Ep 85: Ron and Tom go to a hobby shop.

[00:00:01] Hello, everyone. Welcome to the RC Plane Lab podcast. I'm Ron.

[00:00:08] And I'm Tom.

[00:00:09] What's going on, Tom?

[00:00:10] Episode 85. Can you believe it? 85. 15 more to 100.

[00:00:16] The way we're going, that's going to be, what, five months?

[00:00:18] Whatever. I don't know. It seems less if I just say 15 more.

[00:00:22] It does. So we have an audience again today. We do. Crystal is joining us. Crystal is joining us for tonight's recording. So she's down here working on homework. So either we are going to bother her or she is going to bother us.

[00:00:36] We shall see. I predict it will be a mutual bothering.

[00:00:42] Mutual is always better. So. You've been busy. I've been busy. Ron, you've been busy. I mean, look around. First off. So, yeah.

[00:00:49] Haven't seen you for a few days. In fact, a few days is exactly how long it's been since I've seen you. It has been. It's been a few days since I've been here in the recording studio, which is your basement. And.

[00:01:03] Sounds official when you say studio.

[00:01:04] I have to say that when I walked downstairs and looked around, I was pleasantly surprised. I mean, I was legitimately surprised at how clean and like spacious. And I wondered where everything went.

[00:01:20] Now, that kind of makes me feel like any of the other times you've been here, you walk down and you're like, oh, this is a pigsty.

[00:01:27] No, not that it was a pigsty. Just there was a lot of stuff down here.

[00:01:32] Yeah.

[00:01:32] And we were stepping over cords and recording equipment and airplanes. Yeah.

[00:01:38] And that is all gone.

[00:01:40] Well, not all gone, but it's all mostly gone.

[00:01:43] It's been semi put away. I still have a few airplanes sitting out that have not found a permanent home yet. there are some actually still sitting on one of our chest freezers, but that's okay. Cause I'm making progress. So absolutely. With. It looks fantastic. And see, I don't like, she's staring at me and I. I'm your basement back. I'm.

[00:02:08] She's getting her basement back.

[00:02:10] She's not, by the way. Like, I don't want to, I don't want her to think that's going to happen, but so like with all the airplanes that have come in this house in the last month now or so, whatever it is, there was, like I said before, just no room. And I, I, I don't want to talk about how many came in with her sitting here or any of that stuff. Cause. Well, she is sitting right there. I'll be judged.

[00:02:36] But no, like in all honesty, like when all the new ones that came in, before I put them away, I wanted them to be, here we go again, binded or bound bound to the new transmitter. So that.

[00:02:49] Which if for all of our listeners that may not have heard, you got a new transmitter.

[00:02:54] Well, yeah.

[00:02:55] Okay.

[00:02:55] Like.

[00:02:56] Maybe not everybody heard that episode,?

[00:02:58] Yes. I finally, thanks to your urging, purchased an iX-12.

[00:03:04] I still don't feel like I had to urge very hard.

[00:03:07] There was a lot of pushing going on.

[00:03:08] No, I really don't think there was.

[00:03:09] But that's okay. But so like I was saying, I wanted everything to be ready to go. So when it was time to fly it in the spring, which is what it looks like, it's probably going to be now.

[00:03:19] Or sooner. I mean, we've actually done quite a bit of flying recently.

[00:03:23] Well, we have, but by the way, before we get too much further on that, happy holidays, everybody. I forgot the time that we're in now. Merry Christmas. There we go. Anyway, so I wanted everything to be bound up and ready to go for the spring when I get it out, because I didn't want to have to worry about, did I do this? Did I not do this?

[00:03:40] So it took me a little bit longer to put things away than it would have had I just thrown them on a shelf and not gone through everything to make sure they were ready to go.

[00:03:50] Right.

[00:03:50] So that's why my basement was so.

[00:03:53] Well, it looks fantastic.

[00:03:55] Terrible for as long as it was.

[00:03:56] No, no, no. See, I wouldn't say terrible.

[00:03:59] When Piper was down playing, I was afraid she was going to break a plane. So that's pretty bad.

[00:04:04] Yeah.

[00:04:05] I mean, like running around, kicking a ball. I just.

[00:04:08] Well, yeah.

[00:04:09] I was not. Sure. I was uncomfortable with that just in case. Yeah. So it's more fun now. I can just let her roam around and not have to worry about anything.

[00:04:18] She's got room to play. Anything. Like without any fear.

[00:04:21] Yeah. Which is nice. So all that stuff for the most part is put away. Yeah. Looks great. It's. There's more that went into the garage than I wanted to. There's.

[00:04:31] Well, you only have so much space.

[00:04:34] I know.

[00:04:34] Here in the house.

[00:04:35] So I need, I need to talk to Crystal again about.

[00:04:38] Oh, she's sitting right there. Getting.

[00:04:39] Honey, do you mind? Like if we get a little bigger area in the unfinished part of the basement for my airplanes. If looks could kill.

[00:04:46] Okay.

[00:04:47] Moving on. Moving on. I think that was a resounding. Maybe.

[00:04:52] Maybe we'll talk about this in a few years.

[00:04:54] Maybe. But anyway. So, yeah, that's all. That's all good. And I'm ready to fly now.

[00:05:01] Yeah. And which you have actually recently.

[00:05:03] A little bit. So have you.

[00:05:05] Yeah.

[00:05:05] Nothing big yet. None of the new stuff.

[00:05:08] Yeah.

[00:05:08] But that's okay.

[00:05:09] And you have a correction to make.

[00:05:11] I do. I do? Oh, I do. You do. Sorry. So when we.

[00:05:15] Liar, liar. Pants on fire.

[00:05:18] When we talked last episode, we both said when we went to the swap meet indicator, there's a beautiful Piper Grasshopper L4. Really nice.

[00:05:27] Yep.

[00:05:27] And we both stated we don't own one of those. No. I lied. I was telling the truth. I forgot. Like, I don't know how that sounds. That's got to sound terrible. I have one. It's the little E-Flight. What is that? Like 38 inch wingspan or something. Yeah.

[00:05:44] It's still an L4.

[00:05:45] Little E-Flight L4. That's actually.

[00:05:48] Radio control. Four channel.

[00:05:49] Yeah. Yeah. You're right.

[00:05:51] Just making sure. I was looking at it.

[00:05:53] The worst part of it. It was hanging. It is hanging right by us. It's hanging from the ceiling in my basement. Forgot all about it. So yeah, I have one. Still want another one though. You don't count that one though. Why?

[00:06:03] Why is that?

[00:06:06] Honestly, I haven't flown that one for probably three or four years. The first and only time I flew it, when I took off, something happened to where the motor fidgeted out. I mean, I don't know. It like gave out, made a noise, stopped working, and then it crashed.

[00:06:28] Fidgeted out.

[00:06:28] I don't know what word, like I want to say like.

[00:06:30] Stopped working?

[00:06:31] It farted. Like if you want to listen to it, the noise it made sounded just like. You're referring to the noise it made. Yeah.

[00:06:37] Okay.

[00:06:38] And then it lost all power. And I honestly like just haven't gotten back around to it. I hung it up because it looks nice sitting down here. It's a nice looking airplane. It's a pretty airplane, yeah. And so it's been hanging on our, I don't know, media wall, whatever you want to call that thing up there.

[00:06:54] Up there out of the way, safe and sound.

[00:06:56] Easy to forget apparently.

[00:06:58] But easy to see, which is weird because we completely didn't see it when you lied to our audience and said you didn't have one.

[00:07:06] Well, it was a lie of omission, a lie of forgetfulness. I mean, it's not one I would.

[00:07:11] A lie of omission.

[00:07:12] It's not one I would forget. I'm sorry. It's not one I would hold against me, as I guess what I'm trying to say.

