Looking for an RC Skydiver
10-01-2002, 03:23 AM
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Looking for an RC Skydiver
Ia m looking for a link to a company that sells finished RC skydivers. I just want to put my radio in and set it up and go fly.
any help would be appreciated.
any help would be appreciated.
10-01-2002, 03:41 PM
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Looking for an RC Skydiver
goto www.rcflyers.fsnet.co.uk
then the links page, and down there theres a section for RC skydivers and stuff
then the links page, and down there theres a section for RC skydivers and stuff
11-05-2002, 02:49 PM
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rc skydivers
I manufacture rc skydivers that are ready to drop the radio in and go fly. contact me at 606-679-3792 or Email me at rcskydiverdude@somer-net .com
Our diver dude, with parachute weighs 2 lbs. and has a ram air parafoil 22"x49'. The little dude himself is 15" tall. any 40 size trainer with a good powerful 40 will haul him to an altitudenous position for barrels of fun.
C.R. Fowler
Our diver dude, with parachute weighs 2 lbs. and has a ram air parafoil 22"x49'. The little dude himself is 15" tall. any 40 size trainer with a good powerful 40 will haul him to an altitudenous position for barrels of fun.
C.R. Fowler
11-07-2002, 03:07 PM
#4
New "dude"
C.R.
You guys have made some design changes since I bought my jumper 2 years ago! Looks lilke you a new head (no more wooden apple!). What about chute improvements?
You guys have made some design changes since I bought my jumper 2 years ago! Looks lilke you a new head (no more wooden apple!). What about chute improvements?
11-15-2002, 12:55 AM
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Hi Contempo.
We have changed our diver, but it is mostly cosmetic. It still works basically the same. The parachute is the same , depending on when you bought yours, because we made larger stabilizer flaps at one time. I had a jumper with a large straw hat and he wanted to oscilate. The other fellows weren't having that problem. I enlarged the flaps and the problem went away, so we started putting them on all the chutes.
It's nice to talk to you, have a good weekend.
C.R. Fowler
We have changed our diver, but it is mostly cosmetic. It still works basically the same. The parachute is the same , depending on when you bought yours, because we made larger stabilizer flaps at one time. I had a jumper with a large straw hat and he wanted to oscilate. The other fellows weren't having that problem. I enlarged the flaps and the problem went away, so we started putting them on all the chutes.
It's nice to talk to you, have a good weekend.
C.R. Fowler
11-15-2002, 04:24 PM
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I think I found what I am looking for
There is a startup company owned by a fella down in North Carolina called Solomon RC. He makes a great looking jumper that is made out of a composite material that is VERY tough.
I have a prototype that the chute did not open because I forgot to pull the safety pin before loading him into my plane.
The drop was from around 600 feet.
Result:
Broken leg, dislocated shoulder. The radio and servos were intact and safe! I was shocked that this little guy survived that kind of fall. Now the best part...
A pin and medium CA and that leg will not break in the same place again, ever!
I am very happy with the design, and the jumper will cost somewhere between $200-300.00 depending on what you get!! That makes it just about the lowest cost jumper available short of the little jumper from Hobby Lobby.
I believe his web site is going up some time in the next week or two, www.solomonrc.com
He's a great guy and went WAAAAYYY out of his way to help, but then it seems that most of the people in RC Skydiving are that way too.
Jim!
I have a prototype that the chute did not open because I forgot to pull the safety pin before loading him into my plane.
The drop was from around 600 feet.
Result:
Broken leg, dislocated shoulder. The radio and servos were intact and safe! I was shocked that this little guy survived that kind of fall. Now the best part...
A pin and medium CA and that leg will not break in the same place again, ever!
I am very happy with the design, and the jumper will cost somewhere between $200-300.00 depending on what you get!! That makes it just about the lowest cost jumper available short of the little jumper from Hobby Lobby.
I believe his web site is going up some time in the next week or two, www.solomonrc.com
He's a great guy and went WAAAAYYY out of his way to help, but then it seems that most of the people in RC Skydiving are that way too.
