In this episode
Ron, Tom, and Dave announce the Electro Streak winter group build and explain where listeners can find the project information.
They also catch up on recent crashes, new airplanes, and the airplane Dave won.
Wanna build an Electro Streak over the winter with us? Head over to https://rcplanelab.com/electrostreak/ for information on our winter group build!
Tune in also to hear the guys talk about some recent crashes and some new airplanes.
Complete Transcript
Read the complete episode transcript
[0:12] Speaker 2: Hello, everyone. Welcome to the RC Plane Lab Podcast. I'm Ron. I'm Tom. And I'm Dave. Hi, guys.
[0:18] Speaker 4: Hey, do you know how I know I'm Tom? How? Because I have a shirt that says, I'm Tom, thanks to Lori. [0:23] Speaker 2: You forget why? I guess I have one that says, I'm Ron. [0:26] Speaker 4: You do. Also. [0:27] Speaker 2: Mine says, and I'm Dave. [0:28] Speaker 4: Yeah, that's awesome. Thanks, Lori. [0:30] Speaker 2: Dorks. [0:31] Speaker 4: That way I would get lost in a crowd. Exactly. We'll know who's who. [0:34] Speaker 2: Oh, yeah. Then people know our names. Yeah. [0:36] Speaker 4: I don't know if I like that. [0:36] Speaker 2: They should know our names, shouldn't they? Well, they should not know our names. We're just in the corner of a basement talking to ourselves. Anyway. Anyway. Hello. Hi. How are you doing? It's been a while. It's been a long time since we've recorded just the three of us. Yeah. [0:49] Speaker 3: It's been a bit. [0:50] Speaker 2: I've been doing a lot of guest episodes, which has been fun. [0:52] Speaker 3: Yeah. [0:53] Speaker 2: At least I think it's been fun. It's interesting. It's always interesting. Yes. I will say that. [0:57] Speaker 4: Yes. And I actually did listen to the Bjorn episode. [1:01] Speaker 2: Yeah? [1:02] UNKNOWN: Yeah. [1:02] Speaker 2: I liked it. I was waiting to see what you thought about it. [1:04] Speaker 4: Yeah, I liked it a lot. [1:05] Speaker 2: I thought it was pretty good. He was, he's a very interacting guest. Yeah. Interactive. Interactive guest. And he had a lot to say. Yeah. I really, really enjoyed that. So thanks again. A lot of good stuff there. Yeah. Way to go. [1:17] Speaker 4: Hey, speaking of thanking people. [1:19] Speaker 2: Yes. [1:20] Speaker 4: There's some people I want to thank. Who? Our patrons. Very kind. Yeah. I just want to remind everybody that if you become a patron, we don't buy airplanes with that money. [1:30] Speaker 2: No. [1:31] Speaker 4: If you give us- [1:32] Speaker 2: As much fun as that would be. [1:33] Speaker 4: As awesome as that would be. Yeah. We don't spend it on airplanes. [1:37] Speaker 2: Nope. It all goes back into any recording gear. Yeah. I'm trying to think what else. Recording gear is a big one. Yeah. Website hosting, podcast hosting. Yep. That kind of helps pay the bill to keep the doors open. Yeah. Exactly. So thank you. So yeah. I wanted to- Thank you very much. [1:54] Speaker 4: Yeah. I wanted to thank the patrons again because we haven't done that in a while. [1:58] Speaker 2: It's been quite a while. [1:59] Speaker 4: Yeah. Maybe we should call them out again one time. Maybe next time because I don't have any of that information in front of me. Well, I like it. [2:05] Speaker 2: So we'll do that probably in like- Yeah, yeah. I don't know. Seven or eight years when I remember it. So before we get into too much stuff- Yeah. Do you guys see there's a couple new items coming out or came out already? Because it's been that long since we've actually sat down and supported. So the iX14 is out. Yeah. Worth $800? Wow. [2:26] Speaker 3: I don't know what you think. I'm not buying one. I'm sorry. [2:30] Speaker 4: I'm not either. At least not for a while. [2:33] Speaker 2: Yeah. [2:34] Speaker 4: My iX12 already does more than I am capable of utilizing. [2:40] Speaker 2: Yeah. [2:40] Speaker 4: I think. So more. Although, if they've upgraded like the software and made it faster, you know, like a new processor or whatever. [2:51] Speaker 2: Yeah. [2:51] Speaker 4: That would be nice. [2:52] Speaker 2: But it's not in the cards for me. That would be my only complaint with iX12 was just the speed. But once it's booted up and running, it's fine. Oh, yeah. Absolutely. It's never given me problems on that. Yeah. [3:04] Speaker 4: I've never had a problem with the link at all. [3:06] Speaker 2: You actually can trade your iX12 in for, I think they give you like 300 bucks from what I saw when I was looking at it, which isn't bad because that's about what I paid for my iX12 used. Yeah. Yeah. But I'm cheap and I don't buy things new otherwise. So if I didn't, like if I was in the market for a radio, that would definitely be one worth considering. [3:26] Speaker 4: Yeah. [3:26] Speaker 2: But since I'm not, then I don't think that's enough of a change really to make me upgrade for two more channels. Right. [3:33] Speaker 4: And even take the tri-motor, for example, I can envision, you know, doing three separate channels for each throttle and then, you know, the four basic, well, the three other basic functions. And then, you know, maybe I don't think I'm going to run out of channels anytime soon on any projects that I've got coming up. Yeah. So I don't need those two more channels that the iX14 offers. [3:58] Speaker 2: Well, it's not like there's flaps or, you know, anything like that on the tri-motor either. Well, right. That's true. We don't need any extra channels. [4:05] Speaker 3: I have burned up nine channels one time and that's the most channels I've ever used is nine. [4:10] Speaker 4: Yeah. It's on that T-34. [4:11] Speaker 3: Yeah. On the T-34. [4:14] Speaker 4: I had to, yeah, I had to swap some receivers around just so I could get that thing fully functional. [4:19] Speaker 2: On the eight? When you had the DX8, you mean? [4:21] Speaker 4: No, no. On his T-34 that he gave me. [4:24] Speaker 2: Why'd you have to change? [4:26] Speaker 4: Because I didn't have a spare nine channel receiver laying around. I had to pull a nine channel. [4:30] Speaker 3: He didn't even give you a receiver with it? Oh, it came with a receiver, but it was 72 megahertz. Megahertz, yeah. [4:35] Speaker 4: Oh, okay. Really? Well, I wasn't going to, I wasn't going to complain. I mean, he gave it to me. [4:43] Speaker 2: Yeah, I know. I get it. But I just, I expected that plane would have been one that was flown on modern equipment, [4:48] Speaker 3: not old stuff. Old school. [4:52] Speaker 4: Old reliable 72 megahertz. [4:54] Speaker 3: Channel 60. Anyway. [4:58] Speaker 4: So no, to answer your question, no, I'm not in the market for an iX-14. Not anytime soon. Yeah. [5:05] Speaker 2: The only, like, looking at the different radios and stuff that are out there, the only thing that I would even consider upgrading to would be the 20. But that's so hard to swallow that amount of money. That's a lot of money. I know. So maybe in a few years. Yeah. We'll see. Maybe a few years. Nothing. Pressing. So nothing I am worried about now. [5:25] Speaker 4: Yep. [5:26] Speaker 2: The other thing they came out with, and they're really excited about this. I am the only one out of us that is excited about this. The eFlight Erratix. So what's that puking face you just made? That's so ugly. Okay. It's a profile phone. I'm just for those that don't profile. I'm not either. But as we've said before, it's a tool. And it's a tool that is bigger than the profile yak I have, which I love flying that airplane. [5:52] Speaker 2: And it's a tool, by the way, that uses the same batteries I already own. That's convenient. So that's a winning point for me. [6:00] Speaker 4: Yeah. So. I don't like buying different batteries for one airplane. [6:04] Speaker 2: Well, it's kind of a pain. Let's be honest. [6:06] Speaker 4: I mean. To have. I have. I. I. At the top of my head, five airplanes that fly with five different batteries and I have one battery for each one, whatever. [6:15] Speaker 2: Yeah. But I like to have more than one for each one because you really want to take it out to the field to fly for eight minutes and then that's all. That's why you own multiple aircraft. Well, I get it, but whatever. [6:28] UNKNOWN: I don't know. [6:28] Speaker 4: Like how often this year and this year I've flown more than I have in years. Me too. Prior. [6:34] Speaker 2: Mm-hmm. [6:35] Speaker 4: But how often have I actually got to fly any airplane I've taken out to the field more than once aside from the Cub? I don't remember. I mean, I don't know. The Ulteryx because it's so convenient and easy, but pretty much every other plane I've taken out there, I get to fly at once. And then you put it away. And then I put it away either because I run out of time or I'm doing other stuff for other people or whatever, you know. [6:58] Speaker 2: Well, that's true. You don't get to just sit there and enjoy your field time. So I'm okay usually with just one battery. Yeah. [7:06] Speaker 