[00:07:18] Okay. Well, either way, we would like to have a big one.

[00:07:22] What? Both of us. We would both love to have a big one. A big L4. Because those are awesome. They are really pretty.

[00:07:27] Especially after seeing that one indicator.

[00:07:29] Yeah. Okay. What have you been up to? Anything?

[00:07:32] No. Well, I take that back. So I rebuilt the Sato 72 that was on the cornfield airplane.

[00:07:41] Oh, the…

[00:07:42] That engine now is ready to go.

[00:07:43] The one I crashed?

[00:07:44] Yep. Well, the one that went in the corn, yes. Or beans. Beans.

[00:07:47] Yeah, it wasn't… Yeah, it's a bean field.

[00:07:50] So it's ready to go. Really? All I had to get was a new backplate, which the new backplates are plastic.

[00:07:56] Really?

[00:07:56] You can't get the cast aluminum ones anymore, which, whatever, it breaks. So… But the new one is black, so it matches the Golden Knight aesthetic.

[00:08:05] Mm-hmm.

[00:08:05] And then I had to get the new pushrod tubes. The pushrods, ironically, were not bent. Even though, to look at the pushrod tubes, you would think, wow, these things got to be bent. But they weren't. So, yeah, just new tubes and a backplate and a good cleaning. The inside, not from the water sitting in the field, I don't think, but there was a little bit of rust on the bearings.

[00:08:28] So you think that's…

[00:08:30] I don't think that's from sitting in the field. I think that's from just use. It happens. Sometimes we don't always get the methanol out of the engines when we're done. And especially if an engine that's shut off abruptly and then not tended to, over a matter of time. Methanols, we talked about in the fuel, attracts water and water.

[00:08:50] Well, it rained out, too. So, I mean, it's not like it…

[00:08:53] But there was no water when I took the engine apart.

[00:08:56] Well, but humidity.

[00:08:57] Right. Exactly.

[00:08:58] Yeah. So, I get it. It wasn't like drenched in a pool.

[00:09:01] So, I had to knock the bearings out and give them a good cleaning and the bearings were fine. So, I lubed them up and put them back in there and she's back together and clean and shiny and ready for running. And good, I got to say, great compression. It's still very, very tight. Well, good. So, yeah, I'm ready. I'm excited to run that engine.

[00:09:19] Because I have made the decision and it's official.

[00:09:22] It's a big decision.

[00:09:24] I am completely… I feel like it's a big decision. Out of nitro. I'm done. Yeah. Like, I gave you all of my nitro stuff. You did. I gave you my motors, which I didn't have many. Fuel tubing.

[00:09:36] I got all your fuel tubing.

[00:09:38] I'm going to keep the nice starters just in case I need them for RC cars or whatnot. Yeah. I just… It's such a hassle. Like, I don't want to deal with it. I still have one more motor I owe you. It's on the fun one. Well, but in order to be completely done.

[00:09:56] To really call yourself done with nitro. Yes, you have one.

[00:10:00] And the only reason I haven't given that to you yet is because I haven't taken that down and taken it off yet. Yeah. And that'll happen…

[00:10:04] Which, by the way, that is the loudest Sato I've ever heard.

[00:10:08] But I love that Sato. Like, I can't wait to hear you fly it on something.

[00:10:12] It is. Well, it's not going to be loud.

[00:10:13] You're going to fix it?

[00:10:14] I'll fly it without that muffler. That muffler is more like a resonator than a muffler.

[00:10:19] See, I still think that is the way I got it off of you when I got it from you. Because that was the one that was on…

[00:10:24] No, wait. I would never fly an engine or a Sato four-stroke with…

[00:10:31] The insides are gone.

[00:10:32] For our listeners.

[00:10:32] Of the muffler. Yeah.

[00:10:33] The muffler is missing the end cap.

[00:10:35] Yeah.

[00:10:36] So, it's the exhaust pipe that goes into the body of the muffler and that's it. There is no outlet. It's just the body of the muffler with this huge opening. And it's literally, I feel like, a megaphone for that sake. It would actually be quieter, I think, without the muffler at all.

[00:10:53] And it sounds good, though.

[00:10:55] See, it's just too loud for me. It's too loud. It's obnoxious.

[00:10:58] Okay. Well, then you're not getting that one.

[00:11:01] If you're not… I mean, it's your engine. Well, it is. But I'll hold on to that then. And if you're to the point where you won't run it that way, in my memory… Well, I will… Then that's fine. Oh, I see. I'll just keep it.

[00:11:13] So, running it with a regular muffler is not the same?

[00:11:15] No. -.

[00:11:17] Okay. Well, if I run it once…

[00:11:19] No, it's got to stay like that forever.

[00:11:22] But I don't have, like, an airplane to put it on right now.

[00:11:25] Well, I have one that's on. Actually, I do.

[00:11:28] It's the RF that's sitting under the table over there. I could put it on that.

[00:11:31] I thought you weren't going to put that together now.

[00:11:33] Oh, well, eventually. Oh, okay.

[00:11:35] Because you're whining about not having room for more airplanes.

[00:11:38] Well, I have a little room now.

[00:11:40] Speaking of more airplanes… That's a good segue. We made a trip. We made a trip up to Dynamic Balsa.

[00:11:47] Yep. Went to see our buddy Brian up there.

[00:11:48] It's been way too long. Too long, yeah. But it's a day trip. Like, it's a full… It really is….day trip. And that's the only thing that… But worth it. Oh, it's absolutely worth it. Yeah. But it just… You have to set aside a full Saturday. Yeah. We leave at, well, 7.30-ish in the morning. Well, you probably leave before that because you came out here to pick me up. Yeah.

[00:12:09] Just say 7.30, yeah.

[00:12:10] So, 7.30 in the morning. Then we didn't get home until about 3.

[00:12:13] 3 o'clock, yeah.

[00:12:14] And then, it's getting dark after that. Yeah. But we both actually got rid of some stuff.

[00:12:20] We did. We took some stuff up to Brian that he can use in the shop. Hopefully, turn them and make a little bit of money for the shop. And in return, we got some store credit that we spent. Plus some.

[00:12:32] Not a lot, honey. But just a little bit. Yeah. We didn't want to be at zero. I wanted to make sure that I didn't have any credit left. Because what's the point of that? Yeah. Just sitting up there. Anyway.

[00:12:45] And what good does that do, Brian, if we go up there and just go even? I mean, you really need to take some money out of my pocket and give to Brian. In addition, to make it worth his while for treating us so nicely on the trades.

[00:12:58] You have to shop local.

[00:13:00] I agree 100%.

[00:13:02] That's not local. Well, that's local to us. Yeah.

[00:13:05] We don't have a shop in Springfield anymore.

[00:13:07] Yeah. But it's always fun to see the different airplanes he has up there.

[00:13:11] It is. And boy, he had a bunch.

[00:13:15] Yeah. He had a lot of different ones than one up there last time. It was, well, if you've never been to a hobby shop like that, I mean, it's like what you expect a hobby shop to be.

[00:13:26] Yes.

[00:13:26] There is just stuff everywhere.

[00:13:28] And that's even before you go upstairs.

[00:13:30] Yeah. I mean, you literally have to be careful not to trip over stuff as you're walking through. Yeah. We actually, I will admit to it, I kicked an airplane. I did, too.

[00:13:39] The same one.

[00:13:40] It was the same airplane. I know. So after you kicked it, I didn't feel as bad. But you were ribbing me pretty bad about kicking this airplane.

[00:13:48] I think I may have said something, yes.

[00:13:49] Yeah. -huh. Because I had to back out of somebody's way to get by me.

[00:13:54] That's exactly what happened to me. I know. And I felt bad about making fun of you. Luckily, neither one of us damaged it, so we didn't have to buy it. So that's good.

[00:14:03] That was an S-pop, right?

