RC Airplanes

I hit my first big thermal with the Radian at Rancho San Antonio on Sunday 8/16/2009 at 11:45 am. It was toward the left of the landing field, and it was inspiring to see the Radian spiral up on the thermal along with two hawks. Based on the experiences I’ve read of people losing their … Continue reading »

Went to fly the Parkzone Radian on a breezy afternoon at Rancho San Antonio with the kids. The wind was high enough to move the Radian around the ground while I turned on the transmitter. Fortunately, I launched the Radian off the drop-off at the edge of the field since it dived down a bit … Continue reading »

I think there’s too much downthrust with the motor mount, and I had to use the rudder to move the plane toward the left during takeoff because of engine torque. There’s also some scraping of the spinner against the cowl, so I had to adjust that. The plane really floated in though for landings. I … Continue reading »

This plane looks hot! If the price is $100, it will be a hot seller. To have a plane at this size doing what it can do in the video is amazing:

I put my 5-year old on a buddy box with my MS Composit Pitts S2 Biplane yesterday since I’m pretty familiar with how it handles. He had a great time doing loops, but we packed up pretty early since it was getting pretty windy. I’ll have to teach him how to do rolls and basic … Continue reading »

I’ve started using GWS Rubber Propeller Adapters as a wheel collar since they seem to do a good job of keeping wheels on the landing gear, are relatively light, and are easy to install. I had no idea what the part was when it arrived with my Slow Stick kit, and it was only later … Continue reading »

I put a slightly heavier 1300 Mah battery in the Shaft 400 this morning, and it flew very well. I’m getting a better handle of its long glide path so that I know how long of a landing strip I need. The Fast Cure Gorilla Glue did a great job of attaching the small piece … Continue reading »

I put a Turnigy 2217 16turn 1050kv 23A Outrunner: http://www.hobbycity.com/hobbycity/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=5690&Product_Name=Turnigy_2217_16turn_1050kv_23A_Outrunner and an APC style propeller 9×6-E: http://www.hobbycity.com/hobbycity/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=5439&Product_Name=APC_style_propeller_9x6-E and the COG was much better. I didn’t have to move the battery as far forwards and the plane only needed 1/3 throttle to take off. The plane has such a long glide that I hit the backstop … Continue reading »

If you use 2 different weights of covering on each side of a thin surface, you may warp the side that has the thicker covering.

I started the build of the Stevens Aero Shaft 400 today.