Had to grab one of these guys. I'm real impressed with it so far.

It's stock, and I use my Futaba 12FG with a DM9 DSM2 TX module.

AUW: ~1oz.

Never saw a model of one of these before so I wanted to try it out. It's pretty fun to fly, much different from flying an airplane. I also hope to get my wife interested in flying this since it's pretty durable and easy to fly.

I find ROG takeoff to be easier than handlaunching, but maybe that's just me. ROG is pretty easy if there is a light breeze.

EDIT: Still having a good time with this. I ordered up some LEDs from Hobby King and tried night flying. I used a similar design to what Sea Breeze sells on their site, but I used even MORE LEDs.. The canopy is completely visible at night. It's really neat.

AUW: 49oz.
Static test around 320 watts.

Sea Breeze:
82" yellow and red parachute
QBSe gondola kit

Rimfire:
42-40-1000kv brushless outrunner

Jeti:
Advance 70 Plus ESC

Futaba:
T12FG transmitter
TM-14 module
R617FS receiver
FP-S148 standard servo

APC:
10x7e prop

WS Deans:
Ultra connectors

Tunrigy:
3s1p 2200mah 40c lipo
Receiver controlled switch
High density LED light strips, red, green, and white

My first gas/electric conversion. My first giant scale. Before this my largest plane was a 55" Eflite T-34, so this is a big step up. So far I've been getting 9 minutes of flight and putting between 4000 and 5000mah back into the pack when charging as a 5s2p 10,000mah pack.. So I bet I can get 15-20 minutes of conservative flight. Not that I'd really want to do that, but I could!

AUW: 17lbs 4oz.

Static test:
1500 watts with a 19x8 prop.
2000 watts with a 19x10 prop.

Kangke USA:
1/4 Scale Monocoupe 90A

Turnigy:
AerodriveXp SK 63-64 230Kv outrunner
Sentilon 100A HV ESC
19x10 Beechwood light electric prop

Zippy:
Flightmax 10s1p 5000mah 40c LiPo (5s1p x2) (Brand new, hope they have some more "punch")
Flightmax 10s1p 5000mah 20c LiPo (5s1p x2) (Starting to puff, currently at 43 flights)

Futaba:
T12FGA transmitter
R6014FS receiver

HiTech:
(5) HS-475HB servos (elevator, ailerons, flaps)
(1) HS-645MG servo (rudder)

Caste Creations:
CCBEC

Thunder Power:
Prolite 3s1p 2100mah 15C LiPo RX pack

Hobby King:
3s Battery Monitor for RX...Continue Reading

Here's some pics from the BCFT mall show. First time back doing it after a few years. Fun was had by all. 3 members brought Realflight and their computers so everyone could try it out. The kids were a lot of fun.

-...Continue Reading

After I wrecked the Edge I needed something to take it's spot on the rack. Seemed like the components would fit nicely into this little Super Cruiser.

AUW: 33oz.

Pilot-1:
Piper PA-12 Super Cruiser

E-Flite:
Park 480 910kv Outrunner

Turnigy:
Plush 40a ESC
3s1p 2200mah 40c lipo
10x7 electric wood prop

Futaba:
T12FGA transmitter
R616FFM receiver
(4) S3114M Servos

Deans:
Ultra connectors

*** SOLD October 2010 ***

I had a power system and some servos laying around.. what could I do? Turns out it's a pretty nice flying little plane. Plenty of power for basic aerobatics and of course it looks pretty doing scale flight.

AUW: 31oz.
Static test: 145 watts.

Hobby Lobby:
44" Cessna 172

Eflite:
22a brushless ESC
Park 450 outrunner

Thunder Power:
3s1p 2100mah lipo

Parkzone:
2" wheels from a T-28

Futaba:
T12FGA transmitter

Spektrum:
DM-9 DSM2 module
AR6100 receiver

HiTec:
(3) HS55 servos - (ailerons, elevator)
(1) HS56HB servo - (rudder)

Turnigy:
10x7 electric wood prop

Deans:
Ultra connectors

I decided to try the 3D Hobby Shop brand of Kool Aid. Took the gear out of my Mini Pulse XT and put it in the new 40" 3DHS Edge 540.

