Jay McMullan's RC Aircraft Blog

eXtreme Kaos

2010-04-13T06:04:00.000-07:00

My design, the eXtreme Kaos is coming along well. I finished painting it yesterday. I have added decals and will explain how I did that later. The white paint is Coverite's Century 21 and the Insignia Blue is Lusterkote by Top Flite. Both paints are excellent! They dry to the touch in about ten minutes and are supposed to be fuelproof, up to 15% nitro, after 24 hours. Both paints are easily sandable. I used Pactra pin striping and put a very thin gold stripe to separate the blue from the white on the fuselage. I put four stripes on the right side of the horizontal stabilizer.

Decals

Testors makes decal material. I have found it at hobby shops. After creating the decal design on your computer, simply print the design onto the decal material. Then cut the shape out, spray with a clear coat. After it is dry, soak the decal for a minute or so, then slide the decal in place. I have had pretty good luck with these decals but the sheets of material are small. I wanted to be able to print a decal large enough for the wing of the eXtreme Kaos so I had to come up with something different. I called some printing shops and they all want to do a minimum run of 200 or so pieces. I finally decided to try 8 1/2 x 11 clear labels. I printed the design with a laser printer. This seemed to work well but the labels are not completely clear. They are more like Scotch tape, kind of a milky look. I used an X-Acto knife and cut as close to the lettering as possible. This helped eliminate the milky tape look. I have no idea if they will be fuelproof or not so I am going to spray a clear coat over them. Decals really give your airplane a professional look. If you have any good tips on making decals, let me know!

The eXtreme Kaos is coming along nicely. I need to install the radio, fuel tank, carve one wing tip, install one more wing dowel, bottom wing sheeting and then cover the wing. I kept the wing on the eXtreme Kaos shorter than the Utter Chaos and increased the size of the ailerons to increase the roll rate. I am hoping to make the maiden flight within a couple of weeks.

Building! Come on, Let's Get Started!

2010-04-03T07:42:00.000-07:00

As I start writing a page for my RC website about building, I will include photos of tools that I use, how to locate them for purchase and how to use them. I will also include tips and tricks that make building a radio controlled aircraft much easier. As with most things, tools greatly simplify tasks at hand!

My web page on building will be an ongoing endeavor, therefore, I will post only a few things here on my blog. It makes more since to put the information on my website so that it can be referred to occasionally by the viewer to see new tips, tricks and photographs.

There are other excellent websites that deal with the issue of building radio controlled aircraft but where mine will differ is that I am going to get into the aircraft design phase. Hopefully, this will be a great source of information for those of you that have wanted to create your own design or to those who want to design and build a scale model of an actual aircraft.

Allow me to brainstorm for a moment. Here are the sub-pages I am thinking about adding to my "Design and Build" web page:

Preliminary Design - Deciding on what plane to design, sizing of the airplane. Airfoil selection, wing planforms, wingspan, washout, angle of incidence, sizing of control surfaces (volume coefficients). Software for designing your aircraft. (This isn't as complicated as it seems. Anyone with a calculator can appear to be a genius!).
Types of Model Aircraft Construction - Typical balsa built up airframe. Fiberglass - working with the material, making parts and molds. Vacuum forming. Foam cutting (hot wire).
Tools
Adhesives

As I get into this, I am sure I will add many more items of interest. The "Design and Build" web page will continue to grow over time.

For now, go to my DESIGN AND BUILD web page and let's get started!

Be sure to check back often to see any additions. It is my goal to get some of you to build your first RC plane or at least to take an interest in building an RC plane.

Now, I would like to ask a favor of you. If you think my "Design and Build" page is worth the time and effort and something you would be interested in, PLEASE LET ME KNOW!

Thanks and Happy Designing, Building and Flying!

Want to Build a Radio Controlled Airplane?

2010-03-29T12:26:00.000-07:00

Most people who fly radio controlled airplanes buy the airplanes already built or ARF (almost ready to fly). ARF airplanes are already covered and painted and there is very little work left to do, to get the planes ready to fly. The work usually consists of gluing the horizontal and vertical stabilizers onto the plane, hinging the elevator, rudder and ailerons and joining the wing halves (in some cases, the wings remain separate and are placed on the airplane by sliding them onto a tube). Then the fuel tank, engine and radio must be installed. Many of the ARF's can be ready to fly in six to eight hours.

I started flying radio controlled airplanes when I was in my teens. The only ARF's at the time were made by a company named Lanier. The planes consisted of a plastic fuselage and plastic covered foam wings. An acetone type liquid was used to glue everything together. Overall, the planes weren't bad and I learned to fly the larger planes on a Lanier Comet II.

When I began flying RC, most people in the hobby built their own RC airplane. Most of them were of all balsa construction but there were some planes with foam wings and some had fiberglass fuselages. I never had the money as a young man to buy the kits on the market. I did save my money and bought a 3 channel radio and had a couple of Cox .049 engines. I lived over 100 miles from the nearest hobby shop so every time my family would go to Amarillo, Texas, I would buy some balsa sheets. When I got home, I would cut out parts and glue them together with Elmer's white glue and put the three channel radio and the .049 in the plane. I would fly the plane until it crashed which was usually the first flight! I had one, that you see in the photo, that I flew several times before crashing it.

The hobby has changed in many ways in the four decades that I have been involved in it. Some of those changes have been really good, some have not been. I think it is great that more people can get into the hobby for less money. On the other hand, I think it is a shame that hardly anyone builds any longer. Building a radio controlled airplane and especially one of your own design can be a very rewarding experience. I won't kid you though. Building a kit tends to be more expensive than many of the ARF's that are available. If you design your own airplane, the cost will be even higher than building a kit. But, the level of satisfaction goes up with the price. ARF's are great and I have one and I have had several but I also have airplanes that I have built from kits and I have had MANY of those. I also have designed many of my own airplanes, built them and flown them. The satisfaction you get when you see the airplane that you designed and built rise into the air, fly and then make a successful landing just can't be beat.

Our RC club the Radio Control Association of Central Florida has had a couple of "building nights" to teach people how RC planes are built. I have decided to put information on my website to aid those that have a desire to design and/or build a radio controlled airplane. I will also be posting some of the information here, on my blog. So, pass the word and let people know who are looking for tips and tricks on how to design and build their own airplane.

Click here to go to my RC website

RCACF's Geezers vs. Upstarts Contest - March 20, 2010

2010-03-24T16:26:00.000-07:00

Each year, the Radio Control Association of Central Florida holds a contest called "Geezers vs. Upstarts". The age of all the contestants are averaged and divided down the middle. The younger guys are the Upstarts and the older guys are the Geezers. I had to laugh when I ended up being an Upstart!

The contest pits one Geezer against one Upstart in different competitions. Scores are added up to see if the Geezers or the Upstarts win.

The first event was "blind taxiing". The pilot of the aircraft faced away from the plane while another person told him which direction and what speed to drive the airplane. The airplane had to be taxied through some obstacles (in this case, five gallon buckets) and it had to hit a balloon with any part of the plane. If the balloon burst from being hit by the propeller, an additional ten seconds was knocked off of the official time. I hit the balloon but didn't pop it.

The second event was the "bomb drop". Small plastic Easter eggs filled with plastic bags of corn starch were attached to each plane. The pilot had to fly over a marked spot and drop the "bomb". The pilot dropping his bomb closest to the target won. The best way we have found to drop the bomb is by rubber banding a cup to the top or side of the airplane and then let the plane dip quickly or roll over to drop the bomb. The best bomb drop was made by a little foamy who did some vertical spirals and dropped his bomb about three feet from the target. I think I dropped mine about 33 feet away and was the best at the time but my record was quickly beat.

The next event was a time and glide/spot landing. The pilot was given 30 seconds to gain as much altitude as possible, then he cut his engine and had to glide back to the runway. The time plus how close the plane got to the target were calculated to decide the winner. I flew up and thought I had cut my engine but when I got lower, it was still running so I was disqualified.

Overall, we had a beautiful day. There was no wind starting out but it started picking up by noon. The Upstarts got the best of the Geezers but we all had a great time except for the four airplanes that crashed!