[00:14:04] Yes. Thanks, Brian, for not making us buy that airplane.

[00:14:07] There was no damage. I mean, I couldn't see anything. Although I would have. It scared the crap out of me.

[00:14:11] It had a four-stroke on it. So I would have, if he told me to buy it, I would have.

[00:14:18] Oh. But anyway, he had. So he bought out, I guess, a, what's it called? Like an estate?

[00:14:26] Like an estate. Yeah, a estate sale or maybe somebody that was getting out of the hobby that had a huge collection.

[00:14:31] Of biplanes. Biplanes. Yeah, which did nothing for me. But you were, I mean, you were drooling all over yourself.

[00:14:40] I was a happy camper, yeah. Yeah. Had a very hard time not buying at least one.

[00:14:46] Well, you tried to.

[00:14:47] Well, I didn't really.

[00:14:49] You tried to, but the one that you wanted was sold.

[00:14:52] It was already sold, yeah.

[00:14:53] Which was unfortunate.

[00:14:55] So, yeah, a lot of Pitts biplanes up there, and all of them looked really, really good. I was really wanting that one that was sold, but unfortunately, or fortunately, it was not meant to me.

[00:15:11] It was funny because, like, okay, we did get rid of some stuff, and we'll talk about what we traded out of our hangar, if you will, here in a little bit. But it was like towards the end, you had, like, money burning a hole in your pocket. Because you're looking at all this stuff. At least that's how it seemed to me. You're looking at this stuff, and how much, oh, how much is that ARF? Oh, no, that's a little more than I want to spend.

[00:15:35] And then, as we're, like, we checked out, like, we were done, we were getting ready to go, and you're like, oh, hey, there's another ARF sitting back here up on that. What are you wanting for that? And he gave you a price, and you just whipped out your wad of cash and gave it to him, and you came home with another airplane.

[00:15:53] I did, yeah. Yeah. It wasn't a Pitts biplane, unfortunately.

[00:15:55] It wasn't. It was a monoplane.

[00:15:57] Yeah. So, we're going to talk about what we brought home, then?

[00:16:00] I don't know. I got so off topic. If we want to, if we can.

[00:16:04] Well, let's start with what you took up there to get to trade in.

[00:16:08] Well, so, we, this is back four years ago, I think, four or five years ago, when I got the Telemaster from you, because you didn't have room for it, there was another airplane in that little set of stuff. Exchange. Oh, it was a one-away exchange. Hold on, I got to sneeze.

[00:16:32] I'll go ahead and cough.

[00:16:33] I don't know why that made you cough, but anyway, sorry about that. But anyway, so, in that exchange of stuff that we had going, no, there was no exchange. Like I said, it was just, you gave it to me, because you didn't have room for it. No room. There was a biplane of some sort, no clue what it was.

[00:16:46] It was a Christian Eagle.

[00:16:47] Oh.

[00:16:47] Yep.

[00:16:48] Well, so, somebody had a clue what it was. And that was, where did that come from when you got it?

[00:16:56] Well, I got it from Bob.

[00:16:57] Okay, that's what I thought.

[00:16:58] And to be honest, I don't, he told me where he came up with it, but I don't remember where that actually came from, but he had it for a period of time. And then I had it for, gosh, I don't know.

[00:17:12] A period of time.

[00:17:13] A period of time.

[00:17:14] And then I had it for a period of time. So, he didn't want it, gave it to you. You didn't want it, gave it to me, because I figured, that's a nice airplane, I'll get to it one day. And I finally realized, it's a biplane, I'm not going to get to it, it's time to make some room.

[00:17:31] And you're a biplane hater.

[00:17:33] I like biplanes, I don't want to own biplanes. I like nitro, I don't want to own nitro.

[00:17:40] Okay.

[00:17:40] I'm lazy. I mean, that's, I think from what I found, that's kind of what it all boils down to. I don't want to deal with tuning every time. I don't want to deal with the mess and cleaning up of nitro. I don't want to deal with the extra wings, taking him and putting him on and taking him off and all that stuff. So, I'm lazy. Of a biplane, yeah. I got it. So, that's, wow. No wing is half the battle, so there you go. That just hit me pretty hard. I'm lazy.

[00:18:03] Anyway, so that was the one I decided to get rid of. It, just never going to have anything. Never going to get to it. Go on with it. Long time ago, I had bought a, oh shucks. What was that? It was the Super Dimona, Dimona, whatever you call it.

[00:18:19] The big glider thing.

[00:18:20] It was a powered glider. It had like a 96-inch wingspan, 94-inch wingspan, something like that. But it was a fiberglass fuselage. Didn't really lend itself well to what I would do. Like the fiberglass was kind of hard to work with. Fiberglass, or the fiberglass was kind of messed up.

[00:18:39] Had a few cracks in it.

[00:18:40] I had great plans of doing stuff with it. And then it just got to the point where I know my limits and I wasn't going to do anything.

[00:18:48] Well, you actually did tinker with it.

[00:18:49] A little bit.

[00:18:50] Yeah.

[00:18:50] But never got to the point where I was.

[00:18:51] It wasn't like the biplane where you never really even touched it.

[00:18:54] Correct. Yeah.

[00:18:55] So, you at least,.

[00:18:56] I put a motor on it, put a speed controller in it, and tried to get it moving and stuff. And it just, even with like a four-cell, I'm trying to think what the motor was. It was a pretty big motor and speed controller I put on there. It just, it didn't want to move very well. And it just, I figured if I needed a perfectly smooth runway and stuff for that, I'm not going to ever deal with that. I want something I can do on a nice grass runway. Anyway, so I got rid of that, too.

[00:19:23] I took it up there. So, that freed up quite a bit of room. And then the last thing I got rid of, actually, you were.

[00:19:31] It really hurt me.

[00:19:31] You were not happy about.

[00:19:33] No.

[00:19:35] So, once again, way back in 2013. Yeah, I think that's about right. One of our buddies owned a hobby shop. And there were a total of four of us that decided we were all going to buy the P-40 Warhawk ARFs.

[00:19:52] 50. From Hangar 9. Well, because they were on special. They were being discontinued or closed out or whatever. So, our hobby shop friend was getting them for a pretty good deal. And he was passing it on to us. He passed that on to us. Yeah.

[00:20:06] So, all four of us. All four of us were going to build them that winter.

[00:20:10] Well, all four of us bought one each.

[00:20:11] Yeah, we all bought one. And then we were going to build them that winter. That was the plan. And then we were all going to get together in the spring once it warmed up a little bit and fly them together.

[00:20:20] Yeah.

[00:20:20] Sounded like a great idea. Just never, never came to. Well, I built mine. You're the only. Well, you're not the only one. I guess our other buddy that had the hobby shop built his. Because I think I remember saying that one fly. Oh, okay. But, yeah. So, you built yours. You were the only one that built it and still has it.

[00:20:41] Yeah.

[00:20:42] And I actually flew it.

[00:20:43] Not this summer, but last summer.

[00:20:45] Well, that's the one, I think, on our website. If you look, that's the one. Yeah, it's the one I'm holding. The picture of you that you're holding. I saw our buddy Reggie bought one also. And it's still in the box.

[00:20:57] As far as I know, yeah. I don't think he's started it yet.

[00:21:00] I know he hasn't started it yet. I just don't know if he's gotten rid of it. Which I don't think he has.

[00:21:04] I think he still has it.

[00:21:05] Yeah. Yeah. So, I just finally thought it's not going to happen. It wasn't an airplane I was excited about. like it was something cool to do with the guys and kind of go about it that way.

[00:21:18] That's a Warbird, though.

[00:21:20] Yeah.

[00:21:20] You currently don't have any flyable Warbirds, except for the L4.