3: I get it. What about the Ulteryx is it's a little bit larger for a flatty. [7:10] Speaker 2: Yeah. [7:11] Speaker 3: And I really like that because so many of those flat profiles are so small. I know. I like the bigger size. The only thing that really holds me back is the price for a flatty. [7:20] Speaker 2: Okay. But let's talk about that. There's a lot of other companies that make these type of airplanes. By the time you price them out and by the time you add the electronics, you add the servos, you add the ESC, you add the receiver, you add the motors, you're at the same price. At least pretty close. Yeah. So this is… [7:42] Speaker 3: I'm not saying it's a bad deal. It's just that's a lot of money for a flat airplane. [7:45] Speaker 2: I get it. But you know what? I spent just about that much on a piece of packing foam that is called Noltrix that is a fun airplane to fly to. Yeah. So you can't look at it that way. [7:57] Speaker 3: I know. [7:58] Speaker 2: That's how I look at it. By not looking at it that way. [8:01] Speaker 4: If you like it, then it doesn't matter what anybody else thinks. [8:05] Speaker 2: It's a tool. That's a perfect size airplane that I can easily take out back here and not have to worry about going to the field. Yes. So if we ever make it up to Brian's again and he has them in stock, I think that's coming home with me. Grab one. If. Okay. We need to make that trip sometime. [8:20] Speaker 3: It real seems we need to get a starter real quick. [8:23] Speaker 2: Oh, yeah. We'll get to that later. Hmm. Hmm. My arm still hurts. Did that ever pop back and bite you or was that… [8:32] Speaker 3: No, it backfired and broke the prop loose, but it never got me. [8:36] Speaker 2: We'll talk about it later. Okay. It was when we went out to the field last time. Oh, yeah. Okay. When you were out of town. It wasn't like, it's not like we did it on purpose. You were unavailable. I understand. Incognito. Eastern terms. Not the right word at all, but whatever. Incapable of making it. Dork. So have you guys talked to Reggie? [8:58] Speaker 4: I have not. I have. Well, actually, unless you count the conversations on Discord, on our Discord channel. [9:05] Speaker 2: No, something a little different. That was that conversation, but no. So, okay. Someone who we all know, who shall rename nameless. Rename? Rename. Remain nameless. Because I don't want to throw Reggie into the bus. So we're not going to say who we're talking about. So anyway. [9:20] Speaker 3: This nameless person rhymes with Reggie. [9:23] Speaker 4: Yeah. His name rhymes with Reggie. [9:27] Speaker 2: He, okay, so he had an issue. Just one? No. Oh. [9:36] Speaker 3: It was a stack on top. [9:37] Speaker 2: Oh, dear. So the reason I really want to bring this up is because there were some things he did, this person. That we can learn from. That we can learn from. Yeah. This is a learning experience. These are all teachable moments. Okay. I like it. I think it's important to bring up what happened. Okay. So, he just got a free wing A10. [9:57] Speaker 4: Nice airplane. [9:57] Speaker 2: This is a big. Yeah. Like A10. Big foamy. It's a good size. Heavy too. Very heavy. It's bigger. 180. Yeah. It's bigger than the eFlight version. And it flies on two, I think he said 6,000 6S batteries. Ouch. Okay. Yeah. So, he had never flown this before. This is his maiden flight on it. Okay. Well, Dave, I'll let you tell the story because I think he got into it more with you. [10:25] Speaker 3: Okay. So, this is our maiden flight. [10:27] Speaker 2: Mm-hmm. [10:29] Speaker 3: So, he sees Velcro in it. He got this used. We should probably say this. Oh, okay. [10:33] Speaker 4: Used. [10:34] Speaker 3: Yes. It had some Velcro mounted in it for the batteries. [10:36] Speaker 4: Had it been flown before? [10:38] Speaker 3: That, I don't know. Okay. But it had been assembled and someone had put Velcro in it to mount the batteries. [10:44] Speaker 4: Did he get a manual? [10:46] Speaker 3: We're assuming he did. If not, they are readily available, free of charge on the internet. [10:50] Speaker 4: Perfect. Yeah. Yep. Okay. [10:53] Speaker 3: So, he mounts the batteries where the Velcro is. [10:56] Speaker 4: Okay. [10:57] Speaker 3: And assumes that's correct and doesn't check the center of gravity. Uh-oh. I think I know where this is going. [11:03] Speaker 2: Which, and it's possible, too, that if this was flown before, it could have been different size batteries. Yes. Absolutely. Maybe they were flown with 4,000 or 5,000 mAh. Yeah. Typically, I would fly it on 5,000 or 5,200s, not 6,000s. Right. So, maybe that was the correct location for a lighter battery. But anyway. Sorry, Dave. Go on. [11:20] Speaker 3: So, he puts the two 6L, 6,000s in it, where he thinks they probably need to be, and then proceeds to set up the radio. Somewhere on the internet, he had read that he should set it up with approximately 80 to 100% expo. [11:35] Speaker 4: Oh, my. [11:37] Speaker 3: That is a lot of expo. That's a lot of expo. Way too much. Yeah. That's like 3D airplane with, you know, ailerons the size of normal wings. [11:46] Speaker 4: That's, like, does anybody fly with 100% expo? [11:50] Speaker 3: I've never flown anything with over 30%. [11:52] Speaker 4: Well, I think he flew with 80. Sometimes I approach 40%, I think. But, wow. Of course, I'm not a 3D pilot. So, anyway. [12:00] Speaker 3: And that's outside my realm as well. [12:01] Speaker 4: Right. [12:01] Speaker 3: Well, this is not a 3D airplane. This is a scale EDF. [12:05] Speaker 2: Yeah. [12:05] Speaker 3: So, we take off, not having checked the center of gravity, not checking control throws. I mean, we just glanced down. He may have checked the direction, but he didn't check the actual throws. Yeah. We take off, and he immediately realizes he's in trouble. [12:22] Speaker 4: Would you say he did a pre-flight, or he did not do a pre-flight? [12:25] Speaker 3: From what I'm understanding, it was a Reggie pre-flight. It's like the motor runs, things wiggle, let's go. Okay. Okay. Immediately realizes we're in trouble. [12:36] Speaker 4: Mm-hmm. [12:36] Speaker 3: And this is all hearsay. I'm just talking to Reggie. This is not, I didn't see any of this. Secondhand knowledge. [12:41] Speaker 2: Secondhand knowledge. But this is the same story I'm getting so far. [12:44] Speaker 3: Okay. It immediately, he's having trouble keeping the nose up. [12:48] Speaker 4: Okay. [12:49] Speaker 3: So, that's telling us it's nose heavy or has some sort of other major trim issue. [12:53] Speaker 4: Well, and then plus an 80% to 100% expo, it's, yeah, you've got about an eighth of an inch of stick travel at the end of its limit. [13:01] Speaker 3: It's like flying in a rubber band. [13:03] Speaker 4: That's nuts. Okay. [13:05] Speaker 3: So, we're having trouble keeping the nose up. [13:06] Speaker 4: Okay. [13:07] Speaker 3: We proceed to fly around for three and a half minutes with this nose dipping problem before he thinks about trying to land it. [13:16] Speaker 4: Okay. [13:17] Speaker 3: Which, okay. So, first off. [13:19] Speaker 4: Yeah. I'm trying to do the, I'm trying to, I'm trying to follow. Yeah. Why would, he didn't try to bring it, he spent, well, hold on. He spent three to four minutes trying to get it back or he spent three or four minutes just flying it around before he attempted to try to get it back. [13:35] Speaker 3: That would be it. Yes. He would be, flew it around. [13:38] Speaker 2: Yes. That's what I understood also. [13:39] Speaker 3: He had marginal control over it, but flew it around for three to four minutes. [13:43] Speaker 4: But went ahead and flew it anyway. Okay. [13:45] Speaker 3: He flew the battery. [13:46] Speaker 4: Yeah. Okay. [13:47] Speaker 3: Batteries. [13:48] Speaker 4: Well, I mean, okay. [13:50] Speaker 3: Now we decided to try to land it. [13:52] Speaker 4: Yep. [13:52] Speaker 3: So, we're having trouble keeping the nose up, which would explain a lot. If it's very nose heavy and you start slowing it down, that nose is going to keep falling. Keep falling, yeah. And who knows how much control throw we actually have because we didn't check that. Check it, yeah. And then. [14:07] Speaker 4: Yeah, it's not like you have a propeller moving air over the horizontal stabilizer either to help with the nose low attitude. [14:14] Speaker 2: Yeah. [14:14] Speaker 4: These are EDFs and unfortunately they require airspeed to get control authority. [14:19] Speaker 2: Yeah. [14:20] Speaker 3: So, we apparently get it low to the ground and decide to deploy the flaps for the first time. [14:26] Speaker 4: For the first time. So, in that three or four minutes that he was flying around with a nose heavy, potentially a nose heavy airplane and wacky throws, he didn't try to deploy the flaps like at altitude to see what was going on? [14:42] Speaker 3: That's the story I'm getting. Okay. And apparently when we dumped the flaps, it