Just noticed, it has been years since I have updated my blog. I'm still active in the hobby. Building and flying mostly www.flitetest.com stuff over the past couple of years. Too much fun!

The first one is going strong but it was so much fun to build, I found myself constructing another. It is basically the same as the first one. I just tried to do a little better job of building it knowing it was going to be a keeper after verifying flight performance on my first one.

Long before I built and flew parkflyers. Actually long before parkflyers existed, my brother and I had a lot of fun messing around with gliders that we generally launched with a Hi-Start. It was always fun but the Hi-Start was always a pain as it took up a lot of real estate to stretch it out. It was always a problem to find a good place to launch.

We had recently discussed the possibility of creating an ultra lite park glider using the latest in brushless motors and ultra light radio equipment. Not long after that I discover this thread and it has already added a new dimension to my modeling. I'm totally taken with this. https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/show....php?t=1138106

I feel like an aviation pioneer in some ways as I think this will be a huge trend in the near future. It has to be. It is just so much fun.

I took this photo right after my very successful first flight. I already have about 5 hours on it. Very good flyer, even in wind.

My nephews Ely and Evan are really enjoying building their first ever rc airplane. I am having a good time teaching them. They are already flying mine on the buddy box. Should have one of their airplanes in the air by July 4. They are so excited.

Since completing and flying Big Bertha, I've worked on a few minor projects. I've mostly been flying what I already have.

On a winter vacation to Cancun, I took a copy of Park Flyer Magazine. Without a lot to do, I read every word of that mag at least 10 times. This included the build of a scratch build foam wing, powered by a tiny Eflite Park 180 motor. As soon as I got home I built one. Boy did it suck! Oh I got it to fly but it was really awful. So....what was I supposed to do with that cute little motor and speed control? Well, I had a whole package of 3mm foam and this little motor. In a short period of time I ended up with a little pusher powered slow flyer. Another neat thing about the pusher was, the KF2 styled wing I build for it. (took a whole 15 minutes to build) and it flew great!!

30 hours of flying and I finally wore the poor little motor out and pretty much fatiqued the airframe. I have just put the finishing touches on serial number 2, (a slightly improved version of the origional. I sort of made the nose pod look like Glamerous Glennis so I'm calling it the Bell X-1 EZ. The LHS called this evening and my new Park 180 has arrived. With any luck and calm winds tomorrow evening, I'll be flying the the X1?

I totally forgot about this blog thing. I just happened back into it a few minutes ago and read my post about my full fuse Magpie. I hope nobody has been waiting exactly 3 years for the outcome WOW how time flys, but I guess the question is....was the airplane ever completed and did it fly? They answer is yes and yes, but It was only finished this past winter. I guess you could just say, a lot of life occured in the mean time and I sort of stepped away from my favorite past time for awhile.

She flys really, really nice. Very stately in the air. Taxis very nicely too. Here are some photos. 3 years almost to the date. I can't believe it.

I really like the Magpie for the way it flys and for its' size. IT'S LARGE! I'm not totally satisfied with the fuselage however. If you just build it to the plans it would be just fine. Stock it is a throw together belly landing trainer that can easily epoxied back together.

Well, I'm 30 years past the trainer stage and I like a little fancier airplane. I don't really like all the radio equipment hanging out in the wind. Also I love making takeoffs and landings. The attach point of the stock landing gear is weak and can wobble. So here it is...my under construction kit bash of the Mountain Models Magpie. I basically hacked out a full fuse out of foam sheet. I'll continue to post details and photos here as she comes along. Right now I am actually covering the fuse.

O.K. I'll try the Blog thing. Not sure I know how but like most things it is figure it out as you go??

I've been building and flying models since I was just a kid. Went through rubber powered tissue models, control line glow and finally settled into RC when I finally saved enough money to buy a used radio at the age of 16. It was like a dream come true! That was great fun until I was about 20 and then life suddenly occured and interupted things somewhat for a number of years. However, I have never completely ever given up on my RC persuits.

The biggest setback to my hobby came when I moved to the City from a small town. Suddenly there were flying clubs and official flying sites and RULES. I tried to fit in for awhile but it was never the same. I for the most part gave it up, then I moved to a new home that sits out in the country a little ways. I started to think about how much fun it might be to fly a small airplane from the golf course. (no one golfs much here anyway) In 2000 a 1/2 glow airplane was constructed and successfully flown from my backyard! What a kick! Something I had dreamed of since I was a kid.

The gas plane worked but it was a lot faster and a lot noiser and a lot more dangerous then I really liked. Then....on a trip to the hobby shop in 2001 I spotted a GWS Tiger Moth kit. I bought it and was ready to test fly a couple of days later. Actually the very first flight was at night. (just a short hop of a few feet down my street)...Continue Reading