ic-racer

About 4 years ago my field was closed down, so no more flying. I have been eyeing my local park as a place to start flying again. I was just out there and the grass is about 6 inches high. I don't think any of my 0.40 to 0.60 sized conventional planes will take off or land on that. I was wondering about those electric planes designated "park flyers" I presume they are hand launched and crash landed on the grass. How big a plane can safely do that. I was thinking a 35" to 40" wingspan plane. Maybe something like the Mini Super Sportster as I used to fly a conventional 0.40 Super Sportster.

So, any recommendations of 35" to 40" easy-to-fly planes in the ARF category that are designed to crash land on tall grass?

-pkh-

My Feedback: (2)

Well, "crash landing" is not quite the term I'd use! You're looking for a plane without landing gear that "belly lands".

If you're an experienced pilot, something like a ParkZone F27C Stryker would be ideal, IMO. It's hand launched and belly landed. It flies well slow or fast. Since it's a delta-wing plane that can fly 60-80mph (stock), it can fly in some fairly high winds. I've flown mine in ~25mph winds before.

When landing a belly-landed plane, you just kill the engine/motor and glide it in for a "dead-stick" landing. With nitro planes, you "time" the prop so that it stops horizontally against the engine's compression. With electric planes, you program your ESC with moderate to heavy braking, so when you kill the motor, the prop stops and won't "windmill" as you glide it in. With electrics, as long as the prop stops, even if it is vertical, it will usually just bump up out of the way when you touch down. With tall grass, a rear prop plane, like the Stryker, would do probably do best, but a front prop plane would work OK too.

ic-racer

Ok, so its belly landing. Am I correct in assuming that this is the standard mode of landing these models? The manufactures pictures etc. show these planes with tiny wheels. I guess that would work if they were "Parking Lot" flier.

I 'was' an experienced pilot, but I used the simulator at the hobby shop the other day and boy am I rusty.

I also have a nitro Beaver float plane, so this electric Beaver looks about my level. I just need to come to grips that that thing will belly land OK without destroying itself.

http://www.*********.org/gws_beaver.htm#

-pkh-

My Feedback: (2)

I would think many of those GWS foamy park flyers should be able to belly land in the grass OK. A prop-saver prop mount will help, but as long as you flare just before you touch down, you should be fine. Keep in mind that many of those GWS foam planes, including that Beaver, are only 3-channel planes (rudder, elevator, throttle). Personally I prefer to have ailerons, especially on light weight foamies that will get tossed around in some wind.

Another thing to watch is your motor or gearbox shaft diameter. If the shaft is too small, it will snap easily. I had a belly landed foamy with an older version of a Himax outrunner that had a c-clip retained shaft. Since the shaft was notched to accept the c-clip, it snapped there quite easily if I bump the prop on the ground at all. I replaced that shaft with a solid shaft (no c-clip notch) and secured it with a wheel collar. I found that a 1/8" (~3.2mm) shaft is OK with no c-clip notch, but 4mm shafts and larger are best.

Here's a photo of my homemade, belly-landed blue foam plane:

whitecrest

I'm having good luck using the GWS thin wheels with the built in suspension. I'm using the 2.5" wheels on a ship with 48" span, 360 sq. in wing area weighing about 19 oz. AUW. They're practically invisible in the air and very light. I have the landing gear well forward and use a torsion block suspension scheme. I'm almost always able to land in a grass field (about 1-2", not 6" ) on the wheels without tipping.

I guess a golf course fairway would be ideal. Perhaps they would let you mow a landing strip somewhere in the park. At any rate, belly landing shouldn't be bad at all in 6" grass.

Witterings

If you've flown before you'll probably find it's comes back fairly quickly, get a cheap simulator like FMS and maybe a Multiplex MiniMag, you can fly it 3 channel if you want to start and then conerts to 4 channel with aileron in about 5 minutes, it's also very durable so ideal for belly landing.

ic-racer

Can't find trainer software for the Macintosh. Does anyone know of any?

sportygreg

My Feedback: (2)

Multiplex Easy Star-easy to fly,durable,and made to belly land on grass.

TowerZach

You're right about the 35" to 40" wingspan.  I'm sorry your field closed down.  I fly at a school after hours and the grass gets long between (infrequent)  mowings.

But to get back to your question, there are a miriad of planes that would fit your bill.  Basicaly anything with a 280, 370 or 380 (400) size motor is what you're looking for.  I happen to be a bit biased to what plane you should get becouse I designed and am selling a 38" wingspan flying wing ARF's on ebay (ZRC FW2).  It's suitable for anyone with trainer experience and can keep an expert occupied for as many batteries as he has.

Here's a link where you can find it:  http://www.auctiva.com/stores/viewst...244&styleid=12