Slowfly 3D electric RC project

[Tim Hancock]

I have been pretty much out of RC planes for about 7-10 yrs, but a recent video I watched on the internet has renewed my interests. http://www.slofly.com/videos/3d/rc_gymnastics.wmv All my prexisting stuff is glow powered, so I had to do some research on the new equipment and ended up buying this stuff from slofly.com. I am nearing completion of my foam "hangar flyer". It is looking like it will weigh about 5 oz and the motor/prop combo supposedly puts out about 14 oz of thrust so it should hover nicely once I clean off the cobwebs from my RC stick fingers!

Anyone else into these 3d indoor slow electrics?

Old school mothballed planes.


New toy

[BlueSkyJaunte]

I've got one of those Tiger Moth jobbies that I haven't gotten around to slapping together yet. Elevator/rudder only, though, so I'm not sure how much fun it'll really be. I've been pondering a 3D micro heli just for the hell of it.

My father does mostly 1/4 scale and larger (up to 40%! ) so he won't be any help.

[jhelgesen]

I few larger and larger scale, got up to a 30+% Staudacher when I "retired". Sold off almost everything, but still get the urge once in a while. Picked up one of the airhog micro planes, haven't tried it indoors yet, but outside, its a blast......

[Tim Hancock]

I have this gutted 33% Giant scale Giles 202 (upper left portion of picture) that a friend gave a few years back, but I have never gotten the urge to blow a couple grand on a custom 2 cyl 15hp engine and the 9 heavy duty ball bearing servos required to make it fly nicely. It just hangs and looks kind of cool for now. Someday I will do it up, but it is presently down in the pecking order on my "things to do before I die" list.

[BlueSkyJaunte]

I'm more a fan of the small stuff....frankly, when you can fly the real thing, the larger-scale models kinda lose their charm. You need a big field, $$$, more $$$....by the time you're done why not build a Kitfox or something?

[Tim Hancock]

Originally posted by BlueSkyJaunte
I'm more a fan of the small stuff....frankly, when you can fly the real thing, the larger-scale models kinda lose their charm. You need a big field, $$$, more $$$....by the time you're done why not build a Kitfox or something?

That is kind of why my interest wained, as I got into building and flying ones that I could fit in, but that video above of the guy flying in his garage got my juices flowing again!

[HardDrive]

Very cool. Do they sell them RTF?

[Nathans_Dad]

Funny this thread came along. I "retired" from model airplanes about a year ago, am starting to get the itch again. Not bad enough to actually go out and buy one again, I have an R/C simulator on the computer that I am thinking of firing up. I would love to get a little electric park flyer to doink around with, not sure I'm going to be getting back into glow powered airplanes anytime soon, driving out to the field, setting up, flying, driving back...by the time you are done it has been 3-4 hours. I just don't have that kinda time right now...well actually I do, but I'd rather play golf.

[Tim Hancock]

Originally posted by HardDrive
Very cool. Do they sell them RTF?

This guy that sells these particular planes only sells parts, but I am sure there has to be some lesser performers out there being sold ready to fly. There are probably many different brands of these "Foamies" available out there, but after some research, this guy had done quite a bit of research trying different brand components and I just felt like it made the most sense. I have designed many light weight balsa glow powered planes back in the day, but not being abreast of all the latest advances in lightweight electric stuff, I decided to buy a proven combination.

[Tim Hancock]

Originally posted by Nathans_Dad
Funny this thread came along. I "retired" from model airplanes about a year ago, am starting to get the itch again. Not bad enough to actually go out and buy one again, I have an R/C simulator on the computer that I am thinking of firing up. I would love to get a little electric park flyer to doink around with, not sure I'm going to be getting back into glow powered airplanes anytime soon, driving out to the field, setting up, flying, driving back...by the time you are done it has been 3-4 hours. I just don't have that kinda time right now...well actually I do, but I'd rather play golf.

You just need a bigger yard!

[berettafan]

Heres a pic from my Electro Telemaster. 6' wingspan (small to you glow guys probably), 6lbs +/- and all electric.

[Nathans_Dad]

Originally posted by Tim Hancock
You just need a bigger yard!

Excellent point...have to talk to the wifey about that!!

[lendaddy]

I have a little cessna foam park flyer. Amazingly cheap and strong! I had never flown anything before and I flew it fairly well. I did have some "rough" landings, but it took them in stride.

Ready to fly for like $120 or so.

[Rob Channell]

Originally posted by Tim Hancock
........ I am nearing completion of my foam "hangar flyer".

Maybe you could finish it faster if you only had a couple of clamps...

FWIW I enjoy seeing your setup and projects. Always something interesting..... You're not the only one....lots of inventive fabricators/experimentors on this board. I like it.

[Tim Hancock]

Originally posted by Rob Channell
Maybe you could finish it faster if you only had a couple of clamps...

One can never have too many clamps When building my "full scale" DR-107 wing, I actually used all of those and wished I had more, when epoxying plywood gussets.

[Tim Hancock]

Originally posted by lendaddy
I have a little cessna foam park flyer. Amazingly cheap and strong! I had never flown anything before and I flew it fairly well. I did have some "rough" landings, but it took them in stride.

Ready to fly for like $120 or so.

Does it have ailerons, rudder, elevator and throttle? Or is it just rudder and elevator? I bought a $20 RTF electric (Estes brand?)at Radio Shack a few weeks ago thinking maybe it would satisfy my sudden urge to fly in my hangar and it is a pc of ***** (for $20, this should not suprise me). It only had two throttle positions and a electro magnet type rudder (all left, all right or neutral). Plus it had some kind of timer that would only allow rudder input for 2 seconds then you had to release the stick and reapply (supposedly this was done to keep beginners from screwing up).
I am a proficient RC pilot yet I could barely fly the thing

I should have known better, but I needed an immediate fix for my uncontrollable urge to buy a toy.

[lendaddy]

Tim,

It does not have ailerons, but the throttle, rudder and elevator are all proportional.

They have full aerobatic models for the same price though, I just wanted it as simple as possible as I've never flown.

My buddy has a few different models of these park-flyers and a couple of them really haul ass(like 80mph+) and are still easy to fly. I cannot believe how good he got after only a few weeks with it. His fastest one has unlimited vertical.

[Tim Hancock]

An old college buddy who never had an interest in flying, recently picked up a small (maybe 1' long) RTF foam jet looking plane that has simply two tiny electric motors (one in each wing panel) which run at different speeds to induce a turn and more or less power to climb or descend. The damn thing is nearly indestructable and he quickly learned to fly it all on his own also. It is pretty neat provided there is no wind, or you are in a large building such as a gymnasium as it needs a bit of room to operate.

I completed my foamie last night and am just waiting on a Lipo battery charger that I ordered to show up and I will be in business.

[berettafan]

www.rcgroups.com

I dare say it's the Pelican (even hosted by a bsns-Hobby Lobby) of RC airplanes.

[Tim Hancock]

Originally posted by berettafan
Heres a pic from my Electro Telemaster. 6' wingspan (small to you glow guys probably), 6lbs +/- and all electric.

That is pretty cool Beretta! Are there "inexpensive" video links available yet to allow you to fly by watching a video monitor yet?