I saw the video of some paper planes with surestart engines on KP's 1/2A sources thread, and decided to try one. ( or two) I have the FW-190 paper plane from Fiddlers Green, so I had it enlaged 250% at Staples. I bought a pack of poster board and we will see how it goes.

The maiden went well, the plane needed a couple clicks of up, and a couple of clicks right trim. The response was excellent, the throws were fairly low but I think I won't change them, loops were only 10 to 15 feet around, and roll rate was good as is. I didn't take any pictures, I had the camera, but after a minute of flying I totally forgot all about it!! I don't know if the modified back plate was the difference but the engine seemed to have more power than my other sure starts. I may put a stock one on just to see. I really do like this plane!! I may have to build another one, this one is great but I can see a low wing version in the future. The color scheme I chose is close to the original stick style all red with the Iron cross wing markings, it is nice to look at but my old eyeballs lost orientation a couple of times, good thing I had enough height where it didn't really matter. The next one will have a color scheme that really shows right side up or upside down better.

dked41

The latest addition to the collection is this DNU from Ulmer RC plans. Cox sure start for power and 2 channels.

I thought I'd show another of my planes, this one is .40 sized, built from donated scrappers. The parts are from a Hobbico superstar and an Alpha trainer, both planes came from friends who discovered gravity is not always your friend! The motor is mine and has had its fair share of misfortune.

The snow is rapidly melting under sunny skies and 50 degree temps. I do however have some sad news, due to a depth perception issue and a stray fence post, I must report the untimely demise of my low wing design plane. The salvagable parts will eventually live on, I may also paint that @!?#%* fencepost a bright orange!!

We only got about 5" snow, temp today is supposed to be around 40, Just finished shoveling and now it's time to think about going to work. So much for flying today,maybe tomorrow if the rain holds off. Started work on my 2nd GRACE ,here is a picture of the 1st. The plane was built with plans from Crow River RC . The plane is sheet balsa with a solid balsa wing, and an .049 Cox surestart. Control is rudder, elevator, with optional throttle, mine doesn,t have throttle, just a stock surestart. I added landing gear mostly for looks, and easier display.

More details on my AT-6 Texan, the plane is a kit from Herr, built in 2004. The engine is an AP .061 which runs well, the controls are rudder, elevator, aileron, and throttle. I am using an HS-81 servo for ailerons, and HS-55's for everything else. The reciever is a Hitec 555 with a Futaba transmitter. Flying is pretty easy, although not a beginner plane ( things happen pretty quick at speed) it can be fairly docile. I am not sure how, but it is still in one piece to this day.

Still cold and BREEZY here, but managed to get some stick time on my new plane. This one turned out to be a handful, not enough trim on the radio!, back to shop for little more mechanical adjustment. The weatherman says 5 to 8 inches of snow for tomorrow, guess I will have to wait for the next flight. The plane itself is sheet balsa with an ACE tapered foam wing,rudder and elevator control, and a Cox surestart with a 1 oz. tank. The all up weight came out at 12.8 oz. and seemed to be quicker in the air than anticipated on a stock .049, perhaps the 10-15 mph wind had something to do with that.