[00:21:23] Well, true, I guess. But, I mean. Too late now. It's gone. It's gone. And I'm happy it's gone. I'm not. I got more for it than what I paid for it. Brian was very fair.

[00:21:37] He was more than fair. Yeah.

[00:21:40] I mean, I told him what I paid for it. And he's like, well, I can give you more than that. And I was like, okay, what am I buying here now? Because I knew I was going to walk out with something. Which I did. He did. I told my wife before I left. I was like, look, this is the stuff I'm getting rid of. I'm not coming home with anything.

[00:21:53] That's funny. That's what I told Lori.

[00:21:56] Did Lori, like, call you out on it?

[00:21:59] Not yet.

[00:22:00] Oh. Crystal did. I walked in. She's like, I thought you weren't bringing anything home there. And I said, well.

[00:22:07] Well, we have already established that you are a liar.

[00:22:10] God, that sounds so bad. A lazy liar. That's even worse. I didn't say lazy. You added that. I added the lazy part. But anyway. So, I did. And it's actually an airplane I've wanted. Yes. For a long time. It's an ARF. So, we still have to put it together. It's one that I can actually make into an electric. It has the electric conversion.

[00:22:33] I think it'll make a great electric flyer.

[00:22:36] It should. I mean, I think so. But it's a 40-size Seagull Spacewalker. And that should be a good one to put together and fly.

[00:22:46] Yeah. When it's assembled and sitting, in the grass and the sun, they are very pretty airplanes, I think.

[00:22:53] That's one of those.

[00:22:54] The red and yellow. I like it.

[00:22:55] That's one of those almost like the quintessential RC airplane that you think of when you think of people with RC airplanes. You okay? Yep. I'm good. That and like a Cub. Like, those are the two type of airplanes. The Cub especially.

[00:23:08] Cub especially, yeah.

[00:23:08] I think almost everybody that flies that's been in the hobby for a while has had. Or owns one or has owned one. Yeah. Because they're just, they're good flyers.

[00:23:19] They're very good flyers.

[00:23:19] But hopefully this one will be a good flyer also.

[00:23:22] You actually are going to give me the electronics for it.

[00:23:25] I am. Yep.

[00:23:25] I'm going to. I'm saying this now because that's going to hold you to it.

[00:23:28] No, I mean it.

[00:23:30] I know, but you also said you were going to bring it to me.

[00:23:32] Well, I didn't have time.

[00:23:33] -huh. It's been days. And you said you watched a movie yesterday. So that tells me you had time.

[00:23:38] No, I did not say I watched a movie. I said I was going to. But then the incident with the sound bar.

[00:23:44] You hit your head on a shelf and you have a big gash.

[00:23:47] It's a big, I have a big boo-boo.

[00:23:49] Yeah. On the top of your head, it's kind of funny. But anyway, it's not funny. Like it almost makes me nauseous because I don't do well with that stuff. But I'm glad to. Which makes me laugh. I'm glad to hear you're doing okay. But anyway, so yeah, you're going to give me the electronics. You finally decided. Well, you tell the story about your.

[00:24:06] Yeah. So a while back, I love biplanes. And a great friend of the hobby, really, Jim Stuckey, actually gifted me his Kristen Eagle just out of the blue one day just because he knew that I liked biplanes. And it's set up for electric, but it's the Great Plains Kristen Eagle. And you can go kind of nitro or electric with that pretty easily to convert back and forth. So I'm going to convert that to nitro because I like nitro.

[00:24:37] And then, yeah, I'm going to let you use the electronics out of it for your spacewalker.

[00:24:43] Yeah. I think that'll be a fitting fit.

[00:24:45] Yeah. If I remember correctly, I think it's a Rimfire 46, I think.

[00:24:49] Yeah. That should fly that just perfectly. It would be just fine.

[00:24:52] Yeah.

[00:24:53] So there you go. That'll be nice to get that put together and put on and get that one flown too. What size is it?

[00:24:59] A 4-cell? Do you think that'll be a 4-cell?

[00:25:01] It'll probably be a 5 or a 6. 5 or a 6. Okay. Which means I'll need my battery, but that's okay.

[00:25:07] I would offer you the battery that I was using in that airplane, but I'm…

[00:25:11] But you won't.

[00:25:12] I'm not going to because I think I'm going to use that for electric starters.

[00:25:17] Oh, because you need an electric starter for a nitro airplane. Occasionally. I forgot about that. Yes, I do. Occasionally. Because they're cantankerous.

[00:25:24] They can be.

[00:25:26] Yes.

[00:25:27] The engines that I chose to install on my dualist are cantankerous, yes.

[00:25:33] Yeah, and that was even worse because to start that up, we had to have a car close just in case. Yeah.

[00:25:37] And that's why I'm keeping the battery so we don't have to keep a car close.

[00:25:40] Yeah. So the other thing I saw when I was up there, like if you follow Dynamic Balsa on Facebook, he posts pictures every now and then of airplanes he has in that he obviously is going to sell.

[00:25:56] And if you watch, you'll probably see pictures of some of the stuff we took up there last weekend.

[00:26:02] But anyway, so he had listed a long time ago a Taub 40 made… Actually, I don't know who that one is. I'm assuming that was the Balsa USA kit. I don't know if anybody else has made them or not. Not that I know of, but all the plans are out there too.

[00:26:22] You can always plans build them.

[00:26:23] I have had a roll of that Aura cover. Oh, it's a call. Aura Tech. Aura Tech. Expensive. Aura Techs.

[00:26:33] Techs, yeah. T-E-X. No, it's not. Is it?

[00:26:37] Yeah, okay. I'll believe you. Whatever. But anyway, so it's the fabric looking like covering. I've had a roll of that looking for an airplane for I don't know how long. It's been months, almost years.

[00:26:49] Well, you were going to recover that Elder thing that's out in the garage, right?

[00:26:53] Right. So, well, no. I don't even know what that one is. That's not an Elder.

[00:26:57] Well, it looks.

[00:26:57] My original plan was to build an Elder.

[00:27:00] Oh, that's right.

[00:27:01] For that.

[00:27:02] Yeah.

[00:27:03] And then I got that other airplane that needed recovering. It's red. I haven't done anything with that. But it still has the cool open frame in the back, which I like that. So I was going to use that to recover that. But I just keep, like, changing my mind on what this stupid expensive rule of covering is going to go on. It is expensive. This is the perfect airplane for it.

[00:27:23] Like, as I go farther and farther and farther in my learning about all these airplanes that you can get, this is the perfect airplane for it. So anyway, he had one up there. I got to see the pictures online. Fell in love with the shape of it. It's a weird looking. Looks like a bird, almost. Well, I think it. Does Taub mean dove in German? I think it means. I could be wrong. Maybe it means bird or something. But, yeah, it has wings that look like a bird.

[00:27:49] The tail feathers look like a bird. It's a cool-looking plane. Apparently flew back in, what, 1917 or 1919, something like that. I don't know. It was an actual real airplane, which I like that, too, that's modeled after a real airplane. But anyway, so that is going to be the perfect airplane for that. Got to see it online. Went up there. Actually got to hold it, see the airplane. He was at, I mean, he had a good price on it, but I wanted to build my own.

[00:28:16] I understand.

[00:28:16] Like, it's, by the time I build it and have to buy another roll of covering, because it takes two rolls, I'll be at the same price just in the covering and in the kit as he was for what he was asking for that.

[00:28:30] I've got a good four-stroke you put on it.

[00:28:32] I would not do that in a million years. But anyway, it's going to be a fun build, and I'm actually going to be able to kind of enjoy that.

[00:28:43] Yeah.

[00:28:44] So I ended up ordering a kit. What?

[00:28:49] You ordered a kit?

[00:28:51] I need more projects.

[00:28:52] Oh, I love that.

[00:28:53] I did. I ordered a kit from Balsa USA. I've never put together one of their kits before.

