It's a rainy day here in the northeast, so I decided to build a v2 of the ray. Flight test have shown that the kf airfoil not needed. After moving the battery forward past the CG and was still get a lot of lift into the wind, I could only fly at or below half throttle. The second thing I noticed was how the plane would bank in a turn which leads me to believe the frame was to flimsy 3mm epp with 3mm depron for the LE kf airfoil and some along the sides of the vertical portion as stiffeners. I also used some 1mm carbon rod to stiffen the vertical fin/rudder. V2 will see the servos on as in V1 with the battery located on the bottom possibly! I'll keep the Rx and esc on the bottom. Thinking about cutting a box for the battery or opening a box vertical/horizontal square this will add better protection from possible crashes. I'm using 6mm aerocell with flat spar, I'm also going to use hinges don't know if I'm going to use pin type or flat strips with some Fsafe Ca. I like the pin type myself, and tape for the rudder only. Hopefully I will loose a lot of the lift I was getting and she will fly more flat and exhibit a better roll rate as she seemed sluggish. One positive note v1.2 does fly well inverted. I'll post some pics tomorrow . She could possibly be done tomorrow if this weather keeps up. Love this hobby!!! Fly high, fly fast, crash pretty

Hello again I have successfully swapped out the fan unit and replaced it with a Rimfire 150 motor. This little motor has proven it self by powering my fox glider. So this plane should fly without any hick-ups, I hope! There are always unforeseen events when testing out new plane especially scratchbuilt planes. This will be fun either way I love it when a plan come together or in this case a plane comes together. Hopefully I can get someone to video this flying session, maybe the wife will hold the camera while I fly!! Fly high, fly fast, crash pretty.

The cosmic ray will be dismantled is to much thrust is being lots! The ray flys! The ray also has some bad habits that I'm not going to get in to, but it does fly. Turns were relaxed and on low rates seemed perfect but give full throttle and the placement of the fan to much air blowing above the centerline which I think was causing flutter of the surfaces with may have caused the controls to become in-effective! I say this because the plane did not fly fast in fact it was the same speed as a PZ champ, go figure!! I like to try things, and I love doing it. I will try this set-up in a wing type plane it's a point of size, weight, and finding the rite balance point to achieve flight. As for the cosmic ray I will resurrect her! It! Him! Fly high,fly fast,crash petty

The cosmic ray was built to look like a futuristic plane , Having crashed my anylink f-86 I decided not to re-build but create. She looks like something out of Star Wars she's a Elevon and rudder plane the fan unit is out front in the wind and danger if she doesn't fly!!! The front was the only logic placement for the fan unit as most delta wing planes and wing planes period are tail heavy. Having no real weight up front besides the servos, esc, and Rec. I realized I needed the fan out front for balance. Everything electrical is hooked up. Working on control linkages Which sould not be a problem as I have all cennectors from saber. Pic will follow shortly. The fuse is a oval wing shape glide test with for pennies showed a good stable glide without falling of or dropping. Made out of 3mm epp with kf leading edge made with 3mm Cellufoam. The vertical portion of the body has the cockpit out back just in front of the rudder kinda looks like the gee bee race in likeness. Carbon flat spare


with another peice out back for stiffness. The Elevons have 1mm Carbon rods glued to bottom with 1mm carbon rod running span wise. I have a small piece
of 6mm epp up front on the bottom center line as a skid plate. I like the
electronics out of the saber nice and small, light weight servos only weighed 6.6
grams together the fan/ esc weighed about 13-15 grams the Rec. was 3grams
or so. The first flight could be an adventure!! The auw now without battery is 31.5 grms Fly high, fly fast, crash pretty. Later

I bought a dx5e to try out the micro gear that has flooded the hobby scene. Ar6400 to be exact. I found that the mix does not work for Elevons, the only way to get this to work was with a Dx6i. A friend and hobby shop owner told me the only way to get that mix to work is to put on control surface horn on top and one on the bottom. So I left the aileron horn on the bottom and move the elevator horn on the top of the surface. Connection was made with a step or a larger Z bend which pasted through a slot at the trailing edge of the wing. Low and behold it worked. As I was testing I noted that the travel of the aileron wasn't much but up/down elevator had enough throw both ways. I talk to a friend and after checking things out he said it has to be that way so the servo doesn't get maxed out, because it's acting in two functions in that mix. So if your still trying to get that to work this is how. Fly high, fly fast, cash pretty

I recently sold a plane that i had built out of 6mm epp. Its in the bug family but with a few twist. So this person asked me to finnish his plane off with motor and electronics. Gave him the list and he came back with a As3x system, i was looking for individual peices not one unit. So i get it all set up making sure everything is working as planned. First lifht we have problems,2nd flight still problems but its getting better. Basically the plane didnt fly rite now everyones bumbimg heads on why? Then out of the blue does the as3x know its flying a wing type plane. Does it know about elevons? Because theirs a mix going the gyros dont realize that this is how the plane was set up to fly the system it self was trying to correct the imputs thinking it was climbing or falling depending on inputs. Does anyone know of a way to get the system(as3x) to function with elevons? Bottom line if we cant figure it out the we start over and take this nice looking all in one unit out and go for esc,rec,servos. Any help would be appreciated Thanks fly high,fly fast, crash pretty

This past week i've been building from scratch a canard plane. I have always found them to been interesting and unique. So i started out with the main wing. I wanted to keep this plane small and lite weight, as well as able to operate with a AR6400 brick and possibly 2 aileron servos. To operate the elevator out front i will position the brick vertically and place it on the right hand side of the fuse. Looking for a AUW of 30grms with battery. Glide test with 2 pennies have shown me alot and i have figured out that i have to place the brick mid-fuse and battery up front. Motor is mounted in the rear of the plane in a pusher configuration. Weight dry just plane 14.9 grams. Think after i cut some holes into the wing it will bring the weight down by 2grams or more. I used 6mm aerocell 6mm epp and 3mm depron. the epp i used for the canard clued to that is the 3mm spline that runs aft and is part of the motor mount. I also used 3mm for the elevator halves. The main wing and the fuse side are 6mm aerocell. The bottom i will cover with 3mm epp its lite weight and use it for the strip ailerons. Alone its very flexible but joined with tape to a more rigid surface and it stiffens up nicely. I posted some pics along with this entry to give you an idea of size, ws14"3/4 fuse 9'' long 2" wide at the wing tapering to point at the front of fuse. Also the wing is held on with magnets as you will see in pics. will up date regularly as i progress to the first flight. Fly high, Fly fast and crash pretty

The umx extra 300 3D is a nice flying in-door plane looks even better in the air. Problem is the short life span of this plane because of the 1mm foam that was used. I have successfully built a cloned version of this plane. I used 6mm epp for the fuse (vertical portion). The rest of the plane is made with a combonation of 3mm depron and 6mm aerocell i believe thats what it is. I even used the landing gear and wing struts. The struts allowed me to build this plane with out the need for carbon fiber re-inforcements. I am amazed at the strength this little plane has as well as its weight. To keep things as lite as possible i even used the ailerons and elevator from the crashed up plane that i was give. another mans trash is another mans treasure. I used foam-tac clue and it is some good stuff, bonds fast, dries even faster. It's clear and flexible and can be used to joined control surfaces with the fuse and remains flexible. did i mention that it dries clear! The price is right at $7bucks you can't beat that. I am thinking about making more than a few of these little gems for sale hopefully. looking for an auw of 40 grms or so or even less. Trying to decide on a brushed umx set-up or go with a brushless converted brick that i had done up? The only problem i for see is the battery weight? You'd think they would have come out with some batteries that are lite weight like under 10 grams! most of my convertions almost always rely's on the battery weight. Rite now dry my little extra weights in at 17.4 grams. Any reply's would be helpful as far as battery choices go. Thanks for reading this entry i have uploaded pics let me know what you think. fly high, fly fast, crash pretty!!!

Happy holidays one and all, the in-door season is well under way. So far this season im having a blast! Scratchbuilt a mini bug and it fly"s "awesome"not bad for a scratchbuilt plane. I also build a plane called the combo because its made with 6mm epp & 3mm depron. I"m using the ar6400 brick out of a suhkoi. Nice and slow she flies, with a little throttle management she will fly for over 5 minutes. I'm working on an extra 300 3D um except i'm making it out of 6mm epp & 3mm depron. the aileron & elevator are gonna be 1mm. Using the parts from the original extra. The fuse wasn't strong at all but the controlled surfaces seem to be very strong. I like building these little planes their a lot of fun to fly and dont take up any space at all. Well thats all for now Marry Christmas & have a Happy New Year.

First let me say this it is about time some other manufacturer besides spectrum/ horizon put out some small go anywhere fly and time except in rain. I like the fact that I can buy a tx-r plane take out of the box bind it to my tx and fly. This is a karate chop in the fight to be number one.
After charging that battery which is small for it's mah size 250 25c 2s pack I place some Velcro inside fuse and on batt. Placed a dime in front of battery underneath canopy. This was for balancing purposes. Out of the box she's tail heavy! Found that out on the first flight attempt. Now with a gentle push forward and full throttle the plane moves out onces it's up to speed. I did add some expo to ails and elevator, and dual rates. She will roll fast or slow, loop if you pull back slowly on the stick! If not she will stall! If that does happen full down till the nose drops forward. For it's size it does have that wow effect! People like to see her in the air. I have had some quits on the motor in flight but it powers back up inside of a few seconds. The canopy fits nicely but has to be trimmed on the inside cockpit floor must be removed ( not the foam but the plastic black floor inside the canopy). To get the most out of your flight or extended the flight time cut throttle to below half, she will still have enough thrust to fly I get about 4-6 minutes depending on conditions outside. If your looking for something small fast and fun the the anylink system is for you. Plus they have atleast ten planes to choose from and more on the way. The misses I spoke of the stall, dime in the nose and canopy are all minor even the motor issue is not a problem. Think my next purchase will be the albatros bi-plane for the in-door season she looks like fun. If you have one of these planes or want one check them out it's worth it.

This past week a group of guys from different states were shut out of our belove flying field due to zoning issues. This has been a flying site for over 15 years and have never had a complaint uptil now! I as a pilot enjoy flying I like being in control and I like seeing and talking with the other pilots. I feel as if I've been stripped of a rite to breath or something. The weather is fine blue sun filled skys and no flying. I think that land should be set aside for such activities. Not only is this hobby educational! But it's also a social hobby. Some people belong to local VFW's and Italian American club polish club. Gun clubs, fantasy leagues and so on and so on. The point I'm trying to make is how fast things can change! How quickly a smile can turn to a frown. I feel like it's winter time and I should be building a plane or tweaking it for some in-door fun. This no fly zone is also hurting a local hobbyshop. The owner of this shop is up in arms over this lock-out. Not only is it hurting the season but his business. He not only runs his shop but he also runs the field. He maintains the grass,trash and food being sold support issues. He is the all around guy. What can be done? Is this the beginning of the end? Has anyone out here had similar issues with being lock- out? I'd like to hear from readers on this issue! Thank you for reading these blogs.

I recently finished a conversion/up-grade on a parkzone P-47 thunderbolt. All I changed was the motor, esc unit and re-inforced the main wing. The motor I chose was the Neo-25, and a thunderbird 54. With this set-up I should be able to take off and pull a straight vertical line with out any problems. Cruise at or below half throttle. I left the fiberglass spars in to help strengthen the wing. I used 3mmx5mmx20" this secondary spar added great strength to the wing. I measured about 11/4" back from the leading edge of wing and drew a line from the middle of the wing to the tip. I used a sharpie marker to draw the line. Then used a t square ruler to cut out a slot on the wing. After cuts were made I used a small flat head screw driver to remove foam from slot. I had some good cuts made because I had to almost force CF spars into place. Once I was satisfied I removed spars add glue and replaced them back into slots. These slots did go into center section of wing from both ends and used copious amounts of glue. Nothing more is needed other than making a motor mount stand off. This was easy I used 1/8 " ply traced the original motor mount base( the end that meets the fire wall. Then cut them out I used 7mm foam in between the ply which gave me the 1/2" stand off that was needed to clear the cowl nose. I did have to cut out a good piece of the cowl in order to get agood fit of the cowl without it rubbing against the motor. This is a worth while conversion for any pilot wanting more power for their war bird. Plus it's low cost 100$ even. Try it out you'll be impressed with the performance. Happy trails!!!

The fox glider was my first conversion from free flight to rc. The conversion was simple and some what thought out. I first found the motor i wanted to use, how many servos i wanted and the size of the esc and rx was also important. I started out with a 12" drill that i used to get inside the fuse. I started from the back and just turned it slowly, this will take time so dont rush it. after i got past the wing saddle i focused on the canopy/cockpit area. I took out as much as i could with out seriously weakening the side walls or the nose period. After i had it opened enough i re-focused my attention back to the drill bit whole i made. I took a dowel about 20" long and a circular file. I taped the file to the dowel end and began to open up the inside of the fuse,as i did so i left the nose of the plane pointing down so the small sticky beads would just fall out rather than getting stuck as they were. I opened up a second whole in the fuse as a hatch for getting my rx in the fuse and out of harms way. Next i made a slot for my servo to slide into and routed the lead in side the body. As you will see from pics the horn is the only thing sticking out of the body besides the battery connection. Next i went back to cockpit and glued in 2 pieces of ply wood(make them big enough to except screws) and slid the servo in. at this point your gonna need that dowel agan to push aileron servo lead into tail sec. I then moved on to the motor esc installation. i cut about 1"...Continue Reading

this entery is about converting free flight gliders to rc. Recently i attempted a conversion on a hobby-lobby zoomer glider. auw was 50-52 grams, including balast ball. The ball on the scale weighted 7 grams. I used the rimfire 200 micro motor up front in the nose. I hollowed out the area under the canopy which by the way has a lot of room as you will see in pics. Next i opened up the area behind the cockpit and it extends well past TE of wing. This area will house 2 servos and the rec. as well as the battery connection. The battery is safe in the center of wing with hatch to remove it for charging. Two of the servos are electrifly 4grammers these will control elevator and rudder. The third servo is a 2.5grammer from hobby king. This servo sits atop of wing just behind canopy. I made full span ailerons added 21/4" rudder to fin. The elevators were cut from the horizontal stab and joint with micro wire and tube used as bearing glued in notch and join with glue to both halves of elevator. I use a .8 carbon rod for pushrods in a sleeve. The ails i used micro wire. All surfaces were beveled and move freely. The esc is a hobbyking 6a and has shortened motor wires but a longer battery connection with micro deans. Battery is the new 250 electrifly lipo for the micro f-86 anylink plane from hobby zone. for is size it has a 20c discharge rating which is perfect for my little glider converstion. auw will be 89grams. thats alot but look back 3 servos a esc,rec,and 12 gram motor, pushrods and sleeves glue weight! Its a tad bit over 3oz's motors rated for 3d preformance at that weigth for sport flying,trainer 114 grams "strong motor". hopefully i can get these pics to load up so you can see the work.

Should we as hobby men be concerned with the direction that our hobby is going in. I remember my first kit I built all laser cut tap and notched construction the plane went together with ease. Then I got into scratch building. I find it more rewarding then flying the plane it self. Am I the only one? Can't be! I do how ever realize that building a plane up from wood is a thing of the past. Guys we fly with calm us old school. The new school is fixed on buying and flying all in the same day. Are we going to let this hobby slip away? Are we going to follow the masses and forget about the golden age of RC. Building model planes is the most important aspect of the hobby. I wonder if the hobby has apexed! Has it reached the point of going no further or is it waiting for a rebirth of the old ways. People need to realize that the foam or wood plane they purchased was first scratchbuilt then copied over and over and over. Someone to the time to design, build, and fly the prototype before it was massed produced.
Don't get me wrong I like the models I see in the magazines and in my local hobby shop or online. I do how ever like to see scratchbuilt planes especially scale one. I think that everyone in this hobby should build a plane from a kit just so they can learn the in's and out's of model building. The reward for building is knowing ones plane, and being able to pass on tips and tricks they used to solve any building problems they faced in the construction process. I loom up to those guys you see at top gun or monster planes these guys take time in every aspect of building an award winning aircraft. No building is not easy scratchbuilding is even harder! Fear has a lot to do with it and also time and space. All these things are factored in when one is considering build or ready-built or ready to fly. If you read this and feel the same way add to it let's here your thoughts on the subject.

This is a continuation of the previous blog. Got a hold of some used spectrum brick boards. Just for my own reasons I placed these parts on a scale. The main unit with two servos weighted in at 5 grams. The motor weighted in at 7grams with prop still attached. The aileron servo/w linkage 2grams. So 13 grams give or take. That's not bad when building to hit a target weight for a small indoor foamy. I've built two foam sbach one is epp the other is cellufoam. The cellufoam was the weight winner dry 13.4 grams, the epp 18 grams. So I'm going to do one brushless one cellufoam. Weight will vary greatly due to the need for the extra battery weight. As I mentioned in the previous discussion I'm using the es-18 three came in at 6.6 grams. That not bad! But stil a gram heavier then the spectrum brick. Cellufoam plane will be 33 grams with battery, I hope!! Epp hopefully 40 grams. The building and weight savings of the brick can't be beat! That's my personal opinion. Please feel free to comment on this discussion. Trying to get feedback I know their are others out there with good usable info.

Why is spectrum such a successful company other than the price and quality of their product. I fly futuba and I like it! I like the feel of the transmitter and the linked in feeling when I fly. Had a bad spectrum radio dx6i killed two planes sent it back via hobby shop won a radio at a fly in futuba 6ex fasst system but I traded up for a 6j . The Rec. Are affordable vs. The Fasst. the 6J is s-FHSS with 15 model memory more than enough. I think spectrum has done so well because of the Bnf, PnP, Rtf. With all these umx's flying around it's hard to resist the spectrum fever. Even with my futuba radio I still long to buy a small anything plane and go fly! It's useful when you don't have the time, space, or skills to build or assemble a plane of good quality. Can anyone give me other reasons why spectrum rules the market? Why hasn't these other manufacturers put out viable systems to maintain an evenness in the hobby market. Plus why haven't these other guys lowered their prices to compete with spectrum, or even jumped in bed with a company producing indoor/ micro planes and heli's?