Sunday, January 11, 2009

Maiden of my new Parkzone Trojan T-28 PnP


After much deliberation, I decided it was time for a new plane. My first aileron plane was the Estes Air Force One, though it isn't very maneuverable and I wanted something I could really use to increase my skills. I decided the Parkzone Trojan t-28 Plug and Play (PnP) was a good choice due to its flying characteristics, sturdy foam construction, and overall value for the price. The PnP model includes the assembled and painted plan, servos, 25A ESC, and Parkzone 480 brushless motor. All that is required is the TX/RX and battery.

There is not much to mention in the way of building, all that is required is to insert the horizontal stabilizer and snap in the main landing gear. The nose wheel is secured with a screw. The only modification I made immediately was to snip off the E-Flite battery connector and solder on a standard Deans plug.

Flight Report:

The maiden flight was successful, though a little hairy at times. The plane is the most responsive of any I have flown so far and truly flies where you point it. Though the plane is stable, it would not make a good first plane as there are no self correcting proprieties. I think this was a good choice for my 3rd plane (not counting the estes jet). The ground handling properties are excellent with the triclycle gear though I plan to swap out for larger tires to make grass strip take offs easier. In the air I tried a few loops and rolls, and even manged to pull off a fairly decent immelmann turn. I am looking forward to experimenting and adding new aerobatic moves to my repertoire. Right now I am working on pulling off smooth landings and putting the plane right where I want it. I manged to rip both main landing gears off during separate hard landings. They were easily glued on and stronger that before. I would recommend this plane to anyone looking to improve their skills beyond 3 channel rudder/elevator. If you already have a 4 channel radio and battery, you can't beat the $160 price tag which includes servos, ESC and a brushless outrunner. One recommendation, get a radio with dual rates if you can. Right now all I have is a basic 4 channel and it was very touchy at first...something that dual rates can help with. Happy flying!