Flitetest X-57. Take 2.

...a long time between drinks

After a long hiatus the X-57 is back in the air and flying OK.

The issue I'd had initially with unbalanced thrust turned out to be only an over-tightened motor mount - backing off a couple of screws was all it took to get the slow motor spinning up to speed.

However, the wings still seem to be generating too much lift, with the X-57 soaring with even modest throttle settings and fairly wanting to loop with anything more than that.

In fact, I had to fly it with negative elevator trim just to try and get it flying level-ish. For my next try I'll use a heavier 4S 3000 to try and even things out a bit.

This may help it fly level and so help to eliminate the problem of the big disparity between power on and power off flight and allow it to glide properly with a bit of airspeed. At the moment when you cut the throttle it stalls which makes trying to land it, well trying...

Radjet 800. First Flight.

...back better than ever

The arrival of the Radjet, my second and a replacement for the much loved and even more battered original, was much anticipated. The pretty original had been the subject of countless crashes as I struggled to learn the secret of getting it into the sky.

Along the way I learned about the delicate balance required with speedsters, and not to get the Radjet into flat spins form which it struggles to escape. I also learned, and relished in, the Radjet's capacity for rock-solid performance and high-speed stability.

My arrival of MkII caused some angst as nearly a year had elapsed since it's predecessor had retired after the incident with the sapling. Fortunately, and remarkably, my lessons learned were so entrenched that the pretty speedster launched and flew virtually perfectly.

Something that I never had the opportunity to appreciated before it was pummeled through launch training, was just was cleanly the Radjet flies, swift cruise at half throttle and effortless acceleration out of dives.

So, despite the nervous anticipation, the Radjet is back and reinforces my perception that this must be one of the best-value foam speedsters around...

FT 3D. First Flight.

...got there in the end

As soon as I saw the video of the FT 3D I decided I was going to have to make one. The build was reasonably simple and the product looked great; a pert-looking aircraft with blacked-out canopy and bristling with vortex generators and wingtip plates.

So it was with much anticipation, and nervousness as usual, that I got around to its maiden flight. My first mistake was the rates weren’t turned down enough, and the expo needed to be much higher. I was lucky to recover control before it speared into the meadow and brought it round to land so I could reprogram the Taranis.

Second mistake is it didn’t really glide - I cut power expecting to ease it in for a landing, but instead it stalled and plummeted down, buckling the undercarriage and breaking the motor mount.

Taking it home for a re-think, I installed a smaller prop than the very solid unit which was one of my Trainstar spares and also cut off the back half of the swappable power tray which was doing nothing. Importantly, I also covered the underside of the cowling with poster board in the hope the shape would support the nose which had been dropping severely on the first flight.

So, back to the field again to test the results, which happily showed significant improvement. Except, unfortunately, that this revealed another problem - the ESC overheated despite the NACA duct cut right in front of it, causing the FT 3D to once again plummet down for a repeat end to the flight.

Take 3, now with a NACA scoop - an inverted NACA duct service as a very large scoop to keep the ESC’s delicate constitution cool. And this time everything seemed to work - the #D was light & floaty enough, easier to control and seemed happy to be flying. All good, now time to learn how to fly 3D properly…

FT Baby Blender. Re Maiden !!

...a super bipe

I had long wanted a bi-plane and, having been bitten by the Flitetest bug, I decided that the Baby Blender would be the one for me.

Having built it and checked the CG I discovered, as I have with a few FT planes, that it was tail heavy and therefore I decided to fly it with a 2200 battery to add weight to the nose.

In addition to now being heavier, for the first time I used an "all-in-one" pack from eBay which, at about the same cost as making the plane, I thought a perfect fit. Unfortunately the Baby Blender turnout out to be pitch sensitive, either going up or down in a hurry with no happy medium achievable.

Also unfortunately, the eBay motor popped after only a few minutes, leaving the overweight bipe to plummet earthwards.

Fast-forwarding several months, I eventually replaced the Blender's motor and also gave it a covered lower cowling, something I'd tested with success on the FT 3D. Also, I decided to go with a lighter 1800 battery and see what happened.

