bdavison

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Im going to fly it at 7pm tonight. Our local weekly electric indoor fly-in, is every tuesday (or wed. depending on the high schools basketball events).

Ill probably post the results later tonight around 10pm or so.

I cant wait. Im addicted to foamies. Everytime a new one shows up in the hobby shop, Im standing there with my checkbook in hand.
Im just waiting for Tony Stillman to start giving me preferred customer discounts hint hint Tony....LOL Just kiddin. Honestly, I visit him at least once a day literally. His shop is right next door to my workplace. On my lunch hour I can check out what the UPS man brought him. I usually get first dibs on whatever shows up, since I get there right after the UPS man. I think I spend a third of my pay in there every two weeks.

I got payed last wed, and already Ive bought a new helicopter, a new plane, Lipo's, Props, stickers, a heat sink, and a bag of deans connectors.

I need to go to airplaner's anonymous.. I have a problem.
Some people dream about Las Vegas, or the local pub...I dream about RC hobbyshops the size of wal-mart.

There are three hobby shops here, and I know all the owners by name.

Oh well, I figure as long as the bills get payed and theirs food in the fridge, Im good to go.

rmh

Don't let Stillman fly it -----

bdavison

My Feedback: (1)

LOL....why not?
I let him fly it though. He had it hovering, looping, and rolling in the gym. I think he likes it.

Well here's my opinion.

I was running a 8.6 prop on the plane and it seemed a little too punchy for my tastes. Stuck a 8.4 on it and it was perfect.

The plane flys very smoothly, and tracks like its on rails. Rudder has small coupling with aileron, so in a tight rudder turn, it will tend to dip a wing. A little opposing aileron, will correct it, and it will make very sharp rudder turns flat as a piece of paper. You can do flat turn circles in about 5ft. The rudder is GREAT!!! I started with a little expo in the rudder, and by the end of the night I had taken it all out.

I absolutly love the plane. It flys perfect. Does knife-edge real nice, mainly due to the wide vertical fuselage, and huge rudder. Although the elevator is small, its capable. I actually recommend about 40% expo on it. With no expo, its actually a little jumpy.

Ailerons are fast, and perfectly capable of high or slow roll rates. Stall turns are a breeze.

During high G maneuvers, there is no noticable tail twist like the original shockies. The new boxed in frame works wonders. Loops are round, like they should be, and it doesnt tend to flop over in the top.

All in all, I like it alot. Its flawless. I expect to see Tony with a new yak soon. His poor shocky edge has taken quite a beating lately. Mid-air in Memphis, and hes been dragging tips on the ground in knife-edge, so the wings have vertical tips now. It still flys great though. Maybe one day, Ill be able to fly some of the stuff he does. Hes getting pretty good at rolling circles in a basketball court. Gives me the heeby-jeebies just thinking about it. Id smack it in for sure.

So basically, if your in the market for a new shockflyer, the F3A is tops. It easily outperforms my old extra shocky. Looks great, and flys great to match. I dont know if Im just getting better, or what, but Id sware that landing gear is a HUNDRED times better. It seems to take unkind landings much better than the old landing gear. I havent smacked it in or anything, but I know that one of my landings would have busted the old shockies landing gear.

Id highly recommend it to anyone. Its a nice plane. Looks great, and flys good too. Its definatly a pattern plane, flys smooth as glass. Its a keeper for sure. I think its one of the most beautiful foamies out there. Just looks gorgeous.

I still havent weighed mine, but Im guessing its right at about 6-7oz, maybe less. This may seem like alot for some of the guys flying 4oz older shockies, but bear in mind that the F3A is considerably larger.

There was a guy there last night with a Tiberon...HOLY COW that thing is heavy. I cant believe it would actually fly. That thing must have weighed 17oz or so. It flew good though.

Im waiting to see some of the new Great Planes foamies. Ive heard they are fantastic.

Shortman

My Feedback: (21)

bdavidson, I'll add some pictures to go along with your nice build thread, my F3A came in tonight and Im so excited! THEY MADE THE WHEEL PANTS RIGHT . Both my Yaks they made 2 left wheel pants, so I now have 4 spare sets of left wheel pants[:@]Back to building..

flyboy91

My Feedback: (1)

I have been flying the F3A for a while and my fly this plane in the etoc. What we have been doing lately is making servo extenders for the servo arms to get a little more throw. I think the elevator authority of this is comparable to the old shockys. I flys super smooth like you guys said. I am glad someone wants to fly smooth with foamys. I have been putting mine together with Hitec 50's and a hacker a 20 34s and it ends up weighing about 6.0 oz with a apogee 350 2 cell.

