If you are new or newly returning to RC flight then you will want to check out http://www.rcgroups.com especially the training area. They will help people not make big buying or flying mistakes.
This page tracks my current addiction problem with radio controlled flying vehicles. I thought it might be helpful down the road to assist in recovery and rehabilitation ...
My first plane was a Traxxas Rustler. Okay, so it is a truck, but we did get it to fly with some creative jump designs. I acquired some beefy tires thinking that I wanted to tear around in the dirt and grass, but it wasn't as satisfying as I had hoped. In fact, it was the amount of time spent trying to get it airborne that helped me realize that I really wanted a plane.
My first actual plane was a Kyosho Cessna 180 EP (electric power) ARF (almost ready to fly) plane. It went on sale just as I was looking for my first flyer and it took the same batteries as the Ruster. That was good enough for me. It has had quite a few flights and been repaired a LOT. Something was still missing, but at this time I didn't know what. It was fun, but I knew it could be a lot more fun somehow.
I bought various parts here and there including a pricy computer RC transmitter/receiver combo. Also shown in that picture is my blue flight kit with tools, various glues and tapes and spare parts "just in case." The Cessna flew more than once with just tape holding it together after a crash.
I played around with electrifying some free flight foam planes right from the beginning, but I didn't get very far. I just didn't know enough then about the critical flight physics to get stuff working. I have since seen many others (online) successfully electrify the foam planes from department stores. I'm confident I could finally get it working, but there are many other designs I'd rather work on now instead. Here is my very first attempt at a plane. It never flew, but it taxied real fast with a 17t car motor!
I also tried my hand at hot wire foam cutting my own parts for a delta wing design. Here are a pair of wing halves freshly cut from 2" Owens Corning pink insulation board and still sitting on the cutting jig. It wasn't very enjoyable. The final product looked okay, but it didn't fly in its first incarnation. I still have the wing and hope to re-hack it some day into a working design. I have since found out that the pink stuff is up to 50% heavier compared to other foamboard products so I wouldn't recommend using it for large parts.
Tower Hobbies put a busted Hobbico Speed Pilot on their scratch and dent page. I got it for $27 and fixed it enough to get a few flights on it. All electronics worked and have been reused for other projects. The plane itself currently isn't flyable anymore but its guts live on.
At this point I already knew I was tragically addicted to this hobby. In an effort to save money I tried mating my planes in hopes of gaining viable offspring, but it didn't work.
I was also getting tired of waiting for a clear day to find an open field that was unoccupied just to get in a few minutes of flying. The search began for a plane that could be flown closer to home. I read good things about the Wingo being a great beginner plane. They were all true. It flies exceptionally well in open sky, is self correcting given enough height and has a LOT of lift. Unfortunately it wasn't durable enough to fly in a small area with obstacles or unpredictable wind at my early skill level.
At this point the Wingo only had a couple flights on it. While getting the Wingo and parts, building it and then waiting for decent weather and flying area I stumbled onto a thread at the ezone web forum about Bluecor foam. It is a 1/4" thick foam board from DOW that comes in 48" x 50' packs with a fold every 2' that costs roughly $30 a pack. It wasn't available locally, but a friend found me some at Lowes in Platsburgh, NY.
With Bluecor acquired I decided to try building a flying wing. They had looked very interesting and different from my planes so far. Constuction for the Zagnutz was very well documented so I went for that. Mine turned out okay. A bit ugly, but I didn't care. What mattered was the day that I went to the field in 20 degree weather with wind gusts up to 30 mph and tried it for the first time. After a couple of unpowered trim throws, I chucked it and floored the throttle. It went up! After a bit more trim I started throwing it around the sky. I got loops and rolls in the first flight. I also had some pretty rocky landings. Luckily it is a tough beast and would usually only collect another ding somewhere. Just dust it off and send it off again. I had knocked down two goals with one project--to make a plane from scratch that flew and to get a plane that could handle windy days!
