SoppyJoe

My Feedback: (59)

Vet,

so far I have mixed reviews on the 104. Its quick and has lots of power, but it wanted to wobble in flight, and it's hard to see. I put a Futaba gyro on the ailerons and that helped alot with the wobble. I need to paint it, the all white airframe can be hard to see!

It is way cool looking in the air!

Joey

Vettster

Joe what technice do you use to hand launch. Full thottle? How much elevator.etc... Do you it throw hard. Im having a hell of a time with hand launching the A-10 its very unpredictable, and Ive gone brushless. i think I would invest in a bungy launcher if I could find one thats cheep in the price department.

RFINALDI

hmm just dont like hand take offs ....I will try my luck again, do u think though , I overdid the throttle ???

SoppyJoe

My Feedback: (59)

I have got to get some video to you guys, just so you can see just how easily it hand launches. Just point it up 15 deg and toss it! I will do my best to get some video of it soon, however I may have to leave for the southwest for work here real soon.[]

If you are going to take it off, make the nose strut longer, to get the nose up a bit. Not hard to do, just get some wire from your local hobby shop and make it about a 1/2" to 3/4" longer than the stock one. Since the main gear are a bit far back, the plane wants to "stick" to the runway.

Once airborne you don't have to fly this plane full throttle, she will fly at 1/3 throttle.

Call me if you need help!
Joey

a65l

My Feedback: (17)

I watched a guy try and maiden his Rafale this weekend off the gear. HE wound up having to pull full up elevator to get it to unstick, and of course it shot straight up in the air. He managed to get it back and fly it out, but the stock control setup seemed a bit too sensitive for him and he wound up lawn darting it. I'd ditch the gear, this is not a plane that you need to be concerned about hand launching. Couldn't be easier.

A

Vettster

(just thought Id point out that Im not laughing at the fact that he Lawn Darted, but instead at the term "Lawn Dart" Ive never heard that before)

I think some people need to be introduced to EXPO on their Tx. You really should have very low End points with about 50% of Expo on the maiden flight. you can always add more or remove when you land. The key words being "when you land" that would inplie you didnt "Lawn Dart". too funny! I think that F-104 would lawn dart pretty good.lol

a65l

My Feedback: (17)

No expo settings on the "famous" brand transmitter that's supplied with the plane. What you get is what you get.

A

Vettster

AWWW Yes! Sorry about that. Getting back to this bungee launcher thing. Calm Down Joe! its for the A-10 Do any of you guys know a good site that eplains how they build them.

3 days till my Raf gets here!!!!

RFINALDI

Hey Joe , we'll one more take off from the ground and if I dont total the plane by then !! LOL I will hand launch it

also I think I didn't have enough run way and plus I did it off a baseball diamond ...which I guess was good for speed but not good as asphalt



Vettster - take it from me your probably better off hand launching but , I am thick headed and love the whole aeronautic experience
from beginning to end , so we'll see

The plane is way powerful enough so I think if I use half the elevator I used last time , and take off regular from asphalt with a long enough strip , I should be fine ,


Joey - does this sound like I have a chance ?



Rich

SoppyJoe

My Feedback: (59)

Andy,

Was it Doc?

Rich I promise, if you lengthen the nose strut.....A guy here in Va Beach bought one from me and I swear on my life, he does half throttle takeoffs, lenghen then nose strut!!! It needs to be about a 1/2 to 3/4 inch longer! I think/know it will solve your problem!

Joey

RFINALDI

ok buddy the only problem , is I need to somehow dismantle the nose gear because its crazy glued on because as u remember those threads got stripped . ...anyway I am trying a launch tonight ...........will let u know how it worked out

thanks again !

a65l

My Feedback: (17)

No, not Doc. Doc did pretty well Sun, they flew the big boomerang and Jack wound up having to land it. I've got video but it's way to big to email. This was Eric, don't know if you remember him. He did pretty good considering how twitchy it was, but when the battery ran down it was all over.

SoppyJoe

My Feedback: (59)

I will keep my fingers crossed Rich! Good luck![sm=thumbup.gif]

Joey

RFINALDI

HI JOE NO FLYING TONIGHT , BUT I HAVE TO FIND A BIG ENOUGH FIELD WITH AN ASPHALT RUNWAY LONG ENOUGH BUT I DID TEST THE PLANE FULL THROTTLE ON THE GROUND TO MAKE SURE IT STILL ROLLS GOOD AND STAYS STRAIGHT WHICH IT DOES , TO BE CONT. TOMORROW

THANKS !!!