Andrew Jesky

rmh

So Stillman flew it - now you went and ruined him for outdoor pattern.
Rojecki lives pretty close by - It already ruined him --
I have a roomful of these things now -
Signed
Also Ruined-----
PS I have a nice 33% Cap for sale ---

bdavison

My Feedback: (1)

ROFLMAO....

Actually Tony got me started in foamy's. He just had to show me what a shockflyer was....and so it began.

Now Tony, Steve and I fly foamies just about every week. Tony still flies glow pattern though. He was out flying last week I think, because my dad saw him out there. Its a wonder he gets to fly at all with the AMA thing. He's always busy. He's got a pile of foamies hes building, and cant get the time to finish them.

Steve is definatly ruined....LOL Hes got more foamies than anyone I know. Hes got shockflyers, a slick, tensor4D, that biplane thingy (cant remember the name), micro helicopters, and a real nice looking Jumping Jack. Who knows what else. I think he even has sponsors now, Hacker and JR. He comes to the electric meets with ammo cans full of lipos. Im like man....I have got to go back to work for Delta

rightflyer

Andrew
Any tips on making the servo arm extensions?

Pathogens

My Feedback: (1)

I would not take bdavison's advice. He has been known to be wrong in the past...

bdavison

My Feedback: (1)

Pathogens, Ive tried to be nice, but now you've just asked for it. Ive repeatedly asked you to stop harassing me, even reported you for your senseless tirades. Apparently the folks at RCuniverse dont mind your trash as somehow they keep allowing you to post here.

You are a festering sore on this board. Your name certainly fits your attitude. Pathogens = An agent that causes disease, especially a living microorganism such as a bacterium or fungus. I was flying airplanes while you were still in diapers. Instead of harassing me, why dont you put your keyboard down and show a little respect.

I didnt make this thread because I am a wannabe teenager that hopes to one day fly this airplane. Ive built this plane, Ive flown this plane, and I know it works. So do the other flyers that own one and have flown one. If you doubt anything on this thread, then by all means, go verify it with the other flyers that own and have flown these types of aircraft.

Here Ill give you a little help.

Tony Stillman
AMA Vice President District 5
Ownes and operates Radio South a premier hobby shop and RC electronics repair shop in NW Florida.
He's a pattern flyer that has tons of experience, and has won so many RC competitions that he's running out of space to put the trophies. He was a judge at the Memphis electric event this past week. He has also flown the F3A in this thread....my F3A. I bought the plane and all the equipment used to fly it from him.

Steve Rojecki
TOC winner, and also probably has enough trophies to fill a house.
He wasnt there last weekend, and hasnt seen my F3A yet. But hes flown enough foamies to be an EXPERT at it. He regularly flys with us. He also would be a good choice for info if you want to "see the light" so to speak.

Feel free not to post on my thread, until you get your stuff straight. Then perhaps you can come back and have an intelligent conversation without a one line bogus attack.
__________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ ______

Dick,

As far as your 33% Cap....you should send it to Tony to sell it for you. He had a used 33% extra in his shop a few weeks ago, and it was only there for about two days. Dont know who bought it, but it was nice. If I'd had the money, I would have bought it. I just cant afford a 33% plane right now. Like I said, I need to go back to work for Delta....

I also found a nifty new trick I got from Tony. Instead of using those lousy rubberbands to hold the prop onto a propsaver, use a O-ring. It wont pop, and is LOTS easier to fit. Works great.

Ive got to get one of those new Great Planes biplanes. Tony said it will do kiki rolling circles, with NO rudder input. Just point the nose, hit the ailerons, and bump the elevator to keep it turning. I got to see this to believe it. He seemed really excited about it. I think that Memphis event really sparked him up. Lately he's been bright-eyed, almost like he's got the "bug" again. I wonder what he's thinking about. I'm betting he's thinking of the ETOC, but he hasnt mentioned it yet. I think he and Steve should go, and see what happens.

Shortman

My Feedback: (21)

Okay bdavidson, just like I promised, I got a few pictures, most of the time I wasted staring at the plane then built and didn't take step by step pictures. But I'll make up for it by inflight pictures.

