I've been away from the hobby for a number of years now (still have a TON of kits, parts, motors etc much of it still new in the boxes along with 4 or 5 finished planes that I used to fly) but just for the heck of it I did a little Googling on RTF planes yesterday. WOW has that market changed! I'm smitten by a large size electric ducted fan F18 with 4 ch radio and flight simulator software all for 149.00! I paid twice that just for a radio system back when. And the performance is amazing!!! They even have videos of the planes in flight and video reviews by independent reviewers. When I left the hobby gas powered ducted fans were just barely practical requiring a HOT 40 or 60 sized engine with a high wing loading that meant they dropped out of the sky like a rock if you throttled back. Now these electrics are doing vertical rolling climbs, a series of loops from level flight, easy to control inverted flight, and touch and gos all day long. I'm really impressed!

 

I've seen a few of those video's you are talking about, sent to me via email. They are very impressive. This was something as a kid I always wanted and hoped to get into when I got older. The kit planes were very reasonable but then you were told the cost of the radio and cervos and it scared me off as I couldn't afford such an elaborate hobby. Now my hobby is so elaborate AKA( panel ) who can afford another hobby

John

 

Roger, RCAV8OR, is one, and now that I think of it, I haven't seen him on here in forever.

I know what you mean AX, I had an electric R/C 4x4 F-150 twenty five years ago (still do), and the level of sophistication nowadays is mind-boggling. Not sure I want to look into it too deeply, I can see the $$$ flying out of my poskets already!

 

Chuck, check this out! http://users.skynet.be/fa926657/files/B29.wmv

 

Thanks Jim that was very impressive!

 

Not into RC flying, I'm into RC battling........scale ships (5' to 12' in length) with 1/4" & 3/16" ball bearing guns. Balsa sides to help minimize the force required to penetrate the hull, bilge pumps, floats for recovery, cool stuff. Just for grins, here's a link to a web page that I admin for the club I belong to.
Best Regards,
Jon
Home Of The Queens Own Scale Modem Warship Club - Battle Damage

Some sink videos on youtube by other clubs:
YouTube - All vs. Nagato
YouTube - R/C Warship DKM Scharnhorst succumbs to damage.
YouTube - The Bottom Line
YouTube - sinking ships

 

It would appear that bilge pumps are not as effective as one might hope!

 

That's pretty wild Jon. I'd hate to deliberately try to destroy something I had invested that much building time into. I have destroyed a couple airplanes and a deepV fuel racing boat, but not deliberately. Must be expensive when one sinks and all the electronics and electrics take a bath? Doesn't look like you waterproof any of it?

 

Actually, we've got it down to a pretty good science, with a good setup, there's no damage to the electronics.
The servos & receiver are either in a watertight box or they've been stripped down and the board sealed with either 3M Scotchkote or Corrosion-X. After a sink, drain the water, pour a little alcohol (if needed) into exposed servos & you're done in 5 to 20 minutes.
The hulls are patched with silkspan patches & dope to make the hull watertight (permanent repair), or with a piece of masking tape as a temporary repair. Which one is used depends on the type of battle being fought & club rules. After too many holes in the balsa so there is not enough support left, the balsa is ripped off, the hull sanded and new balsa with silkspan applied.
A hull can be built for about $150.00, radio costs are another $350, servos, and the rest of it will all run to a total of around $700 (assuming you can build your own guns). If purchasing guns, they go for around $150 or so per turret.
Pretty cool. Safety glasses required; long pants recommended. LOL
Jon

 

That's some pretty cool stuff John. I never knew that type of RC existed. I'm glad to here that the electronics are recoverable and useable again.

Like AX I was into the planes but haven't flown mine in about 9 years since my son was born. Now that he's older I've been thinking about dusting off the planes and heading back out the the field. Every once in a while I'll go on youtube and see what's new and I've been pretty amazed at the speed and performance these RC "toys" are reaching. I like to check out the boats on there and I was amazed to see some hydro's hitting 80+ mph. That's fast!

 

I was actually watching a film on youtube today of a B17 kit that a guy put together with four gas engines. It was truly incredible to see it flying and it actually looked and sounded somewhat realistic as it roared past the camera.
As if I don't already have enough on my plate, after viewing those movies I'm seriously considering the purchase of an RC plane to tinker with. There is a flying club in the next town west of here that might be a good source of info and training to learn the techniques to fly them.

 

I'd suggest finding out where that club flies then go there on a nice not too windy Sunday. Watch for a while until you find one or two really good fliers (it will be obvious from the type of flying they do and the lack of obvious repairs to their planes and the care they take with their equipment) Chat them up a bit between flights, see if there is a training program for new members, or who to ask for lessons. (A good pilot will make it look easy, but believe me there is a significant learning curve. DON'T even THINK you can learn on your own, your one and only flight will be an expensive one.) Ask for a recommendation on a good trainer airplane, usually each club will have it's favorites. Characteristics will be tricycle landing gear, simple flat bottomed straight high wing (wing mounts above cabin with rubberbands securing it in place), slow forgiving stable flight characteristics such as self recovery if you let go of the controls, decent size: > 5' wingspan, 4 channel controls i.e. elevator, rudder/nose wheel steering, ailerons, and throttle. Go with a popular in your area brand radio and ask what frequency/band would be a good choice. If the transmitter has provision for a buddy cord (a training aid cable that connects two transmitters of the same brand together allowing an instructor with another connected radio to take over control if you get in trouble.) that's a great way to learn and it instills confidence. Stay away from small size high wingloaded scale type airplanes, low mounted/tapered wing, rounded bottom wing airfoils, jets or helicopters until you learn how to fly competently.

 

Lone Star- check out the link in post #4 this thread. Chuck, just as an aside, I raced R/C cars for over 20 years, the last 11 as a "Factory Pilot", and have travelled the country racing. I am the tech director (cheater detector) at the Snowbird Nationals held in Orlando every February. 800+ entries from 13 countries this year. BTW these are 1/10 scale electric cars.

 

Thanks for the tips AXracer.
I enjoyed seeing that superfortress/x1 video as well. Really cool stuff.
I think that group near me meets on the second saturday of each month. I'll see if I can't get with them next time.

 

i have a 1/4 scale cap 232 plane with 72 inch wingspan but am too chicken to fly it . still like new . someone dare to make an offer for all .. i thought a weed eater power boat would be cool too..