Silicon Valley Days » RC Airplanes

Weasel Slope Gliding at Baylands in Mountain View

Silicon Valley Dazed — Wed, 29 Aug 2012 01:53:31 +0000

Had a great time slope gliding at the berm by the bike trail at Baylands in Mountain View. The berm isn’t big enough to produce massive lift like Coyote Hills Park, but it’s still fun following the contours of the berm with the Weasel. The wind was very consistent and strong at 4:30 PM, and it’s nice I can just bike to a slope site vs. driving to one.

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360 View of Glider Hill at Coyote Hills Park in Fremont, California

Silicon Valley Dazed — Mon, 27 Aug 2012 20:24:15 +0000

http://360.io/7LzwCR

July 4th Early Morning Walk with my Edge 540

Silicon Valley Dazed — Thu, 05 Jul 2012 15:33:43 +0000

11ms vs 14 minutes latency

Silicon Valley Dazed — Fri, 29 Jun 2012 15:19:30 +0000

My Spektrum DX8 radio control plane transmitter has a 11ms latency which is slightly better than the 14 minute latency from Earth to Mars.

Maidened Multiplex Dogfighter on 6/16/2012

Silicon Valley Dazed — Wed, 20 Jun 2012 16:39:02 +0000

Maiden flight was smooth with suggested throws and 20% expo.

TURNIGY AerodriveXp SK3-3542-1250kv motor
Thunderbird 54 ESC
2200 3S battery
HS-65MG for elevator
ES08A for ailerons
Great Planes 2.5 inch spinner

Maidened with an APC 10×7. Will try an APC 10×10 for next flight. Very easy to land and slows down well with prop brake off. Very quiet with balanced prop and spinner backplate.

TURNIGY AerodriveXp SK3-3542-1250kv motor
Thunderbird 54 ESC
Voltz 2200 mAh 35C 3S battery

My test results with a Watt’s up:

APC 10x7E with Great Planes 2.5″ Spinner
40.6 Amps and 469 Watts

APC 10x10E with Great Planes 2.5″ Spinner
52 Amps and 581 Watts

Waddell Beach slope gliding disappointing on 6/17/2012

Silicon Valley Dazed — Wed, 20 Jun 2012 00:15:44 +0000

I was excited to try slope gliding my Alula and Merlin at the slope site at Waddell Beach last Sunday, but the wind was blowing from the south. The slope site is a cliff facing northwest so the wind was blowing from the opposite direction for optimal lift. I noticed some seagulls hanging off the lift from cliffs that were facing south, but I didn’t want to stray too far from the designated slope site that sits on private property. I tried flying my Alula down at the shore, but I just couldn’t get it working. Now I’m itching for some real slope flying, and I hope Coyote Hills has some good lift this weekend.

Flying a Twisted Hobby’s Edge 540 with LED lights

Silicon Valley Dazed — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 10:15:20 +0000

Flew a Twisted Hobby’s Edge 540 with their LED light kit in the dark on Monday night, and I noticed two things. The lights are so bright, that because of the starburst effect due to my LASIKed eyes, from a distance, all I can see are the bright starbursts of the LED lights. The other thing is that when I bring the plane in close for a hover, because it’s dark all around, there’s nothing distracting my peripheral or background vision when I’m looking at the plane. The plane becomes a spotlighted dancer on a stage.

Fokker Triplane

Silicon Valley Dazed — Sun, 04 Mar 2012 22:49:41 +0000

Maidened Flyzone’s Micro Fokker Dr.I Triplane

Silicon Valley Dazed — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 17:17:24 +0000

After attaching the Tactic Anylink 2.4 module to my Spektrum DX7 and changing the channel mapping, E and I were ready to hit the local field this morning with the Flyzone Micro Fokker Dr.I Triplane. E had been obsessed with getting plane ever since he saw it in a Tower Hobbies catalog. I had flown the plane a little bit the previous night, but it needed some trimming, and it was a bit too dark to fly effectively. After adding the machine guns and the pilot last night, the plane was ready for its real maiden. I did a 100% mix of aileron to rudder after the first flight this morning so that one could use just the right stick for the control surfaces. This made the plane a lot easier to handle. I flew the first battery, and I let E fly the next 2 batteries. He had so much fun with the plane, he asked for a fourth one. I regret I didn’t have a camera since the sun was rising and reflecting off the bottom of the clouds, giving a great dawn patrol effect to the Fokker in flight.

RC Factory Edge 540 Hover

Silicon Valley Dazed — Sat, 25 Feb 2012 20:07:03 +0000

Early Morning Hover Practice. Using the 1800 kV motor with an APC 8×4.7SF prop.