Rarebear Funfighter. First Flight.

back in business...

The Rarebear was my second fast plane, after the notoriously hard to launch Radjet. Despite its diminutive caricature proportions, it was blindingly fast and flew on rails. However, as happens, it had it’s share of incidents, including a near lipo fire and a high speed excursion through a barbed wire fence. Finally, battered and weakened beyond stable flight, it was retired to the wall and gradually stripped of it’s internals for new projects.

So it was with great excitement that I came again to consider another Rarebear to join the flying corp. The first time round I’d chosen the PNF version, in the rather dull white and brown livery, but this time I got the ARF kit, unpainted and without decals. This time also I changed the battery; last time I went with the “ballistic upgrade” 45-90C which, when combined with the diminutive current-junkie funfighter motor, makes for epic speed and addictive noise. However it was far too fast in reality, so this time I chose the same 850mAh 4S battery, but in more sedate 25-50C form.

Also, I had a bit of fun rendering the Rarebear into its donor Bearcat regalia; Navy decals with pacific blue paint (a few shades lighter than the real thing). Overall I thought it looked great. Also, importantly, I applied tape to all the hinge lines (excluding the rudder which doesn’t function) to avoid a repeat of the “missing bits” episode of the original.

So to the first flight. Yes, I was nervous. The Rarebear is small, fast and can kick on launch, so certainly not to be taken lightly. So it was with some trepidation that I threw it up on about half throttle and held my breath.

As it turns out, the rare bear was very well behaved, climbing sweetly into the sky; a little steeply because I’d set the elevator up a bit and, after it had levelled off, flew absolutely beautifully, straight and stable, turning with characteristic crispness and climbing with absolute disregard for gravitational dynamics.

In all, the first flight was excellent, the little ‘bear even slowing up for landing without a hint of wing drop, so I’m now looking forward eagerly to pushing the limits towards full throttle, enjoying the subdued howl of the little fighter across the kangaroo paddocks…

Rarebear 620 Funfighter. New Sodastream Cowling

...works a treat

For a while now the Rarebear’s cowling has looked a little sad, the missing sections of the flimsy plastic article having been poorly patched with fibre tape. So, needing to do a little work on the motor, I decided that enough was enough and dumped the cowling summarily.

As a replacement I first tried a large vitamin bottle which unfortunately turned out to be a little too small, before deciding in the base of a Sodastream bottle. This looked nice and sturdy, and had a little detail on it to add a little style.

It was slightly too big but I trimmed a section from it and then installed it with lashings of hot melt glue. Being careful to align the lower section, once installed I realised that I’d not checked the top which ended up slightly angled and pinching the sliding top section of the fuselage.

Anyway, it was still better than it was, so now to try it out. It turned out to be a very windy although otherwise beautiful afternoon, into which I threw the revamped Rarebear, newly reverted to its original black prop to match the cowling.

In short, the little rarebear flew just as well as ever, seemingly relishing the gusty conditions as it swooped across the field and swung rapidly into the blue sky...

Stormclouds and Rarebear

...lovely contrast

The weather this morning wasn't great, with imminent drizzle threatening to cut short any attempt at flying and overnight rain meaning wet shoes would be guaranteed for my efforts.

The afternoon was, however, somewhat better so I headed to the field with the DC-3 and the Rarebear. I punted the docile Dakota around for a while and then, feeling like something a little more energetic, brought it in and got the little buzzy ready.

By this time heavy storm clouds had rolled in, providing a lovely contrast to the few adjacent patches of blue and, of course, the little white form of the Rarebear. Being quite picturesque, I landed it and dashed off to the car to get the Mobius.

Now, low light conditions aren't the Mobius' strong point, but I hope that the footage will at least capture a little of the lovely variety of cloud textures and colours...

Between Sunrise and Rain

...changeable and ephemeral

This morning I was treated to a beautiful sunrise en-route to the field, however by the time I arrived the beautiful morning show of pastels had faded. Nevertheless, the light was good and I have the Canadair sweeping into the sky in no time.

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It's flight was cut a little short, however, by the arrival of a shower so, landing it quickly, I hurriedly powered up the Rarebear and let it rip for a quick blast, hopefully before things got too damp.

