crash and burn

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I am searching for a .15 size ARF. Does anyone know if someone makes a scale or sport in this size that's not foam???

Thanks,

Tom

us020140

My Feedback: (28)

I'm not sure what kind of ARF you're looking for, but I have a Ripmax Zephyr and its excellent quality. Its an old timer with a polyhedral wing and an excellent flyer. Tower Hobbies sells them.

Gastronom-RCU

My Feedback: (5)

Try the ART Almost ready to Trim model that Jon is selling out at www.picaweb.com

whstlngdeath

My Feedback: (15)

Go to hobbypeople.net to see a .15 size Me-109 that looks real
nice. It's made by a company called Sportsman Aviation, is a 31.2
inch wingspan and qualifies for 1/12 scale combat. Global also
makes a 35" wingspan FW-190 ARF, that will take a .09 - .15.
You also can't go wrong with any of Pica's 1/12 scale warbirds.
A lot of the R/C combat pilots use these sturdy fliers.

Hope this gets you started on the right path.

us020140

My Feedback: (28)

So nobody liked my Zephyr idea? I love mine. A huge two channel ARF that you can build in one evening. Not a race horse, but incredibly fun and easy to fly.

robhoneycutt

Love the Zephyr!

I am on # 3-1/2 Zephyrs!

#1: cartwheeled while still learning to fly..(Broke wing, just bought new kit for parts)

#2 : New wing I got from new kit broke on first flight, nose dived 600' straight into the cotton field... Tower Hobbies sent me a new kit free...

#3 : Had fun with this kit all summer! Flew so much, and got used to it..It's wing broke today, mid-air, 8" out from center...

Flying it on 8 x 2400 cells, Jeti 30-3, rebuilt now going on 3X.. Graupner Cam Folding Prop 11-6

This is the perfect set up for this plane! Its flys fast, goes almost vertical! -or- it flys slow, and catches thermals, (you can fly for almost 45 minutes at great power!!)


Modifications I like to this plane:

FASCOLOR Purple race car paint. ( for lexan bodies) This paint matches perfect.. Use on turtledeck, misc. parts that need to match. (tailskid, wing hold dowels, pilot bulkhead, airscoop, etc.

Airscoop underneath engine mount for cooling of jeti

Landing gear modified to look like "RED ZEPHYR" by spirit of yesteryear... (braced back ) like a quaker..see at newcreationsrc.com+++Trexler Pneumatic tires--a must.. double up bulkhead at landing gear to strenghthen.. I promise it needs it.. double ply bottom at braced position as well... She comes in for some hot landings if you don't have a headwind to slow her down!

Bulkheads notched out, with platform and velcro mount for perfect CG..

Yellow rubber bands and painted yellow tabs on wing.

I didn't do it yet, but clear monocote window cut outs might look good in lieu of solid purple fuselage.. (SE MODELER REVIEW ) did this...


Over all... Great plane.. Either I am trying to do (mild) maneuvers with a plane not designed for it, or the wing is made out of balsa provided by the lowest bidder! Either Way, I am on to my 4th!!

ps.. building my own wing, though...!

tiggerinmk

Just got my Zephyr, I can see now that there are a few bits & bobs that need spraying over with paint and Ripmax give no clues regarding paint match etc.

Where do you get FASCOLOR car paint?

TH doesn't have it though they do have car stuff....

On further looking I found Parma Faskolor....

Do you have the paint number available so I can see exactly which one it is?

robhoneycutt

You will Love this plane! I fly it all the time.... If you have any questions, let me know! what power system are you using?

