I have had a little extra time for flying lately and have returned to my first R/C love which is sailplanes. I have a Climax handtoss glider (before discuss launch) and I have added a new receiver and found the battery couldn't hold a charge for very long. I was initially surprised at how hard it was to find the small NiMH and NiCad packs that were so plentiful 15 years ago. I found BatterySpace.com had a pack that would fit my hand toss as well as packs for my larger sailplanes as well. I have ordered them and will post in a couple weeks how well they work out.
I have sent an e-mail to get some info on a Phoenix 60 brushless ESC I got back in 2003 and used to power a brushless motor with an 8-cell NiMH and I want to go to a 3-cell LiPo. I no longer have the paper work so I don't know if it is LiPo compatible. Hopefully Castle can tell me. Castle responded within one working day. Sent me instructions for two possible ESCs and confirmed I could program it for Lipos. As always there service remains fantastic! Took me time to update as I went on vacation.

I spent a few flying sessions with friends from MRCC and got to see Kirk fly his new Pulsar 4E electric sailplane from Esprit Model. I was so impressed that I have done a mini-review of the Pulsar 4E that will go live soon and I will add to it as Kirk becomes more familiar with his Pulsar. Here are some pictures of this lovely sailplane.

Although it only has a 14" wingspan this little biplane packs a lot of fun in its small frame and comes complete with nothing else needed to fly this plane indoors or outside in relatively calm conditions. Even flew well starting at an elevation of 5,000 feet near Reno, Nevada.

I purchased a Blade 120 SR BNF when they first came out and was having a blast flying it. I quickly became comfortable flying her and began to fly her faster and faster. This allowed me to exceed my skill/control level a couple of times and I have had a couple of great crashes but so far no broken part. After flying it for about a month I was asked to review it. My review is written and I hope to finish the media shots this coming weekend. I have included a few pictures from the review here. The one with the red canopy is the original one I purchased with the optional canopy and tail fin I purchased separately.

The Heli-Max Novus co-axial Huey helicopter arrived for review the day before i left for a short vacation up in Oregon. I brought the Huey along and had the first flight in a parking area on the Columbia River Gorge in front of the Latourell waterfall. The next flight was up on My hood in the Silcox hut which was still buried in snow on the Memorial Day weekend. The huey flew great at 7,000 feet. Here are a couple of pictures from my upcoming review. Mike H

Jeff Hunter flew her yesterday so I could get some pictures and I flew her outdoors today. The new nano size fixed pitch SeaCobra from Heli-Max flies very well when up and out of the ground effect she creates at a foot or less above the ground. She has been very stable in the air but once you commit to landing and go below a foot don't try hovering as she really likes to drift just above the ground as would be expected. I found I was making practice attacks on the enemy positionunder a pine tree today. Lots of fun and an interesting trick to master coming in fairly fast in forward flight. Piroutte slowly while switch to side and then reverse side flight while keeping the "guns" focused under the pine tree. The military guns and camo are leading me to fly some patterns I have never tried before. Lots of fun. Here are a couple of pictures

2009 was the year I transitioned to being primarily on 2.4GHz and so far it has worked very well. I decided that I wanted to upgrade my electric gliders and started the process at the end of last year. For my Radian I purchased a new pair of wings and gave them a custom red, white and blue paint job. I did a little touch up gluing to resecure the elevator control rod tube to the fuselage and she still flies great.
For my Electric trout POQUITO I removed the geared speed 400 motor and installed an E-flite brushless 400, a 3-cell Lipo 1300 pack and a small 6 inch folding prop. the Poquito is considerably lighter and I can use a smaller battery if desired as it rests under the wing. I wasn't able to get it to fly on the 1st but she flew today. The plane climbs faster and has a beter glide ratio with the reduced weight. Plenty of punch to get through wind. Just a sweet little glider.
I have a Mini Ellipse with two fuselages. One for pure gliding at slope or thermal and one with a brushless motor. I previously had a motor far to large geared brushless inline motor and folding prop for her and with which she easily went 100 miles per hour under power. Now she has the same small outrunner brushless E-flte motor and prop that powers the E-flite Ascent glider. Her speed under power is greatly reduced and the spinner looks way to large on her but she climbs well and thermaled yesterday and this afternoon better then she ever has before and that includes with the pure glider fuselage....Continue Reading

The review is in the Edit Queue but I just had to share my favorite picture of this plane. Although some have had out of balanced three blade props mine seemed to work very well and is much quieter then those on two other planes i have seen in person. No question it flies faster with the two blade prop but as seen in this pictures the three blade makes for great pictures.

Had a wonderful vacation in Kauai with my college roommate and our wifes and I though i would share a few of my pictures from this vacation and one or two short video clips....Continue Reading

Had a recent trip over to the Napa Valley and one of the things we did there was visit a winery up by Calistoga just off of highway 29. The winery has a castle with 107 rooms and most of those rooms are used in the making and aging of some mighty fine wine from grapes grown on the hill side around the castle. The castle can be partially viewed by any spectator but the main hall, the torture chamber and more involve a tour for $25.00. That fee includes 5 tastings per person and a couple hors d'oeuvres. The winery is the Castile de Amorosa and it is still be built. Currently there are no weapons in the armory so I have a reason to revisit in a a few years. Hope you enjoy the pictures I took.

It is August and I am working on a video for a Holiday review that should go live on Thanksgiving weekend if all goes well. A boat parade with RC boats and miniature Christmas lights and decorations. Temperature is in the 90s and I am playing Christmas music and my neighbors think I am even crazier then they did before. I have got to learn to stop acting on some of my crazy video and review ideas. Only time and editing will tell if I can pull this one off or if this is just to far out there.

Finally thought I would start using my Blog. Yesterday I witnessed the maiden flight of Dave Alchin's new J-3 Cub from Horizon Hobbies. This plane has a wingspan of about 81 inches according to Dave and it looked great on the ground and in the sky. I am posting a few pictures of its maiden flight. Mike