Jim!
11-16-2002, 05:50 AM
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Looking for an RC Skydiver
Hi Bob.
I havn't learned to put pictures here yet, but if you will go to my web site there are several pictures.
rcskydiveusa.bizhosting.com
I hope this will help. If you need more I can email you some pictures, I know how to do that.
see you later,
C.R.
I havn't learned to put pictures here yet, but if you will go to my web site there are several pictures.
rcskydiveusa.bizhosting.com
I hope this will help. If you need more I can email you some pictures, I know how to do that.
see you later,
C.R.
11-19-2002, 03:30 AM
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Pic of a SolomonRC Skydiver
I thought you guys might like to see what the SolomonRC skydiver looks like.
Here's a pic of his son holding one of the prototypes. The body is made of a very durable plastic that can survive probably better than any of the other skydivers that I have researched.
Like I said, mine hit from a few hundred feet and was ready to fly the next day. I could have fixed it at the field if I had brought the CA with me.
Here's a pic of his son holding one of the prototypes. The body is made of a very durable plastic that can survive probably better than any of the other skydivers that I have researched.
Like I said, mine hit from a few hundred feet and was ready to fly the next day. I could have fixed it at the field if I had brought the CA with me.
11-21-2002, 01:32 AM
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have you guys seen a robbe charlie? i have one. he has been dropped only 4 times, 1 eject and 3 successful flights. charlie had a broken arm, and the plane fiared ok. chute is pretty nice. my q is should he be moving foreward and down? mine i think he is set up wrong. he goes allmost straight down and not much foreward. 3 long walks into the field... any help? the hackmaster
11-21-2002, 04:02 AM
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Hi Hackmaster.
I haven't seen a Charlie but if he isn't moving forward it is possible that he doesn't have enough negative incidence in his chute. He should have about 20 degrees negative. Any more than that and his chute will collapse and won't stay inflated. But if you don't have enough negative he won't travel forward as he should.
Collapse the chute like an accordian and lay it out on the floor or a table and extend the lines straight down. Take a protractor and check the angle between the edge of the chute and the lines. If it is less than l5 degrees, this is probably why it isn't moving forward.
Also, on our chutes we opened the trailing edge up. The back of the full size ones are closed. We opened the back of ours and they took off, and they stay inflated really well too.
I hope these tips help.
Best wishes,
C.R. Fowler
R/C Skydive USA
rcskydiveusa.bizhosting.com
I haven't seen a Charlie but if he isn't moving forward it is possible that he doesn't have enough negative incidence in his chute. He should have about 20 degrees negative. Any more than that and his chute will collapse and won't stay inflated. But if you don't have enough negative he won't travel forward as he should.
Collapse the chute like an accordian and lay it out on the floor or a table and extend the lines straight down. Take a protractor and check the angle between the edge of the chute and the lines. If it is less than l5 degrees, this is probably why it isn't moving forward.
Also, on our chutes we opened the trailing edge up. The back of the full size ones are closed. We opened the back of ours and they took off, and they stay inflated really well too.
I hope these tips help.
Best wishes,
C.R. Fowler
R/C Skydive USA
rcskydiveusa.bizhosting.com
11-22-2002, 12:44 AM
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thanks for the info. he has about 20degrees. on the back of my chute the air traps are closed. should i open them? i dont want to screw up my chute. granted i only paid 75 bucks for charlie. he has been discontinued for a while. i got him new in the box from one of the old timers at our feild. thanks for any info.
11-22-2002, 01:54 AM
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Hello again Hackmaster,
Don't open up the back of your chute yet. First check the weight of your diver as compared to the size of your chute.
Our chutes are 22"x49" and the entire unit weighs 2lbs. If your jumper is too light for the size of your chute it won't get up much forward speed.
If your chute is too large for the weight it is carrying, try adding some lead to your jumper in a place that you can remove it without making a mess on your little dude.
When you add weight of course this will make him come down quicker, and also move forward faster, so you will have to be sure and turn into the wind and flair on landing so you won't stob him in the ground if you have added too much weight.
