Big foamy thingy - 3 channel slow flyer

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Not sure what this big bird is. But it is a gentle, 3 channel, brushed motor, foam park flyer. Slow is somewhat misleading - it still needs a big space to fly, but it is happy to lumber along at ~10-20mph.

Acquired: Swap meet - 2009

Status: Flying

Costs:

  • Purchase (included brushed motor)
  • 2 cell 2500mAh Li-Po
  • Brushed ESC
  • Orange DSM2 6 channel receiver - using new Spektrum DX6i transmitter.

Airtime: 1 Hour 38 minutes

Flight log:

  • November 6, 2010 - 20 minutes. New Orange DSM2 receiver from Hobby King. (New DX6i from Cellar Dwellar too). Good thing I did a 'Clear & Correct' before take off. Forgot to reverse the rudder (aileron) servo. 10C, no wind. Just before sunset (6PM). And NO mosquitoes!
  • October 10, 2010 - 10 minutes. Took some aerial video of my parents place in Gunton. Let my youngest nephew attempt to fly - a bit awkward without a trainer/buddy setup but he did alright. Cracked the winglet / extension - possibly while packing it away.
  • October 7, 2010 - 15 minutes. A pleasant flight down at Marty's. Plane looks like a hawk in the air, and was soon inspected by a bird defending their territory. The bird never attacked (although I tried to instigate something).
  • September 18, 2010 - 19 minutes. 1 nice long flight with a number of landings. More keychain camera fpv video - the audio & video keep 'hiccuping'. Stopped flying because the mosquitoes were driving me absolutely crazy.
  • July 15, 2010 - 4 minutes. 1 flight. Nice evening (after strong winds). Take off was rough. Trim was out, but got better. Was starting to get the hang of it, when the motor stopped and I found out the glide rate was not so good. Turns out the wire from the motor to the fuse shook off the fuse. No wire, no power, no flying.
  • July 9, 2010 - 10+ minutes. 3-4 flights. Great evening. Plane was fixed a few weeks ago. Got a key chain video camera and had to try it. This cheap bird was the test bed. Worked great! Airspace was briefly defended by a pair of crows who were easily scared off. Next was to pester a deer in the field - lost radio contact and went down. Minor damage to landing gear. Made a few more flight before landing gear seperated from nose - end up safely landing in deep grass. Apologies to the cyclists I almost clipped - didn't hear you coming up behind me while attempting a touch-n-go :-).
  • April 17, 2010 - 5+ minutes. 2 flights. First flight was a bit dicy - didn't think the wind was that strong, but it was a but bumpy. Second flight ended in a low altitude cartwheel. Seems the only damage is the motor mount.
  • April 11, 2010 - 15 minutes. 3+ flights. First check out flight was crazy - CG to far back? Elevator servo not forward enough? Had to man handle the stick to keep from stalling. Got it back down in one piece. CG cannot be adjusted (at least not at the field) - battery is too wedged in. So I removed, slightly rotated and replaced the elevator horn to give the plane more forward stick. That calmed her right down. Next flight was 13+ minutes or peaceful floating around - with a couple touch-n-goes on the road for good measure. Take off in less then 20' at full throttle, then back down to 1/3 throttle for smooth sailing. Not a bird that likes the wind this one is.