Thank goodness for customer service!
As luck would have it, the new E-flite Blade 400 3D I talked about in my last blog may have been a victim of a bad radio despite the fact my transmitter wasn't on the Spektrum DX6i recall.
It didn't take more than a few flights by me and my friend Manny to learn that this bird was unflyable. Manny's description, by the way. Anyone privileged enough to fly some T-Rex 450s for Twentieth Century Fox should know what "unflyable" means.
Stubborn me went to fly it anyway.
I put it in a seemingly stable hover, hit the idle up and the thing went into an immediate and very fast hard left turn right into the ground. This happened too fast for me to react right away, so what was left of the main rotor continue to turn under power for a moment. That moment was enough to cause the li-po to vent and begin to burn...!
To make a long story short, I told my tale of woe to the nice folks at Horizon Hobby who asked me to send the wreck to them.
Their response?
One brand new Blade. :D
Here's the sweet part: It came with the transmitter batteries already installed, a new but discharged li-po (I got to keep the original because of shipping concerns and it wasn't the one which vented), their updated and recommended radio settings already set...and I think they may have even removed the back of the transmitter to check the pots since the charge jack was rattling around inside. Unless it had come like that from the factory, the only way it could have come loose was by removing the back. The jack is held in place by the two halves of the transmitter case.
In short, these great folks tested the model before they shipped it.
It flies like a dream and it's going up in the morning yet again. I can't get enough of the thing.
It didn't take more than a few flights by me and my friend Manny to learn that this bird was unflyable. Manny's description, by the way. Anyone privileged enough to fly some T-Rex 450s for Twentieth Century Fox should know what "unflyable" means.
Stubborn me went to fly it anyway.
I put it in a seemingly stable hover, hit the idle up and the thing went into an immediate and very fast hard left turn right into the ground. This happened too fast for me to react right away, so what was left of the main rotor continue to turn under power for a moment. That moment was enough to cause the li-po to vent and begin to burn...!
To make a long story short, I told my tale of woe to the nice folks at Horizon Hobby who asked me to send the wreck to them.
Their response?
One brand new Blade. :D
Here's the sweet part: It came with the transmitter batteries already installed, a new but discharged li-po (I got to keep the original because of shipping concerns and it wasn't the one which vented), their updated and recommended radio settings already set...and I think they may have even removed the back of the transmitter to check the pots since the charge jack was rattling around inside. Unless it had come like that from the factory, the only way it could have come loose was by removing the back. The jack is held in place by the two halves of the transmitter case.
In short, these great folks tested the model before they shipped it.
It flies like a dream and it's going up in the morning yet again. I can't get enough of the thing.
Helicopter musings
As I'd pointed out in a previous entry, it's nice to have knowledgeable friends in the hobby.
Heck, it's good to have the hobby for the friends you make.
Case in point:
I joined some flying buddies for breakfast this morning...their treat. Of the three, two are beginners and one is an expert helicopter pilot who, as I'd learn, just did some work with some Align T-Rex 450s for the Alvin and The Chipmunks sequel filming in Los Angeles.
Talk about lucky: He got to keep a couple of the T-Rexes, the high-end JR Spektrum radio, the chargers and a whole slew of brand new li-pos on top of getting paid. He's still on call and may have to go back to LA for the shoot; one of the helis he'll get to keep is still there. It was scanned for CGI modeling and it'll be autographed by the cast and crew when it's no longer needed.
Whoa. :D
One of those very same helis was in the air today at a quiet, privately owned field available for use by members of the local R/C club. The T-Rex will be wearing a scale fuselage in the movie, but for today, it just had the stock canopy.
I will most assuredly be posting pix when I know he'll be out with the movie fuselage installed.
Of the beginners, one is actually rather famous as an exhibition drag racer and he flies full-scale to boot. He's still learning R/C, but that doesn't stop him from having a blast on a buddy box.
He'd gotten a brand new E-flite 400 from Horizon Hobby for a warranty claim, but he didn't really need it. He already has two others plus one airframe built entirely of spare parts. The fellow with the celebrity T-Rexes is his patient instructor and helicopter setter-upper.
I gotta hand it to him; he's persistent in his pursuit!
In any event, he sold me this brand new heli today at a ridiculously low price, but since I didn't have a wad of cash on me, he said he'd gladly accept payments.
Now that's a pal. He'd even given me the servos out of one of his 400s when he upgraded them with a set from JR some time ago. They have a home in my Blade CP as of a couple of weeks ago and which was utterly transformed. That third S-75 is going away real soon, I can tell you.
Since the batteries in these models come partially charged, our lucky friend with the T-Rexes and I gave the 400 the once-over and put it into a hover.
All I can say is...wow! This is truly like no helicopter I've ever flown and I'll be blogging my progress.
All in all, a good day for R/C flight.
Heck, it's good to have the hobby for the friends you make.
Case in point:
I joined some flying buddies for breakfast this morning...their treat. Of the three, two are beginners and one is an expert helicopter pilot who, as I'd learn, just did some work with some Align T-Rex 450s for the Alvin and The Chipmunks sequel filming in Los Angeles.
Talk about lucky: He got to keep a couple of the T-Rexes, the high-end JR Spektrum radio, the chargers and a whole slew of brand new li-pos on top of getting paid. He's still on call and may have to go back to LA for the shoot; one of the helis he'll get to keep is still there. It was scanned for CGI modeling and it'll be autographed by the cast and crew when it's no longer needed.
Whoa. :D
One of those very same helis was in the air today at a quiet, privately owned field available for use by members of the local R/C club. The T-Rex will be wearing a scale fuselage in the movie, but for today, it just had the stock canopy.
I will most assuredly be posting pix when I know he'll be out with the movie fuselage installed.
Of the beginners, one is actually rather famous as an exhibition drag racer and he flies full-scale to boot. He's still learning R/C, but that doesn't stop him from having a blast on a buddy box.
He'd gotten a brand new E-flite 400 from Horizon Hobby for a warranty claim, but he didn't really need it. He already has two others plus one airframe built entirely of spare parts. The fellow with the celebrity T-Rexes is his patient instructor and helicopter setter-upper.
I gotta hand it to him; he's persistent in his pursuit!
In any event, he sold me this brand new heli today at a ridiculously low price, but since I didn't have a wad of cash on me, he said he'd gladly accept payments.
Now that's a pal. He'd even given me the servos out of one of his 400s when he upgraded them with a set from JR some time ago. They have a home in my Blade CP as of a couple of weeks ago and which was utterly transformed. That third S-75 is going away real soon, I can tell you.
Since the batteries in these models come partially charged, our lucky friend with the T-Rexes and I gave the 400 the once-over and put it into a hover.
All I can say is...wow! This is truly like no helicopter I've ever flown and I'll be blogging my progress.
All in all, a good day for R/C flight.
Who says small aircraft are boring?
Certainly not I, that's for sure.
I maidened my new Great Planes Spitfire EP 25 today.
Holy jeez, what a rush.
But I digress.
As it so happened, I had the exact same O.S. 25FX the build called for, left over from the crash of my late and still unlamented Nitroplanes Zero Fighter-25. Even two of the GWS Naro Pro servos I'd used in the thing were called to service as aileron servos while three of the Hitec HS-81 servos which also saw use in the Zero went in the fuselage for elevator, rudder and throttle after a tiny bit of work with a Dremel.
Ain't no way in God's green earth I was going to deal with Nitroplanes again and I desperately wanted to put the engine in some sort of airfame. It's probably the best .25 in the world and I'm a huge fan of Great Planes and Hobbico in general.
Finally broke down and got me the Spitty. I was going to get the Warhawk, but the hobby shop didn't have one in stock and I wasn't going to wait.
