RC planes/jets/heli

After a 3-4 month absence from flying I finally have an airworthy T-28 again as I have waiting for spare props to be released, had two great flights although a little hairy with the impending storms.

Also friend sold his ute and bought a sedan so we can only fit 2 or 3 airplanes now
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Didn't see this posted, apologize if it's a dupe. French air show, huge (to me) RC planes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=zYPag3LuKlA

(dumb soundtrack warning)

 

Durafly T-28 right? I'm enjoying my Parkzone, but do wish it had retracts....
Super cool car, even if not ideal for carrying aircraft

The other day flying my T-28 at the school 1/2 mile from my house (instead of the huge RC Field 30 minutes away) I misjudged distance & altitude while coming around for a fly-by. About 400' feet away I just clipped the parapet on the top of the 2-story school and "PFOOOF" she disappeared. I had to come back later that day with an extension ladder to climb up a lower part, up a roof-ladder to the higher part, retrieve the parts (nothing broken but the $5 engine cowl!) and lower her down via string.
Below is a screen-grab from in flight vid showing the scene of the crash.

Incredible planes, awful music, but what's with the all the horrible landings?!

Here's a car carrier/workshop maintenance support I fabbed up from 2x2 and 5/8" oak dowels over the weekend. Makes taking them to the field a snap, can carry both now with one hand.

The P-38 was looking pretty scruffy so gave her a night-fighter paint job (couldn't resist tarting her up with red spinners though). Mean!
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Kurt, I really like your idea for the car carrier! I may have to borrow that one. I like to take several different planes when I go fly and that would do a great job protecting them and opening up more storage space.

 

Thanks, it's working out great, definitely worth the hour or so to build. Really nice to have a cradle not only at home but also at the field for installing batteries, testing gear, etc.
I did add one more ~24" long piece of 2x2 across the front as it was a little bit tippy on right hand turns. Now it's rock solid.

Today was absolutely perfect for flying so took the planes to Bong park.
First time with a 4s battery in the P-38.... YES! Not quite unlimited vertical but after the 3S pack it feels like turbo-superchargers were retrofitted. The all-black paint scheme indeed looks sweet, but orientation can be a bit of a problem. May end up painting the tops of the wing tips red, or putting air force stickers on the bottoms.
Now up to 18 flights with the Lightning, 20ish with the Trojan.

 

Check out the amazing scale details on this Yak 30.

http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=zYPag3LuKlA

 

Same link as 4 posts ago. Great planes, not so great landings :/

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-NgoQzMlZGM&feature=youtu.be

 

LOL, love the sound effects!

 

Kurt, that's a nice way to carry the p-38. Here's my method from this past weekend. I can fit it in the back of the subaru legacy with the seats down, but the kids wanted to come, so had to hold it upright and sit illegally in the back to take it to the nearest office park. My wife drove. My neck was nice and stiff when I got there, with two prop tip indentations in my legs. Nice flight though. It was the first time I did a hand launch. First grass belly landing too. Works well, especially with a good head wind to keep the landing speed low, thus less dragging.
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lol yeah that doesn't look especially comfortable!

Well after 32 VERY enjoyable flights, my Lightning is no more... Last weekend took her down to Bong park again, and on the 5th, and what I had intended to be final flight of the day a combination of gusting winds and a cocky pilot (of course there was an audience...) resulted in a basically full throttle, straight in SPLAT.
Total airframe destruction. All I will salvage is the receiver, motors, SC, and gear. Even the battery was dented up (discharged in salt water).
I basically lost orientation during a series of low-level rolls about 150 yards out. Oops.

Anyway she gave her all, and I've still got the V2 airframe to build with some of her remains.

Also a FMS P-51D on the way
http://www.bananahobby.com/2285.html
the 20% off coupon code is still good MANR8731

 

I can't decide between the FMS FW-190 or a Parkzone D. VA

 

If you're going to keep it for a while, the Albatros D. VA is a better choice, just because Parkzone is great about offering almost every replacement part at a good price. FMS could discontinue 190 at any time, and you're stuck trying to find a part.


I didn't know you already bought a v2 p-38 body. That's convenient.

