Ep 174: 2025, Here we Come!

[00:00:05] Hello everyone and welcome to the RC Plane Lab podcast I am Ron I’m Tom and I’m dave episode.

[00:00:20] 174 First episode of 2025. Happy new year here we come here we come what do you want to talk about.

[00:00:32] We’ve got a few things we do to talk about yep one of which involves you.

[00:00:41] Crashing one of my airplanes okay if you’re a crash airplane make sure it’s Ron’s I know yeah.

[00:00:48] I’d rather crash yours than mine right duh which is fixed and then fixed again broke again not fixed.

[00:00:55] Again. No, it is fixed again. Broke again. Not by me, though. No, I broke again by the cold, but anyway, we’ll talk. Yeah, it’s been cold here. It has been really cold. We got snow, a decent amount of snow. We were right in that band. Everybody got to take off work, except for- I don’t know about you guys, but- and my family got to take off work, except for me. Nice, I had to go in. It’s caused me a lot more work.

[00:01:22] We’re getting more tonight. Yeah, that’s what I heard: a few inches maybe up to if we’re lucky, lucky. I like the snow, so it didn’t bother me. It doesn’t. I don’t like the cold, but I like the snow. The snow doesn’t bother me until I have to shovel it. Then it’s not so much fun. We don’t shovel, I know you don’t and I.

[00:01:39] Prefer it not shoveled I get around a lot better in the snow than when it’s shoveled yeah so that’s.

[00:01:45] Why I didn’t and appreciate that’s so not why you didn’t. Just because I knew I got stolen, I was like dave, dave, yeah, yeah. I don’t think I told you that I can’t find my box blade.

[00:01:56] You can’t find it right. It’s a box blade five foot wide. It’s yeah gone. Look forth the night before we got the snow and it’s not there. How do you lose a five foot box blade? I don’t know. I think it might.

[00:02:10] Have been procured by somebody else, say it developed legs. I think it’s buried somewhere out in the shed and you just can’t find it. No, I don’t keep that stuff inside. Oh, it’s not with all my other three-point stuff, but anyway, it doesn’t matter. Anyway, moving on, we have a new listener survey on the website. We do.

[00:02:26] Versions: exciting. Four, four, four. Yeah, yeah, new questions. So go fill it out. Please go fill them out. They help us out, yeah, anything else? No, you two are weird questions that, yeah, that weren’t. That did not appear on versions one, two or three. I can’t say that I remember what one and two were, well, I remember. I mean we didn’t ask the fee question or the value question or those.

[00:02:58] So, yeah, it has changed. It will give us a little insight as to what you guys find valuable in a club, so, and whether we feel like we’re getting fair value out of ours, which I think we are. I think so.

[00:03:14] Yeah, both of them, but it’s, it’s good to know. Yeah, what else is out there? Yep, because I don’t know what normal clubs cost, I don’t know what the fees are, I don’t know what the dues are, I don’t know all.

[00:03:24] That stuff well if our five listeners will take the time to fill out the survey we will know there.

[00:03:29] You go so that’s brand new on the yeah I knew the second that thing dropped my phone got blown up with.

[00:03:36] Messages yeah some a few people already answered from for that we appreciate it yeah we.

[00:03:42] Sent out the email on the email list, so that got a lot of people to do it. Yeah, 25 starting off with a bang, isn’t it? So we’ve got some new airplanes. We can talk about some releases, shall we? Yes, let’s do. Who wants to start? We have three airplanes and three of us. Go figure, hmm, one to one to one.

[00:04:07] Okay, so I’ll start then, if nobody else is going to talk. Just today, as a matter of fact, horizon: just hours ago, just hours, just not even a full day ago, yeah, horizon came out, a flight came out- whoever- with the updated umx cirrus sr-22t. It is blue and silver, it has lights, it has a motor, it has wheels, it has wings. So what’s different between this one and the old one? Do it’s updated and upgraded? Is what it says. Okay, I wonder what that means. I’m I, I didn’t want to get into the weeds on.

[00:04:43] That because I don’t know what the difference is. It’s a different color. I think it’s a different color, but this one now is 2s or 3s cable, so I’m sure it’s just the updated algorithm also of the AS3X+ plus. I was gonna say updated the yep- yeah, that makes sense- has four linear servos, spectrum brushless outrunner motor installed, the spectrum control unit with the receiver and brushless.

[00:05:08] Esc installed all ready to go in the video it looks to me like it flies very similarly.

[00:05:16] It’s correct so why does that sound because it seems like it’s an extra syllable but I don’t think.

[00:05:21] It is flies similarly to the umx air tractor. Looks like it’s similar in performance. It looked like to me, so I didn’t see that. Speed and agility wise, it looked very similar. It looked to me like.

[00:05:35] It was going to be faster than the air tractor oh air tractor slows down pretty good plus it also has.

[00:05:41] Flaps oh that’s true this one doesn’t but the air tractor is quite speedy it is but it slows down.

[00:05:48] The videos on this one looked like it was going pretty quick. Yeah, there was some spots, I saw it looked like it was going pretty. Some spots I saw where it was in slow motion. Ah, I could tell, see,

[00:05:59] See that’s how they get me I haven’t been able to see the video yet so I’m.

[00:06:05] I just clicked on the video and the email and it took me to their website, I’m assuming. But yeah, I mean it’s a neat looking little airplane. It does look, not for me, not for me, but for somebody, and that’s good.

[00:06:17] Relatively inexpensive though: 169.99. Bind and fly- that’s our normal price for umx, yeah, but I mean, and it does. Like I said, I think the thing that’s going to make those more fun, like most of these or all of these that are coming out now, is the 3s capable battery. I, I agree. So it’s a 2s or 3s, 280 to 300 milliamp hour LiPo, which we happen to have some of those already. I know that’s the worst part. I already have the batteries, but this one, like I said, I think this one is going to be one I’m

[00:06:45] Probably going to skip until I see it in person. You see it and just flying somewhere and then he’s gonna: yeah, yeah, I mean honestly, it’ll be on the table here next week probably. I do like the colors on it, though I like dave should like colors on it: blue and silver. I’m sure dave absolutely loves it. Dave’s alley- yeah, if it was gray, well, I mean silver gray, it’s like your second favorite color.

[00:07:05] Isn’t it actually does look very nice yeah and what I like lights yeah I was going to say that’s.

[00:07:10] Exactly what I just going to say. What I like about these little umx planes is all the lights they have on, and that really helps it does. I really enjoyed that when we were out here flying a couple weeks.

[00:07:18] Ago in the evening the lights on this turbo timber yeah whatever that’s called it shows.

[00:07:24] Up really well like they did a good job on those lights I like to strobe mm-hmm yep yeah me too.

[00:07:30] Three babe or three blade prop good looking airplane officially licensed yeah I got to see one of these.

[00:07:38] Full scale up close this past october at the wings and wheels event that we did sharp airplanes up like in person. They’re very, they’re very small. They’re like a lot smaller than I was expecting when I got close to it. Look bigger in model form, right, yeah, but they’re. They’re not very big. Yeah, I like.

[00:07:58] The canopy on this. So the way it comes off, it gives you a lot of access. Yeah, the battery hatch and all that stuff right, and it looks like it has the g or jst little red connectors, which those are nice too.

[00:08:08] Yeah well I mean you want them to be compatible with the batteries that we already have so.

[00:08:13] Well, they do make that same size battery with the other. I don’t remember what the other connector is, the molex or the little white one, whatever that’s. Oh, do they? Okay, I did not know that. I’m not either like the. The red ones give you more, more bite to be able to. Well, there’s more.

[00:08:30] Connector there to grab instead of grabbing the wire to pull it apart yeah no I understand.

