badestdudeintown
Posts: 3
Score: 100
Joined: 10/30/2003
Last Login: 9/22/2012
From: surprise,
AZ, USA
Status: offline
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Hi all! I've been a member for a long time, but have just recently gotten back into the hobby. Here's the slightly long-winded story of my Astro Hog:
About 7-8 years ago, I had a Great Planes Easy Sport, which was truly a "great plane." Flew perfectly. Totally predictable flight characteristics. That was, until I let my friend fly it. I explained everything to him pre-flight, got it to a safe altitude and gave him the TX. He basically just stared at the TX while the plane slowly descended. At the moment the altitude got too low for comfort, I grabbed the TX back from him, and when I did I accidentally whacked the throttle forward. The plane slammed HARD, totally disintegrating on impact. He still to this day laughs about the look on my face at the moment of impact  In any case, he agreed to pay for half my new kit, and I decided on an Astro Hog. I have always loved vintage stuff, and wanted a building challenge. After about 3 months of hard work it was ready. I intended to use a Tower Hobbies .75 for it, but I could never get it started. After much frustration, mixed with the fear of flying this large aircraft that I spent 3 months building, it ended up sitting in the garage... for 7 years. It's been through 3 moves and I still haven't flown it.
So, about a month ago, I got a wild hair up my ass and decided it was time. I've also always wanted a four stroke motor, especially for this plane. Also, I really didn't want to deal with the previous frustration I had with the .75, so I ordered a used Magnum .91 4 stroke for it from ebay and got it all mounted up. Just ran it a few weeks ago, and i'll need to tune it a bit but at least this one runs! After reading up on all the stuff that's happened in this hobby over the last 7 years, I also decided to upgrade my radio equipment to a Futaba 6EX as well.
Now, mind you, I haven't flown much in the last 7 years. I have a ParkZone Piper cub that I’ve flown a few times (now inoperable), but that's about it. As a result, i've decided to get a smaller electric to practice on before flying this beast. I got a Mini Ultra Stick, which me being me, I of course stripped all of the covering off and re-covered it because I wasn't happy with the color scheme Now I'm just waiting for my motor and other miscellaneous stuff to arrive from China to fly it. I figure a few months and i'll be ready for the Astro Hog.
Hell, the Mini Ultra Stick is probably much harder to fly than the Astro Hog is, but I swear I’ll never forgive myself if I crash it on its maiden flight.
So, without further adieu, here’s the beast. If you can’t tell, I’m quite proud of her. She has plenty of flaws, but she’s my baby. BTW, the first pic with the silver headrest is pre-update (,75), whereas the 2nd with the red headrest is how it is today (with the .91 4 stroke). I had a bit of a mishap with the heat gun and had to cut down the headrest and re-paint it The 2nd pic also shows the Mini Ultra Stick I was talking about.
Thanks for reading!
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All Forums >> RC Airplanes >> Golden Age, Vintage & Antique RC >> My Astro Hog (and re-introduction) 
My Astro Hog (and re-introduction) - 
I needed to make three approaches to land, and then it was a bouncer. I was charged four landing fees in the bar 
. Glad to be back in the game, how about you?