[00:28:57] What a great company.

[00:28:58] It should be. I mean, everybody that I've talked to that's dealt with them really loves them. So we'll see how it goes.

[00:29:05] Yeah.

[00:29:05] So hopefully, I say that, but hopefully that'll be a winter project. Yeah.

[00:29:11] So we're kind of on hold with the trimotor.

[00:29:15] Yeah, that was the problem.

[00:29:16] And that's really not anything to do with anything that we've not done or done. It's really…

[00:29:22] Hold on, I've got to unpack that one. Anything to do with anything that we have not done or done. We just don't have Balsa. I mean, that's the problem. Yeah.

[00:29:30] And that's not our fault.

[00:29:32] Yeah.

[00:29:32] Like, you were actually able to place an order, still waiting, by the way.

[00:29:36] Yeah, still waiting. So I haven't gotten it from April.

[00:29:39] I can't even place an order.

[00:29:40] Yeah.

[00:29:40] Even though…

[00:29:41] No phone number to call.

[00:29:42] The money's been spent.

[00:29:44] Yeah. I mean, I'm getting perturbed. I don't want to dwell on it, but I mean, just that's where we are right now. And that's the problem.

[00:29:52] So anyway, this will be a good build in the interim while we're…

[00:29:56] Something to tide me over. While we're waiting, yeah. Well, I have that, and then I have the stick you gave me to build. I have that kit.

[00:30:01] You're still going to build that, then?

[00:30:02] I'm going to do that one first. I think that's going to be an easy, quick one that should be done in not very long.

[00:30:06] You can have that framed up in two days, two evenings.

[00:30:09] If I have the time, yes. And that's what I'm hoping.

[00:30:11] Well, you found time to do all of this.

[00:30:13] I did. And now that this is this, and clean… Now you want to mess it up again. No, I don't want to mess it up again, but I feel like I'm getting back into my groove for this kind of stuff. Yeah. Like, it should be a good winter. I'm looking forward to it.

[00:30:27] Cool.

[00:30:28] But anyway, so those are the two planes that I'm coming home with and, working on. That's my next steps. So what did you take up and what did you do?

[00:30:39] Well, much, much less than you did. I took up… So last, maybe two trips ago, maybe three trips ago when we went up there, I came home with the Double Vision ARF kit. So a 50cc biplane designed by Chip Hyde. And then a bunch, a bunch of extra pieces for it. So I went through that, finally, got everything that I needed to build a complete airframe. And then there was enough parts left over to almost build two more airplanes. It's just short, a fuselage and…

[00:31:17] It's kind of a big part, though.

[00:31:19] It is. True. But extra wing panels, extra horizontal stabs, rudder, elevators.

[00:31:26] So what did you get with that? You got what you have now at your house, not including the stuff you gave back to him because that stuff is gone now.

[00:31:33] So I have a complete kit, plus I held back an extra complete set of wings. So I have four extra wing panels, plus enough to build an entire airplane.

[00:31:44] But you didn't keep an extra fuse?

[00:31:46] No.

[00:31:47] You gave it… Wow. I would have kept an extra fuselage for it.

[00:31:52] I thought about it. I really did. But for me, it was space. It was hard to… For me… That's thin, though. Yeah, but it's long.

[00:32:00] It is long, but that's… Okay.

[00:32:03] But anyway, no. So I took all the stuff that I had left over and I gave that back to Brian because I really, honestly, I didn't pay very much for all that stuff. So I didn't have any heartburn about giving him back. And he has a double vision already assembled, used upstairs, in the vault of airplanes.

[00:32:21] So I figured, if I could give something to him that he can sweeten up a deal to potentially sell that, that means later on down the road, that airplane is gone and something new and interesting might be in its place, which might interest me. So it might… It was somewhat self-serving, okay? Well, and it got you more room. And it made more room in my basement, yes, in my storage area. So anyway, took that ginormous box of stuff up there and gave that back to him.

[00:32:45] So that was a net zero kind of exchange. Not a big fan of the Hangar 9 twist that Bob was gracious enough to give me a while back. It was an airframe. It was a brand new airframe, but the fuselage had been crushed, like stepped on or whatever. So I repaired it, put my stuff in it, and I flew it a few times. And it's just not my thing. It flies good, but it's more like a profile.

[00:33:13] Yeah.

[00:33:14] And I'm not a big fan of those.

[00:33:15] It's a weird, huge-shaped wing.

[00:33:17] I call them crazy planes.

[00:33:19] Yeah.

[00:33:19] Right? Because the control surfaces are huge. It has a huge wing. It's designed for just flat-out going crazy, 3D flying or whatever. It's not my thing. So that had a really nice running OS91FS four-stroke on it. Great running engine, just not a pretty. It was an old. It's got a lot of time on it.

[00:33:41] Yeah.

[00:33:42] But ran great. In fact, I just ran it a few days before I took it up there. And then it had servos, some decent spectrum servos in it and a receiver. Or I'm sorry, not a receiver, but the battery. But I took my receiver out of it, and I took that up there. And then what else was there? Oh, so I have had a couple of old radios that I used way back in the day before I went to 2.4. And one of them was a Futaba 9 CAP, which is a nine-channel PCM, computerized, right?

[00:34:15] But not 2.4 and certainly not the computerized that we have today. So that radio with about, I think I had eight receivers in the box, and then an Airtronics Radiant, I think it was. I don't know, some six-channel FM thing that I had and used a while back. Anyway, took those up there in a nice case, gave those to them. Seems like that was about it. What am I missing?

[00:34:45] I think that, I kind of think that was all.

[00:34:48] Oh, a box or two bags of, like, extra spinners that I'm never going to use. Like, they were all red.

[00:34:56] Yeah.

[00:34:56] And I think they were mostly, like, two and three-quarter and two and a half, or two and three-quarter and three-inch spinners. Most of them. And like I said, they were mostly red, all of them.

[00:35:05] Yeah.

[00:35:05] And so I kept a few of them and then gave those to them. And then I think that's it.

[00:35:11] I don't know why that reminds me. I need to give you, or if you don't want them, we need to take them up to him, all of my nitro gas tanks.

[00:35:18] Yeah, because I have plenty.

[00:35:20] I have probably 40 or 50 of them.

[00:35:24] Yeah. And I have at least twice that many.

[00:35:26] Okay. So we'll get rid of those next time.

[00:35:29] And I don't know why I keep them, honestly. I mean, if I crash an airplane and the tank survives, I'll reuse that in the next one. why am I keeping them?

[00:35:38] And they're cheap to buy a new one anyway if you're building specifically for it.

[00:35:42] And I bought two brand new ones for the Duelas project because I didn't want to use ones. So, yeah.

[00:35:48] Well, you had to get a special size, too, for that. But, yeah. Yeah.

[00:35:51] So, anyway. Yeah, took all that up there. Got some store credit. And then, yeah. I came back with the Hangar 9 Showtime 50, which is an RF, a crazy plane of a, I don't know, I was thinking.

[00:36:04] A bygone era?

[00:36:05] I was thinking I was modernizing because I thought the Showtime might have been a newer airplane. But as it turns out, I did a little bit of internet research when I got home, and it's actually from, like, 2008.

[00:36:14] Well, that's not bad. That's only 13 years old.

[00:36:16] I think the twist was actually newer.

[00:36:19] Oh, probably. Because that's only been the last few years, I would think. But anyway, yeah.

[00:36:24] The Showtime, you can calm the rates down, and you can fly it more like a pattern airplane, which is more my speed. Yeah.

[00:36:30] I'm not a very good 3D pilot.

[00:36:32] So, even though the Showtime is capable of that, apparently.

[00:36:36] Yeah.

[00:36:36] But it's a perfect candidate for one of the few Nitro motors that you gave me. That Sato 82 is going to be a perfect match for that.

