WRXlovr

tha other one is gettin kindof long so i made another so have at it!

Jim Flannigan

I want one!
I have some 4mm coroplast at work that will be coming home with me tomorrow!

James Goss

Will your Pizza Box hold a knife-edge? My Postage Stamp, which is basically the same as the pizza box planes, will hold a knife-edge by installing large wing tips on it. Looks neat in the air while holding a knife-edge. I have experimented with several sizes, but the five-inch seem to be the best. They are five inches wide and run the length of the wing and are equally spaced with 2 ½ inches above and below the wing. Of course they alter the balance point a little and you can forget about flat spins, the big tips prevents that maneuver. The tips are installed with two-inch long 10 – 32 nylon screws and flat washers. You don’t have to screw them in, they just plug in and out for a quick change at the field, and this method works great. Just something a little different and a change of pace.

Dave McDonald

My Feedback: (19)

James,
Glad to hear that those tip plates are working out well! I finally got some coroplast from Harbor, so now I can try them too.

WRXlovr

is it just me or am i the only one having trouble finding coroplast?
i found it but it took awile

kamlooper

My Feedback: (1)

Coroplast is everywhere. Try signshops, tire stores, fast food places......they all use the stuff to advertise sales/specials. Most of us never pay much attention to it so we overlook all the places you can find it. For the wood, try a furniture manufacture, from their scrap bins I got more than enough to build a fleet of PBF's. Hardwood in 1/2"x3/4" and pine in similar sizes.

L8R

James Goss

These little flat planes are finally beginning to catch on in my area and I am building them as fast as I can. It took a while for the other members to see just how well built these planes really are and all the stunts they will do. I am building and giving them to club members free of charge to get things going. I want to see the sky covered with flat planes. Once everyone sees how easy they are to fly and build, their numbers will increase exponentially through the world or at least here in Alabama.

RC_Junky

My Feedback: (1)

James,

Read your post this morning, added the wing tips in about 15 min, went out, flew it and was very happy with the performance. It really will knife edge now and all of the out of control spin tendencies are gone. Thanks for the idea. I too would like to see the skies full of these flat planes, can't wait for others in my area to get them flying so that we can try combat.

universalrc

My Feedback: (-1)

Well I broke down and built one. Now I'm hooked forever!! I have never had a 3D plane so easy to stunt. My club should have 3-6 more flying by the weekend after they saw me bounce the rudder a few times and take off from a picnic table. Ya just gotta love this plane...


Bruce

www.universalrc.com

JohnVH

My Feedback: (38)

What would the optimum size be for one to 3d with a .28, say have great hovering and pull out.

Thanks

Flipper

My Feedback: (3)

I finished mine yesterday and put landing gear like James and some tips and used a 40LA. Can't wait to try it this week. I found a great place to buy coroplast on the net with free shipping after they cut the 4'x8' sheets down. The largest UPS will take is 36"x48" so you can get it cut and pay no shipping on orders 25.00 and over. Lots of colors and under 10.00 a sheet. www.harborsales.com
Jeff

Foamguy

Hi Guys ! All is well here, but having modem problems, hard to connect often. Hehe, we had an interclub picnic last weekend out here in Oregon and.... a kid showed up... with a PBF ! A kid I'd never met before.... cool

Also, found my original PBF which was lost in the swamp for 6 weeks. Engine still runs well, which pleased me.

Foamguy

universalrc

My Feedback: (-1)

Well there will be a bunch here in Ohio very soon. I plan to show the 35 and 40% boys how to hover for pennies. Has anyone tried a 36" square with an FX46 or bigger? Does the board have enough stiffness to hold shape?

Bruce

www.universalrc.com

RSands

Any tips on what to expect when it gets thrown in the air this weekend? I'm use to flying a plane with an aft CG, but this sure looks like a new ball game to me! Full power? Straight & level, 45° climb or straight up? Can you keep it flying at 3/4 throttle, or am I going to have to quickly figure out the trim, get the nose up, throttle back and keep it flying slowly and on the prop?

TIA
Rick

universalrc

My Feedback: (-1)

Well, others here have had a lot more flying on one but my call is you will be amazed how easy it flys. I launch mine on 2 stakes shoved in the ground at a 45 about a foot and 1/2 apart. At about 1/3 throttle it starts sliding up off the stakes and continues up at a slow 45. At full throttle it will shoot up like a rocket. 1/2 throttle will fly it straight like a regular plane. Inverted is a breeze. You can not explain it till you fly it but do not be afraid of it at all. It is gentle with the nose up. I'll post Pics tomorrow of a launch.

Bruce

James Goss

Hello JohnVH,

I have had a hot magnum .28 on a 16-inch square postage stamp (same as pizza box) and it had plenty of power for vertical. It will fly a 24-inch square plane but it would not have great vertical and tumbling power. The 16-inch plane was a hand full to fly. I would recommend sticking with the 24-inch design, it can’t be beat. James Goss

James Goss

Hello RSands,

Bruce is right; these planes are not hard to fly at all. Just start off with a low control setting and do a normal take off as you would with any plane. As soon as you get in the air and have a little altitude, reduce the throttle and slow her way down. It is much more stable at slow speeds, and even better with its nose up attitude. One real difference is the way you manage the throttle. You will find that you need to stay on top of the throttle especially when flying at a slow walking pace and a nose high attitude while doing a turnaround. When you turn a sharp turn give it more power, don’t wait until it starts to lose altitude. This is when I have the most fun, flying slow and doing slow speed aerobatics and then a vertical landing with it setting down ever so soft on the main gear.

RSands

Thanks for the tips & assurance guys. Come on Friday!

Jim Flannigan

Anyone try a vertical gear set up like the diagram below? A vertical landing would be cool.

Unstable

I launch mine like this with a .25 OS

throttle to full

hold at a slight nose up attitude (about 5 deg)

give it a gentle push until it leaves the hand.

I let it drop about halfway to the ground to let it pick up a tad bit of speed then i pull back into the nose high attitude

I do this with my left hand so my right is on the stick for the initial few seconds of flight. as one thing I found with the PBF is it seems to be trimmed a little bit diffrent every flight (due to warping and such)

also I find its a good idea to tune the engine while pointing it straight up... as it will lean out in the nose high attitude if you dont(had a few deadsticks due to too lean from that)

James Goss

Apilot

I have used gear like you are describing and it will work it you keep the weight low. I first used short 3/32 music wire with long 5/16 wood dowel extensions. This worked ok but the dowels finally failed when I set it down a little too hard, but it does work.

Flipper

My Feedback: (3)

Wow, I got to try my PB tonight and had the field to myself, to bad because I felt dumb laughing by myself. This thing was a riot, I was able to do a vertical landing from about 75' up and touch down on the tail first. This was a first for me. I set it up with a main gear and a caster type tail wheel and it taxied and took off like a regular airplane. I didn't make my control surfaces as large as some of the other guys and I set the ailerons and elevators at 50% exp. and it flew easy as heck. It reminds me of my Top Cap the way it wants to go into a hover and stick. I have a 40LA on it with an 11x3 prop. On the fifth flight it was about 100' feet up in a hover and the engine got hot and quit, talk about a lawn dart, that sucker turned end for end and went straight for the ground. I just let it pick up speed and pulled it up at the last second and it slid in for a great landing, what a waste, nobody got to see the save! hehehe If you don't have one you better build it cause they are a hoot! Jeff

Flipper

My Feedback: (3)

Here is another view.

WRXlovr

where can i find some vids of these things?

Jim Flannigan

http://mypage.yhti.net/~dmcdnld/pizzabox.htm

Try here for the plans and video.