[00:08:35] What you’re saying. So, yeah, 169.99, Go buy it. It’s. It’s nice, I like it, it’s cool, but I probably won’t get one. Oh. What I was going to say, though, is, if you pre-order now, through 121 to 25, you’ll receive a coupon for a free. Well, buy one, get one, free 3s 300. Oh, that’s not a bad deal. Yeah, well, that was about.

[00:08:55] 15 Bucks or so, I think. I think somewhere in that range. So really free battery, there you go. Yeah, not a bad deal. All right, so I’ll go next. So new from: oh my gosh, it just escaped me, fms, fms, thank you. Another 64 millimeter f18. I got pricing for you, dave. I wrote it on this page, sorry, oh, excuse me. Again, with the 64 millimeter non-retractable gear, which I’m okay with, it’s okay, I get it, I will. I would gladly fly this without the ordinance and the gear.

[00:09:38] And have the light wing loading. What I mean? Get the performance. Anyway, it’s in the what I would call an aggressor navy aggressor scheme. So it’s the multi-color blue and gray. It’s actually another one dave should like. Yeah, well, dave’s not a huge fan of blue, blue I, I can.

[00:09:54] See the blue grace or the silvers, just fine, yeah, but the blue scheme, this aggressor scheme, right, I have an f5 in it and it is. I lose that thing all the time. Yeah, for some reason I can, I can pick.

[00:10:08] Up the blues, but I can’t pick up the grays and silvers. But anyway, yeah. So for I believe the price was one. No, that’s not 199, 199, that’s it 99, really reasonable price for that, not bad. But I mean it is a 64 millimeter and it does have no rudder and fixed gear- right, fixed gear. And I don’t believe it’s a.

[00:10:28] Full flying stab no it’s not so but it is apparently they redid the whole mold I guess yeah it’s a new.

[00:10:35] According to the, the ad, it’s a new mold, so and the gear- the nose gear- is machined aluminum now instead of the plastic. I don’t know if you remember the old 64 millimeter that were plastic and, yes, what I have on the other one- prone to breaking, apparently, especially in the cold, like we’re gonna apply it. It’s a 29 inch roughly wing, about 40 inches long. It’s a good looking airplane I actually, of the three that we’re gonna talk about or that we were talking about this evening, this would be the one I would probably. Oh, really, yeah, the 64 millimeter is a good size. Take the gear off of.

[00:11:11] It, take the stores off of it. It would be a good flyer and it would probably be reminiscent of my viper 70, which is also a lot of fun to fly. I don’t think so. You don’t think so. No, I don’t think it’s gonna.

[00:11:21] Slow down as well as that one, even without the gear. And then without the gear, I see I think it will. Well, you’ve flown the f18, the twin 40, haven’t you? I thought you did, oh no, you have not let me crash that one yet. It, it flies, I’m guessing would be about the same as what this one flies, and it’s. It’s a little bit faster than like what the viper 70 would be okay. Once again, there’s no flaps, so

[00:11:49] That’s also gonna well that’s that you can fix that with flapper on well you can unplug but it.

[00:11:54] Doesn’t work nearly as well as actual. No, it doesn’t in. No, I agree. Anyway, that’s new from fms. Check it out. Apparently updated version of the one I just got that I haven’t finished yet and mine was.

[00:12:06] 169.99 There you go anyway you pay for that new mold yeah well they did make a new mold according to.

[00:12:14] The information which I would be interested, because the one that I have over there, that’s the old mold, even though it’s the v2, that was, I think it just came out not that long ago. There were some things on it you didn’t like the proportions and shapes of. Oh yeah, yeah. They apparently the area.

[00:12:30] Was kind of weird. Right, they fixed that. It looks like in the pictures. In the pictures it looks more accurate to me. That’s still a legacy hornet too, isn’t it? Yes, that’s a nice. Yeah, that’s the one thing that Ron likes about it. Absolutely. I don’t like the new square intakes. No, you don’t.

[00:12:44] What I see I like them I think they’re cool yeah I like the square ones no yeah no anyway.

[00:12:51] Anyway if you’re going to get an f18 the 16 new 64 millimeter from fms looks pretty sharp to me.

[00:12:56] Little pocket rocket, yeah. Next, what do you got near and dear to my heart? I’ve got free wing with another f22, so they have an entire series of these. That’s they’ve got one in each size. That’s, yeah, so it’ll fit your budget and or storage needs, as I mean, I don’t know about that.

[00:13:14] But it’s it’s definitely worthwhile looking into and what I what I like about the new one is the.

[00:13:19] Quick release wings. Yeah, I know they get the quick release wings. Yeah, by the way, this is an 80 millimeter f22, so they got the 64 to 70, the 80 and the 90. Yep, they got them in all sizes now: 64, 70, 80, 90, they got.

[00:13:31] They’ve got four, yeah, so this is actually a nice size aircraft- not that much smaller than the 90 really, and if it flies as good as a 64 does, that’s going to be a really nice flying airplane.

[00:13:44] Yeah, yep. If it weren’t for the, the cost, yeah, it would be number one on my list for this evening. But yeah, pricing’s not much different, no, it’s just a whole nother. Leap, yeah and cost, but it’s.

[00:13:58] Comparable to other airplanes that size so it’s not at a line oh yeah no that’s not yeah I’m just.

[00:14:04] Saying for me personally, yeah, of the three that we’re talking about, not because of interest or anything else, just simply based on based on price pricing value, yeah, I would go with the. So, if you’re going just solely based on interest, but not, oh, it would be the f-22, cost was no object for sure. Yeah, an 80 millimeter version, oh, yeah, that’d be perfect. Yep, so while we’re talking about cost, you got two.

[00:14:28] Versions you can get. You got the plug and play, which is 499, which is pretty common for this size. It’s in line. Yeah, it’s about normal. Yeah, and then the rf plus that comes without, comes without the fan and, yeah, no power controller. Yeah, so that comes in at 419.. So you might as well do the plug.

[00:14:47] And play. Yeah, because unless you already have something that you want, yeah, unless you got something crashed, you’re gonna or something specific. If you want to do like an 8s capable or something, yeah, it’s easier, just stick with, let them do it. Pay the extra money: yeah, I agree the big once again.

[00:15:03] We’ve pointed out is the calling card is the snap in wings yeah that’s awesome almost connectorless yeah.

[00:15:09] Yeah, I wish they would have gone that little extra step though. Yeah, I’m so used to like. Yeah, so, like on the viper 90, it’s such an easy connection to be, so I should put screws in. Yeah right, I mean like it would be nice just to have just a slide in wing quick connects and all that kind of stuff on something.

[00:15:26] That size yeah everything I’ve got that’s got the automatic connect is always very difficult to push.

[00:15:33] I have trouble with that. Really, I haven’t had, I’ve got, I don’t know both my well, I guess the 70 doesn’t do that does it because it’s a one-piece wing. But yeah, the viper 90, I’ve not had any trouble.

[00:15:46] At all with that. No, it goes together pretty easily. Same with the ec 1500, those wings, and that also has the power that goes to the motors, excuse me, and those plug in easily too. Yeah, the two that I have.

[00:15:58] Are. I struggle to push them together and pull them apart. I’ve thought of it. I haven’t put any electrical grease on them. I’ve really thought about doing that possible. Yeah, help that out a little bit. Well, I had one previous to that though. Yeah, the tundra, the grand tundra, and yeah, I tore the wings up on that a little bit, pulling those in and out. They were really so tight, huh, well, that’s no good. Anyway, either way, it works, they’ve gone to a cnc machined aluminum struts.

[00:16:30] It looks nice six axis gyro so yeah so apparently they’re not putting the reflex or whatever the.

