Turbo Porter PC6. Wing Cam.

...an intriguing viewpoint

I decided to give the Turbo Porter a go with a wing cam - I’ve only tried this once before on the Raptor glider, and I thought that the Porter would be a good candidate to handle the imbalance that the weight & drag of the camera creates.

I also thought I’d try a ground, putting the mobius on a mini tripod to capture launch and landing action.

Well it turns out that the latter is a bit trickier than I expected; it has to be located far enough away that the plane has lifted off, obviously, so there’s running back & forth to set it up. Secondly, when I have to fly to fixed cameras my flying goes to pieces. I crashed the Rarebear doing this after having flown it twice without incidence beforehand.

Despite the incumberences of the wing and ground cameras, I still managed to get some nice footage, with the wing cam providing intriguing fixed footage of the Porter as the scenery and lighting revolve around it.

And I managed to capture about a second of takeoff from the ground cam. At least I didn’t hit it...

GeeBee R3. Flying Around.

...having some fun

The little GeeBee is kind-of strange to fly, as I may have said before - it appears to be dragged around by its engine and has the very characteristic forward-jutting undercarriage.

However, despite odd characteristics, it does fly quite sweetly, although don't fly it too slow or you'll have it upside down in the grass from a tip stall

One thing it does for you, almost without trying too hard, it knife edge. Maybe not exactly perfectly, however very stable and most entertainingly.

So, while I was buzzing it around, I put it into increasingly steep turns and had it knife-edging around for my amusement.

A fun little plane, except when you try and land it on grass...

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...

Trainstar Tough Trainer. Flying Around.

...a little fun Trainstar-style


For a while now the Trainstar has been grounded due to increasingly-bad prop vibration.

Initially I thought the front fuselage was flexing from fatigue and installed stiffeners, which made no difference. Then I got a prop balancer & did the prop which likewise had a nominal effect.

It turned out that it was just the bell mount grub screws which, although I'd tightened them, were a little loose as the hex drive had stripped. Fixing this was tricky and painful as I couldn't get the originals out, and I couldn't tap new holes for fresh grub screws as there wasn't enough depth.

Eventually it has been fixed, well enough anyway, and now the Trainstar is back in the air again, still full of character...

Firstar 2000 V2. Launch with Flaps.

...easy does it


The Firstar's high-mounted pusher endows it with characteristics familiar of the breed; it's not nice to launch.

True, the V2 mount is angled to eliminate torque which rotates the nose, however the high-moun configuration cannot escape from a downward thrust component. As well as gobbling up battery capacity in cruise mode, it also makes launches tricky.

Having lived through AXN and Radjet, I'm over launch stress, which is why I like using flaps with the Firstar.

Now I know this is contentious but, in this case at least, it works. Usually I'm fumbling to get my launch hand on the radio before the Firstar hits the turf. And I'm not the only one, I've seen several unsuccessful attempts at getting a Firstar into the air.

Considering that this plane sports high-aspect glider wings, launch really shouldn't be an issue. Which is where the flaps come in; dialing in about 20 degrees of flap transforms the launch from a nail biting affair into a floaty cruise, with the big big hanging in the air patiently while you get your hands into position.

Nice and easy, just like it should be...

Pilatus Turbo Porter PC6. Parachute Drop.

...geronimo !

This morning I tried out the dropping bay of the Art Tech Turbo Porter with a trio of intrepid parachutists.

I had tried dropping before, initially with my car keys which seemed like less of a good idea as I watched them spiralling down through the air for what seemed like ages before they actually hit the ground.

And I tried it again with two paratroopers fresh out the pack. The bay works a treat, but it turns out you have to unpack the parachutes somewhat for it to unfurl. It's been a while since I played with parachute men.

Anyhow, this morning th edrop worked a treat, with the three carefully packed parachutes blossoming open on cue a fraction of a second after I flipped the switch. The wind was a little stronger than I expected, so the chutes drifted scenically across the field.

As it happened, turning the Porter around trying to lose some height in the rather restricted space, I collected one of the parachute party who got snagged onto the wing. I didn't need to search for that one at least...

Stinger 64 EDF. High Speed Crash.

...best of times, worst of times

 A beautiful sunny afternoon with a gentle southerly blowing set the scene for some great flying with the Stinger.

Now, with its third iteration of decals, it sported much improved visibility which boosted confidence in flying at speed. Picking its orientation, primarily roll, had always been a bugbear with me, but now I was able to fly it with much greater authority.

For once the launch was good and the Stinger was soon howling round the paddocks, executing thrilling low passes and high turns.

This was the best I'd ever flown it, by a long way, and the enjoyment of flying the speedy little jet and the beautiful setting was quite intoxicating.

Unfortunately this wasn't to last, with one low pass having me turn into the sun where, like previously, I mistook the orientation and the Stinger skewed into the marshy grass at speed.

Worse still, half of the nose had been blasted into the mud by the battery, with both embedded to the degree that they were lost despite my best efforts to find them...

