Tag Archives: Indoor Flight

Twisted Hobbys Crack Pitts


Posted by Vintauri

Crack Pitts

 

One of my favorite segments of the RC hobby is 3D / IMAC flying.  I’m nowhere near the skill of the pro pilots such as Andrew Jesky or Joe Smith but I have fun with it and find it challenging to try out new maneuvers.  It helps keep things fresh when I go out and fly.  I have most flown 3D Hobby Shop aircraft and have been very happy with them.  However sometimes I love to have something smaller and durable to fly and that is where EPP comes in to play.  I had heard about Twisted Hobbys airplanes but I never really took a close look at them until a few guys were flying them at WATTS over Owatonna.  I was impressed at how well they flew but retained the durable and flexible qualities of the EPP foam.  They also impressed another club mate of mine and so much so that he had to have one.  Lucky for me he does not like to build so after some talk about which one he wanted we struck a deal that I would build it for him.  Continue reading →


E-fest 2012


Posted by Vintauri

 

It’s seems this winter has been a busy one for me and the RC hobby.  Most years wintertime is a building season for us in the northern US states.  However with the unseasonably warm weather and many indoor venues becoming available I have maintained regular flying throughout the winter months this year. One of the highlights for this winter so far has been my recent trip to Champaign IL for E-fest. Continue reading →


Tactic Anylink 2.4 module


Posted by Vintauri

 

For the past 8-10 years I have mainly flown JR and Spektrum radio gear.  This is mainly due to the fact that my club is mostly JR people and it makes it easier when helping each other out if your familiar with the equipment.  When we were back on 72mhz being brand specific was not as big of a deal as on 2.4ghz.  Many brands of receivers would still work with other radios due to the analog nature of the technology.  PCM and frequency shift issues changed this a little but 2.4 was the real killer.  Things are digital now and need to speak the exact same language.  So now we’re stuck with brand specific receivers.

This can be a big problem with bind and fly airplanes that are setup for a specific brand radio.  For example a person with a new 8FG radio from Futaba would not be able to fly any of the Parkzone micro airplanes that are so popular.  So they are stuck either not enjoying those planes or they have to buy a separate radio just for them.   Tactic RC decided to do something about that for their receivers and airplanes.

Continue reading →


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.

Continue reading →


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.