OK, Flite Test Forum Folks - $10 Mystery Plane!

Hoomi

Master member
I wandered about the AMA Expo West for several hours today, and walked out with only two purchases - the Fly Cycle t-shirt, and a $10 "mystery" plane from one of the swap vendors. As near as I can tell, the plane is complete, other than no instructions. The assembly looks pretty straight forward, so I should have no problems with that, and the plane came with 2 servos (which, if they are good makes it worth the ten bucks anyway). The wingspan of the plane is about 23.5". There is a faded label on the box that might have been readable a year ago, though it would have been pretty faint even then. About the only two things I can make out on the label are "HKD" (Hobby King Distributing?) and WP365 (the '5' is a best-guess).

Anyone recognize this plane? Any insights into what size motor/battery I should look into installing?

mysteryplane.jpg
 

OliverW

Legendary member
I wandered about the AMA Expo West for several hours today, and walked out with only two purchases - the Fly Cycle t-shirt, and a $10 "mystery" plane from one of the swap vendors. As near as I can tell, the plane is complete, other than no instructions. The assembly looks pretty straight forward, so I should have no problems with that, and the plane came with 2 servos (which, if they are good makes it worth the ten bucks anyway). The wingspan of the plane is about 23.5". There is a faded label on the box that might have been readable a year ago, though it would have been pretty faint even then. About the only two things I can make out on the label are "HKD" (Hobby King Distributing?) and WP365 (the '5' is a best-guess).

Anyone recognize this plane? Any insights into what size motor/battery I should look into installing?

View attachment 146988
It is the FliteTest rocket plane! I think it was called the parkjet...
 

Hoomi

Master member
Just watched the FT review video from nearly years ago. It is a Hobby King bird, but Parkjet is the correct name (I knew I could count on the Flite Test community). Glad I watched the video before assembling it, as there is a hunk of square wood in the box, which seemed like it was supposed to go in the motor mount channel. What puzzled me, is that, with this wood set in the channel, there is no room for motor wiring to pass through. From the video, it appears the fiberglass motor mount is glued directly into the bottom of the channel.

The video gives me a good idea of what size motor, ESC, and battery to look for. Thanks!

 

Hoomi

Master member
Little bit of update on my Parkjet. The clear canopy apparently, at some point, was subjected to a bit too much heat (left in a car during the summer?). I tried gluing it to the fuselage piece, but it was turning into a major PITA. I decided instead to cut some foamboard to fill the gap, under which I could attach a servo, atop of which I plan to put a small platform for the keychain camera. If this works out, it'll be the first plane I have that will have a camera view I can change in flight.

The servos that came with the plane are a touch too big for the cutouts in the wings, so I ordered a pair of nano servos that fit nicely. I still need to choose a motor and ESC before I put everything together.

My birthday present from my wife last week was an airbrush set, so I might even try a little custom paint on the model.

I have another project I want to finish first, though, but figured I'd post an update just to keep this from vanishing too far down the list.