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...

Art Tech Pilatus Porter 1700mm PNF. Unofficial Unboxing.

...lovely plane & lovely kit

The Art Tech PC6 Turbo Porter is a high-quality kit all round - well boxed, accurately moulded and well put together.

All the servos and linkages are installed, you just need to connect the tail linkages to the control horns, and all the decals are pre-applied as well which I like as ones like the windows can be tricky.

The servos for the drop cavity (bomb bay) and tow hook are also installed. There's a convenient access hatch on top of the fuselage to get to the tail servos if required at some stage.

Overall the Art Tech Turbo Porter looks like an excellent aircraft; now's here's hoping it flies like a PC6 should...

Raptor Glider D-Box Pro 2000. Hill Sloping.

...a beautiful afternoon with a view

Having managed some soaring at the seaside, I turned my attention to the nearest inland sloping spot; a set of ridges about half an hour’s drive away. These ridges provide lift in a variety of directions, but today it was blowing southerly. The location for southerly lift is a little tight on landing space and has trees about which makes things a little less relaxed, however I wasn't going to let that put me off.

I launched the Raptor into the strong southerly under power, just to be sure, and was soon getting reasonable lift. Some sections of the ridge were better than others, the far end seeming to be poor and the narrow clear section right in front providing the best lift.

Once I'd trimmed the Raptor to slow it down a little it was performing pretty well, until eventually the breeze ebbed away and I resorted to sending the Raptor on lazy missions away from the ridge over the picturesque farmlands until the battery ran low...

Dynam DC 3 Dakota 1470mm. With Ventral Mobius Camera

...a novel point of view

I'd never flown the DC-3 with an on board camera, mainly because I didn't want to have an ugly patch of velcro on top of the fuselage, and also being so rounded there's not really a good spot. And then there's the cockpit antenna which would get in the way.

Anyhow, the other day I decided I'd try something a little different; putting the mobius under the fuselage, slap bang in the middle of the wing section. I hadn't done a test run of this beforehand, but gave it a go nevertheless.

The result isn't bad, if a little closed-in, giving a nice view of the props. If I tried it again I'd put the camera a little more forward. The best bit, I thought though, was after landing hearing the motors winding down and seeing the props tick to a standstill...

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...

Dynam DC-3 Dakota 1470mm. Spectacular Sunny Afternoon

...a pleasant sunny afternoon

Monday morning was grey and miserable but, just to be sure, I packed the DC-3 and Radjet. This was just as well because, by lunch time, the weather had cleared to a beautifully sunny and mild afternoon and I would have been most upset to have been flightless.

Happily I headed to the field with the afternoon winter sun flooding the fields with warm afternoon light as it began to dip towards the western horizon.

The DC-3 is a docile creature suited to slow flypasts and modest aerobatics, so I spent an enjoyable quarter of an hour doing just that. I managed a really nice touch and go as well as a fast flypast.

Being quite slow I have been pondering a few possibilities to see if it can be made a little speedier, but we'll keep those musings for another day...

Canadair CL-415 1390mm. Scenic Outing at the Little Lake

...a bit more successful

Following on from my rather unsuccessful previous expedition to the lake, I returned a week later with the Canadair again for another attempt.
I find flying off water to be rather stressful, due mainly to the inconvenience of failure, namely having to the boat out to rescue the plane and then pack it all up again. As a consequence I am much more nervous and therefore tend to fly much worse than otherwise.

The Canadair is easy to fly and I can generally fly it off the grass, not dissimilar in nature to taking off from water, with little issue. The takeoffs on this occasion were, happily, more successful although most were still a little nervy and one, which didn't make it into the video, was absolutely awful.

One contributing factor is that you don't always get to stand near the plane like you do at the field, and as a result you are literally distanced. I probably should've just gone to the large lake where I could have launched from right next to the jetty. However the little lake looked so scenic with the clouds in the afternoon sun..

747-4 Trainstar Shaft Adapter

...so I got a new motor instead

I ended up terminally bending the shaft adapter on my Trainstar some while a go as the result of colliding with a light pole. While, in the past, I have managed to straighten the adapter by hook or by crook, this time my efforts were in vain.

Now, it must be said, the Volantex (nee Lanyu) prop adapters are rubbish, a conclusion based on my experience of both the Trainstar and Phoenix planes, and I've heard this sentiment echoed by others as well; the adapter material is very soft and prone to both stripping and bending.

I've previously looked at the Volantex store but, despite having the items on display, it seemed impossible to actually buy anything. And I couldn't find anything on the web either. However reading through a thread about Volantex spares yesterday,  the website had apparently become functional.

My optimism at this news was unfortunately was short-lived as, while the prop adapter is there (and on sale!) an error came up when I tried to finalise Paypal payment and, despite repeating the checkout exercise, I still had no success. So I again abandoned Volantex for spares (why is it so hard?) and headed to Hobbyking.

