R/C airplanes (was: RPM Challenge)

[Jay Vaughan]

> Mindstorm is cool indeed! Last year I had the chance to buy a kit at a reasonable price but decided against it - not another hobby... ;-)
> 

Yeah, Flynn and I have been having a lot of fun making weird and wonderful stuff - and it has been really interesting to watch the progression from "two bits stuck together to make an airplane" to, "12 bits stuck together, with rotating joints and parts that interact, to make a robot" .. really intriguing watching a young mind grow with this stuff .. 

And I have to admit to being more than a little impressed with the Lego software for programming the robotics components .. very fun to show him symbols and then have him recognize them, suggest their uses later, as we develop robot routines together.

> Check out my Facebook profile for a few images.

NOPE!  :)

> On the one hand, I dusted off some birds from my teenage years. I already flew a Robbe Progo (trainer with 10cc 4-stroke glow engine) that needed quite a bit of repair, and I just replaced the receiver and battery in a 3m glider yesterday.

Awesome!  I'd love to have my old teen-years models available, but alas thats just not feasible any more .. 

> I also acquired some used planes: I got a 1.5m BF-109 (electric, foam) that was in questionable shape and a 1.4m CAP-232 (8cc 4-Stroke). I tried to fly the BF-109 once but couldn't get it off the ground on the narrow runway. It's now fixed and optimized (e.g. the motor mount should now have the proper angle to counteract the torque), I'm waiting for some proper weather. The CAP has to wait - I think I should work on my reflexes a bit more before I fly this rocket.

Ah, excellent!  :)

> For the near future, I'm lusting for another electric foamie that's robust and fun to fly.

I'm flying this these days:

http://www.nineeagleshop.com/shop/product_info.php?cPath=398&products_id=14789

Its not robust!  But damn it is fun to fly .. mine is currently loaded with carbon-fiber wires and tape, just to get it in the air .. yikes!


> I'm slightly worried that my aerobatics planes (the CAP and the Extra) are stretching my current skills a bit, whereas the BF-109 with its retractable gear is a bit delicate for the field that I have in front of my house.

This is exactly why I've decided to only fly planes from the park fliers class from now on .. if its too difficult to fly at our lake, its too difficult. :)


;
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Jay Vaughan