just. Nosedived. Pushed the nose right into the ground. [14:50] Speaker 2: Yep. And, uh, yeah. Ouch. The whole airplane is gone. The batteries. Both batteries are destroyed. It does. [15:01] Speaker 4: It was a nice looking airplane. Yeah. That makes me very sad. Well, it makes me sad for Reggie because that wasn't a cheap airplane and those batteries are not. You said that it bent the batteries and destroyed them? Yes. [15:10] Speaker 2: Yeah. He said it took out both batteries. [15:12] Speaker 4: I feel bad for Reggie. [15:12] Speaker 3: And he doesn't buy the cheap batteries. [15:13] Speaker 4: No, no. He buys good batteries. [15:15] Speaker 3: Yeah. [15:15] Speaker 4: So I feel bad for Reggie, but there's definitely lessons to be learned. [15:20] Speaker 3: So whenever you get a new aircraft, whether it be used or brand new. [15:25] Speaker 4: New to you. [15:26] Speaker 3: You need to double check your throws. Yeah. You check your throw directions. You should probably investigate any expo. [15:34] UNKNOWN: Yeah. [15:36] Speaker 3: And definitely check your center of gravity. [15:38] Speaker 4: That would be number one on my list. Like, check the CG. You always have to do that. You have to. [15:43] Speaker 3: I mean, even if I haven't flown an airplane for a while, I'll recheck the CG. Just in case I left a wrench in it or who knows what. [15:49] UNKNOWN: Yeah. [15:50] Speaker 4: Or a different battery or a different weight. Yeah. You, I was just going to say, you brought up a great point. Just because somebody flew it once before and, you know, had the locations for the batteries marked, doesn't mean they flew it with the same type of battery that you're planning on flying with, you know? [16:05] Speaker 2: And here's the thing too, I've found. I've had batteries that are, I think one was an 1800 milliamp and one was a, it was a weird one, like 19 or 2000. The one that was the 2000 milliamp hour battery was actually lighter than the 1800 milliamp hour battery. So you got to weigh your batteries too. So you know exactly what you have going in there. [16:25] Speaker 4: Well, even if you don't want to go that far, at least get them in the airplane and check the CG. Well, yeah. [16:29] Speaker 2: I mean. Yeah. Always. It's so much cheaper to check things before you crash than to try and figure out why you crash. [16:36] Speaker 3: Exactly. So that was his. In the panic mode. Yeah. Oh my God. [16:41] Speaker 4: So. Yeah. Yeah. Several things wrong with that story. [16:47] Speaker 3: I really, really apologize to Reggie about, you know, cracking on him. But I think this is a very teachable moment. [16:53] Speaker 4: Oh yeah, for sure. [16:54] Speaker 2: And I talked to him, by the way, he said it was okay for us to talk about. Okay. Cool. And Reggie, I do apologize if I got any facts wrong, but. Yeah. [17:01] Speaker 4: Feel free to correct us when this episode comes up. [17:03] Speaker 2: The guy that we are not naming said it's okay for us to talk about this. Name rhymes with Reggie. But anyway, so that was. Oh, wait a minute. That was strike number one. [17:13] Speaker 4: I was just going to say there was, you said there was multiple. [17:16] Speaker 2: So after this happened, which by the way, did we say he wasn't flying at an approved field? No, we did not. It's a given. I was going to mention that, but I didn't know if that was. [17:26] Speaker 4: Yeah. [17:26] Speaker 2: Yeah. So that was strike one. But anyway, so. [17:29] Speaker 4: Hold on though. He was flying at a location that he had previously gotten permission to fly at. [17:35] Speaker 2: Yes. [17:35] Speaker 4: So it's a place he flies at frequently. [17:39] Speaker 2: Which doesn't mean it's okay to fly there. True. I mean. No, no, no. It's not appropriate. You're right. You're right. Yes. I've flown there. Have you made a big airplane you've never flown before? Have you. Yes. Hmm. Had you checked it before you flew? [17:54] Speaker 4: Yeah, I did all that. Anyway. So. Stuff. [17:56] Speaker 2: Right after this. Oh wait, this is the same day? Same day. Oh no. This is a few minutes afterwards to try and get back to make himself feel better. His 90 millimeter Viper jet from E-Flight. [18:10] Speaker 4: E-Flight, yeah. [18:11] Speaker 2: That he has flown several times and I've seen it as a beautiful airplane. [18:14] Speaker 4: Yeah, it's a great flying airplane. [18:16] Speaker 2: From what the story I got from him is he was, he said he turned off AS3X, but I think he means he turned off safe. [18:23] Speaker 4: Yeah, I don't think you can turn off it. [18:25] Speaker 2: Yeah, I don't think you can either on that one. Um, so I think he turned safe off and then he wanted to see how it would slow down, how well it would fly slow. Um, at about 20 feet in the air. [18:39] Speaker 4: No, no. [18:41] Speaker 2: And he said, that's, he said 15 or 20 feet is how high it was. He said it stalled, dropped a wing and nose dove, nose dived, nose went right into the ground. Yeah. Uh, enough to mess that battery up too and destroy that. Oh no. Another battery? Another battery and another airplane. [18:59] Speaker 4: Six cell batteries too, right? Yeah. And the Viper 90? Not the cheap ones. Oh. [19:04] Speaker 2: So. [19:04] Speaker 3: Yeah, he went through my entire yearly battery budget one afternoon. [19:08] Speaker 2: He went through just about more than I spend in a year on airplanes in about 10 minutes. He said that was an $1,800 day of mistakes for him, for him to go buy. Well, I feel bad. [19:21] Speaker 4: I feel bad for him because, you know, that's, that's not easy to take. No. Um, but a lesson, again, it's a teachable moment, like Dave said, um, if you're going to try something new with your airplane, do it several mistakes high. And that means several mistakes such that you have time to recover from them. [19:41] Speaker 3: And the higher performance aircraft, the higher that level should be. [19:44] Speaker 4: Right. [19:45] Speaker 2: Yeah. [19:45] Speaker 3: Exactly. [19:45] Speaker 2: Because it's going to take a while to pull back out of something like that. [19:48] Speaker 4: Especially with an EDF that doesn't have instantaneous throttle response. You know, you don't have a propeller out there grabbing air. You've got a fan that takes a while to get things moving. [19:57] Speaker 2: From behind. [19:59] Speaker 4: Yeah. So, yeah, it should have been 50 to 100 feet high to try something like that. Or more than that. [20:05] Speaker 2: Yeah. Anyway, so hopefully he will replace, replace his airplanes and move on and have good luck with the next one. [20:12] Speaker 4: Well, I mean, he made, made room, I guess. Right? Oh, God. [20:16] Speaker 2: We need to send him a card. We do. Start a GoFundMe. No, I'm joking, by the way. Um, yeah. Yeah, so, a moment of silence for Reggie's airplanes. [20:26] Speaker 4: Yeah. [20:27] Speaker 2: Okay. Okay. So. Yeah. We have a few changes on the website. Okay. Yeah. I want to talk about a couple things here really quick. So, Tommy, your Vimana build log is now live. Thank you. Has been live for a little while. You did it all on your own. I did. I was proud of you for that one. [20:41] Speaker 4: Thank you very much. Turned out very good. [20:42] Speaker 2: It was fun. [20:43] Speaker 4: Uh-huh. It was fun to do the build, and it was also kind of fun to do the stuff on the website. Kind of. Well, you know, technology's not my. [20:50] Speaker 2: Well, you hit it well. Like, it looks good. You did a great job. Thank you very much. I appreciate it. Anybody that wants to go see how he built his Blue Sky Air Model. Blue Sky Air Models Vimana. Mm-hmm. Go over to the website and check it out. It's under the build log link. Yep. Anything else you want to say about it? [21:08] Speaker 4: No. I added lights, so if you're curious about what it takes to add LEDs to an airframe, that was a pretty easy one to do, so I sort of detailed it. So, if you want to learn how to do that, go check it out. Hey, while you're on the website, though. Hold on. Have you flown it yet? No, not yet. Okay. I need to. It's on my list. You still have a few. I have three or four now. Okay. [21:32] Speaker 2: Well, time's a ticket. [21:32] Speaker 4: I know. [21:33] Speaker 2: Oh, anyway, what else? [21:36] Speaker 4: Anyway, while you're checking out the build log, while you're on the website, check out some new swag we added to the swag store. [21:43] UNKNOWN: Yeah. [21:43] Speaker 2: Your wife made a few other designs and uploaded them, and they're pretty cool. [21:47] Speaker 4: And she's got more on the way. Oh, does she? Yeah. She's had a creative spurt. Yeah. It's crazy. [21:54] Speaker 2: Well, good for her. [21:54] Speaker 4: Yeah. She's the creative one. [21:56] Speaker 2: Yes, that's for sure. [21:57] Speaker 4: Are they good? Yeah, I think so. Okay. Yeah. I'm actually probably going to buy a couple when she gets them all done. [22:04] Speaker 2: Well, don't tell me