R/C Airplane Skillz

[Queasy]

Link

 

[Kaido]

Holy cow :Q A guy at the local airfield got one of those new electrics last year...sucker is amazing, I've never seen an r/c airplane do those kind of stunts before. He had it floating 10 feet in front of us like it was a chopper. Good stuff :thumbsup:

 

[Scarpozzi]

That was pretty awesome. The hovering maneuver was pretty awesome too.

 

[NTB]

That was pretty neat. I saw another video a while back that was an R/C B-52. No stunts, of course, but it was still neat. The model was absolutely huge. Too bad the "pilot" couldn't stick the landing 😛

EDIT: found it

Nate

 

[saxophonoia]

Nice. I need to get back into R/c planes. it's so much fun.

 

[PowerMacG5]

That was pretty cool. Anyone know what model that was (or was it custom built)? I am really in to RC cars (nitro), and would like to get in to planes as well.

 

[halik]

Not that impressive, seeing as the plane had enough power to keep itself from stalling when verical. Stunts like that are easy when you don't have to worry about energy managment.

 

[FrustratedUser]

Originally posted by: halik
Not that impressive, seeing as the plane had enough power to keep itself from stalling when verical. Stunts like that are easy when you don't have to worry about energy managment.

You really have no clue.....

 

[Kaido]

Originally posted by: halik
Not that impressive, seeing as the plane had enough power to keep itself from stalling when verical. Stunts like that are easy when you don't have to worry about energy managment.

"Not that impressive"? Hah! Have you ever even flown an r/c airplane? That takes a heck of a lot of skill, no matter what kind of airplane you're flying. With that said, man I want to get a Lazy Bee again 😀

 

[Kaido]

Originally posted by: PowerMacG5
That was pretty cool. Anyone know what model that was (or was it custom built)? I am really in to RC cars (nitro), and would like to get in to planes as well.

No idea, but once you go planes you'll never look at cars quite the same way again. They'll seem so...two dimensional 😀 I still enjoy cars, but airplanes is the ultimate for me.

 

[halik]

Originally posted by: Kaido

Originally posted by: halik
Not that impressive, seeing as the plane had enough power to keep itself from stalling when verical. Stunts like that are easy when you don't have to worry about energy managment.

"Not that impressive"? Hah! Have you ever even flown an r/c airplane? That takes a heck of a lot of skill, no matter what kind of airplane you're flying. With that said, man I want to get a Lazy Bee again 😀

I've flow both planes and helis....

 

[OrganizedChaos]

stupid quesion: when its hovering vertical like that why dosen't the torque from the motor cause the fuselage to spin like a helicoptor with no tail rotor?

 

[pontifex]

i had always looked at RC planes. looks like a lot of fun. my problem though is how durable are they?

i don't want to spend a lot of money on one and then crash it because i really don't know what i'm doing and have it ruined.

was thinking about getting one of those little Aero Ace ones someone posted about yesterday. Just so I can try it out without spending too much money and they seem to be pretty durable.

 

[FrustratedUser]

Originally posted by: OrganizedChaos
stupid quesion: when its hovering vertical like that why dosen't the torque from the motor cause the fuselage to spin like a helicoptor with no tail rotor?

You use the flaps to redirect the airflow to counter act this tendency.
(I could be wrong here)

 

[CVSiN]

this is a repost it was posted her before but musta used some off the wall thread title as I cant find it.

I showed Val this back then and we were blown away...

it was back around the time when that B-52 thread and the turbine thread was around.

 

[halik]

Originally posted by: OrganizedChaos
stupid quesion: when its hovering vertical like that why dosen't the torque from the motor cause the fuselage to spin like a helicoptor with no tail rotor?

well yeah, except that it's got about 2.5 sq feet of wing area to keep it from rotating.

 

[Kaido]

Originally posted by: halik

Originally posted by: Kaido

Originally posted by: halik
Not that impressive, seeing as the plane had enough power to keep itself from stalling when verical. Stunts like that are easy when you don't have to worry about energy managment.

"Not that impressive"? Hah! Have you ever even flown an r/c airplane? That takes a heck of a lot of skill, no matter what kind of airplane you're flying. With that said, man I want to get a Lazy Bee again 😀

I've flow both planes and helis....

