New here and to the RC world

Rancid727

Junior Member
Hello from Texas
Well i am looking for info on just what RC plane i need to do what i have in mind.
I am a surf fishing guy who likes RC but never really got in to it.

my surf fishing set up is about 4-6 ounce i need to get it out past the 3rd sand bar thats around 200 yards. the wind is about 4-maybe 10 MPH

I need a plane i can rig a bomb drop kind of a servo with the rod going in a eye hook when i hit the switch it would pull the rod back and drop my line on target 200+ yards out in the deep blue! ;P and turn the plane around and head back home and repeat as needed.

I have been looking at a lot of RC planes and yes even Helis but i think helis would take me way to long to get good with. I have Clearview sim and seem to fly on there kind of ok i can get out there and back in one pice most of the time lol but its not the real deal.
I am looking for a plane i can get out and start flying and once i get good with it i can start working on my drop runs over land till i think i can keep it out of the water at the beach lol.

I like the Bixler 2 and the skysurfer. would they work and if they come with a radio alreay can i get a new raido with an ex chan so i can add in the servo so i can drop my line out?

Thanks for any and all help i might get

PS: i came here cuz i like the youtube videos josh and josh put out.
 

earthsciteach

Moderator
Moderator
Hey, Rancid and welcome to Flitetest! Very cool application. In short, yes, you can do that with a Bixler or Bixler two. But, the execution of it may not be as easy as it appears on the surface. Since you are from Texas, I am going to assume you are fishing the Gulf. I do a bit of surf fishing on the Atlantic coast.

The Bixler will certainly carry the weight that you are throwing, no problem. To me, the potential problems are going to be any fouling of the line on the rod or reel as you are flying the bait rig out and the potential entanglement issues with the line and hooks on the plane.

The fouling on the rod and reel are relatively easy. Just keep an eye out for twists on the reel when reeling in line. But, I would be very concerned about the hooks sticking in the foam of the plane. I guess the place to start is to ask what type of rigs you use.
As far as the line wrapping around the plane in flight, particularly the tail, there are some pretty easy mods you can make. The sailplane tow guys have some simple "tail snag proofing" strategies.

So, lets start with rigs... Fish finder? Top and bottom? What are ya using and what are ya fishing for? I am envisioning huge drum and huge sharks!
 

Rancid727

Junior Member
yes drum and shark weight bottom home made spider weight hook would be maybe 4 feet up from there with about 3 to 4 foot leader. my plan is use the spider weight on the servo that way the line/hook would and should be well behind the tail of the plane. and useing cut bait (ladyfish fun to catch and can land them all day long) the wire leader i use from spider weight to my line is 4 feet. but i could go to 6 to 8 feet. and yes the gulf cost it is Padre Island National Seashore 67 miles of some of the best beach
 

lobstermash

Propaganda machine
Mentor
I've also thought about using planes for this application. I reckon it'd be fine until you get down past the normal casting depth on your spool, where the braid/line tends to bed in itself. The trick would be to make the release mechanism self release under a certain tension, so there's no way it would bring the plane down. I don't know if the lingo is the same there, but a paternoster would be the ideal rig for this, as the hooks would be well away from the plane.
 

earthsciteach

Moderator
Moderator
Let me see if I have this right...

You have a spider weight with a hook that would be 4 feet above that (in the water). In the air that would equate to a hook trailing a couple of feet behind the plane. That means the worry of a hook, um hooking, the plane is not an issue. How do you envision attaching the spider weight to the servo so that you can drop it?
 

Rancid727

Junior Member
there is an eye on the spider weight servos use rod that push and pull? run that in a eye hook well 2 eye hooks with the spider weight in between the 2 eye hooks when the servo pulls back it would drop the weight
 

ipetepete

Member
I kinda sorta understand what the intent is. But I want to see VIDEO of the setup, possibly of the actual fishing act. This sounds like an awesome application.

So get to it. Make us some glorious videos.
 

tramsgar

Senior Member
I'm not familiar with that kind of fishing, but what about ardupilot on a multirotor? More expensive, sure, but cooler and perhaps easier to use.
 

earthsciteach

Moderator
Moderator
I would NOT recommend a multirotor for this application for no other reason than they sink. If a Bixler goes down in the ocean, it is quite retrievable. All you need is a raft or a boogie board. Oh, salt water does bad things to electronics. There are products you can coat the esc and motor with to protect them. And salt water kills video cameras. I know this from first hand experience. :eek:
 

Tritium

Amateur Extra Class K5TWM
I would NOT recommend a multirotor for this application for no other reason than they sink. If a Bixler goes down in the ocean, it is quite retrievable. All you need is a raft or a boogie board. Oh, salt water does bad things to electronics. There are products you can coat the esc and motor with to protect them. And salt water kills video cameras. I know this from first hand experience. :eek:

Multi-rotors do not necessarily sink in water. It depends on how they are built. Mine all have "Pool Noodles" for landing gear and are quite capable of floating above the water or on the surface of it.

Thurmond
 

Rancid727

Junior Member
I guess i would need to keep the weight on the CG of the plane.

Time wise i got a bit before i can do this 3 kids and geting married and the holidays. this all comes before trying this stunt lol.
Maybe we could get the josh team to test it out on video
 

SteveOBHave

Senior Member
I really like the idea :D It's very creative! I look forward to seeing some progress on it. Great lateral thinking, this sort of thing always gets my brain ticking over. I would consider the AXN Floater Jet over the Bixler if only beacause it's quite a bit cheaper.
 

Rancid727

Junior Member
ok guys i am going with a build your own from scratch. what i am looking for is it needs some size so i can see it at 250 yards out. easy to fly and can take some wind at least 15MPH now i know it is not and will not be easy to fly in that wind with me being a newbie and all. but if there is someone who can do this then the way i see it is that i can as well. it will just take time and a lot of fun geting used to it. this is my reason for wanting to build my own plane so i can fix it easy and just build a new one once i lose it in the water hahahaha no will never happen ;P so if any one knows of a plane with plans that can do this let me know so i can get started

thanks for all of your help and info
 

earthsciteach

Moderator
Moderator
Don't take this as discouragement, but if you have never flown an RC plane before, you are really getting into a very steep and possibly very frustrating learning curve by starting out with a scratch built plane. That is compounded by purpose of the plane (to fly a fishing line out a couple of hundred yards, dropping a sinker and rig).

I recommend you start with a solid beginner plane. The Bixler/Sky Surfer is the best that I know of for this. I just bought a kit from Nitroplanes for $39.00. http://www.nitroplanes.com/36a05-wingsurfer-green-kit.html
You will need to buy a motor, esc, 4 servos and a transmitter and receiver. I bought this and put it together Friday. It flies great!

But, if you are persistent, you certainly can begin with a scratch built plane. Its just far more complicated. Are you interested in the hobby for its own sake, or are you interested in it as a means to an end (fishing rig bomber)? If it is the latter, you will be far less frustrated by going with a store-bought airplane!
 

Rancid727

Junior Member
yeah thats a nice looking plane but what would it take to power it so it would cary the load.

And as far as building a plane that wont be frustrating at all it'll fun just to build it. i could just go buy one of the 30 or 40$ rc toy planes and fly that. i can already fly my little rc heli all around the house with little to no probs it being a toy walmart $25 heli lol