now. [22:05] Speaker 4: I won't. [22:05] Speaker 2: We will figure that out when that happens. But cool. Maybe she can talk about it, because I think we're doing the wives episode, right? Yes, we are. Dave, is your wife in? I know we try it, aren't we? We try it. [22:14] Speaker 3: I'm not sure how far we got on that, but I hope so. Okay. That'd be cool. [22:17] Speaker 2: That would be cool. [22:18] Speaker 3: And we can handle it now. [22:20] Speaker 2: I know. We can do six. Thanks to our patrons. Patrons and all our- And people who buy our swag. New fun gear. That's true, too. [22:26] Speaker 4: So you buy some swag, and you help support us at the same time. [22:29] Speaker 2: All that comes into the pot and goes out in materials of microphones and whatever else. Yeah. Anyway, so the forums on our website are no more. [22:40] Speaker 4: Yeah. [22:42] Speaker 2: Yeah, it was one of those things we didn't really use a lot, and I didn't realize it, but whatever the service was that I was using for it seems to have gone under. Oopsie. I mean, like, I paid for it. Like, this is something that actually cost money. Oh. It wasn't just a free one, and they no longer- Like, the website where you go look at them trying to sell stuff and all that, it's all just gone, and- Really? I don't know what happened to it. So, those are done. Okay. [23:08] Speaker 2: It doesn't matter. We're not even going to think about that anymore. [23:11] Speaker 4: No. [23:11] Speaker 2: So we're moving on. [23:12] Speaker 4: Yes, we are. [23:13] Speaker 2: We now have a forum partially built into our main website. Right now, the only thing I have on it is just the electro-streak build, like, thing. Yeah, group, not log, because it's not a build log yet. So the plan is, for anybody who's going to be building the electro-streak with us this winter, to have a place to come kind of hang out, post pictures of what they're doing, post-progress, ask questions if they come to the spot where they're having some issues with it. I like it. [23:46] Speaker 2: And go from there. [23:48] Speaker 4: Yeah. [23:48] Speaker 2: So. One-stop shop. Yeah. You want to talk about the build log now? Or the build now? [23:54] Speaker 4: Well, I was just going to say, speaking of the electro-streak build, I have acquired [24:00] Speaker 2: stuff. [24:00] Speaker 4: Oh, have you? For my electro-streak. [24:02] Speaker 2: I have not. I have not thought that far ahead. [24:06] Speaker 4: Oh, I got it. Oh, I know you do. Dave's stuff is going to be much faster than mine, but. [24:12] Speaker 2: See, I don't want it to be fast. Like, to me, it's replacing the shiny, which is not a fast airplane. Right. It has streak in the name. Thank you. Streak. Fast. So should it be naked and running through the town square? If it flies fast, it might be naked when the cover comes off. Get away with it, yeah. [24:33] Speaker 4: But, no. So what are you guys doing, then? I'm not quite following Dave's lead, but I'm going to go kind of a mixture of speed and maneuverability. [24:43] Speaker 3: You're probably doing something in the same range versus my stupid idea. [24:47] Speaker 4: Yeah. Mine will be, it will be able to tap into both realms. It'll be able to go fast, but it will also, hopefully, if things work out, we'll be able to go very slow. [24:59] Speaker 2: Okay. [25:01] Speaker 3: And mine, I found out, is the electric motor that I'm using. It can be substituted for a 40-size two-stroke. [25:08] Speaker 2: Oh, dear. That's a tiny plane for a 40-size motor. [25:13] Speaker 3: Yeah. It's in the 800-watt range. So, yeah. [25:17] Speaker 2: So what are you guys doing for a battery? [25:19] Speaker 3: Like, do you have an idea yet? 4-cell, 18 or 2200. 4-cell. [25:24] Speaker 4: That's what I was planning on using. Okay. Well, I was planning on 3-cell. Actually, I think mine's a 2200, but it's batteries that I have. [25:31] Speaker 3: Truth be known, I'm essentially duplicating the power system out of my Durafly Excalibur Oh, dear. Warm liner. [25:38] Speaker 4: That is going to be fast. [25:39] Speaker 2: Oh, my God. Okay. Well, so that'll be interesting, then, to see the differences in builds, because mine will be simple? [25:46] Speaker 3: I guarantee you mine will be the heaviest one, because there will be fully sheeted wing and fiberglass. Some carbon fiber, some fiberglass. Oh, dear. Or rods. [25:55] Speaker 2: Well, you're going to need it. [25:56] Speaker 3: So it's going to be the heaviest of the batch, I guarantee it. [25:59] Speaker 2: Yeah. [26:00] Speaker 3: Yeah. But I don't want it coming apart, either. I've had too many wings come apart lately. Yeah. [26:05] Speaker 2: That does seem to be a theme with you, so we'll see how that goes. That wasn't very nice. Sorry. [26:13] Speaker 3: Oh, I earned every bit of that, so. [26:16] Speaker 2: Am I wrong, though? I mean, that's the thing. I don't say things that are incorrect. But anyway, so the build law, like, there's a… There's a page on the website now. Go click on the link at the top of the website, rcplanelab.com. [26:30] Speaker 3: Yeah. [26:30] Speaker 2: Look at it. And then there's also instructions on… Well, not instructions, but… [26:35] Speaker 4: Plans. [26:36] Speaker 2: Well, the plans are listed there. There's a link to the plans on Outer Zone. And then we're also, if anybody wants to have a short kit cut, we're going to be cutting short kits. All the information is on the website. You have until December 23rd… To order. To order. Pretty much to tell us you want it. Yeah, the clock's ticking. Only because… So, my plan is to have this be, obviously, a winter build for 2023. So, winter starts at the end of December and ends on… [27:03] Speaker 2: I don't have it written down, but it's March 1st-ish? March 20th, maybe? Yeah, it's usually that. So, the plan would be to have that built in those three months. And if we have the orders in from however many people want it, by the 23rd, that'll give me the week after Christmas to get them cut and shipped out. And then everybody can start building by, hopefully, the first week in January. [27:25] Speaker 4: And the kit is basically just going to be… Short kit. Yeah, short. [27:29] Speaker 2: Very short. It's going to be ribs and formers. [27:31] Speaker 4: That's it. [27:31] Speaker 2: Well, not only that. Ribs, formers, and then a full set of plans. Right. Right. So, I'll print a set of plans. That way, you have a full set of plans on it. And then that way, we can all be working off the same material. Sheet of music. [27:45] Speaker 4: Yeah. Yeah. I like it. It's going to be fun. I haven't built anything yet. I'm just acquiring stuff to get ready. [27:50] Speaker 2: Well, that's… I know. I haven't cut you anything yet. [27:52] Speaker 3: So, I bought my motor, and I have a 130-amp speed control that was left over from a jet project. It's a little overkill for that. It only needs 80 amps, but… [28:03] Speaker 2: 130… Oh, my God. [28:04] Speaker 4: This is going to be… [28:05] Speaker 2: Hey, I already owned it. That's true. Yeah. I guess it costs you less than buying anything new. [28:09] Speaker 4: You're going like an 11.7, right? On the prop? [28:12] Speaker 2: 13.8. [28:13] Speaker 4: 13.8. That's right. [28:14] Speaker 3: Carbon fiber folder. Yeah. [28:15] Speaker 4: Mine's going to be 11.6 and a half, because that's what I could get from Aeronaut. I haven't even looked that far ahead. Or Grobner. [28:22] Speaker 3: We'll see how it amps out, but I might go down to a 12.6 on it, but 13.8 is what the Excalibur uses, so… And I have an extra Excalibur propeller. [28:32] Speaker 2: Nice. [28:33] UNKNOWN: You're a cute guy. [28:36] Speaker 2: You know, I actually like this, though, because we're all doing something different. Yeah. It's not going to be the exact same airplane. Right. Mine is slow and boring. [28:43] Speaker 4: I've already got the colors picked out for mine, Dave. [28:45] Speaker 2: I haven't thought about it. There's going to be a lot of fluorescent on mine, too. [28:49] Speaker 4: Of course there is. [28:50] Speaker 3: I'm thinking a Navy scheme on mine. You're not lightning ears, though, are you? No. I am. [28:56] Speaker 2: You are, and so am I. [28:58] Speaker 3: No, because I'll have a fully sheeted wing, so… [29:01] Speaker 2: So you just need more lights, then, is all that means. Yeah, it'll show right through that 16th. [29:06] Speaker 3: Lightning holes. Literally lightning. [29:08] Speaker 2: I was going to say, shaped like a lightning bolt. [29:10] Speaker 4: Yeah, wouldn't that be cool? [29:11] Speaker 2: No, not really. [29:12] Speaker 4: All right, so anyway, yeah, I'm excited about it. I can't wait to get started. [29:15] Speaker 2: Yeah, so come January, we'll all be able to sit down and start on it once the cold weather hits and snow comes and we have nothing else to do. [29:24] Speaker 3: Right? My last crash shows this weekend, so… [29:28] Speaker 4: Nice. Dave will be… [29:30] Speaker 