There is one more thing you should check. If the steering lines are too short it will have the back of the chute pulled down and the brakes will be on all the time, this will kill your forward speed big time.
I don't know how your steering lines are hooked up but if they allow any room for lengthening them do so. I would suggest about 1/2" at a time, but if the brakes are really hard on you may have to go 1" at a time.
Try these things one at a time so that if you cure the problem you will know what was the problem. I would suggest checking the brakes first then check the weight.
If you do end up having to open the back of your chute it won't ruin it, you can simply sew it up again.
Good Luck,
C.R.
R/C Skydive USA
Don't open up the back of your chute yet. First check the weight of your diver as compared to the size of your chute.
Our chutes are 22"x49" and the entire unit weighs 2lbs. If your jumper is too light for the size of your chute it won't get up much forward speed.
If your chute is too large for the weight it is carrying, try adding some lead to your jumper in a place that you can remove it without making a mess on your little dude.
When you add weight of course this will make him come down quicker, and also move forward faster, so you will have to be sure and turn into the wind and flair on landing so you won't stob him in the ground if you have added too much weight.
There is one more thing you should check. If the steering lines are too short it will have the back of the chute pulled down and the brakes will be on all the time, this will kill your forward speed big time.
I don't know how your steering lines are hooked up but if they allow any room for lengthening them do so. I would suggest about 1/2" at a time, but if the brakes are really hard on you may have to go 1" at a time.
Try these things one at a time so that if you cure the problem you will know what was the problem. I would suggest checking the brakes first then check the weight.
If you do end up having to open the back of your chute it won't ruin it, you can simply sew it up again.
Good Luck,
C.R.
R/C Skydive USA
11-22-2002, 01:23 PM
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HI Hackmaster:
I have a bunch of Charlys and C.R. gave you some great info. All my Charlys had the lines tied by the factory and the only adjustment necessary sometimes is in the length of the control lines. Yours are probably too short and as C.R. says, you have the chute in a flare, (with brakes on) all the time. No forward movement that way and no brakes to flare when landing. Too long and the back of your chute will flutter and turning control and flare will suffer as well. The Charlys are not designed to open the back of each gore. I heven't tried that so don't know what would happen---probably a bunch of forward movement--like too much. I can send you a close up photo of one of my Charlys in flight to give you an idea of the shape the chute should have in full flight. My Charly weighs 1 lb 13 ozs and flys great without additional weight although I have added a small servo in the body and have a different chute pack than the factory job to insure better opening success (about 98 percent).
See Ya!
R/C Skydiver
I have a bunch of Charlys and C.R. gave you some great info. All my Charlys had the lines tied by the factory and the only adjustment necessary sometimes is in the length of the control lines. Yours are probably too short and as C.R. says, you have the chute in a flare, (with brakes on) all the time. No forward movement that way and no brakes to flare when landing. Too long and the back of your chute will flutter and turning control and flare will suffer as well. The Charlys are not designed to open the back of each gore. I heven't tried that so don't know what would happen---probably a bunch of forward movement--like too much. I can send you a close up photo of one of my Charlys in flight to give you an idea of the shape the chute should have in full flight. My Charly weighs 1 lb 13 ozs and flys great without additional weight although I have added a small servo in the body and have a different chute pack than the factory job to insure better opening success (about 98 percent).
See Ya!
R/C Skydiver
11-22-2002, 09:54 PM
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Hi again Hackmaster.
R/C Skydiver has given you some great information. One more thing I would mention before you do anything to your dude, is to drop him several more times. But this time drop him from only about 2 or 3 hundred feet. Stand at the middle of your runway and don't drop him any farther away than the end of the runway.
The reason for this is that a few hundred feet will give you time to check him out for turning and so forth, but it won't permit him to drift very far away. I believe you said that you had to walk quite a way across the field to retrieve him.
You may have more forward speed than you think because it could be that you are dropping him in a fair little breeze and when turned into the wind if it is equal to his forward drive he will appear not to have any forward speed.
