R/C Plane Flying

Hi Eric,
Yes, I like hobbies to help me relax, flying Helos is just too intense. My brother flew them for a while. Try trainer planes, much quicker and more relaxing to learn and generally fly.
Warmest Regards,

Have you tried all the learning tricks, like making a strapon Hula-Hoop landing gear. I think they also sometimes use dowels & wiffle balls. The idea is to make the helicopter tip proof within 1 ft of the ground, also lowers the CG a bit, which helps. LIke I say, I never tried myself, but I know it took my brother quite a bit of time and he had an expert trim the bird and help train him. Turbine Heli does sound like a neat project though.
Warmest,

Hi, Eric and Steven,

Steven: Loved the Super Sportster and the Goldberg Skylane. Built many of both in my day. The Skylane is a sander's delight, isn't it? Other than a Royal kit, I can't remember ever appreciating my Perma-Grit brazed-tungsten-steel sanders to such a high degree!

I still have a Kraft Gold Spectrum 6 RC system and three Kraft Mk IV 7-channel systems with synthesizers, and they were probably the highest-quality RC systems ever produced on 72MHz. Today's equipment is far more feature-capable, and the new 2.4GHz frequency band make hits pretty much a thing of the past. They are better, but they don't make good old gear any less operable than it ever was. Those old Kraft systems are still way cool, and great conversation starters at the field.

I currently fly a JR 12X and X9503, a Spektrum DX7 and Futaba 10C, all 2.4GHz systems.

Eric: Hate to suggest the obvious, but have you checked and set all your trim tabs? The CX3 is an excellent machine and will do everything the advertising claims, but it must be properly ready to fly. Here are two tips:

1. With the transmitter on, the throttle at low and all your trims centered, connect the battery and let the machine stand on a level surface for at least 10 seconds. This sets the gyro. If this isn't done, the gyro won't know where up, down, right and left are. It won't know how to level your machine.

2.. Give it just enough powerto get light on its feet, then, one at a time, set the pitch (right stick forward and back to prevent scooting forward or back), roll (right stick right and left to prevent drifting or leaning to the right or left), and yaw (left stick right and left to prevent the tail from spinning in either direction).

3. Once you can hover for a couple of seconds, apply a bit more power and get the machine up quickly and out of the ground effect. Waist high is enough. It will fly much better at altitude than flat on the deck.

The CX3 is a nice machine, but I prefer the mCX and mCX2 for basic training. These two are the most stable my daughter and I have seen. They are micro, not mini helicopters, and less weight and inertia mean less (if any) damage when you f* up.

4. Jeff Troy's golden rule of life... "If it wasn't for f*ing up, there'd be no up at all!"

When you guys have a few minutes, check out www.TheParkPilot.com. I am editor-in-chief of Park Pilot, the AMA's quarterly magazine for small electric aircraft.

While you're there, check out http://www.theparkpilot.com./pages/news_stories.html for my daughter's two-day presentation at the Intrepid Museum. In addition to her solo presentation, she was part of a panel of eight "Women in Aviation."

Also go to www.airborne-models.com to check out my F-14 TAMEcat Trainer (65-inch 40-size), TAMEcat EP (39.5-inch electric) and TAMEcat EDF (electric ducted fan). AirBorne is the USA distributor for The World Models where my designs are being manufactured.

Regards...

Hello Jeff,
I was hoping you'd jump in on this thread as I knew you had a great deal of experience in the R/C aircraft world. Nice article by your daughter, though I didn't actually see her name. I did recognize her from a previous photo I saw (something to do with karting, I think!).

Gotta admit, I think my favorite plane was the Sportster. It was a .20 size (don't think they sell them in that size anymore, I still have the plans, may scratch build another one). It had a K&B Sportster Engine (appropriate, huh) which really ran well with the tuned pipe. I tend to like that size - not overly effected by wind, easy to transport, and easy on the fuel (4-6 oz/flight).

The forth and fifth pictures down show the Q-Tee. Interesting because it used only a 3 minute run on a Cox .049 engine to get it up, however my record flight duration was over 3 hours. During the last building recession in the early 80's I lived in an un built-out subdivision (subdivision was complete w/ paved roads but no one could afford to buy houses with high interest rates). The black paved roads between the green weed-filled lots created great thermals.

I may get into ParkPilot planes, as our school campus is just a few blocks away and perfect for that size of plane.

Warmest Regards,

As I said, just kinda getting back into it and my school responsibilities are high at the moment.

I had a .20 size Tequilla Sunrise which suffered a mild crash on one of my last flying trips before the hiatus (broke off muffler and landing gear). It has a very thin wing and fairly high wing loading so it flys more like a pylon racer than an acrobatic sport plane. I'm thinking of thickening & lenthening the wing a bit to slow it down and make it more responsive. It shouldn't take too many hours to make it flyable. However, it has a Futaba flight pak, and both the flight pack and transmitter batteries need to be replaced. Also have a .40 Lanier ARTF and a .20 scale Mustang still in the boxes I could build if I had the time. We'll see how things go.