The combination turned out to be a winner, the lighter-weight FT was still stable and now with a much lighter nose it quietly floated around the field once I'd set the elevator trim down a little; it headed for the skies so much lift was it generating!

The only change I made from the first flight was to increase the aileron throws a touch. Apart from that all good, and I'm looking forward to many more flights peacefully punting the little bipe around the oval...

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…

Turbo Porter Sunset

...evening walk became an evening flight

Wild rainy weather for the day suddenly subsided into a golden sunset, warm rays flooding under the dissipating sheet of clouds. Taking the opportunity for some exercise, I headed out for a walk. However I hadn't made it to the corner before I'd decided that this would actually be a great time for a sunset flight.

I don't often fly at the local fields anymore as there's not that much space, quite a few trees and often people walking dogs or playing. However, with sunset approaching and it having just stopped raining, I packed the Turbo Porter and headed down the road.

As ever sunset changes rapidly and the best of it was gone by the time the Porter headed to the skies. However, I managed to capture some of the fading sunset and enjoyed compiling the video... 

Phoenix 2000. First Flight.

...a little slope soaring

I've chosen to set up the Phoenix 2000 as a pure soaring glider without motor, running a 2200 3S battery located right at the firewall and some small-change ballast installed in the nose cone.

I have configured the Phoenix with crow brakes, as I discovered that having some sort of brake/lift dump is essential, whether that be fence-type brakes or, in this case, flaps and ailerons configured to generate drag and reflex the airfoil respectively

There are, unfortunately, no good slope soaring sites nearby, however I decided to try the hill at the far end of the paddocks where I fly; not particularly high or steep but enough to generate a little lift.

The wind was a strong north-wester, a little gusty too, and I launched the Phoenix with as lusty a hurl as I could summons. The Phoenix flies well enough, catching what little and sporadic lift was available here.

I tried the Phoenix with and without flaperons active but, given the very turbulent conditions, I couldn't asses the effect they have.  Similarly, I didn't get the opportunity to really test the crow brakes, however they were effective in slowing the glider down and didn't cause it to climb when deployed which is good.

However, as a first try, the Phoenix is encouraging, so I'll be trying to get it flying in some better lift... 

SR71 Blackbird. First Flight.

...blackbird of noisiness

The SR71 is a Parkjets design, one of those "stickplanes" which combine simple construction with characteristic design cues that define the aircraft.

I chose to do the 125% version, giving a wingspan of 840mm and a length of 1250 and making it quite an impressive aircraft.

I chose to power the Blackbird with a funfighter motor I'd liberated from my old Rarebear. This motor is a little under-specced for a plane this size, yet it managed to give the SR71 a decent turn of speed nonetheless. I was going to use a 1500 4S lipo but, unable to get CoG sorted, opted for a heavier 2200 4S to balance things out.


My main concern approaching launch was not it's flight characteristics which, being a large delta promised to be benign, but the proximity of the handhold to the propellor! Fortunately this concern was unfounded, and the SR71 took to the skies beautifully stably.

As the Blackbird accelerated away, it became apparent that this is a very noisy plane, even noisier than the Radjet with the same motor...

Flitetest Viggen. First Flight.

...no bites from the vegan

Preparing for the first flight of the FT Viggen I was both excited and nervous; it looked to be a great flying plane made a little more forgiving with the canards. However, having a completely flat underside, it was also the first plane that I’d ever have to launch underhand.

So, as I’ve done several times before, I headed into the depths of the paddocks to a launch spot with long grass, just in case I needed an arrestor bed. As it turns out not really but it didn’t hurt since, at my first attempt, the trajectory was too flat, and the Viggen simply disappeared gently into the foliage.

The second attempt was good, the Viggen holding an upward attitude till I could bump up the throttle and then it was on its way.

Flitetest Nutball. First Flight.

...a well rounded plane


Whilst waiting for parts to arrive for the completion of the Viggen, my first Flitetest project, I decided to do a Nutball from a spare sheet of foam and a scrap motor.

