The place that I fly most of the time is just a big grassy open area at a local park. So far, I've been flying planes small enough that I can hand launch, but I am thinking that I may NEED to get a big cub to play with. Since I'm lazy, and like immediate gratification, I am really looking into the Great Planes Cub ARF. I'm guessing that I'm not going to be hand launching a plane with an 80" wingspan, so I thought I'd see if anyone has ever tried to fly one from grass. Is it possible, or am I going to need to look for a different flying site before I get one of those. If it matters, I'd probably pick up the recommended engine, which is a OS .70 Four Stroke.

Thanks for the info,

Pete

Onblur,

I fly at a grass field. I have a Saito 60 Twin in mine and it gets off the ground easily at 1/2 throttle. You shouldn't have any problems at all.

Enjoy!

My Cub is the plane I fly the most and I fly it off a grass runway with no problem. You just have to learn how to ground handle a Cub. Landings are a breeze, its the take offs that are a challenge. Once you get it to go straight down the runway, it's the first 25 feet or so after lift off that the real the fun begins. You can never be too sure how it's going to react. You have to be on your toes.
Have fun
Jeff

It will fly beautifully from a grass runway. You'll need to find a club field to fly the plane safely, however.

I agree, I wouldn't dare fly this plane in a "park", especially if there are people around. If for some unknown reason this plane gets interference and goes down, you don't want to take the chance of hitting someone, or something.

Anyway, to answer your question like the others already have, yes, the plane will perform wonderfully on a grass strip. I simply point mine in the direction I want to take off, gun it to full throttle, and the Saito .72 will have it airborne in about 10 feet. If I were to hold full up elevator on takeoff, it would probably get airborne under ten feet, probably more like 7 or 8 feet.

Thanks for the info, guys. Just out of curiosity, how short is the grass that you fly off of? Somewhere around normal yard height. or trimmed closer?

Yeah, I'd like to find a better place to fly. The field we use at the park is back in a fairly un-used section, so there aren't many people around. Actually, the only times I can remember anyone else being in the area is when they have come over to watch. The overall area is probably something like 200 yards by 300 yards I'd guess. For the stuff I've been flying so far it's more than enough space. The cub might be a little big for it, though. Does anyone know of a club/flying site directory online? Where I live (gatlinburg, tn), we are pretty limited on flying sites, due to all the hills and trees. If I could find a club within a reasonable distance, I'd be all about flying there.

Ours is normal Lawn length. We mow it once a WEEK.

http://www.modelaircraft.org/clubsearch.aspx - AMA club site locator

http://www.towerhobbies.com/rcwairclub.html - Towerhobbies web directory, clubs (SLOW! [:@] )

THat's sort of what I figured, but I wasn't sure if people were mowing it tighter or something. One more question (at least until I think of another one), is there a general rule for whether or not a plane will be able to operate from grass? Obviously landing gear would be a plus. I know the parkflier stuff I've been playing with does fine on concrete, but there is no way you can operate from grass in any normal capacity, due to the light weight, low power and small wheels. Is there a weight/wheel size/power or combination of the three that is the cut off point between being able to fly from grass or not? I'm sure a 1/3 scale cub should fly fine from grass, and I'm guessing something like an GP's Electricub won't. What about a .20 size or .40 size?

Most planes (.40 and up) fly just fine from grass, but the grass must be reasonably short. You may even get some .25 sized to do OK, but then again, the grass is a factor.

That helps alot. Thanks for the info.

General rule of thumb for grass fields is to use 3" wheels. If they are smaller than that the plane tends to try to push through the grass rather than ride over top of it. Also make sure that they are of the light weight type. 3 of these are lighter than 1 standard wheel.