The Volantex motor for the Trainstar is a 4023/850KV and fortunately Hobbyking have an exact equivalent, the D4023-850 Out Runner Motor. This, however, comes fitted with a steel prop shaft instead of the aluminium of the Volantex, and is also only about half the price.

So, while I really didn't want to buy another motor when all I needed was a prop adapter, it all got too hard...

CL-415 Canadair 1390mm. Field Takeoffs & Landings.

...cruising on a beautiful morning

Winter can be a bit challenging when it comes to flying with grey rainy days and dull mornings. However, one bonus it that you do get to see sunrises, when they happen.

Taking the Canadair to the field the other day I was treated to a lovely sunrise, made more enjoyable by having the Canadair to cruise around.

As usual, if there's something worthwhile I get the camera out, and in this case put it on top the Canadair to get an elevated view of the sunrise. And, for a bit of extra fun, included a couple of takeoffs and landings in the flight...

Phoenix 1600 Smash

...did I just lose signal?

Today was warm but, despite these sort of conditions usually ending up windy and gusty, it was still quite calm after lunch, so I decided to take the Phoenix to the local field to see if any thermalling was to be had. 

Being around thirty degrees, I launched the Phoenix with flaps and climbed it quickly a few hundred feet before leveling it off to check if any lift was around. I set the Phoenix in a turn to try and settle it when it suddenly started to turn left sharply and start to dive. I have had some issues with this due to the foam wings warping in the warm weather, I think particularly when sitting in the car, so I suspected this to be the case.

I put opposite aileron but, to my surprise, the Phoenix continued to spiral downwards, even when I moved to full opposite aileron, something which would usually have the Phoenix wheeling around, especially at the speed it was going. Suddenly knowing it was out of control, I could only watch as the Phoenix spiralled the last dozen metres down before smashing into the field, shedding foam and parts generously.

Picking up the bits and heading to the car I was puzzled, I'd suspected the wing warping being the problem, yet the Phoenix had launched straight and climbed without hint of issue. Then I started wondering; was the Phoenix's lack of response because it wasn't actually doing anything. Had I somehow lost contact?

This scenario seemed highly unlikely; since first suffering this issues many moons ago, I run most of my planes with a satellite receiver as well. And, in the case of a few of them including the Phoenix, I have the receiver antenna poking out of a hole in the bottom of the fuselage. Additionally, I have the radio on the higher-power US setting just to make sure.

And yet...

DX6i Differential Thrust

...who needs a rudder?

Searching for a solution to the Canadair's pathetic rudder, I happened across some forums discussing differential thrust as a solution to replace rudders, with posts indicating that this thrust solution in fact outperformed conventional rudders.

The idea is that, instead of having two motors always producing the same thrust, when you turn you programme your radio so that the "inside motor" reduces power which assists with the turn. This is particularly desirable in the case of water planes where the plane rudder alone is usually insufficient.

This immediately piqued my interest as a potential software solution to the hardware issues I was facing. If successfully implemented would also allow the rather prone rudder to be removed to the parts box.

There was a minor glitch, however, in the case on the DX6i (and perhaps DX7 as well), as I will explain. The full solution requires three mixes to be used, one to allocate a new channel (usually auxiliary/flap channel) as a second throttle channel, and then two additional mixes which link the two throttle channels to the rudder, thereby allowing the appropriate engine output to be reduced to effect turning (turning right reduces right engine power and vice versa). The issue is that the DX6i has only two mixes available.

Fortunately I came across a forum, including a post by constantmotion on this specific issue, offering a novel solution working within the limits of the DX6i as quoted below:

Mix 1:
Thro -> Flap
Rate D -100% U -100%

Mix 2:
Rudd -> Flap
Rate D +30% U +30%

"If you go into the Monitor mode you can see how the mixes affect the channel outputs. The left motor ESC goes into the throttle channel, and the right motor ESC goes into the Flap/Aux channel. This is important; if you plug the ESC's in reverse your differential throttle will be backwards. 

The first mix makes the flap channel parallel the throttle channel for throttle control, and the second mix causes the flap channel to vary depending on rudder position. Changing the rate on mix #2 will affect how much differential throttle you get while turning."

I've tried this on the Canadair and can happily confirm that it works. The only thing I would add, as I discovered, is that the ESC from which the red wire has been disconnected (as apparently you must with multi-engined aircraft) must be connected to the auxiliary channel, while the full lead is connected to the throttle channel.

I happened to have it the other way around and ended up with one lifeless ESC bleeping plaintively until I figured out what was the problem. As my motors were then swapped, I fixed the issue by making the percentages in Mix 2 negative.

The difference between constantmotion's solution and the 3-mix version is that only one motor gets variable speed, increasing or decreasing as per the percentage set in Mix 2. The only time this would not function is if you were turning away from the aux motor side on full throttle, in which case the aux motor would, of course, not be able to speed up.

I have conducted a bench test of this system and it shows potential, but am hoping to do a water trial soon to confirm just how effective it is. Hopefully it will work sufficiently well to allow me to dump the rather underwhelming original rudder...