*** CRASHED, Dead.. 3/14/09 ***

Static test: 225 watts.

3D Hobby Shop:
40" Edge 540
Long "3D" servo arms

E-Flite:
25amp Pro BL ESC
Park 480 910kv outrunner

Thunder Power:
3s1p 2100mah lipo

Futaba:
T12FGA transmitter
R616FFM receiver

HiTec:
(2) HS56HB servos - (Ailerons)
(2) HS65MG servos - (Elevator, Rudder)

Xoar:
12x6 wood electric prop

Deans:
Ultra connectors

Now that I have a DSM2 radio (12FG w/ Spektrum DM9 module) I caved in and bought a Blade mCX to add to my hangar. I so totally don't need it, but it's fun to have an I had a coupon for the LHS... heh. Yes, I fly a $99 heli with a $1199 radio... what of it?

It took a bit of configuring... Had to change CH2(from rudder to Elevator) and CH4(from pitch to rudder). Also reverse channels 2, 3, and 4. Then it flew like a champ.

It's AMAZING that this little thing flies as good as it does. Every bit as good as my old Hirobo XRB which cost $350 only a few years ago.

AUW: ~1oz.

Well I've been wanting a new radio for several reasons.. First my T7CHP is out of model memory. Second is 2.4Ghz of course. And finally I feel that I'm getting enough "into" the hobby to warrant owning a high end radio.

I had decided on getting a Futaba 10C next spring but fate(or Tower) would step in.

While killing time at work I was looking over the Tower Hobbies site and I saw that had the 12FG radios on sale for $799! Upon closer inspection I see that they also come with a free HD chair($40 value), $20 coupon at checkout, and $40 gift card for future merchandise. This was a deal I could not pass up.

I do like to try to keep my money local, so I went to Todd who is the owner of our local Hobbytown USA and asked if he could match the deal. Since I spend a *few* dollars there he said he could match it dollar for dollar out the door. So it was a done deal.

I also got two of the 616 RXs and two of the 617 RXs. Once I get a feel for the range and performance of both I will decide which way to go for the rest of my planes. I ordered 100 of the molex connectors from Digi-Key for the 616s. I know a guy at the field who wanted some too. I'll just splice these on rather than spending $6!! on Futaba's adapters.. haha

My Taylorcraft is already converted over and setup. I flew it... feels like a different plane now. The radio is VERY comfortable in my hands and I love the new high end neck strap that it came with. I'd been using the tiny one that came with my 7CHP.

Next up is my Trex 450se. I've got it all installed, I just need to finish all of the programing and tweaking. Hopefully I'll have that done before the end of the weekend.

-Jay

Here's a cool model at my flying club. This is a 100" Miss Delaware. I'm told the plans were originally from the 1930s and it was intended as a freeflight model. This particular one was built 15-20 years ago. At one time it had an OS .91 on the front.

The designer of this model must have owned a rubber mill. The two halves of the wing are held together with rubber bands. The wing is held to the fuse with rubber bands. The landing gear are held to the fuse with rubber bands. Even the tail feathers are held on with rubber bands!

Last week Bob L. brought it out to the field setup with three channels and a Power 10 turning a 12x8e prop! He proceeded to fly it at about 2 MPH for 5 minutes with a 3s 2200mah lipo. He had 4(I believe) lipos in the nose for ballast but no parallel adapters on hand.

Sunday it was updated with ailerons, a Power 32 and 14x10e prop. Bob also picked up a parallel adapter so he can run 3s2p 4400mah. It flew for around 9 minutes. Much of the flight was spent figuring out how much aileron/rudder mix to use.

Being into electrics and a relative newb to flying, I think it's extremely cool that Bob has this old plane, built from even older plans and it gets up there and flys great with electric power.

Pictures are somewhat poor, I was getting my own planes ready to fly.

-Jay

I got an itch for a WWI bipe. I like seeing the 25% ones flying around at the club field. Went with this S.E.5a since I prefer wooden planes with ailerons. The kit went together really nicely. I did a clear matte spray paint over the covering to make it look more like cloth.

