Super Ultimate Slash 4x4



Hello All, I have not spent a lot of time flying as it seems I've been preoccupied with my Traxxas RC vehicles. Its amazing how much time effort and money one of these units can consume....

I have been having a lot of fun upgrading my Slash Ultimate and in the mean time I built a Rally from a roller chassis I picked up. The Rally is basically a LCG (Low Center Gravity) Slash set to rally car trim. I thought it may be fun to have a cross platform RC car that can run well on pavement, as well as dirt roads.. It was a great idea until I started accumulating arts that will convert this Rally into a GT8 on road car. Funny how projects progress.

Here it is with a Ford Focus Body that may not see use once converted to GT8



I performed some speed trials on the Rally and hit a respectable 62MPH using a 4s Lipo, powered with a Castle Creations Mamba Monster 2 ESC and Neu-Castle 1512-2650kv motor. It was then I decided to convert it fully to GT8 running on road.

Pilot Rally Run

Traxxas Rally Pilot Run (3 min 4 sec)

Second Rally and Ultimate run

Traxxas Ultimate & Rally Speed Runs (3 min 48 sec)

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My friend and I took the RC trucks out to the beach for some sand running. I have never done this before, and I know how hard it is on equipment, not to mention the chore of cleaning afterward. Let me say it was worth it, just for the pictures! I would do it all again.

I installed a Castle Creations Mamba Monster 2 ESC as well as a Neu-Castle 1415-2400kv motor running a 3s with 18/54 gearing. The truck performed very well, having loads of torque, and plenty of speed.

My Friends Summit has been modified with a Mamba Monster 2 ESC and 1512 -2650kv motor. It was insanely fun on the sand this day, do to the speed and control of the big tires he had mounted. The flotation was with out peer on the soft fine sand.




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So I have not been flying as much this year. I have been plying with my full size cars, photography work and playing with RC cars. It was RC cars that brought me into this hobby so many years ago, so it's only fitting I spend some time there.

I bought a HPI Sprint 2 Flux and a Slash 4x4 Ultimate a while back and these two have really consumed my RC time this season. The Slash has been a hoot to play with and the upgrades I keep finding for it are endless... It's like crack cocaine surfing ebay looking for parts.

The HPI Sprint has been more of a slow boil, as I was wanting to fit an McLaren body to it. These touring cars, really don't like low bodies like GTP, Can Am's and Prototypes. This is a sad state of affairs for me as those are the types of bodies I love, rather than these Mazda Speed or Infinity sedans that all look like nothing n the road today, and general resemble a Honda Civic.... Nothing against those cars, just not fulfilling to me as a car to play with while I dream and imagine while driving them... I digress.. I got the body to fit and hope to test run the car today.

Not to totally neglect the Airplane scene. I ordered a Park Zone Extra 300. I thought I needed a plane in my hanger that was simple, quick and easy to fly. I can load it in my SUV with out a lot of issues, fly it at the field, be in and out with out taking up the whole morning. Plus is foam so most pilot errors are generally fixable with out a lot of work. I'll let...Continue Reading

My buddy had been after me for some time to get a Slash, so I finally cave in and ordered Slash Ultimate. It came home to me yesterday from Edmonton, so I only had time to make some connectors, charge the batteries and familiarize myself with the kit. I was waffling between the Platinum Kit and buying a quality radio like a Futaba or Airtronics, but decided to just get the RTR for the time being, so I could basically plug and play.

I have to say, I was surprised in the irony of getting my kit in the Greg Adler color scheme, only because 2 of my friends already have the Slash 4x4 in this scheme. Needless to say something had to be done about it. So a trip to the hobby store at lunch today yielded a Robbie Gordon scheme. I was actually looking for a clear body I could paint, but there really wasn't anything in stock at the store, so I settle for this one as I liked the bright color. I also had plans of paining a body in pearl white and flo orange, so this one called my name.

After work my friends and I headed out to a local BMX track and proceeded to bash, what a hoot! I was using a pair of Nanotech 5300mah, 70c packs I had purchased for an on-road car I was building, but used them here instead. I was amazed at the amount of run time form these packs, and how much power they supplied to the truck! 2 packs was more than enough for the evening of running around.

About the only disappointment I have is the feel of the steering wheel feedback on the TQi...Continue Reading

I went to the flying field today. I flew my PZ P-51 Mustang ad PZP-47 Elsie. But the real highlight of the day was assisting fellow cub member Duncan with his 1/3 scale Waco Bi-Plane! This thing was gorgeous! It's powered by a Moki 250cc, 5 cylinder radial engine (I believe). It sounded amazing! It looked beautiful in the air. I was using Duncan's camera as such did not get my own pictures in the air

Unloading




Pre oiling the push rods and rockers
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Wow, has it really been that long since I came here and made an entry to my RC Blog?!?!