You must be uber-l33t then, because I sure can't do that yet 😀

 

[Kaido]

Originally posted by: pontifex
i had always looked at RC planes. looks like a lot of fun. my problem though is how durable are they?

i don't want to spend a lot of money on one and then crash it because i really don't know what i'm doing and have it ruined.

was thinking about getting one of those little Aero Ace ones someone posted about yesterday. Just so I can try it out without spending too much money and they seem to be pretty durable.

Not too durable. They're not really toys, per say. They're trying to get them down to toy status with ARFs (Almost Ready to Fly) and RTF (Ready to Fly) kits, but they'll still break if you smash them. They take a lot more work to learn than, say, an R/C car. Plus they're a lot more dangerous...some of my gas-powered models go over 100mph. The Aero Ace is a pretty small airplane, so I wouldn't worry too much about it. If you can afford it, it looks like a cheap way to get in.

Edit: dang, $35? man prices have come down since I was a kid :Q Also, the Amazon reviews say it's pretty durable. I might have to pick one of these up for my local park 😀

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/de...000E1YZFG/102-3728734-2961732?v=glance

 

[PowerMacG5]

Originally posted by: Kaido

Originally posted by: PowerMacG5
That was pretty cool. Anyone know what model that was (or was it custom built)? I am really in to RC cars (nitro), and would like to get in to planes as well.

No idea, but once you go planes you'll never look at cars quite the same way again. They'll seem so...two dimensional 😀 I still enjoy cars, but airplanes is the ultimate for me.

You have any recommendations on a starter plane?

 

[pontifex]

Originally posted by: Kaido

Originally posted by: pontifex
i had always looked at RC planes. looks like a lot of fun. my problem though is how durable are they?

i don't want to spend a lot of money on one and then crash it because i really don't know what i'm doing and have it ruined.

was thinking about getting one of those little Aero Ace ones someone posted about yesterday. Just so I can try it out without spending too much money and they seem to be pretty durable.

Not too durable. They're not really toys, per say. They're trying to get them down to toy status with ARFs (Almost Ready to Fly) and RTF (Ready to Fly) kits, but they'll still break if you smash them. They take a lot more work to learn than, say, an R/C car. Plus they're a lot more dangerous...some of my gas-powered models go over 100mph. The Aero Ace is a pretty small airplane, so I wouldn't worry too much about it. If you can afford it, it looks like a cheap way to get in.

Edit: dang, $35? man prices have come down since I was a kid :Q Also, the Amazon reviews say it's pretty durable. I might have to pick one of these up for my local park 😀

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/de...000E1YZFG/102-3728734-2961732?v=glance

it only flys for like 15 minutes and is made mostly of foam from what i understand

 

[Kaido]

Originally posted by: PowerMacG5

Originally posted by: Kaido

Originally posted by: PowerMacG5
That was pretty cool. Anyone know what model that was (or was it custom built)? I am really in to RC cars (nitro), and would like to get in to planes as well.

No idea, but once you go planes you'll never look at cars quite the same way again. They'll seem so...two dimensional 😀 I still enjoy cars, but airplanes is the ultimate for me.

You have any recommendations on a starter plane?

Actually, the Aero Ace looks like a fun/cheap entry airplane. It doesn't look too stable flight-wise, but if you have a big back yard or a park close to you it should be a nice little starter plane. This site has some photos as well as spare parts and mods and whatnot:

http://www.aeroacemods.com/aam/

R/C airplanes are typically gas-powered and you usually fly them at a local flying field. There are clubs all over the place. Tower Hobbies has a nice little intro page here:

http://www.easyrc.com/

Tower Hobbies is probably the biggest hobby shop there is (mail-order + online ordering now). Here is their "getting started" page for R/C airplanes:

http://www.easyrc.com/airplanes/index.html

Like any hobby, it can get pretty expensive, but the nice thing is that you can re-use the electronics on other airplanes. My father is really into r/c planes and has a number of them and uses velcro I think to swap electronics. This way you have one really nice transmitter as well as a receiver and servos that you can use in all of your models. Also depending on the size of the plane you can swap engines. If you really want to get into it (gas-powered and everything), I would suggest joining a local club and getting a mentor. They usually have people there who will teach you how to fly for free just because they enjoy the hobby too and want to share. Plus you get access to a local flying field as well as meetings where you can learn new things, buy stuff at auctions, etc. If you get serious about it, I'd suggest picking up a .40 trainer from Tower Hobbies. Shoot me a PM if you want to know what parts to get or have any other questions.

