On Saturday, 16 April 2011, my daughter and I made the journey to Buttonwillow, CA to attend California Jets 2011. Wow.....what an awesome event! Our good friends Brent (Corsair Nut) and Rodger Hecht (Air Sally) allowed us an inside, upclose view of the event and we are grateful! Thanks guys for giving us the access and making it a special day for both of us.

More photos posted under comments to this thread. Many more images still to come.......

Best,
Tony &...Continue Reading

Last weekend, I took my Phase 3 U-2 and LX SR-71 out to our local RC field for a little Lockheed Skunk Works Tribute. Both jets are a joy to fly, especially over the High Desert of California where many of Lockheed's Chief Designer Kelly Johnson's aircraft first took flight.

Here's a few photos.

Best,
Tony

Recently I purchased the Multiplex Funjet w/ Grayson Hobby SuperMega Jet V2 motor and 50 amp ESC. Wow!....this plane is FAST! I'm guessing well over 100mph. Once my buddy puts the radar gun on it, I'll post the exact speed. When Grayson Hobby states "INSANE SPEED", they are not kidding. What is really great about this plane and power combination is that it only cost $112 for the combo. Now....the new Funjet Ultra is selling for $109 without the power combo. IMHO...I think the original version of the Funjet for $71 at Grayson is the better deal. Just think, for $111, you get "insane power" combo and the original Multiplex Funjet!

I'm flying mine with a Rhino 11.1v 25C 2350mAh battery and APC 6x 5.5 prop.

http://www.graysonhobby.com/catalog/...mbo-p-463.html

Here's a few photos of mine. The paint scheme I used was inspired by the California Forestry Service Fire Tankers.

Best,
Tony

Here's a few photos of the Airbus A380 which can be purchased from Toysonics or Hobby King.

Best,
Tony

Here's a few pictures of the beautiful FJ-3 Fury from Hobby Lobby.

Best,
Tony

Here's the beautiful Airfield 1430mm Corsair with electric retracts from Nitroplanes.com. The electric retracts and gear doors are so cool. This is the third 1400mm aircraft I've purchased from Nitroplanes and it is impressive. I painted the dummy engine, prop hub, prop tips and color matched all control horns and push rods.

Best,
Tony

Just recently completed assembling and detail my Hyperion Cessna L-19 Bird Dog 25e from RC Dude. I love the Bird Dog and this Hyperion offering is really nice. It come with flaps which I definitely wanted. I added a pilot, rear cockpit support rod and deck, painted the wheel rims and front canopy stripe along with many other scale detail touches. RC Dude provided ease of ordering and fast shipment. A real pleasure! The Hyperion Cessna Bird Dog 25e comes in the white/red trainer and olive drab color schemes.

http://www.rcdude.com/servlet/the-11...Dog-25e/Detail

Check out RC Dude for their entire line of Hyperion aircraft.

All the best,
Tony

I've been flying this Receiver Ready Dynam Cessna 310 since Nov 2010 and it is the best flying twin electric aircraft I have ever flown. My aircraft is completely stock and it's performance and stability is awesome. Inverted low & slow passes down the runway are amazing. Vertical performance is great! By far, the best $119 I've ever spent for a PnP aircraft. A real crowd pleaser!

For fans of the 50's TV show "SKY KING", this plane is a must!

Best,
Tony

Recently, I visited my local hobby shop and discovered that the E-Flite PT-19 was reduced to $69.95. Being an old Cox PT-19 control-line flyer, I had to bite. It was painless to assemble and flies great!

Here's few pics of the E-Flite and Cox .049 Powered PT-19.

All the best,
Tony

Below is a collection of photos I shot at the 2011 AMA Convention in Ontario, CA on Saturday, 8 Jan 11.

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...Continue Reading

My dream of getting my old Cox .049 Powered Sky Rally Ultralight back in the air with an improved powerplant was finally accomplished today. This model hung in my gararge for many years and just needed the right powerplant. My modification utilizes a Micro Jet V3 motor, APC 7x5 E prop and 30 amp ESC from Grayson Hobby. The battery is an 11.1v 25C 1300mAh pack. The entire mod took only 90 minutes. The maiden flight was this morning and everything went perfect! Of the two flights today, the second flight was the longest at 11 minutes with throttle management. This ultralight cruises beautifully just around 45% throttle. Landing approaches are at 15% power and smooth touchdowns in a light breeze are a piece of cake.

