Did you fly today?????

Bruthal · 14-07-2011 9:05pm

The servos might do from the radian for the flaps maybe, but i would use the recommended hitec servos myself, which is what i did. They are permenantly glued into place, so good ones are the way to go.

The 5 channel dx5e wont really do for the cularis. Im using all 7 channels of the DX7 for it, although 6 channels will do, so a DX6i would do it.

Its expensive enough, the kit was 150 euro when i got it just over a year ago, its a little more now. Servos were about 120 euro as it needs 6 of them. Recommended motor setup is about 150 euro, although i got that for about 60 by using a motor and ESC from hobbyking, and ordering the prop and spinner and collet set seperate. I had to balance the actual motor rotor from hobbyking myself as it was unusable as it came, but once i did its been great since.

Having to buy the radio and all it would be up around the 600 mark i would say. Expensive enough. Its lovely to fly though. The radian pro is a lot cheaper, but its a different class though.

Kashkai · 15-07-2011 9:52am

Please don't take this the wrong way, but thats a big step up in terms of investment in this hobby for a guy who has just learned how to fly. How would you feel if you crashed a Cularis after putting in that kind of money?

Perhaps it would be better if you gained more flying experience prior to spending large sums of money on a plane like the Cularis. Would you not consider expanding your horizons beyond gliders to see if you might like to fly a warbird or a 3D aerobatic plane?

I love my Radian, it was my first plane and it taught me how to fly properly, i.e. without a motor pulling me along and disguising bad flying habits. This stood to me as my progresson into warbirds was pretty smooth as I knew how to fly correctly as opposed to just gunning the engine and hoping for the best. You can buy a plug and play warbird for aprox €130 and you can use your current receiver, transmitter, battery and charger to get her in the air. I'd recommend the Parkzone T28 Trojan as a good first step into "warbird" territory. It is fairly docile up to a point but you can do loops, rolls, stall turns and practice your take offs and landings on a plane with wheels. Later on, you can add flaps, navigation lights and retractable undercarriage if you feel like it. Far cheaper than kitting out a new Cularis.

One good investment for you would be a higher spec transmitter. I started off with the DX5 but I now have a Spectrum DX6i and it's model memory has slots for 10 aircraft so you don't have to go through the binding process if you want to use a different plane. It also allows you to customise settings such as dual rates, expo etc to suit yourself.

Bruthal · 15-07-2011 10:02am

Probably better off alright, the cularis is actually easier to fly than the radian in my opinion, but you wouldnt want to be crashing it.

Thats why i mentioned about being completely competent with the radian first. Thats a lot different from taking off and flying and landing in one piece.

Them warbirds would be a good step alright. I actually got son and another fella to both fly my nitro p51 straight from the radian. Not much bother at all flying it around for them.

Kashkai · 15-07-2011 10:20am

Like I said, I hope he doesn't take my comments as elitest or anything. Its just that when learning to fly, you get to a point when you think you have it licked, which comes just before you then do something stupid and destroy your plane. I'm speaking from experience here;):D

Far cheaper to get a Parkzone warbird (as they are well set up out of the box and ready to fly with no fiddling around with centre of gravity, and you can swap a lot of your Radian's internals over to it) and progress from there. Once you've mastered the glider and then a warbird, you can then think about moving "upmarket" if you have the dosh.

You could buy a cheaper plane from Hobbyking for around €50. However, there may be quality control issues with it (see the reviews on Hobbyking) but if you don't mind fiddling around with it, you could get it into the air for half the price of a PZ plane. If you crash it, well at €50, it won't hurt as much as destroying a €600 Cularis:p.

Variety is the spice of life and all that and when it comes to flying, the more experience you have on different types of planes, the better a flyer you'll become.

Bruthal · 15-07-2011 10:41am

Thats probably your best next step anyway plug. The main reason i ever recommended the radian was because it was cheap enough for a fully RTF setup. And was a good way to learn. And they can take abuse. Although if an experienced fella is on hand, they are very easy to learn to fly without any serious crashes.