 

I've been flying other FMS planes mainly the T-28 and found them to be great but the issue for me is 1.4m planes take too much space IMO.

Parkzone planes are great, they take no tinkering they just fly! My latest Parkzone plane is the Icon A5 and it's a fantastic bird.

 

True, although the 190 is new and it's SO hard to resist the non-Horizon planes when you get so much more for the same money, or less, like retracts, flaps and lights.

Yeah must have known the V1 wouldn't last forever lol
Picked one up when Banana had the "kit" (no servos or speed controllers) on sale (and in stock ) for $80. Just added a $20 battery for free shipping over $100.

 

I'm not sure if you guys are aware of Windrider models, they produce foam EDF airliners, very highly detailed and finished to your own spec.

http://www.windrider.com.hk/product.asp?id=164

There's a new 777 up for preorder that's ready to fly although it looks to have fixed landing gear and I'm not sure about flaps but that shouldn't be too much of hassle to add your own

I know there's a Concorde in the works also but info is scare, very excited

 

Great link, thanks! I never heard of this company before, but looks like they have good stuff at good prices. My wife will be thrilled!

 

If you do some googling you should find some good forums, I can't link you ATM although I wish I had the time or space to build the 737.

 

This is the absolute coolest RC plane ever IMO.
Electric Eurofighter with full pan&tilt FPV set-up including a "pilot" that moves the throttle and stick, and of course HUD with altitude, speed, location, battery usage etc. Only thing left is 3D!
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPlWho3KJHY&feature=channel&list=UL[/ame]

Here's the build log. Incredible technology and builder ingenuity:
http://fpvlab.com/forums/showthread.php?4590-Eurofighter-FPV-build/page9

My P-51 arrived and is now assembled and hanging in her new ceiling cradle, awaiting a replacement ESC. It's true what they say about these cheap foamies: look great, fly great, but the electronics that come with them are crap. The ESC wouldn't even beep, and the elevator servo crapped out immediately after plugging into a spare ESC to check everything out. Waiting to hear back from Banana Hobby, hopefully they'll just send me another ESC. Already ordered a replacement servo and 70A ESC so I can get her in the air next weekend when my father comes to visit from NJ.
Luckily she just fits in the travel rack, and then in the Mazda5 with mere inches to spare.
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Test every critical servo by using your finger to add some servo resistance on flight surface while moving control sticks around. I have a failure rate of about 1/30 on pre-installed servos, but if you take off and it fails after a minutes, your done. Usual failure is stripped internal gears.

 

Good tip Chris thanks.
Heard good things about these, will probably order a set for the ailerons on both the Mustang and the Lightning.
http://www.graysonhobby.com/catalog/5packtpmg909gmetalgearservo-p-1404.html

 

Metal gear servos are the best, I'm just too cheap to buy them. $2.50 for HXT900 9gram servo at hobbyking, has worked really well for me. Never had a failure, and they are the same size as most of the pre-installed servos in foam planes that run between half to 2 pounds flying weight.

 

How often do you guys get a chance to fly if you don't mind me asking? I'm struggling to find time more than once a month or even that, it's a hassle finding a place to fly too.

Most parks are too small or in use when I have the time, and the one massive concrete car park I found is always full.

 

Yup, a few weeks ago on your tip I bought 10 of those for the next P-38 build

I've driven 30 minutes to the beautiful Bong Rec Park 4 times in the past 2 months, on weekends except for one weekday evening I was visiting a customer in Chicago so threw a plane in the car and stopped by on my drive home.

Luckily there's a school with a big paved area and 2 soccer fields literally 1 mile from my home. Not big/safe enough for the heavier/faster planes, but perfect for the Parkzone T-28. I can drive there, fly a 10 minute battery pack, and be home in less than 20 minutes. Have done so at least 10 times in the past 2 months. There's usually little wind in the evening, so 8:15 PM when the sun dips below the trees but there's enough light to see is perfect.
I've found that RC planes take a lot less time than golf

 

Last soccer field I flew at had a game playing at one end, kids running around chasing dogs and women exercising.

I ended up getting a little crowd watching and a dog trying to chase the plane, funnily enough that was the smoothest landing I've ever managed on grass.