I first flew this aircraft back in 1986 and it was extremely underpowered. Each flight was a real struggle to keep this bird in the air while you were at the mercy of the Cox .049. If the motor was too rich, then hang on because you were on the deck, fighting to stay in the air. Now...with the Electric Micro Jet set up, this Sky Rally Ultralight from Cox is a real joy to fly.

Best,
...Continue Reading

Yesterday, I maidened the New Hobby King Quicksilver Ultralight and I love it! As of this morning, I have 15 flights on it and I'm having so much fun. Back in 1986, I flew the Cox .049 Powered Sky Rally Ultralight whcih was underpowered. This week, I'll be converting it to electric power. It should be fun! Below are a few pics of both. Many more photos are posted in the Hobby King Quicksilver Ultralight Thread:

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1347186

Best,
Tony

Well...Toysonics came through as they promised. When I order these jet on-line, within minutes, I received a call from a CSR at Toysonics asking if I would like these jets shipped FedEx Next Day at no additional charge. Ah..Yeah! The next day (yesterday) I received both 50mm A-4 & T-33. That is a first for me from any RC distributor. Very cool and very much appreciated! Both the T-33 & A-4 arrived in one day and in great shape. Toysonics has been kind of under the radar for sometime and I hope that more pilots take advantage of their outstanding customer service. A+++++

Here's a few pics taken this morning. Hoping to fly them once the rain stops here in SoCal.

Best,
Tony

This weekend I built the kit version of this U-2. The build went well but I did discover a few issues. The elevator control rod was a little short, so I had to cut the elevator servo mount plate slot back in order to move the servo aft about 1/4 inch. The other surprise was stripped threads on one of the aileron clevises. That could have been bad! After getting all the control surfaces centered, I added a dab of epoxy to the threads of each clevis for a little piece of mind. I used a combination of the pre-installed 3M tape and foam glue for the build. The model was sprayed with Krylon Fusion Satin Black to allow for decals to be applyed without silvering underneath. I'll wait 7 days before applying a final dullcote. Testors flat red was used on the wing fuel caps and zinc chromate was used inside the intakes. The maiden was a piece of cake and I have a total of 6 flights on it with several more flights planned at Edwards AFB this afternoon during a few demos for friends. Two more builds coming. One in NASA markings and the other as the prototype U-2R/TR-1A flown in 1968 which was bare metal on the first flight here at Edwards.

Here's some pictures. Aerial photos by my daughter Evelyn.

Best,
Tony

This week..I successfully maidened the PnP version of the Airfield 1400mm P-51D. The power and e-retracts are amazing. The aircraft is flown using the 14.8v 25C 2650mAh Turnigy Nano-Tech Batteries. I'm flying it off my dirt runway and the landing gear has held up and worked perfectly with 8 flights on this beautiful Mustang.

All the best,
Tony

I've always liked the looks of the F6F Hellcat and couldn't pass up getting this 1100mm version. It looks great in the air but suffers from torque turn with the stock three bladed prop at full power. I'll be making modifications to correct that issue. Still a blast to fly and great to look at in the air.

Best,
Tony

Here's a few pictures from an amazing Veteran's Day Celebration at the Mojave Airport.

Best,
...Continue Reading

Today, I posted a build thread on the 70mm F-5E from Banana Hobby. Here's the link and a few pictures here. Many more photos on the build thread:

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1339670

All the best,
Tony

Hey Everyone,

Below is a link for a build thread I put together on this amazing New Version 2 of the 70mm F-35 from Banana Hobby in the Foamy EDF Forum. Here's a picture of my daughter, RC Pilot Evelyn holding our F-35 Joint Strike Fighter and a few photos of this amazing EDF jet in the High Desert of California. For more than 50 images and build info, checkout the build thread:

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1335421

You can also find this jet on the link below:
http://www.bananahobby.com/1947.html

All the best,
Tony

Below is a link for the build thread of Blitz RC/J-Power 64mm A-10 from Banana Hobby which I posted with modification tips.

Below are pictures of my daughter Evelyn holding this great looking Hawg. She can't wait to fly it!

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1318942

All the best,
Tony