gtramontelli

Hello everyone;

I have a parkzone j-3 cub that I have been flying for about 3 months. I have gotten pretty good at flying it (don't get me wrong...the plane is on its second fuselage and 5th or 6th prop!). I added a venom motor upgrade and larger wheels for better landings. Basically, I really enjoy the size of the parkflyer as well as the elecric power, but I notice that the plane is very sensitive to wind. Is this a quality that all parkflyers share? It is difficult to find a sunny day in this area with less than 10 mph winds. The average is about 12 mph. I have found that I am able to control the plane well, but it gets a little tiring to battle the wind. I would rather spend my time enjoying the flight rather than worrying if the next gust will blow the plane away.

Are there any warbird type parkflyers that are more stable in wind than the cub, or is this normal for this size/type of airplane?

Thanks!

Gino

mdbuehler

Been having that same problem, same plane I have a Venom'ed Cub with oversize wheels and a steerable tail wheel. The Venom helped with the power issue fighting the wind, but it gets batted around so badly its very stressful to fly. I noticed when I put the video camera on it, the wind doesn't effect it as bad. I think its a lack of weight that makes it so susceptible? The sunny Seattle days tend to be windy too, which is bumming me out

I bought a Typhoon 3d I think will do much better (way more power, almost double the Cub weight), Having a few problems, but soon as my ESC gets here I'll be able to try it out in a good breeze. My dad's Aerobird Challenger did quite nice in the wind. Lots of power, minimul surface area since its a boom / stick plane. My brother just bought one, and I'm trolling ebay for one as well. I get irritable when I can't fly! And the hour drive to the really good field sucks when I get there and can't send a plane up!

love those warbirds

My Feedback: (39)

My Toytronix T-hawk or any of their models besides their jet are not affected by wind. I've flown mine in 15+ MPH winds with little trouble.

gtramontelli

So what quality of the aircraft makes it more or less affected by wind? Is it the size, shape, or weight? I was looking at getting a warbird or some other kind of "sportier" and more advanced plane such as the ultrafly pc-9, but I would like to select one that will not get blown around so much.

Gino

tomcatt51

Planes with higher wing loading or just more weight are less affected by wind. A friend of mine just maidened a GWS Corsair that (outrunner powered) is surprisingly unaffected by wind. It's 16 oz rtf. I'm building a GWS P51 I expect the same or better from. Tom

lseguy

High winged planes...Cubs, Cessna designs..are most affected by winds due to their large wing surface areas. Add to that the light weight of an electric Cub...and if you are running a lightweight cub...Lipo batts, lightweight brushless motor, light weight micro servos, micro receiver, etc...then you have a full recipe for an aircraft affected by wind.

A warbird type plane with the wing low on the fuse, perhaps a tad heavier with a powerful brushless motor, and a BIG heavier lipo (lots of MAH) will be much less susceptible to winds.

My first plane was/is the Shun da J3 cub..I have it brushless, 3 cell lipo...PLENTY of power. Took it out earlier in 12mph winds with 15mph gusts...and while the motor could handle the wind, it could not overcome the gusts grabbing hold of the main wing and tossing it around at high altitudes. Im sure a low wing plane would have more success.

gtramontelli

Ok, thanks for the tips. I think my next plane will be a 4-channel low-wing plane like the pc-9. I feel that I am ready to take that step...I find that I can fly the j-3 very well on calmer days, but I get very anxious when gusts start to take it away. Are there any other models that are easier to learn 4 channel on but also have good wind-resistance (10-15 mph)?

Time Pilot

I'm under the impression that a wing with little or no dihedral helps with wind handling. Wind will hit both sides of the wing at the same angle.