Category Archives: Radio Controlled Aircraft

RC helicopters and airplanes. Anything having to do with the hobby. Talks about transmitters, aircraft, and having fun.

TopGun 2015

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Every year in late April or early May the world’s best scale modelers are invited to Lakeland, FL to compete in TopGun for the prize of Mr. TopGun. This event is the one of the most prestigious in scale modeling. Individual competitors and teams from all over the world bring their highly detailed RC models to be judged. Continue reading →

FSS #2 Mixed Wench / ALES Contest

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On May 2nd & 3rd the Florida Soaring Society had their second mixed winch and ALES soaring contest at the O.W.L.S. field at Kennyworld in Morriston, Florida. I participated in the soaring event in the novice class. The weekend called for nice weather. It was expected that the wind would be relatively consistent but a bit on the breezy side. The project average for Saturday was 5-6 m/s with it being slightly less windy on Sunday, ~4-5 m/s. I learned during the previous event that my Gracia Maxi tends to not do the best when the wind is high. After … Continue reading →

Scrape Websites With NodeJS

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In the RC airplane hobby we’ve been blessed and cursed with the rise of inexpensive foreign manufacturing. On the plus side the cost of participating in the hobby has gone down drastically. The actual monetary cost of the materials and components has dropped tremendously. However, on the negative side, the hobby has seen a race to the bottom for prices which has led to dramatic cost cutting measures. When kits and components are produced in such a large amount the proper QA is often thrown away to favor a lower cost to the distributor. This is also seen with many … Continue reading →

Upcoming RC Events

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As a bit of last notice news, there are a couple of RC events that are going to be the first weekend in May. Top Gun The US, and probably world’s, premier scale model competition happens right in Florida’s backyard. If you have a chance to get over to Lakeland, FL April 29th through May 3rd for Top Gun. You’ll get to see awesome warbirds and jets take to the skies in an attempt to earn the title Mr. Top Gun. It is 5 days of seriously awesome scale competition. The chance to see everything from a Moki 400cc 5-cylinder powered … Continue reading →

My First ALES Event

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Gracia Maxi 3.5e launch

Altitude Limited Electronic Soaring – ALES It’s not a beer fest. Although, it wouldn’t have hurt to have had a few brewskies on hand! Back in March I took the opportunity to participate in the Florida Soaring Society’s opener. The event was hosted by the Orlando Buzzards at their field in Christmas, Florida. For the new year I bought myself two new models. I had been saving up for their purchase for most of 2014. One of them was a very nice Gracia Maxi 3.5e from TopModelCZ. I ordered it from Esprit Model located on the Florida Spacecoast. I cannot … Continue reading →

DLG – Discus Launch Gliders

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Over the past few months I have been getting into a new segment of the RC model airplane hobby. In February I attended a discus launch glider competition. It was an exciting event! Discus launched gliding, DLG as it is often abbreviated, is a special type of glider which is hand launched by the pilot in the same way that a discus thrower launches a discus. These gliders have a peg attached to the wing where the pilot places two fingers. The pilot then typically does a spin and launches the glider from a side arm toss. Once the glider … Continue reading →

My First Android App Published

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PowerUp 3.0 is out and is awesome! The official app can only control one PowerUp module at a time. While this isn’t bad nor does it detract from the use of the PowerUp 3.0, I really wanted to be able to fly an aircraft that had more than one module attached. The source was made available GitHub! I forked it! I added in the ability to bind two modules. One module can be bound as “left” and setup on the left side of the aircraft. Another module can be bound as “right” and set on the right side of the … Continue reading →

PowerUp 3.0 Kickstarter? Kickstarted!

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A few months ago I participated in my first kickstarter project. When I saw PowerUp 3.0 – Smartphone Controlled Airplane I knew I HAD to get in on the ground floor. Today I got my backer reward! I was actually really surprised by how well it was packed. I’ve never encountered this type of bubble wrap. I hope more companies move to this type as it appears to provide very good protection without adding very much bulk.   The reward level that I pledged: PERFECT PACKAGE — Fly your PowerUp 3.0 airplane non-stop. Charge one while you fly the other. Includes 1 … Continue reading →

Value Hobby Aviator 60 Update

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I am closing in on about a dozen or so flights on my Value Hobby Aviator 60. It is an awesome flying plane. I highly, highly recommend it. If you’re looking for a nice high-wing plane then there is no reason you shouldn’t be considering it. I did just have one issue with it. After my last flight on a day full of good flying action I noticed the covering peeling back on the fuselage. With the generous amount of oil from the 2-stroke fuel giving it a gritty look it kind of reminded me of those old WWII photos … Continue reading →