ClintAus

Hi everyone

I'm new to the forums, although I've been lurking for a while trying to absorb some wisdom.

I am currently trying to work out where to go with my next model.

A bit of background: I learned to fly about 15 years ago and got to the solo stage on my 3 channel .40 size trainer (Aeroflyte Hustler). Unfortunately not long after that I lost my flying field and life in general got in the way so I gave up the hobby. I got interested again a few months ago and after looking around a bit and checking out the local flying club which had emerged in the time I had been away I got RealFlight G4 and most of the addons/expansions for practice. After playing with the sim for a couple of days I found that I could comfortably fly and land every fixed wing aircraft in it, so I went to the club and had a go on the club trainer with an instructor, which I had no problems with, although I didn't land it as I was unwilling to take the risk of breaking someone else's plane.

After that I bought myself a Skyraider Mk 1 and a Spektrum DX7 radio. I put the plane together and got it all set up with my old OS Max .40 FP engine which I still have and took it up to the club. After signing up and a total of 4 flights with the instructor I was signed off to go solo and I was already getting impatient to push the trainer further. The old .40 I had in it didn't have enough power to do much though, and it kept cutting out mid flight, resulting in 2 of my 3 landings for the day being deadstick (I have since found that the problem was the fuel foaming in the tank and modified the plane so the tank is wrapped in foam). The following week I purchased a .46AX and installed that, which has made the plane perform much better and that weekend I was happily doing some aerobatics, inverted circuits etc.

I am in the process of completing a part-built plane that I have from when I used to fly, which is a semi-symmetrical stick type design (Dawn Trading Hurricane 40D). The wing is mounted on top of the fuselage and I am planning to build it with no dihedral to improve its performance a bit, along with making it a taildragger instead of tricycle landing gear and modifying it to be a bolt on wing instead of rubber-band as it was designed.

I've started to wonder where to go after this though? Our field is closed at the moment (it's a grass strip in a farmer's paddock and it's just too wet at the moment) so I am trying to occupy my time finding a plane and getting it ready.

I hope to get to flying both warbirds and aerobatic planes such as an Extra, Cap, or something similar, but I also have very limited storage space so I would prefer to be able to do this with as few planes as possible, either that or I will have to sell, donate or scrap them.

I do have some plans and materials to possibly build a low wing, fully-symmetrical version of my stick, although I'm not sure if I'm quite ready to try a scratch build yet.

Does anyone have any suggestions on what type of aircraft I should look at? I am pretty much limited to .40 size planes due to storage space and limited space in my car, although when I finally get a warbird it will probably be a .60 size, and due to limited time for building I would prefer an ARF, but a kit would be an option.

Thanks,

Clinton

draftman1

the skyraider mach2 is an awesome plane, since you all ready had the mach 1, get the 2. or a four star by sig

MinnFlyer

My Feedback: (4)

Kit or ARF? If you like to build, you should look into the Great Planes P-51 Mustang 40

It's s good building kit and it is designed around the Ultra Sport airfoil which makes it a little easier to handle than a true-to-scale warbird.

It's an excellent flier! Here's a link

http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...&I=LXJ571&P=SM

ClintAus

Thanks for the suggestions guys.

I'll check out the Mustang, but price could be a problem here in Australia. I priced an Ultra Sport 40+ here and it was $330, three times the price Tower sells them for. Unfortunately freight from tower is also very high, more than the cost of the kit.

rambler53

My Feedback: (494)

Sky Raider 2 or Avistar Advanced Trainer, shipping is $52.00 for 9 lbs, double boxed. Is Tower more than that? I ship often for people in New Zealand and Ireland that are RCU members. Let me know if I can help.

RC_Perko

Hi Clinton,

About 20 years ago I built a Hurricane 40D Trainer. It was my first plane and looking to scratch build one. Do you have a copy of the plans still? thanks David