With tubby exercised and gliding in for a beautiful touchdown, I headed back to the car to dry off my radio, which I don't think appreciated the rain...

Rarebear Rocks

...while getting some rays

The Rarebear has taken quite a beating; it was nearly toasted by a lipo starting to burn, been nose-dived numerous times, had an aileron destruct mid-flight and been shredded through a barbed wire fence.

Yet the little Rarebear still flies beautifully, retaining the "flies-on-rails" characteristic it's famous for and still having a decent turn of speed, although it just flies it on 3S these days. And it still brings a smile; it turns so sweetly and it's motor has such a vibrant, unburstable character.

And, best of all, its shape coming head on at head high, going flat out as ever, just makes you imagine it's full-scale forebears heading in on a mission...

Rarebear Morning Flypasts.

...still fun to fly

The Rarebear, despite having been crashed a few times too many, is still fun to fly. Now relegated to buzzing around on a 3S pack due to 4S being ridiculously fast, it provides enjoyment nonetheless.

The motor is an excellent unit, and the Rarebear's chubby form heading straight for you in a low flypast always brings a smile to my face, no matter how often I do it.

The elevator has gotten a little flexible of late, so I'm thinking of installing a small carbon rod across it to keep the climbs straight. The elevators could do with the same, actually, but for now they work OK, keeping the little buzzy on track sweeping low over the grass-tops of the paddock...

Tranquil Morning Clouds

...why I like flying

By the time I reached the field this morning the dull overcast sky had developed interesting cloud shapes, with the light of the just-rising sun beginning to colour them.

I had the Canadair and Rarebear along, anticipating a morning of gentle cruising and low flying over the paddocks. The Canadair is nice for this; easy to fly but also capable of gliding quite happily, although obviously not as efficiently as a glider.

Flying in a beautiful sky is wonderful therapy; gazing up and enjoying the changing colours of dawn is relaxing and refreshing, but having a plane in the sky makes this experience even better...

Rarebear Slow Prop

...shows how good the original is!

I recently had a minor incident with the Rarebear; the result of me somehow reversing the elevator, probably while I was adjusting settings on the transmitter. The result was the Rarebear nosediving straight into the turf, although fortunately with the ground being very damp there, the damage was limited to a broken prop.

Unfortunately I'd used the last of my Funfighter props on the Radjet, which now uses the same propulsion system as the Rarebear.  The only alternative were some APC style props which I'd bought based on reviews, so I got one out the bag and fitted it to the Rarebear.

This morning, a lovely cool and calm start to the day, I took the Rarebear along to try it out.  Flying on the 3S 1300 battery the Rarebear is usually pretty quick, although manageable, so I was quite amazed at how much slower it was compared to flying with its original prop.

While you would think there wouldn't be much difference between a 6x4 and a 5.5 x 4.5, it just shows what a brilliant combination the original prop and motor are together...

The Big Chill

...airborne meditation

Following my efforts to get the Canadair airborne, and considering I only get two goes a week due to lake access, I've been chilling out flying the Phoenix, interspersed with a bit of high-speed fun flying the Radjet (aka buzzy jet )and Rarebear (aka little buzzy) around the paddock.

Having suffered reconstruction nerves, which saw the Rarebear nosediving on launch and the Radjet almost knife-edging into the lake, I've now got both of them launching most enjoyably.

The last couple of outings I have also been enjoying a little meditation with the Phoenix, climbing it hard till just under the clouds and then letting it float down slowly, hanging almost motionless in the air with the flaps down. Today, with winds gathering up high, the Phoenix was actually drifting downwind, almost imperceptibly, despite there being barely a breath of wind on the ground...

Funfighterjet

...radical

A while ago the Radjet slowed down a bit, becoming somewhat pedestrian to fly. At this stage I decided to do a battery swap with the Rarebear and run the Radjet on 4S battery instead; the little buzzy being alarmingly fast flying on the high-voltage pack.

Recently, however, the Radjet suddenly regained its mojo and became seriously fast, carving up the sky in a most endearing manner. Unfortunately, this resurgence of speed was short lived with the Radjet reverting to its previous underwhelming state. The bearings in the stock motor being the main suspect.