2: Back to doing stuff. Back to airplane mode. I've still got a few things I want to finish before I start on that, and that should give me enough time to kind of clear my bench off and move on. So, cool. Cool. We also need to talk about, we all got new airplanes since the last time we sat down. Oh, yeah, we did. I know, I was trying to figure out… It's been a while. It has. [29:50] Speaker 2: So I was trying to figure out what we have acquired, let's put it that way, in the time frame since we have recorded, and I think the first two, I think… [30:00] Speaker 4: I'm sorry. [30:01] Speaker 2: Two. I was thinking out loud. Yes, I think you're two. I think I'm two. Dave is one. But we also went up to Brian's and picked up something for your brother. Yeah, Daniel is plus one. Yeah. After being minus one. [30:13] Speaker 3: Yeah, he was down one from the… [30:14] Speaker 2: I think you guys heard about it. Yeah, we talked about the crash, the wing folding incident. So what did you get him? Do you know? We don't know what it is. That's why I said do you know. [30:24] Speaker 3: It is another generic, it looks to be a scratch-built stick-like airplane. It has an older Zenoa G38 on the nose. It's almost identical to his old airplane. In fact, he thought I bought another one just like it when he came to get it out of the truck. [30:41] Speaker 2: Cool. Except this one has really cool big wheels on it. [30:46] Speaker 3: It's got the Dubro inflatable Tundra tires on it. [30:49] Speaker 2: Have you seen it? Have you seen it? Yeah, you've seen it. Aren't those nice and huge? They are big ones. I mean, they are. Yeah. I like big tires. So I really like that airplane. But it's weird, like, it's almost not, it's not like a normal airfoil. [31:03] Speaker 3: It's a diamond-shaped airfoil. [31:05] Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah, I noticed that too. [31:06] Speaker 4: It is kind of, I'm not. [31:08] Speaker 3: It's not a D-tube wing. [31:10] Speaker 4: Yeah, I've not seen an airfoil like that before. I would like to see it fly, but we haven't yet. [31:15] Speaker 3: We haven't yet, because the motor all of a sudden decided to get a little cranky. And his electric starter wouldn't spin it over. Yeah. [31:22] Speaker 2: So this is what we were talking about beforehand. [31:23] Speaker 3: And, um, it tried really, really hard with us hand flipping it, but we just never could get it to it. It popped and cracked several times. [31:31] Speaker 2: And you could get it to fire once, but it just would not continue. Like, you could prime it, get it all primed up and ready, and then you get one pop, and then that's all you would get. [31:40] Speaker 3: And then it backfired and knocked the prop extension loose, and so, well, that's it. [31:46] Speaker 2: We're done for the day. [31:46] Speaker 3: Yeah. Plus, my arm was killing me. [31:48] Speaker 2: I told you I would have tried. [31:49] Speaker 3: I need to borrow my starter. Uh, we're going to go up to Brian's and get a Dynatron. [31:54] Speaker 4: Oh, well, that's what I have. You can borrow that if you need to in the interim. [31:57] Speaker 3: Yeah. He's trying to start it with a Havico. Yeah. It just did not have the umph. It just couldn't do it. My solvent barely did it, and the Havico's just not quite there. Yeah. Yeah. [32:08] Speaker 2: And of course, he didn't bring any tools with you, and neither did I. No, because that's flying electric. Yeah. Right. [32:13] Speaker 3: And he pulls up in his giant trailer. [32:15] Speaker 2: Which, with no tools. With no tools. [32:17] Speaker 4: With no tools. I mean. Daniel, come on. What a tool. Put some tools in that trailer, and just leave them in there. [32:23] Speaker 2: I mean, right. Like, seriously, we need to have a list made for him, I guess. Because he said he always thinks about stuff when he's at the field, but never remembers when he gets home to throw it in there with him. But anyway. So yeah, that didn't get flown. But that was a new airplane to the group. Not really the group, but you know, within our flying group. I like that. The C-O-R-P-E-S. Oh, I was thinking C-O-R-E. Like the core. No, I like it. By together. Core. [32:53] Speaker 2: I don't know how I feel about that. We're going to have to think on that one for a while. Okay. It wasn't corpse. That would be P-S-E. [33:03] Speaker 4: P-S-E. [33:04] Speaker 2: Okay. So the airplane I got when we went up, I'm so happy. [33:11] Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean, you've only been talking about it for months since you first saw it. I mean, way to rain on my parade. [33:19] Speaker 2: That was just a game. So I got my Telemaster, okay? Thank you very much. It's huge. It is very big. It failed the expedition. It barely fit in the expedition. I don't think, Tommy, because this is the time that we went up without you. [33:32] Speaker 4: Yeah. [33:32] Speaker 2: I don't remember what you were doing. You were visiting St. Louis. Right. I've only been up there once recently without you. Recently. I don't think it would have fit in the back of your car. Oh, absolutely not. So I'm glad I got it when Dave and I went up. But anyway, so it's a 12-foot Telemaster. It's an older aerotech. Hold on. I got it written down. What was that? Because I never remember this. Aerocraft. And it came with one page of the plans. [34:01] Speaker 2: Which, I guess that's better than nothing, because that told me what it was. Yeah. I cannot believe, though. So it's a 12-foot wingspan. Okay? It actually says on the plans that it's supposed to be, it's supposed to fly with a G23. Wow. That's tiny. [34:16] Speaker 4: I mean, we have a 20 cc on ours, and it's only an 8-foot, right? Is it? I think it's 8. [34:24] Speaker 2: Right around 8-foot, yeah. [34:26] Speaker 4: A G23? [34:27] Speaker 2: That's what it says on the plan, Dave? Yeah, it'll fly on that. Really? That's amazing to me. [34:33] Speaker 4: That is amazing. [34:33] Speaker 2: And the all-up weight is supposed to be 22 pounds. [34:37] Speaker 4: Well, there's hope for the Telemaster, then. That's all. Or the trimotor, excuse me. [34:41] Speaker 3: Yeah. Because my D7 weighs 28 pounds and flies on a 26. [34:46] Speaker 4: Really? Yeah. That's a lot of wing. [34:49] Speaker 3: It's a lot of wing, but that's 28 pounds. [34:51] Speaker 4: I mean, it's a lot of wing on this Telemaster. Yeah, it's 12-foot. Plus, it's a lifting stab, right? [34:57] Speaker 2: Yeah, it's got the lifting stab on it, too. [34:59] Speaker 3: It's not going to be a speed demon on a 23. [35:00] Speaker 2: I don't want to be. Well, I'm not putting a 23 on it. I'm putting the Cheetah 42 or whatever that was. Yes. I think. I mean, that's… No, I mean, I don't think I'm going to buy anything special for it. So, that's probably what will be going on there. But it's a winter project. [35:16] Speaker 4: Can you say glider tow? Well, it might need a bigger motor for that, don't you think? Well, that 42 would be probably plenty. Okay. I bet. We'll have to try. Yeah. [35:25] Speaker 2: I'm sure we'll figure something out. That would be a great airplane for that. [35:29] Speaker 4: Yeah. [35:30] Speaker 2: So, that was one of my cool ones that I'm super excited for. But the same weekend that we went up to Brian's… Like I said, this has been a while ago. I don't remember when it was or what. Yeah. Why you were down in St. Louis. But my… [35:44] Speaker 4: You're right. Oh, it was Halloween. Yeah. Has it been that long? Well, it was before Halloween, actually. Oh, my goodness. It was like the weekend before Halloween. Because, yeah, Laurie and I were down there for a run. [35:52] Speaker 2: Yeah. A race. Okay. So, that weekend was the weekend you were gone. And you were kind of BH about me going to the hobby shop without you. BH. Understandably… [36:05] Speaker 4: You can't say butt hurt? I don't know, can we? [36:07] Speaker 2: I guess you just did. I mean, there's no… [36:09] Speaker 4: You were a little upset. I was playing it up. [36:12] Speaker 2: I know. I know you were. And that's fine. Because I know if it really bothered you, I wouldn't have gone. But anyway, so you had talked about wanting the Voodoo Mustang. I know. The next one that just came out. Yes. And so I went up there and I was planning on buying that at the same time as I got this other airplane. And I thought, you know what? Tommy didn't get to come up here with us, so I will wait until the next time we're up here. [36:37] Speaker 2: And I will buy one at the same time as he does. So, I was proud of myself. I'm like, you know what? That's a very, like, a very introspective thing to think of. That's very thoughtful of me. It cracks me up. To not do, you know, to not… That's something we could have together on that. And I tell you what, it wasn't an hour after we were on our way home and left Brian's shop, you sent me a picture of a Voodoo Mustang. Yeah. [37:06] Speaker 2: That you stopped at the hobby