Well, after doing a couple little 12 inch Guillows planes I decided to take the plunge and go into building. I wanted something interesting but not TOO complicated. After a LOT of looking around, I was in the LHS and came across the Top Flite Elder 40 kit for an excellent price! I don't have a motor for it, but can pick up an OS or EVO Glow engine in the right size for a pretty good price. I also have ALL of the electronics to put into it, so the motor is going to be my only big price tag piece left.

This plane looks like a LOT of fun. All the info I have found in the net would indicate it is a good flyer and not too tricky to build so I took the plunge.

I then spent the afternoon setting up a build table in my garage / workshop. I used foam insulation for now, on a table, but will be shifting to ceiling tiles when I get to a hardware store that doesn't only sell them in huge bundles!

Got through all the preliminary stuff, and went to work on the Horizontal Stabilizer and Elevator tonight. Managed to get both those done. Man, there is a ton more fabrication / sanding than I realized. That said, it is turning out to be WAY more fun than I thought it would be. Didn't think I would have the patience to do this, and to be honest, I am still working on it, but I can see how this can be a VERY addictive part of the hobby.

ANYHOW, I shut it down for the evening after sanding the taper into the elevator halves and then joining them with the dowel and some epoxy. It's all free and solid, looking VERY nicely lined up to each other, no warps and now just curing.

Going to be on the road for the week, so next updates probably not till next weekend, but man, what a blast. Top Flite Stinson Reliant kit, here I come ... someday!

Marlin

Just today I stopped by the LHS and picked up this new plane on the way home. Weather was TERRIBLE, overcast, -3 C, trying to snow, quite windy, 15 - 30 km/hr, gusts, and turbulant on the street. Had to maiden it anyway.

The AS3X is SUPER effective, was actually FUN to fly, not terrifying, despite the fact that at 1/2 throttle is was actually going BACKWARDS at times! Managed to even do a vertical landing due to the heavy winds.

Can't wait to fly it in the calm and try some 3D flying.

Marlin

Maiden Flight - Eflite UMX SBach 3D (4 min 14 sec)

This summer was a good one, I mentioned that didn't I! I also got a new heli for the fleet, the Blade 300X with BeastX technology. Serious helicopter, this is no COAX or mSR / mCPX! It flys big, sounds big, and I must admit was a bit intimidating at first.

I only have a hand full of flights on it, but it is VERY stable. I am already doing flips and short hovers. Here is a video of my first attempts to learn 3D on this heli.

Marlin

Blade 300 X - Learn to Fly Mild 3D - Part 1 (3 min 42 sec)

Just a couple weeks ago I picked up the Parkzone UM Spitfire. It's a 1 cell, brushed motor micro, but with a twist ... it has built in AS3X stabilization technology. Flys amazing for a little 1 cell brushed, and sure does handle wind well. Lots of fun.

Marlin

Parkzone UM Spitfire - Maiden and Street Flight! (7 min 51 sec)

It's been a few months but this summer was a good one for me in terms of new planes. Here is a video of the maiden of my new Eflite UMX Mig 15 DF micro jet. This is my FIRST DF plane. VERY fun, very stable in the wind due to the built in AS3X technology. Remarkable little plane.

Marlin

Eflite UMX Mig 15 - Maiden Flight (5 min 12 sec)

Got back from my business trip and the flying club is now open and running. One of the lads there, Dave Ellis, had a PA Extra 260 he had purchased and built and put about 14 flights on. He was not enjoying the plane, it's more for 3D and he enjoys a faster plane that is more for sport aerobatics / pattern flying. As a result he sold it to me for a very reasonable price.

I had been looking at one of these for some time, wanting to get into 3D flying, but just didn't want to order it and pay the high price of a new one so this worked out great for me! Plopped an AR500 into it that I had bought off another club member who does not fly spectrum and voila, new to me used plane in the fleet.

First impression ... SIMPLY AMAZING! What a super flying plane. No bad tendancies at all. WILDLY slow and stable on the bottom end. Tons of power and verticle, even with the sport prop on it. (I have to get the 3D prop!)

Was incredibly easy to land. What can I say, just a jem. Have even been getting pretty good hovers out of it. Nice flat spins, nice knife edges, nice harriers, walls, etc. Just a beauty of a plane that makes me look like a much better pilot than I am.

Here is a video of the maiden.

Marlin

Precision Aerobatics Extra 260 Maiden Flight (8 min 49 sec)

Well I have been neglecting the BLOG for while so have a couple updates. First off, I got the Hanger 9 Corsair 50 size for Christmas. Over the winter I put it together and went with an electrical setup. All HITECH servos, Turnigy G42 motor, 4c 4000 & 5000 mah lipos and 70A ESC, MAS 13x8x3 prop. Using a Spectrum 6 channel full scale Rx with satelite Rx on my DX6i.

