Thursday, March 28, 2024

Recent Posts

Electrifying The Skyshark R/C Messerschmitt 109E

Skyshark designed this scale Bf-109for .60 2-stroke to .90 4-stroke sizeglow engines, but I decided to convert it to electric flight by installing a power system consisting of an AXI 5320-28 brushless outrunner motor, 8-cell BalancePro HD Li-Poly pack and Jeti Advance 90 Plus speed control. With well over 100 watts per pound, this classic WWII warbird offers unlimited vertical, smooth performance,and a mixed-flying duration of 7 to 10 minutes. This project is a testament to the advantages of electric power for scale warbirdapplications.

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Ins And Outs Of Knife-Edge Flight

With more and more folks chasing RTF and ARF park flyer aircraft, I increasingly hear guys at the field discussing various 3D maneuvers. I kept thinking of ways to help people understand the basics behind flying certain maneuvers. Most of these entail giving proper inputs while the plane changes its attitude in the air.

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Light Up Your Plane With LEDs

Every now and then, I hear a little voice that commands me to do things. My little voice came up with a winner recently. I had a Multiplex Acromaster kit waiting to be assembled. I noted that the fuselage and wings are actually made in a clamshell fashion with hollows inside to save weight. Furthermore, the Elapor foam glows very nicely when illuminated from within.

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Short Scion Plans Download

Forberg's little twin is ideally suited for larger indoor sites, or for flying outdoors in your back yard or the local school ball field on calm evenings. The two GWS brushed motors and single ESC promise economical operation. Construction goes quickly, and you can build with any common sheet foam materials, or even balsa.

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Lanzo Bomber Plans

Another in Leon Shulman's series of foam old timers, Chester Lanzo's Lanzo Bomber is one of the most popular and successful old timers out there. Download the first PDF file below and take it to your local Kinko's or other print shop with an oversize printer, or download the set of files needed to print the plan on 12 letter size sheets.

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Micro Drake Plans Download

Thayer Syme designed his Micro Drake seaplane around ParkZone's 2.4GHz submicro equipment as introduced in their Minium Cessna Centurion. This diminutive flying boat spans 16 inches and weighs a scant .6 ounces. The Micro Drake will take off from a smooth surface such as a gym floor, and can even lift off the water in zero wind conditions. Download the plan offered here, and build your own Micro Drake for your backyard pool or the local school gym.

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John Worth’s Mrs. Lil

Way back 66 years ago I designed an original free flight tailless model I called the Lil Misery. Why that name? I can’t remember! The plans and a construction article for it were published in the July 1942 issue of Air Trails magazine. Lil Misery spanned 50 inches and flew great. It was powered with a spark ignition Atom engine and was very stable.

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Bob Aberle’s Boeing L-15 Scout Park Flyer

Bob Aberle's delightful version of this rarely modeled post-war observation plane is designed for flying in a local park or ball field with lightweight electric power. There are two versions of the plan available for free download. The single sheet plan measures 24 x 36 and can be printed at any print shop with a large format printer.

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Top Flite DC-3/C-47 Kit Review

This kit has been on the market for a while, so I won’t review the product. Instead, I’ll concentrate on what I had to do to turn the stock Top Flite DC-3 kit into a successful electric-powered model. I will also explain the changes I made to finish it as a C-47 and to enhance its appeal as a super-scale model.

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Futaba 10C 2.4GHz Transmitter

The new Futaba 10C radio offers unprecedented flexibility and value for RC pilots everywhere, with prolevel performance at a very affordable price. This offering is an evolution of Futaba’s very popular 9C/9C Super series, with many updates and a seamless transition that will be greatly appreciated by longtime Futaba pilots. The 10C is designed primarily for intermediate and advanced pilots, and in my mind is a perfect opportunity to make the leap to 2.4GHz if you have been holding out and waiting for the technology to mature.

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The Witch Plans

FLY RC BONUS THE WITCH PLANS     SPECS for the WITCH WEIGHT:30oz.MOTOR: Uranus 28309 Brushless Outrunner Motor http://www.maxfordusa.com/u28309.aspx SPEED CONTROL: ElectriFly Silver Series 25A ESC http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXKSY4&P=ML PROPELLER:APC 10×6 propBATTERY: 3S 1500 – 1600MAh LiPo DOWNLOAD THE TILED …

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Building Balsa Wheel Pants

In the January 2008 issue, we looked at a quick and easy way tomake a balsa cowl. Now let’s build a set of wheel pants.Beyond the basic satisfaction of crafting airplane parts out of rawmaterials with your own hands, there are two main reasons to buildthese parts out of balsa: the obvious reason is that there may not be acommercial product available to suit your needs. This is usually thecase with scratch-built projects and often when building from plans.Also, while kits usually have fiberglass or vacuum-formed plastic components,you might want to dress up a more basic model that didn’tinclude such accessories.

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