Just finished building my Photon II (well almost finished no launch peg)

But this may be the first plane that can be built in one pleasurable evening. Some of the things I liked were the wing mount, the hstab mounting, how the tail is rounded to accept the tailboom, the pod is the best I have seen, I just hope I can fly it...

At any rate, the the thing litterally 'snaps' together.

FWIW I finally found the instructions here...

http://www.netmeister.net/~jerry/index2.htm

I wish I had found these sooner, as my control rods are on the outside, the inside mount is MUCH more elegant.

Well if I can gets ome RX Batts charged I should be able to fly this baby tomorrow...

Jay

Jay,

Set the pushrod outside is a good idea.
Check out my experience http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=353575

-Kai

The Photon is the highest quality sailplane I've ever owned - up to and including thousand-dollar carbon F3f racers. The workmanship is just out of this world, and the plane is way tougher than it looks.

Phil Barnes told my buddy Brian Kopke something to this effect:

"I've been mid-aired by Photons TWICE and the Photon was the clear winner. Not a scratch on it's leading edge."

The only thing I don't like is that flap connection, either top or bottom linked - I think it would be cool to do an RDS setup for the flap. That would make the Photon II one of the slickest planes around.

I agree, the fit on my old PII was perfect. Once the boom goes on the pod with the wing mount over it, it is locked in, and no need for an alignment jig to center it.

I sold her a year past to help pay for an open TD ship, but had survived two IHLGF's. One of Phil's two mid airs was with my ship a little over two years past, and it did actually have a very, very small nick on it's LE. Poor Phil's plane had a nasty delam, yet, he has been quite a gentleman my never naming the pilot. History has proven that this did not hurt him too bad, as he went on to win his first, first place at Poway.

The PII is a tough bird, and with the exception of 80 MPH straight into concrete, it will survive most incidents and be quite repairable.

BTW: Jay, Midwest products has CF tube or flat stock that I use for throwing pegs, and as you know, can be picked up at most hobby stores.

Jared

Did you fly it yet? Our local group has 5 Photon IIs now.

You should try the blade (nicely sculptured of course). I'll send you one if you want.

Your not going to get the really high launches like some planes but then you don't really need to because it works lift so easily.

Soho, Now you have got me thinking about getting a P II, what battery and servos are you using? Thanks, ...R...

I flew it today. Got about an hour with her, and its just like learning to fly again. I mean I can't fly left hand rudder. I have to think about my stick movements. I have to be patient. I have to watch how hard I launch. I am at the stage of conciously incompetent. I KNOW I don't know how to fly this thing, which is amazing considering its JUST RE.

All I can say is I am glad I am flying this photon, before I start flyin my winddancer...

But this photon is a hoot...

Originally Posted by RandyK1

Soho, Now you have got me thinking about getting a P II, what battery and servos are you using? Thanks, ...R...

dymond d47 (d60s are too big) I am sure hs55s and jr241/281s would fit.

batteries are nt37aaam. It powered the servos for one and a half hours today.

As far as getting one, I can tell you the aileron ships are better performers, but if you can't thermal or if ailerons/rudder/elevator are too much for you then its HARD to beat this ship...

Originally Posted by soholingo

I flew it today. Got about an hour with her, and its just like learning to fly again. I mean I can't fly left hand rudder. I have to think about my stick movements. I have to be patient. I have to watch how hard I launch. I am at the stage of conciously incompetent. I KNOW I don't know how to fly this thing, which is amazing considering its JUST RE.

All I can say is I am glad I am flying this photon, before I start flyin my winddancer...

But this photon is a hoot...

jay ,i fly mode one so im a little bit differant but left hand is also used for rudder while flying fullhouse [just like mode two ]BUT what i do is just plug my rudder on my photon into the aileron port on your rx and fly away ..as normal
or perhaps you want to teach your left hand to fly rudder??

xtc

Why do you have rudder on the left stick?

I had the EXACT same experience last night flying my aileron DLG. It loves doing flat, rudder only turns, but my left hand kept screwing up.

I fly rudder all the time on the slope, but always in conjunction with aileron to flatten the turns, so I just tell myself the make my left hand go in the same direction as my right. Can't do that when the right hand isn't giving input. I deliberately didn't use aileron to rudder mixing so I could train my left hand. Apparently it did no good.

Originally Posted by xtc

perhaps you want to teach your left hand to fly rudder??

xtc

That's it.

I thought about leaving the aileron on chanel 2 as a crutch, but I am glad I didn't as I found myself using the aileron stick, and not getting any response from the plane, so I quickly moved to the left stick.

This is an especially weird circumstance as I am finding I having difficulty doing right and left when the plane is coming torwards me... astonishing really, because with aileron ships I don't even think about it...

Originally Posted by soholingo

This is an especially weird circumstance as I am finding I having difficulty doing right and left when the plane is coming torwards me... astonishing really, because with aileron ships I don't even think about it...

Ditto. Must prove we're both human which is odd, because I mostly feel like I'm from another planet.

Originally Posted by soholingo

I mean I can't fly left hand rudder. I have to think about my stick movements. .

Jay, You should plug the rudder into the aileron channel of the receiver. Most if not all r/e planes are set up this way.

Scott

Originally Posted by ScottLister

Jay, You should plug the rudder into the aileron channel of the receiver. Most if not all r/e planes are set up this way.

Scott

Scott I want to learn to fly the rudder with the left hand, so that when I go R/E/A I can fly rudder correctly...