Re: Paint, the number on the bottle is 40152... here is a pic.. I used it on the turtle deck, (bottom side), on the tailskid, the rubber band dowels, etc...

cabanestrut2002

how about this for a .10-.15 size aerobat.
i got this from a mate second hand new in box .
its a jamara electric extra 330l converted to glow power.
it retails in the uk for about 60 pounds. very good value for money in my opinion, this thing is very well built from decent balsa and covered well in real heat shrinkfilm(not sticky back).
it was so easy to convert, i just sawed off the electric motor mounts and glueda piece of ply onto the firewall. i put the servos where they would be for the electric version and put a 2 ounce tank where the flight battery would have gone.
mine has a sc .12 and will not quite go vertical butis more than enough power for some great knife edge and stunning scale aerobatics.
after flying it for a while i decided to mount the servos under the tail at the back, to get some mor throw and reduce the strain on the small(9g) servos.
the wheels are a bit small for ROG but hand launches are so easy.
spats and cowling are very nice mouldings.
i recommend this model as a conversion, it has twice the power as the 400 electric powered version and is 3 ounces lighter!

cabanestrut2002

pic of engine/cowling

tiggerinmk

Thanks for the piccie of the paint!

I found the stuff on TH after all, so I just needed confirmation of the actual colour which is Fasfluorescent purple.....

According to TH it looks like you need to spray it with an airbrush, but I'm not sure I want to fork out for one of those just for the one project. Did you spray yours or just paint the inside of the deck?

An alternative would be to use Lustrekote paint, but they don't do the paint in dark purple. They do however, do yellow which matches the monokote, but I don't know how close this is to the Oracover....

Incidentally, the yellow Oracover is on Hobby-Lobby but not the purple...

As for the power system......

Just after I won the plane on ebay I thought I'd do some research on it (mostly on ezone before I landed here) . There's a fair amount of info on electric power systems but nothing about glow. I also had a fair amount of email discussion with the seller who had flown with glow.

My original intention for this plane was to use it as a kind of pre-trainer.

Ok, I'll explain......I've got a GWS Tiger Moth which has about a dozen flights on it, mostly without incident. I also have a Superstar 60 which I fly at the club field. I've been a member of the club for a year and have still yet to solo. This is partly due to not going as regularly as I should (due to family) but also due to difficulty in getting sufficient instructor time.

So, not wanting to wreck my Superstar, I thought I'd build a lightweight 3 channel that maybe I could fly myself. Off I went to the LHS and got a SIG Seniorita. Some 6 months later I now have two built wings and a box of sticks. I'd seen the Zephyr b4 on TH and thought about it as an electric so when I saw it on ebay I grabbed it, this time with the intention of powering it on glow as a substitute for the Seniorita.

Meanwhile, back at the club.... last Sunday I had a very good flight on the Superstar 60 during which time I did 3 take offs. I'm sure, that with my accumulated flight experience, I should relatively easily get the hang of lining up for landings and therefore be able to solo soon.

This therefore leaves me with the dilemma that I probably won't need to revert to a 3 channel to help with learning to fly.

This means I could go for an electric power system, but I don't think the plane is small enough for a park flyer. If the landings are fairly hot as you say, then it definitely is not suitable for the local park. I had an interesting (and short lived) experience with an Aspire RTF at the local park. So if I need to go to the field then I may as well use glow power.

Besides, I've mostly got all I need for glow. I've got an Enya .15 III (also off of ebay), a JR 610 micro receiver, and a AAA Nimh 600mha battery pack. I am about to order 3 Hitech HS-81MG servos.

All I really need now is a fuel tank (not sure what size yet, the instructions aren't very helpful) and maybe a tailwheel.

If I were to go for electric, I'd need to buy the complete power system and probably a new charger too.


Sorry if the answer was a bit long winded.........

robhoneycutt

This has been one of the best E-conversion I have done..

It's weight to power ratio is so similar to a glow version, you don't get the weight penalty associated with many electric planes..

With the jeti 30-3 direct drive brushless set up, (you can find on ezone used for not that much $), and the 40 amp speed controller, you can take off with authority, climb out at 60-75 degrees!!, and get 1000 feet per minute gains... find thermals, etc, and just lazily glide around for 20-25 minutes with the motor off... (folding prop)

I have got up to 45 minutes per flight, and its nice because its so quiet..