Regards,

I can't remember which model the Lanier is, its at home and I am at the school at present. I'll look and let you know. It is a Javelin (says for .19-.40).

The P51D scale Mustang is by Model-Tech (for .20 -.23).

My brother prefers large 4-stroke powered planes, his most recent being a Saito powered Ultra-Stick.

Naw, I'm a long ways away from you - In California (near Fresno). Still hoping we can get together on one of your visits to the west coast, though.
Sincerely,

Steven: Those Hangar 9 and E-flite Ultra Sticks are all very nice, just as good or maybe eeven better than the original Das Ugly Stik that Phil Kraft designed back in the '60s. I have every one of them, electric and gas.

My 120Lite has a Saito 1.80 and rips great - gobs of power. The Mini and 25e are super electrics. All my Ultra Sticks use the optional flap setup with four wing servos and my 12X transmitter.

Just looked over your images again and saw the Midwest AeroStar. Good choice on your parts. The Eagle 63 and Eagle II were the most popular, but the AeroStar was by far the nicest kit and the best flying model in the 40-class trainer genre' of the day. I built several 40- and 20-class AeroStars for myself and customers.

Eric: Sounds like your problems are really annoying. If it were me, that machine would be smashed against a wall a long time ago. I'd like you to give Horizon a call so you can speak with someone knowledgeable in the service department. I'm getting the right name and number for you from the publicist I deal with over there. Check back later and I should have the info posted.

Warmest...

Great thank you Jeff! I will give them a call as soon as I get my new stabilizer bar.
Eric A

If you think it's tough now, you shoulda tried it back in the '80's -- $1,000 to say hello and the hardest thing you've ever done in your life -- and I don't care what you've done!

Never had much fun with nitro boats. Raced 40-class deep vees in the '70's and had arms like Popeye from rowing a chase boat. Cars are easy, but I get bored after five minutes or so; they can't split-S or touch-and-go.

Warmest...

try this

Well, rebuilt my Tequilla Sunrise. Added 6" additional wingspan (now about 42"), 1/2" additional chord depth and about 3/8" thickness to airfoil x-section. Did the maiden flight today, still a handful, but at least I got it up and down in one piece (a first for this particular plane - 3 tries before noted modifications). Also put K&B Sportster .20 with Perry carb on it. Gonna play with CG & throws to mild it out a bit. Below are some pics as it is now.





Warmest Regards,

I never flew RC planes, unless you count some p.o.s. I had back in the early 80's that had a 2 string tether about 30 feet long and the plane would go up or down depending on which way you pulled the strings. Pull the top one to climb, and the bottom one to dive. Did I mention that you could only go in circles? I don't know what make or model it was. It wasn't too bad for a 10 year old kid though, as I flew it every chance I got, my friends were jealous, and it was what my dad could afford to buy me. Actually thinking back on it now, it wasn't really that bad, until you got dizzy from spinning in circles, lost control of it, and it would come crashing to the ground. I do remember that the wings and the fuselage were 2 seperate pieces and the wings were held on by rubber bands so when you crashed it (which was about 4 out of 5 times you flew it) the wings busted free and it was just a matter of replacing a couple of rubber bands and you were back flying. Great memories. About a month ago, I came across a Blade cx at a Goodwill store for $11.00. It was missing the battery and charger. I checked on parts availability and pricing and decided to buy it. I then went to the local hobby store, bought the pieces I needed and remembered that hobbies are expensive. After quite a few attempts at getting it off the ground and to hover, and alot of crashes, I was able to get it to hover, and actually fly it! It wouldn't hover without lots of stick adjustments however, so I had to start adjusting motor controls and servo linkages. Of course I spent more time fixing it than actually flying it, but I finally got everything adjusted so it would keep a stable hover and go in the direction I wanted it to, and I still kept crashing it, but I was having fun. Then I found a great deal on the same heli brand new in the box on e-bay, so I bought that one also. I am still learning how to fly it well and crash it quite regularly, but I am still having fun with it. The one thing that I can't quite figure out though is why all the guys at the hobby store seem so happy to see me when I walk in? Either way, I am having a blast with the new hobby.

Allen,
thanks for the kind words. While I can claim credit for the wing edging. The original plane was an ARF (Almost Ready-to Fly), so the graphic design was by the mfg. However, with the extensive reworking I've done, I did have to recreate the graphics/trim.
Warmest Regards,

Hey Jeff....I have a K & B Allyn .29 from back in my control line days..It is a vintage 1956...Green Head...I have no idea if it is worth anything, but I flew it about 10 hours total before I went to the army in 1959...Is it a collector's item or what?? ;D
bobevans