A while ago when I picked up a used TX from eBay it turned out that the guy was moving abroad. He was emptying his house and tried to sell me a lot of RC stuff, some very tempting.

But I decided long ago to only buy hobby-stuff I had a personal interest in and nothing just for potential profit - I am a good seller and here was definitely possibilities. But I quit glow engines long ago and vintage RC 1/8 track was never my thing. I ended up buying a box of tools and small parts and an indoor plane in hideous condition. I have never flown indoor!

Google revealed it’s a Crazy Sukhoi, designed by Claes Meijer and sold by Autopartner. At home, I was almost considering to break it for parts but cleaned it up, spent a few hours with UHU Por and Blenderm and put it aside for a week. Well, its battered but it will fly again! Current weight is 123g without prop, batt and rx.

Perfect opportunity to try indoor and if I like it I can wear this one out.

With snow and hard winds, flying is out of the question. Dreams of warm summer days on the slopes seem like just dreams. I decided to prepare a little for those longer excursions where you need more charge, borrow a pack, fix something or whatnot and went on a solder spree....! The picture does not even show it all. I also made a TX charging cable, a custom setup so the kids can safely charge their monster truck NiMH without my help and various automotive adapters among other things.

(Note that the yellow connector adapters are ready-bought items. With those and my cables I should be ready for almost anything!)

I bought this on a whim, $20 locally. According to the seller it worked two years ago. First action was cleaning, more cleaning and even more cleaning, it had the sticky film from glow engine use! I took out the Sanyo Cadnica and tried to charge it. If the radio works I’m putting something else inside. If I like it maybe a 2,4 module will serve.

A while back, I made a refresh-thread on my Fox glider. I got it used and it could be a Gerasis, Robbe or Top Rippin.

After throwing it into some reeds it appeared to fly straight and some days later the wind was right and off the slope edge it went. It was absolutely sedate and went straight out.

I had put about 75g of ballast in, bringing the total weight to about 1750g, pretty light for a 2.2 slope glider.

It flew best with a bit of speed. Rudder was great, roll rate was too low and elevator too much, it was very touchy, I had guesstimated the throws. Yanking elevator in bank turns made the Fox slide, squirm and twist and snake itself, quick correction needed. Going at it harder would probably result in a full tip stall. I had a High Rate setting but did not dare to try it in case the elevator would be unmanageable.

Loops were straight and when pointed into the wind at altitude it would sit nicely in the lift, giving nice tells.

Stall turns were truly gorgeous, it rotated perfectly and fell straight back into flight with no tail wiggle at all and pulling up it went straight, indicating a good CG. The scale look added to the grace. Mmmm!

With no motor, the first landing was a one-shot deal and it behaved very nice, sinking nicely and finally dropping a wing at about 2ft and gently falling into the heather brush.

Awesome!

Next up is to try different throws, and fix some minor things left undone in the build.

I put the Pajero on the build board again. And out came the hacksaw and drill. I split the stock front bumper in two. One part at the front and one on the rear.

The front part was necessary, because there was a huge hole in the front after I cut the chassis.

The rear was just for fun. Good handle and fills some of the emptiness in the rear wheelhouse.

Multiplex Easy Star 2 flight with Mobius (2 min 20 sec)

My second Multiplex Easy Star 2. First flight. I used a 950 pack and a Mobius. The plane was slightly front heavy. I got about 38 minutes of footage and 32 minutes in the air with a Mobius up front and mAh to spare still. Four quick landings to move the velcroed camera. With the 2000mAh I expect to stay up for an hour. The plane is lightened and stiffened with carbon fibre pieces and I also used clear tape to smooth out any edges. Left to do is to put covers over the control horns.

