R2 Hobbies Speedo and Passer- thoughts? Also Canberra slopes?

McPete

Ermagerd! A Plern!
Hey All,

I've just re-entered the hobby after a four year absence, and while I'm enjoying my Radian, I'm looking for something a bit more serious. I quite like the look of the Speedo Series from R2Hobbies, and the Passer from the same (Although I can only find the pure sailplaversion of that on eBay).

Has anyone had any experience of this machine? Do they go together OK? Do they fly well?

Incidentally, I've been trying to find some more details on Canberra's slope scene- I'm aware of Lake George, but I'm keen for some stuff closer to home. If there are any Canberrans about the place, I'd appreciate a few pointers and maybe some flying buddies :)

Cheers,
Pete
 

lobstermash

Propaganda machine
Mentor
G'day Pete. Welcome to the forums. I don't know first hand, but I have heard that the Passer is an excellent sailplane.

Firstly, before I can proceed with being friendly to you, are you north or south? ;) Just kidding.

There are three main spots I slope. For the NW, Theodore is a doozy, just off Callister Cres. You park at the entrance to the sub-station and sort of keep left-ish. You'll know the hill when you see it.

For the easterlies and southerlies, Mount Wanniassa isn't bad. We usually park at Sparkes Close and turn left or right off the path depending on the wind.

S and SW is nice up in Kambah. We park off Learmonth Drive just in from the intersection with Athllon Drive.

The north side of Canberra is a mystery to me, but I'm told that there are some good spots up there. Wouldn't want to spoil my day going there to find out though ;)
 

McPete

Ermagerd! A Plern!
Hey guys,

Thanks for the fast replies!

At ease, I'm a Southsider too- Based out of Curtin for the moment, but we're heading across to Narrabundah next year- Should make for easy access to Theodore via the Monaro highway!

If crunchiness is an issue, it sounds like my old Zagi LE is the machine for the job- I'll cut some new winglets today, and pick up a new RX/Battery when I can.

If you would, shout out when you're heading to a slope- I'll see if I can tag along.

Cheers,
Pete
 

glydr

How many letters do we ge
Yup - Zagi is the go up Theodore.

In a gentle southerly I've seen a Radian happily stay up all evening up Mt Wanniassa.

Will post here if heading out - probably won't (personally) for a while though. I've been doing 6 day weeks at work and when that happens I make sure I spend the one day off with the family.

G
 

lobstermash

Propaganda machine
Mentor
I'm not much of a sloper - starting to delve deep into fpv (if you've been out of the hobby for a while, you may not have heard of it - it's an amazing new aspect to the hobby!). Glydr's the purist, but I have a crack when the wind's right for it.
 

dusk

Junior Member
At ease, I'm a Southsider too- Based out of Curtin for the moment, but we're heading across to Narrabundah next year

I'm just about to move to Curtin at the end of this year. Any decent parkflying spots around there?
 

lobstermash

Propaganda machine
Mentor
Canberra is parkflier friendly. Curtin District Playing fields are good (there's a baseball field there) and the Yarralumla Bay Oval a short distance away is great too (always free too).
 

McPete

Ermagerd! A Plern!
I fly off the South Curtin Neighbourhood Oval. It's smaller, but also less used. Juust big enough for a Radian.

Also, I'm now a member of the Lake George Soaring League- If you're going to fly the slope out there, please look down and see if there are people flying off the lakr bed. If there are, it might be worth coming down and letting us know you plans and frequency. Quite a few of the big F3J ships still run on 36MHz, and it'd suck to loose two models over a frequency clash.

Also, it'd be nice to grow our little soaring community : -) There were some nice thermals out there yesterday- I was trading turns with an Aspire F3J model for a while there!
 

lobstermash

Propaganda machine
Mentor
We might be heading to Fadden Oval (primary school). If you think the oval mentioned above is small... Anyhow, there are usually great thermals over the school. I'm waiting for confirmation from glydr, but we'll probably be there about 2pm.
 

McPete

Ermagerd! A Plern!
Hey, you guys weren't out flying at Yarramundi Reach today, were you? I stopped and said hi to some fellas flying an Ehawk 1500 and a Minimoa... Just occured to me.
 

glydr

How many letters do we ge
Wasn't me. I'm down with a serious bout of work at the moment. But sounds suspiciously like LM and his Minimoa-mate.