The wind started to die down after lunch so my 6 year old and I flew the Champ for a little bit in the backyard then took the Super Cub to a field near the house and dropped bombs and parachutes. He had a blast and I had many good landings before the wind picked back up.

After 3 batteries through the Super Cub we drove to our local club field and met several wonderful members of the South Alabama RC Modelers at Irwin field in Foley, AL.

We watched several planes fly: Nitro, electric, and even a gasser. We saw everything from another Champ, to gliders, to 3D planes and a huge Super Sport they were flying for the first time.

I really appreciate how welcoming and friendly they were. So much so I joined the AMA last night and printed out my membership application for the club. I'll get it mailed off today.

Anyway, it was a great day and I learned a lot just watching these guys fly. It was an amazing experience.

Perspective can be a funny thing:



I went to bed last night planning on flying this morning. The forecast was calling for 5 to 8 mph winds. Ok, I can probably do this with my Super Cub...maybe.

Well I'm sitting on my porch right now drinking my coffee and watching the trees bend. It's more like 10 and gusting higher. Too much for this new flyer.

Now you are probably asking yourself where does perspective come in? I've been a sailor for almost 20 years now. I have a 26 foot sailboat sitting in my back yard.

When I was starting out on the water a 10 mph wind was daunting but doable. Now I see 10 mph and think that's marginal for a good sailing time. Sure it's nice for some lazy running about but not so much for getting the blood flowing with the rail in the water while on a starboard tack.

Sailor me says its too calm to sail. Aspiring pilot me says its way too windy to fly. In this case it's a matter of experience and confidence in both myself and my equipment.

Perspective.

No pictures this time. Sorry. Here's my after action review:

I got up early this morning and put three batteries through the Champ.

The first one I ran lots of touch and go's on the driveway. This thing almost lands itself. I found my best approaches happen when I cut the throttle and dead stick it in close, then add a bit back in for airflow over the control surfaces for the final touch down. Some still seemed a bit hot but I didn't bounce and didn't nose over so I guess I'm on the right track. I got a bit over confident on one approach trying to come in on a sharp angle then flare and hit the driveway nose first. I flared way too late. There's a little scuff on the spinner and some rash on the fuse but no real damage.

The 2nd battery was about dialing in the controls. I've got the Champ where it flys straight hands off. Sweet. One thing that surprised me was that the left wing seems to be getting more lift than the right. It looks okay but I'm guessing I changed the dihedral a bit when I taped it back together last night. I would have thought the right side would lift first because of the extra weight from the tape and CA on the left wing but its the opposite. A couple clicks on the rudder trim got it straightened out.

I let my 6 year old fly some on the 3rd battery. I put the Champ way up high and gave him the DX6i. He did pretty well but was scared the wind would take it away. He was fine. It was only blowing around 2 to maybe 5 mph. He did let it get...Continue Reading

So I bought a Hobby Zone Champ tonight. The Super Cub is too big to fly in my yard but the Champ is perfect. The first flight went great, no problems. The 2nd flight ended in a nose dive in my neighbor's pear tree thanks to a gust of wind and ripped the wing in two. . So the Champ is dead. My son is upset.

Ah but it's a Champ! I used a little foam safe CA and some packing tape and got the wing back together. 15 minutes later we're flying again. Then my boy catches his sleeve on the top of the rudder and tears it. More tape and CA.

And it still flys great. Long live the Champ!

I want to add lights to it. I was flying it after dark as is and as long as I kept it close all was fine with the houselights lighting up the backyard but orientation is a bit tricky. I tore apart a cheap LED flashlight and was messing with the LED's in it but I kept popping them. Time to research here at RCG.

Introduction:

The purpose of this post is to detail what changes I've made to the wheels of my Hobby Zone Super Cup LP both for my future reference as repairs become necessary and in the hopes that it helps some other newbie flyer.


SC Pre Maiden flight by BamaBasher, on Flickr

Disclaimer: This is my first RC Airplane. I've owned it less than a week and only flown it one day. I am by no means an expert on modifying these machines. I changed the wheel configuration after much research on this and other websites. Modify your plane at your own risk. By all means if you see something I've done that could be improved I'd love for you to post your suggestions below.

I bought my Hobby Zone Super Cub LP last Thursday night after researching the plane and deciding it was the right trainer for me in my local flying conditions. It's very rarely calm here. There's always at least a slight breeze.

While researching I decided there were several modifications I wanted to make before ever flying her. Knowing that I'd be taking off and landing in a field I felt that larger main wheels were a must. I decided to upgrade the tail wheel as well both for looks and in the hopes of getting a little more control on the ground.

I think I astounded the guys at the local hobby shop. They said I was the first person that had ever bought a "RTF" (ok so this was was really BNF) plane and unboxed it right in the shop and started making modifications. They were...Continue Reading

So I woke up this morning to 0 to 5mph winds. We decided to brave it and maiden our new Super Cub. My 6 year old and I packed up and went to our flying site, a 40 acre field. By the time we got there the wind had picked up. So I took a few pictures instead of flying.

A small rain shower came through and the wind died after so I thought "Great, let's try it!"

I taxied around a bit, then attempted a rolling take off. I knew to expect the plane to veer left on takeoff but I was surprised how much it did so. I cut the throttle and put her down. She left the short grass, hit the tall grass and stopped with no damage.

Then we hand launched, I flew my planned pattern a few times, checked trim and then dropped a bomb from the aerial drop module much to my son's delight. While all this was going in the wind started to pick back up.

Then I tried to bring her in for a landing. Heh. My selected runway is a narrow grass strip in the field we drive on. It's oriented north and south. The wind was out of the ESE. I got the wheels down, no bounce, and the SC promptly turned into the wind, left the short grass for the tall grass and nosed over. Luckily I had already cut the throttle and there was no damage.

We did this same thing 3 times. All three times I nosed over on landing. Actually one time was a pretty good landing but one main wheel hit a small ant bed and stopped causing the nose over.

By this time the wind had picked up considerably so we...Continue Reading