Estes 747 Air Force One

Among my Christmas gifts this year was a scale Air Force One (foamie) R/C plane by Estes. It is a very nice looking plane and has four brushed Electric Ducted Fan (EDF) engines. The plane is really marketed as more of a "toy" as it comes with a 27mhz controller and no control surfaces. The plane uses thrust vectoring for control, which means the left/right yaw is controlled by powering down the engines on one side or the other. Elevation is controlled by engine speed. Speaking of engine speed, the stock controller only has two speeds, full and 1/2, which is used in turns.

Maiden Flight - Another oddity was the inclusion of an "EZ Launch system", which is a stake and a long bungee to propel the plane forward. For the maiden flight I decided to go by the book and us the bungee. The initial launch went pretty well...at first I thought I would not gain any altitude but it did start to climb. I managed to make a very large turn to the right very low to the ground when I decided to land as I could tell I wasn't going to be able to control it very well. A second flight ended up about the same but I passed way to close to some walkers in the park. I came in for rough landing and popped two of the engines off. Luckily the engines are designed to pop off in a rough landing. The bottom line on this plane in its stock configuration is you need a very large area to fly and no wind. I tried to fly it again a week later with similar results. I have decided to ground this plane pending some upgrades. The plane is to follow in the foot steps of others on the Internet and add ailerons, elevator, new receiver, ESC and a lipo. According to one of the guys at our local field the plane flies nicely with these modifications.

Super Cub Problems Continue....Easy Star Rocks!!

Before I talk about the Super Cub let me say that the Easy Star rocks! I have had half a dozen or more very successful flights with this plane. The handling properties of this plane are superb and it is very forgiving. I have taken it up quite high with the stock motor, though it does get difficult to tell what attitude of the plane is when it is way up there. Right before Christmas I flew with a couple of guys who are learning on the Easy Star as well. We did a little dog fighting up in the air, chasing each others planes in circles and had some very near misses. Luckily I don't think either one of us was quite good enough to hit each other!

On the Super Cub front....I ordered a new tail and fuselage. I transfered over the stock motor, servos, and Hobby Zone radio system. At this point the only thing which isn't stock is the GWS 10X8 propeller and the Dubro 2-3/4 wheels. Before the maiden flight I trimmed it up, all looked good so I attempted a rise off ground (ROG) take off to give myself a chance to see how it would handle vs. committing to a hand launch. Well, almost a carbon copy of last time. Pull hard to the right. What is going on here? I am just not sure. A couple of things I should have checked (and will when I get time) are the center of gravity (CG) both front to back and left to right. I am really hoping there is a CG issue causing the problem. The other thought I have is possibly the propeller is causing a problem? I read posts from someone who did extensive testing and found the GWS 10X8 to be good. I think I'll throw on a stock prop just to rule that out.

New Toys: Santa was good to me and brought me two new toys. A 2.4ghz wireless camera and an Estes Air force One ducted fan jet. I'll get pictures and stories up when I try them out.