BVM Jets at Tangerine Field March 8, 2010

2010-03-08T17:35:00.000-08:00

My back had been killing me all weekend and I had been laying around too long trying to tame the pain so I drove up to the flying field for a couple of hours. It just so happened that Bob Violett from BVM Jets and his entourage were at the field with some of their jets.

Florida Jets had just ended the day before. With Bob was a guy from Venezuela that flies some of Bob's models including an F-100 Super Sabre. He told me he keeps them at the BVM headquarters when he is back home in Venezuela. Bob had an F-100D Super Sabre, an F-16, a bandit and an electric jet at the field. I think the F-100 is one of the most beautiful jets being modeled today. Bob flew his a few times. Dustin, Bob's chief flight engineer, flew their F-16. I was amazed at how slowly the F-16 would fly compared to how fast it would fly. I would love to have a scale jet but I just can't justify the cost. I am glad some people can because I sure like watching them fly! I hope you enjoy the photos. Click on the photos to see the larger versions.

Look at the jet blast!

The fellow on the left is from Venezuela, on the right is Bob Violett

To see more Click Here

Florida Jets 2010

2010-03-05T18:02:00.000-08:00

My wife took the day off and we went with friends, Ray and Elaine to the Florida Jets rally. Even though I've flown radio controlled aircraft for more than 30 years, I've never seen a real turbine fly. These things are amazing! They are beautiful, fast and expensive. I just can't justify spending several thousand dollars for something that can be gone in a split second. I used to always tell people I was training to fly radio controlled planes, "If you can't afford to crash them, you can't afford to fly them." If you fly RC, I can guarantee you there will come a time and probably many times that you WILL crash!

The first plane we saw go in today was BVM KingKat. The airplane was worth at least $10,000 and probably a few thousand more. I looked up when he was about 50 feet off the ground and I knew he was going in. The plane was probably flying 100mph when it hit the ground. I took photos with my film camera and will post them when I get them developed and scanned. The plane instantly burst into a fireball about 30 feet in diameter and a black mushroom cloud rose over the crash site. It didn't take too long for the ground crew to get to the accident location and put out the fire.

The next plane to crash was scale P-80 Shooting Star. When the pilot took off, I thought he was purposely rocking his wings. As he gained more altitude, I knew he was in trouble. I looked away when I heard my friend's wife scream then I heard the impact. The plane also burst into flames and by the time the fire crew got to it, it was pretty much toast! Several more thousands of dollars bit the dust.

A very large and beautiful F-86 Sabre made a beautiful flight and when the plane was brought in for a landing, the pilot got a little too high off the runway and stalled, slamming the plane down hard. The plane instantly buckled in the middle and the damage was done. The right wing panel was destroyed too. I'm sure the owner of this plane had well over $20,000 invested.

The fourth plane was taking off when the cross wind got him off course and turned toward the fence on the side of the runway. The pilot decided to try and take off and when he did, the plane snap stalled and landed upside down and skidded into the fence. It may be able to be repaired.

It was an exciting day! Although I hate to see anybody crash any model airplane, it is what makes our hobby challenging.

One of the more unique planes was an F-14 Tomcat with twin turbines and working swing wings just like the real jet! The plane was for sale for $5,250 and that included the landing gear and the swing wing mechanism. That is not a bad price at all for as large a jet as it is but don't forget that you have to purchase two turbines and they will probably set you back about $8,000 and a good radio will be around $1,000. By the time it is all said and done, to set this plane up, it will cost you around $15,000 +.

There were so many planes that were so incredible, it is hard to pick out my favorites. I was impressed by an EMB-14 Super Tucano. This is a prop plane but uses a real turbo prop engine complete with smoke system. It sounded great with the turbine spinning up and the prop turning. What an impressive sight!

Parkzone puts out an electric "jet" which is really a ducted fan called the "Habu". The whole airplane with radio is only $400. At one time today, they had 14 in the air. It is really a wonder that there were no mid air collisions. This is an awesome little jet and I would like to add one to my livery one of these days if I can convince my wife of the great need I have of one!

There were some European Typhoon fighters that were amazing. They could hover them and do beautiful waterfalls. They were my wife's favorite planes.

We had a great time at Florida Jets. The next big rally I will go to is Top Gun, a major event with super scale airplanes. The airplanes entered in Top Gun are museum pieces. I have wanted to go for years and this will be my first time. I can't wait!

The 4 photos above are of the Parkzone Habu

This Rafale did awesome 3d flying

This EMB-14 Super Tucano was the only turbo prop at the meet. Very impressive!

This is my buddy, Ray, next to one of the many jets on display

This was BVM Jets' display. They are the leader in RC jets and fly off my home field

This plane was flown by David Shulman who broke the RC jet world speed record in Jan 2010 at over 337mph! This thing was flying around at 200mph not over 10 feet off the ground!

WWII UAV Flies Again!!!

2010-03-04T12:05:00.000-08:00

One of the great things about flying radio controlled aircraft are the people you meet. I was out at our flying field a couple weeks ago and met Norman Smith. He told me he has a World War Two era drone that flies. I have seen one of these at the PIMA Air and Space Museum in Tucson, Arizona. I was surprised that any are still flying. He told me that he has Don Lowe or someone else fly it when it does fly. I asked him to call me when he got ready to put it up.

Well, Monday March 1, 2010 I got the call. Norm said he would be at the field in about an hour. I had gone out the previous Friday and Saturday to fly and my back needed some rest but decided I really didn't want to miss seeing this piece of history fly. I got out to the field and Norm and his friends had the plane put together.

The plane is large, something like a 12 foot wingspan and it weighs in at 79 pounds which, to fly, the Academy of Model Aeronautics (AMA) requires a special waver. Once the plane was together, a check list was reviewed just like with a real airplane. The plane has a twin cylinder engine with counter rotating propellers. When the check list was completed, the radio was checked for range and then the airplane was taken to the end of the runway. Don told me that the plane takes a lot of room to get off the ground. The plane is also just three channels with no ailerons but ample dihedral so the rudder works well for turning.

With Don Lowe at the controls, Norm started the large engine. Jim Lackey held the plane on the runway until Don was ready, then let go. The airplane barreled down the run way and lumbered off toward the end. We have a 710 foot paved runway so it took a little while to get it in the air. Once in the air, the plane flew slowly but was quite a site to behold. It was amazing for me to see this airplane fly and to think that they used these for target practice in World War 2. Thanks to Norman for taking such good care of a great piece of our American History!

Click Here to read about the RadioPlane.

Flying the Ultra Stick

2010-02-27T17:30:00.000-08:00

It rained all morning! My wife was going to meet other women from our Life Group at church to see a chick flick so I invited all the husbands to go flying with me. I called one of my buddies at 12:30 and it was still raining too hard. I said I would call him back at 1:30 and make a definitive decision as to whether I was going to fly or not.

I had worked on the retracts on my Bridi Dirty Birdie and really wanted to get it in the air. Plus I REALLY wanted to fly my Ultra Stick again. 1:30 and the sky was much lighter and the rain had stopped. I called Ray and told him we were on.

I got to Tangerine field and the only guy there was Al Taylor who came down from Chicago to fly at Florida Jets next weekend. He brought a sweet little Kyosho Little Kelly pylon racer. Beautiful airplane and boy was it fast!

This is the first time I've flown at Tangerine Field without a strong crosswind. The wind was almost straight out of the north, only a couple degrees off running right down the runway.

Let me tell you, I had a blast flying today. I would take the Ultra Stick and do Harriers down the runway, without flaps and with flaps and even with the crow. It is amazing how well this plane flies! I was bringing the plane in low, at the speed of a fast walk without touching the ground. The takeoff distance with full flaps was about six feet! I can take off even in a shorter distance but my engine was cutting out a little when I poured the coals to it!

Another guy named Todd along with his dad Larry and a buddy Tim showed up with a little 40 sized Stinson Reliant. He hadn't flown in a couple of years and wanted to know if I would help him out by taking the plane off and flying it for him. The plane did not have a steerable tail wheel but I got it off and it was a little tail heavy and it had way too much elevator. We were able to reduce the throw on the elevator and Al had a couple ounces of lead we put on the nose. The plane flew a little better as long as you kept it under half throttle. Todd took it off and landed it. He did a great job. With a little more weight in the nose it will be a good plane.

