...but affordable is kinda fun.
To explain:
I was at our club field this past Sunday morning to get video of a model I'm reviewing for the electric flight page. Kinda breezy for a smallish model like the one I flew but a bit much for a UMX, even one with stabilization.
One of our members took up a nearly new E-flite UMX F-16 EDF and whoa, what a cool little plane:
http://www.e-fliterc.com/Products/De...=EFLU2850#home
Not entirely sure how, but my guess is that a failed outside loop too close to the ground resulted in the little F-16 smacking the runway with the requisite sickening thud. I heard him say that the wind may have had something to do with stalling it.
As I was preparing to leave a little later on, I walked by a trash can and lo and behold, there was the F-16, electronics and all! The owner didn't want to mess with trying to repair it, figuring it would be easier to simply buy a new one. So, I asked him if I could take it and he not only said yes, he gave me the rest of the parts he hadn't discarded plus the box.
It'll need a fuselage and a tail section and brothers and sisters, parts for that little booger are pricey! One wing is damaged but salvageable, so I can save some bread that way. The worst damage is to the nose and it'll need the entire tail section anyway since one of the elevons sheared clean off.
I figure I can get this model with a $160 retail price in the air for about fifty bucks or so.
Pictures to follow very soon. In fact, I may blog about the experience of repairing it. E-flite micros are mostly taped together anyway, so this'll be an interesting experience. I have two other E-flite micros, but I've never crashed them.