Thanks Cooler, I'm a senior now and I've already received my service assignment: Naval Aviation! Eventually I want to fly jets and be carrier qualified, which is why I built the F-35C.


Those are bleachers. They aren't very tall, so I should be able see around them.

Tomorrow will be the day... 31 degrees, feels like 26. Winds 5 mph from the NE.

The F35 turned out very nice, I wish you the best on maiden, I hope it flies as nice as it looks

Ccongratulations on your service assignment: Naval Aviation!

Sorry, I should have read post better, for some reason I was thinking F-22. Duh!!!
You are a little warmer than here, but not by much! Last couple of mornings it's been around -10/-12°. Spring will come sooner or later.

Now once you are off to flight school I suppose your building/flying will slow down a whole bunch. But when you have time, there should be lots of runway space to use!

I'm still messing with my Scorpion build. While I am waiting for my 1/8th" 6-ply to get here, I have been practicing on my foam bending techniques --they suck!
Lots of curves to deal with, and I told myself when I build it, I have to keep it as close to the model as possible. Not to much avaliable on how to do it (bending foam), just have to figure out a method as I go along. Lots of mistakes!

Originally Posted by DoubleOne

Vinyl graphics printed out, almost ready to paint and apply!

Your 35 is looking sweet. I have an rbc f35 70mm that I need the tail graphic's for. How did you make them. I actually painted on the yellow stripes but need to do the skunks and f35 letters in gray or white.

Thanks everyone, I'll be sure to update everyone how the maiden goes (plan on flying at 0700).

Unclecrash,

I used a vinyl cutting machine to cut out the graphics. I did a solid blue background that was the exact size of the vertical stabilizer, and then I printed out the yellow lightning bolts and F-35 in yellow. Then I put the yellow cut vinyl on top of the blue vinyl. It was really easy because I have access to Composer and the vinyl cutting machines.

If I didn't have those tools, I would have bought some yellow and blue monocote and used a #11 to handcut it. If you have a really sharp #11 blade and a straight edge, it should look really nice!

Here is an example of what I did with a Dumas Gee Bee Z conversion...the black is just a second layer of monocote, cut with an exacto.

F-35c scratch build maiden (1 min 42 sec)

She flew! It was incredible, it was a short flight because I was getting really nervous with the orientation...I need to paint something like an American flag on the bottom so I can tell when it is right side up!

It rolled extremely easily, climbed easily, and even took off well!

I didn't really operate at full throttle other than take-off, I was around 50% to 75% the entire flight.


SORRY for the video, my friend recorded it and I didn't realize he was holding the phone the wrong way. I know vertical videos are a sin, but I wanted to show the maiden anyways.

Congratulations, on a great maiden!! Overcast skys make it difficult for sure to keep track of whats going on, especially on a maiden flight.



You need to show this to your friend, "who recorded it".

Turn Your Phone Sideways PLEASE (1 min 52 sec)

Congratulations on a great maiden! It looks like shes gonna be an awesome flier Orientation can be very tricky, especially when its overcast and you are flying a grey bird. I have toyed with F35 builds for awhile now but I was never satisfied with the design plans I came up with. This motivates me to re think an F 35 build. Thanks for shareing, Lt599

Thanks everyone! I'm super excited about the successful maiden and I can't wait to fly again! Unfortunately, the forecast says rain all day tomorrow

I have two questions!

1.) What should I do in order to make it easier to see the airplane's orientation? Gray is super hard to see...and almost impossible to decipher if it is inverted or not. Any color/design suggestions for the belly?

2.) Expo? I've never had a good understanding about how to set up/use expo so I've always avoided it. I know what it does, but how should I go about using it for this aircraft? More specifically, what flying characteristics are most desirable for these kinds of EDF jets?

Congrats on the Maiden flight! That looks really good! I envy you! "Naval Avaition." I always wanted to be a fighter pilot. You better get yourself a GoPro and mount it into the cockpit for some awesome video footage when you start flying.

When I started reading the thread I was going to ask where you are in Annapolis. Now I know. I'm not to far from you. Only about 20 minutes west. I have been there plenty of times. My high school daughter has taken a few summer courses at the Academy. I have thought of bringing a few of my small scratch built jets to fly there myself while she attended the courses. Then I realized that would most likely get me into trouble. Did you get permission to fly there? I do know that there are some guys that fly up behind the stadium. Nice wide open area and nice pavement for a runway. That would be a hike for you to get there. Do you get off grounds on the weekends? You could always go to our club field to fly. It's only 15 minutes away from the Academy. However this time of year there may not be anybody there flying. If you ever want to fly at our club field and want some good video of it flying let me know. I could meet you there and we could fly our jets together. I could record it and post it to Youtube. Look at some of the videos I have posted to see the qaulity if you care. You may just see some of my scratch built jets as well. There are only two of us that fly edf jets at our club and I am one of them. It would be great to have some more edf flyers there. I could show you some scratch building tricks that I have used. Speaking of videos you need to check this one out. This is one of mine. This I wanted to do with footage over the Academy! Watch it from the Youtube site by clicking on the yellow title in the blue box. Then you can search others I have done. You will see our club field for most of them. Some of them are at our local Elementary school like this one.

Blue Angel_05_Added Clips.mp4 (4 min 35 sec)

Pilots Head Turn Test_01.mp4 (4 min 55 sec)

Hey CoolerByTheLake! I always like to send this one out to everybody who has the "Vertical Video Syndrome"

DoubleOne, this is the video you need to show your friend. I love this one!