[00:16:38] One is it’s called something else. Now a reflex belongs to fms. Oh, that’s right, okay, yeah, so they’re using the actual, it’s free wing six axis gyro. So they’re using their own in-house, okay, which from what I’ve seen, doesn’t necessarily need it, but it’s nice, helps stabilize it in windy conditions. Inner and outer door gear doors. Now sequence for reduced drag and enhance to scale appearance. That’s a little sticking point for me. There’s something wrong with the main.

[00:17:09] Gear doors that’s just bugging me what is it the shape or the size shape the way it sticks out it.

[00:17:17] Just doesn’t look right and I can’t quite put your finger on it. Yeah, yeah, so on the, on the full size f22, you don’t get to see the main doors very often unless they close back up, right, so I think these do.

[00:17:32] Too don’t they no this one the main gear door hangs out yeah and it just looks maybe that’s why really.

[00:17:38] Odd. Maybe that’s. Maybe that’s why because you hardly ever see an f22- well, I shouldn’t say hardly ever, because I haven’t seen a lot of them, but when they’re on the ground, those doors are usually not your doors and the bay doors are always closed. Yeah, so that’s probably. Maybe that’s why it looks.

[00:17:53] Weird. Maybe I’m thinking that’s probably what it is. I’m just not used to seeing that panel open. Yeah, it’s got a full nav and landing lights in it, so it’s going to help you out.

[00:18:05] New mold, obviously with molded panel lines. Rear details still got their high performance 12 blade 80 millimeter fan in it. Good system looks good, sounds great. Those 12 blade fans do sound really good. 100 Amp esc, which good. Yeah, you’re not going to hurt that one. No well, you shouldn’t. It’s got a seven amp bec in it so you should be able to power all your servos and then some yep, and your lights. Yep, and a really nice feature on this one is all your leading edges are plastic. Oh,

[00:18:41] That’s right that was the other thing so no banging them up putting them in and out of the car and just.

[00:18:45] Working on the thing good they’re hitting bugs and all that kind of stuff you can wipe it off yeah.

[00:18:48] Nicely my f15’s got some on it but like leading edges of the wings and stuff and they’re all dinged up from.

[00:18:55] They being stupid. No, that’s nice that they put that. Put that on there same with the small f22 the. The nose is plastic, which is nice, but there’s still a lot of leading edge. That’s not, yeah, protected.

[00:19:07] Didn’t show it. Well, sure they do. And it’s got a massive battery hatch. I love the battery hatch on this thing. You can, yeah, stick whatever you want in there. Yeah, I like. I like ease of access. So very nice looking aircraft. I forgot what markings it’s in. The big battery hatch is a is a plus for.

[00:19:29] Me because you can. It allows you to actually play, play with the CG. Yeah, also what I mean? Because, let’s be honest, not everybody wants to fly their jet super nose heavy or super. Having the ability to move, that is really nice, because a lot of the, especially the scale like the f22s, like I think there was that there’s 70, whatever, whichever one it is, there’s like only room for the battery to go in one spot- that’s 64- and then way and then to play with the CG. You’re.

[00:20:00] Either adding weight or my f15 the battery only fits one place it ain’t going anywhere else I like I like.

[00:20:06] Having room to tinker with that because it’s one thing you can play with on an airplane to.

[00:20:12] Make it behave differently. And speaking of cladding, your battery hatch is got plastic cladding on it as well, and that is great, because I’m always digging my battery hatches up me too. Nice ball linkages. They’re standing, they’re standard thing. That free wing does everything so nicely. And it looks like these might be from holloman air force base, but I’m not certain. I can’t really tell on this picture.

[00:20:36] Yeah but good looking airplane cool full flying stab it is a full flying stab nice it should be.

[00:20:43] And the free wing f22s across the board are known to fly extremely well so oh yeah now that I know.

[00:20:50] You’ve flown, yes, and that one flies really nice. You doinked that one pretty good too, didn’t you? Yeah, I drug a wingtip. I think it’s not hard to do. I forgot about that. For the same reason- I mean, if there’s reasons- the same reason I crashed the stick.

[00:21:12] Trying to get you a good picture shot, yeah, so, yes, it’s my fault. No, it’s, it’s, it’s fine, it’s fine, it’s all, but it survived. It did flew great afterwards even- yeah, because I flew it again after that, I think.

[00:21:24] Mm-hmm yeah I should get one of those that’s a good size maybe that one I’m talking about yeah I.

[00:21:32] Know what you’re talking about. Yeah, well, when you get sick of it, maybe I was gonna say I would be up to trading up a size. Oh, really, to me, to me, it’s the landing gear. Okay, I want to actually have retractable.

[00:21:43] Landing gear. Yeah, that doesn’t bother me. As much bothers me, I don’t mind a lot, I don’t mind taking the gear off and flying a lightly loaded airplane. Yeah, I think this one would be an ideal 90s. Gonna be a little heavier this one. Yeah, it’s a good size. And what’s the price on this one? 499, Yeah, in line, so plus receiver right, cool, okay. So two new edfs and a new sr. Nice, you say sr and I always

[00:22:14] Go to sr 71 sr 22 I’ll just say cirrus how about that’s better okay for me all right might not.

[00:22:20] Be frame you serious. So what have we been up to we had? Should we talk about our friends giving yeah, miss? Yeah, we can new years, whatever we did, friends miss a giving- good, yeah, but it feels like it was so long ago. I know it does. It’s like it’s only the eighth night. Feels like christmas, like a month ago. It really does. It’s odd. Yeah, time has. Anyway, it’s always like this, though, honestly, for me,

[00:22:46] Like when the holidays are over it, it always seems like. It seems like it just happened at the end of january and it’s like: where did january go? What I mean, I don’t know. I always I feel that way.

[00:22:58] Every year yeah with the weather around here I can throw january away yeah february is not much.

[00:23:04] Better normally, yeah, so, but we all got flights in for january. We’ll talk about that later, I forgot. So, with our friends giving, we actually had nice, nice, really nice, we were able to fly t-shirt weather: yeah, it was 55, I think, wasn’t it, and it was less than five mile an hour. Winds even- yeah, yeah, we all brought planes to negligible wind. Yeah, yeah, it was a good time. We had the most planes in the air ever that you’ve ever had at your house. Yeah, we had four people flying at once. Airspace got a little.

[00:23:40] Crowded it did yeah a couple bigger ones in there yeah umx and we could add three more and not even.

[00:23:47] Notice not, yeah, so tommy flew, what’d you bring and fly? So I brought three and crashed two of my own, plus I crashed one of yours, as you mentioned already. But I brought the, the umx conchendo, the oh, the umx p51, the voodoo, and then the ultrax, the umx version, yeah, which I don’t remember which ones.

[00:24:13] You crashed so I well it didn’t crash I don’t remember what happened let’s put it that way so.

[00:24:20] The ultrax if, if everybody remembers, I took that with me to florida and flew it on the beach and got sand in the electronics and stuff and it wasn’t sounding very healthy at all. So yeah, one of the one of the- I forget which control service it might have been the right one- there was something stuck in the gears and the servo would catch and lock and then if you wiggled it around with the stick it would loosen up and go again. I mean, it’s an alt, it’s a umx ultrax.

[00:24:51] It’s been pretty beat up. So I said you don’t have any time at all on that thing. I don’t know, I’ve got a lot of flights on that thing. So I figured what the heck, I’m gonna fly it anyway. So I did and I got half a flight in and then whichever surface that was locked up and flight and then down it goes. It didn’t break anything other than a prop, yeah, which they always, those are just so forgiving, yeah, they just bounce. So I mean I didn’t really.

[00:25:18] Crash it but I’m counting it as a crash because I made a poor decision I flew it when I probably.

