RC Plane / Helicoper Thread

[Boatbuoy]

As someone who's just got into this I thought I'd see if there's any other PH Pilots about? There's been a few posts including planes and helicopters (so I'm hoping some of you have something to share) but I've not seen anything dedicated.

I'm on a little foam Cessna trainer at the moment, but I'd like to get to a turbine jet one day, probably via a P-51 Mustang.

So, anyone else out there?

[Boatbuoy]

Ahhh, the quadcopter route. That's how I've come (back) into it. I always wanted to fly as a teenager but my old man was never interested in helping me out and the local club was a bunch of old duffers who weren't in the slightest interested in helping me. So when DJI pitched up with the Phantom I bought one as an easy way into flying and to extend my GoPro activities. Then I got properly into it, got my CAA permit and now run an aerial filming business flying the DJI S1000+

But I soon found the limit of challenge in flying the drones, I don't call it flying, the computer does all of that, it's more like 'operating'. Because I had all of the radio gear from the drone it made buying a foam trainer fairly cheap to progress onto. I'm really enjoying it and have able to grasp the basics quite quickly. I guess the 3D perception experience from drone ops has helped a lot.

[Boatbuoy]

Whoooo! Pictures!

I'm really enjoying getting to grips with fixed wing flying. Here's my FMS Skytrainer:



And here's the DJI S1000+ (For a sense of scale, that's a Canon 5D DSLR camera hanging off of it!)



ETA: P.S. It's great that we've got 3 Cerbera owners contributing here.

Edited by Boatbuoy on Monday 19th October 13:27

[Boatbuoy]

Boosted Cerb said:

Boatbuoy said:

ETA: P.S. It's great that we've got 3 Cerbera owners contributing here.

Make that 4 Cerbie owners

Welcome

[Boatbuoy]

n3il123 said:

Just been browsing this thread and its sparked a twinkle about having a go at planes (done the cars, don't fancy boats).

First question (obviously the easiest!) whats the best way to start?

Join the British Model Flying Association, membership (£40ish per year) provides you with public liability insurance and you'll that to fly at virtually any location.

Link: https://bmfa.org

Then find and talk to your local club, the BMFA will help you with that. If the club you join is any good they'll get you up and flying in no time.

There's plenty of good trainer models to choose from, even ones that land themselves!! I'm very happy with my choice but I'm only a newbie so I'm not going to advise.

[Boatbuoy]

A good variety of models at North London Model Flying Club today:

[Boatbuoy]

Looking forward to getting this new DeHaviland Chipmunk up in the air in the new year:



Olly

[Boatbuoy]

4321go said:

Ditto.........

Yours looks a bit more proper than mine!

I used to love my ATC flights in chippies. I'm very jealous!

[Boatbuoy]

bumblebee said:

LikesBikes said:

Re-kitted my Acro-wot at the weekend...

Doh! ......Been there, done that, got the T-Shirt.....

On the upside.....maidened this last weekend:

Nice Jug! Electric?

[Boatbuoy]

Turn7 said:

Any suggestions for a leccy trainer guys ?

Total noob to flying but have avery good club locally.

Bit of research suggests:

Max Thrust Riot
Wot4
Arising star - as thats the club trainer with Futaba tx/rx buddy box

Also plan to get into 450 Helis.

The E-Flite Aprentice is very popular, it comes with gyros fitted and 3 modes (novice/intermediate/pro) that allow you to build up your abilities. I watched a 6 yr old novice do a perfect landing with one of these on Saturday! It's fairly rugged and stable. Some traditionalist instructors don't like the gyro element but it's your choice and it'll get you flying quick:

http://www.horizonhobby.com/apprentice-s-15e-rtf-w...

I wanted a non gyro, scale looking trainer with flaps so went for the FMS 182 Skytrainer. It looks great, flys very well and I love it. The only down side I've found is that the nose wheel undercarriage leg is its weak spot. Our club field is mown and rollered regularly to a very high standard but I've still bent the leg twice and snapped the bulkhead that it's mounted to, neither were a big issue to fix:

http://www.cmldistribution.co.uk/product/FS0105R/f...

[Boatbuoy]

bumblebee said:

Yes... It's electric (6S). It's the Hangar-9 .60 size (1700mm span) ARTF running with an FMS 300kv motor and 16x10 4 blade prop.

Cool, what sort of flight times are you getting with it?

[Boatbuoy]

Well, it's been a busy weekend on the flying front for me. I passed my BMFA 'A' test, bought a secondhand WOT 4 XL off of a clubmate, and got my winter project test flown:











My 64" wingspan radio control Chipmunk. Modified from the Blackhorse ARTF kit, with custom markings to represent an aircraft from No 5 AEF (which I first flew in 1994) and an electric conversion using a E-Flite Power 60 motor and 6S 4000mAh Li-Po battery.

[Boatbuoy]

A couple more pics of the Chippy:





Olly

[Boatbuoy]

My flying took another leap forward this weekend as I stepped up to this:



It's a Goldwing 73" Yak 54, with a DLE 30cc 2 stroke petrol. Bought secondhand but in excellent condition, and it really is a joy to fly, even with the rates set at 30%!!

[Boatbuoy]

A lovely evening at Banbury Model Flying Club last night.

[Boatbuoy]

Picked up a virtually new bargain last night:



It's an FMS 1450mm Version 8 P-51D. Looking forward to getting airborne at the weekend.

[Boatbuoy]

It's been a while since I posted here, I've been a bit busy fetling chunks of balsa:



It's a modified version of a Chris Golds 84" EDF plan of the Canberra, to represent WT333.

The model will be on static display at the Cold War Jets open day at Bruntingthorpe this Sunday (27/05/19).

Cheers,
Olly

[Boatbuoy]

Thanks. It's been a bit of an effort, and it'll be a while before I tackle anything as involved as that again!