Equipment:
Transmitter: Multiplex Cockpit SX 2.4
Rudder and Elevator: Emax ES08A2
Ailerons: Multiplex Nano S ”long wire”
Reciever: Multiplex RX-5 light
Battery: Multiplex Li-Batt 950
Motor: Turnigy SK3 2826 -1240
ESC: Hobbywing FlyFun 30A
Camera: Mobius 1, Turnigy/SJ4000

Build:
https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/show...2-possible-FPV
https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/show...r-2-build-cont
https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/show...y-at-575g-20oz

I had the pleasure to watch Gustav performing on a flight show in Eksjö, Sweden. He came with a fresh World Champion title to his name.

There are so many flight shows I have been to and only a few displays stand out. This one did. The program had my hair stand up on my back the whole time.

The flow and smoothness of the flight was apparent and on top of a flawless execution, to the point of setting the wheel down on the last bar of the song choice - ABBA:s Fernando.

While not RC, it certainly gave me something to aim for with my RC Fox!

Gustav Salminen - World Champion Advanced Glider Aerobatics 2017 (5 min 30 sec)

The Easy Star is ready for flight.

With a 3s 950mAh weighing 100g pushed all the way up front the CG is in range.

I have no decals on yet and 575g feels very light, but maybe it is just a mental thing. I saved 10g here, 11 g there. 8g somewhere else so perhaps it added up to something. 50g saved on the battery as the rear end of the plane was much lighter.

Equipment:
Rudder and Elevator: Emax ES08A2
Ailerons: Multiplex Nano S ”long wire”
Reciever: Multiplex RX-5 light
Battery: Multiplex Li-Batt 950
Motor: Turnigy SK3 2826 -1240
ESC: Hobbywing FlyFun 30A

I replaced almost all plastic rods with various pieces of carbon fiber strips 3x1 mm. In particular the rear of the fuse and the elevator is extremely stiff. The fuse actually does not bend at all.

Wing is just very stiff.

If you do the same, you could buy 3mm tubes for the fuse but I took what I had around.

For the elevator, I cut a slot that was slanted and went in under the control horn. A straight 3mm cut would go right through the elevator. Then CA on the strip and push it in using pliers. This worked extremely well. Its really tight. I did not do the same on the ailerons as I did them first.

The stiffness and lightness should make this Easy Star fly well. It almost feels a bit like a balsa build to hold instead of the mushy foam feeling.

The Easy Star build continues and I wanted to share a few tricks I did. Check the pictures and descriptions.

I’m learning as I go along so let me know what you think!

After spending most of my RC efforts on the used Fox glider recently, the Multiplex Easy Star 2 kit is back on the board.

It’s a simple and pleasant build aided by excellent fit and a very good manual.

I have soldered up the Hobbywing FlyFun ESC and stick-programmed it.

Today the fuse is finished. It is stock, with some carbon strips. See previous post for more info.

The wings will get some carbon strips too before I start the motor and radio installation.

This text was posted in the Heron thread.

Wednesday I had the day off, and went early to the slope. Just before I got to the launch spot, it started to rain. I took shelter under some juniper in a crevice. Some twenty minutes later the rain faded. I assembled the Heron and launched it.

The flight was nice. It took a while to position the plane right; its much bigger than the ones I fly the most. My flying buddy Dan showed up while I was in the air. I stalled the Heron out a few times and tried to provoke it, it would drop a wing and fall, easily recovered with opposite aileron. Last time I flew the Heron the conditions were seriously difficult and somehow today I felt less connected. Typically, when things get hard I stop thinking entirely and fly by natural feel and that is usually the best flow!

Eventually, the light fog caused my glasses to get wet and my gloves too so I went around to ”hover land’ while my fingers still moved. I did not use the crow brake, I just let it sink. I had it right where I wanted it and walked closer to really spot land it. All was looking good but it suddenly dropped the right wing about 3 m above the ground and went down, wingtip first.

Parts were everywhere. It looked really bad. But it was not bad at all. First, it landed in the heather, not on the rock face. Secondly, the genius wing mount design did the job - wings fell off, canopy fell off. The fuse cracked like a hinge and a plastic wing mount broke off.

I collected...Continue Reading