I got the Dirty Birdie off the ground but it had WAY too much up elevator. I couldn't trim it out so I brought it in and changed the sub trim and that helped but then the steering came loose on the nosewheel so I put it up, will work on it later. I have the center of gravity just right on the plane. It landed very nicely for a pattern plane. I also had to adjust the idle and got it dialed in just right! I'll have photos of it soon.

If you want a plane that is a pure joy to fly, I would highly recommend the Ultra Stick 60!

Now I need a couple days in bed to get my back in order. I just can't go out and fly like I used to!

My Hangar 9 Ultra Stick 60

2010-02-27T10:29:00.000-08:00

My Hangar 9 Ultra Stick 60

On Friday, February 26, 2010 I went to Tangerine Field to fly my Ultra Stick 60. As always, there was a pretty stiff crosswind. I asked one of the other guys that has been flying there for awhile if the wind ever blows straight down the runway. He told me it is almost always a crosswind. That really is no big deal if you know how to "fly the rudder". It is a little harder with an airplane like the Ultra Stick 60 though. Due to it's light weight, the wind really blows it around. A heavier airplane will handle the wind much better.

I have never had an airplane that was light enough to do what we call 3D flying. This Ultra Stick seemed promising to do some 3D maneuvers but I hadn't had a chance to try any yet. I've done 3D maneuvers on the flight simulator. 3D flying is pretty incredible. One of the things pilots of radio controlled airplanes can do in 3D is to "hover" their airplane. It is just like how a helicopter hovers. While the airplane is flying, the pilot will slow the airplane and keep putting the nose up until the airplane is vertical. Using the throttle, he will "hang" the airplane on the propeller. It is quite exciting to see it. It is not an easy maneuver to do though. The airplane is NOT stable when you are doing this and you have your hands full to keep the airplane vertical. The engine's torque will actually turn the airplane in what is called a "torque roll". Another maneuver is a "Harrier". In the Harrier, the airplane is flown very, very slowly keeping the nose high and the power up on the engine to keep airflow over the wings. Again, this is another impressive maneuver.

It is recommended to use a .61 to a .90 cubic inch 2 cycle engine on the Ultra Stick 60. I originally put my Fox .74 on the plane. Fox's engines are incredibly powerful. I could not get the engine to run for any length of time however. The engine acted like it was having trouble getting fuel so I took the fuel tank out and replaced all of the tubing in and out of the tank. That still didn't do any good. Obviously there is something wrong with the carburetor on the Fox. I have ordered a new one and will put that engine on my new design that I am calling the JayMc Extreme Kaos. I had originally planned on putting my O.S. .61 engine in the Extreme Kaos but decided to go ahead and put it on the Ultra Stick. I have always used, at least, the largest recommended engine size on any RC plane I've flown. You can always cut your throttle back if you have too much power but you cannot add power that an engine does not have. With the .61, I wasn't sure if there would be enough power to "hover" the Ultra Stick.

I got to the field and did a quick charge on my batteries, fueled the plane up and took off. I flew around for awhile to acquaint myself better with the flying characteristics of this plane. This was only probably my seventh flight. With a lot of altitude, then, I slowed the airplane and pitched the nose vertically. I begin to add power as it was needed and the airplane hovered!!! I was really excited. With the elevator and ailerons on high rate it hovered nicely but the wind kept blowing the airplane east! I hovered the airplane a few times and then did a Harrier with the flaps down and the ailerons in the "crow" position. This airplane is a blast to fly!

One of the things that the manufacturer of this plane says you can do is to make a vertical dive with the wing in the "crow" position and then land in just a few feet. I gained a lot of altitude and put the wing in the crow position and pointed the nose straight down. It is amazing how the flaps and ailerons, deflected to their full extents, will keep the airplane from gaining excessive speed in a dive. They act just like dive brakes.

So far, every time I've flown the plane, I've discovered something new that it will do. This is a FUN airplane!

Tangerine Field - February 18, 2010

2010-02-21T20:34:00.000-08:00

I was at Tangerine Field, the Radio Control Association of Central Florida's model airport on Friday February 18, 2010. I got some great flights on my Hangar 9 Ultra Stick 60. The day before, there were some tough crosswinds but the wind was great this day! The Ultra Stick really got blown around by the crosswind and I really had to "fly the rudder" to keep the nose straight down the runway on landing. Thursday was different! There was almost no wind and I made some beautiful landings. The low wing loading on the Ultra Stick makes for some really slow landings. I haven't used the "crow" setup yet but I understand that the airplane will fly in the "Harrier" position at walking speed. Once I get a little more comfortable with the way the plane flies, I'll do a little more with it.

I have been flying model airplanes for almost 40 years and I've never seen a real turbine powered RC plane fly! I've seen ducted fans but not jets. There was fellow there that was trying to fix a fuel leak on his $24,000 jet and he told me that Bob Violett was coming out. I have read about Bob Violett for years. He makes some of the finest RC jets that are available. Click Here to go to his website. Bob and his entourage showed up but I finally had to leave before I got to see any of his jets fly. I am really looking forward to seeing them go!

As I turned into my subdivision, I saw one of our retention ponds and it was as smooth as glass. I decided to take my float plane over to Float Plane Lake #3 for a couple of flights. I hooked up my fast charger and let it peak the batteries on the plane and the transmitter on the five minute drive to the lake. In no time at all, I was in the air. The engine was running a little rich so I landed and leaned the engine out and went back up. Just as I got about twenty feet in the air, the engine sputtered and died. I was able to get the plane back on the water in the northeastern corner of the lake. I tried to taxi it to the shore but it was about 10 feet away. I really didn't want to go swimming so I decided to wait for some wind to blow the plane to the shore. Well, after at least an hour and a half, the plane finally floated to the southwestern shore of the lake. It is always a good idea when flying a float plane with a glow engine to make sure there is a little wind and that your lake/pond is not too big unless you have a boat or are willing to swim!

Hangar 9 / Horizon Ultra Stick 60

2010-02-18T13:34:00.000-08:00

I got my 60 sized Ultra Stick ready to fly and took it to Tangerine Field for the test flights. Yesterday, the wind was gusting up to about 30 miles per hour and it died down some today. The wind was gusting up to about 15 or 20 mph today. I don't always mind flying in the wind but the Ultra Stick is a very light airplane which makes some difference. I have never seen the wind blow straight down the runway at Tangerine Field and today was no different. There was a 90 degree crosswind. But, before I go there, let me back up and tell you about the Ultra Stick 60.

First of all, the Ultra Stick is designed for .60 to .90 sized engines. I originally put my Fox .74 on the airplane but no matter how I tried, I could not get the engine to continue to run. I almost burned up my starter. Finally, I put my trusty O.S. .61 FX in the plane. O.S. engines are the cream of the crop. Yes, you will pay more money for one but the reliability just can't be beat. I had to add about a half a pound of weight to the tail of the Ultra Stick to get it to balance. I HATE having to add weight to airplanes but they have to balance! The elevator and rudder use plastic housings with wire pushrods. When I put the wire in, it would barely move. It was bound up so badly that there is no way the airplane could be flown that way. So, I made pushrods the old fashioned way with wooden dowels. After ripping the plastic housings out of the airplane and then cutting larger exit holes for the pushrods, I had them in. That took me a couple of hours extra. I wasn't too happy but this is what happens when you buy ARF (Almost Ready to Fly) airplanes. I called Hangar 9 and they said they had never heard of that problem before and they would send me out a couple of new pushrods. LOL, a lot of good that does. Maybe I can use them on a differenc airplane.