Drop him up wind but no further than the end of your runway. When the chute opens, turn him downwind, toward you, if he picks up speed, and he should do going down wind, then turn him back into the wind, if it is a light breeze he should drive into the wind. If he doesn't drive into the wind, then turn cross wind. He should make headway cross wind whie drifting downwind toward you.
Do several of these semi low drops untill you get the feel for your little dude, then you will have a better feel for the way he handles, and whether you need to do modifications or not.
Don't ever do extremely high jumps untill you are sure of him and the way he handles. It is fun to drop high and play around with him for a long time on the way down. But, if you have a malfunction at extreme altitude and can't steer him or he has a line over the canopy and is going round and round and you can't get him turned into the wind, it could be goodbye Charlely
Hang in there Hackmaster, you will get your little dude straightened out, and when you do you are going to have more fun than you ever could imagine.
Good Luck
C.R.
R/C Skydiver has given you some great information. One more thing I would mention before you do anything to your dude, is to drop him several more times. But this time drop him from only about 2 or 3 hundred feet. Stand at the middle of your runway and don't drop him any farther away than the end of the runway.
The reason for this is that a few hundred feet will give you time to check him out for turning and so forth, but it won't permit him to drift very far away. I believe you said that you had to walk quite a way across the field to retrieve him.
You may have more forward speed than you think because it could be that you are dropping him in a fair little breeze and when turned into the wind if it is equal to his forward drive he will appear not to have any forward speed.
Drop him up wind but no further than the end of your runway. When the chute opens, turn him downwind, toward you, if he picks up speed, and he should do going down wind, then turn him back into the wind, if it is a light breeze he should drive into the wind. If he doesn't drive into the wind, then turn cross wind. He should make headway cross wind whie drifting downwind toward you.
Do several of these semi low drops untill you get the feel for your little dude, then you will have a better feel for the way he handles, and whether you need to do modifications or not.
Don't ever do extremely high jumps untill you are sure of him and the way he handles. It is fun to drop high and play around with him for a long time on the way down. But, if you have a malfunction at extreme altitude and can't steer him or he has a line over the canopy and is going round and round and you can't get him turned into the wind, it could be goodbye Charlely
Hang in there Hackmaster, you will get your little dude straightened out, and when you do you are going to have more fun than you ever could imagine.
Good Luck
C.R.
11-23-2002, 03:15 AM
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wow! thanks for the info! as soon as it stops raining here, or being foggy i'll try some more adjustments. i think it in the controll lines. as for a lift plane i have to depend on my friend with a sky baby bipe. he's not allways there. theres no way i'm takin him up on my cessna, and my ultra stick we have to piggyback him and go inverted to drop. its just too scary taking him up on the stick. i might be getting my 11 year old a trainer and might make it a drop plane, after i get the boy trained right. i have a drop box that kinda looks like yours and it works off the gear switch.well anyhow thanks for all the info. pray for the sunny weather! hackmaster.
ps i'll keep you guys informed!
ps i'll keep you guys informed!
12-01-2002, 02:55 PM
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Hi Garry V.
I think you're right, a forum on R/C skydiving could be a great help to folks , especially the ones just getting started or wanting to get started.
I'm sure a lot of peiole out there have a large store of knowledge that would save a newcomer months of trial and error.
Things like rigging, packing and some of the techniclal aspects of the parachute could be really helpful to someone that is having touble getting his chute to perform correctly.
The jump plane itself can be a problem, but it is very easily solved with just a few mods. that are very simple to do.
I agree that R/C Skydiving is a growing sport, and if there is information available to folks that would do it except they have no idea how to start, it will grow even faster.
Keep the dirt dives to a minimum !!
C.R. Fowler
R/C Skydive USA
[email protected]
I think you're right, a forum on R/C skydiving could be a great help to folks , especially the ones just getting started or wanting to get started.
I'm sure a lot of peiole out there have a large store of knowledge that would save a newcomer months of trial and error.
Things like rigging, packing and some of the techniclal aspects of the parachute could be really helpful to someone that is having touble getting his chute to perform correctly.
