After nearly one year and hundreds of flights, it’s finally time to retire the F27C Stryker R/C plane. This wasn’t necessitated by the plane or a crash, but rather my stupid attempt at modifying the airfoil to get it to roll faster. I learned the hard way that I am not an aeronautical engineer. The […]

One word: crash. I put a heavy battery in my new L-39 jet, knowing that I would eventually upgrade to a beefier motor that could make the thrust I’d need to move the heavier battery around. I was confident that it would fly stock, even with the heavier battery, because I had seen this video […]

My good friend Cliff (a.k.a., Darth Elevator), strapped a digital video camera to his Slow Stick airplane this week and filmed me flying Randy’s Stryker around. The video captures both the Stryker take off and landing, and lots of crazy stunts. After seeing myself fly it from this angle, I’m surprised Randy lets me fly […]

Spring is in the air in Salt Lake City, so it’s finally warm enough to get back into R/C flying. To that end, I ordered the new Electrifly L-39 electric ducted fan (EDF) jet. It’s getting great reviews, and I’m excited to fly it. I’ve read that the stock brushless motor is underpowered, so I’m […]

I put together a $22 Hobby Lobby Yak 55 Profile this week, and it’s great fun. This is by far the most aerobatic plane I’ve flown. Here’s my power setup: Kit: Hobby Lobby Yak 55 Profile Motor: EMax FC 28-22 from HobbyCity Prop: 9×3.8 APC Slow Flyer from Some Dude’s Hobbies Speed Controller: 30 amp […]

Here’s the video of the Easy Glider maiden flight: Since then, I’ve had about 4 more flights, and they’ve all gone very well. The only mishap was when the canopy popped off during my last flight, and landed in the nearby river! The wind was good to me, though, and blew it over to the […]

I finished the Easy Glider today, and took it out for its maiden flight. Here’s the setup: Motor: Tower Pro 2908-10 brushless ESC: Tower Pro 30A Battery: Hextronik 2200mah 20C Prop: 9×4.5 (will upgrade to a folding prop later) Servos: Hextronik 9g servos Radio: Spektrum DX6 with AR6000 receiver The plane took a little longer […]

With winds gusting to 15mph, I took my new R/C plane, the Stryker, out for its maiden flight. If you’ve been following the build log (part 1 and part 2), you already know that it’s outfitted with a Tower Pro 2409-12 motor, a Blue Arrow 30A ESC, an 8-cell NiMH battery (9.6V), and a 7×6 […]

I finished my Stryker RC plane today. The only thing I had left to do was mount the motor, which I am very pleased with. I decided to use the stock motor mount with a very small adaptation to mount the Tower Pro 2409-12 motor that I bought from unitedhobbies.com. I used a technique I […]

I started building a Parkzone Stryker last night. So far I’ve spent $25 on the fuselage and elevons, and this is what it looks like: