It was a 3-day holiday weekend in Canada.

Finally, after major readjustments, my big (20+ pounds) Tiger Moth had a great flight, takeoff to landing.

I haven't posted here for a while, so (very quiet at work today; major snow storm) I thought I'd share 5 major new projects for the 2013 season that I have been working on. All to be flown this spring/summer.

This plane flies so smoothly and at a relatively slow speed, it lends itself to good photos. Another club member sent me more photos.

This is my Seagull Pilatus Porter, powered by a Neodyme .40-size brushless motor. I have added flaps and shock-absorbing struts.

A few images of my BAe Hawk ducted fan in flight.

A fellow member of our RC club took this video yesterday, of me flying my TopGun BAe Hawk. It's got a 90mm fan unit and flies at what appears to be nice scale speeds on 6 cells, and has robust E-Flite 46-size electric tricycle retractable landing gear. It's a nice gentle flyer.

The video is accompanied by music, on which I played every note on every track, guitars, drums, bass and harmonica included.

Top Gun/Fly Fly Hawk RC plane at TEMAC, Ontario (2 min 35 sec)

Just finished my Kyosho Ryan STA 50E, which I ordered from Esprit Hobby in Florida. It`s a nice plane, close to, but not quite as good as, the quality of Horizon Hobby. It has a 62" wingspan and it's powered by a Neodyme 40-size brushless motor, E-Flite 60amp speed control and a 5-cell lipo battery.

Full speed on the ground produces enough power to challenge the speed control, so may go to a 12/7 instead of a 12/8, which is pretty small already. I don't want to use a 4S pack, since I have 2 5S packs sitting and doing nothing.

First flights should be in about a month.

Photos from maiden flight.

I just purchased a used model airplane, a discontinued Hangar 9 P51D Mustang, approx. 17 pounds, 77" wingspan, E-Flite 160 brushless motor, 120 amp speed control, slow flaps, retracts, etc., and a custom 4-blade prop.

Bought it yesterday, flew it today on a 12 cell-5,000mAH lipo battery pack, for approx. 6 minutes.

My maiden flight went very well. Except for not being able to do a roll (aileron rates were too low), the flight was exceptional. Takeoff was straight down the field, flew mostly at 1/2 throttle, and had one of the smoothest landings I have ever controlled.

Someone else took some in-flight photos. I'll post them if/when he sends them to me.

The weather this last weekend was fantastic; July-August weather in mid-October. About 28 degrees C (about 80 degrees F) and very low winds, and it was a long weekend in Canada to boot (Thanksgiving weekend).

I flew at our club on Sun and Mon, and here are a few photos (2 posts below too) from another club member.

This is my Hangar 9 P51D Mustang.

Photos of my Hangar 9 Twin Otter.

This was an 8-minute flight, almost completely at an altitude of 20 feet; a very smooth flight.

Photos of my E-Flite Bonanza - Cherokee.

This is my scratch-built jumbo-ultra-light foam model of a Piper Cub, with lots of decals, working bungee landing gear, carved foam wheels and lots of scale details, capable of flying indoors.

I just took it out for a flight at our local park in zero wind conditions.
(Photos by my 15-year-old daughter)

Here is a thread devoted to the project.

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1395196

Indoor flight video:

Indoor Cub 0484 (1 min 4 sec)

I've had a few difficulties with this plane, some in my head, but I finally had a terrific flight (loops, rolls, low passes) and a smooth landing.

My customized (painted. 6 cells and retracts) Mirage at our club on Sunday July 24.

It has lots of power and can roll while flying up, yet can slow down and fly at less than 1/2 throttle.

Flying at our club on Sunday July 24.

A terrific flyer; good take-off and landing.

1. E-Flight Habu 32: Excellent maiden flight. Flew excellent, no problems.

2. FlyFly F86 Sabre: Wing broke off after a loop. Gone.

3. FlyFly Mirage: A few reasonably good flights. A few upgrades (now 6 cells) and ready for more.

4. OV-10 Bronco: Had about 6 flights, then stalled and spiraled fast into the ground. Gone.

5. Canadair CL415 Waterbomber: 2 Excellent flights. Slides off ground and flies very well.

I spent quite a bit of time working on my 81" ARF CL415 Waterbomber. Although it's an ARF, it actually was quite a bit of work. It weighs about 11 or 12 pounds, but measures more than 1600 watts of output power, so I think it'll fly ok.

The OV-10 is a balsa kit that I purchased fully built and decorated at a hobby shop in Buffalo New York. The plane has contra rotating propellers, 2 brushless motors and speed controls, servos, and is very well decorated with fully painted cockpit and pilots, bombs, missiles, etc. I'm sure it will fly nicely.

The P51D is my latest attempt at building large indoor flyers. It's a profile model with under-camber wings, built mostly out of depron and a little balsa and carbon fiber, and uses four channels. It spans 48" and weighs 11 ounces. It flies very well, and slowly.

I had the last week of the year off from work, and put it to good use.

With this FlyFly/Top Gun Mirage, the Sabre below, and my big Canadair Waterbomber, I'm finished building for the season. I just need a few pilot figures, and prepare the battery compartments, and I'm ready to fly in Spring.

The Mirage is powered by a 5-cell system, but has E-Flite 15-25-size electric retracts. The paint and decorations, and the retract installation, were most of the work.