Of course, such a build wasn't without its issues. I trimmed a bit more than I'd bargained for while trimming the throttle pushrod tube. Seems I managed to snip off one of the coaxial antenna leads on a brand new Futaba FASST seven-channel receiver.
Ouch. :censored:
It's a simple fix, but I'm leaving it to a pro.
Ah, but now that the plane is complete and several days of high winds have come to a close, up went the Spitfire with a receiver borrowed from my Carl Goldberg Yak-54 EP.
I expected the speed to be relatively close to that of the larger Zero, maybe along the lines of a similar .25 "SPAD" combat plane I have.
Uh-uh.
That exact same model, engine and prop can be found on RealFlight G4. According to the sim, straight and level flight is around 80 mph, or about 130km/h.
In real life, with a park flyer-sized wingspan of about one meter, that 80 mph was more like "warp nine." It flew much faster than the Zero and probably even faster than the 36" wingspan SPAD. There were even a couple of rather terrifying moments. The first was when I lost sight of the thing for less than a second. I'm still thanking God for putting my eye back on it; the camo covering scheme works well. The second was when I thought the runway was clear as I tried to land...but it wasn't. The club president had gone out to retrieve a dead-sticked model and I thought he had shouted that he was clear.
Nope. Thankfully, enough people were present who saw what was about to happen and I averted a real disaster in plenty of time. A punch of the throttle and a hard right turn whipped the Spitfire away from certain doom and proved what a really good combat plane it would make. No drama, just a hard emergency turn.
The subsequent landing was actually pretty darn good.
I have to say that this plane really flies great and is extremely responsive on the suggested factory control throws. It is not intuitive to fly, though. The size and speed bring your concentration to a whole new level. Like my all-white, equally scary fast and equally unintuitive Kyosho Phantom 70, finding my limitations on things like distance is going to take a bit of doing, something I wouldn't have thought necessary on such a seemingly simple model.
However, isn't self-improvement a big part of this hobby?
Update: Took the little speed demon up earlier today for three more very successful flights. It flew perfectly fine at about one-third throttle; opening up the carb meant the immediate but anticipated jump to warp nine. Much fun. What wasn't fun was the non-steerable tail skid; I'll investigate the possibilities of a tail wheel ASAP. No more jitters during the flying phase, though. I even tried a few aileron rolls and I'm here to tell you that this plane rolls laser straight even without elevator input. I'm going to wring a few more flights out of it before I start getting upside down and loopy. :D
I maidened my new Great Planes Spitfire EP 25 today.
Holy jeez, what a rush.
But I digress.
As it so happened, I had the exact same O.S. 25FX the build called for, left over from the crash of my late and still unlamented Nitroplanes Zero Fighter-25. Even two of the GWS Naro Pro servos I'd used in the thing were called to service as aileron servos while three of the Hitec HS-81 servos which also saw use in the Zero went in the fuselage for elevator, rudder and throttle after a tiny bit of work with a Dremel.
Ain't no way in God's green earth I was going to deal with Nitroplanes again and I desperately wanted to put the engine in some sort of airfame. It's probably the best .25 in the world and I'm a huge fan of Great Planes and Hobbico in general.
Finally broke down and got me the Spitty. I was going to get the Warhawk, but the hobby shop didn't have one in stock and I wasn't going to wait.
Of course, such a build wasn't without its issues. I trimmed a bit more than I'd bargained for while trimming the throttle pushrod tube. Seems I managed to snip off one of the coaxial antenna leads on a brand new Futaba FASST seven-channel receiver.
Ouch. :censored:
It's a simple fix, but I'm leaving it to a pro.
Ah, but now that the plane is complete and several days of high winds have come to a close, up went the Spitfire with a receiver borrowed from my Carl Goldberg Yak-54 EP.
I expected the speed to be relatively close to that of the larger Zero, maybe along the lines of a similar .25 "SPAD" combat plane I have.
Uh-uh.
That exact same model, engine and prop can be found on RealFlight G4. According to the sim, straight and level flight is around 80 mph, or about 130km/h.
In real life, with a park flyer-sized wingspan of about one meter, that 80 mph was more like "warp nine." It flew much faster than the Zero and probably even faster than the 36" wingspan SPAD. There were even a couple of rather terrifying moments. The first was when I lost sight of the thing for less than a second. I'm still thanking God for putting my eye back on it; the camo covering scheme works well. The second was when I thought the runway was clear as I tried to land...but it wasn't. The club president had gone out to retrieve a dead-sticked model and I thought he had shouted that he was clear.
Nope. Thankfully, enough people were present who saw what was about to happen and I averted a real disaster in plenty of time. A punch of the throttle and a hard right turn whipped the Spitfire away from certain doom and proved what a really good combat plane it would make. No drama, just a hard emergency turn.
The subsequent landing was actually pretty darn good.
I have to say that this plane really flies great and is extremely responsive on the suggested factory control throws. It is not intuitive to fly, though. The size and speed bring your concentration to a whole new level. Like my all-white, equally scary fast and equally unintuitive Kyosho Phantom 70, finding my limitations on things like distance is going to take a bit of doing, something I wouldn't have thought necessary on such a seemingly simple model.
However, isn't self-improvement a big part of this hobby?
Update: Took the little speed demon up earlier today for three more very successful flights. It flew perfectly fine at about one-third throttle; opening up the carb meant the immediate but anticipated jump to warp nine. Much fun. What wasn't fun was the non-steerable tail skid; I'll investigate the possibilities of a tail wheel ASAP. No more jitters during the flying phase, though. I even tried a few aileron rolls and I'm here to tell you that this plane rolls laser straight even without elevator input. I'm going to wring a few more flights out of it before I start getting upside down and loopy. :D
I love it when a plan comes together.
After my recent success with my new Kyosho Phantom 70 and its weird landing gear modification, I promised myself that I'd bring it and no other model to the field if I were to go flying this morning.
Who am I to break a promise to myself...?
The only problem with the club field is the fact it tends to be windy when the surrounding areas aren't. Perfectly calm at home, blowing pretty hard there.
Undaunted, I bolted the wings and struts to the thing and waited.
When the wind had diminished sufficiently, in went a tank of fuel and on came the engine.
As always, it was ballistic on takeoff, but even with some increased aileron throw, I still hadn't dialed in enough travel to roll it. The friend who fixed it later reminded me that the Phantom is a pylon racer and not an aerobat. :o
I knew that (blush).
In any event, I kept it within sight and under fairly gentle throttle to get the feel of it since it becomes darn near invisible too far out.
Oh, what a sweetie this bird is. Even with limited aileron travel, she turns in hard, fast and accurate. It's exceptionally realistic in flight as well.
Landings were the reason I went to the field in the first place, so I turned from base to final, all the while concentrating on the plane's attitude; remember, the thing becomes almost invisible when viewed head on.
I was coming in a bit too hot on the first approach, so I gunned the throttle, brought it around and lined up once more.
This time, I was right over the centerline of the runway with a brisk but not overly strong headwind working to my advantage.
It was, without question, one of the best landings of my time in the hobby, eliciting a cheer from those present.
I couldn't believe I'd greased in a biplane that well.
Could I do it again, wondered I?
Back into the wind went the nose and up went the Phantom. Flew it around a bit and brought it around once more for a landing.
Once I got the orientation back, in she came assisted by brief blips on the throttle.
Touchdown centerline! More cheers!
There is nothing, and I mean nothing, like the feeling of overcoming an obstacle of this sort. I'd had only limited time on someone else's bipe prior to this...and I wasn't the one who landed it.
I can't wait to get in some more practice time, believe me. :D
Who am I to break a promise to myself...?
The only problem with the club field is the fact it tends to be windy when the surrounding areas aren't. Perfectly calm at home, blowing pretty hard there.
Undaunted, I bolted the wings and struts to the thing and waited.
When the wind had diminished sufficiently, in went a tank of fuel and on came the engine.
