aeajr

My Feedback: (2)

NY has been taken over by the wind for months. We have had 10+ MPH winds almost every day for months with many days at 15+ and gusts over 25.

While a very experience pilot can handle such things, most electric flyers are advised not to take on such conditions, especially new flyers like myself.

This brings to mind the question of what electrics are best in wind conditions of these types. Certainly the much larger and more powerful glow planes handle this pretty well, but I am an e-flyer and would prefer to stay with electrics.

Help me out here folks. I might want to consider these for my next plane since I am so frustrated with the wind.

So, what are the best windy day electrics?

mahoo

My favorite is an electric super fly. Check it out at superflyplanes.com. It will fly easily in 15 mph winds. I believe he has some video of a plane flying on a windy day. They are extremely durable and fly great. If you have the cash, get the hacker brushless to power it. It will really haul. If you have any questions contact dave at his web site and he can fill you in on all the details.

Mitch

daveopam

My Feedback: (9)

I saw a Zagi fly on a fairly windy day. It seemed to do OK if you want a flying wing.
later daveo

goofup

I look at it this way:
If the plane can fly faster than the current wind speed, it can "handle some wind".

The question is, can you?

ballgunner

My Feedback: (1)

The park flyer types are limited to the amount of wind they can stand. Anything less than a speed 500 or 600 will probably not handle well. Most two meter sailplanes powered by either of these or an Astro Flight cobalt or any brushless will probably enjoy a bit of wind. They must, however, have enough weight to penetrate or they won't get from thermal to thermal.
Most 50" wingspan and above conventional designs or scale with an appropriate motor and a fairly large battery pack will also do well in some wind. Obviously when wind speed exceeds 15-20 mph even the heavy glow powered aircraft are usually grounded. I have a two meter Goldberg Electra with a speed 500 direct drive that flys well in winds up to about 12 kts.
Electrics are no longer limited as they once were. New motors and power packs allow larger and heavier planes that can fly as well in the same winds as glow aircraft.

Hopsterguy

Ballgunner,

If you are talking about slow flyers, yes... otherwise many sleek fast airframes will slip right through the wind without much trouble.

Kavan Projeti comes to mind. It handles the wind well and it's speed 400 sized.

aeajr

My Feedback: (2)

I started this thread guys because I am a new flyer and have been frustrated by the high winds for the past few months. I lost my first plane to the wind, and the second was smashed pretty good when a tail gust sent it into the ground from 20 feet up. But all of that was my own lack of skills. I needed a fairly calm day to get my bearings and my confidence up so I could fly my Aerobird. That day finally came yesterday.

We go to the field at 9:45, and the wind was about 6-8 MPH. My friend Rudy had an anemometer with him. We had gusts to maybe 10. We flew.

My first Aerobird flight was brief. Just a half a circle to test out the trim after the extensive repairs I had to do after my last flight a few weeks before. If you want to know more about that crash and the fix that followed, visit this thread: Crash Damage and the Repairs, along with photos


I made a few minor adjustments.

The second was great, circled the field at about 50 feet, then down for an ..OK...landing.

Third flight was also good with a little more altitude, but ended up in a tree and folded the wing with
some minor damage to the tail. I was still learning how to work with the wind and not against it.

Switched wings, and fixed the tail.

From there on it was one great flight after another. Wind was rising steadily, now holding between 7 and 9 MPH, but the Aerobird flew great. It also glides extremely well, based on Rudy's assessments, and he normally flys gliders. Most of the time I was at half throttle, but I often shut the motor off for 20-30 seconds just to ride the breeze. What a beautiful feeling.

By late morning the wind was over 10 MPH, but we kept flying. No matter, I had the hang of it now. No fear of height and a soft hand on the controls. Our field is about 1000' X 1600' open grass field surrounded by 50-80 foot trees. We often fly over the woods, maybe 100 feet in. There is no runway, so I take the landing gear off and just shoot for smooth, soft grass landings, sliding in like a sled on ice.

Many times I had the bird up about 150-200 feet, I guess, going all over the field. I had the
motor die from a drained battery, over the woods, but I just rode the wind back, then turned into the wind and landed soft as could be. It happened again two flights later when another battery gave out .... no matter, I just dead sticked it in from over the opposite woods. from about 100 feet up, there was not enough height to get all the way back to the field, gliding against the wind this time, but I managed to force a stall from 5 feet up and dropped into some soft grass. Not a scratch!

I am amazing! I am the bird man!

In fact, dead stick is now my standard landing. I kill the motor about 20-40 feet up and glide it down. I like taking it in like that, with a little flare at the end just to soften the touch. Besides being fun, it is good practice for when I keep it out a little too long and the motor cuts out.

Gosh I had such a great day. Now that the pilot is up to the task, this is a great plane for winds up to 10 MPH for sure and maybe to 15 MPH.

I am satisfied! [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]

I am happy! [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-tongue.gif[/img]

I am flying and the wind is no longer a problem! [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]

SchoolAce

Sounds like your hooked, good luck let us know what aircraft you are seeking next!

Bill L

Ed, I think we have the neatest planes for <15 MPH winds![img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img] I spent 5 days at the AMA in Muncie last week, and once with the 7-cell pack could not bring it out of a spin, and drove it into the ground. Thanks to your advice, it now has a plastic tie supporting the motor, and I knocked the body so far out of line, that I have the little piece of plastic that you put under the trailing edge, UNDER THE LEADING EDGE, and my XL with the repaired Fighterbird wing, flies great, under power or glide. Up at Muncie (AMA) you have 2 square miles of nearly treeless flying fields. I've learned to always keep it UP WIND of me, except on dead stick final and landing.
I rarely landed with power. This morning I put my ninth flight on it since repairs, and the breeze was more than 10 mph. I gained 1/8 oz of weight with the plastic tie, some epoxy, and clear packaging tape. Now it is really fast, and stable in flight.[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]
GOOFUP, I have even had my Firebird XL fly backward in ground speed, up high where the wind is stronger, and steadier![img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-shocked.gif[/img]