SquirlNutZipper

My Feedback: (9)

Got a bit bored last night and had a go at some building without any plans. Here's the bird so far. The wings are copies of my Stevens Aeromodels Stick.

scudrunner77

Is the Aeromodels Stick basically a built up balsa Slow Stick? As much fun as I had with my Slow Sticks I would not mind getting my hands on one of those kits.

So what are you going to power your free hand plane with?

SquirlNutZipper

My Feedback: (9)

Yep the Stevens Stick is a wooden wing version of the GWS Stick. The Slow Stick has a longer chord than the standard Stick. I came up with the idea for the body after flying with my son last week and having the Slow Stick come down hard getting dirt and dew and such in the gear box, motor and electronics, not to mention puncturing a new Li-Po as it too was exposed.

The Stevens wing kit is a great design and easy to build, well worth the money.

scudrunner77

Oh, man.. dirt in the gears [:'(]

I've gone through 2 slow sticks and each one of those went through a couple gear boxes. The hobby shop there in Auburn used to carry the replacement shaft with driven gear for the Slow-V gearbox. It was a perfect fit for the GWS gearbox. Not sure if they still stock it or not. With the cheap brushless motors and controllers out there it's not too much more to go that route either.

SquirlNutZipper

My Feedback: (9)

I've found that Li-Po's make the most immediate gain in electric flight performance. A fraction of the weight and twice the available energy you can haul in the air.

I would start with a couple Li-Po's and charger. After that when more hobby funds are available go for the brushless setup. You'll gain even more power and effeciency.

I'm using a park 400 4200kv brushless inrunner motor. I picked up a replacement e-flite 6.6:1 gearbox with bearings for $10 at Ultimate Hobbies. That setup with a 12 inch prop will do it's best to rip a plane right out of your hands. I'm going to try it in my Omei 2000 this spring with a large folder.

If you're interested the Stryker-C it's for sale at Ultimate for $150. I only had a handful of flights in her when the E-Flite speed controler smoked. Great plane! Very fast and lands slow enough but just not my thing anymore. I would drop the price even more if you or someone you know well enough is interested.

Though I still like aerobatics I find I'm more into the relaxed old timers and warmliner type birds anymore. Lets see, will the battery last longer than my wet, frozen fingers...? searching for a HET Goodie/Storch to kick back with at the moment.