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.

Latest on the Super Cub

My quest to get the super cub flying continues. I attempted another test flight a few weeks back. The plane barely got 10 feet high with a hand launch when it dove sharply to the right and did a cartwheel. This caused the entire tail to snap off!

After this I realized I needed to go back to the drawing board. I removed the repairs I added a few months back that consisted of large cable ties and dowel rods to secure the battery box. Even without the supports the battery box and landing gear are still secure with CA glue. By looking at other posts on the Internet I determined my electronics problems were probably related to the battery connectors. I snipped off the old connectors and replaced them with new connectors from the electronics store. This seems to have solved the electronics intermittently cutting in and out.

Test Flight:

With the new battery connectors and previous modifications removed, I set out to the park for a test flight. I gave her a solid hand launch and she quickly gained altitude. I was prepared this time for the plane to pull one way or another. Sure enough the plane pulled hard to the right so I countered with left rudder and eventually found that full left rudder barely held the plane straight. A few test flights resulted in the same results. The good news is I was able to keep the plane under control and land safely. After doing some more research I believe the problem is the thrust angle. This super cub is designed with a down and right angle built into the firewall to counter the centrifugal force of the propeller. A few crashes ago I decided to not replace the cracked firewall and just re-glue it. Bad idea! I replaced the firewall and now all I need is some time to give it a test flight!

Super Cub Electronics problems....

I finally took the supercub up (briefly) after the major repairs to the fuselage and receipt of the new transmitter. Lets say it didn't go as planned. After a hand launch the plane climbed briefly and then banked to the right and took a gentle nose dive. No real damage, just a broken propeller. This time I am not going to blame the wind; I place the blame squarely on the electronics. Through out the short flight the engine and flight controls were intermittently cutting out. At first I thought there was a short, but upon later examination I believe it was the Anti-Crash Technology (ACT) circuitry. On previous flights I deiced this "handy" feature was basically junk. This flight I forgot to switch the ACT off before take off. The ACT uses two optical sensors to determine the pitch of the airplane. When the plane enters a steep dive or climb, the ACT cuts the engine and applies some up elevator until the controls are released to reset it. While a good idea, I have found this to be more problematic that helpful. On this particular day I think the clouds were wreaking havoc on the optical sensors which is something the manual says can happen. So lesson learned; ensure all controls are properly set before take off!

First Flights of Multiplex Easystar

I recently received my Multiplex Easystar Ready to Fly (RTF) from Hobby-Lobby. I decided that I spend so much time waiting on parts for my Super Cub that I need a backup plane. I went with the RTF instead of the Almost Ready to Fly (ARF) for two reasons. First the RTF is cheaper and it fits my budget, second I honestly barely have time to fly much less build the plane. That will come later when I get into building Balsa planes. The RTF kit required little assembly; the most time consuming part was cutting out the decals.

I headed out to the park the next day with the plane all charged up. As has happened to me before, I got to the park and the wind was blowing a little more than I wanted. I gave the plane a hand launch and it quickly jumped into the air. Very soon after I realized I was going to have problems keeping it in the field and away from the trees and marsh beyond. I made a rather rough emergency landing that caused a small crack behind the cockpit opening. I decided to head home while I still had a plane and come back another day. A little CA glue quickly patched up the crack after I got home.

Feeling a little doubtful that I would ever fly without crashing I decided to head back to the park early in the morning to try and beat the wind. This time the conditions were perfect and things went much better. The plane was very easy to control and very forgiving. The rudder is a little small which evidenced itself in the slow response to turns, but I think that is a good thing for me right now. This plane has a 54" wingspan and excellent gliding properties. This makes for some really nice flying with the motor off. It also means you need a lot of space to land it if you let it glide down. Now that I have some confidence back I look forward to getting back out the park another day.

Hobbyzone Super Cub; 50% Sucess

I would like to say I am on a steady upward curve here but the results don't agree. I had two very successful days of flying in late August/Early September. Kept the plane up the whole battery worth of flying and had several perfect landings. Then it happened, two incredibly bad days of flying. The first one I will blame again on wind...;) Much like my first time out the plane got downwind quickly and got out of line of site. As soon as I realized it was about to end up in the bay I shut the engine off and it went down on the other side of some trees. Luckily it landed in a small tree and was mostly undamaged. By this time the battery box and landing gear was almost completely ripped out as is common for super cubs (at least while the pilot is learning!). Since I fly at a grass field (if you could call it that) I deiced to upgrade the wheels while I repaired the battery box. I pulled the battery box out and re-glued it so it was secure. I changed out the stock wheels for Dubro Super Lite Wheels 2-3/4" and replaced the propeller with a GWS 10X8 which is much cheaper than ordering the stock prop. The GWS prop requires some drilling to get it to fit on the stock motor.

So with the upgrades and repair completed I headed out the the park to give it try. Shortly after the hand launch something very strange and bad happened; the throttle slider on the remote control broke off!! My first thought was just fly the plane until the battery dies. Whether it was wind, pressure, or problems as a result of the upgrade I'll never know, but the end result was a fairly bad crash while trying to make a turn to keep it in the park. The battery box was completely ripped out, propeller broken, firewall broken, and several stress fractures in the fuselage. Long story short I replaced the prop and glued the firewall and fuselage back together. I decided it was time for more extreme measures to fix the battery box. I glued it back in and reinforced it by running cable ties completely around the fuselage at the front and back of the battery box. To keep the opening at the top of the fuselage from caving in I put two wooden dowels for support. This does add some extra weight; hopefully not to much. I called Horizon Hobby and explained the situation with the remote control. They had me send it back and agreed to replace it for free. The catch is they are back ordered until Mid-October!! If anything this R/C plane obsession is turning into a lesson in patience, something I probably need anyway.

The Repairs:

2nd Flight - Hobbyzone Super Cub

Well it took me several weeks to finally get the time to go out for a second flight after completing the repairs from the first crash. Unfortunately, the wind was not cooperating and stubbornly I decided to fly anyway. The wind was probably blowing about 7mph on the surface and certainly faster at higher altitudes. I started with a hand launch which was my first time trying this. The launch went well but shortly after take off I was surprise that the plane seemed to be standing still; most likely a result of the high wind. After short while the plane turned and headed down wind. I fought this for about a minute as the plane drifted closer and closer to the tree line and marsh land beyond! Eventually the plane got on the other side of the trees and dangerously close the marsh. At this point I knew I had not choice but to kill the engine and hope for the best. The plane went down a few feet from the marsh which made for a nice soft landing. It came to a rest pointed straight down, nose stuck in the dirt. Lucking nothing broke, much to my amazement. The worst thing-----the plane crashed a few feet from a jogger out on the running path--close call! So the moral of the story, don't fly in the wind when you are a beginner!! It poses a hazard not only to your plane but to the unsuspecting jogger.