RICH

Vettster

Woo Hooo!! I got the Raf today! Its funny that we all seemed to steel this thread from a guy that was concerned about buying from e-bay. What ever happed to that guy I wonder. Anyhow. I got mine from e-bay and it only took 6 business days to get here. Ill be buying from him again. Keep in mind there are 2 sellers, selling the exact same thing and offer but one is in CANADA and the other is in CHINA!

This is the Canadian link. http://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?...m=190233560723

i have the day off and its to windy to fly anythning else so.........lets put her together.

Trev

RFINALDI

Hey Trev ,

good luck , hope u have a better 1st flight then I did , I will for sure fly again tonight ....I told my wife , If I end up cracking this up ...I am just going to buy a good trainer Cessna I saw on hobby lobby , its big , but if I need to I will get my fly time with this model check this out !!!

Nice trainer huge wing span 42 inches ...20 minutes flight time , so If I can't be a RAFALE man , I will go with this ...

Vettster

hold the boat Rich! are you saying you dont have any previous flying experience!? Well that makes two of us...kinda. I started flying Heli's last October and just last month I started training on the Hanger 9 P-51(an awsome plane and trainer) Ive quickly taken to the Mustang and have been flying the A-10 around for awhile now but the A-10 has me wondering if Hogs really can fly? Its a real ***** to get in the air, but once its up, its a lot of fun. This all lead me to buy the Rafale cause I love Jets and just want one that flys really well as most of the reveiws I have read say it does very well.

So.......yes my freind. If you dont have any previous experience, do yourself a favor and buy the cessna in the photo. its a sweet looking AC and will teach you many things about flying and more importantly, How to land!!

Good luck at any rate!


By the way on the topic of the Rafale, i have to say I was very impressed when I oppened the box. its much bigger than I had expected.(eaiser to see at a distance) Its quality looks top rate. Im very impressed! The first thing I did was to pull out the stock Rx and replace it with the AR6100E for my spectrum. this should also nock the waight down a bit.(Im already thing A123) or at least more capacity. Ill be painting the AC in some kind of Camo sceam, athough I have to admit I really like the paint on Joes plane. Hay Joe! can I steel your paint sceam? We need one like that in Canada.

RFINALDI

R.I.P.

THE RAFALE IS GONE , I TRIED HAND LAUNCH GROUND ALSO ....IT WAS FLYING ALITTLE , AND I THINK IT WAS TOO WINDY NEAR
ME , WHAT SEEMED TO BE NOT A BIG CRASH WHEN I GOT NEXT TO IT , THE FUSE WAS CRACKED "AGAIN"

I WAS LIKE FORGET IT , BUT THATS COOL , I AM GOING TO GET THE NICE HOBBY LOBBY ELECTRO TRAINER RTF ....I SHOULD HAVE GOTTEN IT IN THE 1ST PLACE ................RIGHT NOW I AM THE MASTER OF AN AIR HOGS JET SCREAM !!! LOL THATS ABOUT I T

Vettster

Sorry to hear of your misfortune but You can fix the Raf with 5min poxy very easly. do it and put it aside till you get some experience on the Cessna. Dont just through it away yet.

Take care buddy

Trev

SoppyJoe

My Feedback: (59)

Rich,

Sorry to hear the bad news.[&o] Get some foam safe CA glue and just fill the crack in the fuse. Get the trainer and some help from a experienced modeler if you can.

Let us know when you get the Trainer!

Joey

Trev, just go with the stock battery you will notice the weight difference with a bigger battery. Feel free "steel" my paint job!
And here is a pic of my new one, just got finished putting the base colors on!

RFINALDI

Man you paint those planes nice !!!! what kind of paint do u use ???

did u see the pic of the trainer I am getting ???

Its Either the Multiplex Magister (66 inch wingspan trainer!)

or the Electro Trainer from Hobby Lobby see the pics

SoppyJoe

My Feedback: (59)

Thanks!

95% of the time I use Testors, here are a few of my paint jobs...

Joey

RFINALDI

damn man I am jealous of u ! lol

those are beautiful !!! I will get there once I get my trainer in a few weeks , Right now I am just flying an air hogs Jetscream a nice little micro ducted fan jet

Vettster

Sweet looking AC Joe! Did I mention that the F-100 is one of my fav's.lol Joe have you heard of preshading. Its a very simple technice that will add just a litle more relizum to you paint sceams. It involes painting all the panel lines black and then putting on the base coat just barely letting the black show through the base. It gives it a more 3 dimentional look. Later once youve applied your finall base coat you can go even futher and lighten the base coat about 30% with white and just gently pray in the center areas of the panels to represent a Sun Bleaching affect that all AC secome to.

Heres a photo showing the preshading applied before the final base coat. The camo you see is how it arrived.

RFINALDI

NICE MAN !!! great art work