That's wild Tom. Something like 'office room floor' camouflage?

It is ugly, that's for sure. Funny thing is, the more that I have it the more I don't mind it. LOL

I'm sure it will be a blast to fly once it's done. Looks like he'll be able to go for a ride in it!

matt

After seeing Don fly his cool FF plane and talking to Jack, I decided to take a shot at freeflight. I'm building a FLY-M Michigan Condor 1/2 pint. I bought a Michigan Butterfly and a Michigan Hawk from Fred at the Toledo Show the previous two years. They sat on the shelf. I opened one up and it looked a little complicated so decided to go with an unpowered one first.

Will keep you updated....

I've seen those at Toledo, looked like neat little kits.

careful, matt, FF can be adictive. when you see one of your planes fly under it's own power, it's easy to get hooked.

cool kit. make copies of the plans so if you want to build it again, the plan isn't full of pin holes.

Fred hooked me on one of his planes at the Toledo show. Someday I am going to find the time to build it.

Dick

i made a mod to the SS last night. i replaced the stock 300 motor with a graupner speed 300.
one of the reasons i did this is, i was having trouble with the motor cutting out. i thought i burned it up. well, that wasn't the problem. motor is still cutting out but now it's doing it at half throttle. i reprogramed the LVC on the pixie 20P and that didn't work either.
when i went to fly this morning, it worked perfect. the only thing i did different was i put new batteries in the Tx. i guess the GWS Rx needs a very strong signal. i hope that's the problem. if that dosen't fix it then i'll have to look hard at the ESC. maybe send it to CC for a check up.

anyone have any ideas why this would happen and could it be the ESC?

jack

have you run it on an emeter or similar to see how many amps you're actually pulling? it may be that your cells aren't up to the task or they may be on the ragged edge. i don't know which packs you use or how you maintain/use/abuse them. i have the emeter here if you want to run it up.

matt

completely different animal than what i'm used to. had to sand in the airfoil and washout. really a simple build, i'd recommend it for anybody. here she is in all her splendor. scale keeps changing from 4 to 5 to 4 grams. probably in the ballpark anyways. ready to trim/fly...and of course it's raining! onward and upward.

ma

That's a cool little plane Matt

It wouldn't last two seconds in my house unless I put it in my gunsafe. Between two youngin's and the cats it would be splinters really fast

I should have a pic or two by later this evening of the GWS Zero build I'm currently working on. Everything is per the instructions less the bamboo wing spar being replaced by a CF rod and no landing gear. Of course it won't look quite as cool know without the goofy wheels on it but I'l suffer the consequences.
This is my second GWS build and I must say that the instructions are worse than horrible The E-Starter instructions weren't too bad but it was a more recent kit. The Zero kit was older and the instructions are just plain bad. I'm glad I built the E-Starter first since a lot of info is the same between the two builds.
I also received two "left wing" aileron control wires I had to bend one of the wire 180 degrees for use on the right wing and, of course, it broke. I repaired it using a spare piece of wire and the "thread wrap + CA" method. It feels sturdy enough. Also in the future I'd stick with the non-painted models, the paint on the foam flakes off pretty easily and areas where you have to trim now show the white of the foam.
Kids are in bed now so I'm back to the workbench!

sweet! cool looking plane.
how is it launched?

if you stay with FF, you'll become and expert at sanding. that's why i like it. i can sand for hours. i just plop down in front of the T.V. or listen to the stereo and relax with a good sanding block and my plane.

you can shave off a few grams with just a little sanding too.

Originally Posted by sgtdirt

how is it launched?

catapult or handlaunch. it came with a sanding block, catpult, clay for balancing, plans, wood. it glides ok here in the livingroom!

matt

The Spitfire showed up today. Also my replacement pack from Thunderpower. I had sent them a 3 cell 1320 Gen2 which had a bad cell. The new pack they sent me is dated 8/22/05 and it has a TAP on it! I am so glad as I can now check for cell imbalance. Anyhow here is a picture of the Spitfire. I am not sure of the USA markings they supply it with though??

Originally Posted by mattalbr

catapult or handlaunch. it came with a sanding block, catpult, clay for balancing, plans, wood. it glides ok here in the livingroom!

matt

If you do catapult use very little incidence or it will loop. Try to run zero incedence and put the balance point as far aft as possible. They will launch straight as an arrow and can go suprisingly high. If you want to make a few good catapult gliders I have a nice 12" span model design which flies very well. My best time indoors was 87 seconds in a 114ft high ceiling. It is actually an AMA event called standard class catapult glider. Simple rules, 12" span max, 3" chord max. It is easy to catch a thermal with them so be careful!

Don