Hello all,

Been away from the RC world for quite a while. The favorite airplane I had back in the day ('89-'90 ish) was some kind of pattern plane...can't remember the name. This one was .60 size with tail dragger retracts and the forward edge of the wing was swept back, the trailing edge straight across. It was a built-up ARF. I put a piped OS61 in it and it was awesome. Tracked like it was on rails and was fast as hell. I wasn't a great flyer, but it sure was. Radio issue brought it down.

Fast forward to today. I bought an electric 41" Great Planes Edge 540 in about 2010. I flew it once in a little-league baseball field and rapidly realized that was too small of a place to fly it. It remained hangered until this last weekend when I joined a local flying club. It is a nice little airplane and is fun to fly, but it is twitchy as hell. Very sensitive to wind gusts and quite sensitive on the controls. It is extremely light weight. Its also a bit small for my older eyes. Now I'm 32-ish years older than when I last flew the .61 pattern plane, but I remember that one flying a lot easier and a lot more precisely.

I retired last year and have been trying to figure out what to do with my time, so diving back into RC. My long-ish term goal is to build a 1/5 scale F4F Wildcat. In the interim I'd like to build a pattern plane to hone my flying skills on. What is out there kit-wise that could get me back close to what I had in 1990? I don't really care for the looks or the short coupling of the modern pattern planes. Not interested in 3D. I like the cleanliness and ease of flying my electric Edge, so electric conversion would be a great option.

I sent an email to Bluejay Aircraft Kits but no response. Many of the Bridi pattern planes have a distinct resemblance to what I'm looking for. Another option was Hangar 1, but I can only imagine the shipping cost and time from NZ. What are some other options? I don't really want to do a plans-only build.

Thank you,
Eric

Hi Eric,
Congratulations on your retirement and welcome back to R/C. To get in the air quickly, the Phoenix models Typhoon and Aurora ARFs are designed for both GP and EP and available from Tower Hobbies. There are lengthy discussions of both models in the RCGroups classic pattern forum. The Typhoon is a clone of the MK Wild-7 kit from around 1990 and the Aurora is a clone of the MK Silent from 1987. I have flown the originals of both and they are excellent flying airplanes. Sebart makes several very nice ARFs, but they can be hard to get. The US distributor just changed (3rd time) to F3A Unlimited; give Mike a call or email for availability. Extreme Flight also makes some very nice ARFs in a variety of sizes. Most are models of full size aerobatic airplanes, but I think the Vanquish pattern design may still be available.
There are several kit manufacturers producing wood kits of classic pattern designs. Blue Jay makes nice kits, but availability is sporadic and, as a result, when kits become available they usually sell out fairly quickly. Eureka Aircraft company has a nice selection of classic pattern kits, but they recently were sold and the new owner has been struggling to get into full production and communication has been poor, but very nice kits. Don Carlson ([email protected]) has an extensive kit line including many pattern kits and has been very good about communication and prompt shipping. One of the biggest problems the wood kit manufacturers have is quality balsa availability and cost.
I hope this helps.
Regards,
Will Bartlett

Thanks Will. I’ll look into the Typhoon and Aurora. I’ve seen some not so flattering reviews of some Phoenix ARF’s though. I’ll also look into some of the other makers you’ve mentioned.

HB 61 PDP Blitz on a Typhoon. About same weight as an OS 55 AX. Turned it right-side-up, so I could show it off. Typhoon is an excellent flying airplane.