Originally Posted by Joe Minton

fly fishing ain't fishing -- it's hunting ;o)

\HO HO HO that's true

Mike

Originally Posted by bigstatik

I need to ask something, if I get bored when flying a my HZ super cub, and I like to really buzz around good with my T-28 and do high speed low altitude passes and inverted flight, etc would I be totally bored with a radian?

I think I was pretty similar to you and your flying... my favorite plane was my Parkzone Corsair which I doubled the power plant on - thing screamed so fast I thought the wings would fly off and my other flying was helicopters... I bought the radian as my anti-helicopter - I just wanted super simple to ease the nerves and frustrations of 3D helis - now I only fly the Radian it seems. Every time it goes up I'm amazed how rewarding it is to fly that bugger and try and keep her airborne as long as possible on a single battery. My new record was Fathers Day - the Radian was airborne for a full hour without hitting the ground!!! My next best plane/heli can stay airborne only 7 minutes... The Radian is a hit. I never considered a sail plane before, never even noticed them in the magazine adds until my Model Airplane News mag did an article on it - sounded fun - I was sold. Best purchase to date!!! Go get one, you wont be bored. And yes - swap out the blades to save yourself the aggrevation. Go Graupner!

Originally Posted by bigstatik

I need to ask something, if I get bored when flying a my HZ super cub, and I like to really buzz around good with my T-28 and do high speed low altitude passes and inverted flight, etc would I be totally bored with a radian?

I like to think of the difference between power planes and sailplanes it terms of challenge. Much like boating (no disrespect) anyone can buy a power boat and put put from point A to point B just steer and add power. With a sailboat there is some skill to use the wind to get to the same point B a challenge if you will.
Just as in the power boat anyone (no disrespect again) can buy a powered airplane and bore holes in the sky (having fun) but not much challenge. With a sail plane every flight is different and challenging to see how long you can keep the plane in the air using only what mother nature has provided in the way of lift. Give it a try I don't think you will be bored.
Phil

If it flys well, I tend to enjoy it. I love to abuse the air with my Ritewings and crazy speeds, and I love to abuse the EPP on my 3D foamies trying to learn a new move. But I really enjoy the hunt for lift. I am sure many will find thermaling a big borefest. I know the first time I watched an LMR competition I could only watch for about 10 minutes before I let out a big yawn.

A couple of years ago while I was at SEFF, I had just finished repairing a night flying slow stick that had some control horn issues. I put it up for a test flight and a huge buzzard came near where I was flying and started to circle just below my plane. So I fell in the circle pattern with him and got probably a 40 minute flight out of that pack on a pretty heavy slowstick! It was like a drug dealer giving me a free sample, and I was hooked.

Watching someone soar is similar to watching paint dry, but when you are the one hunting down some lift, it completely changes. Well, it does for me at least. It is really cool when you think you are done with a flight only to find a bump of lift and work it to get another 20 minutes or more in the air with no motor input. Finding lift sounds easy, but it is amazing how you can go out on Saturday, fly forever in some lift, but then go out on the next day and be lucky to get 7 minutes in the air without throttle. The radian is perfect for this. It is cheap, it performs and is easy to get in the air. Try it and if you get bored with it, then sell it. It seems to be very popular.

Diggs

Originally Posted by Diggs

If it flys well, I tend to enjoy it. I love to abuse the air with my Ritewings and crazy speeds, and I love to abuse the EPP on my 3D foamies trying to learn a new move. But I really enjoy the hunt for lift. I am sure many will find thermaling a big borefest. I know the first time I watched an LMR competition I could only watch for about 10 minutes before I let out a big yawn.

A couple of years ago while I was at SEFF, I had just finished repairing a night flying slow stick that had some control horn issues. I put it up for a test flight and a huge buzzard came near where I was flying and started to circle just below my plane. So I fell in the circle pattern with him and got probably a 40 minute flight out of that pack on a pretty heavy slowstick! It was like a drug dealer giving me a free sample, and I was hooked.

Watching someone soar is similar to watching paint dry, but when you are the one hunting down some lift, it completely changes. Well, it does for me at least. It is really cool when you think you are done with a flight only to find a bump of lift and work it to get another 20 minutes or more in the air with no motor input. Finding lift sounds easy, but it is amazing how you can go out on Saturday, fly forever in some lift, but then go out on the next day and be lucky to get 7 minutes in the air without throttle. The radian is perfect for this. It is cheap, it performs and is easy to get in the air. Try it and if you get bored with it, then sell it. It seems to be very popular.