Vertical Video Syndrome - A PSA (2 min 59 sec)

Originally Posted by DoubleOne

Thanks everyone! I'm super excited about the successful maiden and I can't wait to fly again! Unfortunately, the forecast says rain all day tomorrow

I have two questions!

1.) What should I do in order to make it easier to see the airplane's orientation? Gray is super hard to see...and almost impossible to decipher if it is inverted or not. Any color/design suggestions for the belly?

2.) Expo? I've never had a good understanding about how to set up/use expo so I've always avoided it. I know what it does, but how should I go about using it for this aircraft? More specifically, what flying characteristics are most desirable for these kinds of EDF jets?

Orientation: For the F-35 you could always put two white stripes going across the wing tips. It would look good with that color scheme. Just the topside only so when your flying you would not see them from the underside. If you get inverted you will then see the white lines. You would see that you are banking the correct way with the lines. I have an F-22 that is all gray and after getting used to it's flight characteristics I have no problem with it's oreintation. you will get used to the sticks and handling.

Expo: I have never used it! I tried it out on the simulators and do not care for it. I like the jet to respond immediately. Although, I do use dual rates. For landing and hand launching I use less throw on the ailerons. Some people love using expo and swear by it. If you decide to use it start with mid to low numbers first and build up or down to where it feels comfortable. You may just want to try to reduce the amount of throw on the control surfaces if you feel it is hard to keep under control.

Videopro,

You have some amazing airplanes and videos...talk about attention to detail! If you live 20 minutes west of Annapolis...I am guessing you live around Crofton and may even shop at GPHobbies.

I haven't asked anyone if it was alright to fly around the athletic fields...I usually just make sure no one is around when I fly. No complaints yet! I can't believe I didn't think about flying behind the Navy-Marine Corps Stadium...that parking lot would be perfect. As a firstie (senior), I am allowed to keep my car at the Academy so it would be a very short trip to the stadium. I am also allowed to leave Friday after class through Sunday. Definitely going to be the next place I'll fly.

I've been researching the different RC airfields around the area, which one does your club fly at? I have never really had the opportunity to fly at an unobstructed field, it would be a great chance to really explore my F-35C and become a better RC pilot. I've only just picked up RC airplanes in August 2012, although I've built RC cars and boats since I was 2. I would greatly appreciate any advice you have to share, whether it is about flying or building. I love learning new things, especially about airplanes.

This weekend is a no go for flying my big F-35C, but I have a 12.5" wingspan F-35 that I just fixed up, 12.5" f-117, and the Beast 3D that I can fly inside some of our Field Houses.

Originally Posted by DoubleOne

Videopro,

You have some amazing airplanes and videos...talk about attention to detail! If you live 20 minutes west of Annapolis...I am guessing you live around Crofton and may even shop at GPHobbies.

I haven't asked anyone if it was alright to fly around the athletic fields...I usually just make sure no one is around when I fly. No complaints yet! I can't believe I didn't think about flying behind the Navy-Marine Corps Stadium...that parking lot would be perfect. As a firstie (senior), I am allowed to keep my car at the Academy so it would be a very short trip to the stadium. I am also allowed to leave Friday after class through Sunday. Definitely going to be the next place I'll fly.
I've been researching the different RC airfields around the area, which one does your club fly at? I have never really had the opportunity to fly at an unobstructed field, it would be a great chance to really explore my F-35C and become a better RC pilot. I've only just picked up RC airplanes in August 2012, although I've built RC cars and boats since I was 2. I would greatly appreciate any advice you have to share, whether it is about flying or building. I love learning new things, especially about airplanes.

This weekend is a no go for flying my big F-35C, but I have a 12.5" wingspan F-35 that I just fixed up, 12.5" f-117, and the Beast 3D that I can fly inside some of our Field Houses.

I fly at CBRC. I like it because hardly anybody is there when I fly during the week. Weekends are usually busy in the early hours. Late afternoons are great and can usaully have the field to yourself. The sun is at your back during the afternoons. You will also need to be a member of AMA. If your not a member of AMA I would recommend it as it will protect you if you should wreck into somebody or someone's property. INSURANCE is what it is. The one thing I had to get used to at the club field is the surrounding trees and how it makes you feel like your flying out of a soup bowl. It is still plenty of space for flying but you will need to be aware of the trees.

Here is the link to our flying field http://crabrag.com/ It is a little slow to load.

I am fortunate to have an elementary school close by that has two over sized baseball fields next to a large oversized soccer field. Not to mention the school and the parking lot for added flying space. What really is nice is that it all sits on top of a hill above the surrounding grounds. That is where the Blue Angels videos are shot. I have not been there for awhile to fly as people tend to trickle up to watch and sometimes walk over the fields while we are flying. So we have almost abandoned that location for flying. When recreational sports start up then we can't fly there as the teams are using the fields for practice and games. Every once in awhile we will go there with our small jets to fly. The bigger jets we go to the club field.

Today was a gorgeous day for a flight...although a bit windy. Winds were at 18 MPH, gusting to 25...but it really didn't bother this bird! Flight lasted about 2:41, which was all my 2200 mah battery had. Landing wasn't too great, but nothing broke! Lots of people congratulated me, and a couple retired fighter pilots came over to check it out

F-35C 68mm EDF (2 min 41 sec)

Oh, and this time...I had my girlfriend record it. Showed her the VVS video beforehand so she knew what to do