[00:36:44] I'm happy to hear that. At least it will live on, and I don't have to worry about it.

[00:36:49] Yeah. So, I came back with that, and then a bag full of just random, stuff. Hardware. Oh, I bought a metric Dubro ball wrench set.

[00:37:00] Those are so expensive. I know.

[00:37:02] But, man, I've got the standard set on my flight box, and I use them all the time. So, I thought, well, probably ought to have the metric set. So, I bought that. I had to buy a new knife starter. And that really, really goads me.

[00:37:15] I know, because I had to listen to you. I waffled. You didn't just waffle. You complained about it.

[00:37:21] I did. Well, here's the thing. So, I really like the knife starters that lock on. Not the ones that have the sliding thing that you pull up with your fingers. But the twist and lock. I really like those. Unfortunately, they're, like, when they're done, at least the ones I like, it has the battery that's, like, actually kind of shrink-wrapped to the mechanism.

[00:37:44] So, when the battery goes bad, you would have to cut the shrink-wrap off, replace, I'm assuming you'd have to probably unsolder something.

[00:37:52] No, they're usually just pushed in. The ones I've seen are just pushed on.

[00:37:55] So, they make the negative connection just from the case? Oh, okay. Well, either way, you'd have to cut the shrink-wrap off, dispose of the battery, go find a decent quality, rechargeable nickel-metal hydride that size. Amazon, I know. You're giving me the look.

[00:38:09] You make it, no, you make it sound so difficult. They have those in the hoppy shop. I mean, they literally have the replacement C-size battery.

[00:38:16] And then I would have to find the correct shrink.

[00:38:19] You don't have to shrink it on. They go on tight enough.

[00:38:22] And that's just if the battery goes bad. But if the locking mechanism itself goes bad, then you're forced to buy a whole new one anyway. And that's kind of where I'm at with most of the ones I currently own. So, I had to buy a new one. And unfortunately, and it's not Brian's fault, we talked about it, Brian and I, and I totally understand where he's coming from. But I had to buy one that came with a charger.

[00:38:46] Oh.

[00:38:46] Even though the ones without the charger is probably a few bucks less, I had to buy one with a stupid wall charger.

[00:38:53] That's just how they come packaged.

[00:38:54] Well, no, you can buy them without the charger.

[00:38:56] Oh.

[00:38:57] But they're, they're…

[00:38:58] But that's how they came packaged. There. Yes. Everything they had there was…

[00:39:04] Brian does not stock the ones without the charger. Because in his defense, the ones without the charger are only a few dollars less. So, for a few dollars more, somebody who's new to the hobby, they get everything they need in the package. I totally get it.

[00:39:16] Yeah.

[00:39:16] I don't fault him at all for not stocking just the nice charger itself. But doggone it.

[00:39:21] Well, think of it this way. You actually got a new charger end. Like the wall wart thing, you don't have to use, but you have a new end to charge those if you want to cut it off and put on the banana plugs upon your charger. True. See, there's a plus.

[00:39:35] I guess so.

[00:39:36] Yeah.

[00:39:37] Even though I have three of those squid things, each one has one of those on it.

[00:39:41] Well, maybe you're going to need more.

[00:39:42] Maybe.

[00:39:43] Never know.

[00:39:43] At any rate, I got a brand new one, and I'm looking forward to using it.

[00:39:46] And then, not only did you get that, but I had to listen to you complain about the price.

[00:39:53] Well, they're expensive.

[00:39:54] I know. Here we go again. Of the OS number F. Still don't know why it's a number F, but it's a number F.

[00:40:01] Hey, I didn't label it, okay? I know. They come from OS, and if you look at the plug itself, right on the flat, where you put a wrench on it, it says the number sign, which people call hashtag these days, F. Number F. I know it doesn't make sense, but that's how they're labeled.

[00:40:16] And those were? Crazy expensive. I mean, like, dumb. Nutty.

[00:40:22] Yeah. Which, apparently, doing a little internet research.

[00:40:27] Oh, by the way, 20 bucks expensive per. Each. Each. Yeah. Each one. Each one.

[00:40:32] Although Brian did, he cut us a little bit of a deal, I think.

[00:40:36] Well, but that doesn't matter. I mean, maybe. But still, 20 bucks is what it was worth it. 20 dollars, yeah.

[00:40:41] Apparently, the element that the, I'm sorry, the metal that the element is made of on a gold plug is rhodium, and rhodium, apparently, is crazy, crazy, crazy expensive right now. I don't know why. That's. Because they were starting to go up before COVID hit, so.

[00:40:59] Yeah, but 20, like, I remember, you used to buy them for. Eight bucks, five bucks. Yeah. I mean, that's what.

[00:41:04] And here's something else that I didn't quite understand. The OS number eight plugs that he had in the store, shouldn't, I would think, they probably contain about the same amount of rhodium, or whatever the element is made of, 1099 each. So I'm not sure why the OS eights are so much cheaper than the Fs, but.

[00:41:22] Maybe he's had those for a lot longer, too.

[00:41:23] Well, that could be.

[00:41:24] I mean.

[00:41:25] That could be.

[00:41:26] He's not one, I don't think, to change the prices just because they go up.

[00:41:29] Brian had a whole card. A card is 12, by the way. When you get these, I don't know if you've ever shopped for glow plugs, but when, usually, if they're not packaged into, well, they are packaged individually, but if they're not sold to you at the store individually, they usually come from the vendor on a card of 12 that you break off however many you need and you sell.

[00:41:48] Perforated. Yeah.

[00:41:48] Yeah. So a card is 12. He had a complete card there. I was going to buy the entire card.

[00:41:54] Which, how much is that, by the way?

[00:41:56] Yeah. It's a lot. So, but I was going to buy the whole card because I have a lot of four strokes and I currently have a lot of four strokes that need plugs and I'm out. Like, I'm completely out. Like, I fried.

[00:42:08] I forgot you have the one that takes three on its own.

[00:42:11] I was just getting ready to say, I fried the three that were in that engine thanks to the stupid little design that I exploited.

[00:42:19] Yeah. I know what you're trying to say.

[00:42:22] So that was three just right there.

[00:42:24] On your radial when you were trying to run and then it had the pin on the back that got shorted out. Yeah. In case anybody hadn't heard the story. Gotcha. Yeah.

[00:42:33] Which we still need to run that, by the way, now that I have plugs. Anyway.

[00:42:36] We can.

[00:42:36] I like to have at least a few for purposes like that in my flight box in addition to putting fresh ones in the four strokes every now and then. So I was going to buy all 12 of them. So I was like, hey, Brian, I even had them in my pile. He's like, well, you sure you want to buy all 12 of these? I'm like, well, yeah, pretty sure. He's like, well, that won't leave me with any. I'm like, oh. And he's like, yeah, but I'm ordering some and they should be here next week.

[00:43:00] And I'm thinking to myself, okay, well, I'll buy these and then next week you'll have more. But I get it. you want to have something in the shop to sell. So how about I take six of them? Okay, fine.

[00:43:12] Yeah, because I bet not a lot of people come in to buy 12 of them at a time.

[00:43:16] Probably not. My guess is probably not a lot of people come in to buy them, period.

[00:43:21] Yeah.

[00:43:22] So I figured, a five-day, 10-day gap, whatever, I'll have some next week, come back, see me then, whatever.

[00:43:29] Yeah.

[00:43:29] I didn't think it was a big deal, but I totally get it. You don't want to leave the shop bare in case somebody from out of town comes in and needs one and now Tommy's bought them all and I don't have any to sell you. So sorry about your luck. So yes, I was like, okay, fine. I'll just take six. That'll get my Sato three-cylinder going and then I'll have three to put in, whatever I need. So that's not where the story ends.