As always, it was ballistic on takeoff, but even with some increased aileron throw, I still hadn't dialed in enough travel to roll it. The friend who fixed it later reminded me that the Phantom is a pylon racer and not an aerobat. :o
I knew that (blush).
In any event, I kept it within sight and under fairly gentle throttle to get the feel of it since it becomes darn near invisible too far out.
Oh, what a sweetie this bird is. Even with limited aileron travel, she turns in hard, fast and accurate. It's exceptionally realistic in flight as well.
Landings were the reason I went to the field in the first place, so I turned from base to final, all the while concentrating on the plane's attitude; remember, the thing becomes almost invisible when viewed head on.
I was coming in a bit too hot on the first approach, so I gunned the throttle, brought it around and lined up once more.
This time, I was right over the centerline of the runway with a brisk but not overly strong headwind working to my advantage.
It was, without question, one of the best landings of my time in the hobby, eliciting a cheer from those present.
I couldn't believe I'd greased in a biplane that well.
Could I do it again, wondered I?
Back into the wind went the nose and up went the Phantom. Flew it around a bit and brought it around once more for a landing.
Once I got the orientation back, in she came assisted by brief blips on the throttle.
Touchdown centerline! More cheers!
There is nothing, and I mean nothing, like the feeling of overcoming an obstacle of this sort. I'd had only limited time on someone else's bipe prior to this...and I wasn't the one who landed it.
I can't wait to get in some more practice time, believe me. :D
Moving right along!
Thank goodness for my R/C club and its people!
Many thanks to the VP for repairing the Kyosho Phantom 70 I spoke of in my last entry. He sleeved the landing gear to the cut stubs and silver soldered the things in place. Since he put the cut-off parts above the stubs instead of in line with them (which added a lot of strength), he only needed to notch the tops of the wheel pants to get them to fit. That's the only evidence of repairs and you really have to look to see what I'm talking about. Still plenty of clearance and the setup works great!
I still need to practice landing a biplane, especially an all-white one which seems to magically disappear on approach when viewed head-on. :o
I bounced it kind of hard when it tip stalled, but the repair held firm. No damage; it's a tough little bird. Nothing short of an utterly catastrophic crash will separate those parts and even that might not be enough.
Needless to say, I'm not too willing to experiment. :D
I found out that my rather conservative aileron settings allow it to turn just fine...but it won't roll at all.
Easy fix, especially compared to what my buddy Tom went through to fix the gear!
Struggling a bit with "Project Cub." I got a hold of a cast-off O.S. Max .45 from a club member which in turn feeds through a new Du-Bro 12 ounce tank. It runs with gobs of power now that it's de-crudded, but I think there may still be a bit of gunk in the carb. It doesn't run consistently which resulted in a couple of dead stick landings.
A tweaked set of scale landing gear and a crosswind sent it rolling into a safety fence as I tried to take off, this after three previous good flights. The windshield's busted as is the fuselage immediately surrounding it on the left, but it's easily repaired. I may ditch the scale gear, but we'll see.
Many thanks to the VP for repairing the Kyosho Phantom 70 I spoke of in my last entry. He sleeved the landing gear to the cut stubs and silver soldered the things in place. Since he put the cut-off parts above the stubs instead of in line with them (which added a lot of strength), he only needed to notch the tops of the wheel pants to get them to fit. That's the only evidence of repairs and you really have to look to see what I'm talking about. Still plenty of clearance and the setup works great!
I still need to practice landing a biplane, especially an all-white one which seems to magically disappear on approach when viewed head-on. :o
I bounced it kind of hard when it tip stalled, but the repair held firm. No damage; it's a tough little bird. Nothing short of an utterly catastrophic crash will separate those parts and even that might not be enough.
Needless to say, I'm not too willing to experiment. :D
I found out that my rather conservative aileron settings allow it to turn just fine...but it won't roll at all.
Easy fix, especially compared to what my buddy Tom went through to fix the gear!
Struggling a bit with "Project Cub." I got a hold of a cast-off O.S. Max .45 from a club member which in turn feeds through a new Du-Bro 12 ounce tank. It runs with gobs of power now that it's de-crudded, but I think there may still be a bit of gunk in the carb. It doesn't run consistently which resulted in a couple of dead stick landings.
A tweaked set of scale landing gear and a crosswind sent it rolling into a safety fence as I tried to take off, this after three previous good flights. The windshield's busted as is the fuselage immediately surrounding it on the left, but it's easily repaired. I may ditch the scale gear, but we'll see.
You know what they say about "gift horses," right?
Boy, did I ever get me one.
It was a pretty exciting moment last October when I won a raffle at my flying club for a new, mostly assembled Kyosho Phantom 70 biplane complete with a full compliment of servos (including a couple of digital miniservos for the ailerons), a lightly used O.S. 46AX two-stroke, a new Great Planes spinner and a pre-installed, plug-ugly, caricatured pilot figure. This was just the head of what I knew was an expensive, hand painted bust of a madly grinning fool with a bulging eye and a WWII German officer's cap.
Strange choice of a pilot figure for a model of a 2007 Reno Air Show racer. :confused:
The whole schmutz, probably 750 bucks worth, had been donated to the club by an older member who'd basically given up on the thing. Only problem I could see was in having to do a small repair to the underside of the lower wing since it had blown off of the display table a few minutes prior to my winning it.
I got it home and got to looking closer at my good fortune.
Woof.
Darn thing was a $300 glue bomb on closer inspection. Streaks of CA smeared the fiberglass fuselage, especially near the tail section. The lower wing and a few other odd places were streaked as well. Even the needle inlet valve on the O.S. was broken. With all the other projects I had going on, not to mention my reviewing tasks here on RCGroups, the Phantom took a back seat. I spent Thanksgiving Day at home with my wife and I took the opportunity to do most of the final assembly, the decals and the installation of the engine and its new inlet.
Late last week, I got serious again. I got a Bisson Pitts muffler, performed a major "fiberglassectomy" on the cowl, set up the radio, removed the ridiculous pilot figure and basically spent a great deal of the day cleaning up the glue.
Today, it maidened.
After finalizing the CG with some temporary weights, my club's president did the maiden flight honors and man, what a ride. The plane cruised at around 80 mph at half throttle, not bad for an engine on the low end of the recommendations. Hard as heck to see in its all-white color scheme, though.
Next, it was my turn and I have to say that I had a ball, hard to see as it was.
I brought the plane in for a landing, mindful of the speed necessary to keep it from stalling. I flared a bit too early and it came down hard on the mains, but not too hard at all. Still, it pitched forward on the prop and came to what was literally a skidding halt.
Here's where the "gift horse" come in.
One of the mains had literally snapped off. This is music wire we're talking, or so I thought. The wheel pants had been CA'd on but good, so there was no good way for me to examine the mains prior to my taking it up. Besides, the manual clearly indicated that the mains were one piece each.
I wish I had taken it apart beforehand.
The previous owner chose to cut the music wire on both sides for reasons I can't fathom and to rejoin them within lengths of brass tubing protruding from each side of the wing. Copper wire had been wrapped around the cut.
At the halftime of the Super Bowl, I soaked the wheel pant with debonder where it had been glued to the wing. It came loose after a few minutes, but it tore a bit of the underlying balsa. Nothing which can't be fixed and the repair will be invisible.
I was shocked at what I saw.
The brass tubing surrounded the factory music wire left a mere fraction of an inch of support of the cut stub axle. No epoxy, no nothing. Just the bare copper bell wire was holding the thing together. The other side shows evidence of the same butchering.
No way to take the wing apart to replace the music wire, so online I went to price the lower wing kit.
Are you ready for 229 United States dollars? Yup. $229 for a balsa/ply wing and a bit of hardware.
I am NOT a happy camper.