Once I had the OS engine in the plane, I loaded it up in my Olds Alero. It was a tight squeeze but I got it in there and I was off to the field. Once at the field, I had to make a small adjustment on the throttle pushrod, then I was ready to fly. The plane took off without any problems. The .61 proved to be plenty of power for the airplane. I almost always use the largest engine recommended for an airplane but this airplane comes in at right around 6 pounds and the .61 was plenty of power. I flew it around a little bit and got it trimmed out and then decided to come in for a landing. As light as the plane is, I really had to "fly the rudder" on landing. The airplane wanted to come in absolutely sideways. The plane landed very slowly with some rudder input. I took the plane off again and tried a roll and then, with a lot of altitude, put in full flaps. the nose pitched up high. I will need to set the radio to compensate with some down elevator when the flaps are activated. I set the wing up on the Ultra Stick to "crow". Crow is where the flaps go down and the ailerons go up. The airplane is supposed to fly very slow in this configuration. As I get a little more familiar with the plane, I'll try the crow out.

I landed the plane again with a lot of rudder input and was very happy with the very slow landing. I sat down for awhile and when I got ready to take off again. The engine was making a LOT of noise at idle. I knew something was loose so I shut the engine off and found that the firewall was not glued into the airplane very well. This is a typical problem with ARF's that I have found. I had a Goldberg Skylark 56 ARF that after one flight the nose wheel came unbolted and I had to cut a huge hole in the bottom of the fuselage to fix it. My floatplane, a Tower Hobbies .60 sized trainer was held together by the covering material. I think someone forgot to glue the fuselage together! I brought the Ultra Stick home after finding the firewall loose. I'll have it glued up tonight and hopefully the wind will die down tomorrow.

Overall, the Ultra Stick seems to be a pretty nice plane although it falls into the same category as all of the other ARF's I've had, bad gluing and not very good quality control. The price seems a little high to me and it is a large airplane for a .60 sized airplane. For those of you, like me, that are trying to stuff this plane into a small car, you may want to opt for the .40 sized plane.

Prop Size and Other Prop Info

2010-02-10T23:13:00.000-08:00

I just found out recently that I have been using props too small for my glow engines. Years ago, when I started flying .60 sized airplanes, the guys I flew with used 11x7 props. That is what I have always used, without asking any questions. A few weeks ago, I was reading a review of a .40 sized aircraft and they recommended a 12 inch prop. I have always flown 10x6 props on .40 sized aircraft. Well, the other day, flying my floatplane, I was having problems with the floats sticking to the water so I put a 12 inch prop on the plane and I got better takeoff performance. Tonight I decided to lookup recommended prop sizes and this is what I found:

From the OS Engines website:

.40 No info
.46 10.5x6, 11x6-8, 12x6-7
.61 12x6-8, 13x6-7
.91 13x8-9

Propeller Pitch

Pitch is the same on model airplanes as it is on real airplanes. Pitch is how many inches the prop will move in one revolution. So a propeller with an 7 inch pitch will move 7 inches in one revolution.

Lower pitches are better for climbing and power maneuvers. Higher pitch props are better for speed.

Prop Blades

The fewer blades a propeller has, the more efficient it is. Ideally, the perfect propeller would have one blade but balance would be a major problem. So, a two bladed prop is more efficient than a three bladed prop.

Float Plane Photos - January 16, 2010

2010-01-16T19:16:00.000-08:00

I was excited to have my wife go with me to fly my floatplane today. We took along the Nikon F5 and I showed her how to use the camera. She turned out to quite a natural behind the lens. The photos are a little grainy since I scanned the 4x6 inch prints.

Storms were coming in from the Gulf of Mexico. The wind was blowing probably a constant 15 miles per hour with 20 mile per hour gusts. I don't mind flying in the wind. I have always said, "Where I grew up (in the Texas panhandle), if you don't fly in the wind, you don't fly." The wind always blew there!

I got the airplane started and put it in the water. I throttled up and she got a great photo of the water spraying from the floats and of the takeoff (See Photos 1-3 Click on the photos to make them larger).

I made a few low passes so my wife could photograph the airplane in the air (See Photos 4-7).

After flying for a while and making some low passes, a loop and a touch and go, I landed the plane. I didn't want to keep my wife out too long. In Photo 8, I had just landed and I taxied back into the wind to bring the plane to the shore. In Photo 9, you see some grass sticking up out of the water. I throttled up and skimmed right over the grass and onto the shore (Photo 10).

This little lake that I have designated "Float Plane Lake Number 3" is going to be a lot of fun!

Flying Day

2010-01-13T16:33:00.000-08:00

I joined the Radio Control Association of Central Florida (RCACF) on Saturday January 9, 2010. I got my membership card and made arrangements with one of the club members, Fred Hale, to give me a check out flight. I took my Bridi Dirty Birdy. I had run the engine here at the house and had done some taxi tests with the plane. I got to field and I met Don Lowe! Don has been one of my heroes in the RC world. He was a bomber pilot in WWII and he has been president and vice president of the Academy of Model Aeronautics. He has an impressive resume. I was thrilled to get to meet him. He graciously let me take his photo.

I had agreed to meet Fred at the field at 1:30 and I got there early so I could have my plane fueled up and ready to go. Well, as luck would have it, I had fuel problems. The plane would not start. I checked the glow plug and it was bad. I changed that but still couldn't get the plane to start. It acted like the fuel line had come off. So, I took the front gear out of the plane and then we discovered that the clunker was stuck. We got that fixed, got the nosegear in and then got the plane started. The idle was running rich and we leaned that out some but the engine still wasn't running great. I went ahead and took off.

I have only flown the Dirty Birdy once and I had to land without power. I didn't make it back to the runway and buggered the plane up. I got it all fixed and have it ready to fly. When I got in the air, I got it trimmed out. The plane had originally been pretty nose heavy. I added some lead to the back of the fuselage but the plane felt just a little tail heavy. I've got to take a couple of the weights off to get the balance where I am more comfortable with it. I came in to land and the plane just floated like crazy. The idle was set a little too high and I had a hard time getting the plan on the runway. I went around about four times and finally put it down way on the opposite end of the runway. I was nervous flying a new plane which is nothing new for me and I was really nervous having Fred watch me. I really appreciate him coming out. He has a cold and wasn't feeling well at all. He got me all checked out and I'm ready to go now though. I brought my Giles 202 in and I am going to get it ready to fly. I took the receiver out the other day and I need to put that back in. I can have it ready to fly tomorrow.

SUCCESS!!!

2010-01-08T11:29:00.000-08:00

Wow! That was fun! I took the float plane to a large pond about two miles from where I live. I have to admit I was nervous. This is a first for me, to fly off of water.

I had been by the retention pond earlier in the day and the wind was out of the southeast. Well, now it was out of the northwest. I had decided upon a place to launch the plane but had to change that. That was no problem. The banks weren't too muddy. I fueled the plane and sat it in the water. I have been afraid that, sitting on the ground, the plane will rest on the water rudder. It doesn't, it rolls forward to the front of the floats. This was a nice surprise. After my last little crash with the trainer, the throttle linkage had come undone. I put it all where I thought it should be and the throttle ended up being better than before. I fueled the plane, started her up and put her in the water.

I taxied around for a little bit to see how the water rudder worked. It worked well! I had probably a small 12 to 15 mph crosswind which required a little extra throttle when turning out of the wind. Everything seemed to be working well so I pushed the throttle forward and the plane hurried across the water. The floats rose up out of the water and the plane wanted to take off prematurely. I pushed the nose down to make sure I had ample airspeed to get airborne. I have heard stories that floats will "stick" to the water. I guess it is due to the surface tension of the water. Well, mine did. It wasn't really a problem, it just takes a little extra elevator to lift off. Then once the plane leaves the water, you have to push the nose down. I like flying with a little wind. I always tell people, "Where I grew up (the Texas panhandle), if you don't fly in the wind, you just don't fly." I actually test flew my Goldberg Skylark 56 Mk II ARF in 25 mph gusts.

