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Permalink Reply by R. D. Starwalt on April 5, 2012 at 11:59am

Mr.Nobody,

Everyone is new to the hobby at some time so don't let questions stand in the way of learning.

One aspect that seems to have been overlooked in this community are designs based on endurance models of old, Free Flight. In fact, the original RC models were converted Free Flight models. By endurance, I assume you mean flight time. The ruling king of endurance flying for decades, even before his transatlantic flight, was Maynard Hill. You can learn much from reading about his planes and record setting flights. One of his final article before passing away is HERE. It is multipaged and reads like a narrative but is full of endurance history - serious endurance as in waaay over 12 hours endurance.

It is good to have flight/payload goals. At least you can determine your accomplishments rather than having an open-ended ideas.

I made reference in a sidebar discussion to these TOOLS from Mosquitobiteplanes.

The tools assume you have knowledge of aircraft design/flight parameters. If it is beyond your scope at this time, wear Wiki out learning.

Another planning point, and a very important one, is your budget. How much are you willing to sink into this project?

Good luck and plan well!

 

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Permalink Reply by Jake Stew on April 5, 2012 at 12:23pm

If you want some inspiration see...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Spirit_of_Butts_Farm

.

This plane, the "TAM 5" crossed the Atlantic in 2003!  It's 11 lbs and it flew 39 hours on less than a liter of fuel!

I'd have to think that with more modern composite construction you could beat even that record.

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Permalink Reply by Mr. Nobody on April 7, 2012 at 8:24am

@Richard -- The Ursus looks great!  Thanks for the tip.  But -- I have no experience or skills in RC plane construction.  I also read in the forum postings that the construction manual is in polish, so I'm guessing that just wouldn't work out for me.  Still, I would love to read about your experiences putting it together when finished.

@ RD --  Thanks for the encouragement and advice!  Much appreciated!  And thanks for the links to the Robin.  Another great looking plane.  But the same holds true -- I have *no* experience either with plane construction, or with aircraft design and flight parameters.

I'm really looking for ARF aircraft that run under $200 -- like the Sky Trainer Jake had originally told me about in this thread.  

Can anyone recommend any ARF models that are similar to the Ursus and run under $200?  That configuration would be perfect as I'll be belly landing in grass, and potentially over water.

Thanks again all!

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