However on my spares shelf I happened to have a spare Funfighter motor whichwas too good to resist as a parcel-filler with a previous purchase. Deciding this was the time, I set to stripping the old motor out of the Radjet.

This is a relatively simple process although, with the motor mount being bonded in as part of the rear fuselage section, you have to rip it out which is not great. However it came out easy enough nevertheless.

A few minor complications surfaced; the Rarebear motor requiring two sized mounting screws, M3's and M2.5's and, while I had some of the latter, I had none 30mm long so had to improvise somewhat. Also, the Funfighter motor comes with mini-bullet connectors, however I unsoldering the 3mm connectors from the stock motor and fitting these to the new unit solved that hiccup easily enough.

So the Radjet is now all set up and waiting for the glue to dry before I take it out and give it a good blast around the paddock. I'm looking forward to that...

Rarebear on the Wire

...but I'll fix it

The Rarebear met with a rather sad fate yesterday, clipping a wire fence as it flew low over the paddocks. Keeping an eye of the attitude of the plane, I'd not realised just how low it was until I heard a noise as it passed me and glimpsed the little buzzy disintegrating violently.

The nose was ripped off, as well as one wing, and there's bruising of the foam, including one aileron. The nose, fortunately, is undamaged as is the tail section, so hopefully I'll be able to get the diminutive speedster back into the air with some careful repair.

The sky reflects...

Rarebear Best Battery

...finding the sweet spot

I'd bought the Rarebear along with the suggested "ballistic" upgrade battery, the 4S nanotech 45-90C, which promised incredible performance. They were quite right, except the little plane end up being so fast that I can't possibly fly it at that speed, spending most of the time just over half throttle and occasionally bumping it to around two-thirds.

However I have done a battery swap with the Radjet, flying that on the little 4S's and running the Rarebear on the 3S 1300's. This afternoon I flew the Rarebear twice, firstly on a 25-35C and then on a 25-50C. One wouldn't expect much difference, however the 25-50C is, in my opinion, the perfect battery for the Rarebear; it makes the plane significantly fast enough to keep you on your toes but remains controllable enough to make super-low flyby's at full throttle, which is how I like to fly my fast planes.

Anyway, so I think the swap will be permanent, the Rarebear happily swooping around on the 3S and the Radjet screaming around on 4S...

Another Miracle Day

...serenity follows

Yesterday was another miracle flying day. The morning was dreadful, overcast, drizzly and windy and, as the day progressed, the winds grew more ferocious by the hour. I had packed the buzzies, the Radjet and Rarebear, on the off chance the weather may ease, however by mid day I'd abandoned the idea of getting a late fly.

However, by mid afternoon the wind had abated to a steady northerly breeze and, a little later, the sun had slid past the western extent of the clouds and illuminated everything in a rich warm afternoon glow.

Catching sight of the lustrous sunbeams as I pushed open the blinds, I deserted the keyboard mid-sentence and headed for the field. My usual spot was occupied by the advance-guard of afternoon sports practice, so I ended at my back-up field. The afternoon was glorious; clean-blown air, majestic clouds, emerald green fields, and all bathed in lustrous light from the late afternoon sun.

The Rarebear got to go first, soaring through the freshly-laundered skies and looping as it does with the agility of a swift. I still only fly it on half throttle, which is comfortably fast, and occasionally at about three-quarters, which is excessively fast. Anyone who can fly this thing at full throttle must be a deity.

I was halfway through the Rarebear's flight routine when I was interrupted by strident calls from behind me, someone calling off their dog. Only looking from the corner of my vision, one does need to pay attention when flying, I saw a large dark-coloured dog bounding across the field heading straight for me.

From the desperate sound of the voice behesting the beast to return, the yelled assurances it wouldn't bite me and the glimpse I'd managed to see of it, I presumed it must be something like an out-of-control rottweiler, so was prepared for a vicious greeting at any second.