The build was pretty straight forward, though getting the gull wings together at the correct angle was a bit tricky. The molded belly plate was a bit out of shape so it took a lot of hot gun and bending to get it right. Other than those two things everything else was VERY EASY to do. Templates for the electrical motor mounting were great, as was provided mount. (I found the holes for the G42 might be ever so slightly off from the Power 42 from Eflite and required a bit of finessing to get it to fit, but nothing big.)

I got it out for a maiden flight right before leaving town for a 3 week business trip. All went GREAT, it looks amazing in the sky and is very stable, even in some wind. Landing was much easier than I thought it would be. Overall, was VERY impressed with this model.

Marlin

Hanger 9 Corsair 50 - Maiden Only - No Music (9 min 2 sec)

Well I finally got around to posting some video of my mCPX onto the tube. Nothing special, just flying on the street in front of my house last fall. Couple back flips, some fast passes, some hovering. Just a chance to let you see how nimble and plain old COOL this little heli is! Amazing technology to make something this small fly so well.

Marlin

EFlite Blade mCPX Mild 3D Front Steet Flight (3 min 46 sec)

Well the LHS got in the new Spitfire, along with my retracts and prebent struts. I had to have it and picked it up on Sept 14th, the day before the BoB memorial day in Great Britain. I put it together and managed to get a maiden flight in on the 15th! What a pure winner.

Here is the video from the maiden flight / tribute to the RAF pilots of the Battle of Britain! The first was my initial video with no background sounds. The second is a REMIX with some audio background clips that are period appropriate.

HIGHLY recomment HD and FULL SCREEN.

Marlin

PZ Spitfire Maiden Flight - BOB Anniversary Day! (4 min 32 sec)

And here is the much better audio REMIX behind the same video.

PZ Spitfire Maiden Flight - BOB Anniversary Day - Remix (4 min 32 sec)

...Continue Reading

Well folks, my wife surprised me the other day and I have a new addition to the air force, the Parkzone S.E. 5a (Scout Experimental 5a) WWI British Bi-Plane fighter.

I was interested in this plane when it was announced, but did not think I would buy it, as I honestly wasn't looking for a WWI model. When she got this for me I was SOOO impressed with the looks of the model once I had it out, it truly is a beauty! Great job on the details, it just looks the part.

It's a little more involved for assembly than the typical PZ BNF airplane, mostly around the landing gear, but still dead simple. Still, I did up an Un-Box and Build Tips video for those that might be interested.

Here it is, enjoy,

Marlin

RAF SE 5a Unbox & Build (12 min 55 sec)

Well, been thinking to get into more acrobatic aircraft for a while and looking at the 300. Heard and read all about the "issues" with the wing and "flipping" the wing, etc. From all I saw and read it seemed to me to be more an issue with improper (tail heavy) set up and flying than the plane, so I took the chance.

Bought the Extra 300 today. Set it up with MAX throws and holes, then set up dual rates so the LOW was as per the manual, HIGH just maxed out. Expo as per the manual on both.

VERY windy here (25-35 km per hour) but I HAD to maiden it. I was SERIOUSLY impressed. It handled the wind like it was NOTHING! AMAZING aircraft. After 2 clicks UP trim it was rock solid. First battery I had it looping, rolling, snap rolling, doing Cuban 8s, rolling up lines, mild harriers, hammer heads, inverted circuits, etc. It has TONS of power and speed, but also slows down VERY well.

Did some stall testing at height and was VERY happy with the stall characteristics. Slow it down level and the nose drops into a stall very predictably and is recovered from by simply adding power, get some speed and then pull out. If you have any altitude it's dead easy. The stall is also at a VERY slow speed, and you can see it coming so it should not surprise you.

Our club has ONLY grass, and it was a bit LONG today. That said, taxi, take off and landing WITH the stock wheels and wheel pants was not an issue.

Landings were actually VERY simple, and...Continue Reading

Well my wife got me a new plane for my birthday, the Parkzone P-47 Thunderbolt, also known as the JUG! What a nice plane. Flap and retract ready out of the box, z-foam so it is light and a parkflyer. AR600 Rx, 15 size electric motor so it has TONS of power. Nice finish, great looking bird.

I've had the Jug for almost 2 weeks now. I got it out right away and took a bunch of flight videos but only now got around to editting it together. First off, it flies great. I had some trimming to do, but after that it was ROCK solid, very true. TONS of rudder, elevator and aileron authority. NO problem with scale flight and minor aerobatics such as loops, rolls, Cuban 8's, Hammerheads, inverted flight, etc.

