RCU Forums - Info on hotspot

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Could anyone direct me to a website with information on the hotspot please?

Thanks

Chris

http://www.goldenwestmodels.net There you go. They have it all!!

here you go Chris

why not just have the manual!

http://www.crcja.org/faq/hotspot.htm

These guys import it

http://www.goldenwestmodels.net/main/home.htm

Wow! Can't complain about the price!!

Yeah you figure $1,550 for the Hotspot with gear, $2,500 for P-80, $1,000 and $400 for accesories. $5,450 total not a bad price. -Steve

What is the $1000 for?

I imagine the 8411's are popular with the jet crowd?

How many servos does this plane require?

8, I believe. 4 in the wing, 2 for rudders, 1 for nose gear stearing, and 1 for a brake valve. -Steve

Yep, check the goldenwestmodels.net site, but do two other things as well:

Spend a few bucks and get the Florida Jets 2000 and 13th Superman tapes from SKS. These two tapes have the best HotSpot flying you'll ever see.

I've been flying a HotSpot with a P-80 as my first jet and absolutely love it. Smooth, stable, rock solid. It's the best flying RC plane I own.

Get those tapes and decide for yourself. If you can get to Florida Jets this year by all means do it. Here's some comments I posted over at the rconline.com jets forum:

I fly a HotSpot and have watched the videos of the BobCat, frankly I don't think the BobCat lands that much slower.

The key to landing a HotSpot is a properly flown approach. The HotSpot has to be very deliberately slowed down by reducing power to about a third, slowly raising the nose and maintaining altitude as speed bleeds off, then re-applying about half-power to establish slow flight. At that point you can begin your approach. I fly out of 490 feet of rolled grass with no problems. 300-400 foot landings with brakes are easy with practice.

The HotSpot is capable of incredibly slow flight, so slow you practically have to shoot it down. I've started go-arounds at one end of our runway and held it off all the way to the other end waiting for the engine to spool up and the HotSpot just kept flying.

In the normal flight regime the HotSpot is incredibly stable and easy to fly, more so than any other RC aircraft I've flown. As a side benefit, with the right paint job it is a true thing of beauty in the air. I fly at Valley Forge National Park where there are usually a fair amount of spectators and I constantly get comments about how cool my HotSpot looks in the air. You can see a great inflight shot of it on the jerseymodeler.com home page. Go to the jet photo section to see a picture of it on the ground.

It looks like the BobCat may fly a bit more conventionally, like a Kaos or something, but I haven't flown it. On the web site they talk about having to drill holes in the combination gear door/speedbrake to help dampen oscillations, but still recommend a gyro. The HotSpot has almost no trim change when the speed brake is extended. It pretty much flies like it's on rails. I can understand that some folks would feel more confortable with the BVM name and that is certainly understandable.

Both aircraft are very capable. My best advice would be to go to Florida Jets or at the very least get the SKS 13th Superman tape. I would NOT buy either airplane blindly without seeing them and seeing them fly. I went to Florida jets last year and it was the best thing I did before deciding on a jet.

There you go. You are doing well going with a HotSpot, it's a great airplane. Best of luck with it if you get one!

Thanks for the advice man!!

Hey Dustflyer! Glad to see you made it buddy!:D

A couple of other sources are http://www.jetcatusa.com and down in Florida at http://www.graupner-modellbau.com.
Prices do vary between the dealers. Some sell Graupner kits in pretty colored boxes, and others in just plain old cardboard. They are all the same, originally designed in the JetCat Skunkworks, and kitted under license by Peter Liebetrau in Germany. Graupner resells in their fancy packaging.
One other option is an all compositive version produced by Tad at GWM. I have one and my buddy has two. They are 2 lbs lighter and beautifully molded, but cost 2200 bucks. But this is really an ARF. All surfaces are cut and hinged, Fin and wing attachment is done, gear mounts are all in and beefed up, all servos boxes are cut, lined and covered, and the fuel tank and equiptment tray are installed, and it comes in primer. Robart gear and W/B are not included. If you really put your mind to it, you can have this plane ready for paint in 10-12 hours.