Gliders are almost seen as seperate from helis and planes now, some radios are described as having heli, fixed wing, and glider programming on them for full house gliders like the cularis, and radian pro.

Try one of them parkzone warbird planes is a good next step, and cheap enough. But again, you would want to have been fully competent at the radian to fly one of them, they are easy to fly, but they do exactly what you put in on the controls instantly and keep whatever attitude they are at, unlike the radian which tended to self level when it was trimmed properly.

Bruthal · 15-07-2011 11:04am

Prosperous Dave wrote: »

Like I said, I hope he doesn't take my comments as elitest or anything. Its just that when learning to fly, you get to a point when you think you have it licked, which comes just before you then do something stupid and destroy your plane. I'm speaking from experience here;):D

I dont think he will, i used to be a bit wary of sounding like i was the experienced person and they are only learning, but how else can you pass on your experiences when ye think of it.

Your war bird advice is sound, its a different type of flying and he may well think its brilliant if he tries it. I think if you become competent with any of them, then you can fly any air worthy model plane no problem.

If you crash it, well at €50, it won't hurt as much as destroying a €600 Cularis:p.

Well at least the radio wont be in the crash, the DX7 was part of the €600, unless you crash the cularis into the radio:eek:

Variety is the spice of life and all that and when it comes to flying, the more experience you have on different types of planes, the better a flyer you'll become.

After 23 years, im starting to become worse now, im on the forgetting side of the curve i think:D

Kashkai · 15-07-2011 11:17am

robbie7730 wrote: »

Well at least the radio wont be in the crash, the DX7 was part of the €600, unless you crash the cularis into the radio:eek:

After 23 years, im starting to become worse now, im on the forgetting side of the curve i think:D

:D:D I don't know about not crashing into the radio. I was flying my Trojan this morning and doing a low fly by at around head height when a little gust lifted a wing and I had to duck....QUICKLY:eek::o.

I don't think you get worse at flying, I think we might just get a little complacent sometimes when we get too used to our "comfort zone". Takes a scare or a crash to shake us up and get our heads back in the game.

For anyone wishing to push themselves a little but who don't want to waste their cash on a plane they're not ready for, I'd recommend the Phoenix flight sim that lets you connect your transmitter to a pc and "fly" dozens of different planes and helis. You can customise the weather conditions, simulate engine failures etc. It has the Radian, Trojan and many others on it. Great way to practice flying without the fear of crashing your model.

http://www.rcpitstop.co.uk/phoenix-pro-flight-simulator-v3--spektrum-dx5e---free-upgrades-1786-p.asp

You can buy it without a transmitter which I did and it cost me €80.

Plug · 15-07-2011 1:26pm

Right lads thanks for that. Really now a PNP would be great. Its between that warbird or the pro.

Plug · 15-07-2011 1:44pm

What about the Parkzone Extra 300? Looks nice but I'd say maybe a bit too advanced?

Kashkai · 15-07-2011 2:11pm

Plug wrote: »

What about the Parkzone Extra 300? Looks nice but I'd say maybe a bit too advanced?

The PZ Extra 300 is a 3D aerobatic plane thats definitely only for the very experienced. She would be a handful for me and I'm flying almost 20 months and have 7 planes in my hangar. In addition, Parkzone has issued bulletins that the centre of gravity in this plane is off from what is stated in the manual. Not good!

You could try the Hobbyzone Supercub like I did after I mastered the Radian but the Supercub is very easy to fly and it would take a lot of effort to crash her. You won't learn too much from her as she is a rudder/elevator controlled plane like the Radian and she is pretty docile and has no nasty habits. You could practice wheeled take offs and landings though.

