Flight Log 10.01.08

Flew two of my planes at lunch today...first, my e-Flite Enticement and then my little red low wing toy.

This afternoons flight with the Enticement was with my big O'l brick of a battery (at least for this light plane)...my FlightPower 1500mAh 7.4v 2s LIPO. So, the flight is a little more rocky with this battery, especially if you want to fly low and slow. But, it's still fun.

While flying the Enticement I charged up my little red low wing and then got a good 8 or so minute flight out of it. This type of plane is a fun challenge for the experienced pilot...but, probably too frustrating for the novice (its target market).

Flight Log 09.29.08

Flew my new favorite plane this evening on my way home from work. It was quite breezy, the windsock was fully extended, and this plane just loved it.

I had it doing death spins, rolls, and even a couple loops.

I'd say I got a good 8-10 flight out of it too...lot's of fun!

Flight Log 09.22.08

On my way home from work I stopped by the Duck Pond and flew my little red low wing plane. It was a little breezy...sometimes the tiny little plane was thrown way off course...but, it always found its way back to me (well, most of the time).

While I was flying I noticed a guy and his pug flying his Align Heli -- he was very good. His heli had no idea there was a breeze...My Blade CP Pro would have crashed another horrible crash, if it were flight worthy (I stopped putting it back together after the last crash). I watched the guy burn through a couple batteries doing loops, flips, inverts etc. it was very cool!

Flight Log 09.13.08

Went flying this morning at the Duck Pond, see favorite places to fly in the right margin. This morning our church cub scouts came out for some buddy-boxing. My flying buddy Dave has the buddy-box setup with a DX6i and a JR transmitter and his Formosa top-wing trainer. The scouts flew well...at least the ones that were interested in flying, over the one's distracted by one of the kids PSP.

I can't believe that not one of brought a camera...but, it was a beautiful morning. I flew my Supercub for a good 10 minutes or so. I flew my red & yellow Chinese toy planes (The Red low-wing is totally outperforming the Yellow top-wing, I'm really enjoying every flight with it). I flew my Enticement. And, had fun flying my 2 channel toy heli from China (Click on the label "China" below to see more posts about the Chinese toys, and "Enticement" to read more about my Enticement etc.).

Flight Log 09.10.08

Today I finally flew again...it's been weeks! I decided to charge up and fly my little Chinese planes I bought a while back. Wow, it was great. I started with the yellow, top-wing, plane and thought it flew pretty good. I got like maybe 10 or so minutes out of it.



While I was flying that plane, I charge the red low-wing. I've generally thought of this plane as the lesser of the two, but it totally out performed the top-wing this afternoon -- it performed a roll and a loop! This plane currently sports a tri-prop I took from another plane...because I broke the one it came with. But, apparently the prop is a good match for the plane -- the prop came from a Venom Betty Micro Park Fighter...which I never got to fly as well as the manufacturer's promo vids or these planes.

Flight Log 05.19.08

Just came back from flying the Super Cub, at the Duck Pond. I met some friends of mine, who also have a SC, on a different channel, and we attempted flying together. The wind sock was pushing out to about 45 degrees, so there was a good breeze.

I told the kid who was going to send up his SC, "There's a good breeze. The plane can handle it fine, but you're going to have work the controls to keep it under control...you may not want to fly." But, his relative that drove him urged him on and he went for. After a few circles around the field something went terribly wrong and the next thing I knew his cub was nose diving into the cement pad, fairly close to where I was standing (and flying my plane). It then screamed in front of me and ran head on into the 3 foot cement barrier that encircles our flight pad. Well, there was some serious damage, that's for sure. It can definitely be repaired...with some glue, toothpicks and tape :) I donated a new motor that I had lying around...and he'll need a new prop shaft. It shouldn't be long till he flies again.

I also flew my little red low wing plane for 5+ minutes...it's still flying good !

Flight Log 05.05.08

Flew my little yellow Prop\Rudder plane today. Had several good flights in a 15-20 minute period. I've grown to really to like this plane.

