May/19


Last Fall, I was introduced to indoor flying! I polled the pilots at the arena and based on their advice, I picked up the UMX Sport Cub S. It was a steep learning curve and the poor little Cub bears the scars of many an encounter of the hard kind! Eventually, I got the hang of it and I have enjoyed my weekly flying session with my r/c flying buds all winter long.

I noticed, a couple of the pilots were flying Horizon Hobby’s, UMX Timber. I was impressed, 2S Lipo powered, a brushless motor, ailerons, flaps, leading edge slats, ASX and lights! Differential has already been set up on the ailerons. What really intrigued me were the large, oversized tires! With these big shoes, I should be able to fly off a grassed surface! I was thinking I might be able to fly this bird all year around! Bonus!

Well, after much dithering and dilly dallying, I finally pulled the trigger and picked my own Timber at my local hobby shop! I have to tell you I am really impressed with this little flying wonder! A nice solid plane and it was quickly bound to my Spekrum DX6. Mike, one of our more experienced pilots, helped me set up the Dual Rates at 80/50 and Expo @30%, then I mixed in about 45% rudder in with the ailerons. I know the purist like to use both sticks, but I found I still use the left stick for taking off and occasionally I will use the left stick to kick in more rudder when needed.

The flaps were set up on the “B” switch….originally, full down flaps was all the way forward, After I reversed the servo, I pull the three position switch toward me to go from off, mid, then full flaps.

Mike, my mentor, then took the wee beast for a flight around the arena adding a little more down elevator trim then brought in for a landing. Next it was my turn! It’s always nerve wracking taking a new plane up for the first time and this was no exception!

I dialled in full flaps and gave it half throttle….whoosh! I was in the air in seconds! The roll rate with full flaps is sooooo short, it literally jumps into the air! I found with full flaps deployed it kind of wallows around but it keeps the speed in check, which is great inside a small arena. Next I tried it with half flaps and it flew much more responsive, but faster!

Our indoor flying season is rapidly drawing to a close, so I will get one more opportunity to tweak the settings before taking it outside.

There is so much about this little plane that I really like! Basically, grab a 200-300 Mah, 2S Lipo, bind it to your radio, set up the rates and your good to go! I particularly enjoy the lights….just a like a real full sized model! You can even buy floats for it which I may have to look into as there is a small pond at the back of our new flying site.

It’s a good logical step up after the Sport Cub S and I for one am pleased with myself for taking the plunge! I highly recommend it!

As always, your thoughts and comments are always appreciated and encouraged! Thanks for taking the time to read my blog!

Cheers:

Lyle Jeakins,
43 Degrees North Latitude

UMX Timber Update:
I was having some issues controlling this bird....figured it was just me! I was walking behind it as I taxied around the arena and noticed that the rudder was intermittently locking up! Not good! I contacted Horizon Hobby and a replacement board is on its way! Good people to deal with!

I am looking forward to resolving this issue and getting this bird back into the air where it belongs!

Cheers!
Lyle