Flying on really windy days was great, but I was still looking for something that could be flown almost anywhere. It also had to handle a little wind, however, because I don't have access to many indoor sites and the average windspeed all year round here is about 10 mph. The parkflyer type plane looked like a possibility, but at this level all the parts are smaller so I would have to acquire a whole new stash. I got a couple of mini/micro-size servos off used parts sales and thought they would be good for when I found a plane I liked. Then the Mini Max plane/motor/gearbox package went on sale with a battery and speed control (electronic throttle) added on for less than $50 and I decided that was my signal to buy.
When it arrived I realized that I had been wrong about the scale of these parts. I knew a standard servo would be way too big, and I figured the mini I had picked up was still going to be a little big but I thought the micro would be fine. The reality was that even the micro was bigger than they recommend and the slots were set up for pico gear. Wow! Feeling brave I hacked the body a bit to accept my giant futaba receiver with one mini and one micro servo. The setup worked and the plane did fly, but it was pretty far over weight. I took it out a couple times. I even tried a loop, but when I did I could hear the wing straining to hold up the body. I decided I needed some pico gear and maybe even a light plane with a stronger wing as well. Finding a pico pack was easy as there was one on special at www.aeromicro.com. It was also quick too. I ordered on Monday and got the parts on Wednesday--from California!
There are a lot of good designs being hacked out on the ezone. They are generally made from three core materials: The Bluecor I already had. A thinner foam referred to as depron that can be emulated by buying a paper covered foam called sturdyboard from Staples and peeling off the paper. And then coroplast which is corrogated plastic that comes in varried thicknesses and colors. I already had the Bluecor so I focused more on designs made from that. There was a lot of buzz about a steady slowflier called the frog so I chose that to try next. I'm really happy with it. I am also happy with the powerplant, a GWS DXA motor/gearbox combo. Very powerful for its size and power consumption. Combining the DXA, pico pack and frog design I acheived a new goal, I successfully flew right outside my house! Flying practice was made possible any time I had a few spare minutes. It has and will continue to improve my skills immensly. I would recommend this design to anyone interested in slow-flying that can use an exacto and epoxy. Mine will fly at full power with full up elevator at just more than a walking pace and no stall as long as the turns are done gently.
I aquired some coroplast and have used it mostly for winglets and skid plates, but I did try my hand at a glider based mugi with mechanical elveron mixing just to have done it once.
Even with the success of the frog and zagnutz projects, the siren call of construction is always luring me to a new one. I have a lot of spare parts and materials just waiting for homes and other designs that I'd still like to try. If the ezone posts are any indication, there may always be another project ... or two or three.
I tried a biplane out of black sturdyboard. It flew well enough to take off from a tennis court the short way. It was small, fast (for me), black and used ailerons and this combination sealed its fate from the start. I'd get it flying and then loose orientation and be unable to correct. It didn't last long because sturdyboard is far more brittle than bluecor. Looking back I am amazed at how well it flew based on my knowledge of building at the time.
The next attempt was a Star Trek Enterprise clone. I ended up using materials that were 50% heavier than the designers so I placed all my components differently than the spec. I still didn't think it would fly so I didn't do all the reinforcing that was advised. Well, it did fly, but it also broke on the second flight when a massive gust of wind broke off the pods. It still landed well enough to save, but reinforcing made it too heavy to fly with existing components so that project was scrapped. At least I got the whole single successful flight on video!
I have built a second Zagnutz with new tweaking ideas from the owner and it flies AMAZINGLY well.
The frog has been rebuilt and bashed through a bunch of different wing configurations but the original is still my favorite.
The Wingo rarely gets out because the other planes I have all cover it's range of abilities, but I still keep it in flying condition. It has carried a camera a few times for me so I hope to use it more as a work horse in the future. I have tried other motors just for fun. First one was a 20T 550 can motor from my Traxxas Rustler. 8x6 prop. 6 cell 1900mah sc pack. Short flight, but fly it did. It was weird seeing a wingo handling wind and hauling butt. AUW was 34 oz. Vvvvrroom. Last motor test was a dual GWS dx2 and I think the AUW was 14-15oz...I know it was more than 1/2 the big test anyhow. It was underpowered, but flew and could ROG.
The MiniMax got some real micro equipment and it was also found to be a great flier. It has also carried a camera--a de-cased dlink 300 that weighed in at about 2.2oz. It held up, but performance was pretty poor. I'm still looking for a camera combo that I feel can be flown safely over houses so I can get an ariel shot of my own.