It's a very easy plane to make, much simpler than the relatively complex Viggen, so didn't take long to make at all.

However, I didn't like the front-mounted motor or externally attached battery, which I thought looked ugly, so I mounted the motor internally and made access to the power pod through the top of the plane.

The result was a much neater-looking plane however required a much bigger battery (a 1300 3S) in order to compensate for the relocated motor.

With a big wing area I didn't think this would be a problem, however it turned what should be a slow floater into an absolute handful of a plane. Additionally, the elevator/rudder setup seemed highly ineffective with the Nutball not wanting to turn much at all. In fact, overall, flying the Nutball it recalled my first flights with the nose-heavy Radjet. 

By the end of the second flight, which ended with the Nutball spiralling into the paddock, I'd decided to reduce weight with a smaller battery mounted on top, and to change to elevon mix layout to improve flight response... 

Firstar V2. Sunrise Series II.

...sunrise and mist

Going into autumn I again have the opportunity to enjoy sunrises at the field as they coincide with my journey to work. On this particular occasion there was the extra bonus of mist covering the outer fields.

In the suburbs mist is a rare visitor, so I feel especially to spent time with this ethereal visitor, so quickly dispelled with the approach of the sun's rays.

The window of sunrise was quite small, one of those where the light squeezes between horizon and clouds for a few minutes, blossoming brightness growing again quickly dull as the sun heads into the clouds.

Nevertheless, it was a beautifully tranquil morning, with a mix of clouds, mist and sun...

Stinger 64 EDF. Repair Flight.

...back in the air!

It was months ago when, having too much fun with the Stinger, I inadvertently sent it speeding into the swampy paddock grass, where it half its nose and my near-new nanotech battery disappeared into the mud.

Since then I have agonised over how I was to replicate the tapering form of the nose, which also accommodates the canopy magnet and terminates into the join with the nosecone.

Eventually I used rear sections of the original fuselage (funny how you never crash backwards), although this wasn't quite right and had to be cut, and then added onto, and then filled, and sanded, and painted.

However, after this unnecessarily protracted affair, the Stinger was again airworthy and looking pretty good. However, the proof of the pudding if in how well it flies.

Fortunately, in this case, it flew as well as ever, and I was gifted with a good launch as well. So back to enjoying a few run-filled, adrenalin rushing minutes screeching the Stinger around the paddocks...

Floater Jet. Lake & Country.

...scenic flight and more

A trip to the country was an opportunity to take the Floater Jet to see whether there might be an opportunity for lift off the adjoining hillside.

Also, an opportunity for a gentle scenic flight the next day, with a tranquil morning and the lake mirror-calm.

Not that it was an uneventful flight, with a flock of corellas passing through and a very close call with a radio tower.

And to end it, probably the worst judged approach I've made in a long time, with the docile Floater Jet over-flying and floating straight into the garage door...

Pilatus PC 6 Turbo Porter. First Flight

...flies as good as it should

The moments before a plane taking off on its first flight are a bit odd, a mix of trepidation and expectation. Additionally, I find, with the larger planes I wonder to myself whether they will actually get airborne.

With the Turbo Porter my fears were unfounded, as this is a very well sorted airplane; it takes off very easily, just easing off the ground on about two thirds throttle and will cruise happily on half power.

The pre-installed flaps have excellent travel with full flaps slowing the Porter down to little more than jogging speed. The large control surfaces also give you instant confidence which, combined with the PC6's unflappable demeanour, makes flying this plane an absolute pleasure.

Aerobatics are easy, and any it will stabilise quickly from any incident. Of course, with its scale detail, it also looks great in the air and it's rugged undercarriage makes takeoff and landing very easy.

On the subject of undercarriage, I didn't screw in the lower strut mounting, allowing the strut to slide in the mount to give the suspension additional flex which I think works great.

Now just to get the paratroopers organised for some air drops using the integrated dropping bay...

Firstar 2000 V2. First Flight.

