Hot Rod Todd

My Feedback: (1)

Finally had some nice weather and was able to get my Ki-61 into the air. It's a sureflite all foam kit, 56"wingspan. I mounted an OS46FX on it with Hitec radio gear. Used silkspan and water based sanding sealer to cover, followed by testors paint and water based polyurethane. I modeled the plane after the popular "Blue 23" flown by Major Kobayashi late in the war. Total weight came in at about 5.1 lbs. This is my second year flying, and I had never performed my own initial flight. I was determined to do it myself this time. As I spooled up the power, the tail came up quick. Not much roll out needed to get into the air. It took some down elevator to trim the plane out. It flys fast and smooth. Handles a lot like my 60 size Extra. In high rates it rolls fast. High rate elevator is a bit much, and it will snap out if full stick is used. I enlarged the rudder, and it has plenty of authority. The plane spins like a top. Stall speed didn't seem to be too bad, so I brought it in for the first landing. I think I could have used a bit more speed though, since on low rate I had full up elevator and the plane was still dropping. I put it in a bit harder than I would have liked, but it landed fine. Later flights did show that a bit more speed helps. This plane is so much fun to fly, I could see myself bringing it out every day I fly. I wanted a model of this plane, and since I couldn't find any wood kits, so I tried the foam. I have to say I'm happy with the results.

F-100_driver

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Todd,
the Tony looks good, you did a nice job on it. I had an old Royal Jr. kit of the same plane and it too flew great. I have been looking for something like this, but wasn't aware that Sureflite had one out. I'll have to view the Sureflite website.
Hope ya have many good flights.

mugenkidd

My Feedback: (94)

Way to go Todd, the plane looks super. I think its great that you test flew it yourself. Confidence is about 80% of R/C flying, keep up the good work, and may you always have soft landings.

Michael

chrisn

My Feedback: (4)

Todd,
Very nicely done!!!!!!
I am building my right now, it is the old Royal jr. kit. I will probably use the same paint scheme, major Kobayashi. Did you place a retractable gear in your?

Hot Rod Todd

My Feedback: (1)

No, I wanted to keep it light and simple. Also better for landing on the grass field. It's still plenty fast though.