[00:43:56] So I, I've got them in my pile and then, and then our friend comes up to me and says, Hey, I was talking about glow plugs. He's like, yeah, I should probably get some too. I just bought some OS eights last week or week before we were at another hobby shop. I should probably get some apps. He's got some here and I'm like, okay, he's going to get a couple. He bought the six remaining plugs that I, yeah, he didn't, he didn't know the whole story

[00:44:24] Behind it.

[00:44:24] Well, I told him, I was like, well, I was like, well, Brian, he wants to leave a few here in the shop. I was going to take 12. I only took six. So, three is probably, he went ahead and bought all six. So now Brian has no OSF plugs.

[00:44:39] Well, by now, hopefully he does. That's funny. But that's, I still can't, like, I don't think I put two and two together until we were just talking and you said something about your, your multi-cylinder one.

[00:44:50] That Sato 90 three-cylinder. Yeah.

[00:44:52] So how much was the glow plug igniter that you bought, or the three thing?

[00:44:59] So Electrodynamics, I believe that was 75 bucks.

[00:45:04] So that was a $145 mistake. Yes. $135 mistake.

[00:45:10] Thanks for pointing that out. I just, I appreciate that.

[00:45:13] I'm sorry, but that just, I'm, wow.

[00:45:17] Yeah. Now you are beginning to understand why I was so upset about that stupid design flaw.

[00:45:24] Yeah. And maybe I feel a little worse for laughing at you now. Not really. I mean, it's my fault.

[00:45:30] I'm the one that did it, but come on. You couldn't make a plug or something to cover those pins. I mean, come on.

[00:45:36] That is, that's, that was a bad design, but oh my gosh, that, okay. Moving on. Cause you're getting the look.

[00:45:44] So I'm getting the look.

[00:45:46] The look of, I spent way too much money on that. By the way, now, now you're kind of understanding my point, which I know I can fly or fry electronics too, but why I don't like nitro.

[00:45:57] So, well, this, got it.

[00:46:00] You're just shaking your head.

[00:46:01] Yeah.

[00:46:01] Yeah. I understand. I understand. I always, and see, that was.

[00:46:05] It's not a mistake I'll make again. True. So hopefully I won't.

[00:46:08] But it kind of goes back to.

[00:46:10] I'm sure there will be other mistakes I make.

[00:46:11] It kind of goes back to when I did the RC car things too. Like it was so easy to not have it tuned just right and go through a plug that it just, I think even going back to that time, it has just kind of really gotten to me with how expensive nitro can be. Like if it's like airplanes especially, because you don't have to have that immediate throttle response that you do with cars. You can get a plug to last a long time. Like it's not normal to change a plug. It's not.

[00:46:40] On an airplane. Right. I understand that. But still, if it's not running right, what's the first thing you do? Oh, let's pop a new plug in. Yeah. And there's nine to 20 bucks depending on what you have. So.

[00:46:51] Yeah. I don't know.

[00:46:53] So yeah, that's funny.

[00:46:54] I'm not upset about it. No. Not really.

[00:46:58] Not anymore.

[00:46:59] But I mean, there was a period of time there where I had no plug. So I could not run that engine because I didn't have any plugs.

[00:47:05] Yeah.

[00:47:05] Now I do. So yeah, hopefully, well, maybe probably not soon now that the cold is here. But I would like to do a video of that engine running because it's so neat.

[00:47:15] We have a lot of stuff to do in the spring when it warms up a little bit. Yeah, we do. So that's okay.

[00:47:19] So yeah, that was my haul.

[00:47:21] But it was a good day.

[00:47:23] It was a great day.

[00:47:24] And after that, we even came home. And as we were unloading all of the stuff, you looked over and saw that little, the Air Hogs storm launcher thing that we talked about flying in the dark last week. Yeah. And you're like, have you flown that yet, since then? In the daylight, yeah. No. You're like, let's go do it. Luckily, the battery is charged already. Wow. I mean, like, once again, I don't do much with Air Hogs.

[00:47:51] And this is not, like, promoting the cheap stuff, which is what this is. But it's fun. I mean, like… It was a challenge. It doesn't have ailerons, which I don't like. So once you get it upside down, you just, you ditch it and you go. You're along for the ride. But I was impressed with…

[00:48:08] The goal then is to see how far you can get it to bounce.

[00:48:11] I was impressed with you hitting a tree.

[00:48:16] I did. I flew it right into the tree. Well, actually, I wouldn't say I flew it right…

[00:48:20] I grazed the tree. Yeah. You just barely hit a branch because, I mean, it was the only tree around. So you had to aim for it or something.

[00:48:28] It's not the only tree around.

[00:48:29] Where you were, that was the only one even close. But after you hit the tree, it, like, nosedived straight into the ground. And it bounced, like, five feet up in the air.

[00:48:40] It was up there.

[00:48:42] And I thought, okay, this thing… I mean, it was free, so it doesn't matter. I had fun with it. Thanks, Tom, for destroying my free airplane. It was ready to go.

[00:48:51] Except for the props.

[00:48:52] Oh, you broke the propellers. And we had spares for that one.

[00:48:55] Yeah, it came with spares.

[00:48:56] It did. Thank goodness. So we flew that again, like, I don't know how much longer we went. We flew it, yeah. And that, yeah, that was fun.

[00:49:04] It's challenging.

[00:49:05] It crashed a lot.

[00:49:07] It did.

[00:49:07] A lot. But a lot.

[00:49:09] I mean, credit to air hogs, the thing takes a beating.

[00:49:14] If you look at it, whatever the front is on the…

[00:49:18] Sponsons? Because it looks kind of like an unlimited hydroplane boat.

[00:49:23] Well, it does. I think that's what it's supposed to be molded after. But whatever that is in the front, it almost looks like it has a crumple zone.

[00:49:29] Absolutely.

[00:49:29] Where there's extra, like, foam just stuffed in there. So whenever you hit too hard, it kind of, like, pops that out a little bit. Then you push that in, put the decal back on top, and it's fine.

[00:49:40] Yeah. Crazy. We did that, what, two or three times?

[00:49:43] Oh, yeah.

[00:49:43] And it's ready to go again now.

[00:49:45] Well, except for props. Except propellers. So I've got to buy propellers. If I can find them, because I also might have messed it up and, crashed. Hard landing. I'm going to call it a hard landing. It wasn't a crash. It was not nosedived right into the ground.

[00:50:01] No.

[00:50:02] It just ran into some tall grass.

[00:50:04] I think I did that twice. I think you did. The second one was not from near the height.

[00:50:09] Nor was it as high of a bounce. But, like, if I was out there, I probably could have walked under it while it was bouncing.

[00:50:16] At the apex of its bounce. At the apex of its bounce, yeah. No, I would agree with that. It was up there.

[00:50:21] But, no, it was fun. So I enjoyed that. And then the other thing, I ended up buying some small one-cell batteries for the, what was that? The Hangar 9 Ultra Micro Yak 3D, little profile foamy pretty much with really thin, like, foil stuff on it for that.

[00:50:41] It actually flies really good.

[00:50:42] It does. However, when we were flying it, that was the other thing we flew, by the way, when we were flying it, it looked like it was wagging its tail because it has the AS-3X and stuff on it.

[00:50:53] Almost like the gain was too high.

[00:50:55] Yeah. And so I did get out the manual and look at it. It is a long manual for as small of a plane as that is. Really? It has, like, three or four different modes on it for the AS-3X. It has hover training to where it will help you for learning how to hover.

[00:51:12] Really?

[00:51:12] It has knife edge training to where you can put it in learning how to knife edge. That's a bitching. So I have no idea. Like, I am going to have to spend some time reading that. But that should be a good airplane.

[00:51:22] That'll be kind of fun to do the research and read.

[00:51:24] Yeah. Right? Because if you crash that one, that doesn't, I mean, it's not heavy enough to get hurt.

