What do you like best about 1/2A planes

[propjobbill]

I have flow large and small size models but I like the 1/2A best.

I would like to here from other 1/2A fliers about why you like flying 1/2A planes.

For example I like the idea that if you lose control of a 1/2a they may be able to do damage,but more than likely are not going to kill anyone. I like 1/2a because you can fly in smaller fields. I like 1/2a because they go together quicker when you are the builder. I like 1/2a because because they are easier to store. I like 1/2a because they can be hand launched.

I look forward to your answers.

[toad007]

I like the small glow engines, seeing how much I can get out of em, I like the speed of the small planes. A fast 1/2a racer, many shy from, including jet Jocks, they miss the fun at a fraction of the cost, best bang for the buck, good fun for ya and a great rush.


www.toadsrc.com

[Mr.Me]

fuel economy! i can afford 1/2A without a job!

[ndb8fxe]

I like 1/2a because it reminds me of the old days.

[hogflyer]

A lot more economical - smaller airframes are cheaper to build, cost considerable less to operate, fly in a smaller space than larger models, are just as easy to fly as a larger plane, and several will fit behind the seats of my truck full assembled. The can also be more a challenge if you have to make every landing a deadstick which can be a lot more fun than landing under power.

Hogflyer

[Tee Bee]

I agree with all the reasons listed above. I like my larger planes and plan to build more of them, but there's something neat about the small ones. I love the small engines, Cox engines in particular. I don't know why other than I've always loved the way they look and sound. There's something notalgic about flying these little buzzbombs around. There are many plans available, often cheap or even free online. It doesn't take much wood to build the airframes. I can store them in a small area. I can buy small radio receivers for $30. Noone else in town has planes like mine. 1/2A pilots are cool.

[Jupeli]

It's nice how the cost of fuel ceases to matter when flying small glow. :D I mean, with a .90 or so, it's easy to burn a gallon of fuel in a weekend, in a day even.Takes me a lot longer to burn a gallon of fuel with a little .049 on a 1oz tank.

Also it's a lot easier to pack a bunch of 1/2A-planes into a car than it is to do the same with a couple of larger planes. (Squeezing 4 40-sized planes and a .15 into the trunk of a little Nissan Almera sure is an interesting activity...)

One thing is also that I am still a student so I don't have all that much extra money. Even a little .40-plane will cost over $250 even if scratch built (given that one don't buy the equipment used) but a little half-A with a Sure Start... $10 for the engine, $5 for the fuel tank and line, $10 for the servos, $5 for a battery and $20 for a receiver - add to the mix $25 worth of balsa, ply, covering film and some accessories and a week or two of time and you'll have a nice little DNU for $75 and as an extra you'll get the gratification of having built it yourself, which is something you can't buy with money.

[Mr.Me]

IMO, the price is the best part. a gallon of fuel, with my sig doubler, and 4-5 flights every sunday, is 6 months worth of fuel!

[jim_ag3y]

I don't suppose you can still buy those little quart cans of Cox glow-fuel. So what do you get for the typical .010-.049 Cox engines.

I've heard 20% Nitro with extra castor oil. Is that correct? How much extra oil?

Thanks. Jim

[propjobbill]

If you go to this link http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXEYT7&P=0 you should find Sig 25% nitro with Castor oil. There may be other suppliers out there but this is one sorce of Good 1/2A fuel

[Tee Bee]

That's the fuel I use except I buy it by the quart and add 1-2 oz of Klotz castor oil to the bottle for good measure. The castor is also available at Tower. http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXS627&P=ML

[Pinecone]

You can also go to www.sigmfg.com and order direct from Sig. They carry the 25% Champion, which is 20% oil, 50/50 synthetic/castor (or from 0% to 60% nitro is you want :) ). They also sell the Norvel 1/2A fuel in various nitro percentages.

Byrons makes a 1/2A fuel. IIRC 25% nitro, but only 16% oil, but all castor. I bought a quart, but added some castor to bring it up to 20%.

[on pipe]

I like the fact that they can take a hard landing better than a big bird. Ross

[Tee Bee]

I like that I can leave the gear off and land them in the grass making nearly any big field a flying site.

[Mr.Me]

i run powermaster 15% in my .049's. they run great on 15%. sure, they're more powerful with 20-25%, but they run awesome on 15%

[Nikolas K]

I like the fact that they can be transported easily and are cheap.

[Proof67]

I like the ease of carrying them and the fact that hardly anyone else at the fields has 1/2A......they are quick and easy. Has anyone heard of using 30% Heli fuel....if so do you need to mix anymore oil with that fuel??.....I believe the old Cox fuel was 30% also.

[cmulder]

cox engines like castor oil atleast 20% oil total

[franklin_m]

What I like about 1/2A is the look on other guys' faces, after listening them bemoan how "little airplanes don't fly well," after they see me pull out a well designed 1/2A (Like a Sure Shark) and eat them up both in speed and style! I agree that it's much more of a challenge to design a good flying 1/2A, which makes it that much more enjoyable.

Of course, using fuel in 1oz increments doesn't hurt either!

[bgferr1]

I heard Cox no longer makes engines. Where's the best place to find them now?

[Mr.Me]

cox still produces the poor sure start... otherwise ebay.

[Andrew0820]

cox still produces the poor sure start... otherwise ebay.

I believe that COX is now officially out of the engine business --- the last inventory of parts was sold off to two separate groups of buyers. Either they will reappear at higher prices or be sold off on theBay.

You might try Steve Adams at Select Hobbies (www.selecthobbies.com). He still has Sure Starts listed in his COX engine section.