...brief but successful

The first flight of the Firstar 2000 was also my first outing with my new Taranis, with the latter being much more of a headache to configure than was the former. However the Firstar disappointingly have a number of quality issues which first required resolving.

The morning was a little gusty, with the northerly coming through earlier than expected. I opted to fly the Firstar with two 2200 3S packs which seemed to give the required cog. Volantex suggest running this off a 1800 3S, but seriously...?

Despite the Firstar V2 having the revised motor mount which reduces nose-down rotation due to the moment, this configuration still pushes the plane downwards and consequently there is the balancing act with the amount of power you use to launch.

As such the launch went OK, although I needed to rush to get both hands onto the radio controls after I'd thrown it. Of course, if you have someone to throw it for you this isn't an issue.

As you'd expect with the high aspect glider wings, it flies, and glides, very stably although the downward effect of the motor spoils its cruising performance in my opinion.

The flight was cut short by my inability to trim it out. No fault of the Firstar but rather programming glitches with the Taranis which I have subsequently fixed, but the Firstar landed without issue to complete a rather abbreviated but nevertheless successful maiden flight...

Hobbyking Stinger 64 Mk2. 2200 Nano First Flight

...the big day!

Since the ultimate smash I'd reconstructed the Stinger with a new fuselage and new larger and higher-spec powerpack, all of which I was eager to try out so, with a break in the rather poor run of weather, I headed to the field.

As ever, not having flown the Stinger for a while made me nervous. Additionally, I wasn't sure what the effect would be of the substantially-larger 2200 battery compared to the 1800 I'd previously flown with.

Eager to get the Stinger into the air before the sun disappeared behind clouds, I gave it a quick check before getting it ready to launch. Running the motor up for launch, the reaction felt a little odd. Blipping the throttle again revealed the reason - it was blowing air out of the intakes. I'd wired the motor in reverse.

Dashing back to the car for my toolkit, quite a way as I was flying in the paddocks, I headed back to the plane to remove wings and swap the plugs. Eventually the Stinger was back together, now developing positive thrust, but the sun had unfortunately taken a break behind a small patch of clouds.

Despite the disappointment of losing the beautiful afternoon glow, I hot full throttle and threw the Stinger up. Despite high expectations, this continued the run of miserable launches I've had, the Stinger knife-edging a few metres up. Correcting this and easing off the elevator revealed the next crisis; I hadn't done a good check on the trims and the Stinger was nosediving alarmingly.

Bringing it round I heaved on the elevator; going vertically fifty metres up is a nice safe place to make control adjustments.

After that things got a lot better; the augmented stripes made visibility so much better I was immediately more confident, and soon I had the Stinger making nicely-controlled low passes at speed, howling past at full throttle...

GeeBee R3 750mm TRILOGY: PART 3: First Flight

...a few surprises

The GeeBee got its chance for a first flight on a beautiful, if somewhat breezy, afternoon with lovely clouds spread across a giant canvas of bright blue sky.

Playing it safe for the first take-off, I had the GeeBee on the dirt to give it a take-off smoother run. After a quick taxi-test, I headed it into the breeze and eased up the power.

It takes off pretty easily and without fuss, but the first surprise came when I eased off the elevator and found it nose-diving rapidly, so much so that I only just caught it in time. It was also turning right, so I had a tense minute or so as I steered it clear of trouble as I adjusted the trims.

After that things were a lot more enjoyable; it turns out that the GeeBee is very floaty, another surprise, and is fun and easy to fly. In fact its characteristics lead me to believe it has 3D capabilities, now I just need to develop mine!

It turns very quickly and easily and, with full power, is pretty brisk without being super-fast, so it didn't take long before I was flying it with some confidence.

Bringing it into land it floated in straight enough, rounding out well. I let it drop just a fraction, still a good landing, but this small jolt was enough to dislodge one side of the undercarriage and loosen the other mount.

However this is easily corrected with a little superglue, and I'm looking forward to exploring the GeeBee's abilities further...

Trainstar Tough Trainer 1400 EPO. D4023 Motor Test Flight.