Take offs are as advertised, darn easy, ease into the throttle and the tail will lift in short order. Keep slowly increasing throttle and it's in the air in no time. Use some right rudder to keep it pointed straight and you should have no issues. Landings are also predictable and easy. I use full flaps to slow the jug down, as it wants to carry it's speed, it's very stable and lands well, even in some pretty justy conditions.

Retracts on order and I can't wait to get them installed. I missed the landing of the first flight, but it was good, trust me! To make up for it I have put together a bunch of take offs and landings afterwards, starting at 2:30 of the video. All were in pretty strong winds and cross winds, as the fields I fly at had obstructions in the flight path to t/o and land directly into the wind.

I am getting more capable with this bird every flight and am loving it. Keep on flying!

Marlin

Parkzone P-47 Thunderbolt Maiden, Landings and Takeoffs ... (10 min 2 sec)

Folks,

I have NO IDEA why it has taken me this long to do up this video. My wife picked up the Parkzone P-51D Gunfighter, brushless foamy, for me back in August of 2010. I flew the heck out of it all summer / fall and even a few times this winter and love this plane. It handles wind MUCH better than any other plane I have. It is rock steady in flight, going exactly where you point it, and pretty much flys inverted as good as it does normal!

I have done up a couple videos for it, and posted to Youtube, but never did put in a blog entry. Well tonight I edited up the Unbox / Build video, and going to do up the CRASH video next. I will also post links to all of my FLIGHT videos in the COMMENTS section, as there are a couple.

NOTE: CRASH VIDEO is now editted and uploaded, see comments for the link.

This is a great plane, and VERY cheap. The only mods I have done to it are the rudder mod, right out of the box, and early winter I dropped in the Trojan prop and a 30 A ESC to get a bit more speed. It is a beauty.

Marlin

Parkzone Mustang Build (8 min 10 sec)

Well, I was at the LHS with a buddy and we both picked up new helis today. He got a Blade mSR as he has graduated from the MCX. I decided to take the plunge into Collective Pitch helis after a lot of looking around the net and got the latest offering from Blade, the mCPX. It's slightly larger than the mSR, smaller than the 120 SR, and fully 3d capable!

It is flybarless and a technological miracle in a box, really! This thing is an absolute HOOT to fly. A lot more challenging and fun than the mSR, as while it is QUITE stable in hover, it does not have the CPU self leveling features of the mSR, so if you get out of level you have to react yourself or it just keeps going where you are pointed, at what ever orientation you are in, and it does it QUICKLY!

That said, it's a blast to fly. I had it out for a couple flights on the street today in a pretty good wind. (Grounded my Mossie and other UM aircraft.) It handles the wind like it's not even there. Very impressive.

Still haven't had the guts to try any 3d with it, though I have been flying about in stunt mode on low rates and like how it handles.

I have the model on Clearview so have been spending time this evening on the sim. Amazingly good re-creation to be honest.

This is going to be a FUN bird and I can see loosing a lot of time to this one. Stay tuned for pics / vids when I get a chance.

Marlin

Well, my wife was VERY kind to me and bought a new PZ Mosquito for me as an anniversary gift! (Can't beat that can you guys!) I have had it up 6 or 7 times now and LOVE this thing. It's very stable, though in higher winds you have to manage it a bit like a glider as it has a huge wing area.

The weather has been bad in that we still have tons of snow, so finding a place to fly has been challenging. I have been using an open field by a roadway in the sub-division as well as the parking lot of a movie theater when it is not in use. Here is a video of the first flight without wind where I truly got to test out the Mossie and see how it flew.

PZ Mosquito UM Test Flight (7 min 12 sec)

I have since been doing a LOT of low flying, touch and gos, chandelles, loops, rolls, etc., in the parking lot and this plane flies great. The twin engines sound unique and amazing. I am going to try to get a video of the plane at the theater flying lower and closer in so you can get a better feel for just how awesome it looks and flies.

NOTE See the comments for links to MORE videos! The next one is some close quarters flying in a parking lot, touch and goes, slow and lows, loops, rolls, even some inverted flying, all in 10 km/hr winds with some gusting going on!

Marlin

I have forgotten to update the old BLOG section, since Christmas, but I am VERY pleased with the new plane my wife bought me, the Eflite Beast UMX from Horizon Hobby! It's the latest Ultra Micro (Xtreme) form HH and is an absolute BLAST to fly. I have only put about 5 flights through it, on the stock 120 mah battery, as it's tough finding suitable landing spaces in the 4 foot snow banks we have right now. That said, it's an amazing bit of engineering to say the least. It will go straight up vertical, no problem, and on high rates rolls so fast you are into the second roll before you release the sticks if you are not ready for it!