It would be hard to fly in a park I think.. I fly mine on a golf course, and it works fine, but with its long glide path, it needs some "approach room"

Make sure to work on the landing gear modifications, and before using the included gear, bend new gear with longer axels if you want to use the trexler tires.. the tires really are forgiving on landings..

one more thing I learned on the 3rd model... you really need to give lots of downthrust to the motor, more than normal.. If you don't put enough in, it's nose points straight up when you throttle up...

good luck, and let me know if I can help..

Rob

sky warrior

Hi there,

I have just converted a small Akro to OS 10 and the manufacturer has sent me a mail this Christmas with his site address. Check it out it has three good ones. mine at present is the Champion but I suspect to be overpowered with the .10

[url]www.slovanet.sk/akro

tiggerinmk

Thanks for all the info, as I have most of the stuff I need, I'll probably go with the glow version for now and maybe consider an electric version later for comparison.

I've read all of te Zephyr posts here and on ezone and note that you mentioned a landing gear mod to make it look like a 'Red Zephyr'

Did you ever take any pictures of it?

robhoneycutt

will take pic tomorrow..


btw, I just brushed on the paint with good results...


rob

flyinrog

My Feedback: (1)

Hey crash, back to the actual subject and in less than 2000 words I might add, nobody mentioned these folks
they got a few nice kits for a decent price ..

one thing about add/adhd if I see a post that is an entire page long.........I absolutely cannot read it so I dont even try....Rog

Digger-RCU

The Global ARF FW 190 is a very nice plane. Good looking, and nice flyer too. I have a norvel 15 on mine, and it is very fast, but stable as a rock and able to fly in lots of wind we have here in Corpus Christi.


Randy (Digger) Birt

SST

My Feedback: (2)

Hobby People SST is a .09-.15 size ARF of built-up construction for $99.00

tiggerinmk

I was wondering when that would come come up.

They're actually $89 and I think they're on sale right now for $79.

An AP Hornet .09 is recommended and works well for this plane, you'd probably get unlimited vertical with the .15!

I got mine pre-built off of ebay, it had been converted to 4 channel and had a tail wheel added. It takes off well from short grass like this.

With no rudder (out of the box) you'd have to hand launch it.

spyder0069

I had the Global Focke Wulf 190 ARF. Bought it on e-bay for $40 and I think they are $99 retail. It said .09 - .15. I started with a OS LA .10. Couldn't handle launch to save my life unless I had about 10 mph head wind. The OS engine was the problem. It was new but it lacked power. Moved to the reccomended AP.15 and that plane was a blast! Also put on the optional rudder/tailwheel to maximize safety. Later I put a magnum .25 on it (you know to impress the friends). It was a rocket. Balanced properly and it would still slow down decently. During the first flight I realized that I was only flying with one aileron. Aparently during one of my high speed passes the other ripped right off the plane. Still landed fine. However the extra vibration and speed eventually took a toll and about 4 months after I put the .25 on it something failed midflight. All of a sudden I had to add complete left trim to fly straight. Turned into the final and in the last turn it snapped and spiraled into a tree that was about 30 feet below it. If I were to do it again I would stay with the .15

sky warrior

Hi there
I can now report that my small Akro posted in this thread flew perfectly on an OS 10 la
It was not overpowered and although torque take offs were in need of some concentration it flew all day like a dream all day.
Anyone interested and i will enlighten further

tiggerinmk

My Zephyr is almost ready!

Rob, how much did yours weigh? It looks like mine will be just over 2lbs.....

M3

My Feedback: (25)

This is a Scorpio ThreeDee 400 electric (from Hobby-Lobby) that I converted to OS 10LA (could use a 15 . . . ).

Flies great and looks pretty good too (I recovered the fuse and tail). I added Kavan Wingo floats from Hobby-Lobby.

See the link in below (seaplanes section of RCU):

http://www.rcuniverse.com/showthread...66&forumid=210]

robhoneycutt

I think it weights around 3#'s.. almost vertical climb, (80 degree), and flys for 25-40 minutes.