 800 ft and went downwind at full throttle and my ground speed was indicated over 100mph... that pod makes a huge difference in comfort and speed. It does give a false sense of speed with the pod b/c you cannot feel the air. I poked my head out from behind the shield once and the wind was incredible....

[Joe Pires]

Hey Matt gratz on your new ride and especially on enjoying it as much as you do. I too am building up the hours on mine and getting very at ease with it. I am not much for doing anything remotely envelope pushing but even when i play the machine never gives me any surprises.

[GyroRon]

Just to make sure no one is confused.... My old gyro was NOT a true Dominator. It is basically a Dominator, but with slightly wider main gear, different main gear suspension, and two other things that effect how it flys - 1. Fiberglass seat with side tanks, this lowered the weight of the fuel and pilot by a few inches, making the gyro closer to a true centerline thrust gyro (it was a low thrustline gyro before ) and also the gyro had a slider rotorhead which took most of the stick shake out, and lastly the rotors themselves were on the small side as far as length verses all up weight goes. I worked on that gyro alot to get it " just right " and was very happy with it. If I had the chance to reverse the deal I made with Verroi for this two place I have now I would, but thats okay, I will have another one like it one day.

Anyway my whole point is a Dominator flys great. Better than any other gyro I have flown, and I have flown alot of gyros. My old Dominator flew better than a normal Dominator, so Matt is really gonna have fun with his new toy! Go Matt! :)

[MrGrey]

Thanks Ron!!! Sorry if I am seeming a little over enthusiastic, but you did built one hell of a machine and unfortunately I wont be trading it for a 2-place anytime soon. Come Mentone though, fly its as though you own it.... you deserve that for making such a sweet machine.

[Peanut]

Just to make sure no one is confused.... My old gyro was NOT a true Dominator. It is basically a Dominator, but with slightly wider main gear, different main gear suspension, and two other things that effect how it flys - 1. Fiberglass seat with side tanks, this lowered the weight of the fuel and pilot by a few inches, making the gyro closer to a true centerline thrust gyro (it was a low thrustline gyro before ) and also the gyro had a slider rotorhead which took most of the stick shake out, and lastly the rotors themselves were on the small side as far as length verses all up weight goes. I worked on that gyro alot to get it " just right " and was very happy with it. If I had the chance to reverse the deal I made with Verroi for this two place I have now I would, but thats okay, I will have another one like it one day.

Anyway my whole point is a Dominator flys great. Better than any other gyro I have flown, and I have flown alot of gyros. My old Dominator flew better than a normal Dominator, so Matt is really gonna have fun with his new toy! Go Matt! :)

Ron,

Could you explain, briefly, how you made the gear and suspension modifications?

Thanks.

[GyroRon]

I didn't modify the suspension. The gyro was partly built when I purchased it and the suspension was already done at that point. The main difference was the gear legs were longer, giving it a wider stance, and then the shocks are high pressure nitrogen shocks made for racing dunebuggys. The stock dominator gear works fine though, as long as you get a set of airshocks that don't leakdown too often. My current Dominators airshocks need more air added to them about once a month or so to stay at the right level of " firmness "

[dimwit]

Reading a thread like this makes excited about getting mine completed. But that is aways off so for now I'll be excited for you. Congradulations.