I've been busy with many other things in my life, but I did have some time to head out flying at our local club's field. I just took the PZ P51 Mustang out to get tuned up, baby I was rusty, but nobody was hurt

So I've started to dust of my planes somewhat and get them back into flying shape. I have also started to paly around with my RC cars again, nothing serious, just toys to zoom around parking lots with at this time. I did go hang around with the Saskatoon Association of Radio Control Auto Racers (SARCAR) An old friend and fellow Racer by the name of Gary Lanzer was there, still racing hard. He even let me take one of his spare cars for a spin!

It was amazing to see how much had changed over the years from when I use to race 1/12 and 1/10 Pan cars. Everything is Touring Cars now. Hard to say if I will get back into racing again, as the time commitment seems it would take more time than I really have to give. However it was fun to hang out and play with RC cars again.

I had also picked up a couple of HPI RC cars for my friend and I to play with. It was what brought me back to interest sake, however we are just having fun running around parking lots. I want to build a Parking lot machine just for speed runs, but I have a lot to learn and adapt to since my days. For the time being I hope to get out flying more and to finish my Nemesis this season.

Thanks For Reading!

VZ

I have always wanted one of these back in the day, now it's re-released!




I got a HPI Sprint 2 Sport for my friend new to RC cars, we will upgrade it to brushless when he's ready


I picked me up a HPI Sprint 2 Flux for parking lot abuse, its PDQ




I picked up a 1/10 HPI McLaren body, but it will not fit the Sprint 2 FLux due to how low the body is... The TC Shock towers and main gear are much too high


I may need a pan car to model this McLaren

I made a quick video this morning of the retracting tail wheel in action. This is a great mod for the P-47 and really cleans up the look in the air.

The mod uses a Robart # 122 Retractable Tail wheel assembly. I also used a 3/4" inch Dubro wheel to keep the size down. It's not as scale looking as another small wheel I had for the mod, but it's smaller. The smaller wheel should help with the nose overs as well as the spacers on the backside of the main gear.

I programed a 3 sec delay in my DX8 Tx, which slows down the action of the wheel to more scale proportions. it could maybe use a few more seconds.

Park Zone P-47 Snafu Retract Tail wheel.wmv (0 min 26 sec)

2012-04-04 Update....

I have the plane mostly covered and was able to test out a paint sample on the cowl. Close but I think I want it a bit closer. I will take samples up to my local Autobdy paint store and get a match.





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Went out winter flying today... I know Lyle who maintains our field keeps the runway pretty clear, so I brought out my two P-47's in hopes that I maybe able to fly them. At the field, a quick assessment indicated I could probably take off, however landing may be a tougher with the uneven ground. The snow was crusty so it would not give way and most likely would flip the plane as it landed. This was happening to the smaller plane with skis.

I decided not to fly them and save them for another day. I did bring out my trusted PZ P-51, and put 4 packs through it. Quite a few members showed up today. It was nice to be out socializing with everyone. I was out for about 2 hours before heading off.

Temperature was about -2C with 10km winds. Beautiful day for flying, especially when you have been cooped up all winter....Continue Reading

No sooner had I finished up the Christen Eagle II, I cleared off my bench and started on the Alien Tech Nemesis EF1.

I got the motor box glued up the first night, the next evening I glued the fuselage sides together, and pressed them overnight. Tonight I framed up the main fuse and got the landing gear plates installed. So far so good!

I'm really enjoying this construction process and hope to build an airframe that flies true, fast and is durable too. I'm amazed at how well designed a kit like this can be to put together. The last kit I built was a long time ago and was composed of inked parts that needed to be cut out

I know there are some areas ahead I'll need to pay attention to and take care, however so far it's been very relaxing and therapeutic ...Continue Reading

The motor, spinner and prop arrived today! What a machine! I like the size of it and I'm anxious to to get it fitted, but must ten to domestic chores first, like making supper

Still was able to get some pictures in...


I got the motor box mounted and glued in place. I then mounted the motor just to See how she fits. It just fits... The Prop adapter is a 12mm shaft, so I need a bigger prop reamer as well I will need to drill out the Spinner back plate. My current one is only good to 10mm. With the Dave Brown Spinner, I think a longer bolt will be all that is needed to reach the prop adapter pre drilled and tapped hole. Good deal!