I may show this disaster to a local machine shop in the hopes of having a proper sleeve join the wires back together. Welding is certainly out of the question and there's no way in heaven or on earth I'm paying $229 for a wing on a model which sold for $300.
Steel sleeves of some sort are the only answer and I can take heart in knowing it'll be fixed right.
I'm just disappointed that I'll have to fix it at all. :(
It was a pretty exciting moment last October when I won a raffle at my flying club for a new, mostly assembled Kyosho Phantom 70 biplane complete with a full compliment of servos (including a couple of digital miniservos for the ailerons), a lightly used O.S. 46AX two-stroke, a new Great Planes spinner and a pre-installed, plug-ugly, caricatured pilot figure. This was just the head of what I knew was an expensive, hand painted bust of a madly grinning fool with a bulging eye and a WWII German officer's cap.
Strange choice of a pilot figure for a model of a 2007 Reno Air Show racer. :confused:
The whole schmutz, probably 750 bucks worth, had been donated to the club by an older member who'd basically given up on the thing. Only problem I could see was in having to do a small repair to the underside of the lower wing since it had blown off of the display table a few minutes prior to my winning it.
I got it home and got to looking closer at my good fortune.
Woof.
Darn thing was a $300 glue bomb on closer inspection. Streaks of CA smeared the fiberglass fuselage, especially near the tail section. The lower wing and a few other odd places were streaked as well. Even the needle inlet valve on the O.S. was broken. With all the other projects I had going on, not to mention my reviewing tasks here on RCGroups, the Phantom took a back seat. I spent Thanksgiving Day at home with my wife and I took the opportunity to do most of the final assembly, the decals and the installation of the engine and its new inlet.
Late last week, I got serious again. I got a Bisson Pitts muffler, performed a major "fiberglassectomy" on the cowl, set up the radio, removed the ridiculous pilot figure and basically spent a great deal of the day cleaning up the glue.
Today, it maidened.
After finalizing the CG with some temporary weights, my club's president did the maiden flight honors and man, what a ride. The plane cruised at around 80 mph at half throttle, not bad for an engine on the low end of the recommendations. Hard as heck to see in its all-white color scheme, though.
Next, it was my turn and I have to say that I had a ball, hard to see as it was.
I brought the plane in for a landing, mindful of the speed necessary to keep it from stalling. I flared a bit too early and it came down hard on the mains, but not too hard at all. Still, it pitched forward on the prop and came to what was literally a skidding halt.
Here's where the "gift horse" come in.
One of the mains had literally snapped off. This is music wire we're talking, or so I thought. The wheel pants had been CA'd on but good, so there was no good way for me to examine the mains prior to my taking it up. Besides, the manual clearly indicated that the mains were one piece each.
I wish I had taken it apart beforehand.
The previous owner chose to cut the music wire on both sides for reasons I can't fathom and to rejoin them within lengths of brass tubing protruding from each side of the wing. Copper wire had been wrapped around the cut.
At the halftime of the Super Bowl, I soaked the wheel pant with debonder where it had been glued to the wing. It came loose after a few minutes, but it tore a bit of the underlying balsa. Nothing which can't be fixed and the repair will be invisible.
I was shocked at what I saw.
The brass tubing surrounded the factory music wire left a mere fraction of an inch of support of the cut stub axle. No epoxy, no nothing. Just the bare copper bell wire was holding the thing together. The other side shows evidence of the same butchering.
No way to take the wing apart to replace the music wire, so online I went to price the lower wing kit.
Are you ready for 229 United States dollars? Yup. $229 for a balsa/ply wing and a bit of hardware.
I am NOT a happy camper.
I may show this disaster to a local machine shop in the hopes of having a proper sleeve join the wires back together. Welding is certainly out of the question and there's no way in heaven or on earth I'm paying $229 for a wing on a model which sold for $300.
Steel sleeves of some sort are the only answer and I can take heart in knowing it'll be fixed right.
I'm just disappointed that I'll have to fix it at all. :(
Nearly two months after the fact...!
Well, I did it!
Per my last blog in November, I was able to get the old abandoned Sig 1/6-scale Cub in the air!
Darn thing flew great. It was easy to fly, easy to land and just good fun all around. It really hustled with its temporary Thunder Tiger Pro .40 and a Master Airscrew 10x6 scimitar prop up front. All the mini-servos were A-OK and just needed a double-check of their mountings. Oh, and the Futaba receiver worked just fine with a new crystal on the proper frequency! Nice little bonus to be sure. I flew it on both the Futaba and a Berg Microstamp 4. It was as aerobatic as a beginner's park flyer, though. Little bitty strip ailerons do not a roll rate make. It banked and looped just fine, but rolling was out of the question. I was able to do an Immelman turn to get it inverted, but I had to complete the loop in order to get it right side up again. Thank goodness for altitude!
The strange fuel tank with its ninety-degree offset outlet tubes molded in the cap only lasted a couple of flights before the engine quit starting. The klunk had come loose inside and there was no getting it out.
In went a temporary (albeit smaller) tank supported by a couple of foam automotive tire dressing applicators and I was back in biz the next day. Short flight times, but back in biz nevertheless.
Short biz, too. The old, brittle landing gear retaining straps broke on a smooth touchdown. No damage and a 99-cent four-pack of Great Planes retainers got me back in the air the day after that.
I also got the real story on the thing: It belonged to a local automotive oil change franchise owner who had the plane as well as some other old R/C equipment in the rafters of his shop. A few hot desert summers didn't seem to hurt the plane short of all that dust. Seems the rest of the haul wasn't quite as good according to my buddy, but I'm not complaining. I have me a competitor for when my club does another cross-country competition.
Sorry about the lack of photos, but I'll get some when I really get it ready to fly again with all the neat scale details and a new engine in place. For now, it's in my own garage while I take care of some other projects. :D
Per my last blog in November, I was able to get the old abandoned Sig 1/6-scale Cub in the air!
Darn thing flew great. It was easy to fly, easy to land and just good fun all around. It really hustled with its temporary Thunder Tiger Pro .40 and a Master Airscrew 10x6 scimitar prop up front. All the mini-servos were A-OK and just needed a double-check of their mountings. Oh, and the Futaba receiver worked just fine with a new crystal on the proper frequency! Nice little bonus to be sure. I flew it on both the Futaba and a Berg Microstamp 4. It was as aerobatic as a beginner's park flyer, though. Little bitty strip ailerons do not a roll rate make. It banked and looped just fine, but rolling was out of the question. I was able to do an Immelman turn to get it inverted, but I had to complete the loop in order to get it right side up again. Thank goodness for altitude!
The strange fuel tank with its ninety-degree offset outlet tubes molded in the cap only lasted a couple of flights before the engine quit starting. The klunk had come loose inside and there was no getting it out.
In went a temporary (albeit smaller) tank supported by a couple of foam automotive tire dressing applicators and I was back in biz the next day. Short flight times, but back in biz nevertheless.
Short biz, too. The old, brittle landing gear retaining straps broke on a smooth touchdown. No damage and a 99-cent four-pack of Great Planes retainers got me back in the air the day after that.
I also got the real story on the thing: It belonged to a local automotive oil change franchise owner who had the plane as well as some other old R/C equipment in the rafters of his shop. A few hot desert summers didn't seem to hurt the plane short of all that dust. Seems the rest of the haul wasn't quite as good according to my buddy, but I'm not complaining. I have me a competitor for when my club does another cross-country competition.
Sorry about the lack of photos, but I'll get some when I really get it ready to fly again with all the neat scale details and a new engine in place. For now, it's in my own garage while I take care of some other projects. :D
Orphan update, part the deux.
The stab on Project Cub is fixed. Real easy to do. The frame was slightly broken in three places, but two of the places were right next to some triangular joiners which had worked loose. I have a feeling that's what led to the damage in the first place. The covering on the fuselage is ironed down and looking good, if a bit smudged. I may hit it with Simple Green.