However, the Trojan is the next best step for you. She is an aileron/rudder/elevator plane and so is a step up in the control stakes. She is quite fast but no insanely so. However, this type of aircraft has to be flown as opposed to the likes of the Radian that almost flies herself. With the Rad, if you turn and release the sticks, she'll straighten up herself. If you turn with an aileron bird and release the sticks, she'll go into an spiral dive. These planes are a lot more unstable than the Radian and thus you have to be on the ball with them at all times. However, it is real flying and once you land them, you'll know that you've been piloting a plane as opposed to watching your glider drift around the sky.

If you get a Trojan, it would be a good idea to get some tips from an experienced flyer or to practice on a sim beforehand. It is very possible to fly her yourself straight from the box but if you are too harsh on the sticks, you will very quickly get into trouble. If you do decide to go solo, then keep the dual rates on low and practice doing gentle circuits up high (the higher the better so you can recover from mistakes). Then you can practice a few missed approaches before you try to land her. She needs a long glide in. Its best to line her up and just reduce the throttle to reduce altitude and get her back on the ground.

This guy's service is excellent: http://www.rcpitstop.co.uk/parkzone-t-28-trojan-plane---pnp-version-pkz5075-1499-p.asp

Once you master the Trojan, then there are a lot of sexier beasts to fly like the Mustang, the Me109, Wildcat, P47 Thunderbolt, Spitfire etc etc.

Bruthal · 15-07-2011 2:43pm

Prosperous Dave wrote: »

I don't think you get worse at flying, I think we might just get a little complacent sometimes when we get too used to our "comfort zone". Takes a scare or a crash to shake us up and get our heads back in the game.

Well i was jokin in reality. Flying habbits change a lot from 17 to 40 though:D

Kashkai · 15-07-2011 4:35pm

robbie7730 wrote: »

Well i was jokin in reality. Flying habbits change a lot from 17 to 40 though:D

My flying habits have changed a lot in 20 months:D

I used to think it was all about speed, speed and more speed. Now I rarely fly above 60% - 70% throttle. Most of the time its around the 50% mark. I can get almost 20 minutes out of a 2200mah battery that way. Hypermiling rc flying:D

Bruthal · 16-07-2011 10:01am

Prosperous Dave wrote: »

My flying habits have changed a lot in 20 months:D

I used to think it was all about speed, speed and more speed. Now I rarely fly above 60% - 70% throttle. Most of the time its around the 50% mark. I can get almost 20 minutes out of a 2200mah battery that way. Hypermiling rc flying:D

Thats a great flight time alright. With the nitro engines, throttle management or control would happen naturally as you can hear the revs all the time so you would tend to keep them in the mid range a lot of the time with throttling up to climb etc.

The brushless motors are brilliant though, they are like a sort of 3 phase DC motor, the 3 phase aspect being what makes them so powerful.

Whats your favourite plane out of all the war planes you have now?

Kashkai · 18-07-2011 12:17pm

robbie7730 wrote: »

Thats a great flight time alright. With the nitro engines, throttle management or control would happen naturally as you can hear the revs all the time so you would tend to keep them in the mid range a lot of the time with throttling up to climb etc.

The brushless motors are brilliant though, they are like a sort of 3 phase DC motor, the 3 phase aspect being what makes them so powerful.

Whats your favourite plane out of all the war planes you have now?

Thats a tough question to answer.......

The Trojan is the easiest to fly and has no bad habits. I like the scale take offs and landings.

The Wildcat is probably the most nimble flyer and she can turn on a sixpence. She gets buffeted by the wind a lot though.

The 109 looks great and "menacing" in the air like a true warbird should be. However, I'm a bit annoyed that her stock motor died after just 5 flights. This motor is well known to be crap. Have to get a new motor for her so she's grounded at the moment.

That leaves the Mustang which is probably my favourite to fly. She looks great in the air and is very aerobatic. She can scream past you at full throttle or she is happy to tootle round the sky at 50% throttle. Very easy to hand launch and to belly land. Flies like she's on rails too. So I guess out of the lot of them, its the P51 Mustang:).

