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RC aircraft flyers in San Jose area?

900ss

900ss

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 2, 2006
Location
San Jose CA
Moto(s)
None, but my brother has 56 and counting.
Name
Ken
I just bought a Hobby Zone Sport Cub S 215mm aeroplane; it is my first foray into RC flying. Are there any RC flyers in or around San Jose who would like to fly this for me to confirm it is ready to go and correctly trimmed? (If you crash it, it is on me as I know if you (experienced flyer) crash it, I most certainly would!!

I have been looking at reviews online (of course) and one seemingly seasoned flyer struggled mightily to control it, while others did not. I am not sure if the rudder travel is correct; it has more left deflection than right (motor torque perhaps), and the ailerons don't deflect equally. There is more up than down on both sides; perhaps this is correct for a beginner aeroplane. I zeroed the trim on all control surfaces last night. Before that I tried taxiing it in the driveway (condominium complex = wide and long), but it just veered off to the left, even with right rudder input.

It came with a PC simulator (RF Flight demo version) that I need to download and try. If my model is not trimmed correctly though, it won't mean shite.
 
Been flying RC since a kid with a big break now for the last 10 years. Love the electric drive these days. I fly it all helicopters, drones (boring!), 3&4D acrobatics (far from boring!) and by far my favorite and almost daily flyer are powered thermal gliders that I’m lucky enough to fly at home in the mountains. This is my meditation, studies have shown that the pilots have the same brain wave pattern as one meditating. I find it extremely relaxing hunting lift and the ying/yang of gravity and lift. Bring able to start and stop the motor in the air is a game changer from my youth! Joining buzzards, hawks and eagles in a thermal is blissful. I have a F5J 2.5m competition glider that I reach for 90% of the time. I have 3 minutes of motor time and have never used it all. 12-15 seconds will get me to 500’ and shut down and air surf. 20-45 minutes in air is never more than 3 motor climbs. And is maximum my neck can take constantly looking up! 300’/minute is typical thermal gain at 1300’ it becomes too small too see with confidence. I’m frequently trying to lose altitude to stay in sight. I’m on my 3rd Top Model Prelude as with motorcycles “if you fly/ride you will crash”!
Enough, on to your concern's. Make sure your tail wheel is straight you may need to bend it to be so. Via your radio (Servo-Travel) make sure you have equal throw L/R for rudder. Now taxi again it should go mostly straight and certainly with rudder input. If not it has to be a wheel issue perhaps even the front ones. Look straight at the front on a table, are all 3 looking aligned? If so it will taxi and fly straight with minimal input. This plane has Safe mode a crude but effective “auto pilot”. Be sure to use it in air but can be an issue if ON when you taxi. A large smooth surface is needed for takeoff and landing, short grass is ok, until you are comfortable. Then these STOL planes with huge flap throws can use very little space. My smaller STOL can use as little as 50’. It is not uncommon for ailerons to have less throw in one direction than the other but both sides should be equal to each other in behavior. It sounds like you have the surfaces trimmed neutral so you’re close enough for trim to fly and certainly fine in SAFE mode in air. You will crash at times but these foam planes do pretty well and are easy to repair with foam safe glue or hot melt. The simulator is a great start and YouTube is your friend. I’m a good 3-4 hours north of you (well currently in Malta) but feel free to PM me anytime. Enjoy!
 
I played with this thing today. Went to a local park with a couple of baseball diamonds; I took off twice from the dirt and pranged it both times. There was a whisper of a breeze....... (W. A. R. N. I. N. G.!!!!!) I decided to chuck it instead of trying to take off. I was doing alright, well, until the breeze came up. I watched my new toy sail off like a will o' the wisp on the breeze. Shit. I watched it until I didn't see it anymore. Oops. I felt like opening my wallet and tossing two one hundred dollar bills into the wind (they weren't in my wallet, thankfully). Sonofabitch if I didn't luck out; after a brisk walk, followed a slow drive, I found the model in someone's driveway! So many trees and roofs, but today I had the luck of the Irish. Not bad for an Englishman. Feeling emboldened, I decided to go back and try again. I listened to the voice in my head that said COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS AND PUT YOUR $200.00 BACK IN YOUR WALLET! This thing will only be flyable (crashable) on absolutely still days.
 
If only they made scale sized gusts.