...test flying the new motor

Fortune smiled this afternoon with the growing cloud cover holding up just enough for a scenically sunny afternoon for flying. Conditions were a little choppy but, given the lovely afternoon, we were going to give it a try anyway.

As well as being the test flight with its new motor, this was also the first time I’d flown the Trainstar for months after its collision with a light pole, so it was perhaps not surprising that it was out of trim.

As soon as it took off, it was evident that the Trainstar had become very floaty, in contrast to the nose-down attitude I’d been flying it previously. Nevertheless, it was still fun to have it back in the air.

After having a bit of fun floating it around, I brought it in to check trims, and then it was back in the air, flying a bit flatter than before. It was still not smooth flying though, with gusty conditions and wind shear above tree level turning the Trainstar into a kite of sorts.

The new motor performed very well, at least as powerful as the OE unit, and perhaps a little more. Considering its modest cost and ease of replacement, it’s a viable alternative to Volantex’s dodgy prop adapter…

Raptor Glider D-Box Pro 2000. Afternoon Cruise.

...a pleasant afternoon out

Sunday afternoon turned out sunny and mild, a nice opportunity to take the Raptor for a leisurely cruise around the field. With the local venue busy, I headed for a field at which I'd previously considered flying but never got around to going there.

The field had had the grass cut back for some reason, leaving it with an interesting geometric finish, combined with its contrasting brown colour would make an excellent spot for a first FPV flight; you'd easily be able to find where home was!

Getting the Raptor out, I installed the Mobius atop the fuselage and sent the big glider soaring skywards. There northerly wind was quite mild but choppy, making the flight a little interesting when the Raptor approached ground level and curtailed most low and slow flying, which is can be the most fun.

Nevertheless it was a lovely afternoon to be out, and floating a slow glider around is likewise a suitably relaxing occupation. The most anxious bit was a brief inverted flight towards the end when, pushing the Raptor in an inverted pull-out, I realised there was insufficient charge in battery to execute this power-sapping manoeuvre.

Rolling the Raptor out, I pulled up steeply and came awkwardly close to a flood light pole, hitting which would definitely have ruined a lovely afternoon outing...

R2 Hobbies Raptor Glider D-Box Pro. First Flight with Wingtip Camera.

...got there eventually



For some while, after having seen footage of wingtip cameras, I've been meaning to give this a go on one of my planes. The plane I'd choose would be the Raptor glider, given its very large wing area meaning it wouldn't be likely to miss a bit of lift from the spot occupied by the Mobius, and also it being very stable.



There was a catch however, given that I most often fly it in the morning when the grass is saturated with dew and, being a glider, the wingtips drag through the grass, meaning that the Mobius was likely to get a soaking.

However, having dallied about this for some time, I decided to bite the bullet and give it a try regardless. As regards the yaw and roll likely as a result of the bluff form of the Mobius on the wingtip, I decided on two clicks each of right rudder and aileron and, as regards keeping the Mobius dry, the mitigation was to land the Raptor as slowly as possible, with flaps deployed, and then use full right aileron as it was coming to a standstill to keep the left wingtip off the wet grass.



Throwing the Raptor into the air I was amazed that the few clicks of trim were sufficient to keep it flying straight, at least at low speed, so I was soon able to fly it with confidence that nothing untoward was going to happen. It turns out that the angle at which I set the Mobius was a little too forward-pointing so that the tail is lost from the view, which is a pity as it's nice to see the controls at work during the flight.



Nevertheless you get to see the aileron twitching right next to the camera, and the view is great, especially during loops and sharp turns, the latter particularly at low altitude as towards the end of the flight.



And so to the final hurdle; I brought the Raptor is super-slow, touched it down and hit full right aileron to keep the Mobius up as long as possible. The extra mass meant that, eventually, the camera touched the grass.



Running to retrieve it, I picked up the glider to check the Mobius; it was completely covered in dew. I gave it a quick dry-off and then stuck it atop the air vent as I drove to work, and then parked it at the back of my computer to dry out in the warm breeze. Finally, plugging it in, revealed that fortunately the Mobius was no worse for wear...