shop down in St. Louis and picked up. I did. And I was like, you son of a gun. [37:11] Speaker 4: If I had known that you wanted that to be a thing, I would have waited. [37:14] Speaker 2: I know. And it was not something that I really wanted it to be a thing, but I just thought, you know what? My friend is upset I did not go without him. So, I'm going to wait. But anyway, I think I actually, by the way, I think I waited long enough to where I don't know if I'm actually going to get one. [37:29] Speaker 4: Oh, okay. So, we'll see. After seeing what I did to mine, anyway. [37:32] Speaker 2: Well, let's talk about that. We'll get to that. How was your experience? [37:35] Speaker 4: So, two new airplanes for you then? [37:37] Speaker 2: Yeah. [37:38] Speaker 4: So, yeah. [37:39] Speaker 2: Well, no. [37:39] Speaker 4: Just one so far. Well, did you want to talk? No. [37:43] Speaker 2: Well, I'm trying to stay in somewhat of an order so I don't mess up my… Oh, okay. So, yeah. [37:46] Speaker 4: The weekend that you guys went up there, I bought number one new airplane recently for me. The Voodoo Mustang. I love it. Yeah. However, it's a small airplane and I'm getting older. My depth perception is not exactly what it used to be. [38:06] Speaker 2: Well, where were you flying this? [38:07] Speaker 4: Well, I was flying it at the school because it's small and they have a big parking lot that's easy to take off and land and there's plenty of room. Except for where I chose to fly it. And I was channeling, I guess, my inner Reggie probably flying in a spot I shouldn't. But anyway… There's a difference, though. The plane flies beautifully. The AS3X does its thing and you can turn off the safe, which, of course, I did. Probably two and a half minutes in. [38:41] Speaker 4: Everything's going great. You know, I'm loving it. It looks cool in the sky. It's fast and it'll slow down real nice, too. So, yeah, I'm like, okay, I'm about two and a half minutes in here. I'm going to go ahead and practice a couple of approaches just to get a feel for, you know, what it's going to take to land this thing. Smart move, by the way. [39:01] Speaker 2: Just saying. [39:02] Speaker 4: Because I got plenty of battery left if I need to go around a few times, you know. You're okay. So, yeah, I'm, you know, probably approach number three or so. And I'm getting it way out there, right? Because I want to, you know, I want a nice, pretty landing. And, yeah, apparently it was so far out that I was misjudging the distance and I ran in. I actually flew it directly into the corner, like the edge, the corner of a utility shed right there on the school property. [39:30] Speaker 2: Yeah, it was awesome. That's so bad. Did it make like a dong or like a gong noise? [39:37] Speaker 4: Well, it was a wooden shed, not a steel shed. [39:40] Speaker 2: Oh, see, this is the first time I'm hearing of that. In my head, I just had like a metal shed. [39:45] Speaker 4: No, it was more like a loud crack. [39:48] Speaker 2: Oh, those were the worst noises. Yeah, it was loud. [39:52] Speaker 4: And Lori was with me, thank goodness. I had a witness to tell on me. Um, and we, our reaction when it happened, we both did exactly the same thing. And I can't repeat what we said, but it was like, oh, darn. And then darn. [40:10] Speaker 2: Yeah. [40:10] Speaker 4: Um, cause it was like just out of nowhere. I thought I was probably 15 feet, 20 feet in front of this thing and didn't even realize I was as close as I was to that shed. So, um, yeah, broke the, broke the wing. I think it was the, it broke the right wing panel completely off the airframe clean, like a nice clean break. Uh, so I went home, epoxied it back on and, uh, rebalanced it and everything was fine. I flew it again, uh, about a half hour later. [40:40] Speaker 3: The beauty of foam. [40:42] Speaker 4: Yeah. That is fine. And you can hardly tell like the, the, the, yeah. [40:46] Speaker 2: No, I've seen the repair in it. Yeah, you're right. It does not look like it's been crashed. Yeah. [40:50] Speaker 4: So I was really lucky in that regard that it didn't crash. [40:53] Speaker 2: It was a clean break. [40:54] Speaker 4: It hit the wing and not the nose. Yeah, that would have changed a lot. [40:58] Speaker 2: Yeah, if it hit the nose, yeah, that would probably have required a new sludge. Yeah. [41:04] Speaker 4: But yeah, um, it flies awesome. So if anybody out there is, you know, wants a review of one, I would give it raving reviews. [41:10] Speaker 2: Just, uh, don't misjudge your distance if you're flying near a utility shed. What battery does that take? I don't remember. Like I knew a month ago, but I don't remember now. [41:23] Speaker 4: Gosh, I can't remember. It's like a 3S800, I think. [41:26] Speaker 2: So that one will run on 2S or 3S, right? I believe so. Okay. [41:30] Speaker 3: Right. Because the old one was on 2S and the new speedier version is on the 3S. Yeah, gotcha. But it's still capable of the 2. [41:34] Speaker 4: Yeah, because this is, go on. I bought two of the, uh, Spectrum, uh, 3S800s, I believe they were. So, um. 3S800? I think so. I think that's what it takes. [41:46] Speaker 2: Well, because I've got the 3S850. Maybe that's what they are. But those are good size batteries. That seems pretty huge. [41:52] Speaker 4: These are pretty good size. Really? Mm-hmm. [41:54] Speaker 2: Yeah, they fit flat, like right in front of the wing leading edge underneath. They've got a trap door thing that pops up. Sure, it's not like a 450 or something? No, I'm not sure. [42:05] Speaker 4: It might be a 450. Whatever it takes, I bought two of them. [42:07] Speaker 2: I just can't imagine. Like, I know the size of the batteries I'm thinking of, the 850s, and there is no way that would ever be able to fit into UMX. [42:15] Speaker 4: Well, maybe they're 450s, then. [42:17] Speaker 2: I don't know. I say that, but I could be wrong, too. Anyway. But it flies fantastic. Yeah. I still haven't seen that fly in person yet. I would like to do that. You should fly it. It's actually a lot of fun to fly. Well, it's been crashed already, so I can't hurt it anymore, can I? Exactly. [42:32] Speaker 4: So, anyway, that was my new airplane purchase the weekend you got your Telemaster. [42:36] Speaker 2: And that was a good purchase. I mean, I'm really glad you got one, because I knew you were excited for it. Yeah. [42:43] Speaker 4: I can't wait to fly it again as soon as we get some flying weather. [42:45] Speaker 2: We had some good flying weather last weekend when you were out of town. But that's okay. So, we also, by the way, did have some flying time in that, and you guys flew your tubs together. [42:57] Speaker 3: Yeah, in the hour and a half we had between rain showers. Yeah. That was fun, actually. It was a good day, though. It takes half an hour to put the darn thing together. [43:03] Speaker 4: So, what's funny about them is they seem to fly exactly the same speed no matter where you have the throttle set. Yeah. [43:11] Speaker 3: Yeah. It takes off at 20. It flies around at 20. It lands at 20. [43:16] Speaker 4: Yeah. They're a blast to fly, and they look cool together. [43:19] Speaker 3: What gets me is they're so horribly differently powered, yet the performance is almost identical. [43:25] Speaker 4: Yeah. [43:25] Speaker 2: Okay. So, what do you have in yours versus what Dave has in his? [43:28] Speaker 4: So, mine has the OS-120 Gemini 2 twin, so it's a four-stroke nitro motor. [43:37] Speaker 3: And a Zenoa G26 magneto motor. [43:40] Speaker 4: Yeah. Yeah. So, really, Dave's should be overpowered, and mine is, I would consider, marginal, but they fly almost identically. [43:49] Speaker 3: I mean, wide open throttle, they're identical. It's identical. [43:52] Speaker 4: Yeah. [43:53] Speaker 2: It's, and they, I will admit, Dave, I like the looks of yours better, because yours is the L4. [43:59] Speaker 3: Mm-hmm. [44:00] Speaker 2: But it sounds like poop. Oh, mine sounds like, yeah. After listening to Tommy's. I mean, I'm sorry. Yours has the sound beat. I mean, that sounds really good. [44:09] Speaker 3: What I think is a difference, though, is mine will climb much faster. Oh, yeah. [44:13] Speaker 4: Oh, for sure. [44:14] Speaker 3: But horizontal speed, they're, they're identical. Yeah. [44:17] Speaker 4: At wide open throttle, I couldn't catch you, and you couldn't catch me. [44:20] Speaker 3: But the sound is dramatically different. [44:23] Speaker 4: Oh, yeah. So, good, they're a lot of fun to fly together. Yeah, I'm glad we got to do that. [44:29] Speaker 3: Yeah, I got to fly in the mist. Yeah. Very scale-like. We had rainwater running back with the wings. [44:34] Speaker 4: Mm-hmm. There was actually, like, inside the canopy on mine. Mine did stay dry, but. No, mine didn't. Mine was wet on the inside. It was weird. That is kind of weird, I want to call it that. Yeah, a leak in the windshield somewhere. [44:46] Speaker 2: Well, I mean, it's a cub. What do you expect? Well, true. What else? [44:53] Speaker 4: Let's see. [44:53] Speaker 2: We're talking about new airplanes. Oh, we went, we went to a swap meet. So. Round two of the airplane. There's been so much time since, that's the problem with not recording as often as we used to. Yeah. So, we went to the, or the Decatur Aero Commander, is that what it is? Mm-hmm. The Decatur, Illinois Aero Commander's swap meet. Mm-hmm. Same one we went to last year. [45:13] Speaker 4: Mm-hmm. [45:14] Speaker 2: And we told each other we weren't buying anything. Like, specifically, we took my car because we weren't buying anything big. [45:21] Speaker 4: Well, actually, yeah, we were getting ready for Thanksgiving, and we were actually going to come home in your car loaded with groceries. [45:27] Speaker 2: Yes, that was our day. So, there was no. That was our Friendsgiving day. Yeah. And we lazed out and forgot to go to the store first, so I just ended up doing the Walmart pickup in Decatur. Worked out nice. And I didn't get to go. I had to teach class. Yes, I know. Well, that's on you, not me. Sorry. But anyway, so, yes, we went, said we weren't going to buy any airplanes, and we both lied. [45:53] Speaker 4: We did. Well, to be fair. To be fair. To be fair. [45:57] UNKNOWN: To be fair. [45:58] Speaker 4: I wasn't going to buy anything. Like, period. I was just going basically to keep you company because you said you wanted someone to go with you. [46:05] Speaker 2: Yeah. [46:05] Speaker 4: And had it not been for Bob showing up and, you know, making the day, so to speak, I, yeah, I wouldn't have, I wouldn't have bought anything. [46:14] Speaker 2: But you still would have had money. Well, yeah. Because you got a heck of a deal on what you got. What'd you get? [46:19] Speaker 4: Well, I bought, well, it's very similar to, well, it's identical to yours, the E-Flight L4 Grasshopper. Grasshopper. The tiny, tiny one. The tiny, tiny one, yeah. [46:29] Speaker 2: $28. [46:30] Speaker 4: $25. 38-inch wingspan, I think. Something like that. [46:33] Speaker 2: Yeah, you got a deal. Yeah, I think so. That was receiver, too? [46:36] Speaker 4: Yeah, the receiver. Yeah, I thought everything was at $25. Yep. Just had to buy batteries. Yeah. So I bought that for $25. Mm-hmm. And I bought the motor that I'm going to put in my electric streak there for $10. Oh, I forgot that's where you got that. Yeah. Yep. Not quite what Dave got, but it's going to be kind of in between the two of yours, I think. [46:56] Speaker 2: Yeah. Especially on four sides. It'll be good. But anyway, so I had no plans on buying anything, but there was a guy there that had the E-Flight F-18 Hornet. Now, this is the older version of it. It's the 80-millimeter EDF, but it's not the Blue Angels version that's out now. It's the one, I don't remember what it was called before, like the Bats Marines version or something like that. A heck of a nice-looking plane. It really does not look like it's been flown much. If at all. [47:30] Speaker 2: At all. Yeah. Because there's no scarring or scuffing anywhere on it. I mean, like normally you'd expect something. Some kind of rash. [47:37] Speaker 3: Yeah. My stuff has more damage for it except for flown. Yeah. Well, yeah. Right. I mean, it's in really good shape. [47:42] Speaker 4: No, this one's in really, really good shape. [47:44] Speaker 2: Yeah, I was excited for you. What annoys me is the fact that I will be spending the same amount of money for batteries as I did for that airplane. [47:55] Speaker 4: Yeah. [47:56] Speaker 2: That hurts. [47:57] Speaker 4: But you got a good deal on the airplane, I think. [47:58] Speaker 2: I know. But had I not gotten a good deal on the airplane, I wouldn't have bought it and not had to buy batteries. Well, there's that. But Dave was kind enough to loan me one of his. [48:08] Speaker 4: Oh, did you get it all set up? Well, somewhat. [48:10] Speaker 2: Like I played, I got the gears to go up and down and saw how all that worked. It's actually pretty cool. I really like it. And it actually sounds decent. It doesn't sound like a normal. Hairdryer? Crappy sounding idiot. Yeah. Like I don't know what the difference is, but it's a pretty cool airplane. I'm happy with it. I can't wait to see it fly. I'm nervous. I don't want to. I get that. Reggie this one up. You know what I mean? [48:35] Speaker 3: I mean, like. Sorry, Reggie. We've got to send Reggie a card. We're really. [48:39] Speaker 4: Condolences. Yeah. [48:41] Speaker 2: But no, I mean, it's a nice looking airplane. It's my first EDF, like true EDF. Like I have the A10, which is the EDF, but it's a UMX. I really don't count that, you know. So we'll see how it goes. [48:52] Speaker 4: No, I'm really excited for you. I can't wait to see it fly. [48:54] Speaker 2: I don't plan on buying any batteries till spring because it's cold. Because they'll just sit. And they're just going to sit until I can fly anything anyway. So this will be when I'll have time to thoroughly go over. You know, check CG. [49:07] Speaker 4: Check control throws. [49:08] Speaker 2: Check all the stuff on it before I try and fly it. [49:11] Speaker 4: Check the expo. [49:12] Speaker 2: Make sure it's not set some walking. Yeah, like 100% or 80% or anything like that. So, yeah. [49:19] Speaker 3: I went a complete different direction than power plants. You did? I did. Rocket. You got yourself a new airplane. Dude. Yeah. [49:28] Speaker 4: This thing is cool. [49:30] Speaker 3: All right. So we got the little Durafly ME-163 rocket plane V2. [49:36] Speaker 2: Mm-hmm. [49:36] Speaker 3: I'm going to tell you, it is a rock solid airplane. Anybody wants a little smile maker, get yourself one of these things. [49:46] Speaker 4: I'll tell you what I like about it is you don't have to hand launch the thing. No. It has the wheels. That's what I like about it. And it falls off nicely. [49:54] Speaker 2: Yeah. I expected it to get a couple feet in the air before they fell off. But it just, as soon as that thing comes up, those wheels just come out of the bottom. They just tumble down. That's awesome. They might get like six inches in the air maybe. If not even, I don't think. That's awesome. [50:08] Speaker 4: And that's, like I said, that's, I would fly that V900 of mine more often with four cells if it wasn't such a pain in the butt to launch in. [50:17] Speaker 2: There's got to be something that can be done with that, but I don't know what. Turn safe on. Do you, yeah, you don't have that on there, do you? [50:25] Speaker 4: No, it does. [50:26] Speaker 2: No, but I mean, you don't have it on there. No, I have it on. Oh, you do? I can toggle it off and on. [50:32] Speaker 4: Oh, okay. [50:32] Speaker 2: I thought you bound it to where it wasn't even on. [50:34] Speaker 4: I just always have it off. [50:35] Speaker 3: Oh. [50:36] Speaker 4: Well, yeah. [50:36] Speaker 3: But I've read it. Try that for launching it. Right. I do that with my little MIG. I leave the safe on. As soon as it stabilizes and fly it immediately, flip it off. Yeah. [50:44] Speaker 4: But you don't need that with this Comet. [50:47] Speaker 3: No, you don't. [50:48] Speaker 4: That is awesome. [50:50] Speaker 3: And the only thing I've done to it is I took and changed the propeller out. I wasn't real crazy about the Durafly plastic propeller that was on there, especially the RPMs that's going to be cranking. And so I replaced those with APC-6-4s. And I tell you, literally, it's a rocket ship, even without the rocket. [51:08] Speaker 4: But wait. Yeah. Hold on. There's more. It's literally a rocket ship. Yeah. [51:13] Speaker 3: Because it uses, in the tail, you can put an Estes C-6-0 rocket engine. That's awesome. It is so cool. [51:21] Speaker 2: It leaves a nice streak behind him when you do it. That's the exact sound it makes, as a matter of fact. [51:28] Speaker 4: So you got to see it. You guys went and flew without me, and I didn't get to see it. [51:33] Speaker 2: I kind of got to see it. Because I was trying to take video of it with our camera, and that is useless. Like, I mean, you can't. It's so fast. [51:41] Speaker 3: Yeah, it's so fast. I'm trying to zoom in on it. Like, I couldn't keep it in. And those were half-speed passes. [51:46] Speaker 2: Yeah. I can't imagine. [51:47] Speaker 3: I can't wait to see it. Like, actually. It's a blast to fly. It is super solid. It doesn't do anything weird. Hobby King? Durafly through via Hobby King. Yeah. That's awesome. Oh, beautiful flyer. [52:01] Speaker 2: But what's neat is you ignite the rocket motor from the transmitter. I mean, like, it all does that. But the rocket motor lasts about three seconds or so. [52:14] Speaker 3: I actually went and looked it up on the Estes website. 