Update on the "Slow Winter".....it blended into a slow summer. Life is just busy but progress was slowly made. Too bad I didn't think to take progress pics

This build was loosely based on a Baja Bug (https://www.instagram.com/justinbeansmith/) and it's finally complete.

Next up is an Ultra4 rig based on https://www.instagram.com/twayes/ I'm currently mocking up the frame in wood.

Even though the weather hasn't been as cold as year's past, my flying log has been dismal. However I've been passing the time with a new build that is taking me in a new direction in the RC world.

I wound up getting a Twin Hammers crawler as a "tinker" project to pass some time. It's actually a clone of the Twin Hammers, a WLToys K949. With the exception of the electronics, the frame and body are the same as the real deal. Which means, I've spent way to much budget on real Twin Hammer upgrades.

In a nut shell, upgrades have included RC4WD wheels and tires, aluminum axle and trailing arms, scale king shocks front and back, Castle SCT Sidewinder ESC and 4700kv motor, Trackstar Gyro radio and Rx and metal gears all around.

Looking at various builds through the interwebs I'm taking inspiration from a few and duplicating a Baja Bug version I found. It's been a while since I've built a plastic model but I dove into it using a hard shell body from the Tamiya Sand Scorcher. A few incorrect holes to mount a roof rack were the only issues so far.

Other work to be done includes painting the body, mounting the roof rack, got some LED lights, and various scale details I'm looking to do.

I have recently come into ownership of a 1970's balsa trainer. The Aamco Big H-Ray. I only know this through the general help and discussion from the fine folks here on rcgroups:

https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/show....php?t=2514583

I have been told this specimen had been flown but it's so clean I can't believe it has. It's been hanging for about 20 years, maybe it was cleaned before being displayed from a ceiling. In any event, I'm discovering this was not as popular or spectacular as some other models of the time period but this one should be fun to fly none-the-less.

Information on this model is basically non-existent on-line. I haven't been able to find any plans, VERY limited pictures and even less, other examples of this model. Most I've been able to find are pictures from online auctions and classified ads. Most of those are of NIB packages or partially built. Even here on RCGroups most references to Aamco and Lou Andrews point to the A-Ray, S-Ray and H-ray trainers and his master series such as the Trainermaster, Acromaster, Aeromaster and Minimaster. I guess the Big H-Ray wasn't a very big seller.

Fine by me, just makes this even more unique.

Specifications as it sits:
Engine - K&B .40
Size Bore Stroke H.P. RPM Weight Prop
0.40 0.84 0.72 1 2,600-13,000 13.5 oz 10X6

Wingspan - 56"
Area - 560 sq. in.
Weight - 4 to 4 3/4 lbs.

....so little time

https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/show...&postcount=661

Tried my hand at it for the first time this past weekend.

I didn't get a video but it was so much fun. And really really hard too. I never realized how difficult it was to cut a silly ribbon! I have a new found respect for that type of flying.

You play the game you pay the price. The Bloody Wonder did well in regular flying but a few dumb thumbs later and bit of cockiness ends up being a walk of shame. However,
a balsa power pod covered with two layers of ultra thin fiberglass makes for a very very tough pod. This one nosed in from 50 feet and there is not a scratch on the pod! It's
ready to go into the next frame.

At least now I get to build another plane!!

***EDIT - Got some builds planned for the winter now....***

Just completed the Bloody Wonder with a balsa power pod and fuse that is fiber glassed. Tough as nails. I already dorked it twice and bent the landing gear. No damage to the pod or plane! So I made new gear and she's back flying...my flying buddy has one (all foam) and hopefully we can get out to cut some streamers before winter arrives.

I also just finished up a new Flyer. The old one was beat up a bit but you gotta have one of these in the hangar at all times!

Planning some winter builds though Some options I am considering:

1) A new FT Duster
2) FT Racer, as Dusty has to have someone to race
3) Durafly Autogyro, for something different to fly
4) HobbyKing Pheonix 2000 sail plane
5) The 1/2A Hornet pylon racer for a more traditional and satisfying build.

Five builds this winter should pass the time nicely! Of course leaving the two ARF kits as stock builds is not an option. I have to make them mine and improve on the kits as the threads here suggest. A wing did not make the list as I think I have enough going right now and I'm still hesitant on the excitement of a wing. I might sneak in the FT Versa to see what all the hub bub is about and go from there....cheap way to try out a wing.

Other than that I'm hopefully going to clean up, organize my shop and make a new building bench.

I have been painfully slow in building a Multiplex FunCub for the past two years. It's just taken longer than I wanted to for various reasons...that could be a whole other post but I won't bother you with the minutiae. On top of that it has been doubly painful to realize that even though this kit is $99.00 when on sale, I have put A LOT of money into it to make it fly and look the way I want. Of course I could have slapped the kit stickers on it and be done but then it would look just like the picture on the box. Why do that?



Then comes Flite Test. Holy crap I have more planes now. Construction methods and material aside, I love their planes. Yes they are heavy with hot glue and paper faced foam but I don't mind the weight. It helps penetrate the wind and gives me an excuse to use bigger motors. So far I haven't had an issue with wing loading. So without further delay here are some of the nicer specimens I've built recently.

I guess I'm glutton for punishment. Another tangent project...I built a charging "station"

It's not so much a station as a case for my small charger and battery needs. My lipos range from 2s-800mah up to only a 3s-2000mah. But going to the field with various lipos, the charger the planes and spare parts wound up being an exercise on the stair master as I live in a second floor apartment. I wanted something, clean and simple and easy to carry. RCGroups to the rescue again....

This went through various stages and did I mention I think I have A.D.D.? It's self diagnosed but I swear I have it. I don't have completed pics of my first version as it did not last long. It was big and bulky and wound up being more of a pain to carry as it was unbalanced. I tried to fit the transmitter and charger in one case but wound up not liking the arrangement. It also housed my "field battery", a 4s 10ah lifepo that could charge my small batteries sufficiently.

I used this for only a short while and decided on a smaller case for the charger and doing something else for my DX6i. Again, the case houses my charger, a 106B and the AC power supply but also has the same 4s 10ah field battery underneath. I used the small harbor freight case and lined it with industrial velcro to hold all the various wires and gear. I'm still using this setup as it has been working well.

I have plans for a third variation in the future....that will be in a future blog post though as I...Continue Reading

My second plane...and my third, and fourth and....

So after my flirtations with electronics and dabbling in radio hardware I realized I just wanted to fly. My DX6i was sufficient (for now) and I flew on the simulator for about six months getting more used to the two stick coordination. During that time I was immersed in various RCgroups threads and researching planes. Feeling much more comfortable on the simulator I finally decided I was ready for another one.

I fell in love with Multiplex FunCub. I promptly read through the famously long thread (it was much shorter in 2011) and researched the power package I wanted and ordered everything. And I mean everything. I ordered a new battery charger, power supply, batteries, motors, servos, materials and of course the plane itself. The funny part is this is about the time I realized I have A.D.D. Why? Because the FunCub sat in the box for another year.

I don't have pictures but I spent some time building scratch built foamies and using the 24gram blue wonder motor and gear from my LoLo. I built a lot of them. The Superslow, Deltas, Jimmy's J-bug and a couple frames from Ken (aka: bz1mcr). I did this as they were cheap builds and gave me some real life flying experience. I didn't have a flying buddy at the time and flying time was sparse. I was rough on a lot of them adn basically all of them either didn't survive or I didn't build them well and wound up gutting them for a new build.

After time though and with continued...Continue Reading

So I was happily flying my LoLo for a year or so. I didn't have much time to do so as I had three small kids. But I was able to enjoy my labor of love for about a year until as my previous story explained, I crashed it in the fall of 2011.

What to do next? Back to the inter-webs I go looking for a new challenge and oh boy did I find one. If I say "Microstar 2000" and you either drool with excitement or shudder in fear then you know where I'm headed. If you ask "what the heck is a Microstar 2000" then go here: http://mstar2k.com/microstar-2000

So it was winter 2011 and I had no plane. What would any logical person do? Build another plane fool! What did I do? I built a radio even though, even though, I already owned a DX6i.....AND.....I didn't have a plane. Go figure.

I went about researching and looking and thinking about what I wanted in a radio. Now the DX6i was OK, but I just had a hard time with the two hand thing. I can't play piano, I'm not ambidextrous and my left hand really only helps me button my shirt. Otherwise I don't use it so it seemed silly that it should control my rudder and throttle. Again, if you are with me on the Microstar 2000 adventure then you know I'm heading towards single stick. Yes I remember single stick radios. Long story short, between the Yahoo! message groups, Andy Horka and the Microstar 2000 I converted and old Kraft single stick radio into a fully functional 9-channel DSM2 beast. I spent 3 months building it, learning the programming and trying it out on the simulators.

After all that, I just couldn't get the hang of it and wound up selling it.

So after a whole winter, the perfect building season there I sat. With my DX6i, a simulator, and no plane.

Maybe I started RC flight earlier than I realized circa 1980

Remember Kraft Radios? I used to watch my father fly (and crash) his trainers with this radio. I was too young to try, or so he said. Maybe it's because back then there wasn't a buddy box or RC simulators. Our usual trips to the local park would end up taking more time to pack the gear, unpack the gear, setup the plane and subsequently pick up the broken parts and dig the nitro engine out of the 12" crater left in the ground than we did flying. But in any event, I loved watching his planes fly for the two minutes they were in the air.

Fast Forward 30 years.... circa 2010

I took my kids to the local park where there is a sizable pond. There were some gentlemen in lawn chairs sailing some RC sailboats around a course. My kids were lost in time watching these boats for about an hour. Don't ask me how RC sailboats made my mind relate to airplanes but it did. That night I promptly found RCgroups and read....a lot.

My First Plane....
Well I dove right in and got myself a DX6i and a free simulator. I wound up playing with that for a while until I thought I could handle a real life plane. Since I grew up watching my father build, and rebuild, balsa planes it's all I knew about the hobby. So I purchased a LoLo and got to building. It was a glorious build and I couldn't have been happier with traditional building methods. Sadly, I did not think to take pictures during the build so all I have are these completed shots of the plane.

I had a lot of fun with this plane and it served me well. Until it's ultimate demise from the typical dumb thumbs. It was my first lesson in real life stall speed as I dropped a wing tip in too slow of a turn and she fell out of the sky. I have a spare air frame and maybe someday LoLo V2.0 will come about.