I noticed the motor box mounting cap screws are much longer than required so I will cut them down just to be sure I don't punture Lipos for any reason....Continue Reading

I received my Nemesis EF1 kit today from Archie Adamsin (Iceman67), what a great thing to come home to and see it sitting in my hallway waiting for me

I was surprised at the small size of the box, however not really as this is a kit plane, as such it would be compact. I quickly cleared off some space on my bench and got to opening and fingering up all the parts! Needless to say I'm excited to get started on this, however realize I need to finish off my Bi-Plane first, as I don;t have the workspace to do both. Plus I want to give this plane my full undivided attention.

This kit was originally offered by Red Jensen, and when I missed getting one of these I disappointed until I heard Archie was now kitting the design. I so jumped on this, and cancelled my pre order I had on a E-Flite Shoestring ARF. I still want one of those, but I wanted this one more, and I was trying to be realistic with the timing. Besides this will give E-Flite time to iron out the minor issues with the kit in time for me

As soon as I ordered the kit form Archie I went to the hobby store and picked out my film covering rolls and colors. You see I have a scheme all planned for this, however now looking at the scale Nemesis racer and Red's photos, I'm sort of wanting the scale looking plane more and more.... The good thing is I have lots of time to decide which way to finish this, scale or my scheme...

For power I have a EF1 set up already, however I may also look at a higher powered...Continue Reading

I've been working on mine a little at a time, it seems with this sprained ankle, I'm just not as active or coherent, and most times just want to lay on the couch and watch sports..

I did get the landing gear installed as well as the tail feathers glued on. Every time I look at this unit I catch my self saying "F*$k me, this is going to be one sweet plane to fly..." Pardon my Chinese, but there is something about this plane that just speaks to me. I love the size and girth of the unit, yet it is so compact and efficient looking. I love the shape and stance of it!

I got my servos and power system ordered up. I will be using Hyperion HP-DS20-FMD Metal Gear digitalis for all controls. I'm using 2 of these in my Sundowner 50 with good success, while using the HP-DS16-FMD for the wings due to the thinner airfoil. I chose to stick with the DS20 for the wings in the Eagle for there is enough room in the wing. These servos have great speed and super strong torque specs.

For the Power System I went with an E-Flite Power 110. Not sure what to do with the spinners until I get the motor and see how it fits and go from there. I picked up a 10Amp Castle E-BEC to be used, but I have not yet decided on my ESC. I was going to just get a CC 100 Amp Ice, however I may just transfer that same 100amp ESC from my Sundowner 50 to the Eagle and replace the Sundowner with a HV unit so I can step that system up to a 10s, from 8s....

In case nobody has noticed, I'm really liking...Continue Reading

The Eagle has Landed today. I had a quick look, The one thing that was really impressive yet funny was the fuselage. It's huge in a strange way. Short but chubby! The girth of it is impressive. It reminds me of some kind of fish... Heh!

This is one nice airplane! I'm so looking forward to building and flying it...

With the discontinuation of the BH Pitts, I reverted to Plan B... The Hangar 9 Christen Eagle II 90 size. This is about a 1/5 scale plane, so it still in the class I was looking for.

It was confirmed that Hangar 9 was shipping today and I was told I should have mine in about 2 weeks time. That works out just in time for Christmas holidays, it will give me time to paw it up and strategize on it's construction and power specifications. I'm thinking E Flite Power 110 (295kV), Scorpion S4035 (330kV), equivalent or up spec, powered with 8s Lipos. I may have to get a Sullivan smoker kit as well

I'm sure Hangar 9 has done a great job on it, so I'm looking forward to it



Video

Hangar 9 Christen Eagle (1 min 39 sec)

On another note, I received my Turnigy G25 710Kv motors and servos today for my P-47 Project. The servos are slightly bigger than I wanted, they will fit with some carving, but I may just get something else for the flaps, and save these for another project.

The G25 motors look good and I was hoping to run some power readings, however I don't happen to have motor connectors and will need to go tot the hobby store tomorrow. Stay tunes, I'll post results in the P-47 Thread or in my Build Blog.

More & Completed Photos in thread comments



I thought it was time to post an update to this project. It really sort of began in the middle of summer after a faithful midair, head on collision. I was flying along the flight line about 30 feet high; WOT, when I struck another plane head on. The plane looked very rough but fixable. The fuselage was in good shape with the exception of the cracks in the firewall. The wing was torn up pretty bad, but fixable. I decided to order the P-47 replacement airframe to transfer over the guts and hold on to the crash parts for a possible future project.