[00:51:29] Yeah. I mean.

[00:51:30] Especially if you're outside over, like, the grass I have out in the field.

[00:51:33] Yeah, that's a perfect place for that.

[00:51:35] Good. And then, with the same batteries, I had bought many, many, many moons ago, what is that? A Park Zone Sukhoi SU-26, I think? One of the Ultra Micros again? Yep. No AS-3X. This is before AS-3X was a thing.

[00:51:51] Yeah, old school, as far as microfoamies go.

[00:51:54] Like, I have not flown it for years, because I flew it once, and it was scary. Like, I mean, it was just twitchy, it was hard to fly, it was just, any little, little bit of wind would just take it and throw it everywhere. But, I'll be honest, I guess I'm a better pilot now, or something, because it flies pretty good for what it is. I really like that airplane. I do, too. And you get a good amount of time out of it with that tiny little battery.

[00:52:23] And it's not even brushless. It's a brushed motor with a gear, well, a gearbox, but it drives a spur gear that drives the main propeller. And yeah, we were getting, jeez, I bet eight minutes, seven to eight minutes, probably, at least. Yeah.

[00:52:36] Easily on that one.

[00:52:37] And it flies really nice. Well, it flies really nice now. Like, we had to fix the stab, or the elevator. One of the elevator halves had the leading edge of it was like kind of a broke.

[00:52:47] Yeah, we had to tape that up a little bit.

[00:52:49] And once we fixed that, it corrected the weird rolling thing, and yeah, it flies great.

[00:52:52] Yeah, that's one I'm going to be getting out more often, especially with the batteries, because I've never really had a good one-cell battery charger.

[00:53:02] I would go so far as to say that I may or may not have gotten on the internet and looked for one of those.

[00:53:08] Oh, really?

[00:53:08] For myself, yeah.

[00:53:09] That's how much I liked flying. I know they were discontinued. Oh, yeah. Obviously.

[00:53:13] Right. Occasionally, stuff like that pops up, new in the box on RC groups and stuff. So I was looking, yeah, because that's how much I liked flying that one. That one flies really nice.

[00:53:22] I regret now, a long time ago, I got off of you the Ultra Micro Beast.

[00:53:31] Also a great flyer.

[00:53:32] Well, I got rid of that because it was another one I think I wasn't quite ready for, and I just…

[00:53:37] Oh, it flies even better than that one.

[00:53:39] Yeah, I… Two wings. And that's when I don't have to put the wings on. Exactly.

[00:53:44] You pull it out of the box, it's ready to go.

[00:53:46] But I might have to get one of those again sometime if I can find them.

[00:53:50] Those pop up for sale, too.

[00:53:51] They just… It… Like I said, it flew to me, twitchy-like.

[00:53:57] That little charger with all the batteries on it? Perfect for these things. Oh, I know. I mean, super convenient.

[00:54:03] Yeah. But it flew twitchy like this one little… Or this little one did for me, this Park Zone one. But now that, like I said, I think I'm a better pilot, I have no problem flying that one. Not at all. So… Yeah. Yeah, you did fine. Yeah. Didn't crash it, didn't do anything. It was fun. So, yeah.

[00:54:21] So, a very fruitful day. Yeah. Heading up to Brian's and got some flying in.

[00:54:28] Even… And then after you left, I banged it… Oh, there's more. Bound up, binded up, whatever. You bound. The mini Vapor. Oh, yeah. If you remember, I had that little indoor flyer. Yeah. And flew that around down here.

[00:54:40] Really? Yeah. Nice. It's…

[00:54:42] Yeah.

[00:54:43] So, the fun continued after I left.

[00:54:45] I want more small airplanes. Like, I don't know why. It's just… Don't look… Is she listening? No. Okay, good. But it's just like… When we were up there, they had the… Oh, the UMX A10 Thunderbolt. Man, I… Very cool. Yeah. I might have to…

[00:55:04] Yeah.

[00:55:05] That was… Slightly larger battery, though.

[00:55:07] Not quite as convenient as these things.

[00:55:09] It's not, but I like the A10s.

[00:55:12] Yeah. I still have one.

[00:55:14] Well, I have one in the box.

[00:55:16] See? Put it… It takes like two hours to put one of those together.

[00:55:20] I've got to find it, actually.

[00:55:21] So, it's the GWS A10. Yeah. You have the one with motors, right?

[00:55:25] Mm-hmm.

[00:55:26] So, yeah.

[00:55:26] With the brushed motors, yeah.

[00:55:27] That's what mine is. It flies great. I mean, it's not like overpowered, but it flies like an A10 flies.? You've got to manage the airspeed. And it is a lot of fun to fly.

[00:55:37] Yeah. That would be quick, I think, to put it together.

[00:55:39] I did differential thrust on mine, too.

[00:55:41] Did you?

[00:55:42] Like, I mixed… Yeah. I took the two motor VAC leads. Yeah. And then I did a mix, so I could do left and right yaw with the motors.

[00:55:51] Well, because there's no… Like, the rudder doesn't work on that one. Yeah. So, it's just aileron and elevator.

[00:55:56] Yeah.

[00:55:57] Okay. Ah, that's a good idea.

[00:55:59] It was fun. And now, with your fancy transmitter, you can do all kinds of cool stuff like that.

[00:56:04] Yeah. Maybe that'll be something else this winter. We'll see.

[00:56:06] There you go.

[00:56:07] Winter's going to be over before we know it.

[00:56:10] Yeah. And then… Yeah. And then what?

[00:56:14] Whatever is next. So…

[00:56:16] Okay.

[00:56:17] Anything else? Are we good?

[00:56:18] No. I think that covers the haul. So, yeah. All right. Did some flying. Got some… Brought some new airplanes home and got rid of some stuff that hopefully somebody else will use.

[00:56:27] There you go. Well, thank you, everybody, for listening. Once again, happy holidays.

[00:56:32] Yep. Happy holidays, everybody. I hope everybody has a safe one.

[00:56:34] And we will be back next year.

[00:56:37] Doesn't that sound weird?

[00:56:38] It does sound weird. Well, probably…

[00:56:40] We're not taking any time off, but that's just when we come out next. No, not at all.

[00:56:43] But, yeah, that'll be the next episode. So, yeah.

[00:56:45] All right. Cool. Well, goodbye.

[00:56:47] Good night.

[00:56:51] That was abrupt.

[00:56:52] Okay. Fine. Let's do it again. Okay.

[00:56:55] Good night.

[00:56:56] What? Oh, it's Oratex. O-R-A-T-E-X. She actually looked that up from earlier.

[00:57:02] Isn't that what I said?

[00:57:03] I…

[00:57:04] Yes, it is.

[00:57:05] Thanks, Crystal. Okay.

[00:57:07] Dove.

[00:57:08] Oh, it's Dove. You were right.

[00:57:10] Yeah. Tob. Is that… Am I saying it right? There's no little thing on there to…

[00:57:16] Can Google pronounce it for you? Tob.

[00:57:21] Hold on. Come here. Let's get closer to this. Do it again.

[00:57:24] Taube.

[00:57:26] Taube.

[00:57:29] Taube.

[00:57:29] I don't think I'm going to call it a taube.

[00:57:32] I think we're just going to call it the taub.

[00:57:34] Taub.

[00:57:34] Mm-hmm.

[00:57:35] Okay. Okay. I'm going to redo this. Now, everybody, thank you for listening. Have a wonderful and safe holidays, and we'll see you next year. I'm Ron.

[00:57:43] See you next year, everybody. I'm Tom. Wait. Am I supposed to say that? That doesn't matter.

[00:57:45] Goodbye.

[00:57:47] Good night.

[00:57:47] We hope you enjoyed this episode of the RC Claim Lab Podcast. For topic suggestions, to ask questions, 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.