The nylon elevator clevises were brittle, to put it charitably. Some metal Great Planes units await.
I think I can fly this with the .25 which once lived in my Raiden Tech Zero Fighter and which waits for a Great Planes P-40. We shall see. In fact, I have every reason to believe that I can get it in the air in the next day or two less its cowl and landing gear skirts. Even though Sig says it'll fly on a .25, I may yank a .40 from another plane and install it for the time being.
Pictures will be forthcoming. This is just too fun a project not to share.
The nylon elevator clevises were brittle, to put it charitably. Some metal Great Planes units await.
I think I can fly this with the .25 which once lived in my Raiden Tech Zero Fighter and which waits for a Great Planes P-40. We shall see. In fact, I have every reason to believe that I can get it in the air in the next day or two less its cowl and landing gear skirts. Even though Sig says it'll fly on a .25, I may yank a .40 from another plane and install it for the time being.
Pictures will be forthcoming. This is just too fun a project not to share.
Orphan update
Yup, the 1/6 scale Cub which I was given was built from a Sig kit and covered with 21st Century simulated cloth covering.
The fuselage cleaned up pretty good with little more than plain water and some paper towels. There's a bit of grunge which will require some more in-depth cleaning.
Last night, I took a moment to epoxy the damaged jury strut back together. Good as new. Next will be the slightly broken horizontal stab.
I honestly think that this thing this'll be flying by next week!
The fuselage cleaned up pretty good with little more than plain water and some paper towels. There's a bit of grunge which will require some more in-depth cleaning.
Last night, I took a moment to epoxy the damaged jury strut back together. Good as new. Next will be the slightly broken horizontal stab.
I honestly think that this thing this'll be flying by next week!
Another orphan hits my doorstep!
Well, things haven't exactly been going according to the predictions in my last couple of blogs.
The Great Planes Cessna 182 project is on temporary hiatus (I needed two of the new servos I'd bought for it for use in another model and I'm fairly certain the engine is way too large) and I haven't yet ordered an airframe for the O.S. LX 25 which had powered the late and relatively unlamented Raiden Tech Zero Fighter-25.
All hasn't been without some action. I have three reviews for the magazines almost ready to go once I edit the videos. Broadcast quality, yet. My friend the producer who shot the models in action has too much on his plate to edit the raw footage, so I've arranged to edit the footage with help from another production house.
No tricks this Halloween, but I did get an unexpected treat.
I went to the local hobby shop to pick up a new li-po I'd ordered. One of the clerks came from the back room with an old, dusty .40 or .46-sized Cub fuselage and corresponding wing. No decals, no markings, no cowl or engine.
I was told that it was mine.
One of my retired flying buddies works at the store part time. He was given that plane along with several others which had been gathering dust in an attic only Heaven knows where; attics aren't in vogue here in the desert. Nor in Southern California in general, for that matter. I assume it was from an out-of-state seasonal visitor.
In any event, she was a dirty little beast. Well made, though. Nothing like a nicely built kit, especially one with simulated cloth covering. The photos are exactly as I first saw it at the hobby shop, dust and all. It was complete with a full compliment of Hitec servos, a very dead and very small battery pack (the power switch had been left on literally for years) and underneath dry-rotted foam were a seemingly unused fuel tank and a beautiful Futaba FP-R127DF high-band seven-channel receiver. All I need is a channel 55 crystal. I have another of these receivers and I'll try the crystal out of it first.
I have everything on hand I need to make it fly and I do believe I'll be doing so and report in, that is once I make minor repairs to the wing struts and stabilizer. I'll log the progress I make on "Project Cub" right here.
My buddy thinks it's a SIG and he thinks getting a cowl won't be a problem. I'm pretty sure it isn't a Great Planes. I have another orphaned Great Planes Cub in good overall condition but in need of recovering and it's larger than this model. If anyone has some insight as to the origins of this model, please let me know.
The Great Planes Cessna 182 project is on temporary hiatus (I needed two of the new servos I'd bought for it for use in another model and I'm fairly certain the engine is way too large) and I haven't yet ordered an airframe for the O.S. LX 25 which had powered the late and relatively unlamented Raiden Tech Zero Fighter-25.
All hasn't been without some action. I have three reviews for the magazines almost ready to go once I edit the videos. Broadcast quality, yet. My friend the producer who shot the models in action has too much on his plate to edit the raw footage, so I've arranged to edit the footage with help from another production house.
No tricks this Halloween, but I did get an unexpected treat.
I went to the local hobby shop to pick up a new li-po I'd ordered. One of the clerks came from the back room with an old, dusty .40 or .46-sized Cub fuselage and corresponding wing. No decals, no markings, no cowl or engine.
I was told that it was mine.
One of my retired flying buddies works at the store part time. He was given that plane along with several others which had been gathering dust in an attic only Heaven knows where; attics aren't in vogue here in the desert. Nor in Southern California in general, for that matter. I assume it was from an out-of-state seasonal visitor.
In any event, she was a dirty little beast. Well made, though. Nothing like a nicely built kit, especially one with simulated cloth covering. The photos are exactly as I first saw it at the hobby shop, dust and all. It was complete with a full compliment of Hitec servos, a very dead and very small battery pack (the power switch had been left on literally for years) and underneath dry-rotted foam were a seemingly unused fuel tank and a beautiful Futaba FP-R127DF high-band seven-channel receiver. All I need is a channel 55 crystal. I have another of these receivers and I'll try the crystal out of it first.
I have everything on hand I need to make it fly and I do believe I'll be doing so and report in, that is once I make minor repairs to the wing struts and stabilizer. I'll log the progress I make on "Project Cub" right here.
My buddy thinks it's a SIG and he thinks getting a cowl won't be a problem. I'm pretty sure it isn't a Great Planes. I have another orphaned Great Planes Cub in good overall condition but in need of recovering and it's larger than this model. If anyone has some insight as to the origins of this model, please let me know.
Weep not for me, m'lady.
Well, it would appear that I can add another plane to the list of past models.
Funny thing is, I'm not too broken up over it.
I refer to the loss today of the second (and final) Raiden Tech Zero Fighter-25. That model was my very first review here at RCGroups and a "beauty shot" of it when it was new graces the Wikimedia Commons as a public domain photo.
Poor little plane was never quite right after a mishap with a crossed-up elevator control crunched the horizontal stab. Since Raiden Tech/Nitromodels has absolutely ZERO spare parts for said Zero, not to mention the worst customer service in the history of model aviation, I had to make do.
I was trying to get the little monster flying right earlier today, but the elevator simply wouldn't stay aligned due to flexing of the repaired stabilizer, itself incorrectly installed when I first assembled the model. My fault, I fear. All it wanted to do was to pitch up no matter what I did. 'Twas an ongoing problem which really took all the fun out of flying it. I figured it was do or die. Either the thing was going to fly or it was going to become a static display with the O.S. FX 25 and radio gear destined for one of those neat little Great Planes .25 warbirds I'd passed up in favor of the Zero..
About the time I got it to pitch down instead of up, the repaired stab let go.
Lawn dart!
In a way, I was relieved. I paid less than a hundred bucks for it, delivered to my door about a year ago. I already had the engine and servos on hand from my first Raiden Tech Zero, one given to me by a friend. He'd set his up as an electric and when the battery shifted on its maiden flight, boom. I thought he had a midair collision with it, but no.
My conservative estimate of more than seventy flights coupled with the low purchase price amortizes out to a spectacular deal. She went down hard once before, kept on flying despite all odds and went out with a bang. No time to field strip the components, so I'll dissect what's left tonight after work.
Once I hit the "Submit New Thread" button, I do believe I'll be choosing my Great Planes fighter.
I've ordered the P-40 Warhawk.
Funny thing is, I'm not too broken up over it.