My PiccoZ...knock-off

Dark video...sorry:

More heli flights this morning

It was a little misty at the duck pond this morning, but worth it. I met up with my ESky HoneyBee buddy and we flew our heli's. I'm pround that I used up two full batteries on my Blade CP Pro without breaking or bending anything -- what satisfaction.

É um dia grande a voar! (Look it up, it's Português)

I also flew my new imports: the 2-channel heli and the yellow & red planes. They flew great too...until I ran out of plane battery mid-flight with the little yellow plane. It went right into the pond! But, guess what...It's foam and it floats. After about 10min. it drifted back closer to the pond's edge. And...I was able to use the prop to propel it closer to me, so I could grab it!! And...it still flys too! So, I'm really pleased with this plane.

The only bad thing about flying this morning was that halfway to the park I realized I had left my video camera at home :( and so I got no shot of my little yellow sea plane -- maybe next time it goes in the pond I'll be prepared.

Fun times with my RC Toys from China

I spent about 45min today, at lunch, flying my two small planes and my 2-channel heli that I got from China (see previous posts for the snapshots) a couple weeks back. I had a great time.

The red low-wing plane even flew well -- I was amazed. The yellow top-wing is still the better flyer, but the low-wing was fun today...I got it really high, that helps.

I also took some more video of the 2-channel heli in flight.


I got at least 8-10 min. of flight time out of each craft -- that's pretty good!

You get what you pay for??? part three

I'm warming up to my cheap 2 channel heli -- see previous posts...I flew some more today, and it was pretty fun. It's still more of a loop around or boomerang flight, but it lands well and takes hard landings reallllly well.

I also flew the little yellow top-wing plane that I got with the helicopter. I've listed in a previous post that a con was it's either on or off throttle...but, it didn't seem to bad today. I think it's because the plane can also glide pretty well without the motor. You can get this little plane pretty high, and a slight breeze is also a plus, and this little guy will fly for quite some time.

So, I think I might order some and make them available for order...stay tuned.

More tests of my planes from China

Yesterday, I performed some more tests with my planes from China. Since I had previously broken the prop on the red low-wing plane...I replaced it with a similar size prop -- only difference being that it's a tri-prop vs. the original single. The new prop seemed to work as well as the original and I did get the plane up into the air, but any attempt at turning always sends the plane plummeting to the ground...the design is just not as good as it's yellow cousin, the top-wing version. See the short video below:

Flight Tests of my new 2-channel Heli

I got this heli the other day...see previous posts...and found that it flew backwards by default...So, I tested it today with weight (taped on 2 AA batteries) added to the front -- like we've all done with our Picco-Z heli's. It seemed to make a difference. You can also see, in the video, that this is a pretty durable copter. I smack it to the ground pretty hard several times and it's only received a few cracks in its canopy. The main rotor blades are a flexible rubber and are pretty strong -- I'm impressed. I still have some more testing to try, but it's not too bad of a heli as long as you're OK with Picco-Z performance i.e., it pretty much flys where it wants to go with limited controllability by the pilot.

You get what you pay for part deux...

Here are some pictures of two of the cheap RC planes I just imported from my contact in China. They look real promissing out of the box, but I've yet to get them to fly more than 20' or so before hitting the ground -- don't fly them on your street, you need a park with space.

The red one is a low wing configuration...

The yellow version is a top wing type...

I was hoping they would fly as good as my Fastlane Arrow Flight that I got at Toys-R-Us for $20...The yellow one is close, but not as good -- see my attached comment for my pros & cons list. I still haven't had a good chance at trying the red one.

You get what you pay for...

I recently made contact with a RC toy company in China and ordered samples of 3 planes and one helicopter. 1st impressions...they all look really good, they appear to be of good quality.


But, so far the flight experience has been less than desirable...


I watched this video just the other night and it made me laugh because I had a cheap 2 channel heli from China coming to me in the mail. That heli and the 3 planes arrived today and the heli flys just like the one in this video backwards and spins around alot. Mine even attacked me, like it did the other guy...but, I caught mine before it could bite me.

If I had only paid what I paid and didn't also have to pay the overseas shipping + the electronic funds transfer fee, then it wouldn't be too much of a loss...but, my advice would be to stay clear of these toys -- unless you like frustration, then please...enjoy.