R/C T-34 Mentor first flight.

[crustychief]

In February of this year I ordered a Top-Flite T-34 model airplane kit. Recently it was completed and ground tested with a short check flight. Today I had the pleasure of a full, non-test flight. It has a Saito 180 for power, retractable landing gear, painted with Krylon rattle can paint, 18 LBS dry weight 20LBS @ takeoff and it flies like a dream. I just had to share.

[bell]

nice, congrats........

check this out.......I've NEVER been able to fly like this lol

there....fixed it

[crustychief]

The link did not go to a video.

[Seahawk]

That is so well done.

Love it.

[slodave]

Very cool! I need to get back into my RC glider. It's just collecting dust these days.

[bell]

here's an insane nearly 400mph glider vid (sorry for the slight hijack )

[fingpilot]

That IS a beautiful T-34. Got that 4-stroke almost all the way under the cowl!

Now all you need is a couple of Naval Aviators in the cockpit.

[Normy]

Cool!

I definitely approve! Those inflight pictures are amazing. I fly 727's for Fedex, and fly with Navy guys all the time. They fly a good plane-

Too bad I cannot say that about the Air Force types, who scare me on a regular basis. . . . . . UHM?

N! Go Navy!

[HardDrive]

Beautiful craft crustychief.

[Buckterrier]

Fantastic! Beautiful work. I just bought my first RC plane last week. A very small trainer but what fun. I hope I get good enough someday soon to fly such an awesome aircraft.

[mikester]

That's pretty darned sweet crusty. Nice to see a well built kit model taking flight. I have a fun scale Cessna 172 from global on my building board. I'm wrestling with which engine to put in, Magnum 91 4 stroke or my 'vintage' NIB Magnum 65SE 2-stroke. The 2 stroke is the same motor I had in a Cessna just like it back in the 90s. It is a surprisingly awesome plain bearing engine - but I loves me my 4 strokes.

[gshase]

I had a gig flying old navy T34B's for Customs in the 80's and yours looks too real. Great job

[crustychief]

Thank you for all the kind words.
@ seahawk, did you solo in one or did you start out in helos?
I actually flew the real N795FC before the North Island Navy Flying club let it rot. It is currently undergoing restoration at the San Diego Aerospace Museum, I get to help with it and thought it would be neat to model it. N795FC in its current state.




Mike I have a couple of top-flite in-cowl mufflers and a header that will fit your two stroke, just say the word and I will get one to you.

[Jrboulder]

Very nice work! I would love to build one of those. I used to have a few park fliers with a service celing somewhere around 4,000 ft. Let's just say they didn't fly in Colorado like you would expect...

On a techincal note, you said you used rattle cans but we all know you had it professionally done with Imron or something like that

[Heel n Toe]

Great job, crusty... it must've been huge fun to see it lift off and pull up the gear that first time.

She needs a pilot... I'm thinkin' this guy is who should be holding the stick...

[Seahawk]

Originally Posted by crustychief

Thank you for all the kind words.
@ seahawk, did you solo in one or did you start out in helos?

I have about 250 hours in the T-34C, which is turbine powered. Great plane.

I never got a chance to fly the T34A.

Again, great work!

[Hard-Deck]

Excellent! I flew the C in Corpus a long time ago. Great looking plane!

[ted]

Great looking plane Chief!

[livi]

Thats fantastic! Must be a lot of fun! Cheers, mate!

[scottmandue]

Nice looking plane, great job!