The floatplane felt a little tail heavy to me. Always remember, it is better to be just a little nose heavy than to be a little tail heavy. The tail heaviness was with a full tank of fuel. The center of gravity falls about an inch or two behind where it does on the plane without floats. I will add weights to the front of the floats so that the center of gravity will still be correct when I take the floats off and put wheels back on. As with any flat bottom wing, turning into the wind causes the airplane to balloon! I did some slow speed, low passes over the water before I attempted a landing. Wow, this thing really slows down. I can have so much fun with a trainer. After flying sport and pattern planes, all RC pilots could enjoy getting back to the basics. When I made my landing approach, I came in low over my pickup and floated the plane in and adding just a touch of throttle at landing, the airplane landed very smoothly. I shot a few touch and goes and then landed to check my fuel situation. With any new plane it is important to know how long you can fly before running out of fuel. I didn't want to have to bring this thing in deadstick in the weeds and tear up all the work I've done! By this time, it was starting to mist outside. I took the wings off the plane and put it in my pickup. I sat there for awhile and the mist slowed down so I put the wing back on and flew the airplane again. After a few more touch and goes, the mist was starting to turn to rain so I decided it was time to pack it up.

The retention pond had some cat tails in a couple of spots that I had to avoid. They would do a job on a wing if you hit them hard. When I was taxiing back to the shore, I couldn't turn out of the wind and ended up against the cat tails. The only thing to do was go after the plane. I pulled everything out of my pockets and went in. The water was up to my ribs and it is probably in the high 40's today. The water really wasn't too bad. I got the plane loaded up, got home and got a shower!

On one of the touch and goes, the left float "slapped" the water and I noticed when I put the plane in my truck that some of the Monokote is torn off. I know Monokote is not designed for this type of use but I REALLY don't want to have to paint these floats. I will assess the damage later and iron on more Monokote.

As far as flying at sea level, I could definitely tell a difference. I normally use an 11x7 propeller on my .61 engines. For this plane with the floats, I decided to go with a 12x6. This gives a better climb performance which I figured can't be a bad idea considering the plane is not only pulling the extra weight of the floats but also the extra drag. The climb out was incredible because of the elevation and the prop. Then, when I was on landing approach, the airplane would really float. I had to go around two or three times and come in right over my pickup and I was still landing about half way out in the pond. I am used to planes dropping like a rock, especially on really hot days.

Overall, this was a great experience. I am going to LOVE float flying!

My Float Plane is Ready!!!

2010-01-07T23:06:00.000-08:00

This has taken much longer than I had planned. I had these styrofoam floats and I started fiberglassing them to go on my .60 size Tower Hobbies trainer. Well, I don't know if you have ever fiberglassed an airplane before but it is a major pain. Every time I do this, I swear I'll never do it again. It just gives such a beautiful finish once it is done. In this case, with the floats being styrofoam, I really wanted to make them stronger, especially when I sit the plane in the grass to start it. I don't want little sticks poking holes in the bottom of the floats.

To fiberglass the floats, just like an airplane, I started with finishing cloth that is like less than one ounce for a yard of material. It is VERY light and thin but strong. You cut the cloth and lay it on the sides, the top and the bottom all separately and brush on epoxy resin. When I fiberglass balsa, I like to add just a little alcohol to thin the epoxy. I've heard stories that too much alcohol and the resin will never harden. I use regular 30 or 45 minute epoxy from the hobby shop and it is almost too thick to use without being thinned. With the foam, I can't use alcohol because I'm afraid it will melt the foam. You can buy "finishing resin" which is usually a polyester, two part, resin. I've heard that polyester tends to shrink a little as it cures but I doubt it would be any problem with an RC plane. After I got the cloth and resin on the floats, I decided the top and bottom of the floats needed to be a little stronger so I put 3/4 ounce cloth on them. I left the sides with just the finishing cloth.

I had originally thought I would go ahead and paint the floats but by this time I am sick of the whole fiberglassing process so I decided to use Monokote on them, on top of the fiberglass. My belt sander made quick work of sanding the resin. When using paint on a fiberglassed surface, I sand until the surface is as smooth as I can get it without cutting through the cloth. Then I shoot the part with primer. Once it is dry, I sand it almost completely off, leaving it only in the low spots. I may repeat this step three or four times, however long it takes to get the fuselage smooth and without imperfections. Then I shoot the paint.

I think I just don't like finishing planes. I want to fly them so badly, I don't have the patience to get through the finishing step. I had a buddy in Salt Lake City that could work miracles with Monokote. I've never seen anything like it. I admire people like that that have so much patience! I got all the Monokote on the floats today and decided not to put any decorative stripes on them. It is almost 2 am and I am just finishing up. The fancy stripes can can wait!

I used nylon nose gear blocks to mount the axles and they are going to work great. I also made separate landing gear wires for the floats. I was originally going to use the main gear in conjuction with the floats but changed my mind.

I am using a flexible cable for the water rudder. It is permanently attached to the floats but I am going to tape it to the side of the fuselage so I don't have any permanent brackets on the fuse. I will see how that works.

I am seriously thinking about flying her tomorrow. It will be cold in the morning but afternoon should not be too bad. I'll let you know how it goes!

New Facebook Group for RC Enthusiasts

2010-01-05T20:56:00.000-08:00

I have just started a new Facebook group for anyone interested in Radio Controlled Aircraft. Click Here to check it out. It is open to everyone!

Purposes of the Group:

Make friends with other people that are interested in Radio Controlled Aircraft.
Let people know where they can fly in their area and meet other pilots and people who are interested in Radio Controlled Aircraft.
Share tips and tricks for building, flying and maintaining Radio Controlled Aircraft.
Let people know about upcoming events in the Radio Controlled Aircraft community.
Share your thoughts and ideas about Radio Controlled Aircraft.
Brag on your Radio Control Aircraft and share photos with each other.

Come on by and join me and other Radio Controlled Aircraft enthusiasts and let your friends know about the group!

Getting Ready for Float Flying

2010-01-05T13:06:00.000-08:00

There are two things I have never done that I am getting ready to do. The first one is to fly an RC plane at sea level. The lowest elevation I have ever flown was in Las Vegas and I believe it was around 2,500 feet above sea level. I grew up in Spearman, Texas and the elevation there is a whopping 3,000 feet asl. In Salt Lake City, our modelport was at 4,500 feet. I even flew at a funfly in Evanston, Wyoming where the elevation is 7,000 feet asl but it was a hot day and the density altitude was almost 10,000 feet. My Bridi Killer Kaos flew okay there but I took my son's Alpha trainer off and as quickly as it got out of the ground effect, it came back down, refusing to fly! I am looking forward to seeing what kind of differences there will be here in the Orlando area. I think I know what to expect but am not positive.

The second thing I am about to do is to fly my RC plane off of floats. I absolutely cannot find a place to fly around my home except for the many ponds and lakes in the area. I have always wanted to do this but never lived in a place where enough water was close enough to be convenient. I bought some styrofoam floats off of Ebay and I am in the LONG process of fiberglassing them. When I get through, they will be tough as nails but I really hate fiberglassing. Unlike many of you, my fellow modelers, I don't have a lot of patience. I want to fly and I want to fly now! Every time I fiberglass the fuselage of an airplane, I swear I will never do it again. But, I wait long enough in between building and I forget just how badly I do hate fiberglassing! Well, with styrofoam floats, fiberglassing is probably about the only way to go to make them strong. I would think that wood floats would need to be fiberglassed too. I started off with fiberglass finishing cloth but have switched to 3/4 oz cloth. it is tougher and allos me to sand a little more deeply without cutting through the cloth. On the top of the floats, I am going to put some fiberglass tape made for joining wing halves together. With that, I will use some 1/8" ply to mount the landing gear. I converted the Tower Trainer to a taildragger and I had to add a gear block in front of the center of gravity for the main gear. I am leaving the main landing gear block for the rear landing gear for the floats.

For a water rudder, I am using a 1/2 A nosegear made by DuBro. I used a 1/4" piece of balsa and cut a groove about half way through it. Then I made a bend in the landing gear and cut off the excess. I shaped the balsa and then pushed the wire into the groove and then used baking soda and cyano glue to cement everything in place. I will cover this with fiberglass too. On the back of the left float, I epoxied a 1/8" piece of plywood and the gear's steering block simply screws onto the wood. Since this is the first time for me to fly on floats, I looked for some help on the Internet. I found an excellent page that shows how to do the set up. Take a look at it here. Hopefully in a week or two, I will have a report on how things have worked out. I already have a pond in site for the maiden voyage!

