What is this Plane?
 

Can anyone tell me what this is ?

Crankpin

RE: What is this Plane?
 

Tail & canopy look like an early Phoenix, but the wing TE appears to be square, not swept.

Dunno.

RE: What is this Plane?
 

The glass work looks pretty recent - especially since there appears to be some carbon fiber reinforcement aft of the TE. If it''s not a Phoenix variant then maybe an Intrepid.
How about some dimensions? Do you know who kitted it?

RE: What is this Plane?
 

That is a phoenix 5 from Wing Mfg. Saw one at Toledo, nice looking kit. They said they would have some other old pattern planes out shortly. They have a nice Sr. Falcon kit out also.

Bill

RE: What is this Plane?
 

I don't know but I would like to have one:D

RE: What is this Plane?
 

Yes, the Phoenix V. Contact: Early RC Models, 269-665-9630, Michigan. Made by Wing. Very nice fuselage, weighs only 13.5 oz., CF where needed. They brought 10 to Toledo, we took four, guess rest were sold.

Crankpin,

Hobe Sound, FL

RE: What is this Plane?
 

Looks very nice, but a delima comes to mind... (pulling a little off Topic I guess) If it is a Repro and has improvements such as the Carbon Fiber and comes in lighter than the original, Is it realy a classic design? Like a kit car; you can turn a Mustang into a Cobra, but it is still no Cobra. Can it be allowed in the Classic/Vintage patttern contests? It would be sad to see much in the way of improved Repro kits entering in the comps... This will make the vintage class more competitive and not so much of the simply fun event that it has been. Not to say it has not been competitive, but there is a rather level playing field with out these improved repro kits. Correct me if I am wrong, I am just getting into these old pattern ships.

RE: What is this Plane?
 

No pattern ships on their website. Just sport models.

http://www.earlyrcmodels.com/index.html

Tom

RE: What is this Plane?
 

Classic, SPA/BPA. Since RC started getting reliable in the mid 60''s, design''s from that era, up to early, mid 70''s, are what you said, classic. Nothing like this before or after, then started to make again.
Old Time, Antique?, Vintage, etc. Yes, can be used senior pattern, ballastic pattern, or anything else. These all started with the Taurus. I will include the Chinese World Models Jim Kirkland Intruder here. It has been on here a 1000 times.Classic? NOS as we say about old car parts, etc.
What do we call the new Mustang, and now the new Dodge Challenger, the new Camaro. Classic''s to us that drove them back in the
60''s. These Phoenix'', Eyeball''s, Intruder''s, SweeTater''s, etc., many of us flew them many years ago, and now it is great to fly them again with modern radio, etc. New Old Planes.

Crank

RE: What is this Plane?
 

Acs_guitars,

If you don''t like a repro/faithful rendition of a ''classic'' pattern plane that is the same shape and size as the original, (but lighter/stronger) then you will FREAK OUT when you start looking at what is alowed in the SPA. I''ve seen some so called Dirty Birdy''s (I''m sure there are others) that are pretty far off the mark. They allow 4 strokes, 10 percent (yeah right) variations to original. Let''s see I can increase whatever I feel I need to by 10%. That''s 10% on the tail length and/or 10% on the wing area and/or 10% on the nose length and/or 10% on the sweep...etc. It seems to me the model ceases to be a ''fill in the blank'' pretty quickly.

Any time you have a ''competition'' (even ''friendly'' competition) you are gonna have guys who think winning is the only thing that matters. And they''ll do anything, including getting the rules changed if possible, to gain an advantage. Then there''s the first rule of competition: If the rules don''t specifically state you can''t do something, that means you can.

Terry in LP

RE: What is this Plane?
 

I just called and spoke with Billy @ Wing Manufacturing (same phone number) and placed an order for a Phoenix 5 kit ($165 plus shipping). Other fiberglass and foam kits are to follow, such as the Beachcomber, Nutcracker, Daddy Rabbitt, etc.

I have yet to see a fiberglass and foam "kit" come out as light as a fully wood kit that has been built with contest grade balsa. So, if one wants to "cheat" in order to gain an advantage, all balsa might be the way to go, not fiberglass and foam. I''m satisfied with the performance of fiberglass and foam models, so I won''t complain if I have to fly against those super light weight all balsa models. ;)


Ed Cregger

RE: What is this Plane?
 

They are going to do the Nutcracker!! Kewl..I kinda liked that one after seeing it in some photos in a recent post...

I just have to learn to quit giggling at the name "Nutcracker"..Sounds like something I use to do off the high dive... :D

Chuck

RE: What is this Plane?
 

Around here (the small events I have been too) the guys in this class are not too competitive, in the bad sense. It is true that people push the limit, give an inch, they take a mile.... I am just not one of those guys and once I see this I will lose interest. If I want to truely compete I will buy a modern ship and compete, I fly for the enjoyment and thrill, not to prove myself. I guess I will have to stick to FunFly and IMAA events when I move to Jacksonville in the next year or 2 as it seems SPA/BPA are alot more of an event in the South than here in Northeast OK.[&:]

RE: What is this Plane?
 

-


Even doddering old fool ex-pattern pilots still are what they are - competitors!!!

The old Native American parable (sp?) about the wolf and the scorpion comes to mind. "Because that is what scorpions do...".

The true secret is for you to enjoy the hobby/sport in your way and to permit others to enjoy it in their way. That way, everyone is happy.



Ed Cregger

RE: What is this Plane?
 

Well said, Ed

RE: What is this Plane?
 

I agree............ keep it simple. Charge batteries the night before. Get up in morning, drink coffee, take some with you, take planes off charge, load truck, get in, start, put in gear, head to flying field.

Get stuff out of truck, get chair out, shoot the bull with the boys, swap stories, tell some lies, fuel up when you can, start engine, taxi out, fly around a while, land, taxi in, shut down, clean plane, go back to chair, shoot the bull some more, tell some more story''s, fly a few more times, then go home. Clean everything up, take wife out, let her tell you how great a flyer you are.

Crankpin