Diggs

Diggs,

You hit the nail on the head with that explanation...so true.

When the guy's at PZ designed the Radian, they defiantly hit the design sweet spot for relatively low cost, excellent flying...electric foam gliders. I'm very sure there are more then a few engineers at a certain German company scratching their heads. Not to say they have a bad products because they don't...but it's clear the Radian is stealing a bit of their thunder..

-mike-

All good points guys. I fly 3D airplanes, a 3D heli (but don't fly it 3D), sport & scale planes, but they've all been somewhat neglected since I got my Radian. I've had many great experiences with it, many of which I've posted earlier in this thread. Funny thing is, the other planes are still somewhat neglected even though I can't fly the Radian anymore due to the prop issue. Seems it's still all I want to fly even though I can't.

OK guys I have a quick question. First off let me say I was having a great day flying my Radian until the last minute. After flying for a while I decided to switch the battery and put her up again. Well I was flying around and everything was great until I somewhat lost control of the plane. If kept vearing to the left hard and when I put input to the right it straitened out. Well I luckily got it down with no damage and I noticed the serveros were slowly going back and frth with a twitch when I gave it input. I went back to my truck to check it out and I noticed the light was blinking. I plugged the first battery pack in and light stopped blinking. I plugged the problem battery in and it was blinking again. Im not sure if its the spektrum radio or the lipo. WHen I got home I checked the volts on the 3s 1300mah lipo and all the cells were balanced at 3.87v. What are some suggestions to this problem.

Also where is a good place to get some magnets to keep the wing together. Im getting tired of adding security tape to the top and underside of each wing side.

Yellow, Any chance you're flying with a Dx6i tx? If so it might have to do with the recall situation.

If you have the dx6i, you can look at the monitor section of the sub-menu - move the sticks and see if the endpoints twitch at there extremes. If they twitch, send it in for warranty work.

as far as the magnets go... I am just using velcro where the wings meet and it holds them together like they are glued in. Might be an option until you find magnets, but I plan on sticking with the velcro (get it... stick)

No its the Dx5. What exactly does that blinking light mean on the reciever?

The Velcro is a great idea. Ill just CA some velcro on both ends of the wing.

Back on page 88 “theKAT” in post #1314 described a throttle-to-down elevator mix that really helps during a power climb. For safety reasons I always use a throttle-to-throttle mix and put it on desigated kill switch.

When both of these mixes are used together they gives a secondary benefit of wide range, easily controlled and adjustable elevator trim. After the power climb-out I throttle back and hit the designated kill switch and fly as a pure sailplane, however now I can use the throttle stick to adjust the down trim. With throttle stick at low the Radian will float lightly and at high it will penetrate when needed.

Like most, my rudder servo is plugged into the receiver aileron connection that is controlled by the right stick. Another mix that I find useful is an always-on rudder to aileron mix. This allows me to use the rudder and/or the aileron stick to turn, but the nice part about it is that for each stick different travel amounts can be used. It’s like having dual rates without having to go to a switch. It is also good training in using the rudder stick.

I use these mixes on my DX7 and 10X transmitter however most mid-range computer transmitters have this ability. Before flying these mixes be sure to thoroughly bench test them to be sure they do what you want them to do.

Bob

Good idea on the throttle elevator trim. Just remember to switch that throttle back on in case you need it for landing. I also always use the throttle/throttle mix on my 9C on all my planes for a throttle safety switch. And I've been using a rudder/aileron mix on my Radian mainly because I'm so used to flying 4-channel aircraft that I found myself using the rudder stick on the Radian. It's also handy for left-handed flying at times.

Originally Posted by Diggs

Watching someone soar is similar to watching paint dry, ...

Nope ... no way, every month I end up seeing an epic save of some sort, 'ain't nothing better then watching two or three guys man on man scratching at 20 feet for wood....

Point is, it's a whole different world, to each his own.

Originally Posted by yellowcolorado

Also where is a good place to get some magnets to keep the wing together. Im getting tired of adding security tape to the top and underside of each wing side.

Tape the wings? I don't bother, just fly it, I have 100's of flights no biggie

For safety reasons I always use a throttle-to-throttle mix and put it on desigated kill switch.

Been doing the throttle thing for years but I like your idea of the elevator trim on the throttle. Will give that a try.
Gary