If any of you may know who put these floats out, please let me know.

Back in the Air Soon

2009-12-31T22:13:00.000-08:00

I think I explained in my last post that I moved to Florida a year ago. I haven't flown that whole time but I've got the bug again. I have three planes ready to fly, well, I had three and will have three ready again soon. I went to fly a Tower Hobbies .60 sized trainer that I just got together. There is absolutely nowhere to fly around me here in the Orlando area without having to go to a modelport. There is a really nice one called Tangerine field that I am going to join right after I renew my AMA membership but I want to fly in the meantime. It takes time to get set up with them to fly. I have to attend one club meeting and get some kind of ID card plus I have to be a member of the AMA. I miss the Utah Modelport. It was a great place to fly and you didn't have to be a member of the AMA. I bought a Utah state park pass for about $60 a year and flew to my heart's content!

Well, this morning, I took this .60 sized trainer out to a rural road and thought maybe I could get it in the air there but it was narrow with curbs on both sides of the road and six foot marker sticks on the side of the road. I thought landing might be a little tricky but I was up to the task. I throttled up and a crosswind caught the plane and I didn't have enough rudder to kick the tail around. I had entertained the notion of making that rudder bigger because it is small. Well, the main gear impacted with the curb and knocked them loose which is no big deal, then the airplane flipped over and as soon as everything started slowing down the airplane unfolded and came apart. It was like I was watching a cartoon! I know that many of these ARFs aren't glued very well and this was no exception. There were several joints that were held together only by the covering and boy does that stuff stick. I don't know what they used but it is NOT Monokote! I had also thought about doing surgery on this thing and beefing it up but I really didn't want to ruin the finish and to be very honest, I just wanted to get something in the air!

I brought the pieces home and I've fiberglassed the front of the fuselage where it broke in half. I will also beef up the main gear. I had converted this from a tricycle gear to a taildragger and plan on putting some floats on it as soon as I have them fiberglassed. If i can get a good day in tomorrow, I should be able to get the main gear reattached and then get the sides of the plane recovered. The rudder and elevator servos are still in place and I will have to replace the throttle servo which is no big deal.

If anybody knows of any good places to fly near Winter Garden, Florida, let me know! There are some nice golf courses in the area and the fairways would be PERFECT but I don't think anyone would let me fly off of them!

Here We Go Again!

2009-12-16T20:57:00.001-08:00

Well, things have certainly changed since my last post. I moved to Orlando, Florida in December of 2008 and got married in March 2009. Since I have been here, I have not flown. For some reason the bug bit me again. I have a Bridi Dirty Birdy that I built while I was still in Salt Lake City. I flew it one time but had a couple problems. First, the retractable nose gear linkage came loose just as I pulled back on the stick. I was able to get the plane into the air but it was very nose heavy. It was my fault, I checked the center of gravity in the wrong place. All of you experienced pilots know that it is better for a plane to be a little nose heavy than to be tail heavy but I really had to keep my speed up to keep the nose up on the plane. About five minutes into the flight, the engine died and I came in deadstick but couldn't make the runway so I put it down in the grass. The wing ripped off but the only damage was one of the two dowels that attaches the wing's leading edge. I haven't touched the plane since and that has to have been almost three years ago.

I pulled the plane out of the garage the other day and cleaned it up. I got the nose gear hooked up again and made some adjustments on the servo throws. I fixed the dowel on the wing. I also found that one of the head bolts on the Supertiger .90 had vibrated out. A quick trip to the hobby shop and that was fixed. Also, the carburetor had seized up, so I pulled the engine out of the plane and fixed that. If it flies anything like any other Bridi airplane it will be a nice flyer. It is powered by a Supertiger .90 which should be plenty of power. Power should not be an issue here in Florida when I am flying right at sea level. In Utah, we flew at right around 4,000 feet above sea level. Where I grew up in Texas, the elevation was 3,000 feet. The lowest altitude I have ever flown in was at Vegas and it was around 2,000 feet asl. I am really excited to see how things fly here. I am sure the planes will fly slower and land slower.

I have a Phoenix Models Giles 202 that I have flown quite a bit. The plane is one of the Vietnamese ARFs that is on the market. The plane is well built but comes with terrible instructions. The tank that is supplied with the kit is way too small too. As far as flying, it is definitely NOT a beginner's plane. The rolls, on high rates, are blazingly fast! I have never seen anything roll like this plane. Sometimes I am afraid I will rip the wing right off of the fuselage in a quick snap roll so I do the snap rolls more like a full scale plane, slow down, then snap it. To land this thing, you have to come in under power and really grease it in! Don't worry about this plane floating! Instead of the recommended .46 sized engine, I loaded the Giles with an O.S. .61. That was mainly due to the elevation in Salt Lake City. We'll see what it does here at sea level.

Both planes fared well on my 2,500 mile trip. The covering is scuffed badly in spots but I can live with that. There were no punctures to the covering at all and I was very surprised about that.

I would like to find a free place to fly, at least to test fly this Dirty Birdy, but it looks like I am going to have to join a club. The closest one to me and the only paved modelport in Central Florida is Tangerine Field. Bob Violet, owner of BVM Jets does all of his jet testing at this field because the runway is 750 feet long! Cost to join Remote Control Association of Central Florida is $160 a year which is not too bad. I also have to rejoin the Academy of Model Aeronautics since I let my membership lapse. Cost for that is $58 per year. I remember flying off of cow pastures and just about any place that was flat in the Texas Panhandle. In Salt Lake, we had the Utah Modelport which was a pretty nice paved runway and a state park plus we had a salt flat near Grantsville, Utah that was free to fly off of.

I will post photos of both planes soon.

I want to get out and start playing some gigs on the guitar after the first of the year so that is going to keep me busy but my next RC project is a 1/6th scale Pica Waco YMF-3. Don Piatt, who taught me to fly many, many years ago, flew one of these over thirty years ago. These kits are not for the faint hearted or the novice builder. There is a LOT of wood. The wood is die crushed and it is not the best balsa. Much of it is very heavy where it doesn't need to be. I would love to redraw this thing in AutoCad and maybe stretch the scale up to 1/5. Pica made a 1/5 scale Waco but they are extremely hard to find and when you do find one, people are proud of them so they are expensive. If I draw the plane on AutoCad, I can set it for any scale I want and have a laser cutter cut all the parts. We'll see about that,,,,

Flutter

2006-06-01T15:26:00.000-07:00

Flutter

While flying with a friend of mine in my hometown in Texas in May 2006, his Kaos experienced flutter and crashed. What is flutter?

Flutter is a phenomenon that occurs when the airflow over the control surfaces of the airplane gets disrupted. This normally happens with the ailerons in radio controlled aircraft but can also happen with the elevators and the rudder.

Alvin’s Kaos was powered by an O.S. .46FX with a Performance Specialties muffler. The airplane was extremely fast! Flutter has an unmistakable sound. It sounds like a loud vibration because that is basically what it is. While looking through the wreckage of Alvin’s plane, the right side elevator was not connected to the horizontal stabilizer. While it is true that the elevator could have pulled loose due to the crash it is more likely that flutter caused the elevator to pull out.

There are a couple of ways to help control flutter. The first and most obvious solution is to make sure the control surfaces are faired smoothly into their respective flying surface. For instance, when you attach an aileron, make sure you sand the back of the wing and the front of the aileron where the air will flow smoothly from the wing over the aileron.

I used to fly an airplane called a Super Duper Joy Stick. The ailerons had a very bad habit of fluttering. To deal with this, several of us that flew the kit attached counterweights to the bottom of the ailerons. This seemed to help. Another thing that may help flutter is to attach a piece of tape or iron on covering across the length of the control surface where it hinges. For example, put a strip of tape lengthwise covering a small portion of the elevator and the horizontal stabilizer. This will help the air flow more smoothly across the control surfaces.

If you hear flutter, immediately pull back on the throttle and up on the elevator to slow the plane down. If you don’t, the plane will disintegrate in a very short time.