[00:25:23] Shouldn’t have. Yeah, but you have to look at your poor decision versus how much fun you got out of it. Oh yeah, and how much damage is it going to cause? Like nothing? Well, you could run that right into somebody’s face and it’s not going to do anything questionable. You can do with the null tricks, right? Yeah, whereas the slightest if that was in a slightly larger aircraft or a 40 size nitro or

[00:25:47] Anything like that you would not ever fly that one had it been any of my other airplanes I would not.

[00:25:51] Have flown it I think that’s fair so anyway it’s worth taking a chance with an ultrax yeah and I did.

[00:25:57] And then I gambled and I kind of broke even I wouldn’t even say you lost honestly yeah I broke.

[00:26:04] Even you’re out of prop and those are yeah well so anyway I broke one of those just setting it.

[00:26:09] Down before. So it’s okay, it’s all fixed now. It’s all good. I did not need to use the servos that you gave me, dave, so I forgot I had to bring that stuff back. I cleaned the gears on the servos- they’re linear servos, right- and so I got out my magnifying goggle things- like you have goggle thing, yeah- and got to look in closing there was a piece of sand or something stuck in two places: on the big gear, on the warm gear, on, yeah, okay. So I took my trusty X-Acto sharp blade, knocked it out.

[00:26:44] Of there. Put a little vaseline on the gears and they’re good as new. That are they still. Are they loud? No, I’ve flown it again 12 times now just in my yard at home, right in the front yard, just doing the high office stuff, driving the dog crazy it’s. It’s so much fun. But no, it’s fixed and it’s good to go now. You’re getting a lot of flights in then. Yeah, I’ve got nine, I think. Good for you so far for

[00:27:07] The year just with the ultrax you’ll hit whatever your goal is I don’t remember I forget what it was.

[00:27:11] Anyway. So, yeah, I crashed that one and then the conchendo flew that a couple times, oh, and then, yeah, I don’t know what happened, honestly. So your yard has like what did you call them grass waves? What do you call them ground waves, ground waves? Was that you that you call them that? I don’t remember saying that. But so there’s like a, a very gradual undulation in one field, in one spot, and I think I

[00:27:38] I don’t know. I got distracted because I think you and I were talking while I was trying to fly, and normally that’s not a problem and I’m not blaming it on you, just I’ll shoulder it if I need to. No, no, it’s not your fault, and I think I took my eyes off of it just for a second while it was low and I think a ground wave got it, broke the prop and I mean didn’t really crack the airframe, but I think it was already cracked from joe knoll. It took a pretty hard hit up there, yeah, but that’s fixed now too. Got a new prop and spinner and then, yeah, and then I flew the busting a couple times.

[00:28:12] 28 Minutes. By the way, 28 minutes into this episode is the longest we could make it first episode of the year without talking about joe knoll. Well, that’s it, oh, okay. Well, anyway, it is what it is, that just.

[00:28:27] Caught me off guard I thought that was funny but anyway yeah I had a good time flying my three.

[00:28:32] Planes, plus crashing one of yours. So I put lights on the slow ultra stick. Flew that a few times like that’s a fun airplane. It is a fun airplane with lights. Makes it better it does. I like it so much more. I did, by the way, get the switches from aliexpress. Haven’t put them on yet because I’ve been busy, but that’s going to be so simple and those are, yeah, like next to nothing. I think it was a dollar 49 or something. A piece nice. So I ended up buying 10 of them, just because I mean, what if you bought?

[00:29:05] Them on amazon. Yeah, I think it was 18 for two, two of them, yeah, so I figured for less than that, I’ll just get 10.. Spend the same amount of money, just get more. Yeah, I mean, you’re going to wait a couple.

[00:29:15] Weeks to get them anyway you may as well make it worth the wait exactly no I don’t disagree but.

[00:29:19] Anyway. So I did that. I flew it a few times and of course, when I’m flying I can’t take pictures. So I hand tommy the transmitter and say, here you go, I need to get some pictures of this. Right? So you flew it. I was taking some pictures and then, like all of a sudden, I’m standing there. I wasn’t looking at you, I don’t know if I was talking to somebody else or what I was. No, no, no. I was scrolling through the pictures I had already taken and all of a sudden I hear you say: watch this. And so I look up to you being upside down 10 feet off the ground, whatever it was.

[00:29:59] And then you promptly just put it on the ground upside down, down, yeah, and you crashed my airplane. I did, and then you even told me beforehand: watch this. I did, watch this, hey Ron. Watch this, hey Ron.

[00:30:11] Watch this. Yeah, crash, yeah, and you didn’t get it on video. I didn’t, I was watching my phone. See, here’s what happened. So I thought you were still like taking pictures or video or whatever. Yeah, and all of the shots, so like where we’re standing, like the field is obviously in front of us and there’s not like a lot of room in front of us to do left to right kind of things- the, the feel I have, is longer than it is wide. Right, it’s right and it’s a triangle. Yeah, exactly so where you were taking the pictures.

[00:30:44] The. The only pictures we could get were of me turning either right or left to go back out the way I came. So you’re always getting the same shot of the underside of the wing, yeah, with the lights and stuff. So I thought in tommy’s brain this made complete sense. I’ll just do an inverted pass so he can get pictures of the top of the airplane, and that’s what I set up to do. And then, just as I was making the turn to present the top of the airplane to you, I was like Ron here, or Ron watch this, or

[00:31:14] Whatever it was, I thought you still had the phone ready for taking pictures. Okay, so and then, yeah, I just got it too slow and by the time I you ran out of I ran out of elevator and throttle. Yeah.

[00:31:26] I was like why did you want to show me that well yeah there was there watch me crash your airplane.

[00:31:30] It was a method to my madness and then yeah and then I just got it too slow yeah and I didn’t know.

[00:31:35] The method or anything that was going on behind the scenes I just heard watch this and then you.

[00:31:40] Crash, yeah. The only thing I find disconcerting about flying here is you’re always landing at yourself, oh yeah, which is very unnatural. You never land towards yourself at yourself. Yeah, yeah.

[00:31:52] I think I’ve gotten myself used to that from flying here. That could be, yeah, it doesn’t bother me, and for smaller stuff too, you can come past. Oh yeah, right into the main yard, not the field. Well, if you.

[00:32:02] Walk a little farther out in the field. You can well that too. You can do a left to right landing or yeah, whatever. But yeah, luckily it. It went in completely flat on the wing, upside down, and managed to only break the elevator clevis, yeah, which of course you didn’t have any and I didn’t have any.

[00:32:24] And so we were done with that airplane for the day. I’m sorry. Yeah, we had one that was close but not worth. Not worth risking it. Yeah, yep, so ordered new ones. It was like under five bucks to get a whole new set of push rods and clevises delivered. It was here like two days later. Yeah, it was fast and that was it.

[00:32:43] Horizon has gotten their act together. Can I just say, with shipping, it’s that it’s good, as good as it used to be now. Yeah, they went through a period there where it was not good. Well, they got all new systems.

[00:32:55] And had huge issues. Yeah, same thing happened in my work. What eight years ago? And we did that and it was a nightmare. I, I think I have a little bit more, not forgiveness, but understanding of what they’re going through, having done it myself. Okay, so it sucks, yeah, and nobody ever tells you it sucks before they do it. It’s all: oh, it’s going to be so, this is going to be seamless. So tonight we’re turning the old system off, we’re going to integrate all the new data to the new system and tomorrow you’re going to come.

[00:33:25] It’s going to be fine well two years later you’re still finding issues and yeah it was terrible so.

[00:33:31] I’m not blaming anybody right now as far as the shipping department from places I’ve ordered, but what ends up with the postal service? Oh my god. Stuff’s been sitting in st louis for like a week now. I mean, granted, there’s a snowstorm, I’ll give them that, okay, but even before the snowstorm stuff.

[00:33:46] Sits in st louis for two weeks, or I’ll do you one better with usps. It’ll leave st louis and go somewhere else. Go somewhere and go back to st louis before it has to go to the next place that it had. It’s like so I had. It literally goes past us. Yeah, I have. Yeah, usps right now is, and it doesn’t matter where I’m getting it from. It’s the holidays, I get it. It’s not anymore, but right, maybe.

[00:34:13] This is returns I guess I don’t know but it’s not the holidays anymore yeah I had ebay stuff I had.

[00:34:18] Motion I had a main I’ve got amazon it’s it’s all it doesn’t matter where it comes from it just sits.

[00:34:26] In st louis I’m a little disappointed in amazon lately too like even before the holidays and before.

[00:34:31] All the other stuff their shipping is not amazon’s been terrible so much to where I’ve thought about.

[00:34:35] Not yeah I’m thinking about not renewing mine as well my prime membership I’m talking about because.

[00:34:42] It’s just like, honestly for shipping and stuff like that we’ve bought. We’ve started using walmart plus and that is like old amazon okay, where you get stuff the next day. Yeah and it’s yeah.

[00:34:57] Yeah, anyway, anyway, that’s off track. But maybe the amazon warehouse that they’re going to build here on the north side of town, maybe that’ll, we’ll see help things, but we’ll see. No, it’s still going to st louis and sit for a week, probably. So how about you, Ron, would you? Would you fly on friends, give this? Oh, the slow ultra stick until you crashed it. Oh yeah, you didn’t. I thought you had.

[00:35:22] Something else out there? No, no, it’s out there. Oh, I did, I forgot about the crystal. Yeah, so I flew the ultrax because that’s all I had left after you crashed my plane and there’s only 100 airplanes.

[00:35:35] Laying around here but that’s all I had yeah no you can try but I’m not gonna feel bad I don’t.

[00:35:41] Want you to feel bad, but I’m gonna give you hell about it. No, so I flew that a few times. That was that’s fun. Then crystal decided to come out and try it in the dark. That was fun to watch. That was not as fun. She got better the next time she flew- oh, yeah for sure 100. She had issues with the coming at me right left. She was doing it in the dark. Well, that’s true too. It wasn’t the smartest lights, it wasn’t the smartest move, but it was fun. It was fun, she had fun, or at least it looked like.

[00:36:15] She was having fun and she was laughing and then she felt bad. You told her to go find that prop. That was pretty funny, I forgot about that. I did so it’s dark out and that the half of the prop is three quarters of an inch tiny and somewhere out in the field, which is a couple acres, whatever it is. I told her you’re gonna have to find that so we can glue it back on. And she starts walking out there. I was like, oh honey, I’m kidding. Black prop in the dark. Yeah, exactly, yeah, in a grass field. Yeah, yeah, but no, it was a good time. Like said, she got better and we’ll talk about january 1st here shortly. But

[00:36:51] That’s all I flew, and dave, I had nothing super exciting for me, I just flew my little timber. I got five flights in with it and it’s just. It was a beautiful flights because you’re actually flying on the wing and just, you were actually flying. Yeah, not doing loops and rolls and then just did a few, but just making big looping passes and sliding by myself at five foot away, at five mile an.

[00:37:15] Hour. Right, yeah, just flying, it was enjoying the flying. We had beautiful conditions for flying that airplane, yeah, yeah, not a lot of wind. No, could not have asked for a better day. Yeah, we got really lucky and then it all went to hell and then it all, yeah, got cold and windy, but we still managed to fly.

[00:37:34] On january 1st, new year’s eve- sucked. I’m gonna be honest, that was terrible. It was. I mean it was warmer than it could have been. Shush, he always makes fun of me for the way I say warm. It’s not 75 degrees out, oh my god. I know I have a very small window of weather, I like, but it was. It was like 32 degrees, which was okay, but the wind completely sucked. It was like 30 mile an hour wind with gusts that were higher. Even I think yeah did manage to go out and fly, so we all got flights in on new

[00:38:08] Year’s eve day on new year’s day. Yeah, sorry, crystal did too. Yeah, and I was like proud of her while being I don’t want what’s the word I’m looking for? While wanting her to stop.

[00:38:25] Because it was cold, like I could not feel my fingers. Yeah, it was the umx all tricks is what I took out for her and she actually got like I was launching it for and that kind of stuff. She was flying it around. She only got to the point like we were on a buddy box so that I was able to control it. If she did something stupid- which she did once and almost flew into- was it you, dave? I was gonna say it came right at my face. Yeah, yeah it was. It was pretty close, so I took over and the one person who

[00:38:55] Can’t move very fast, right. Well, with the size of the plane you would have been okay, it wouldn’t hurt. That being said, it was an ultrax. I wasn’t overly concerned. Yeah, right, as she probably got what 15 feet away- it was closer than that, it was pretty close, so that was no problem and she kind of we talked over what she did and all that, and then by the end she flew one battery completely by herself, taking off like, launching it on her own and landing it on her own. That’s a solo if she ever.

[00:39:28] Flies this thing in the daylight, on a calm day. She’s not gonna believe how easy in nice conditions. All she’s done is fly at night and in 30 mile an hour. Winds, right, yeah, yeah, so, and that’s. That’s the.

[00:39:38] Other thing too, like talking her through okay. So you need a little bit more throttle. Keep your watch your speed going downwind as opposed to upwind, and you’re turning. When you turn this way with the wind blowing you away, you have to be careful- as opposed to the other end of the runway and stuff. And she, she got it more towards the end, yeah, but she had a lot of fun. She wanted to keep going but I had to stop. It couldn’t feel your fingers. It hurt. Bad it was. It was very cold, yeah, and windy, which did not help us what I did with, because my plan was to have her fly the.

[00:40:13] Slow ultra stick and since I put the new elevator on it or the push rod, I, I don’t think the servo was actually centered when I put it on. I didn’t have it turned on, I just threw it on really quick and figured they were pretty close with where they had the what’s that part called the.

[00:40:32] Oh gosh, the clevis, how they were probably pretty close with how far they had it, had it screwed on. So I got it, did the maiden remade and whatever you want to call it, where he had to retrim it out and stuff, and it was at the point where I could fly it fine, but I was almost out of down trim. So I was just going to come back in really quick center everything up, get it all taken care of, got it in, landed, fine, and then, as I’m guessing it was the cold more than anything probably. But as soon as I pulled that clevis off, the one side of it just broke right off like it just

[00:41:07] Snapped so I was a little saddened by that because that was the one she wanted to fly.

[00:41:13] And she probably would have done even better with that one I think she would have really chopped.

[00:41:18] To bounce yeah but I she did great with the other one she really did I can’t complain considering.

[00:41:24] That it was a umx ultrax that you were training on. That’s yeah, that says a lot about both the student and the airplane: 50 gram airplane and a 30 mile an hour- right, I was surprised. But

[00:41:37] Like I said, she got a few flights on that one and then she actually wants to go out again with it. She seems to like that airplane now, so good, I think the biggest thing for her, like, even though she knows, let her fly the bigger one, maybe, maybe, but I think the biggest thing with her is that plane is almost indestructible. Yeah, so she doesn’t worry about it, even though we’re on a body box and all that kind of stuff. The stress is not there. Yeah, bad things happen. Just chop the throttle and, yeah, let it float.

[00:42:06] Down, like into just as long as you don’t let it, or onto a highway, don’t, yeah, do that either. Anyway. So yeah, so yeah. I took the, the turbo timber revolution, and I took my 70 millimeter viper. I didn’t even take the viper out of the car. It was so windy and the grass was too long. I didn’t want.

[00:42:30] To risk it I think the grass being long was more that’s windy enough you could have hand launched it.

[00:42:35] That’s true, but I really like that airplane so I didn’t really feel like risking it, funny story though, so I put the super timber wheels on my turbo. Oh, yeah, the inflatable ones. So I keep them fairly at fairly low pressure because I like them to absorb bounce. Well, I don’t know that you want them to give. Yeah, I want them to, yeah, absorb impact and stick to the ground. So I don’t keep a lot of air in them. But enough to where they stay inflated. Don’t peel off the bead, right? So I

[00:43:08] Pull it out of the car. And when I pulled it out of the car they’re. They’re squishing a little but like not a lot. The airplane, the weight of the airplane, is sitting on the wheels. They squat a little bit but they’re not flat right. So I get the airplane out of the car and put the wings on and get everything ready and I think daniel was the first one to say- somebody’s like tommy- that tire looks flat. So I look at it and it is indeed flat. The cold, I don’t.

[00:43:40] Know if there was a leak or what, but just one of the tires went completely flat from the time. I took it out of the car and got it assembled on the table, but I flew it anyway. Well, shrinkage happens.

[00:43:51] But just to one, though. Apparently maybe you had a little bit more air pressure on the other one. Yeah, that could be now okay, so I don’t have those. I’ve never really seen them, those are. Are those actually like donuts to where it’s like an inner tube looking kind of thing, or

[00:44:08] Do they actually lock into the bead? I think they are locked into the bead, yeah, because they will leak down, like, if you, if you don’t put enough air in them, they will. They will flatten on their own. Okay, yeah, they’ve got to have enough pressure to seal against the bead. Yeah, so I’m I’m pretty sure they are interesting. Yeah, they are a tire that is on. I think I would actually prefer something like what you’re talking about, but I don’t know how that would at the low air pressures we run, how that would work with a without being seated on a bead. It would almost be nice if they could do.

[00:44:41] Like the actual inner tube looking type tire with a flange on the outside or something that goes into it. Yeah, that way it’s an actual fully enclosed yeah tire. Probably add to the oh, it’s very thin, so that.

[00:44:57] The rubber is very, very thin. Yeah, at any rate I flew it twice, no issues at all, just got it really slow on the landing and which I could do because of the wind that we had to deal with. So, yeah, it’s negative airspeed at there at one point, I’m pretty sure. I’m pretty sure the second landing was negative: rollout, I think. Yeah, but by the end of the day I’m pretty sure I had negative pressure in that in that right wheel, which was. It was like completely it sucked the tire in. Yeah, it was.

[00:45:28] Interesting so but yeah that’s what I flew dave I just brought the mctwist because I wanted.

[00:45:34] Something I didn’t have to assemble and quick and easy, and it flew awesome. Mctwist just flies, just fine. That first launch was a little, a little bit of pilot induced oscillation it was. Yeah, it was like watching a rodeo, exactly, or a roller coaster or a roller coaster- yeah, it was. Normally I launch this thing on my own. It’s not a big deal. This thing’s pretty easy. It’s way overpowered, it hovers and all that, but with the breeze and stiff fingers I thought I would get ready- made rc. Okay, yeah, get a little help from Tom to toss it. Yeah, well, I forgot I’d had it on high, high rates.

[00:46:09] And with this wind, as soon as you let go of it, the nose just shot straight up, straight. So what I do? I push straight down, down. Now we’re pointing at the ground, and so you haul back on the stick, and now we’re straight up again. It’s like rates, rates, rates. Yeah, it was. It was quite the rodeo, but then it turned out. But then it turned out. Yeah, about five seconds later, it that thing, that thing.

[00:46:34] Will loop in its own like wingspan. It loosened its own length, yeah, and it’s only a foot and a half long. So, yeah, I’m gonna have to get one of those, or something like that, to fly at joe knoll.

[00:46:45] What’s the time on that 46 minutes? No, it’s a, it’s a blast to fly. I mean, it was made. It was ready made, no pun intended. Ready made rc for a day like new year’s day? Oh yeah, because there was no assembly, you have no stress involvement with it. So if it crashes, yeah, quick and easy, just the perfect.

[00:47:09] Airplane for a marginal day. Yep, very good. And daniel showed up, he flew the shadow seek her, which that did. Fine, also flying wing, no fuselage. So there’s between the four of us, I think we probably get five of us with crystal. I think we got what? Probably 15 flights, I bet total, yeah, probably.

[00:47:30] Maybe not what all we had several well I think between within an hour we were only there.

[00:47:36] A little over. Yeah, I think we could only stand. We were at seven or eight, oh okay. Well, then I had two and you guys were born airborne constantly and yeah, I just had to wait for my fingers to defrost, to thaw. I can’t wear gloves with the crutches, so yeah, yeah, they get a little.

[00:47:52] Stiff, yes, yeah, I hate that. But yeah, older I get, the worse it gets, and somebody owns a great transmitter mitt. I know, I don’t know why you didn’t think about it. I can’t believe that it didn’t even cross my mind, like even after I’m there flying like it did not cross my mind.

[00:48:08] Standing there holding the transmitter with your fingers numb from the cold, did not remind you. Oh, if only there was something I owned that could help me, because what else I forgot?

[00:48:17] Too is. I have the electric heater pack, things like the, the hand warmers, the electric hand warmers and warmers. Didn’t think of that? Yep, didn’t even think of that, and they were in the.

[00:48:29] Transmitter case. I mean, twist is so easy on the batteries. They didn’t even warm up. Normally I stuffed those in my pocket, but no, for a little heat. Yep, they were barely above ambient temperature.

[00:48:39] I mean, for as cold and windy as it was, it was still a good time still and we can still say we’ve got 20, 25 started off on the right foot. Yep, no crashing. Well, well, I guess what crashed? Well, I mean you broke an airplane. I guess that’s not a crash. Really, that was not in the air.

[00:48:59] That was on the table crashed in your hands yeah it wasn’t crashed but true there was no yeah.

[00:49:06] There was no crashing so yeah good day good day yeah should we talk about this thing next sure yeah.

[00:49:12] Here you go. It’s time for rc plane labs tool of the week. So dave brought out a bag full of what he likes to use, but they’re a little bigger than he was expecting. Apparently it looked bigger on the.

[00:49:30] Screen there was smaller on the screen I was basing my purchase on the capacity it’s 10 milliliters.

[00:49:36] Which is what I wanted was 10 milliliters. So this is a pipette and what I’m like. I have never in my life gone, man, I wish I had a pipette that’s a foot and a half long, so these are big pipettes. I don’t.

[00:49:52] Know what I’m gonna do with these, but I have a hundred of them, got a bag of them. Well, I’m gonna take a few home. I’ll tell you what I use them for. Well, I use them for a lot of things, actually. Number one, I use them to clean my airbrushes with. You do that. So I use water-based paints, like dave does. So what I do is I basically squeeze the pipette and get it loaded with water and then I insert the end of the pipette into the pickup tube of the airbrush and I use that.

[00:50:25] To squirt water through the airbrush to help push out the, because you can’t always get the last remnants of paint out of your airbrush just by using air. So that’s what I use these for. Yeah, this holds.

[00:50:36] About like half gallon or so it’s. This is a big pipette. The bulb is 10 milliliters, but I don’t know how well, I don’t know. I don’t think the bulb is 10, but it’s more than 10 milliliters. I think the

[00:50:44] Shaft is 10 milliliters that’s what it says right here on the top 10 plus yeah plus whatever is up in.

[00:50:50] The bowl it’s like 20 milliliters because the other ones I’ve got are 10 milliliters and the bulb is the.

[00:50:55] Same size. Yeah, so, but that’s what. That’s mostly what I use for. It’s also handy for, since this one is graduated. This one is handy for mixing, like if the ratio of paint to thinner water. In this case it’s nice because it’s graduated- you can see exactly how much you’re putting in there. I usually, with the fast color stuff, I usually go like five to one, so five milliliters to one.

[00:51:22] Milliliter, exactly nice, those work, nice, I use them. I paint a lot with the latex house paint samples from lowe’s or menards, wherever you want to get them from. I don’t like pouring them into my airbrush cups because then you get that, yes, all over the edge, oh yeah, so I’ve always used our my little pipettes to draw it up out of the bottle and squirt it into the cup. Yep, when I had, for the last 15 years, finally split on me when I was doing this last paint job.

[00:51:54] And so I figured, well, I probably ought to order some more, because I’ve only got three left and they’re 15 years old. Yeah, were they the testers ones? They are the bob smith one, bob smith.

[00:52:03] Okay yeah I like the bob smith ones because he’s got the really ultra fine nib yeah tip that.

[00:52:10] Works great for the glues and that type of stuff. For the latex house paint, I’ve clipped the tips off so it’s got a pretty good size hole at the bottom. Yep, yep, and they just work so well. And then I clean them out in the sink and I haven’t thrown one away, well, for 15 years, yeah. So let’s do the.

[00:52:25] Math, then if one lasted you 15 years, you just bought 150 years worth, or no? No, oh wait, more than 1500 years, 15 hundred years worth, because they’ve they decided to buy a hundred pack. It was a dollar more than a 10 pack. So what did you pay for these do? This bag was about 13 bucks. That’s where I get in trouble, because stuff’s so cheap. Then you have a bag of pipettes.

[00:52:53] Yeah, that there’s no room to store these. Well, I’m assuming they’re made of the same plastic, as other pipettes are also impervious to nitro fuel. So if you’ve got a tone and acetone, so if you’ve got a clogged needle orifice in your nitro engine, handy to blow those in also- yeah, right, also makes a nice fuel primer. Yep, especially these, these. This is a good size. There’s 101 uses for these things.

[00:53:18] Probably 102. I use them. I use them also. I’ve got a couple of I’ve set aside for my aquarium for dosing certain chemicals and medications and so forth. So, yep, yeah, far out, that is nice and well. Thanks for.

[00:53:33] Buying 100 of these, so I could take three or four of them home. Yeah, I’ll leave two or three here, and they will also last me 15 years, but I’m sure I will find a use for it, even if it’s wrong. Yeah, I might cut.

[00:53:45] These down a little bit because that’s going to be a little dangerous trying to put that in the.

[00:53:48] Paint cup. Yeah, yeah, but you still want the end to be working from three feet away would probably, yeah, make that slightly difficult. What do you think that is seriously? Well, that’s 14 inches at least.

[00:54:01] I. When I open the box, it’s like what, what are these? I didn’t order this. I don’t remember ordering these. They looked exactly like the six inchers in the picture. This is the mario big world, so there’s a blast from the past. Shop around, get yourself some pipettes. They come in three milliliter and several different sizes, but three, four and ten milliliter and half gallon apparently.

[00:54:26] Yep, these are big cool. Last thing I want to talk about that I forgot to talk about earlier is yesterday, I think. Day before, whatever it was, spectrum came out with the updated for their airware app for the ix series and the nx series and they also came out with some updates for the receivers. So I have not used mine yet, but I did do the update on my x20. It was like three minutes and it was done. Yeah, it’s so easy to do. Yep, so easy. Apparently there’s a new channel assigned screen.

[00:54:58] I guess that is supposed to be a little easier to use maybe yeah it does it can get confusing.

[00:55:05] Because there’s yeah there’s channel assigned and then there’s receiver port assigned and.

[00:55:10] Yeah, yeah, so I haven’t looked yet, but I would like to see what that is. And then there’s a new gear setup screen also that was added for more complex landing gear, sequencing, all that kind of stuff, and there’s a bunch of other small things they have on here. Cool, but yeah, so if you have a spectrum transmitter or receiver, go ahead and update that to the latest ix or nx. Ix or nx- yeah, I guess so.

[00:55:35] Yeah, cool, speaking of spectrum, my spectrum guided jet is ready to fly. I meant to ask about that. I forgot all about it. Yep, it is. It is ready to go, like everything is installed, everything is plumbed. So you got your turbine. Yes, we talked about that already, right? No, I thought we talked about that it was ordered. Oh, that’s right, it was well, it came early. I wasn’t expecting it until middle of january, but it showed up on january 2nd I think it was. Yeah, it was pretty early. So, yeah, I was surprised.

[00:56:07] To receive that and then about an hour later it was physically in the air. Took me a little while longer to actually get amounted because I had to change the pipe a little bit. It was a little low or high, I forget which one- so I had to flip the mounts and get it centered. But yeah, easy install and it’s, it’s in there and plumbed and wired and everything is ready to go. So cgs good.

[00:56:36] Throws set. Throws are all set, like everything is done like it. Just dan landis is gonna look it over for me to make sure I didn’t miss anything important. Help me with the CG. And who is that for people? Oh, I’m sorry, dan landis is boomerang rc. He’s associated with boom boomerang rc jets. Who is actually the guy that coordinated the sale of this airplane for me, or the purchase, I guess? Yeah, and where did you purchase? Well, I mean, I got it from boomerang, but he brought it.

[00:57:08] To joe knoll and delivered it, so I didn’t have to pay the shipping seven minutes. Yeah sorry, but yeah, it’s. It is completely ready, like all. The only thing that is left to do, unless dan tells me I’ve missed something, is to put fuel in it and prime. That’s it, like everything.

[00:57:26] Else is done I tried to get you to take my fuel tank home I know you have gas diesel but yeah.

[00:57:32] But it’s been so cold and like everything, I’ve read the parameters- with the extreme temperatures that we’re having, yeah, I don’t want to risk a wet start, or

[00:57:44] I would just rather wait until- yeah, until- the weather’s a little bit better. Yeah so, and I don’t, I mean, there’s nothing preventing me from taking the engine out of the airplane and putting it on a stand and running it on a stand. Now, now that everything is plumbed and wired and in its place, it would be easy to put it back. Yeah, but you’d have to redo all the wiring and all that kind of stuff for it too. I thought you had it all nicely wired in there it is, but

[00:58:10] I mean two zip ties and it comes right out I would not but you’re a tinkerer so you might I am a.

[00:58:17] Tinkerer I. I want to hear it run, but yeah, not to the point where I have to potentially change parameters in the ecu. Yeah, I don’t want to deal with that. I get it if I don’t have to. So what do?

[00:58:27] You think of turbine installation oh my gosh four screws is it not easy is it not simple I mean.

[00:58:35] It. It doesn’t get simpler, like there’s four screws, a wiring harness and a fuel tube that pushes in, like you don’t like. I mean it’s just, it’s crazy.

[00:58:52] How simple they are to install. So, having done it now, once for me, a couple times for you because you helped well, three times I guess, because you did Reggie’s too, right- yeah, it is not as scary as it was, because when you don’t know what you’re doing first, it’s always like, yes, you’re a little concerned, right, and turbines are so much simpler to install than any other. Any other engine I’ve put in, yeah, I, I mean even electric really. I mean, there’s a little bit more.

[00:59:27] That goes into them. But the actual installation, I mean you just you don’t have the, the steps you have to do with any other engine, because you don’t have to worry about the cowl, cutting the cowl, making sure it’s lined up right. It’s just, it’s simple and it’s done. Yeah, yep plus startup is so much.

[00:59:43] Fun listening to it, so much it is. It is cool, but yeah, I’m super excited. I can’t wait to fly this thing and hopefully get many, many flights on it. It’s gonna be a good year. I hope so.

