I am looking for an ARF capable of operating off of a fairly rough dirt field. I have flown trainers, Big Stik 60, Four Star 60, and an RV-4. All the tail draggers were flown from an asphalt runway. I am thinking that the tail draggers are not well suited to a rough dirt field and would be better off with a trycycle gear. Any ideas? Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks

I fly tail draggers off rough dirt runways all the time. You just need to becareful about holding a little elevator to keep the prop out of the dirt. I do not taxi a plane on the rough stuff but I do take off and land on it. I have had the nose wheel bend and then the prop hits so it is not just a tail dragger that will dig holes.

Dru.

Do you all think a Modeltech Magic Extra would be suitable for a rough, dirt field?

It should take off quick and have a slow landing speed so it should be a good choice.


Dru.

Actually, a tail dragger configuration is recomended over a tricycle one for models operating from "rough" fields. This is primarily because the steerable landing gear in the nose must be longer to reach the ground in order to keep the appropriate cleareance so your prop does not think its a plow.

Because the nosegear strut is longer, the servo which turns it has more to turn. The screw holding the arm that the control cable is attached to is more likely to slip (I've had a lota of trouble w/ this) since the force acting on it is stronger (the bumps and holes the plane taxis over).

<u>However,</u> if you think tricycle gear would really help your flying, GO FOR IT. Get a sturdy nose gear (like Fult's dual-strut ) install it properly, place the nosegear servo close to it, check the CG as you don't want it too nose heavy and go bore some holes in the sky. Recomendations are just that. Recomendations.

Mark in Missouri

Thanks for your interest and advice one and all

I have a Magic and fly if off all kinds of fields.... have fun [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]