Tom

Do you have any pictures of the all composite version? Before you painted it I mean? GWM is that Goldenwestmodels? -Steve

This is how it looks out of the box.

Yes, it is Golden West Models--http://www.goldenwestmodels.net

Tom

The wings are detachable right? That would be one heck of a big box! So this does not come with Robart landing gear and brakes, geez then $2,200 would be really expensive for a jet like this. -Steve

The wings and fins are detachable.

As far as price, you've got to compare apples to apples.
This bird is done. Screw in, and wire up the servos, install the gear with airlines, mount the engine, spray some paint, and you're done.
Shop around and see what builders are getting for a regular HotSpot built up to primer. You guessed it, about 2500-2800. Or if you want sticker shock, see what builders are getting for a BobCat XL with Duro-Struts all around, built up thru primer.

If you like to build, glass, and paint and want a HotSpot, the basic HS non-composite kit is the way to go.

Tom

With regard to servos, the Liebtrau version I have uses only one servo per wing. I use the 8411 and it works great along with my Futaba synthesized receiver.

Looking closely at the Graupner advertisement for the HotSpot it looks like they use split elevons on each wing, which I guess would require two servos per wing.

For rudder control I use the Volz servos, they fit right in the fin with a flat hatch and work well.

I use a Hitec 945 for speedbrake which seems to work fine. For steering I use a standard Futaba 9202 coreless servo. I use the Jetronic electronic valves for brakes and gear and they work perfectly.

Wow you guys are great!! This will definitely be a future project of mine!! After the Radiocraft 35% Extra 330LX...

This plane is absolutely beautiful!! Anyone know who owns it? I'd like to see more pics of it! Anyone else have any good hopspot pictures??

Thanks

Chris

http://www.helibuf.com/pictures/hirobo_cup/DCP_1751.JPG

Chris I have a million pics of it I will send them to you e-mail. -Steve

Chris 540,

That great looking HotSpot belongs to Torrey Ward, one of the best jet flyers in the country. His flying is featured on the new SKS 13th Superman video along with Jason Somes, another sensational HotSpot pilot. One of my favorite tapes is the SKS Florida Jets 2000, where Jason flies one of the first HotSpots. The smoke system is spectacular but it's the incredible high speed low passes that will leave you breathless. It was that video, along with my trip to Florida Jets 2001 that left no doubt in my mind that I wanted a HotSpot. With the right paint job they simply look incredible in the air. Both Torrey and Jason have contact info on the JetCat USA web page. They are both super nice guys and along with Rob Lynch probably the best RC jet pilots around.

Here's a shot of my HotSpot. Powered with a JetCat P-80, it flies like it's on rails. Absolutely rock solid. I left the bottom of it all white so it looks gorgeous against a blue sky. Needless to say I never fly it when it's cloudy! We get a lot of spectators out at Valley Forge PA and they absolutely love it. One of them actually thought they saw the Concorde! A side benefit of the semi-external engine mount is the sound, it's awesome! To my ears engines mounted in a bypass lose some of that turbine whine. A P-80 in a HotSpot is the jet equivalent of a Ferrari V12 or 327 Chevy in a 68 Camaro Z28. Sweet!

Here's an inflight shot. Yep, the left main is hung up. A little trim on the opening took care of it.

Ive seen that Hotspot fly up here at Whidbey jets, he can fly pretty good, one of the few that had the huevo's to fly it low and inverted, it is even cooler up close in person, very nice paint!!

Hey Dust, yours looks pretty good too, simple and clean! Hey, your engine is blue, mines purple..

Generation X Pilots

I know this forum is about the very awesome Hotspot, but I want to briefly comment on three other generation x pilots who are equally unbelievable, if not better pilots. Check out Tommy Wood, David Shulman, and Larry Kramer, especially if you happen to be at Florida Jets this year. They fly their own BVM aircraft, but also happen to kick butt flying other people's aircraft too.:cool: