New forum member from Sydney

[PeterL]

Hi all,

My name's Peter - I'm returning to the hobby after making quite a few balsa planes in the 1970s:
rubber and glow-powered free flight; control line and single channel; 2-channel slope soarer.
Not all of them flew very well though!

The hobby has changed so much, with radio gear so cheap and electric power now mainstream. It
took me a while to get used to the idea of committing servos to a single plane. Flite Test has
been wonderful in bringing me up to speed. In addition to restoring my old slope soarer and
adding ailerons and flaps, I have now built a Tiny Trainer and an 18% enlarged Tiny Trainer (to
suit the slightly thicker foam board I can buy from my local art supply store); I covered this
one with yellow shrink film from HobbyKing and powered it with a 2207 motor. It is more stable
and copes better with wind (and wet grass) than my original TT.

I ended up with a spare TT speedbuild kit so instead of making yet another, I decided to modify
it to look more like a Red Bull racer: see separate post in the scratch build section.

I have recently bought a power pack C and a box of FT foamboard; looking forward to taking on
more challenging builds in the future.

Cheers
Peter

 

[Hai-Lee]

welcome to the forums from Brisbane!

 

[AussieBison]

...and from Melbourne!

 

[Ratcheeroo]

Great work! Welcome back to the hobby and welcome to the forums!

 

[The Hangar]

@PeterL welcome to the forums! Do you have any builds planned for the near future?

 

[Merv]

Welcome to the forums
Great looking planes.

 

[PeterL]

Thanks everyone, nice to be here. No immediate plans for my next build, although I'm tempted by both the Spitfires, just can't decide between the swappable and master series . . .

 

[Matthewdupreez]

Thanks everyone, nice to be here. No immediate plans for my next build, although I'm tempted by both the Spitfires, just can't decide between the swappable and master series . . .

do the swappable one... it flies much better, and is a great begginer plane for warbirds... the master series one is a very complicated build, and requires tons of time..
the swappable ft spitfire on the other hand is voted as the best or one of the best planes flitetest has ever released

 

[dave1up]

Hello! I'm from Sydney also. I built 2 Tiny Trainers, one is 125% & the other is 135% with The Hangers Simple Stick wing. Havent tested the 135% yet. Trying to get out tomorrow at lunch to test.
I get my foamboard from Eckersleys.

Where do you fly ?

 

[PeterL]

Hello Dave, looks like great minds think alike! I found the "5mm" (nearer to 6mm) Eckersley foamboard is much stiffer than FT foamboard. This is great for model stability and resisting warping, but the downsides are weight and brittleness - it tends to crack rather than bend when I crash! That plus the fact the paper is stuck on tight means it wouldn't be suitable for bending as in the Masters series planes. It does glue back together easily though. I also used the Eckersley 3mm board for the tail surfaces in my scaled up Tiny Trainer, which has been fine and saved some weight compared to the 5mm. It's covered with HobbyKing film which probably helps.
I live in Randwick and fly wherever I can find somewhere without too many people around, although in the current lockdown I'm restricted to my local area. Council regulations seem to vary from park to park . . .
Best of luck with your first flight with the 135% TT!
Peter

 

[PeterL]

do the swappable one... it flies much better, and is a great begginer plane for warbirds... the master series one is a very complicated build, and requires tons of time..
the swappable ft spitfire on the other hand is voted as the best or one of the best planes flitetest has ever released

Well I'm about 10 years late to this party but I finally built the swappable Spitfire. I scaled it up 10% but used the same C motor, as I wanted to make the power and hence speed more scale-like. First flight was yesterday and it was great - just a slight roll to the right. Thanks for the advice Matthew!

 

[Matthewdupreez]

Well I'm about 10 years late to this party but I finally built the swappable Spitfire. I scaled it up 10% but used the same C motor, as I wanted to make the power and hence speed more scale-like. First flight was yesterday and it was great - just a slight roll to the right. Thanks for the advice Matthew!

awesome great to hear!!!!