Flip Mino HD = On-board Camera

We decided to have a little fun and velcro the Flip Mino HD (which provides almost all of the AddictionRC.com Exclusive Videos) to Dustin’s 50cc Aeroworks Extra. I did some edits to remove the all-blue-sky parts and I added some local tunes to drown out the sound of the wind. Enjoy!

A new student flys solo!

I have been training Kyle for a few weeks now.  When I first introduced him to RC, and asked him if he’s ever like to fly someday, his response was “Nah.”    But once he was able to fly the RealFlight G4.5 Simulator, he started to see why flying RC is so much fun.  Pretty soon he was asking me (and having his mom ask me) every day if we could go fly. 

I am happy to report that this past Thursday Kyle was able to solo the Super Cub as his next step in the training program.  With this major milestone out of the way he will be on to more flying with the same plane, and shortly after he will upgrade to a 4-Channel plany (with ailerons).  He is excited to get there, but even more exicted to have accomplished his first solo flight.  Thanks to Marty Jones offerring to film, you can experience his joy in the video below.

The First AddictionRC.com Video

We have a lot of fun at the field, especially when it’s quiet and the weather is perfect. Sometimes I am fortunate enough to have my camera and we catch the fun on video. I hope you enjoy Dustin’s beautiful plane (Aeroworks 50cc) and his amazing flying. We certainly did!

PLEASE NOTE: The video is edited together from many shots, so when it looks like I grab the camera right after he lands, its because I cut out the time spent walking out to the camera. The music is brought to you by the Tempe band Ghetto Cowgirl. Now click play (and be sure to watch it in HD!)

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There will be many more videos to come.

33% RC Yak Midair Collision with a .40 size trainer!

What happens when two planes, one very large and the other small, meet in the sky nose-to nose in mid-flight? Well, they say a picture is worth a thousand words. In the RC hobby it is common practice to treat these types of events as a “no harm, no foul” thing. In this case both pilots shook hands and walked away with a story and a desire to fly again.

The real amazing part of this story is that the pilot of the Yak was able to land the plane after the collision. You and I can only imagine what that must have looked like: A loud collision, pieces everywhere, one plane in pieces falling towards the ground, and a large Yak with its nose in shreds pulling up and coming around for a clean landing. WOW! Congrats! A few parts and some minor repair and the Yak will fly again soon. Unfortunately, David did not beat Goliath in this case, and the small trainer is a goner. Oh well, it’s all part of the fun.

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(Photos courtesy of Marty Jones)

Caught a crash on video.

I had some great flying this weekend.  I took a lot of video, and here is a highlight.  I hate to see this kind of thing, but it happens.  The good news is that the jet will fly again.

At the Sun Valley Flyers club in Arizona, I caught the unfortunate crash of a beautiful F-16. On a landing attempt the pilot decided to go-around. However, the Jet ran out of fuel, causing a crash. The Jet is repairable, and I am sure I will see if fly again.

Why does it look like pilot error? Jet engines take a while to spin up. So when the pilot decided to go-around, he expected a few second delay before the plan began to accelerate. Unfortunately, with no fuel left, the acceleration never came. With a prop-powered plane it would be immediately obvious whether the plane was out of fuel or not. You can see the Afterburner lights (red LEDs) on full-blast, indicating the pilot was giving full throttle.

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What it means to be “addicted”

The Sun Valley Flyers had scheduled an event this past Sunday, for the 1/8th scale airforce. I planned to go and watch some flying, but when I arrived the winds were in upwards of 15mph, with even stronger gusts. Most all of the planes had been packed in, since even leaving them sitting on the ground was a big risk due to the conditions. So I waited around while they gave out awards, and when they were nearly done my friend Marty showed up. I mentioned that I had brought my little AddictionRC.com T-28 Trojan, and he said I should go grab it and fly. I took a long look at the runway, and the windsock indicating full-strong crosswinds, and I said “Yeah, sure, why not.”

I don’t think anyone noticed me coming back from my car with the plane, or preparing the battery and my reciever. Even as I walked up to the flight station, barely keeping the foam plane in my hands as the wind pulled at the wings, nobody said anything. I set the plane on the runway, and just before the wind gusted and pushed her out into the weeds I hit full throttle and pulled her straight up into the wind. It was cool! It was also increadibly shakey, as the wind tugged and pushed in all directions. I had high rates on and was still throwing the sticks all over the receiver just to keep anything straight. I pulled vertical and flew like a kite for a minute, then hung a very long right turn downwind and the plane picked up speed - screaming down the runway like a rocket. Just before I lost sight of the plane I swung back around towards me and hit full throttle – just praying that I had enough power to gain some ground and get back to the runway. Because the battery was fresh I did, and just as I came perpindicular to the runway I cut throttle and used all my might to keep the wings from going either left OR right – as they both tried to an infinite number of times before the plane finally set herself down on all three wheels.  Before the wind flipped her over, I ran out and grabbed my good ‘ole T-28.

As I walked back to the ramada I was greated with many compliments on the flying. One guy had said that I must have had a lot of balls to do that, and another remarked that I probably didn’t have enough brains. But to me it was just natural. I had a plane, and a situation that I was willing to bet I could handle.

I ended up flying one more time that day in even stronger winds. I was able to repeat the success and then smartly decided I had pushed my luck enough.  But as silly as it sounds I wondered what was different from what I did, and what guys like QQ Somenzini, Yuri Higuchi, and Chip Hyde do?  Guys who fly at night, on knife-edge, torque-roll, flat spin, and invent “the restart?”  They all decided to take a risk that seemed silly to some people.  The end result turned out that they were better for it, had fun, advance the hobby and gave a good show.  That is a huge part of what this hobby is about.

So the AddictionRC.com Trojan will fly again. I am even thinking of creating a new sport – RC Kites.  Anyone want to buy one?

Amazing Flying and Night Flying at the Sun Valley Flyers Field – Yuri Higuchi and others

Check this video out!

http://powerpointforcourt.com/animations/phoenix_video.html

There are also some great still photographs. Thanks to Herb and Marty Jones!

Yuri Higuchi and his Beautiful Extra Composite Arf Custom

Smoke On!