Houston, We REALLY Do Have a Problem

2006-03-03T23:39:00.000-08:00

We have a wonderful modelport here in Salt Lake City! It is actually a Utah State Park. We can purchase a yearly pass to all of Utah's state parks, except for two for around $70 a year. The runway is paved, we have a nice frequency shack and a large pit area. Access to the flying field is just off of I-215. Everything is great except for radio interference.

I probably fly more than anyone at the Utah Modelport and I lost three airplanes this year due to radio interference. The first was my own design, the Venture which is featured on my website. The second was toward the end of the summer flying season, my Bridi Killer Chaos. The third was only a few weeks after my Killer Chaos, it was my customized Bridi Utter Chaos. Not only have I lost airplanes but radios and engines as well. I have also seen several others lose control of their airplanes at the modelport resulting in severe crashes. Many of these were by pilots who are very experienced.

A young man that works at one of our local hobby shops looks at me like I'm crazy when I tell him we have some serious interference going on, intermittently, at our field. I work with a fellow who is the president of an RC club in Davis county, a few miles to the north of us and they have also had the same problems.

While getting a haircut from a barber that is learning to fly RC, we were discussing this problem when another patron told us his son works for a communications company that is about a half mile from the modelport. He thought that might be the source of our problem.

- - - - - - - - - BREAKING NEWS - - - - - - - - - -

John Byrne, one of our local RC pilots was informed by Toole county's radio repairman that we do have a serious interference problem at the modelport. John had told him of the problems we have had so this fellow took his radio gear to the modelport. He said that there is a tremendous amount of radio "noise" and there were some severe spikes in the 72 mhz band. I called the communications company nearby and they said all they use is microwave equipment. The man I spoke to suggested I check with the Utah Air National Guard who is even closer to us than they are. The Utah Air National Guard does have a lot of satellite dishes and antennas. I will have to call them and see if they can check their equipment to see what is going on. Until then, everyone at the modelport flies at their own risk.

It is nice to know that I'm not crazy! We have been very lucky that someone has not been seriously wounded or killed by uncontrolled radio controlled aircraft. I am hoping that the radio technician can bring out his directional antenna so we can find the source of our interference. If we don't, someone could easily be killed by a runaway plane.

Jay Mc

Flying in Texas, January/February 2006

2006-02-27T01:55:00.000-08:00

In late January and early February, I was in Texas. I had to go down for a funeral and while I was there I drove down to fly with Jim Louvier. Jim runs Apache Ranch, an exotic game ranch near Junction, Texas. If you've never seen the hill country of Texas, you've missed some beautiful scenery. Apache Ranch has a 3,000 foot paved runway but Jim has made his own RC runways in a large pasture. He has two runways crossing each other. He keeps both runways rolled and mowed! I took my Phoenix Models Giles 202 and my son's Alpha Trainer with me. With the wheel pants on the Giles, I didn't dare try flying it off the grass. I did have a great time flying the Alpha and shooting some touch and goes.

My brother went with me and the evening before, we drove over toward Marfa, Texas to see the Marfa mystery lights. If you ever get out to the Big Bend area of Texas, check out these mysterious lights. So far, no one has been able to come up with a plausible explanation of what they may be. There have been several that have made hypotheses but none of them really check out. My brother and I sat and watched the lights move around for a couple of hours. Reportedly, these lights have been seen since at least the time of the first white settler in the area in 1883!

At Apache Ranch, Jim flew and let me fly his Ugly Stick. His airplaneis over ten years old, weighs in at thirteen pounds and is powered by an O.S. Max .91. The Stick flies great! Not many people can say they are still flying the same airplane after more than ten years! My brother and I really appreciated Jim and his wife, Jo's kindness and friendliness. When we got to the ranch, Jo had cooked up some lunch which was very nice. We saw all kinds of deer while we were on the ranch. It looks like it would be a great place to get that once in a lifetime deer! I had planned on staying longer but my brother had to get back home so he could get to work the next day. Next time, I plan on spending at least a couple of days flying at Apache Ranch.

A few days later, I was about 400 miles away at my Dad's and I flew with Alvin Byers. Alvin went to school with my younger brother. His dad, Benny used to work together some in the construction industry around Spearman, Texas. I used to fly at the airport in Spearman with Don Piatt. Don taught me to fly years and years ago. We were about the only RC pilots in Spearman for a long time. Don Rice of Borger, Texas trained Alvin to fly. Don was the first man I ever knew that had an RC camera plane and that was at least 25 years ago! He also hadone of the first RC helicopters I ever saw. Alvin is doing great and is flying oneof my favorites, a Kaos! And, boy is that thing a screamer! My Giles 202 with the O.S. .61 is fast but it won't keep up with Alvin's Kaos. Alvin is flying his Kaos with an O.S. .46 with a muffler from Performance Specialties. He said the muffler made all the difference in speed on the Kaos. It is quite impressive!

While we were flying on our good second day, Robert Reed was at the airport and was about to take his homebuilt airplane up for a flight. I graduated from High School with Robert's sister, Stephanie. Robert's airplane looks GREAT! At the time I took these photos, he had a total of eight hours on his plane. He said it took him about a year to build. I was sure glad I was able to get a few good days of flying in while I was in Texas. Usually, in the Texas panhandle, the wind blows so much you are limited as to when you can fly but things worked out well on this trip!

Jay Mc

2006-02-27T01:54:00.000-08:00

Robert Reed of Spearman, Texas.

2006-02-27T01:52:00.000-08:00

Robert Reed and his homebuilt airplane.

2006-02-27T01:51:00.000-08:00

Benny and Alvin Byers from Spearman, Texas flying an excellent plane, the Kaos!

2006-02-27T01:50:00.000-08:00

Jim and Joyce (Jo) Louvier.

2006-02-27T01:47:00.000-08:00

Just some of the deer my brother and I saw at Apache Ranch. There are all kinds of deer at Apache Ranch, these were white tails.

2006-02-27T01:45:00.000-08:00

Photo 2 of Jim Louvier at Apache Ranch, near Junction, Texas.

2006-02-27T01:43:00.000-08:00

Photo 1 of Jim Louvier with his, over 10 year old, Ugly Stick! This thing flies GREAT!

New Year's Day 2006 Fun Fly

2006-01-01T13:07:00.000-08:00

One of our local RC pilots, Jerry Kitchins told me a few days
ago that it is a tradition to have a fun fly here in Salt Lake City every New
Year's Day, no matter what the weather turned out to be like. Fortunately, the
weather couldn't have been better this year; 45 degrees, the sun shining and
as clear a sky as I have ever seen. The fresh snow on the mountains from the
night before sure made for some incredible scenery! I hope that this kind of
weather will prevail this winter so we can have many more flying days but that
sure makes it hard to get those winter building projects done.

Here are photos from New Year's Day at the Utah Modelport:

Greg Corliss flying his Raptor helicopter.

Dave Fox with his 5.2 ounce foamy!

Sorry I didn't get this pilot's name but his
Katana was an awesome performer! He had lots of help too!

Don Steigler's 3D Bipe. These things are great
3D performers!

Father and son team, Mike and Gary Wekluk flew
this beautiful P-51.

Pilots line up for their turn to fly.

Dick Hansen with his electric fun flyer.

Eddie Acoba is always tearing up the sky with
some great 3D flying. He put on quite a show with this plane!

Jeff Blaylock, one of Team Futaba's members,
was on hand with his Carden Extra. You don't want to miss seeing
Jeff fly!

Jerry Westergard with his Goldberg Tiger. A
great looking and flying plane

New Year's Day Fun Fly

2005-12-29T21:54:00.000-08:00

I found out that each year there is a fun fly on New Year's day in Salt Lake city regardless of the weather conditions.

I'll be there for sure with camera in hand. I'll be sure to post photos on here for all of you to see.

Jay Mc

RealFlight G3 Simulator

2005-11-05T00:46:00.000-08:00

I have decided to make my edited aircraft and aircraft repaints available again for the RealFlight G3 simulator.

There are 4 edited helicopters, 3 edited electric airplanes and 21 edited gas airplanes for a total of 28 edited aircraft. These aircraft fly much better than the stock planes and helicopters included with G3.