I refer to the loss today of the second (and final) Raiden Tech Zero Fighter-25. That model was my very first review here at RCGroups and a "beauty shot" of it when it was new graces the Wikimedia Commons as a public domain photo.
Poor little plane was never quite right after a mishap with a crossed-up elevator control crunched the horizontal stab. Since Raiden Tech/Nitromodels has absolutely ZERO spare parts for said Zero, not to mention the worst customer service in the history of model aviation, I had to make do.
I was trying to get the little monster flying right earlier today, but the elevator simply wouldn't stay aligned due to flexing of the repaired stabilizer, itself incorrectly installed when I first assembled the model. My fault, I fear. All it wanted to do was to pitch up no matter what I did. 'Twas an ongoing problem which really took all the fun out of flying it. I figured it was do or die. Either the thing was going to fly or it was going to become a static display with the O.S. FX 25 and radio gear destined for one of those neat little Great Planes .25 warbirds I'd passed up in favor of the Zero..
About the time I got it to pitch down instead of up, the repaired stab let go.
Lawn dart!
In a way, I was relieved. I paid less than a hundred bucks for it, delivered to my door about a year ago. I already had the engine and servos on hand from my first Raiden Tech Zero, one given to me by a friend. He'd set his up as an electric and when the battery shifted on its maiden flight, boom. I thought he had a midair collision with it, but no.
My conservative estimate of more than seventy flights coupled with the low purchase price amortizes out to a spectacular deal. She went down hard once before, kept on flying despite all odds and went out with a bang. No time to field strip the components, so I'll dissect what's left tonight after work.
Once I hit the "Submit New Thread" button, I do believe I'll be choosing my Great Planes fighter.
I've ordered the P-40 Warhawk.
Latest resurrection nears completion!
As I once pointed out, there isn't anything quite as rewarding as taking something which, once discarded, is brought back to useful life.
Work nears completion on the badly handled Great Planes Cessna 182 stuffed with a new O.S. LA 65. Got the whole works complete with radio (albeit an obsolete transmitter) for all of fifty bucks. The engine was worth more than twice that. Its Futaba receiver is currently doing duty in my old .46-powered profiler. Lots o' engine for something intended for use with a .40, but very similar to the way the same plane is represented on both RealFlight simulators with very promising results.
The transplanted VQ Model Cap-10B .60 flap servo covers converted to aileron servo panels work to perfection. However, repairing the mounting blocks where the struts attach to the fuselage proved to be troublesome. The only thing making the whole affair easier than normal was the fact that the original owner failed to epoxy the servo tray in place. Still couldn't get the tray out all the way, but as it appears, the struts are more show than structural. The mounting blocks and recommended hardware are more suited to a park flyer, so I fixed the blocks as best as I could.
There was a strange pushrod setup for the throttle which didn't seem to engage in any possible way with the throttle arm on the O.S., so I got me a DU-BRO throttle cable, trimmed it to fit and voila! I have throttle control!
The Sullivan fill valve from the dearly departed Cap-10B is going in an existing hole in the somewhat crunched cowl which needed some trimming anyway in order to fit the big O.S. I'm not worried about aesthetics given the reasonable replacement cost. Besides, it'll serve nicely as a template for trimming the eventual replacement.
I'm down to reinstalling the fuel tank, fueslage servos, Berg receiver, battery, power switch, prop and spinner. If the whole mess balances on the proper CG (I hope, given the size of the engine), up she'll go in the next couple of days, weather permitting.
Sure, it'll be patched in places with packing tape, the cowl will look like a dog's well-worn chew toy and will be missing its nosewheel pant, but if it flies for real half as well as it does on the sim, I shall, in the current vernacular, be putting some much-needed lipstick on this poor old pitbull. :D
Stay tuned for an update!
Work nears completion on the badly handled Great Planes Cessna 182 stuffed with a new O.S. LA 65. Got the whole works complete with radio (albeit an obsolete transmitter) for all of fifty bucks. The engine was worth more than twice that. Its Futaba receiver is currently doing duty in my old .46-powered profiler. Lots o' engine for something intended for use with a .40, but very similar to the way the same plane is represented on both RealFlight simulators with very promising results.
The transplanted VQ Model Cap-10B .60 flap servo covers converted to aileron servo panels work to perfection. However, repairing the mounting blocks where the struts attach to the fuselage proved to be troublesome. The only thing making the whole affair easier than normal was the fact that the original owner failed to epoxy the servo tray in place. Still couldn't get the tray out all the way, but as it appears, the struts are more show than structural. The mounting blocks and recommended hardware are more suited to a park flyer, so I fixed the blocks as best as I could.
There was a strange pushrod setup for the throttle which didn't seem to engage in any possible way with the throttle arm on the O.S., so I got me a DU-BRO throttle cable, trimmed it to fit and voila! I have throttle control!
The Sullivan fill valve from the dearly departed Cap-10B is going in an existing hole in the somewhat crunched cowl which needed some trimming anyway in order to fit the big O.S. I'm not worried about aesthetics given the reasonable replacement cost. Besides, it'll serve nicely as a template for trimming the eventual replacement.
I'm down to reinstalling the fuel tank, fueslage servos, Berg receiver, battery, power switch, prop and spinner. If the whole mess balances on the proper CG (I hope, given the size of the engine), up she'll go in the next couple of days, weather permitting.
Sure, it'll be patched in places with packing tape, the cowl will look like a dog's well-worn chew toy and will be missing its nosewheel pant, but if it flies for real half as well as it does on the sim, I shall, in the current vernacular, be putting some much-needed lipstick on this poor old pitbull. :D
Stay tuned for an update!
General ramblings-on
Since the loss of the VQ Cap-10B .60, my focus has shifted back toward an unlikely source, namely the fifteen-year-old Hobby People/Global Hobby Raven .40 profiler which has proved to be not only great fun to fly, but invaluable for sharpening my aerobatic skills. It's a remarkably low-buck project. The plane, engine and some of the servos were freebies. No junk, I'm pleased to point out.
An interesting freebie came my way a little more than a month ago. The same gentleman who gave me the Evolution 46 in the Raven (it was given to him and he flies almost exclusively electric) gave me a complete GWS Formosa less transmitter but with a GWS battery, speed control, servos and even a Berg Microstamp4 receiver! He'd gotten it as part of an estate sale consisting primarily of electric gliders and he had no use for it.
I'll say this: Darn thing is fun but underpowered as all get-out with the stock 380 beer can and gearbox.
I may be doing the brushless thing sooner than later. It's slow, but boy, does it handle.
An interesting freebie came my way a little more than a month ago. The same gentleman who gave me the Evolution 46 in the Raven (it was given to him and he flies almost exclusively electric) gave me a complete GWS Formosa less transmitter but with a GWS battery, speed control, servos and even a Berg Microstamp4 receiver! He'd gotten it as part of an estate sale consisting primarily of electric gliders and he had no use for it.
I'll say this: Darn thing is fun but underpowered as all get-out with the stock 380 beer can and gearbox.
I may be doing the brushless thing sooner than later. It's slow, but boy, does it handle.
Never too late to learn.
There's nothing worse than when a plane crashes. Even a gentle crash means broken bits o' balsa.
Such was the case a few months ago when I tried to fly the Raiden Tech Zero Fighter 25 I reviewed on RC Power last year.
The one time I chose not to check the control response meant a reversed elevator and a crash on takeoff before I could recover. I was able to fix it, but doggone, the poor little plane hasn't been the same. The TE of the wing is now a bit warped among other problems, requiring lots of right aileron trim to get it to fly straight.
Stranger still was the plane's tendency to nose over on landings no matter how careful I was.
Enter our esteemed club president, a gentleman who's been flying RC for years if not decades.
To my way of thinking, a plane which wants to nose over is nose heavy and suddenly so, in my case.