1.8 seconds. [52:18] Speaker 2: Oh, 1.8 seconds. And each one is $3. So that gets him a grand total of $1.50-ish per second. Right. Wow. [52:27] Speaker 3: And it really doesn't change the speed of the plane very much. No, but it looks and sounds cool. [52:32] Speaker 4: So Daniel got a video of it. Yes. He was able to. He put that on Discord and I watched it and listened to it. [52:39] Speaker 2: Sounds cool. Yeah, it does. [52:41] Speaker 4: But it almost looks like it needs more rocket motor. Because it didn't, like, when, it's hard to tell in cell phone, you know, video. But when the rocket lit off, it didn't seem like it accelerated, really. [52:52] Speaker 3: It really doesn't change the speed much. [52:54] Speaker 4: Sure looks cool, though. Yeah. It sounds cool. [52:57] Speaker 3: And it lands super easy. It slows way down. For an airplane that'll go over 100 mile an hour without the rocket. [53:03] Speaker 4: Yeah. [53:04] Speaker 3: It slows way down to a walking speed. And my thing I found out about it, it doesn't like to come in at speed. You really do need to slow it down. It doesn't slide very well on its belly. It gets all out of whack pretty quick. [53:15] Speaker 2: Yeah. It didn't flip over, but it didn't, like. It wasn't pretty. Yeah. [53:19] Speaker 3: It was not one to be proud of. Still coming in. Real nice and slow. Nose high. Just drag the tail. I just drag the tail wheel on the ground until it just kind of belly flops in. It goes, what, six, eight inches, and that's it? [53:31] Speaker 2: Yeah. [53:31] Speaker 3: That's about all. [53:32] Speaker 2: Almost looks like it's going to try and flip over, but doesn't quite make it over that preface. Well, it's kind of got that egg shape to it. [53:39] Speaker 4: Yeah. That's awesome. [53:41] Speaker 3: Yeah. I can't believe how nice it flies. I'm about ready to buy another one just so I have a spare, because I know I'll do something stupid to it. [53:50] Speaker 2: Well, you got to at least use the amount of rocket motors you already own in it for something dumb happens to it. Yeah. [53:56] Speaker 3: I had 18 rocket motors, and I've used two, so. Yeah. [54:00] Speaker 2: Well, you got to say some so Tommy can see it. Yeah, I got to see this thing. And then he's going to take donations for each flight. Sir Dave, here's a buck. Can I push the button? Yes, you can flip the switch. That's awesome. That is. No, it's a nice looking airplane. So I was excited to see that fly. I took a couple airplanes out that same day to fly. I took my 600 millimeter Ultrix and my UMX A10. I did not have a lot of luck with the Ultrix. [54:30] Speaker 4: Uh-oh. [54:31] Speaker 2: Yeah. I had a motor mount break mid-flight. It was weird. [54:35] Speaker 4: What? [54:35] Speaker 2: Yeah, apparently they're really cheap and chintzy on that thing. And after looking at them, they look really cheap and chintzy on that thing. It looks very easy to replace. Like, it was weird because I was really, like, getting up pretty high and doing the pancake thing for, like, a long time. Like, a long, long time. Okay. And so I don't know if that, like. I mean, what else would you be doing with it? I mean, really, that's about. That's what that thing. That's what it does. [55:00] Speaker 2: It's made for. So I don't know if that overstressed it or what. But then I was just making a couple, you know, just normal circuits. And it was kind of coming, like, towards me, like, almost right in front. And all of a sudden, I heard, like, a thunk. I mean, I don't even know how to describe it. Something to where you knew something was wrong. So I immediately went down to no throttle and then slowly tried to, you know, throttle it back up a little bit. [55:24] Speaker 2: And it just, you kept hearing, like, a thug. So you didn't panic? [55:26] Speaker 3: No, I didn't panic. Well, at first, I did a little bit. [55:28] Speaker 2: Okay. I was like, oh, you know, there's a little pucker factor. Oh, darn. Um, but then I calmed myself down because that thing really floats so well. It really does. Um, and so I originally was kind of, like, trying to make it come right back to me and get it on the ground. But I was like, no, it's got enough altitude. It's got enough, you know, glide in it. So I was able to go down a little bit farther and bring it around. And once you calm down, it works well. [55:54] Speaker 2: And it landed maybe five, ten feet away from me to where I didn't have to walk all that far. But yeah, walking out, the left, no, the right motor was just kind of cattywampus sitting outside in the cell. Yeah. So back when we first started talking about these, I don't know if you remember or not, we got an email from Rick Maddox. He actually. [56:15] Speaker 4: Oh, the 3D. Yeah. [56:16] Speaker 2: Yeah. So he actually said you should print a few of these and keep them on hand. So I don't know if this is a well-known thing, because I think he said they used to try to, like, combat those. Oh, dear. So I kind of assume that maybe that's why they broke more often. Yeah. [56:31] Speaker 4: But I mean, if yours flew or broke, just flying it around. [56:35] Speaker 2: Yeah, straight line. I mean, like I said, I don't know if it was weakened by something else. But so he sent me the link to the Thingiverse file that he designed and posted on Thingiverse. Nice. So I've downloaded it, and I have got it actually, like, ready to print, but I haven't printed it yet. So I'm going to go ahead and do, I think, six of those, since Dave has one, and he can have his own spares if he needs them. [57:00] Speaker 3: Are they left and rights, or are they identical left? [57:02] Speaker 2: They're identical, from what I can tell on them. So it should be an easy… Like I said, if you look at it, there's four small screws that hold the motor on. And then there's two, I haven't taken them apart, so I don't know how long they are, but two screws that you get to from the bottom of the nacelle, you can actually reach through it with a screwdriver that takes the actual motor mount out of the airplane itself. Okay. So it's an easy, easy change. [57:26] Speaker 2: It's just, I didn't like that I had to do that. [57:29] Speaker 4: Yeah. But that's okay. [57:32] Speaker 2: We'll get it fixed. We'll get it flown again, and after I get those printed, and thank you, Rick, by the way, for sending us the link to the files on that. [57:39] Speaker 4: I still need to get one of those, I guess, one of these days. [57:41] Speaker 2: Really? I don't think you will, because I sent you the link when they were on sale, $50 off, and you're just like, uh. I mean, uh. I had other priorities. Uh. Is that what it was? Exactly how I took it. You're like, uh. All right. I don't know. Maybe I'll get one. You should. Next time they go on sale. They probably never will again, because I'm guessing they'll be done selling them by next year, because they don't keep stuff in stock very long. That's true. That's true. [58:08] Speaker 2: They move on pretty quick. They do. So. Which is smart. Can't blame them. Yeah. When you. [58:14] Speaker 4: It's a shame, though, when you find something you really like, and you want another one after you've worn it out. [58:20] Speaker 2: Yeah. [58:20] Speaker 4: And you don't make it, to find that they don't make them anymore. That's disappointing sometimes. [58:23] Speaker 2: Yeah. That's a good plane for flying. Like, just to play around with. But it's not one I would want to use for learning. Like, there's, there's really no, I mean, I know it has a differential thrust and stuff for. [58:34] Speaker 4: Well, and you can turn the safe on. [58:36] Speaker 2: Yeah. Which is fine. But I mean, it doesn't, it flies differently than like a, what I would consider a normal plane. Yeah. So this is the one that's fun just to mess around with, but not a, not one I'd want to use on. Yes. [58:48] Speaker 4: I agree. [58:50] Speaker 3: 100%. [58:50] Speaker 2: I feel as though I'm rambling. Do you guys have anything else you want to talk about or what are we doing? [58:54] Speaker 3: Just looking forward to this fall bill, this winter bill. Yeah. Me too. Yeah. [58:58] Speaker 4: Yep. So get your orders in. The clock is ticking. December 23rd is the cutoff for ordering your short kit. Mm-hmm. And, and then, yeah, we'll start January. Well, as soon as you. [59:09] Speaker 2: First week-ish. Yeah. [59:11] Speaker 4: As soon as you get the pre-built or pre-cut parts from Ron, you start posting pictures on the, on the website. [59:19] Speaker 2: There you go. All right. Gentlemen, it's been fun. I'm finished. Are you? Yep. I'm done. Cool. Thank you everyone for listening. Until next time, I'm Ron. I'm Tom. And I'm Dave. Good night. Good night. Night. [59:31] Speaker 1: We hope you enjoyed this episode of the RC Plane Lab podcast. For topic suggestions, to ask or to give any feedback, connect with us at rcplanelab.com or email us direct at either ron at rcplanelab.com or tom at rcplanelab.com. You can also text us or leave us a voicemail at 818-351-9846. Please subscribe, rate, and review us on your favorite podcast app. Until next time, may your landings be gentle.