Favorite summertime RC aircraft
Jim T. Graham
jgraham@rcgroups.com
As I type this, fall is coming. I really looked forward to summer this year after a long winter. I’m happy to report it was also a long summer, and my RC friends and I took full advantage of the weather.
I decided to review some of the RC aircraft that I built and flew during the summer that have become my favorites.
When I started flying RC, it was all about 3-D airplanes. This was when 3-D was thought to be the end of the hobby. After watching me fly, Jim Martin, the original founder and president of Hobby Lobby, said, “That’s not flying—that’s a travesty!” That still makes me laugh.
Jim would be pleased to know that I have broadened my RC horizons. Maybe it’s because I’m getting older, or possibly it’s the desire to try new things. Compared with all of the other 3-D pilots out there now, I was never good at it anyway!
First up on the summer list of favorites is a sailplane of which I think Jim Martin would approve—the E-flite Radian XL. You might have heard of the Radian. The XL is its big brother with a wingspan of a little more than 8½ feet! This thing is big! Although I got my start as a stick builder, I have to admit that I like an airplane that is easy to put together.
The Radian XL goes together fast and is easy to get going. The hardest part is using CA adhesive to glue the rudder on. (We all know that’s not hard at all.) Mine had a preinstalled AS3X receiver and I was surprised after binding it to my Spektrum DX9 transmitter that it was preprogrammed. The trim was perfect out of the box!
For the maiden flight, we threw this aircraft into a thermal and up it went! The huge wings were great at signaling whether any hint of lift could be found.
It’s just a giant sweetheart. It’s a low-stress airplane with enough power on the nose to get you out of trouble, and spoilers that work the way they should with no pitch up. The Radian XL is a turnkey, thermal-hunting beast.
Next is an airplane that I flew all summer. I have been telling everyone
how much fun winged FPV flight is. Some pilots don’t want to fly a multirotor. The good news is that you don’t need one to have some FPV fun!
I have my original Easy Star airplane, which must be close to 13 years old (and still flying). When Ready Made RC brought out the Surfer 1500, I had to have it. It looks much like an old Easy Star. It’s easy to build, has all the power you need, and is small enough to transport in one piece. I have a 600 Television Lines (TVL) camera on it now with a 600-milliwatt video transmitter. It is super simple and a blast to fly.
The most fun I had this summer with this airplane was with people who had never flown FPV. A 3-D pilot recently told me that he planned to get an FPV airplane going. When I found out that he had never seen FPV flight through goggles, I got excited. I always carry two
sets so that others can ride along. He and his son wore the goggles as I did
rolls, loops, and inverted passes down the runway. They were having as much fun as I was. I also had a monitor there so people walking by could see what we are doing. The Surfer 1500 is a great starter airplane for anyone wanting to fly FPV. Don’t forget to utilize a spotter.
My next FPV airplane project is an aerobatic aircraft. I want one with AS3X stabilization for even more knife-edge and inverted FPV fun. More on that as the build progresses!
Now I’ll shift gears to quadcopters. I have flown several quadcopters, and I have also crashed them. I even flew one
into my pool! After a while, you start to understand what you are looking for.
To date, my favorite quadcopter is a Walkera F210. This aircraft has a 700 TVL camera and is built to race. I like it because it has, so far, proven to be impossible to break. I’m sure if you set your mind to it you could break it, but with our flying in the pasture, I have yet to damage a propeller!
Here is how tough it is. Jason Cole and I were out shooting a review video of the F210 and Jason was about to fly it. He had just commented on how he thought the camera would take a serious hit. He got the quadcopter up to full speed, went to do a flip, and then fly in the other direction.
The flip knocked the LiPo battery out (I replaced the Velcro strap after that). The F210 plummeted to the ground, and I was sure that I had broken an arm or two and maybe the camera. We were both surprised to find that the quadcopter was fine. We threw it back into the air and continued flying. Jason was impressed.
I’m not really a quadcopter racer, but these racing multirotors are built to fly great and take a beating. The F210 does all of that in spades. I can put the quadcopter, extra propellers, batteries, and a transmitter in a single flight case and head to the field. Did I mention that I haven’t broken a propeller yet?
These are some of my current favorite RC aircraft from the past months. I admit that my list of favorites changes. There are a slew of new products coming out, so who knows what will take their place.
With winter coming, it’s time to clean the shop and start some new builds. Thanks to everyone who takes the time to read this column, and a big thanks to those who write to me or ask questions. This is an amazing hobby, and we are the people who keep it going.
Okay, I’m ready for summer to get here!
SOURCES:
E-flite
(800) 338-4639
www.e-fliterc.com
Walkera
service@walkera.com
www.walkera.com
Ready Made RC
www.readymaderc.com
RC Groups
www.rcgroups.com