The prez offered to give it a try...and pronounced it tail heavy on landing.
Tail heavy? With a tendency to scrape the cowl almost every time since its repair and with no weight required before this?
For the next test, he took the Zero up to a suitable altitude and put it in a hands off, 45-degree power dive. A balanced plane would have maintained heading, a nose heavy plane would have wanted to pull up and a tail heavy plane would have tried to tuck in and sharpen the dive.
Holy mother of CG.
The Zero tucked under.
Tail heavy!
Off to the hobby shop for some weights. An ounce of lead went on the engine mount later that day.
Today, I tried the Zero for the first time since the weight was added.
It was a plane transformed from the moment it lifted off the runway.
Gone was the twitchy elevator response and tip stalling tendencies on approach and in their place, smooth, positive control.
I greased landing after landing with the Zero this morning, not to mention quite a few touch-and-goes.
The moral of all this is simple: No matter how much you think you know, someone out there likely knows more than you do and it's a good idea to listen.
I did and I'll tell you what: One little ounce of lead ballast means I'll be saving a lot of money on chewed props! :D
Such was the case a few months ago when I tried to fly the Raiden Tech Zero Fighter 25 I reviewed on RC Power last year.
The one time I chose not to check the control response meant a reversed elevator and a crash on takeoff before I could recover. I was able to fix it, but doggone, the poor little plane hasn't been the same. The TE of the wing is now a bit warped among other problems, requiring lots of right aileron trim to get it to fly straight.
Stranger still was the plane's tendency to nose over on landings no matter how careful I was.
Enter our esteemed club president, a gentleman who's been flying RC for years if not decades.
To my way of thinking, a plane which wants to nose over is nose heavy and suddenly so, in my case.
The prez offered to give it a try...and pronounced it tail heavy on landing.
Tail heavy? With a tendency to scrape the cowl almost every time since its repair and with no weight required before this?
For the next test, he took the Zero up to a suitable altitude and put it in a hands off, 45-degree power dive. A balanced plane would have maintained heading, a nose heavy plane would have wanted to pull up and a tail heavy plane would have tried to tuck in and sharpen the dive.
Holy mother of CG.
The Zero tucked under.
Tail heavy!
Off to the hobby shop for some weights. An ounce of lead went on the engine mount later that day.
Today, I tried the Zero for the first time since the weight was added.
It was a plane transformed from the moment it lifted off the runway.
Gone was the twitchy elevator response and tip stalling tendencies on approach and in their place, smooth, positive control.
I greased landing after landing with the Zero this morning, not to mention quite a few touch-and-goes.
The moral of all this is simple: No matter how much you think you know, someone out there likely knows more than you do and it's a good idea to listen.
I did and I'll tell you what: One little ounce of lead ballast means I'll be saving a lot of money on chewed props! :D
Such is model aviation.
Darn. :(
I'm still hurting over the loss of the VQ Model Cap-10B which I was privileged to review on RC Power.
A ten-cent part failed and destroyed a model with a $300 list price. My fault for not using a metal retainer instead of a nylon one on the quick-connect clamp on the servo arm for the elevator pushrod.
I once had an aileron fail on a park flyer and I was able to land the plane. Had the rudder failed, meh. No big deal.
When an elevator goes, kiss your model goodbye. That's all I could do as I saw one of the nicest models I've ever owned plummet nose first into the ground on its sixth flight.
I hope to replace it with another sooner than later. In the meantime, the Cap's flap servo panels, two of the servos, the receiver battery and FASST receiver will be used to complete a project plane from several posts back, a Great Planes Cessna with a new O.S. LA 65 engine and a bit of hangar rash. Price: Fifty bucks. Complete. It will be a nice model once I finish it and patch the hangar rash, but it sure won't take the place of the Cap. Thankfully, standard parts like servos sometimes mean standard parts between brands. The Cap's flap servo panels were almost exactly the right size to replace the Cessna's missing aileron servo panels. Thanks to a scale drawing of the panels by a local club member who also has a Cessna, I was able to create the openings for the servo arms.
This was one of those times where I began to reevaluate whether or not I wanted to continue in such a hobby as this, where hard-earned money can be lost in a fraction of a second due to something which cost pocket change.
At least something good will come out of this. I can complete another project.
As soon as that Cessna takes to the air, it'll have a magnificent VQ Model Cap-10B .60 to thank for its heart transplant.
Of course, I'll be sharing it with all of you.
I'm still hurting over the loss of the VQ Model Cap-10B which I was privileged to review on RC Power.
A ten-cent part failed and destroyed a model with a $300 list price. My fault for not using a metal retainer instead of a nylon one on the quick-connect clamp on the servo arm for the elevator pushrod.
I once had an aileron fail on a park flyer and I was able to land the plane. Had the rudder failed, meh. No big deal.
When an elevator goes, kiss your model goodbye. That's all I could do as I saw one of the nicest models I've ever owned plummet nose first into the ground on its sixth flight.
I hope to replace it with another sooner than later. In the meantime, the Cap's flap servo panels, two of the servos, the receiver battery and FASST receiver will be used to complete a project plane from several posts back, a Great Planes Cessna with a new O.S. LA 65 engine and a bit of hangar rash. Price: Fifty bucks. Complete. It will be a nice model once I finish it and patch the hangar rash, but it sure won't take the place of the Cap. Thankfully, standard parts like servos sometimes mean standard parts between brands. The Cap's flap servo panels were almost exactly the right size to replace the Cessna's missing aileron servo panels. Thanks to a scale drawing of the panels by a local club member who also has a Cessna, I was able to create the openings for the servo arms.
This was one of those times where I began to reevaluate whether or not I wanted to continue in such a hobby as this, where hard-earned money can be lost in a fraction of a second due to something which cost pocket change.
At least something good will come out of this. I can complete another project.
As soon as that Cessna takes to the air, it'll have a magnificent VQ Model Cap-10B .60 to thank for its heart transplant.
Of course, I'll be sharing it with all of you.
To retire or not to retire a model...
Problem: One of my little SPADs is sans a wing and has been for some time. I spent a lot of bread on some corrugated plastic, but the stuff I bought is too thick to fold over for a wing.
The plans for the "Derelict" .25 at www.spadtothebone.com call for a folded-over wing constructed of 2mm corrugated plastic.
Yet another problem: No sign manufacturer or plastics distributor in my area carries the stuff and it's pricey at best online, myabe too much so for a very old homemade combat plane with an out-of-production O.S. .25 pulling it around.
I don't know if the blog is the proper place to ask, but if someone has a sheet of this stuff laying around of sufficient area to build a new wing, would you be so kind as to shoot me a PM or an e-mail?
Thanks ahead of time. :D
The plans for the "Derelict" .25 at www.spadtothebone.com call for a folded-over wing constructed of 2mm corrugated plastic.
Yet another problem: No sign manufacturer or plastics distributor in my area carries the stuff and it's pricey at best online, myabe too much so for a very old homemade combat plane with an out-of-production O.S. .25 pulling it around.
I don't know if the blog is the proper place to ask, but if someone has a sheet of this stuff laying around of sufficient area to build a new wing, would you be so kind as to shoot me a PM or an e-mail?
Thanks ahead of time. :D
Aargh, matey!
Sorry about that title. I simply couldn't resist given the subject...and I couldn't think of anything else. :D
In any event, my best friend of these last thirty years has finally taken the plunge (literally) with his first R/C model, a Silverlit Flying Dutchman RTR pirate ship which he's been merrily sailing in his own Spanish Main, namely his pool.
He's christened it The Flying Wasp after the small dinghy which gets splintered by a yacht's anchor in Caddyshack.
It seems this little galleon has a real fire in its belly with its ability to power slide. No rudder. It steers by varying the speed of the props. I'm told that there are few things funnier than seeing a miniature 18th Century sailing vessel skid sideways like something out of The Fast and the Furious.