I tried a Drenalyn out of foamboard and then Crosman target foam (in the background of the first picture as well) as it is more visable and thinner but less snapable. It flew fair, but I couldn't handle it so I pulled the gear for another plane.
The Cessna is still in action. With enhanced skills from slowflying and knowledge gained from the ezone and first person experience I have been able to run it in a much smaller area and with greater fun index. I put in a lighter but more powerful motor (17T Trinity car motor) which has been great, although a real battery strainer. I tried nose weight to fix CG but it seemed stupid to weigh it down, so I cut out a battery hole where the landing gear was and filled in the old slot. No new gear setup yet, but I have flown without it and not killed my 8/4 prop (just turn off the motor before touchdown). I can now pull loops and also get out of trouble before the ground gets too close.
I finally succeeded with my first self designed plane that actually flies. I call it the But Ugly as in: it's a decent flying plane, but ugly. It is a total hack job and turned out to have a lot in common with my other planes in the end, but it looks and acts different enough to be a keeper. At least one short video of it flitting around should be in my archive and more info about it is stored with the pictures.
CenTexFlyer, the designer of the ZagNutz, came up with an idea for a smaller version. He called it the MZN50+1 which meant take the ZN plans and reduce them by 50% and then add 1 inch to the root and tip chords. The wing width is 26 inches. It was originally intended for a 280DD motor. I tried a poor performing one and couldn't stay off the ground. A combination of poor CG, bad motor performance and a screwy/regular size radio just didn't work. I changed the motor to a GWS DXA pulled from the gearbox which provided better weight/power and helped CG. The radio was still sub-optimal but I succeeded in some pretty decent flights. Now it has a GWS pico receiver which seems better. I also put on a EDP50-XC motor which is pretty much the same as the DXA except I am also using the stock 3x2 prop. Here are the full specs and a combo picture of construction and the 280 version. This plane handles some serious wind! I have insane footage of it in the video area.
I had been eyeing a cool forward swept wing by the designer of the frog, but I didn't want another speed400 plane at the time. After seeing how well a small wing and EDP motor flew, I got the idea to try resizing the XBow dimentions for the same equipment. I got a little confused at first thinking that 50% would be good. I cut out the foam anyhow because I didn't have any electronics for the real thing yet and ended up with a nice hand glider. After thinking about the dimentions some more I decided 75% would be the best and the XBow75 was born. I was hoping for a little more speed, but it flies fine otherwise. Very stable. There are more pictures and at least one video in the appropriate areas.
I have since created a full size x-bow. I deviated from the plans by enlarging the nose to accept batteries that turned out not to work and I used full size servo's and receiver. Dispite these challanges the 400 size flew every bit as well as people say they do. It handled like a dream and had good speed and penetration which was good because the first throw was in 15 mph winds and it ended up being a full pack flight.
I became impatient with the XBox75 being slower than I had hoped. I might build another in full size to get the sp400 speed out of it, but in the mean time I needed the parts for my next project. *snip* Tried another slow flying beast called the Flutterby. It is a butterfly shaped piece of bluecor with a flight pack strapped on. My daughter helped with the coloring job making this one more of a family project. Free plans on FoamFly in Glen's area of the gallery. I set mine up with all pico gear and currently have a DX2 as the power. Very easy flying for anyone who has had a little stick time as my video shows.
My MZN50+1 got a little too much abuse so I needed another mini-wing. People were talking about full size a ZagNutz with twin 400's so I decided to translate that to a mini. I built it at 50% scale to the ZagNutz but with 2 inches added to the tip and root chord measurements. I dubbed it the MZN50+2x2. The dual edp's weight made it difficult to get the CG right with just component placement and I was already having to remove the protection circuit on my batteries because it was just a twitch over, sooo I decided to enlarge the battery hole and run with two packs in parallel. It flies pretty well for a plane this size weighing just over 11oz, although I have't had much stick time. I have since run it with 8 plain storebought AAA nimh rechargables attached to 2 4way cell boxes from Radio Shack in parallel. Runs great. I also ran it on one QC and only one prop and it still flew.