The jump plane itself can be a problem, but it is very easily solved with just a few mods. that are very simple to do.
I agree that R/C Skydiving is a growing sport, and if there is information available to folks that would do it except they have no idea how to start, it will grow even faster.
Keep the dirt dives to a minimum !!
C.R. Fowler
R/C Skydive USA
[email protected]
12-01-2002, 03:06 PM
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"DITTO" on Gary's suggestion.
I have asnwered many questions on R/C Skydiving from as far away as Australia after a "chance" Internet meeting while browsing. A forum on R/C Skydiving would take the "chance" out of these meetings!
Although I have been R/C Skydiving for years, I still need much advice from other experienced jumpers to make the sport easier and most important, SAFER! One must keep in mind that R/C Skydivers are 1 to 3 lb bricks if the chute doesn't open!
Jim Boone
Alabama
I have asnwered many questions on R/C Skydiving from as far away as Australia after a "chance" Internet meeting while browsing. A forum on R/C Skydiving would take the "chance" out of these meetings!
Although I have been R/C Skydiving for years, I still need much advice from other experienced jumpers to make the sport easier and most important, SAFER! One must keep in mind that R/C Skydivers are 1 to 3 lb bricks if the chute doesn't open!
Jim Boone
Alabama
12-08-2002, 03:09 PM
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Hello Guys
I also would like to dee a R/C Parachuting forum here. I have a couple guys and still needing help getting them right. I think i met a couple of you all at muncie at the rally. and if gary is the right gary he even toted pedro up and dropped him off for me at the end of the day. Thanks Gary. You all having another event at muncie this year?
I also would like to dee a R/C Parachuting forum here. I have a couple guys and still needing help getting them right. I think i met a couple of you all at muncie at the rally. and if gary is the right gary he even toted pedro up and dropped him off for me at the end of the day. Thanks Gary. You all having another event at muncie this year?
12-09-2002, 03:22 AM
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Looking for an RC Skydiver
Whitsett,
Are you the guy that had the Jumper with the plastic chute that you bought off e-bay.
If so, I rememder you.
I hope we will have another meet in Muncie in Sept. 2003
Ken Solomon in NC is planning for a Meet in the Spring of 2003.
It may be too far for you it will be close to Bryson City, NC.
He should have a web site up soon with details, check at
www.solomonrc.com
Gary VanFossen
Are you the guy that had the Jumper with the plastic chute that you bought off e-bay.
If so, I rememder you.
I hope we will have another meet in Muncie in Sept. 2003
Ken Solomon in NC is planning for a Meet in the Spring of 2003.
It may be too far for you it will be close to Bryson City, NC.
He should have a web site up soon with details, check at
www.solomonrc.com
Gary VanFossen
12-09-2002, 03:33 AM
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Hello GAry
Yep thats me. I have since made some changes to the chute steering lines and have him working pretty good. Not the best but works for messing around. Pretty neat finding you on here.
Would like to see everyone have another show in Muncie, The NC. one is a bit far but who knows Nice talking to you again
Yep thats me. I have since made some changes to the chute steering lines and have him working pretty good. Not the best but works for messing around. Pretty neat finding you on here.
Would like to see everyone have another show in Muncie, The NC. one is a bit far but who knows Nice talking to you again
12-09-2002, 03:42 AM
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R/C SKYDIVING/FORUM
IF YOUR INTRESTED IN A R/C SKYDIVNG FOURM, GO TO THE SUGGESTION FORUM AND POST YOUR INTREST. I GUESS IN THE MEAN TIME IF YOU NEED HELP WITH YOUR SKYDIVER OR ARE LOOKING FOR INFO ON WERE TO GET ONE YOU CAN GO TO THE QUESTION AND ANSWER FOURM AND PUT A POST UP LOOKING FOR HELP WITH R/C SKYDIVING. BETWEEN CR, GARY, JIM OR MYSELF, ONE OF US WILL HELP YOU WITH GETTING THE INFO YOU NEED. SOFT LANDINGS!!!!!! KEN