My grandfather was an avid flyer and builder in his retirement Ken. I learned sooooo many words hanging out at the flying field :laughing
 
900ss said:
I played with this thing today. Went to a local park with a couple of baseball diamonds; I took off twice from the dirt and pranged it both times. There was a whisper of a breeze....... (W. A. R. N. I. N. G.!!!!!) I decided to chuck it instead of trying to take off. I was doing alright, well, until the breeze came up. I watched my new toy sail off like a will o' the wisp on the breeze. Shit. I watched it until I didn't see it anymore. Oops. I felt like opening my wallet and tossing two one hundred dollar bills into the wind (they weren't in my wallet, thankfully). Sonofabitch if I didn't luck out; after a brisk walk, followed a slow drive, I found the model in someone's driveway! So many trees and roofs, but today I had the luck of the Irish. Not bad for an Englishman. Feeling emboldened, I decided to go back and try again. I listened to the voice in my head that said COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS AND PUT YOUR $200.00 BACK IN YOUR WALLET! This thing will only be flyable (crashable) on absolutely still days.
Click to expand...

... or in really big indoor spaces
 
I have a used spectrum dx8 transmitter up for grabs. If interested shoot me a dm, and it’s yours for free.
 
R/C pilot here (rusty). If it is 215mm (8.5") then that would be darned near an indoor flyer. I looked up that plane and saw it may be a 615mm which is 2ft wingspan suitable for school gymnasium to no breeze outdoors. You start getting into 4ft wing span and you can start to fly decently in "some" breeze because you need some weight and power behind it. I have a number of planes and helis and have one of these https://www.horizonhobby.com/product/EFL18350.html that has seen a lot of battle and keeps on ticking. Steerable landing gear is awesome for taking off and landing from school basketball courts or running tracks.

With this Trojan I can even fly knifedge, inverted, do loops and rolls. It's pretty capable even though not designed or optimized for that kind of flight.

EDIT: mine is the slightly smaller version with landing gear and they can still be found a lot of places for pretty cheap. Great starter plane.

EFL18350_A1_2IXEUZVB.jpg
 
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It flies! I managed to get a bunch of flights in before the breeze picked up too much. It floated away once on the breeze, and thankfully landed in the gutter on Flickinger.
 
I love seeing this thread. This was my passion about 20 years ago. I have about 11 Electric Planes in my shed and garage. I sold about 4 of them (all of my big beautiful biplanes--cry cry cry) two years ago. I can definitely help you out. I went through exactly the same thing that you did with my 1st SuperCub. The smartest thing to do is to spend $90 on a flight simulator. This will teach you how to control the plane without the risk of wasting $200 every time you crash.

There is a park off of hwy 237 in Milpitas. It's called Baylands Park. Many electric flyers go out there and they can offer great advice and assist you with setup.

I too have lost planes in high winds, but the flight sim can teach you how to deal with that too. https://www.hobbyzone.com/products/...6W6HgnG_vvH4FwJFkjvzlm1K_fsTiL6MaAqe_EALw_wcB

Starpower- I too have a couple of gliders (Radian). They are beautiful when you catch a thermal and the darned thing will NOT come down!!!!

Fraz- I love the T-28 Trojan. I have 3 of them. They are beautiful and fun.

Sofa88- Shoot me a PM. I'm interested in your Dx8.

If any of you guys want to meet up and fly, I need an excuse to dust off my planes.
 
Maybe as much as 40 years ago I watched some guy with a glider, flying it at the beach. He would simply hold it up in the breeze and it would take off. Then he’d glide and swoop over the ocean until he was done and he’d then bring ng it back to himself and simply pick it out of the air. It was fascinating to watch.
 
The model has a demo version of the simulator that runs on the Steam platform. I installed it last night but it doesn't recognize the controller, which is odd, as it is the one in the kit. Thanks for the tip re: using a simulator.
 
I’m not up in San Jose, but I’ve been flying RC my entire life. I have a small fleet. Everything from some cheap goalies, to 1/4 scale acro.

The rudder travel should be equal. More up than down on the ailerons is actually a good thing because it helps with what’s called adverse yaw. Get some help from someone who knows what they’re doing so you don’t end up with a bag of packing peanuts.


These are just a few “samples” of my stuff. I still find kits and build. It’s usually a winter thing for when it’s too cold to be in the garage. The first picture is me when I was just a kid, with a Great Planes Mustang. The next two are an Sig Cub that I converted to electric. The next two are a very very old Lanier Laser 200 that I built in HighSchool in 1996 that I recently restored, put a 4 stroke on and still fly today. The last is a P51 Mustang, with a fiberglass fuselage, meant for a .70 four stroke that I run a Ys1.15WS on with 30% heli fuel. It does Mach Jesus! (GOS says 156mph). It’s the only airplane I have that trim for pitch is critical. It also lands at Mach Jesus. I have a 16oz tank in a tiny airplane because it’s super thirsty.

RC is a great hobby, but bring your checkbook because screwing up gets expensive really fast. It’s not if you crash, it’s when you crash.
 

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Very nice Mikey, thanks for sharing! I'm having fun with my little foam floaty thing, and am starting to spend more time on the simulator. I achieved a lot more coordination today on the sim; I am sure tomorrow morning I'll still be all over the sky. Until I repeatedly smack the grass, that is :)
 
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