There are 20 paint schemes for helicopters and 10 paint schemes for aircraft. Some of these repaints and edited aircraft will require that you have the add-on disks for G3.

All paint schemes will work for RealFlight G3 and G2. The edited aircraft will only work with G3.

Click Here to go to my RealFlight G3 Download Page

Houston, We Have a Problem

2005-09-25T19:36:00.000-07:00

While flying my new Utter Chaos today, I was once again hit by something that interfered with my radio. The plane went down and exploded into tons of pieces. I think it is time to call the FCC to have them check it out to see what is interfering with our radios at our modelport. We have lost too many planes lately due to radio interference.

JayMc

Bridi Utter Chaos

2005-09-21T20:07:00.000-07:00

I test flew my new Bridi Utter Chaos today. I am reluctant to really call it an "Utter Chaos" because I made so many modifications to it. Here is what I changed:
1. I clipped one wing rib off of each side of the wing. My Killer Chaos' wing was just too long and this is basically the same wing. With the wing clipped, it is almost exactly the same as the Super Kaos. I had hoped for better roll rates and I was not disappointed!
2.The horizontal tail and elevator are a built up framework that should be covered with an iron on covering. Since I was going to fiberglasss the fuselage, I sheeted the horizontal tail with 1/16" balsa and used 3/8" balsa for the elevator halves.
3. I made the plane a tail dragger instead of using the tricycle gear arrangement.
4. The plans call for a fuel tank hatch on the top of the fuselage. I put the hatch on the bottom and put the canopy a little more to the front of the airplane.
5. I made the rudder about twice as big as the original and I made the leading edge of the rudder at a 90 degree angle to the plane where the original Utter Chaos' rudder slopes aft.
6. I used a single dowel to hold the front of the wings to the fuselage instead of two. I hope I don't live to regret this change!

I used Rustoleum paint over the fiberglass and used a DuPont clear coat but I found out that the clear coat is not fuel proof! The funny thing is though, I'm running FAI fuel with absolutely no nitro and it is still eating up the finish! I used Rustoleum Gold on my Super Kaos and the FAI fuel at it completely off. Another problem I have had with the Rustoleum is that it will not stick to the fiberglass or the primer. I actually used a different Rustoleum primer on this plane. On the Killer Chaos, I used a gray, sandable primer. On this modifed Utter Chaos, I used Rustoleum Auto Primer. It is black and quick drying. I am hoping the paint will stick better to it. On my Great Planes Super Skybolt, I tried using a Rustoleum latex primer so I could brush the first coat on to fill the low spots. The problem I found with this is that I can't wet sand the fuselage. The latex primer starts to ball up and come off.

The plane's paint job looks really good. One of my fellow pilots saw the plane today and thought it was an ARF and he thought the fuselage was covered with Monokote until he got closer and saw that it was painted. I hope the paint will stay put so I don't have to refinish it. I can build a Chaos in one day but it takes me several days to finish one.

Have any of you developed any good painting tips for fiberglassed airplanes? If you have, let's talk about it!

I used a Fox Eagle 4 .60 in the plane. I bought it used and it doesn't have the compression I would like to see. I may need to replace the piston and cylinder sleeve. In the meantime, I have replaced the .60 with my Fox Eagle .74. It is exactly the same engine except for a larger bore. The performance specs of the .60 and .74 are almost identical though! I was going to go back out to the modelport to try the .74 but we had a heck of a rainstorm move through the Salt Lake Valley this afternoon. I'll go back out in the morning and see how much more performance I get with the .74. I've run the engine on the test stand and it runs great.

I'll let you all know how it goes.

Jay Mc

The Super Skybolt and the Utter Chaos

2005-09-09T18:36:00.000-07:00

The Bisson muffler for my Great Planes Super Skybolt came in Wednesday. I have to install the aileron servos and the throttle servo and she’ll be ready to fly! The aileron servos mount to small hatches that screw onto the bottom wing. My Skybolt has been sitting in the garage for about eight years and I have no idea where the old hatches went so I made some new ones today. I got one of them together and ran out of gas. I’ll try to get the other one together tonight or in the morning and get the servos mounted.

After work, the other morning, I framed up one side of the wing on my Bridi Utter Chaos. It took me about 15 minutes! Isn’t CA glue just the greatest! For those of you that don’t remember, we used to have to pin our parts down over the plans, glue them and then wait overnight for the glue to dry. The older type glues also added extra weight! When I was younger and the CA glue had just come out, I would sit down and build until I had an airplane built. Sometimes I’d go without sleep for 48 to 72 hours. I still prefer to build airplanes from kits. I think it makes you appreciate your plane more and you know EXACTLY how that plane is built!

If you’ve never flown any of Bridi’s airplanes you really should try one. The first one I built was a Bridi Super Kaos, probably around 1978. I built my second Super Kaos about three years ago and still have it although engine problems and stalling caused some damage the other day. A little epoxy and fiberglass clothe and she’ll be good as new. I just need to get an engine that will run right.

I’f I feel a little more inspired tomorrow, I’ll have my Super Skybolt ready to test fly the next day. We’ll see what happens!

Jay Mc

Want to Learn to Fly Your Very Own RC Airplane?

2005-09-02T16:34:00.000-07:00

Have you ever wanted to build and fly your very own radio controlled model airplane?

I have an incredible opportunity for you!

I meet people all the time that want to learn to fly but don't know where or how to get started. I will build your plane for you and teach you how to successfully fly your plane. I will have details on my website soon. For details go to JayMc.com.

Jay Mc

Peregrine Falcon at the Utah Modelport

2005-08-30T21:01:00.000-07:00

Today, I helped John Byrne fly his Hobbico Arrow. As I started home, there was a Peregrine Falcon right beside the road to the modelport. As I photographed this beautiful bird, it's mate swooped at me a couple times and made the loud shreaking noises they make. I love things like this!

I once got very close to a moose in Grand Teton National Park. I would have been toast if the moose would have decided to take me out. Luckily, he was more interested in eating than charging me!

RC Aircraft

2005-08-30T07:05:00.000-07:00

Wow, check this out, my own RC Aircraft Web Log, or BLOG as they are commonly referred to.

It's hard to update my website everyday, so this new BLOG will keep you informed of what is going on with me and RC flying in Salt Lake City!

On my website, you can find all sorts of information about flying in Salt Lake City. We have a GREAT field, the Jordon River Modelport. It is actually a Utah State Park. The runway is paved and there is a large pit area for the pilots. It is quite literally, one of the best model airports I have ever flown from.

Last week, I crashed my Bridi Killer Chaos (that's the yellow and black airplane in the photo,,,the green one is my Bridi Super Kaos). I know that all of you newcomers to the RC aircraft hobby are probably not aware of any of Joe Bridi's airplane kits. In my opinion, they were some of the best building and flying kits ever developed. Just a few of his designs are still available through BlueJay Aircraft in Stratten, Nebraska. You can see the airplanes online at BridiAirplanes.com. I have built two Super Kaos kits (no longer available) and one Killer Chaos. Unfortunately, my Killer Chaos had an abrupt meeting with the earth last week after the radio failed. The plane was fast and seemed about twice as fast when it decided to put a crater in the ground. I'm really going to miss that airplane. It performed aerobatics with grace and style and landed like a trainer! I have a new Utter Chaos ordered and it should be here sometime this week. The only problem is that winter is approaching quickly and I don't know if I'll be able to build the kit in time to do much flying before cold weather and short days set in.

My ten year old Great Planes Super Skybolt biplane is almost ready for her new, maiden voyage. I flew the plane about six times and it has been sitting in my garage for about eight years. I sold the engine, which was a Saito 1.50. I finally decided to strip the Monokote off of the fuselage and replace it with fiberglass clothe and epoxy resin with finish coats of Rustoleum paint. The plane looks great and I'll get her in the air as soon as I get the muffler for the ASP 1.08. Any word from any of you on the redhead ASP 1.08? I'm hoping it will be enough power to fly this beautiful plane like she deserves.

I'll be posting more as days go by. I'd love to hear your comments.

Jay Mc