Harriers are great, rock solid with the bi-plane wings! Inverted and knife edge or non-issues, very predictable. Easy to land, just keep a bit of power on right to the ground. If you want an even more fun way to do it, try a slow harrier at eye level, rudder turning circle right in front of you then slowly reduce thrust as you descend and plop it on the ground in about 1 foot right in front of you! It's amazing, it really is! It even makes me look good!

Pics and vid to follow.

Also soldering up my own 2 cell Hyperion Lipos for this baby, 180mah, based on the instructions from Joel (turboparker on RCGroups) which were very helpfull. Come in at 2 grams heavier than the stock pack but according to Joel they are giving it 16% more thrust (RPM's) and of course longer flying times. I can't wait to try the first one I made out.

Pics and vid to follow. (PICS, VIDEO and how I did it now detailed in the thread! Also a short Flight Vid in some serious wind no the street in front of my house!)

Man this is a fun plane, it's going to be GREAT in the summer. I find it even easier to fly and control in tight than the Su 26xp, and yet it has more outright power and speed, more capable acrobatics envelope, and believe me, it's even BETTER looking! (It's a real killer to look at!)

Very happy with it so far!

Marlin

Forgot to mention, before getting the Stinson I picked up a Blade mSR Fixed Pitch micro heli! What an easy to fly, stable little bird. I have a blast with it. I have replaced the landing gear, tail FIN and main rotors with the glow in the dark parts. Combined with the light in the canopy it looks awesome in low to no light in the garage.

Very eary to fly, very easy to hover, hands off even, and yet as a single fixed pitch heli it is WAY more maneuverable than my coax heli. Great second heli and step up towards more twitchy flying.

I found between this mSR and loads of SIM time I can now hover the Novus FP pretty darn well. It's still twitchy, and I damaged it almost beyond repair, but I have gotten some nice hovers in the garage, no problem.

Anyhow, love the mSR, but it's got me wanting a 3D heli ... SR or 400 here I come ...

2011 Feb 20 UPDATE

Well, I have FINALLY gotten around to taking SOME video of the mSR! This heli has been GREAT to fly, but I have a hard time convincing the boys to come and film for me. This weekend, problem solved, I built a home made HAT CAM out of an old ball cap, threaded bolt, 3 nuts, 3 washers and a nylon spacer! It seems to actually work pretty well, though I have to be carefull when filming my planes to make sure it is pointed UP high enough.

Here's the test video of the HAT CAM and the first flight video of the Eflite Blade mSR!

Marlin

Eflite Blade mSR & Hat Cam Video (4 min 9 sec)

Well, there is a NEW BIRD in the hanger, a PZ Stinson! What a beaut of a plane. Picked it up yesterday afternoon, put it together last night and got up this morning DETERMINED to get a maiden flight in.

Here is the unbox video:

Stinson Unbox ONLY (6 min 8 sec)

Here is the Build Video:

Stinson Build (10 min 36 sec)

...Continue Reading

Well, ordered a bunch of stuff from Hobby King to upgrade my spitty ... watching the tracking info, it's been from Hong Kong, to Singapore, then to Zurich, and now on to who knows where ... long ways from Hong Kong to Canada, that's for sure.

In the mean time, I got tired of NOT flying the spitfire, so I put a new crank case in it, and had it up tonight. My son took some video I am uploading to YouTube. Once done I will post the link.

Wonder where my order is now ....

UPDATE: It's arrived. I have all the parts, except for the engine mount spacer. Thinking about taking some PHOTOS and showing this as a MOD / BUILD thread, in case others are looking to do something.

FURTHER UPDATE: All new parts in, new Servo for AIL, added a rudder, flying on AR6110e! Vid links within the attached comments ...

LATEST UPDATE: The thread now contains a detailed accounting of the complete re-build of the PZ Spitfire, including glassing the body, brushless motor and mount, DSM2 Rx upgrade, dual aileron servo mod, rudder mod, split flap mod, re-paint and soon retract mod. Pictures and video in the thread, along with many comments and tips from others who are following it.

My son took our low end, 4x Optical camera out with me to the park and we filmed a bit of flying. The wind started of STRONG, but manageable, but quickly started to get too strong. It was gusty, and changing direction by the minute, and at the end was just too unpredictable and strong to fly in so we shut down early, but it was still a lot of fun.

Here is the video from it. We had to edit out lots as it was pretty shaky, out of site / focus or off target, but we are both still learning.

Have a good one.

Windy Day flying of PZ ME 109 (5 min 46 sec)

Marlin