Of course, thats not forgetting my Radian and Supercub which I like to fly when I want nice leisurely and relaxing flights.

Bruthal · 18-07-2011 12:22pm

Prosperous Dave wrote: »

That leaves the Mustang which is probably my favourite to fly. She looks great in the air and is very aerobatic. She can scream past you at full throttle or she is happy to tootle round the sky at 50% throttle. Very easy to hand launch and to belly land. Flies like she's on rails too. So I guess out of the lot of them, its the P51 Mustang:).

Yea i flew the parkzone mustang myself, flys like its on rails is exactly how i described it. I have a nitro version of it 10 years now, only fly it the odd time now, but its like a rocket at full throttle, especially after getting into the gliders and then flying it on the rare occasion.

privateBeavis · 25-07-2011 9:38am

Took my new EasyStar for its maiden flight last night, flew nicely! First time I've flown something with no ailerons and took a few minutes to get used to it!

I got the lithium 3S power set cos I plan to attach a GoPro Hero HD to it so its got plenty of power. I just have to figure out how I'm going to attach it.

SLIM19198 · 25-07-2011 11:24am

Whats the U shaped thing at the back?

privateBeavis · 25-07-2011 1:49pm

SLIM19198 wrote: »

Whats the U shaped thing at the back?

Its a ground anchor, I was doing a rangecheck and just making sure any problems/glitchs didn't send the plane off

poteen · 26-07-2011 5:16pm

Still No supplier in the UK with spare Radian Fuselages so I have not been flying today. Sickened. Its been 5 weeks now and still no stick. Ive emailed Horizon Hobbies a few times but they havnt emailed back.

desodon · 26-07-2011 8:40pm

poteen wrote: »

Still No supplier in the UK with spare Radian Fuselages so I have not been flying today. Sickened. Its been 5 weeks now and still no stick. Ive emailed Horizon Hobbies a few times but they havnt emailed back.

Hi poteen i emailed them about this same issue and it took them a few weeks to email back . This didn't really answer my question but here is the email i got anyway

Hello Des,

Thank you for contacting Horizon Hobby Product Support.

I would check to see if any UK distributors could make an order for you.
We are still stocking them in the U.S. but there may have been a
discontinuation elsewhere. The contact information is: 44 (0) 1279
641097 or sales@horizonhobby.co.uk

If you should need further assistance regarding this issue please reply
directly to this e-mail.

If you need immediate assistance, contact our Product Support staff toll
free at (877) 504-0233. Our support representatives are available Monday
through Friday, 8-7, Saturday 8-5 and then Sunday 12-5 central standard
time.

Thank You,
Amanda
Horizon Hobby Product Support
productsupport@horizonhobby.com
1-877-504-0233

Kashkai · 27-07-2011 1:49pm

For what its worth, I've dealt with John Norris in Horizon Hobby UK for missing parts from my Mustang. His email is jnorris@horizonhobby.co.uk and his number is 0044 1279 641 097.

His customer service is good and he sorted out my missing parts and shipped them over to me for free.

Maybe he can rustle you up a fuse for your Rad.

poteen · 03-08-2011 11:24am

Prosperous Dave wrote: »

For what its worth, I've dealt with John Norris in Horizon Hobby UK for missing parts from my Mustang. His email is jnorris@horizonhobby.co.uk and his number is 0044 1279 641 097.

His customer service is good and he sorted out my missing parts and shipped them over to me for free.

Maybe he can rustle you up a fuse for your Rad.

Thanks for that contact Dave. I emailed him last weeke but Ive received no reply since. Im just so annoyed that I cant fly these weeks.

Kashkai · 03-08-2011 2:28pm

Phone John Norris as he's very pleasant to deal with and he's a rc flyer himself so he's an enthuasiast not just some sales rep. He will sort you out if he has a fuse lying round.

The bad news is that I have received word from my usual plane supplier in the UK that the original Radian is now discontinued. That is very sad news as its a great plane, both to learn on and to have a relaxing flying session with later as you progress.

