I Design a plane in Google Sketchup


Posted by Vintauri

 

I’ve been building RC airplanes for a number of years now.  It all started back when I was in grade school and my dad started building a radio controlled glider.  I was intrigued and as all little boys do I bugged him all the time about it asking questions every time he woudl work on it.  Luckily for me (and an attempt to save his sanity) we went to the local hobby shop and picked up a Guillows free flight airplane kit for me to work on while he worked on his RC glider.  Once we were finished we took them both out to a big grassy field and both airplanes took flight!  From that first kit I was hooked!

Since then I have built and repaired many planes.  I do enjoy the building side of the hobby which helps during what normally is 5 months of cold and snow up here in Minnesota.  However what I have always toyed with doing was scratch building in the truest sense of the word.  To me scratch building is starting from nothing more then an idea or a picture and creating the airframe yourself.  While I have always had ideas rolling around in my head I could never seem to get them drawn out on paper or on the computer in CAD. Continue reading →


RC Expo in the UNI Dome


Posted by Vintauri

The Black Hawk RC Flyers of Cedar Rapids Iowa put on an indoor fly in at the UNI Dome each winter.  It is billed as the largest indoor fly in of the Mid West.  The UNI Dome is a great venue for this type of fly in as there is ample space and a high ceiling at 162 feet with few obstructions.  The air is calm and the temperature is a warm relief in what is normally the dead of winter in the midwest.

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Great Planes – Electrifly Gee Bee RxR


Posted by Vintauri

 

I’m a sucker for the golden age of aviation.  There is something about the big round engines and rounded airframes.  The open cockpits and big wheel pants.  Perhaps it’s because it could be considered the youthful time of aviation when we were still figuring out this marvel of flight.  One of the iconic airplanes of this time was the Gee Bee R1 and R2 racers.

History

Back in the early 1930′s air racing was a hot sport.  Records for speed were broken every year.   Howell “Pete” Miller and Zantford “Granny” Granville worked on the Gee Bee R design.  They theorized that a teardrop shape would induce less drag then the typical standard taper.  So they spent 3 days in a wind tunnel testing the design.  They also moved the cockpit as far back as they could to maximize the pilots viewing area in tight pylon turns.  What they did not count on but were pleased to find out is that the teardrop body acts as a large airfoil so in a tight knife edge turn the plane would hardly loose any lift.

The R1 won the Thompson Trophy race in 1932 being flown by Jimmy Doolittle.  He loved the airplane and spoke very highly of it.  However in 1933 pilot Russell Boardman was killed During the 1933 Bendix Trophy race.  The airplane quickly became known as a killer in the hands of an inexperienced pilot.

Replicas

Non-flying replicas of the R-1 have been built using original plans for the aircraft.  A flying replica of the R-2 was built by Steve Wolf and Delmar Benjamin that first flew in 1991. Benjamin flew an aerobatic routine in this aircraft at numerous air shows until he retired the aircraft in 2002.  This aircraft was put on display the Fantasy of Flight in Polk City Florida in 2004.  I had the chance to see this replica fly at an air show once and it was a sight to see.

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Mini DV Ultra Small Video Camera Review


Posted by Vintauri

HC6BSAX6QNBU

I recently purchased a few items from Hobbypartz.com and while browsing the site I came across the FPV Camera section.  I took a look and they have a variety of micro cameras for sale that can be used for onboard video recording.  They had this one on sale for $13 so I thought I’d give it a try.  The order was promptly packaged and shipped the next day and it arrived within 5 business days.   The camera and other items were packaged in a good cardboard box (not the cheap chinese cardboard) and the items wrapped in bubble pack as needed.  I was quite happy about the ease of the order and delivery process.

 

 

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Indoor flying at the Metrodome


Posted by Vintauri

Each year the MARCEE club I belong to secures a number of days at the Metrodome to do indoor flying.  This year we got a number of days in December and I was able to get there for a couple of the days.  It’s always a good time as with the days spread out over the month not everyone crams into one day.   On a busy day we might have 30 flyers there.  The hours often run from 5am to 4pm so it’s possible to get more then a fulls day of flying in.  This year I came armed with a variety of airplanes and my cameras.  I took video of some specific airplanes but I also tried to capture the general fun and atmosphere of the day.  My hats off to both the MARCEE club for being fun and courteous but also and more importantly to the Metrodome staff that make us feel so welcomed and truly seem to enjoy s being there.  We do make a point to find one day to bring in a big table of food to feed the Metrodome staff as a thank you.  They seem to enjoy that as well.