I made an attempt at an inverted V-tail pusher. I even built a prototype first. Both the prototype and plane flew, but the real thing ended up being too heavy and I scrapped it. I saved a couple pictures from the ordeal so I have something to refer to for next time. For some reason I didn't get any shots of the completed plane though.
Tried the mini extra300 from flyelectric. It flew pretty well, but I'm finding that ailerons don't seem to match my flying skills. I have come to count on the self correcting wing as part of my skill set. I thought of trying to add on dihedral tips to turn it into a trainer. It worked, but I ended up with a plane that flew a lot like my ugly so I decided to scrap it for now. Before I totally trashed the plane I remade it into soup which was supposed to be a tractor prop version of the ugly (Son Of Ugly Plane) but it didn't fly well enough to keep.
I have aquired a few more ARFs over time. The Sky Trick was a second hand deal that I repaired and have flown. The other ARFs were a Sky Sailer hang glider which I have yet to fly and the Air Surfer which is one of the best 2 channel flying ARFs I have played with. That one is the first that I might recommend to people not wanting to build and looking for cheap.
Tried electrifying a Sky Runner from Harbor Freight. It came out at less than 5oz RTF, was very fast and small. I abused it too much and had to retire it. It was so strong it could ROG from ice by just dragging itself up to speed.
Inspired by a tractor design from foamfly called the Spaghetti StrateauX, I built the stratajet. It flew well, but had a couple bad habits. I'd bet the real SS would fly better because of the efficiency of the tractor prop location. I also think the tweaks I did to the jet design made it fly worse than the reports I have heard about the SS. I reworked it a couple times and only made things worse so I scrapped it. Hopefully I'll get to build the real SS some day.
Found a rubber band biplane at a local store that looked like it might have a chance of flying. It did, but the wood fuse was weak. I got three good ROG's but only one safe landing. I have replaced with cf rods but haven't flown it yet.
I found a plane called the Q-Butterfly in a magazine and thought to myself, hey that looks a lot like a stunted frog! So I copied the basic design using frog building techniques. I also deviated a little on the motor mount location so I could clear the prop without landing gear. The result does fly, but I have to use a whole bunch of reflex and upthrust and it still seems to just waddle around. It was a fun test, but I bet the real Q-Butterfly flies quite a bit better. Update, I decided to keep this for a while and bash it. I think the new design dubbed the something else has some potential.
I mention the frog a lot because a lot of my basic skills are built upon the original frog design and then the comparisons against that base to see what changes do in real life. It is really a great design and I would recommmend it to anyone who wants more than a cheap ARF. There are also many more low cost and free designs available at foamfly.com that are really brilliantly simple!
I still haven't found a good camera platform that I like yet, but here are a few bad pics and I hope to have many more in the future.
Here is a random sampling of pictures and video. Sorry about using mostly wmv but it was the only way that worked for keeping stuff small enough to allow for download.
Links to specific sites:
Rustler: http://www.traxxas.com/products/electric/rustler/trx_rustler.htm
Cessna: http://www.kyosho.com/airplanes/kyoa1010.html
Speed Pilot: http://www.hobbico.com/airplanes/hcaa2012.html
Wingo: http://www.hobby-lobby.com/hlwingo.htm
Bluecor ezone thread: http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=25136
MUGI: http://www.mugi.co.uk/
Zagnutz: http://home1.gte.net/texhills/index.html
Mini Max: http://www.hobbypeople.net/gallery/128431.asp
Frog/XBow: http://www.foamfly.com/
Enterprise: http://www.backyardflyer.com/click_trips/spring02/starship.asp
Drenalyn: http://www.flyelectric.ukgateway.net/indoor.htm#drenalyn
RC Stores online:
Aero Micro Great source of
micro stuff.
FoamFly
Hobby Lobby
Hobby People
Tower Hobbies
Balsa Products
Horizon Hobby
Supplies Stores online:
Air Dynamics Pushrod housings
and carbon fiber stuff.
Ultimate
Outdoors Crosman airgun targets for thin foam stock (U13688 and
U13686)
Here are some important things to know about flying:
