Hey guys,

I had a blast at the JR Indoor this year. Another great event! Here are some pictures I took from my trip to Ohio:


-...Continue Reading

I thought I would share about the Donuts Models Mystic Biplane. Got this one from Hobby-Lobby. All the pieces were cut great, but some of them were a little warped from the silk screening. No Biggie... The colors are great, and the plane builds in about an evening. The directions are in French, but each step has a picture showing what to do. The accessories are also very nice.

I did do a few modifications. I ditched the flying wires for the wings, and went with carbon. I've never used flying wires, but can only imagine it would be a PITA to setup, and maintain.

I also changed the battery mount a little bit. One of my rules about flying is never find yourself in front of a turned on plane. It's just not worth it. The kit wanted you to slide the battery into the plane from in front of the prop. So instead of that, I lowered the battery tray so I could install the battery from the bottom, and not the front.

Here is the setup I used:
E-Flight Park 250
GWS 8x4 HD prop
Castle Creations Phx-10
Castle Creation Berg-4 with Li-tenna
2s Hyperion 400mah
1 Futaba 3110 for the aileron
2 Blue Bird 306's for the tail

AUW: 6.0 oz ready to fly.

The plane flies great. Very responsive. It knife edges great with little coupling. The ailerons are very strong, and the plane rolls great. I'm still tweaking the CG, but I can tell this is going to be a very fun plane.

Here are some pics from my phone -

-Jon

Hey guys,

Been a while since I posted last, so I thought I would put up some pictures of my T-rex. Helicopters are a whole new game, but man it's fun. It's going pretty well, loops and rolls are no problem. It's hard to learn new stuff when you don't have a sim to practice on.

Anyway, here it is.

Hacker A20 6XL
Castle Creations PHX-35
Berg 7, Horizontal pins
3 HS 65 Mg's
1 Futaba S9650 on the tail
GY 401 gyro
3s 2200 Hyperion

-Jon

If you haven't seen the legendary Bill Hemlpe video, I suggest you do a Google search. Bill is flying a giant scale IMAC plane when the wing suddenly pops off in flight. To everyone's surprise, Bill manages to get the plane into a knife edge, where he proceeds to bring the plane in for a landing, and rolls it onto the wheels in the last second. The plane is virtually unscathed, accept for the wing that popped off, of course.

Well, today I bring my Hangar 9 Extra 260 out to the field, specifically to practice the IMAC routine. Normally, I fly pretty hard 3D with it. Today, it was a good thing I didn't.

After flying the IMAC sequence once through I decide to land and take a quick break, and maybe save some of the electrons for another flight. While I'm reaching to unplug the battery, I find the right wing is 1/2" away from the fuselage. I knew exactly what had happened, right away. WING BOLTS!

Somehow I forgot to add the wing bolts to the plane. Which is a pretty stupid, and expensive mistake to make. Luckily, karma must have been on my side.

I guarantee if I had been flying 3D, like I normally do with this plane, it would be in pieces. While I like to think I have quick reflexes, I'm sure I never would have thought to put it in knife edge. I really give Bill Hemple some credit - Way to be on top of things.

Luckily - I didn't need to try the one wing knife edge landing, and I hope I never have too.

-Jon

Hey Guys,

Here is a mid-motor VPP plane I just threw together for some fun. Inspired by Donatas' Arrow VPP plane. 7.3oz ready to fly with a 3s pack. Here is the setup:

Park 300
Mamo-Models VPP
Castle TB-9
Berg 7 with the case removed
Five 6g servos
3s 400mah Hyperion 20C packs


LOADS of power. I've setup other VPP planes before, but never with my JR 9303 transmitter. It was incredibly easy! The directions that came with the Mamo-models had pitch and throttle curves, which made it incredibly easy to setup in the Heli mode in the JR9303.

Videos to follow.

-Jon

Hey Guys,

Here is a video I took this Tuesday of the Vrolet Freestyle in a pretty small gym. Shows how well it handles the small space, and how much power the Eflite Park-250 has on a 6.2oz plane.

Setup:
Park-250
Castle PHX 10
Berg 4
Hyperion 2s 400mah
Two Dymond 4.7's
One GWS Naro on the ailerons

Awesome setup, awesome plane.

Vrolet Video

Jon

Hey Guys,

Just thought I'd put some pictures and videos videos up from my trip out to Oklahoma to the Chitty 3D event. I got 7th in the Freestyle / F3P Event, and I recieved first in the Hover War Contest. Hobby-Lobby was nice enough to put up $500 dollars!

I'll be putting up some pictures I took from the event soon, but in the mean time here are some pictures from Van at watchrcvideos.com

Freestyle Video

-Jon Ziering

I was able to fly in an old Naval Blimp hangar all day today. Must have gotten 25 flights on the Vrolet. I had a friend help me with the setup work, I tried out two and three cell packs, played with different props, and different center of gravity.

I ended up with a 2s 400mah Hyperion on a GWS 9x5 prop. Battery is mounted sideways up against the firewall. Got the CG perfect, and aileron setup perfect, and the tail surface setup is great. It's a very solid plane!

Jon

Here is My Fancy Foam Vrolet.

Maiden is going to be tomorrow. I'll post back with the results.

Great build, awesome quality, good hareware. I love that the surfaces and gussets come pre-beveled.

Setup:

Custom CDR Billet Bullet Cool wind
Castle Thunder Bird 9
Berg 7 (Case removed)
2 Dymond 4.7 servos
1 Futaba 3110
2s 400mah Hyperion Packs

AUW: 192g or 6.7 oz!
Or
102g or 7.1oz with a 3S pack.

I hope to bring this with me to the Chitty 3D competion next weekend. We'll see how it goes.

Jon

Extreme Flight Yak 54:

Here is my setup:

Hacker A30-16M
12x6 APCE
Castle Creations PHX-45
Berg 7 with micro antenna
Tanic 3s 2480 20-30C packs
3 Futaba 3110's, 1 HS-65 for the rudder.

40oz for the all up weight. I'm looking at 180 watts/lb which should be great for 3D. I added the depron floor to the canopy, and the depron radial cowl. The Yak is amazing quality. Extreme flight puts out some great stuff.

-Jon

Hey guys,

I had an absolute blast at the JR indoor! There is only one way to describe it - "all out foamy mayhem". At one point I counted up to 25 airplanes in the air at once! As always it was great meeting new people, checking out new products, and just having a good time. If you haven't been to the JR Indoor yet, I highly recommend it. It's a well run event, in an awesome venue, with awesome people and planes.

A big thanks goes out to Castle Creations!!
As well as the guys at Hobby-Lobby for letting me use their power supply

Here are some pictures from my trip, enjoy!

-Jon...Continue Reading

Hey Guys,

I just thought I'd post some pictures of my Micro depron Extra.
Here are the specs:

Wingspan: 22.5
Length: 21.5
Wing Area: 101.25 sq.in
Wing Loading: 4.2 oz/sq.ft
All Up Weight: 89 grams! or 3 oz.

Setup:

Half size brushless Fiegao IPS
7.6:1 gearbox with an 8x4.3 prop
CASTLE CREATIONS Pheonix 10
BERG 4L
3 BMS 6g servos
2s Etec 250, soon to be 3s

My goal was to get it as light, and as small as possible without heavily modifying the electronics. I'm not sure if any of you saw my Micro bipe, but this was based off that. The bipe had too much wing area and was too slow for me, so the obvious thing to do was to make a mono wing. This Extra is much faster, lighter, and way more precise. Vertical is good with my very old Etec 250, and the motor isn't even warm at the end of a flight. So even though its not recommended, I'm going to try a 3s 250. Power should be insane then.

It's actually very precise considering its size. Much more so than my micro bipe. It's fast, but slows down really well. Great slow rolls, and the high rate rolls are very speedy. Harriers and inverted harriers are easy.. Need to get some more time on it, but it's really fun. And that's all that matters

I'll try and get some video and flying pictures.

-...Continue Reading

Hey guys -

Here is my Chronic Check out the video.

72" Depron Extra all finished! Check this thread for more info - https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=532038

Here is the video! - https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/show...chmentid=873324

-Jon

Horizontal stab and elevators are finished and hinged.

Two layers of 6mm depron, sanded down to create an airfoil. Very strong, stiff, and light. Can't wait to start the fuselage.

-Jon

Just a teaser, until I get more progress done.

72" wingspan.
Made out of Depron, and a wood spar to create the airfoil...

-Jon

Here is my Hangar 9 Extra 260 27% airplane.

Setup:

Hangar 9 Extra 260
Hacker C50 13XL
CASTLE CREATIONS 85HV
APC 20x10
10s3p 6000mah packs
4 JR Digital 8411's
1 JR Digital 8611A's
PMC RX
5 cell RX battery

...Continue Reading