The dog arrived and I glanced down momentarily to know my attacker; it was an elderly dog, well greyed around the muzzle and certainly not ferocious by any description. In fact, as it's owner continued to yell, I was quite sorry that I wasn't able to give this friendly visitor the greeting and attention it deserved...

Rarebear Aileron Repair

...the pocket rocket is fixed

I have resolved the issue of the missing Rarebear aileron using good old balsa, a material I haven't used for years.

The issue was getting something that was light, easily workable and could be attached to the EPO. With EPO sheet not available, as far as I know, balsa was the best option, readily available in a range of sizes.

For the repair I selected for 4mm sheet, which required just a bit of filing to match the profile of the aileron edge. I used a plastic hinge to attach it, as well as taping up the edges of the repaired and original to avoid repeat problems. I also pinned the balsa prosthetic to the EPO aileron using, well, sections of steel pins (ie large sewing needle) which are stiff and thin.

Hitting this lot with a bit of appliance white spray will have the podgy speedster good as new...

Rarebear Aileron Failure

...tape up those controls

I had been flying the Rarebear at about half power until I got used to the diminutive craft's behaviour, and also until I was sufficiently used to identifying its orientation, something I'd found difficult in the low-light conditions when I typically fly.

As such, I headed out to the field one sunny afternoon after work, to give the  Rarebear a workout over the wide spaces of the paddock. In the sunlight the  Rarebear is much easier to make out, and soon I had the little plane buzzing on three-quarter throttle, marvelling at it's agility and ability to make astonishingly sharp turns.

Suddenly I heard an intense fluttering which ended in an abrupt noise, and then silence. Not knowing what had happened, I cut power and coasted the  Rarebear into a big bank bringing it back to the field.

Getting back to the plane the cause of the noise was immediately apparent, or rather it was conspicuous by its absence; about a third of the right aileron had been completely sheared off. The aileron foam hinge must've developed a crack at the end and, with the high-G maneuvers, resulted in a section of the control peeling up. Exposed to the airstream, this had fluttered violently and eventually ripped off.

Unfortunately, having been flying over the high grass of the the paddocks, the piece of foam was lost...

Rarebear First Flight

...a cute little package

I took the Rarebear Funfighter for its first flight on a breezy afternoon. I went into the paddock to take advantage of it's tussocky grass in case anything should go awry which, from reports of this little plane's performance were anything to go by, was a distinct possibility.

The aileron setup had ended up with both slightly down, so acting as flaps as well. The amount of down trim was very small, so I decided just to try it like this. I reasoned it would help get the little Rarebear launched easier which made me feel a little more at ease.

I was going to launch it underhand, as I'd seen in a few of the videos as you can't hold it from underneath at the CG. However, at the last second, I decided to do a standard throw, holding it just behind the wings. For launch I decided on half power which actually worked really well, with the chubby little plane rising into the sky like it was on an escalator.

It looks ridiculously cute in the air, especially as it was bobbing around on the breeze, looking like a giant bumble bee. Being quite cautious I only tried out full throttle when it was climbing. The performance is ridiculous - it climbs as though unaffected by gravity and spins like it's stuck on the end of a drill ala-Grommet.

The Rarebear is a tiny but packs a huge punch, especially using the recommended 850mAh 4S 45-90 battery, which gives truly insane performance. Actually, having flown it, I think the 3S setup might be sufficient as I have difficulty seeing how you could actually run this flat-out on 4S and not lose it or smash it within seconds, literally...

Grey Day

...but a relaxed mornings flying

This morning was most enjoyable, not because the morning was spectacular or because the flying was particularly good, but rather because it was just lovely being there.

It was a heavily overcast morning with dull smudged clouds covering the southern skies, but a hint of blue to the north brighten things a little.

The field was scattered with birds; a flock of black ibis dozens of small parrots feeding off the grass. A few kangaroos were also grazing on the banks adjacent to the fence.

I had the Phoenix, recently put together after it flew into a tree, out for a test flight which proved particularly challenging with it initially suffering from a heavy left turn, necessitating an emergency landing to get it realigned. Then the prop pulled off while climbing during the second flight, but was fortunately easily recovered as it jettisoned over the field.

The Rarebear also had an outing; my main aim to try and get a better feel for it's flying as I end up doing big circuits as I don't want to turn too quickly for fear it will nose-in. Visibility on dull mornings doesn't help either, making the little pocket-rocket difficult to follow...

Rarebear Ready

...not sure I am though

The Rarebear has been assembled, not that the assembly required is that extensive - just the vertical stabiliser/rear fuselage and horizontal stabiliser. The extra bit of fiddling around that was required in this case is to fit the 850mAh 4S battery into the front compartment. While this is just a matter of removing foam, it is rather annoying, especially as this is the ballistic upgrade they suggest...

Nevertheless the chunky battery is now accommodated, the ESC slotted in and the controls hooked up and trimmed. I have run up the motor and it's ferocious. The manual suggests launching the Rarebear at full throttle on a 3S pack, so perhaps three-quarters would be appropriate with the 4S.

Anyway, hopefully the breeze will drop tomorrow and I'll give it a go at the paddock where there's lots of clear space. I think I'll need it...

Radjet 800 Second Attempt

...and crashed it again

That evening I did some searching regarding these lesser known flight characteristics of the Radjet 800. I found one video post indicating that the standard centre of gravity was too far forward and recommended moving it right back to the finger grips.

I had used the specified battery, a 1300mAh 3S unit, which pushes up against a stop in the fuselage. Easy. Simple. Except that this doesn't seem to work, at least not in my case. So I cut nearly an inch from the internal stop so that the end of the battery is now just inside the fuselage tunnel. I also moved the receiver position a little further back, the combined result of which was that the centre of gravity had moved substantially rearwards, although not quite as much as suggested in the video, but that should be fine.

The repairs complete and the Radjet suitably taped-up, I returned to the field with high expectations of a fun flight. The launch went well, with the plane zooming low over the paddocks towards the hill. Having launched with generous elevator based on my previous experience, I was dismayed to find that setting the elevator to neutral caused the Radjet to dip swiftly down. Not good, and by now the plane was well away and heading towards the woods.

I tried to turn it but was rewarded with a multiple snap roll instead, so now having lost orientation as well as almost losing sight of the plane, the result was virtually a foregone conclusion. A second attempt to turn and climb ended up off course and the little jet ploughed into the hillside, triggering the sudden flight of a pair of frightened birds.

It had been a while since I'd tramped the paddocks in search of wayward aircraft, but now I headed through the paddocks again, greeting the kangaroos as I headed up the incline towards the downed Radjet. The nose was still intact this time due to the fibre tape applied during repairs, however this had resulted in the nose to becoming a crumple zone instead which was probably worse. The canopy had also taken a beating with a section of the plastic shattered which would need fixing.

I'd chosen the Radjet because it looked different and fun but, so far at least, it hadn't worked out that way. Considering the problems I was experienci

ng it did cross my mind that the Rarebear probably would have been a better choice, with its conventional layout and more stable flight characteristics. On top of that it's also faster than the Radjet, although somewhat more expensive. Still a Radjet that doesn't fly isn't really much of a bargain...

With the parts in hand, I headed towards the car wondering what I should do next...

Where to Next

...contemplating the future

I've been looking at new companions for the Phoenix 2000, craft that compliment the old girl without threatening the role of stately flyer.

I've narrowed down the candidates (for now) to the anomalously-named Radjet 800 pusher-prop and a small fun-fighter, the Rarebear. The latter seems an excellent proposition, capable of 120mph top speed with a 850mAh 4S 45C power pack for a very modest outlay. I must admit though that it is a little daunting, with the capability to fling itself into the ground or disappear from sight in a millisecond.

The reviews of it, however, are enthusiastic and recommend it roundly. Comments that it flies on rail are most encouraging. 

The Radjet is another interesting proposition. Initially I was interested in getting it as a kit to transpose components from the crippled Floater Jet. However, having now located pushrods to replace the cracked and bent originals, I'm going to get the ready-to-roll version and hopefully get the Floater Jet into the air decked out in enough LED's to light up the neighbourhood.

The tailless Radjet looks like a sprightly performer with a ridiculously-high roll rate and  all-round enthusiastic performance.

Looking forward to getting both...