*** SOLD April 2010 ***

AUW: 22oz.
Static test: 135 watts.

Great Planes:
S.E.5a kit

Himax:
2812-0850 Brushless

Castle Creations:
Thunderbird 18 ESC

Xoar:
10x5 wooden prop

Eflite:
S75 Servos (Ailerons)

Team Associated:
XPS Micro Servo (Rudder) (Yes, it's a steering servo from my RC18MT)

Airtronics:
94091 Micro Servo (Elevator)

Futaba:
T12FGA transmitter

Spektrum:
DM9 DSM2 module for Futaba MZ
AR6100 receiver

Flight Power:
1345mah 3S1P LiPo

Deans:
Ultra Connectors

*** SOLD September 2009 ***

I like my T-28 so much, how could I not get the F4U.. it's just as nice. These planes are perfect to keep in the truck during the winter, so I can fly at lunch since it's dark by the time I get home.

AUW: 30oz.
Static test: 210 watts.

Parkzone:
F4U Corsair
480 Outrunner
9.5" x 7.5" Prop
(2) Micro Servos - Ailerons
(2) Micro Digital Servos - Rudder, Elevator

Eflite:
25 amp ESC

Thunder Power:
3s1p 2100mah LiPo

Futaba:
T12FGA transmitter
R617FS receiver

Deans:
Ultra connectors

SUCH a beautiful plane.. I'm happy I finally got one...

EDIT: In the 2+ years that it flew I managed to ding both wing tips, rip the landing gear out twice, destroy the cowl twice, break the windshield twice, smash the firewall out completely, break the battery tray, crush the leading edge of one wing, poke two holes all the way through the wings, bend three or four pairs of landing gear, knocked the motor box off of the firewall, and I'm sure I'm missing some things. I have always repaired it but since it is one of my most flown airplanes with probably close to 400 flights, I decided to go ahead and replace the airframe.

In January of 2011 I moved all of my electronics to a brand new Taylorcraft. It's awesome to see it all shiny and new again.

Float flying pics here.

AUW Land: 34oz
AUW Water: 50oz
Static test: 320 watts.

E-Flite:
Taylorcraft
(It used to have a Park 480 but I stole it for another project)

Turnigy:
Aerodrive SK 3530 1100kv outrunner
Plush 40a ESC new version with switchmode BEC
11x7 electric wood prop
3s1p 2200mah 40c lipo

Futaba:
T12FGA transmitter
R6106HFC receiver
(2) S3110 servos (ailerons)

Hitec:
(2) HS-56HB servo (rudder, elevator)
(1) HS-65HB servo (water rudder)

Morgan Mill RC:
9" Grasslander main skis on spare landing gear
3" Grasslander tail ski

Plane Fun Floats:
27" balsa sheeted foam core floats finished with 3/4oz fiberglass

Deans:
Ultra...Continue Reading

So I pull into the LHS parking lot and I hear a whap-whap-whap noise.. I look around and in the reflection of the glass window in front of me I see a K-Max heli lifting RTUs onto the building across the street(A Walmart distribution center). We watched him do several lifts, and snapped some pictures. The pilot was VERY good, moving units up very quickly. I'm sure it helped that the wind was dead calm. It amazed me how quiet this helicopter was, since there was no tail rotor to interfere with the main rotor wash.

I snapped some pics for all of you.

-Jay

*** SOLD! May 2009 ***

Sold the stock radio.. Don't care for the way it felt in my hand.

Static test stock with APC 12x8e: 430 watts.
Static test CC ESC with APC 12x10e: 450 watts.
Statis test CC ESC with APC 13x6.5e: .

E-Flite:
T-34 Mentor
Power 25 outrunner
(4) ST47 standard servos
3s1p 3200mah LiPo

Castle Creations:
Thunderbird 54 ESC
CC BEC

Thunder Power:
(2) 3s1p 2100mah LiPo

Futaba:
T12FGA transmitter
R6014FS receiver
S3151 standard servo (flaps)

APC:
12x8e prop
12x10e prop
13x6.5e prop

Deans:
Ultra connectors

For the last 9 years of my life I have lived in a townhouse where the only place to work on projects was at my desk in my office, or on the dining room table. Needless to say it was "difficult" to work on my junk.

