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Starting over...maybe.

Posted by Ron Jacobs on February 22, 2010 at 10:41pm
I have stopped my Predator build and sold most of my gear, for now. Doing more research and looking to get a good basic trainer (.40 or .60 class) not sure if it will be nitro or electric yet. A 2.4 gHz radio system. And put in some simple build time and then get experience flying.

The Predator became a stalled frustrating build because I was trying too much at once, without any experience to back myself up.

I hope to get a system with at least a remote activated camera in the next 6-8 months.

Anybody have ideas on a really good .40 or .60 trainer and radio system? I am not at all interested in aerobatics, so a sedate stable flier is all I need.

Ron
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Comments

  • Ron Jacobs February 28, 2010 at 12:44pm
    Thanks Ed,

    yeah, I'm going to do a foam twin boom, electric based on Tim's design.
  • Ed Hall February 27, 2010 at 8:05pm
    I might suggest something electric, made of foam, it's cheap, easy to fix at the field, and electric is fun.

    There are a bunch of foamys, I like the MS Composite stuff, but there are many others out there.

    Balsa is just so much less forgiving.
  • Joshua Scurlock February 24, 2010 at 8:20am
    I have used the Nexstar with much success. It is very stable and forgiving in flight. I learned to fly on it and then I made it into my favorite UAV. Leave the flap things on though, they keep things stable. Just my $0.02. Oh, and joining a local rc club is a good idea too. They offer a lot of support for new rc pilots.
  • Developer
    John Arne Birkeland February 24, 2010 at 6:24am
    Modify the wings and add ailerons, then use them as spoilerons to decrease lift while landing. A little bit of work, but Ailerons are fun to have anyways. :)
  • Mike Bakula February 23, 2010 at 10:09pm
    I don't know of any 6-inch ones, and wouldn't that need another channel?
  • Moderator
    Brian February 23, 2010 at 12:55pm
    Variable Pitch prop?
  • Mike Bakula February 23, 2010 at 10:25am
    Indeed. Mostly, I'm trying to get across that approach power is even lower on the EasyStar than you might expect. I've thought about putting in a reversing motor controller, just to get more drag; generally the approach angle for the EasyStar is _really_ low.
  • Moderator
    Gary Mortimer February 23, 2010 at 9:44am
    Tut tut Mike, power controls rate of descent or ascent, pointing the nose up or down controls speed, yes I know more power more speed but thats not what I meant ;-)

    Every good landing starts with a good approach

    Yes I have had a couple of red wines.
  • Mike Bakula February 23, 2010 at 4:46am
    Let me put in a good word for the Easystar -- it's easy to fly (I'm, at best, a novice R/C pilot) and tough enough to handle hard landings (and trees...) If you double the rudder area and upgrade to a brushless motor, it's remarkably nimble. The light wing loading makes it hard to stall, and easy to keep up with when landing. It's only flaw as a trainer is that it can be difficult to get it to descend if you keep _any_ throttle on -- simply pointing the nose down will cause it scream by in ground effect, and take forever to flare.
  • Developer
    John Arne Birkeland February 23, 2010 at 4:10am
    I have had a good experience with the Phoenix Trainer .60
    http://www.modelflight.com.au/rc_model_power_planes/phoenix_boomera...

    Very good flight behavior (wont stall even if you try to force it). Plenty of space for UAV stuff and more then enough lift with the extra equipment. Easy to convert into a electric power system.
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