Current air roster:
Current surface roster
Future plans:
Adventurer: Experiment with props, droppables. Have some 5x4x4 and 5x4x3 drone props in the mail, figure if they're tough enough to shrug off drone crashes they can handle the oddball power delivery of an engine that peaks around 45-50W of power. For sure and certain the first tests will be extended run tests on the bench vise with adequate shielding around the prop in case it does fatigue and fail, probably put 4 or 5 hours of runtime on one before I even consider mounting it on an airframe and flying it just to make sure it won't crack at the blade root. Also going to experiment with onboard telemetry and OSD shenanigans, since it has a Matek F-411 FC in it, and perhaps I'll toy around with putting blown rudders behind pusher props to try to give flying wings some active yaw control. FT proved rudders mounted here don't work very well when they rely on the airstream flying over the wing, but perhaps if they're in the propwash they'll have enough force to do something? Will experiment and see. Works fine on hovercraft and airboats, so there's a chance itt'l work here. Goal is to get enough rudder authority to keep the nose pointed straight if one engine flames out, to handle crosswind landings, and give it coordinated turns instead of bank-and-yank.
F-19A: Make it fly, I reckon. And probably FPV it. Truth be told I threw this thing together in 2 hours from scrap trimmings and have no real plan for it beyond making it fly around. Does seem to look like a nice escort fighter when it's next to the Spear, though.
PT-21A: With this little guy I almost wanna see just how fast I can get a reed valve 0.049 to pull a foamboard plane through the air! A carburetted Tee Dee 0.049 or 0.051 would probably have its straightline speed in line with the BLDC power recommended, but those things cost an absolute fortune and I'm not made of money, so I'm stuck with the cheap and cheerful reed valve engines. It's also a good way for me to experiment with nitro power on tractor foamboard stuff. They work fine in pusher configuration, as my Spear has precisely zero degredation of the foamboard from the engine residues, but they also don't coat very much of the aircraft due to it being a dual pusher. Gonna mount the engine inverted as well, as I want to put a boardcam in the cockpit and if I mount the engine normally the lens'll get covered in castor before I have a chance to get the engine started and ready to fly...
Craft name | Airframe | Status | Notes |
Adventurer | FT Spear | 98% complete | 2x Cox 0.049 engines swinging 5x3x3 pusher props for power. |
F-19A | In-house design | 30% complete | Planned to use 28mm EFlite EDF unit, 13,500kV motor, 4ch control. Currently a bare airframe. |
PT-21A | FT Mini Sportster | 95% Complete | Engine installed, plumbed up. Waiting on engine run-in and CG adjustment, then time to maiden it. |
PT-29A | Hobbico NexSTAR 46 ARF | 75% Complete | OS 46AX, 10x5x3 prop. Electronics have been cannabalized over the years for other models, engine, airframe still good. Will fly eventually. |
AS350 | HK AS350 | 100% complete | Little micro helo, 6ch, flies okay on its original radio. Need to get it tuned to my Futaba 6J. |
Current surface roster
Vehicle name | Chassis | Status | Notes |
Parts Bin Special | Associated RC10B4.2 | Strewn across the shops | Carpet racer. Currently dismantled, waiting on parts to ship in. |
Ol' Faithful | King Kong RC CA-10 | Running! | FPV ship, scale truck, utility vehicle, service truck, all manner of stuff. 5700kV Castle Creations 4-pole motor lives in the nose. |
Shinerunner | Associated SC10GT | Running!.....ish. | OS 18CV-RX powerplant, 26/54 gearing, ProLine 1.9 BFG KO2 crawler tires, Parma '39 Ford body. Absolute rocketship. Having diff issues, but it does run and drive. |
Big MC | Kyosho Mad Crusher GP | Running! | Box stock, save for a Futaba receiver. |
TBD | 3Racing FGX Evo | 75% complete | Awaiting electronics package. Carpet on-road racer. |
ZTZ99 | Heng Long ZTZ99 | Running | Factory stock |
Trusty Dunerunner | Tamiya Grasshopper | Running...ish | Original 1980s buggy, on 1980s radio, steering servo, silvercan. Diff is a bit sloppy. Has HW1060ESC for Lipo compatibility. |
Future plans:
Adventurer: Experiment with props, droppables. Have some 5x4x4 and 5x4x3 drone props in the mail, figure if they're tough enough to shrug off drone crashes they can handle the oddball power delivery of an engine that peaks around 45-50W of power. For sure and certain the first tests will be extended run tests on the bench vise with adequate shielding around the prop in case it does fatigue and fail, probably put 4 or 5 hours of runtime on one before I even consider mounting it on an airframe and flying it just to make sure it won't crack at the blade root. Also going to experiment with onboard telemetry and OSD shenanigans, since it has a Matek F-411 FC in it, and perhaps I'll toy around with putting blown rudders behind pusher props to try to give flying wings some active yaw control. FT proved rudders mounted here don't work very well when they rely on the airstream flying over the wing, but perhaps if they're in the propwash they'll have enough force to do something? Will experiment and see. Works fine on hovercraft and airboats, so there's a chance itt'l work here. Goal is to get enough rudder authority to keep the nose pointed straight if one engine flames out, to handle crosswind landings, and give it coordinated turns instead of bank-and-yank.
F-19A: Make it fly, I reckon. And probably FPV it. Truth be told I threw this thing together in 2 hours from scrap trimmings and have no real plan for it beyond making it fly around. Does seem to look like a nice escort fighter when it's next to the Spear, though.
PT-21A: With this little guy I almost wanna see just how fast I can get a reed valve 0.049 to pull a foamboard plane through the air! A carburetted Tee Dee 0.049 or 0.051 would probably have its straightline speed in line with the BLDC power recommended, but those things cost an absolute fortune and I'm not made of money, so I'm stuck with the cheap and cheerful reed valve engines. It's also a good way for me to experiment with nitro power on tractor foamboard stuff. They work fine in pusher configuration, as my Spear has precisely zero degredation of the foamboard from the engine residues, but they also don't coat very much of the aircraft due to it being a dual pusher. Gonna mount the engine inverted as well, as I want to put a boardcam in the cockpit and if I mount the engine normally the lens'll get covered in castor before I have a chance to get the engine started and ready to fly...
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