There has been a few additions to the fleet in the last 12 months, a few sales, and no 'unplanned' deletions.

I reluctantly sold my eHawk 1500 as it hardly got a fly these days with me spending most of my time flying aerobatic models.

The old Optic 6 with Assan Module has been relegated to the Buddy Box Tx and an Aurora 9 has taken center stage.

I'm very impressed with the A9 as it has Flight Pack Voltage telemetry built in as standard. So now the timer is just a precautionary measure, and with 3.3v per cell set as the low voltage alarm I normally have enough capacity left for a go-around if needed.

I've added a few aircraft to the fleet, an Extreme Flight 60" Edge 540T EXP, and a Sky Dream 50 F3A Trainer, and a 3DHS 48" Edge 540.

The EF 60" Edge 540 feels just like my 3DHS 41" Edge whilst flying, though at 2.6kg the roll out is a little longer than the 41" Edge.

The Sky Dream 50's conversion to electric is complete. I added a battery tray and modified the Engine Mount to take an Outrunner. With some help from the net, I calculated a CG which made the maiden flight uneventful.

I sold the 3DHS 41" Edge and bought the new 1.5 buck huck (3DHS 48" Edge 540) though was a little disappointed with it to start with. It's had a little tuning and now fly's very nicely.

I recently passed the MAAA Fixed Wing Power Instructors Course. This consisted of a weekend of lectures during the morning and flying during the afternoon. The...Continue Reading

Better known as the '99 buck huck'. This is my latest aircraft after finally destroying the 3DHS 40" Edge 540.

I'm running a KDA 22-20L, 11x6 Turnigy Light Wood Prop, and 1350mA 3S Rhino LiPo with an AUW of 854gm. It feels a little underpowered for the Club Field but seems Ok at the local park. It is very light to fly and glides down nicely for landing.

I'm looking at updating to a KDA 36-28S and Nano-tech 1600mA 3S very soon which will hopefully give the power I'd like.

Here's a recent video from down at my local Park:-

3DHS 41" Edge 540 - Aerobatics (3 min 30 sec)

This is my fourth 3DHS plane and I had a few problems getting this one together, but with the help of Rob from ADCHobbystore.com it recently had it's maiden flight.

All I can say is 'what a great aircraft!!'. I can't believe how nicely it does precision manoeuvres, even my Wife was calling Half Cuban, KE, Roll as I was doing them.

I'm running a 2200mA 4S with the Hacker A30-14L and the vertical up-lines with multiple spins were beautiful, way better than I had ever done with my 47" Extra SR, so the Vyper even makes me look good.

Using a APC-E 12x6 prop and 2200mA 4S 40C Flightmax LiPo's I get about 580w peak and around 8mins flight time doing big aerobatics.

3DHS 46" Vyper - Maiden Flight (4 min 6 sec)

The Planes List
2010 - (So far)
Hokusei Ultima BX (Sold)
3DHS 46" Vyper
3DHS 41" Edge 540 - $99 Buck Huck

I decided to detuned my 47" 3DHS Extra SR by moving the aileron and elevator pushrods in one hole on the control arms. I left the rates and expo as they were and it flies very nicely.

I needed to do all this as I wanted to get my 'Bronze Wings' (Australian 1st proficiency level). Happily, I passed, though the nerves did not make the flight as smooth as it could have been.

The next proficiency level is 'Gold Wings'. This level requires me to do a number of different aerobatics including a full cuban, three consecutive loops, and three consecutive rolls.

The loops weren't too hard, but trying to do three rolls in a straight line, and without losing altitude isn't very easy. It took me five weeks of practising every chance I got before I was ready for my Gold Wings test.

I used the 3DHS 47" Extra SR for the Gold Wings test with the same 'detuned' setup as I used for to do the Bronze Wings test.

It took me 8 minutes to do all the required elements in both directions, and after a nice gentle landing I was informed I had passed.

I like the Extra with the lower control throws, and as I don't really 3D it, I'll continue to fly it with the current setup.

Next up will be my new 3DHS 46" Vyper...........

The 3DHS 40" Edge 540 has met an untimely end almost exactly the same way as the last one did, WOT knife edge across the field about 2m above the ground when I lost orientation of it and put it into the ground.

The main lesson learned from this is "don't do extreme manoeuvres at dusk".

After about 6 weeks of rebuilding 10-15mins at a time, I've created 1 good 40" Edge 540 from 2 broken ones.

It's about 30gm heavier than they normally are, but it flies just a well as it used to. The landings are a little faster than before, but that is in part to the extra 10gm of motor up front.

I'm back to doing KE passes 2m high again so we'll see if I can keep it all together now .

I've spent a fair amount of time flying a Hobby King EPP Extra 300S, it's EPP and they called it unbreakable but it is more 'very crash resistant'.

The wings fold when I pull high G's and the control surfaces flex so I spend all my time on High Rates. After saying all that it's great fun to fly something I'm not worried about crashing.

Here's an on-board of a recent flight:-

Hobby City EPP Extra 300S On-board (7 min 19 sec)

Next is a quick little video of my latest acquisition. It's called a Hokusei Ultima BX and is made from EPP.

I'm still getting used to the controls being more accurate than my Hobby King EPP Extra 300S, but with a bit more expo and a bit less throw I'm sure I'll even land it.

There is a build thread here:-

https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/show....php?t=1025647

And my video is here:-

Hokusei Ultima BX (2 min 16 sec)

...Continue Reading

I recently ventured into the world of 3DHS aircraft and now I'm hooked. I started with a 47" Extra 300 SR and was impressed how easy it was to fly smoothly.....it made even me look good, not an easy task .

After destroying the Fliton Extra I replaced it with a 3DHS 40" Edge 540. All these 3DHS aircraft are so easy to put together, no crazy strengthening, just some CA around the Motor Box and as I'm a bit hard on landings I PU Glue around the LG mount.

I'd been having a ball with my 40" Edge till I dumb-thumbed it into the ground whilst doing a low KE pass. Needless to say there is a replacement is almost completed.

After destroying the 40" Edge I bought a Red Eagle Extra 300 from Hobby King in Hong Kong. I already had all the parts I needed to complete this so it ended up a cheap build.

When I first saw this aircraft I thought it would never fly as it was so floppy. I've put around 10 flights on it so far and I do things with this I would never be brave enough to do with my other aircraft.

It normally gets pancaked once an outing and I just throw it back into the air and try again. It's a great confidence builder/thumb trainer for when I get my replacement 40" Edge together.

Whats next? Maybe some video, and some more piccy's .

This year started out with a Fliton Extra 330S Mini. This is actually a nice aircraft to fly once you have it all together. A visit to the thread for this plane show's all the mods you need to do to make it strong enough.

I added CF to strategic parts of the fuselage, and a big CF brace for the wings. I also ended up rebuilding the Landing Gear Mount and modeling it on the 3DHS style of mount.

This aircraft died in a failed Blender attempt.

For something different I bought a Stevens Aero Adrenaline Rush, put on a 4500kV 12mm Inrunner and a 3x2 prop and it doesn't go too bad, not as fast as some but it's still fun.

I always wanted a C-130 Hercules and the opportunity arose for me to get a CC Lee RET aircraft. I've modified the battery bay to fit a 1050mA 2S LiPo and it flies around very scale (another way of saying s l o w). It will loop after a big dive to pick up speed, which is funny to watch.

2006
- Ego Cessna 182 (Deceased)
- 5mm Corflute Mugi Electric (Sold)
- 3DFoamy.com Corflute Edge 540 (Decommissioned)
- GWS Pico Stick (Deceased)
- GWS Pico Tiger Moth

2007
- Wattage CAC Boomerang (Deceased)
- GWS Tiger Moth 400 (Deceased)

2008
- Alula Glider
- PA Katana Mini (2nd hand) (Deceased)
- 3mm Corflute Mugi Glider
- Multiplex Easy Glider Electric
- Thunder Tiger eHawk 1500
- Waterdog's STC (Sold)

2009
- Fliton Extra 330S Mini (Deceased)
- Stevens Aero Adrenaline Rush
- CC Lee Hercules
- 3DHS 47" Extra 300 SR
- 3DHS 40" Edge 540 (Deceased)
- Red Eagle Extra 300

More for 2009 coming soon, including the 3DHS aircraft.

It was time to venture into a few different types of flying. I started out with an Alula which is fun and exercise all in the one package. I flew this DLG in the park, as well as Slope out at Bondi and Mt Annan.

Next up was a P.A. Katana Mini which I bought 2nd hand. I thought I was up to the challenge but it was a bit beyond my experience at the time.

I had a few good flights with it all on Low Rates until one afternoon I forgot to go to Low Rates before take-off and once it was in the air I had no chance of keeping it under control and crashed it.

After having no success with the 5mm Mugi I built one from 3mm Corflute which ended up a whole lot lighter. It started out powered but I soon realised it would be better on the Slope.

It doesn't turn as nice as a real 'sloper' but it is fun zooming around the sky with it. I launched it off a bungy at our local field and it was clocked at 160kph with was interesting fun.

Most of the regulars at my local field flew electric powered Gliders so I bought a Multiplex Easy Glider Electric. I managed to crash this a few times before I found out they climb under throttle and you are supposed to add a little down elevator.

My EGE is powered by a Turnigy TR35-30C spinning a 10x6 folding prop from 2200mA 3S and climbs out nicely. It's good fun soaring in the thermals and I got to share one at Ermington with a Sea Eagle which was a real highlight.

I bought a Thunder Tiger eHawk 1500 which is a real joy to fly as it is quicker than any of my aircraft to date. I ended up with a Blue one which is OK if there is a bit of cloud around but really bad on a blue sky.

The last plane for 2008 was a scratch built Waterdog STC. I built this scaled down version from 2mm Depron and it weighs just under 150gm and is perfect to fly around in either the front or back yards.

Thats it for 2008, some exciting aircraft to come in 2009.

Thunder Tiger eHawk 1500 Flight and Landings (3 min 24 sec)

At the start of 2007 I bought a Wattage CAC Boomerang and spent plenty of time practising ROG's but never really made it. It used to do spectacular ground-loops so hand launching was the only way to get it into the air.

The Boomerang had a bad tip-stall tendency which finally caught me out and was destroyed.

Next was a GWS Tiger Moth 400 which I powered by the Himark 2812-20 from the Boomerang. What a great plane this was, I maxed out all the throws and it would Knife Edge the field, much to the displeasure of an ex-Tiger Moth Pilot in our group.

I loved this plane, and it lasted 18months till it met it's end in a Mid-Air with a Dynam Trainer. The Tiger Moth rained foam down on the field, and the Dynam flew in to a controlled landing with just some 'Tiger Moth Yellow' on it.

After mastering the art of 'crashing less' with the Pico Stick and Pico Tiger Moth I replaced all the broken parts in the Ego Cessna and also added the Aileron Wing, Brushless Outrunner, and LiPo.

This took me to the next level of flying and I could finally try some mild aerobatics.

In between all this I made a Mugi from 5mm Corflute (Coroplast) and tried to power it with a Speed 400 Race motor. Needless to say I didn't have much success with this.

I also downloaded the plans from 3dfoamy.com for their Edge 540 which I built from 3mm and 5mm Corflute. I actually had a fair bit of success with this plane and it still exists to this date.

Next, more planes, more crashes....

I started out way back in 1980 with a Tamiya Sand Scorcher which I still have, though it has seen a very hard life. I also still own the 27MHz Futaba 2ch Radio that I bought at the same time.

Fast forward to March 2006 and I bought an Ego Cessna 182 (Art-Tech). I started by flying a half circuit and crashing, and spent the next few months working my way up to a couple of circuits before crashing.

Looking for an easier aircraft to fly I purchased a GWS Pico-Stick and immediately added an outrunner to it. I finally mastered the basics of flight with this aircraft before moving on to a GWS Pico Tiger Moth.

The Pico-Stick met it's demise in a tree after it's third consecutive loop. I still have the Pico Tiger Moth and am currently using it with a buddy system to train my Wife to fly.