Here are a few of the videos I put together from the two days I was able to attend.


Park Scale Models – Drake Floatplane


Posted by Vintauri

Every winter the Minnesota Area Radio Controlled Electric Enthusiasts (MARCEE) is able to secure some indoor flying time at the Metrodome in Minneapolis.  I went up for a day of flying and had a good time.  One of the main things I wanted to do was to fly a new plane I picked up from http://www.parkscalemodels.com  The Drake is a micro float plane design and I had recently finished it.  Flying it in the calm and relative warmth of the Metrodome was much more inviting then the cold outside of late December in Minnesota.  The flight went great and I was able to get Chris to run the camera for me.


Avoiding dust in the workshop


Posted by Vintauri

If your like me you love to build airplanes and have more projects on the board and in the queue then you’ll ever finish.  For many building is half the fun in the RC airplane hobby.  It can be very rewarding taking a pile of wood, foam or other material and form it into a flying airplane.  This takes some work and can make a mess at times.  One of the issues with building is your going to make a mess and create dust.  This can be from wood, foam, fiberglass, carbon and many other materials.  The problem is that dust is small and gets everywhere.  At the very least it will make a mess of anything sitting in your work area.  But the real issue here is that those small dust particles get into the air and you’ll end up spreading them around more then your workshop.  All that dust that’s in the air means your breathing it in and none of that is good for your lungs or long term health.  So let’s look at a few ways to manage that dust and keep us breathing normally.

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DIY Airplane stand from PVC


Posted by Vintauri

The finished product

 

Having a good airplane stand to hold your plane while you work on it is invaluable.  That does not mean you need to spend a lot of money on one.  I have had a number of stands from cheap cooler style foam to expensive folding stands.  They all have their place but sometimes you just want something that does the job but does not break the bank.  Well if you have about $20, a few common tools and about an hour to spare you can have a great airplane stand custom fit to your needs.

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The E-Flite Seafury is back!


Posted by Vintauri

 

A few years ago E-flite released a parkflyer Seafury featuring mechanical retracts.   It was quite an advancement at the time.  People loved the plane as it flew great and there just are not that many Seafury kits out there.  Unfortunately for E-Flite the company they contracted to manufacture the kits went out of business so they discontinued the kit.

Well it’s back now and made of the more durable Z-Foam.  It still has the mechanical retracts and detachable rocket armament.  additionally it also retained the same stick mount setup for the motor.  While not a big issue for more modelers these days it’s unfortunate that some minor revisions could not be made to update the kit for the modern electric retracts and firewall mounted outrunners people enjoy these days.  But lets not dwell on the minor issues but be glad we now have a parkflyer Seafury back in ARF form.  Perhaps we’ll see the P-38 revived as well?  We’ll have to wait and see what Horizon and E-flite have to say about that.

 

Product Description

Key Features

  • Durable molded Z-Foam construction with removable wing
  • Striking scale detail, including panel lines and an authentic paint scheme
  • Mechanical retractable landing gear included (two sub-micro servos required)
  • Factory-installed spars, hinges and control horns
  • Lightly loaded wing for stable flying characteristics
  • Fully detailed, factory-painted cockpit and pilot figure
  • Factory finished rockets included for added scale appearance
  • Large, easy-access magnetic hatch
  • 4- to 5-channel operation (retractable landing gear is optional)
  • Propeller and scale spinner included

Needed To Complete

- 4+ channel Transmitter and Receiver radio system (5+ for retract operation)
- 4 sub-micro servos (6 for retract operation)
- Brushless outrunner motor
- Brushless ESC
- Flight battery


What makes a good second airplane?


Posted by Vintauri

What is a good second airplane???

So you feel you have mastered your first airplane and your looking to move on to something a little different?  There are a number of questions to ask yourself.  No two people will advance in this hobby the same way so there is no standard second airplane.  It all has to do with what you learned on your first airplane and how challenging it was to begin with.  You also have to look at what your goals are in the hobby.

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