[00:59:57] Already looking forward to number two. Oh god see, I’m still not there. I’m, I’m happy with one. Yeah, okay, it might be different if I was in your position, though, like I had to buy one, oh well, well.

[01:00:10] I don’t have to. I mean, let’s be honest, you don’t want to give that right. I got it. I won a coupon over the with the last summer and it expires in august. It’s a. It’s a pretty significant. You said what it was before, I think I think so, yeah, half off like a an in-stock jet kit at boomerang. So I already got my eye on the atom that I’m. I love the way it looks, I love the way it flies, the way people fly. It looks like it flies nice. But yeah, I mean I’m like almost.

[01:00:41] To the point where I would almost get rid of several of my other airplanes just to fly jets.

[01:00:48] That’s what you have done so far you’re not but I mean I would go farther I’m saying like.

[01:00:52] The double vision biplane that I’m so that I that I like flying so much, I would almost be okay with not flying that so I could fly jets more. Yeah, I understand completely. Dave’s not there yet, but he’ll get there, I think, so we’ll get him on the sticks. Yeah, well, I’ve flown.

[01:01:11] I’ve flown one, oh okay, yeah, but actually flying it and we’ll get you there. I don’t know. I’ve got a money issue. When we all have money, when they go over a certain dollar value, I can’t enjoy them because I’m too worried that I’m going to do something stupid. I mean, I’m worried, I’m, I’d be.

[01:01:31] Lying if I said I wasn’t worried about it also. But Ron said something. It’s been a while ago. Once the money is spent there’s, it’s kind of pointless to worry about it. Like at that point you either enjoy it or you just look at it, yeah. But I totally get what you’re saying and for me, I’m not going to say I’m not worried about the money because I am. I mean, let’s be honest, it’s a, it’s a pretty sizable investment. Even for a cheap sizable, I wouldn’t, I wouldn’t call it an.

[01:02:05] Investment. It’s a good used car. Yeah, I mean, five grand is to me, is still a lot of money, especially for a toy, I mean, because that’s what they are. It’s the most expensive. Well, it’s expensive, yeah, so I’m not gonna lie that the that, that I don’t think about that, but it’s, it’s a toy at the end of the day. And if I crash it, yes, I will not be happy, but I will find a way to make you.

[01:02:35] Know to get another one. That’s just. That’s just what it just in my head. It just takes the fun out of it. It becomes more of a worry situation where I don’t enjoy myself and I know that even if I do crash it, I can probably fix it for way less than what I’ve got invested in it. But I’m just that the money wish issue just takes all the fun out. It just zaps it right out of it. It’s like I don’t even want to touch that thing. That’s where I’m at with the p40. That’s really not gonna get rid of it. Yeah, I get that. I cannot fly it. There’s too much time, especially in that one. Oh, yeah, too much money.

[01:03:08] There’s almost a thousand dollars in it but 800 hours but that’s about where you are money wise.

[01:03:13] With your foam f-15 my f-15 is right around a thousand dollars and you see how often I fly that.

[01:03:21] It takes the fun out of it. Now that I’ve beat it up quite a bit and the nose has been busted off a couple times and it’s got a new fuselage and so forth and so forth, yeah, that the money into that is actually starting to go away a little bit. Yeah, okay, it’s like it’s not getting the first ding in your brand new car. It’s like getting the first minor accident with your brand new car. Okay, I’m over it now I get it, but I still don’t. That’s not my first go-to airplane. It’s like, oh, we’re gonna go flying, let’s grab the f-15. Yeah, that’s a special event airplane, and- and I still

[01:03:55] Have some jitters with it. Not that it scares me or it’s not a good flying airplane, it’s just the expense. Just the expense. Knowing that one especially, I know, if I take a ding, it’s done. I mean, I’ve already crashed it once big time, and that was a brand new fuselage- because you just can’t fix the foam. Yeah, at a certain point. Yeah, yeah, the other last time I ran off the edge of the runway, yeah, it cracked the nose, no big deal, that was an easy fix. But any sort of major incident it’s done. Yeah, you just have to find a way to forget that part, and but that’s unfortunately

[01:04:30] Just part of my psyche is I’m flat out dirt cheap okay and so any expenditure above 20 bucks is.

[01:04:39] Let me think about it. Yeah, I get that. I mean, I think that between the three of us, I think we’re all. We’re each at a different level of cheapness. Right, like you might be on the extreme end of cheap, Ron is on the opposite end of that, and I think I’m kind of somewhere in the middle. Honestly, I think it.

[01:04:58] Works out for all of us yeah I think so too mm-hmm and what part of the fun for me is the.

[01:05:03] Cheap how can I do this how much fun can I have for how can I do this for less yeah the challenge.

[01:05:10] Of it. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I get that. I can see that. So if we buy 13 worth of my pets so I can use a three dollar bottle of paint instead of automotive lacquer, right whatever, at 50 bucks a pint- yeah, exactly, and I’m probably underestimating the price. I have a price- real, I don’t know either- automotive paint.

[01:05:30] Is not cheap, so anyway, the jet is ready. It is ready, ready like I’m looking forward to the maiden, me too, hopefully next couple months. I mean, the only thing I’m waiting on now is weather. Well, I still gotta buy a fuel jug, but that’s just a purchase and you can- yeah, you, let me use yours. So, and I’m

[01:05:52] Waiting on weather we’re all waiting on weather sucks right now I am not going to run.

[01:05:57] A glow engine in 20 degree? I’m not either. I’m a nitro guy and, like right now, I have no interest in running a nitro butter in this weather. Yeah, electric’s fine, just too cool, like. Even just putting my hands behind a spinning propeller right now does not sound good to me. Just the thought of dragging it.

[01:06:15] Outside with all the equipment is yeah so we’re just gonna let that one sit for a while yeah.

[01:06:20] Yeah, I think last night, right, no, was it this morning? When I was driving into the work or into work, the truck said negative four. Oh my gosh, what day was that this morning? Oh, this morning this morning, when I went in- so it was weird- there was a cold spell. I was, that was through.

[01:06:39] Again I got a holiday for oh that’s right president jimmy carter’s funeral oh yeah he’s a federal.

[01:06:44] Employee, yeah, but anyway. So there was a cold spot that I drove through, because most of the time it was like one or two above, and then there was like three miles that I drove through and just kept going down like negative four and then slowly started to go back up to one again, so heat wave. I was in town, so it was.

[01:07:03] Eight, yeah, but I caught two trains today on the way home. Well, no, going into work this morning, oh, laurie, got caught by one on the way home today. Never been caught by two trains at the same time. Carpenter street caught a train and it cleared and I was able to go a block and the gates dropped. It’s like, are you kidding me? It’s like I started texting the boss going. Yeah, it took me 20 minutes.

[01:07:32] Go a mile. Welcome to in town driving. And there’s no getting around it. No, not, not in town. Nope, all right. Anything else? No, that’s it for me, I’m good. Well, thank you everybody for listening to the first.

[01:07:48] Episode of the year. Hopefully they get better. From here we’ll have more to talk about. Yeah, I hope so. As soon as the weather warms up, we’re going to be talking about lots and lots of flying and jets and jets and jet flying and jet flying at joe knoll.

[01:08:03] And Reggie crashing his jet wait what no well he has to get it ready first that’s yeah he’s gonna.

[01:08:09] Be 20 27 yeah he’s he’s got some stuff going on right now he does give him a little bit of a break.

[01:08:13] Yeah but I can officially say that my jet is farther along than his yeah mine is ready like ready.

[01:08:21] All right so until next I’m really excited I know I’m Ron I’m Tom and I’m dave good night.

[01:08:26] Good night. Good night, hope you enjoyed this episode of the RC Plane Lab podcast. For topic suggestions, to ask questions or to give anything back, 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.