Before you ask why my table is dirty, or why I can build a foamie with my eyes closed, I took a picture of how many foamies I've had just since the 2nd week in January, sacrifice you make to be good lol, or so I tell myself. Out of the picture are the other two shockflyer boxes.

bdavison

My Feedback: (1)

Nice work.
Yeah I have a couple of empty Tensor4D boxes myself. Your right about that. Its a price you have to pay sometimes. Your table's not dirty...thats what its supposed to look like. The table in my pics is actually a hollow core door layed across my living room bookshelf. There is a workbench in the shop, but it has a "in-progress" mini Kwik-Fly on it, so I had to rig something up for the electric stuff.

So have you flown it yet?

rmh

I hope no one has as many foamies as we have here -they hang fom the walls -are tucked behind the couch-piled in the rec room etc..
My son builds at least two a week- really
Fortunately-he sells a lot of em .
A classic case of finding the exact part of the modelling spectrum which rings his bells
He called from Poky Idaho where he is doing a 4 night stand playing for a rodeo crowd
It is windy there so he is bouncing his models around the hotel room--
The upside is --I get to fly the latest designs from Czech Republic - Germany -etc., as he downloads and buils anything that looks good .
The bipe by pissant's (sp)
brother is really a great flyer
The CAP will be leaving the house shortly - no room for it anymore ------------

-

bdavison

My Feedback: (1)

Yup Dick,

I dont know what makes foamies so addictive. They literally are addictive. Once you build and fly one, you cant help but build another one. And the suppliers are more than happy to keep you entertained by coming out with a new "better" one every week.

I guess its the ease of building, and the ability to fly whenever you want that makes them so addictive.

Enjoy

Shortman

My Feedback: (21)

Haven't flown it yet, waiting for my laser cut mount for the Littlescreamer, should be here today and if so, I'll get it done. I'm in no hurry though as tommorow I leave for Mammoth Mountain for a nice vacation. Yeah, after building about 4 planes in the past 3 weeks it gets easy [8D]. I wonder how many boxes I would have if I saved up for the whole year, guess I'll find out.

Mike Bogh

My Feedback: (14)

Take any old credid card or debit card..or gift card...cut them up, they work perfect.

rmh

One more great use for a credit card :
the battery is mounted in a slot under the wing --tough to slide in on Velcro
BUT!
Take a credit card - place the battery on it and slide battery AND card into place - pull out the credit card .
Perfect positioning and held fast .
To remove - again use the credit card and angle one edge between the Velcro pieces -wiggle thru to release Velcro --slide the battery out .
I am going to send this in to Martha Stewart.

bdavison

My Feedback: (1)

Thats a good tip. I broke the foam on a shockflyer trying to get that darn battery out. Gonna have to try that.

Mike Bogh

My Feedback: (14)

Now Dick, just so's you know, I've been reading you for years...and the hot tip I finally get to use from you uses a credit card...
Who'd a thunk it?
[sm=idea.gif]

Shortman

My Feedback: (21)

I always used a spare slow fly GWS prop to get the battery off

bdavison

My Feedback: (1)

LOL, yeah who'd a thought that a credit card could be useful for something other than buying planes.

flyboy91

My Feedback: (1)

Rightflyer,

Sorry for taking so long to get back with you I have been working all day and then came home and started working on my new Pattern plane from chip. What I used that seemed to work the best is evergreen plastic. It is made for trains. You will find it in your local hobby shop. I think I went with .030 or somewhere around there. I am running dymond 4.4g servos and they do not work very well when the atv is over 80% so I usually end up making them around 1 1/4 inch from center of servo screw to center of pivit point and about 3/8 of a inch wide. This gives you tons of throw with minimal atv travel. I know it is not suggested to do this but it seems to work the best for me. If you have any more questions please feel free to ask.

Andrew

Pathogens

My Feedback: (1)

You are 6 years older than me man...right...


Just tyring to save someones life possibly, because 3/4 of what you speak you are wrong. and it could result in someone getting hurt.

bdavison

My Feedback: (1)

__________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ _________

Guys, Ive been flying the F3A alot lately, and it just keeps getting better and better. Ive been flying out in my front yard, and in the backyard. Its great in small spaces. The thing is just so smooth. Even when your doing fast maneuvers, or wild stuff, it flys so straight it makes it really quick but smooth. Its definatly a pattern ship. I was doing top hats, and reverse cuban 8's in my backyard, its just awesome.

The F3A is capable of the 3D stuff, but it flys pattern type maneuvers so well.

Mike Bogh

My Feedback: (14)

Pathogen, why don't you go crawl under a rock where you belong, your petty harrassment is not only against the rules, it annoys the shyt out of me.
There is nothing whatsoever that you contribute that has any merit, as your pathetic posts indicate.