brett65

My Feedback: (18)

Since I graduated with my Bachelors last week, I got some money burning a hole in my pocket. I think I may get my first electric plane, and I think I want a parkflyer. I am looking real hard at the parkzone Corsair. I like the trojan as well, but the corsair is definitely better looking. I love me some warbirds, and I think it would look good in the air. I am also looking at an edf jet too though. Anyway, thought I would share that with you.

Jetdesign

My Feedback: (8)

CONGRATULATONS!!! Feels good, huh?
Keep us posted. I've been thinking about a foamy for my first electric.

brett65

My Feedback: (18)

Definitely, now I just need a new job. This one is nice, but I got my second child coming in 3 months so I need some more income.

CGRetired

My Feedback: (1)

Well, if you have a second child coming in a few months, you had better spend that loose change quickly cuz you won't have it much longer after it is born!!

goirish

congrats on your degree.. That will help you get that other job you said you needed.

Jetdesign

My Feedback: (8)

Hence the electric Get the batteries now, no fuel to buy later!

CGRetired

My Feedback: (1)

You can buy an awful lot of fuel for the cost of LiPo batteries.

ChuckW

First off, congratulations on the degree.

On your airplane question.... go for the Corsair!

I thought the T-28 was a blast, then I bought the Cosair.

I absolutely love the airplane. I am by no means an electric enthusiast either. The point of buying the two little foamies was for me to do some school yard or park flying without driving to the field. Turns out one of them goes to the field with me every trip.

The Corsair flys just like a small, glow powered sport plane. It looks like a warbird but without all of the bad warbird habits. It is an absolute blast to just pop in a battery and bore some holes in the sky.

If you buy the RTF, it comes with one Parkzone battery. These batteries work great but are a little on the pricey side if you want to get more. You can find plenty of 3-cell, 1800-2200mAh lipos from places like Hobby City for half the cost and they work great. I'd also spring for another charger/balancer if you don't have one already. The charger included with the RTF works but takes forever to balance sometimes. My Accucycle Elite seems to do a much better, faster job. Of course, if you get the PnP version, you'll have to buy batteries and stuff anyway.

Some other things to look out for on the Corsair...
[ul][*] The two blade prop seems (to me anyhow) to provide slightly better performance but the 3-blade prop looks really cool. If you use the 3-blade, CHECK the BALANCE. Almost everyone I know with one of these has had their 3-blade prop shake the plane pretty bad until they balanced it.[*] If you fly off pavement and use the landing gear, try to keep a little throttle on when landing. What I do is set up my approach, cut the throttle then add just a few clicks. It seems to land smoother with just a small amount of speed.[*] Be ready with a little right rudder on take off. Once you get a feel for it you can do nice straight, long, scale-like take offs. You can also cram the throttle, yank the elevator back and be airborne in 15 feet if you want.[*] The Corsair seems to maneuver a little more crisply than the T-28 but the Trojan actually knife-edges better in my experience. Otherwise the Corsair seems to be the better flyer of the two. Well, I should probably re-phrase that. Both are GREAT flyers. The T-28 is probably a little more forgiving and would make a better second plane while the corsair seems to be a little "perkier".
[/ul]

ChuckW

Well... not exactly.

Use a charger plugged into the wall outlet at home and you're paying the power company for your fuel. Use your car battery then your paying for the gasoline used to drive the alternator that puts that energy back.

No free lunch unfortunately although it is definitely less expensive than glow fuel.

On large airplanes that run high end, 10 cell set ups and stuff the battery cost is still so high that glow fuel and gasoline are still pretty attractive.

brett65

My Feedback: (18)

Can it be landed without the gear on grass, or is the way it is designed not good for it?

ChuckW

It comes with some plastic skids specifically for belly landing on grass. I'd use the two blade prop for that though because it is a lot more flexible if it ever impacts the ground. The three blade breaks pretty easy.

hogflyer

Brett,

Congratulation on the graduation. [sm=thumbup.gif][sm=thumbup.gif]

Exactly what are you after with an electric? Something fast? Something agile and aerobatic? Something scale? They are so varied it would be helpful to know more specifically what direction you're headed. Fancy Foam (located in Arkansas City, KS) makes some of the best flat foamie 3D planes out there if want some thing to challenge you and grow with in the aerobatics category. I like to fly mine in a local school yard (I have flown it in the space about the size of a baseball infield), and it'll safely fly in winds up to 12 mph which is not bad for a 15 ounce plane. I've seen some of the best pilots fly them indoors (Andrew Jesky, Jason Noll, Brian and Brandon Chitty, etc) and Fancy Foam sponsors many of them.

Hogflyer

Jetdesign

My Feedback: (8)

Can you post a link? Darn virus has infiltrated my computer and I can no longer do effective web searches[:@] ISO a sweet foamy though!

hogflyer

[link=http://stores.homestead.com/fancyfoam/StoreFront.bok] Click here for Fancy Foam models.[/link]

This was posted in the electric pattern section of the other forum: [link=http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=896266]F3P contest - December 12-14, 2008 - Wichita, KS [/link]. The video's start on page 11. All I can say is these guys are very impressive. And you have to see Mark Leesburg's VPP hovering video - truly amazing!

Hogflyer

brett65

My Feedback: (18)

I'm definitely getting the Corsair, it looks like too much fun.

ChuckW

You won't regret it.

My corsair just got a whole lot more fun. I had bought a motor and speed controller for another airplane. When that other plane arrived I realized that the price really was too good to be true and I'd been sent a piece of junk which I promptly sent back.

Now what to do with the motor? I figured why not try to put it on my Corsair? It bolted on with very little modification other than drilling a couple offset holes in the stock mount and adding a few flat washers. The CG was not affected.

I flew it this morning, still using the stock 3-blade prop, and could not believe the performance. It was much faster and it went vertical like a rocket.

The Corsair is a blast in its stock form so the motor swap definitely isn't necessary. If you ever get the inclination though, it is a blast.

Here's a link to the motor: http://www.hobbycity.com/hobbycity/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=3886&Product_Name=TR_35-36C_1100kv_Brushless_Outrunner_(Eq:_AXi_2814

I used the Turnigy 40A ESC just to be on the safe side.