Keep in mind that flying is only half the fun. The other half is building the airplanes. I'm not a real big fan of ARF/RTF planes because the kits are so much better when you build them yourself. However, they do require a lot of time and patience as well as a workshop to build them in. Some kits can take over a month or two easily. If you like building computers, legos, that sort of thing, you'll probably enjoy building model airplanes.

There is a lot of opportunity for expansion as well. My first airplane was a glider with a 7' wingspan. You have to catch thermals with them - no power at all. You can go into gas-powered models and electric models as well. With gas, you can get prop-driven airplanes, ducted-fan, and even turbine engine (if you happen to have a few grand to spend on an engine, lol). This place has some fun jets that are pretty crazy:

http://www.bvmjets.com/

I'd say, if you want to jump right in, buy one of the cheap foam kits like the Aero Ace and play around and see if you like it. It won't give you the full experience, but they are a lot of fun and you can fly them just about anywhere. I know my dad has a little electric park flyer that works pretty well; I'll talk to him today and see what model it is and pass it along to you.

 

[Kaido]

Originally posted by: pontifex

Originally posted by: Kaido

Originally posted by: pontifex
i had always looked at RC planes. looks like a lot of fun. my problem though is how durable are they?

i don't want to spend a lot of money on one and then crash it because i really don't know what i'm doing and have it ruined.

was thinking about getting one of those little Aero Ace ones someone posted about yesterday. Just so I can try it out without spending too much money and they seem to be pretty durable.

Not too durable. They're not really toys, per say. They're trying to get them down to toy status with ARFs (Almost Ready to Fly) and RTF (Ready to Fly) kits, but they'll still break if you smash them. They take a lot more work to learn than, say, an R/C car. Plus they're a lot more dangerous...some of my gas-powered models go over 100mph. The Aero Ace is a pretty small airplane, so I wouldn't worry too much about it. If you can afford it, it looks like a cheap way to get in.

Edit: dang, $35? man prices have come down since I was a kid :Q Also, the Amazon reviews say it's pretty durable. I might have to pick one of these up for my local park 😀

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/de...000E1YZFG/102-3728734-2961732?v=glance

it only flys for like 15 minutes and is made mostly of foam from what i understand

More like 10 minutes, and yeah, that one is mostly foam. See some videos here:

http://www.aeroacemods.com/aam/gallery/videos.asp

 

[PowerMacG5]

Originally posted by: Kaido

Originally posted by: pontifex

Originally posted by: Kaido

Originally posted by: pontifex
i had always looked at RC planes. looks like a lot of fun. my problem though is how durable are they?

i don't want to spend a lot of money on one and then crash it because i really don't know what i'm doing and have it ruined.

was thinking about getting one of those little Aero Ace ones someone posted about yesterday. Just so I can try it out without spending too much money and they seem to be pretty durable.

Not too durable. They're not really toys, per say. They're trying to get them down to toy status with ARFs (Almost Ready to Fly) and RTF (Ready to Fly) kits, but they'll still break if you smash them. They take a lot more work to learn than, say, an R/C car. Plus they're a lot more dangerous...some of my gas-powered models go over 100mph. The Aero Ace is a pretty small airplane, so I wouldn't worry too much about it. If you can afford it, it looks like a cheap way to get in.

Edit: dang, $35? man prices have come down since I was a kid :Q Also, the Amazon reviews say it's pretty durable. I might have to pick one of these up for my local park 😀

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/de...000E1YZFG/102-3728734-2961732?v=glance

it only flys for like 15 minutes and is made mostly of foam from what i understand

More like 10 minutes, and yeah, that one is mostly foam. See some videos here:

http://www.aeroacemods.com/aam/gallery/videos.asp

Dude, I got one of these things from Toys R Us, and it's so much fun. It's easy to control, yet has some weird idiosyncrasies because of the fact that you don't have any control surfaces.

Now that I know I like it, I am really considering getting this RC airplane. Do you have any experience with it? Or do you have any other trainer/starter planes to recommend?

EDIT: What about this one? Which do you think will be better? The first one I linked has a cool feature which will automatically recover the plane, if I feel I can't do something.

 

[ArJuN]

I've flown the one that guy has in the video. (Atleast, i think so). It was a trainer, so nothing expensive. My friend crashed it into the ground and the propellor cut off one of the wings. We had to order a new set.

 

[Googer]

Wow!