Originally Posted by joel231

Its an ARF plane my friend, made by Parkzone.

Cheers Joel

I fail to grasp what you mean?

I think he means its an arf, so its painted allready, but yours is bare bones, so its not!
Try Krylon Fusion paint, do the top and leave the bottom white, maybe some wing stripes for orientation

I was thinking avro vulcan... But at least for the first test flights it will be something like red below, white above, or something. Im afraid of this thing really. I fly a 3d typhoon and have no problem at all, but I tried a delta wing at the lhs and it just kept getting away from me. Now I dont know where or how to maiden this thing... It should be finished by tommorow, which is pretty good considering I just got it today. I had to borrow, fabricate, or re-use most parts, as I only got the airframe and motor mount, but I think it will be fine once Im done. I just hope I can handle it. I made the ailerons exact copies of the original {but of balsa}, dunno if I should have made them bigger. In the end, considering that I am taking everything as I go along, I only encountered a couple of small problems so far, which is far above the average scratch build Im used to. This thing goes together fast! Im both excited and a bit scared. I think I should maiden it somwhere where there are few trees, instead of the field I usually use {which is a hill surrounded by trees. Well, be back soon!

Fly Or Die, don't sweat it. The Stryker flies great!!

I also have a Typhoon and after getting used to the stryker for two days I found that the Phoon is harder to fly.

The Stryker will fly very slow so you don't need to use it's speed until your comfortable.

I would set the high rates as high as you can get them and the low rates at about 50%.

The high rates will help a bunch when flying slow and the low rates will get you safe if you let'er rip.

Have Fun!
Andy

How do I find the CG on this thing? Also, how do I launch it without hitting my hand on the prop?

There are two molded circles in the handgrips. The CG should be real close to them.

Launch it with the motor off and then crank it up to about 50% and she will take of like a bat ottahell!

Good Luck!
Andy

Hmmm. I just did some test glides. Not much push from me cuz there was too much wind. Either way, it wouldnt fly {glide}. It would stall and spin to the left {there was alot of turbulence}. I dont know if it was my bad launching, {I usually launch by holding the plane from above and just pushing it up}, if it was the wind, or if it was my rudder {stabiliser}. The rudder I am using is really rather small, its only one in the middle of the plane, and its about 15% smaller than the original versions. Would this be the cause? I have seen wings fly without rudders so I wouldnt think so...

Did you go with the wind or against it?

If you are just trying to glide get up 20ft or so and go with the wind. She glides with the wind really well. Against the wind you will have a real short flight without power. It will stall out quick.

The vert may be all right. I can't say much about that. There are calcs out there about the surface area of the vert stabs... have to search on that a little.

Good Luck!
Andy

Originally Posted by Fly Or Die

How do I find the CG on this thing? Also, how do I launch it without hitting my hand on the prop?

After a few chopped up index fingers, i hold it mid-wing on the leading edge and launch it like a underhand , side arm soft ball pitch, works for me

Sorry for being late to the party- regarding paint. I'm using Testors Model Master. A bright silver followed by a clear coat. It's holding up REALLY well- haven't lost any paint on the underside yet. I also bring it in low and then stall it so it just "lands" (flops) on the ground, usually doesn't skid for more than 2 feet or so.

Originally Posted by Phantom5.0

Sorry for being late to the party- regarding paint. I'm using Testors Model Master. A bright silver followed by a clear coat. It's holding up REALLY well- haven't lost any paint on the underside yet. I also bring it in low and then stall it so it just "lands" (flops) on the ground, usually doesn't skid for more than 2 feet or so.

Im just the opposite, I think its cool to do touch and goes on the grass and realy long drag-out style landings

Well, I did it! It flew. Wow, what a smooth and fun plane! I need to do some adjustments and repairs, but overall it was great. Got some loops and rools in, a couple of high speed and low passes, as well as some gliding in. I already know I like this plane! I did do something rather dumb. I used an esc with a hard lipo cutoff {its programmed in} and I forgot. You can guess what came next. I barely managed to glide it in, without hitting the trees {of which there are many to hit, and they are tall}. I actually had to fly out of the way of some trees before ditching at the bottom of the hill. Good thing this thing can glide! In the end a very easy and problem free build. I like it alot. Only complaint is some flutter in the dives, I wanna see if I can figure out how to cure that.

Hard cut-offs are fine. I actually prefer that to a soft cut. Just remember that if you zero the throttle, it will reset. I've had to milk mine back home a few times too! You're right, being able to glide does help! Just make sure you have enough altitude.

Not necesarilly. I dont think zeroing the throttle works with this thing. Ill try though. Ive been using it for a long time.

What ESC are you using?