Being the rather eclectic individual he is, e-mails have been flying as to how this ship should be manned. Discussion ranges from Star Wars to the Teletubbies. We're thinking a compromise.
How do you think Darth Vader would look carrying a purple handbag? :eek:
In any event, my best friend of these last thirty years has finally taken the plunge (literally) with his first R/C model, a Silverlit Flying Dutchman RTR pirate ship which he's been merrily sailing in his own Spanish Main, namely his pool.
He's christened it The Flying Wasp after the small dinghy which gets splintered by a yacht's anchor in Caddyshack.
It seems this little galleon has a real fire in its belly with its ability to power slide. No rudder. It steers by varying the speed of the props. I'm told that there are few things funnier than seeing a miniature 18th Century sailing vessel skid sideways like something out of The Fast and the Furious.
Being the rather eclectic individual he is, e-mails have been flying as to how this ship should be manned. Discussion ranges from Star Wars to the Teletubbies. We're thinking a compromise.
How do you think Darth Vader would look carrying a purple handbag? :eek:
Summer is coming to the desert!
Man, it was a warm one today. First really hot weather of the year. Everyone was leaving the club just as I got there...which means I had the place to myself. :D
I've promised some pix of the project planes, so I thought that I'd at least provide some shots on the ground. No one around to take action shots!
Oh, and the performance on "The Bruise" is much improved. Seems as if the cable I was using wasn't allowing the throttle to open all the way. Fixed that problem with a pushrod. An 11x7 Master Airscrew prop awaits the chance to replace the 11x6 Zinger which has served so well until now, even though it may have been a bit much for the Thunder Tiger GP .40 it came attached to.
This Evolution 46 has no trouble swinging this prop! Even though it's a bit underpitched from the factory recommendations, the difference between it and the .40 is amazing. Snap rolls and knife edge are a flick of the sticks away. The SPAD is running better the more I run the crud out of the engine and there's plenty of compression, but there's a lot of oil blow-by past the front crank bearing and the nut at the end of the carb hold-down bolt is stripped. Carb's nice and tight, though. I've been fiddling with the low end and I think I finally got it working right.
Re. "The Bruise:" I'd have never guessed that a fifteen-year-old castoff which the original builder/owner couldn't give away (except to me) would become one of my favorite planes.
I've promised some pix of the project planes, so I thought that I'd at least provide some shots on the ground. No one around to take action shots!
Oh, and the performance on "The Bruise" is much improved. Seems as if the cable I was using wasn't allowing the throttle to open all the way. Fixed that problem with a pushrod. An 11x7 Master Airscrew prop awaits the chance to replace the 11x6 Zinger which has served so well until now, even though it may have been a bit much for the Thunder Tiger GP .40 it came attached to.
This Evolution 46 has no trouble swinging this prop! Even though it's a bit underpitched from the factory recommendations, the difference between it and the .40 is amazing. Snap rolls and knife edge are a flick of the sticks away. The SPAD is running better the more I run the crud out of the engine and there's plenty of compression, but there's a lot of oil blow-by past the front crank bearing and the nut at the end of the carb hold-down bolt is stripped. Carb's nice and tight, though. I've been fiddling with the low end and I think I finally got it working right.
Re. "The Bruise:" I'd have never guessed that a fifteen-year-old castoff which the original builder/owner couldn't give away (except to me) would become one of my favorite planes.
Doggoned wind.
UPDATE: Flew it with the 46 today! Definite difference, but not as dramatic as I'd expected since I used the same 11x6 prop I'd used on the .40. An 11x7 is the recommended prop for that engine anyway. One shall be going on ASAP.
I have a strong opinion regarding my area's weather as of late, but since this is a family forum, I'll let the smiley give you a hint: :censored:
Thank you, Smiley. There'll be a little something extra in your paycheck.
Yes, it's windier than all get-out.
However, "The Bruise" is set and ready for when the wind dies down. I have run nearly six tanks of fuel over roughly ten flights (if memory serves) and I have had nothing but fun with that plane; the aerobatic potential is incredible. Snaps, loops, rolls both inside and out, Cubans, half-Cubans, hands-off inverted flight, Immelmann turns...you name it, "The Bruise" is nearly up to the task. I say "nearly" only because of the slightly too-small engine.
Not bad for a model that was built in 1993. The original owner saw it fly for the first time in more than five years just the other day.
A .46 awaits reinstallation when I get the new needle valve. The new/old Thunder Tiger GP 40 is nicely broken in and pulls with pretty good authority, but according to the previous owner, nowhere near what it'll do once the .46 gets settled in.
His engine of choice was a Magnum .45 with a tuned pipe (long since discontinued) but I don't recall his choice of props. He did say that it made that plane a ridiculously fast combination pylon racer and aerobatic model.
I really want some pix, but every time I bring my camera, there isn't anyone there to snap the action shots.
I'll persist. Really.
I have a strong opinion regarding my area's weather as of late, but since this is a family forum, I'll let the smiley give you a hint: :censored:
Thank you, Smiley. There'll be a little something extra in your paycheck.
Yes, it's windier than all get-out.
However, "The Bruise" is set and ready for when the wind dies down. I have run nearly six tanks of fuel over roughly ten flights (if memory serves) and I have had nothing but fun with that plane; the aerobatic potential is incredible. Snaps, loops, rolls both inside and out, Cubans, half-Cubans, hands-off inverted flight, Immelmann turns...you name it, "The Bruise" is nearly up to the task. I say "nearly" only because of the slightly too-small engine.
Not bad for a model that was built in 1993. The original owner saw it fly for the first time in more than five years just the other day.
A .46 awaits reinstallation when I get the new needle valve. The new/old Thunder Tiger GP 40 is nicely broken in and pulls with pretty good authority, but according to the previous owner, nowhere near what it'll do once the .46 gets settled in.
His engine of choice was a Magnum .45 with a tuned pipe (long since discontinued) but I don't recall his choice of props. He did say that it made that plane a ridiculously fast combination pylon racer and aerobatic model.
I really want some pix, but every time I bring my camera, there isn't anyone there to snap the action shots.
I'll persist. Really.
To retire or not to retire?
Man, I'm kicking myself. 
I've spent some good money on a lot of 4mm coroplast sheeting only to find out that I needed 2mm sheeting to build a new wing for the little SPAD Derelict.
No sign shop or plastics distributor in my area carries the stuff and I'll be doggoned if I'm paying more than $20 plus shipping to buy it online.
Rats.
Looks like I may be able to salvage the thing if I can adapt the second reinforced foam wing I received with the big .40 SPAD I picked up from a fellow RC Groups user. Just about the right size, it's nice and strong and only needs ailerons to make it work. If the mess refuses to fly, that means a nearly new receiver battery, standard servo and fuel tank for a future project.
The upshot of all of this is the fact that I also received some extra PVC rain gutters and aluminum channels as part of that deal, so I may see what I can make out of all of it.
Another upshot: New blog series!
Stay tuned.
I've spent some good money on a lot of 4mm coroplast sheeting only to find out that I needed 2mm sheeting to build a new wing for the little SPAD Derelict.
No sign shop or plastics distributor in my area carries the stuff and I'll be doggoned if I'm paying more than $20 plus shipping to buy it online.
Rats.
Looks like I may be able to salvage the thing if I can adapt the second reinforced foam wing I received with the big .40 SPAD I picked up from a fellow RC Groups user. Just about the right size, it's nice and strong and only needs ailerons to make it work. If the mess refuses to fly, that means a nearly new receiver battery, standard servo and fuel tank for a future project.
The upshot of all of this is the fact that I also received some extra PVC rain gutters and aluminum channels as part of that deal, so I may see what I can make out of all of it.
Another upshot: New blog series!
Stay tuned.
