Wow!

This video shows why you must be careful when flying your R/C Aircraft near Full size aircraft and airports.  No one was hurt - (both planes suffered damage).  This video was posted on Flying Giants.

Caution - video contains some strong language -

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YouTube Direct LinkFull Size Plane crashes into 46% R/C airplane

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Last year (2009) - Tboltrc.com Test Pilot “Bullwhip” performed some taxi trails on his 119″ Wingspan Cessna Skymaster.  Here’s a link to the original blog post.

Unfortunately, due to the “gremlins” this airplane didn’t maiden last year.  There were a number of problems:

• Fuel delivery
• Cracked Wing spar (the original spar wasn’t strong enough)
• Balance issues
• Linkage setup issues
• And of course - getting both engines to run right together

Fast forward one year later - after lots of testing and tweaking - the Cessna Skymaster was finally ready to for a maiden flight!

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I’m a big fan of the Hitec Aurora - I’ve been using one since it was released late in 2009, and so far I am very happy with it. 

I’m also a big fan of onboard Telemetry, and soon Hitec will release the new Telemetry package for the Aurora.  Check out this video for a first look:

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YouTube Direct LinkHitec Aurora Telemetry - First Look

Last week I visited the Tboltrc.com Top Secret “Skunk Works” Flying field to see a new scratch built Ziroli P-51 Mustang do some taxi trials.

Here’s a pic of  the plane:

Ziroli P-51 Mustang after initial taxi tests.

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Once again, our home town  - Windsor, Ontario, Canada - played host to the Red Bull Air Races!!!

This year’s race featured a dramatic near crash during Saturday’s qualifying round.  Pilot Mat Hall made an amazing recovery - Check it out courtesy of Red Bull:

If you get the chance to see a Red Bull Air Race live - take it!

Tboltrc.com

Since this blog was updated - we will be updating it regularly now!

Thanks,

Tboltrc.com

www.thunderboltrc.com is having a Black Friday Sale!

Enough said - get over there and shop!

Jeff - Tboltrc.com

Continued from Telemetry Experiments - Part 3…

Ok - so after playing with Telemetry System in the Giant Sweet and Low Stick, it was time to try something new and bigger!

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One inevitable fact for anyone flying R/C airplanes is that at some point you will crash.

I have had many crashes. (And you will too - if you stay with this hobby long enough).  

It doesn’t matter how good you are or how diligent you are at maintaining your plane, at some point - you will crash.

Recently, I was fortunate enough to experience a crash.  I say “fortunate” because a crash or mishap gives you the opportunity to review your flying technique and experience another “first flight”.  What I mean is that your first flight after a crash is kind of like flying an airplane for the first time.

 Often with a crash, you can’t determine the direct cause of the crash.  Was it pilot error? Electrical failure? Interference? You may never know. And if you didn’t figure it out, your first flight after the crash can be an anxious experience, especially if you have a feeling that pilot error had something to do with the crash.

My recent crash involved my Hangar 9 Ultra Stick Lite 120 ARF. This is a simple and fun plane.  Mine is was powered by a Zenoah G-26.  It’s a great flying “everyday” type plane.  Small enough to fit in most cars, yet large enough that it can support a small gas engine and fly really well in all conditions.

Early in the season I experienced some glitching with this plane.  I ended up crash landing it (There was significant damage to the wing, and fuse - but the engine, servos, and receiver were perfect).  I thought the glitching was due to the 72Mhz radio band - the damage was fixed and the plane’s receiver was replaced with a Futaba 2.4Ghz FASST receiver.

When I took the plane out recently - I realized that the glitching was being caused by a short (battery lead, wire harness, switch - I’m not certain) that was causing intermittent power loss to the receiver (another reason you should always use 2 batterys and 2 switches in all of your planes!).  I replaced everything (just to be 100% certain) and flew the plane.

The plane flew fine, but on the third flight, while diving out of S-turn, the wing folded in half and the plane went straight in from about 150 ft.

Here are some pics:

Ultra Stick Fuse and Wing

Ultra Stick Engine and Hatch

Ultra Stick Fuel Tank, Landing Gear and Misc. Pieces...Ultra Stick Wing Half

 The damage was extensive - the airframe a complete write off, the engine in real bad shape.  Lesson learned here - When an airplane is in a crash or mishap, always check for internal structural damage (in this case - the wing damage from the first crash landing had been worse than I had thought).

Oh well, I’ll have to pick up another Hangar 9 Ultra Stick Lite 120 ARF.

Jeff - Tboltrc.com

Wow…

This picture was taken in Detroit, Michigan on the weekend of July 10th, 2009.  The F-18 Super Hornet was given permission to do a low level pass over the Detroit River as part of the opening ceremonies of the annual Hydroplane boat races.  After completing the low level pass, the F-18 flew very close to a Detroit area apartment building.

Jeff - Tboltrc.com

This happened at the flying field last week.

Here is the background.

One of our club members brought out his Giant Scale Lockheed Sirius.  This plane has a 102.8″ Wingspan and it built from Wendell Hostetler plans.

This particular plane is over 10 years old and has been passed around the club to several owners and has served well as a nice “intro” Giant Scale plane (This was the first Giant Scale Plane I ever flew).

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Finally, I was able to get my Telemetry Test Plane up in the air for a first flight.

Here is a pic of the Telemetry Test Plane together and ready to go:

Giant Sweet & Low Stick - Telemetry Test Plane

The Telemetry test plane weighs about 21lbs with all of the Telemetry gear installed.

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