Anyway, I know it's nothing real special, but in March we bought a house with a 2 car (Yeah right, like I'm gonna waste that space on a car) garage. Now that we're somewhat moved in I have been spending some time on building it up. Did the floor in epoxy shield, added some lighting, etc etc. I also enlarged the access to the attic and sheeted the floor of the attic over the garage for 350 sq.ft. of storage. I have a small antenna farm in the attic over the rest of the house.

So the 16' x 3' workbench is on the south wall. 10' x 2' shelves on the west wall which still need to be organized a little better. And finally bike hooks, airplane rack, and lawn/garden equipment all hanging on the north wall. The overhead door is the east wall.

There is still some moving debris in the middle of the garage, that will need to get put away. Then I plan to build a 10' x 4' table on large casters using similar construction as the workbench.

So as far as I'm concerned this is about the only room in the house that I need.

-Jay

*** SOLD February 2009 ***

Went into a hobby shop I hadn't been to in months. Sitting there on the counter for an incredible deal was a slightly used Mini Pulse XT. How could I say no?

I put the 22a esc and Park 450 into my P-47D. I put a Park 480 and 25a Pro ESC into the Mini Pulse.

EDIT: The Mini Pulse has been a good plane, but I'm ready to move on. Mini Pulse retired November 2008. To be replaced by a 3D Hobby Shop 40" Edge 540.

Static test: 220 watts.

E-Flite:
Mini Pulse XT PNP
25amp Pro BL ESC
Park 480 910kv Outrunner

Thunder Power:
3s1p 2100mah LiPo

Xcite:
3s1p 2200mah LiPo

Futaba:
T12FGA transmitter
R616FFM receiver
S3110 Servo - (Elevator)

HiTec:
(3) HS56HB Servos - (Ailerons, Rudder)

Master Airscrew:
10x7 GF Prop

Deans:
Ultra connectors

*** GIVEN AWAY September 2008 ***

Well I wanted to try out a 3D plane. This kit is very complete, Mike does a good job. I used all of his recommended parts. It's fun to fly but I have a lot to learn..

EDIT: I've flown it a bunch more... I am not meant for 3D.. Stripped all of the electronics and will bring it to the next club meeting and try to find it a new home.

Static test: 140 watts.

Fancy Foam:
Yak-54 printed kit

Himax:
2812-0850 Brushless

GWS:
11x4.7 Slow Fly Prop

Castle Creations:
Thunderbird 18 ESC

HiTec:
(4) HS-55 Servos
Micro 05S RX
CH40 Crystal

Futaba:
T7CHP TX

Flight Power:
1345mah 3S1P LiPo

Deans:
Ultra Connectors

I went to the hobby shop to buy a second battery for my Cessna 210 so I could fly back to back. Ended up coming home with a Citabria.. Now I can fly different planes back to back.

Citabria is easier to fly, but the Cessna is faster in speed and handling.

-Jay

EDIT 11/2008: I sold off the Parkzone TX and RX Brick. I then installed a Vapor brick so I could bind it to my Futaba 12FG w/ DM9 Spektrum module. Now I can fly my Citabria with a good radio.

*** SOLD November 2008 ***

I totalled my first T-28 so I bought another PNP and used all of the electronics from the first one to put together this P47D that I got on special from the LHS. I had a problem mounting the Parkzone 480 that came out of the T-28 so I had to pick up an Eflite Park 480. Flies nice, but doesn't need all that motor.

Edit: Bought a used Mini Pulse XT that had a 22a Eflite ESC and a Park 450(real, not PNP version). I swapped the Park 480 out for the 450 and the ESCs.

With the 450 Static test: 140 watts.

Setup is:

E-Flite:
P-47D Thunderbolt
22amp BL ESC
Park 450 Outrunner

Parkzone:
(3) Micro Servos - Ailerons, Elevator

Thunder Power:
3s1p 2100mah LiPo

Futaba:
T7CHP Transmitter

Berg:
MS4 Reciever
Ch40 crystal

Xoar:
10x5 Wood Prop

Deans:
Ultra connectors