[millerhill]

I'm the only guy that flies 1/2 a at my field and I always take my Little Extra with an OS .10 and fly the hell out of it. Funny thing too, after flying electrics for about 3 years then getting into glow, I find that I'll fly this thing in just about any wind condition even when I'm reluctant to take up my 1.20 Ultimate. Weird huh? It's a mental thing for sure. Anyway, when that little extra comes screaming down the runway then goes vertical into a wicked snap spin, the guys always comment about what a great little plane it is. I can't tell you how many times I've taken larger planes to the field to find some sort of technical problem that grounded me, but since I always take a 1/2A plane as back up, I always have something to fly.

Steve

[ziomatrixacs]

What I like about 1/2a?

I like the fact that it annoys the heck out of those electric guys.

I can pay $25 in balsa wood, $15 for a gallon of fuel, $15 for a throttle servo, $60-70 for an OS .15LA (depending on where you get it) and have as much fun as the guy with the $100 charger, $70 AXI, $70 ESC, $60 battery (that has to wait an hour to recharge and could explode and goes bad by 2 years) and the $150 ARF that falls apart after a year or two. (or a $100 piece of foam!)

70" and up, go gas
40" and up go glow
0" and up go electric (Now I want to build a plane with a 0" wing span)

I also like the fact that its fueled powered. Normal people who dont know a rats butt about this stuff think fuel powered models are just plain cooler than the electric foam "toys" you can buy at toys r us.

Of course electrics arnt that bad, if you dont mind the enormous cost (which electric guys claim "is coming down")

Then again, I prefer a mac over a PC, I rather walk than drive, and blame all of the worlds troubles on Vista :)

[propjobbill]

One ting I like about 1/2A is that most of the engines are spring started, so you don't have to take a large battery and starter to get them started

[Marcinb]

I have to agree, as soon as someone sees electric, it was FOR SURE for sale at Toys R Us!
But when they see that .46 fire up, or even the .046 they automatically know this isn't a toy, and can cause harm.
But once you show them some maneuvers with that electric, they realize it is also not a Toys R Us toy.
Myself, I had my Firebird Freedom, and I always felt it was like a "Toy"
When I got my Nexstar, it may not have been an Extra, but I felt this was the real deal.

No matter what size the engine, it will always feel more like "Hobby-Grade" even if on the ground, compared to a electric on the ground.

[Tee Bee]

I also like 1/2A because you can run exotic looking,fast spinning, tiny engines like these that folks have never seen in a Tower catalog. :)

[ziomatrixacs]

I have to agree, as soon as someone sees electric, it was FOR SURE for sale at Toys R Us!
But when they see that .46 fire up, or even the .046 they automatically know this isn't a toy, and can cause harm.
But once you show them some maneuvers with that electric, they realize it is also not a Toys R Us toy.
Myself, I had my Firebird Freedom, and I always felt it was like a "Toy"
When I got my Nexstar, it may not have been an Extra, but I felt this was the real deal.

No matter what size the engine, it will always feel more like "Hobby-Grade" even if on the ground, compared to a electric on the ground.


You got that right.. electric foamies dont give you the same sensations as flying a balsa kit or ARF. Maybe, in the next 100 years they will be the only things flying, electric foam toys. Im sure glad I wont be around then :D
I like this class.. not killer on your fuel bill, very cheap and affordable. But of course, if you are rich, dont want to clean and take care of your bird, cant stand a little noise and only want to fly once an hour, electric is for you.

The only thing I wouldnt mind is seeing more 3D 1/2a ARFs. Its fairly easy to convert a small electric to glow with a little tweaking of the frame, you just have to be willing to take the risk since these ARFs out today have that cheap china wood with holes drilled everywhere. The wood is really heavy, and you could easily shave off an ounce on 16oz airframe by using midwest wood from the LHS. (hell, even midwest wood from a craft store would be lighter) One ARF even had two sheets of 1/8th glued laminated with hot glue or something. The holes they drill in would be your major problem. They weaken the frame quite a bit. You need to reinforce the lightening holes :eek:
Then you basically re-engineer the plane to lighter standards, remove the "unintentional" weak spots. (Ever notice any holes near the wing root on the fuselage, particularly behind the trailing edge? Thats where 75% of breakage occurs, in my experience) So you end up with a gutted out $100-$250 ARF that is rebuilt from almost the ground up.

What is keeping us from creating the plans and posting them? You surely arnt selling a kit, or arf.. just a reference for an upgraded aircraft. ;) :rolleyes:

[digdugb17]

I like the sound of the cox .049, it is a one of a kind sound that reminds me of flying control line in my back yard thirty years ago, good times.

[dlazarus6660]

I use to do 1/2A C/L. Mostly, the Scientific planes with an occasional Guillows or Sterling Models converstion.

Then I got into R/C glow for years.

Now I do mostly Electric now.

But, Now I'm getting back into glow and 1/2A because I miss the...

S-M-E-L-L!

The ol glow power smell is like after shave to me!

Somebody should bottle it and sell it as cologne! lol

Daniel

[hogflyer]

I believe that COX is now officially out of the engine business --- the last inventory of parts was sold off to two separate groups of buyers. Either they will reappear at higher prices or be sold off on theBay.

You might try Steve Adams at Select Hobbies (www.selecthobbies.com). He still has Sure Starts listed in his COX engine section.

Yep, the good ole $7.00 Sure Start is now $10.00 and even more on feebay. :(

Hogflyer

[TLyttle]

One more time, have a look at PAW80 for 1/2A. More power than the Cox engines, and last far longer, plus you can brew your own fuel. I am 80 miles away from the closest hobby shop, so glow engines are out of the question.

They are still in production, and available from many sources.