I still have the pieces from my first Radian fuse that crashed over a year ago. I'm glad I didn't throw them out as its now worth my while sticking them back together.

Kashkai · 03-08-2011 2:55pm

Poteen

I've sent you a pm with the name and number of a model shop in the UK whose website says they have the Radian fuselage in stock. Best of luck.

I flew my Mustang in the Phoenix Park this morning in ideal conditions. This warbird is a joy to fly, has no vices and will go where you point her. If it wasn't for work, I'd still be flying her:D

poteen · 04-08-2011 5:46pm

Prosperous Dave wrote: »

Poteen

I've sent you a pm with the name and number of a model shop in the UK whose website says they have the Radian fuselage in stock. Best of luck.

Dave, Thanks as ever for the brilliant help. Looks like another possible glimmer of hope is gone. That TJD models are out of radian fuselage stock also and they said that theyt have no due date for delivery from the distributor which I am Guessing is Horizon Hobbies?

Not sure what my next step is now....

Kashkai · 04-08-2011 9:05pm

Don't give up

Try Formula1 hobbies in the UK http://www.f1hobbies.com/shop.php?id=2262&level=

Amazon.com http://www.amazon.com/ParkZone-Bare-Fuselage-Radian/dp/B001GLR2QM

Kashkai · 05-08-2011 12:00pm

Flew my P51 Mustang this morning in the Phoenix Park in a cloudless sky but with a bit of a wind, which no foamies really like. Had to keep the speed up as she was rocking and rolling quite a bit which used up the batteries far quicker than usual. Had her up pretty high at one stage, uncomfortably high actually as I was starting to lose orientation so I brought her down for a screaming dive and fly past at 6 foot altitude up again into a roll followed by a loop. Great plane to fly for anyone thinking of moving on from gliders into something a little faster and a lot more manouverable.

The one downside was halfway through my fourth battery, I caught sight of a guy walking towards me with a plane tucked under his arm. I was looking forward to some friendly chit chat but noooooooo:rolleyes:, it was a lecture about not flying from "the patch" where most flyers fly from. I told him that there were a herd of deer there and I was keeping away so I wouldn't annoy them, or anyone else fro that matter. He just tut tutted and walked away. I landed soon after and was going to walk over to him to see what his problem was but left it.

poteen · 05-08-2011 12:11pm

Prosperous Dave wrote: »

Don't give up

Try Formula1 hobbies in the UK http://www.f1hobbies.com/shop.php?id=2262&level=

Amazon.com http://www.amazon.com/ParkZone-Bare-Fuselage-Radian/dp/B001GLR2QM

Another stone wall. F1 hobbies are out of stock and as with other suppliers, they dont know when they will have it .

Amazon wont ship that product type from the USA and teh UK amazon doesnt have it .

Thanks again Dave for all your great help. Im going to keep trying but....

Kashkai · 05-08-2011 1:01pm

Last chance perhaps? Based in the Czech republic and in Germany.
http://www.rcking.eu/en/radian/5114-PKZ4767.html

or from the US and they will ship over here for €48 incl. shipping;)
http://cgi.ebay.ie/ParkZone-PKZ4767-Bare-Fuselage-Radian-New-/290565844680?pt=Radio_Control_Parts_Accessories&hash=item43a712eec8

Bruthal · 05-08-2011 4:16pm

poteen wrote: »

Another stone wall. F1 hobbies are out of stock and as with other suppliers, they dont know when they will have it .

Amazon wont ship that product type from the USA and teh UK amazon doesnt have it .

Thanks again Dave for all your great help. Im going to keep trying but....

Here is an ebay shop in the US that ships it i think. About €50 including the shipping it looks like.

EDIT: Looks like same ebay link Dave has up. Id say you will get one there anyway. It seems a strange move that they stopped making them anyway.

Did you fly today?????

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