The New air frame was built up with the original Snortin Bull however I had upgraded the motor to a Turnigy G25 870kV, with a Plush 60amp ESC. Using a 4s 2650 Lipo and the stock 9.5 x7.5 prop, this thing really tore up the sky with unlimited power and climb rates, all the while giving 5 solid minutes of flight time, mostly WOT! It is a much improved plane when it has this kind of power and speed. I then rebadge this Snortin Bull 2 as "Elsie, LiL Butch" from Callie Graphics, and I'm very happy with the look of this plane and scheme. There is something about a silver bubble top Jug that I just love!

So, Snorting Bull 1, was all crashed, gutted and in need of some love. I ordered the Park Flyer Plastics Razorback conversion kit and started at it. I have always wanted to do the Snafu P-47 Razorback, so an email to Callie Graphic set the wheels in...Continue Reading

I just wanted to say this winter is going to be really long! Sure I have a few projects I'm working on and some to look forward to, but mostly I miss the feeling of being out at the field and flying....

Our club and Hobby Store have Indoor Golf Dome flys, and I have been flying my UM planes and mainly re-acquainting myself with all my Helicopters again, but I really miss flying a few planes... My Sundowner and MX Extra the most!

I was fooling around today, dreaming and throttling up the Sundowner just for kicks. I decided to snap a few photos of it.

I hope it's a short winter....

Thanks For reading!

VZ

With the flying season nearly over in Saskatchewan, Canada, our focus turns to indoor flying at the Golf Dome and school gyms. I decided to finally convert my Park Zone Ultra Micro P-51 Mustang over to the "Cripes A Mighty" paint scheme. As much as I have liked the stock Mustang, the one thing that bothered me most was the Styrofoam canopy. it just screams "MODEL PLANE" loudly to me. I realize these will at most times look like model planes, at best, but this was a nick pick of mine. In the air it actually looked real enough...

I added the Park Flyer Plastics cockpit and canopy set. The graphics came from Callie Graphics. Overall, I'm pretty pleased with the results... It's not perfect, but I think it looks a bit better, and it should be a bit more unique at the indoor flying sessions. I plan to fly it gear less, however the gear and homemade doors were more for the static display.

I have a few more indoor planes to get ready. A Sukhoi XP26, and my Champ. I may also look at purchase of a UM 3D plane as well. I will probably turn my attention back on to my Helicopters as well for the indoor season. We are allowed to fly up to 450 size Helis, and My Walkera V450 has been neglected of late.

As for Big outdoor plane projects, I have a few on the go, and a few in the planning stages... I hope it's short winter season


If it doesn't snow today I may take my ParkZone 40 P-51 out for a flight or 2...

After a bit of sit and see, what the season would bring, I though it time to upgrade my Tx. I had wanted the DX8 from the start, but I didn't know how hard I wanted to commit to the hobby. At the time I thought the DX6 was all I wanted to be in for, as much as I wanted the DX8.

I have run out of Model memory so I had no choice. I was waffling between the DX8 and the JR 11x. In the end I went with the DX8 just for the price, the telemetry unit and the Extra Bonus FREE AR8000 Rx ... Whats not to like?

I think this should fit the bill for a little while longer. The one thing I was not looking forward to was the re program and set-up of all my aircraft's. However the longer I delay, the more it builds up so I thought best do in ASAP.

So that's it, nothing really special, but I had to write about something

Thanks For Reading!

VZ

I'm totally pumped and still vibrating on a high from how great this PA Extra MX plane flies! This plane is actually making me into a better pilot!

Today I took the Extra MX and my Pogo EF1 out to the flying field.... These 2 planes could not be further at both ends of the spectrum LOL! I flew the Extra MX first, then the Pogo. Both were fun, but freaky in contrast! The MX was relaxing, yet exhilarating at the same time. The Pogo was just a high speed adrenaline rush from start to finish, with no rest in between

They're so different, however I'll probably not pair this combo together for some time The MX was like a Cup of Hot Chocolate on a cold day, the Pogo was like chasing it afterward with a Berry Blast Slurpee! That's not to say I could do with out one or the other, rather each plane has it's moments, depending on my mood and how I want to fly. Seeing sail planes out at the field really set the tone, as did starting with the MX. I flew one flight with the Pogo and then flew the MX for the remainder of the day

Anyway, the Extra MX was awesome to fly! This plane is actually making me into a better pilot, in that it makes me look good, doing stuff I never knew I could even think of doing. I'm a rank beginner trying to move to intermediate pilot, but I was Knife edging the length of the flight line, flying inverted the length of the field, finishing with an outside loop and roll, doing inverted spins.... Actually hovering!

On lookers were...Continue Reading