NZFF

by **Ian Warren** » Tue Mar 05, 2013 9:44 pm

lowglow wrote:
QUOTE (lowglow @ Mar 5 2013,10:08 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
Ah yea

Jeez , crikey , Jimmey jillickers ... you almost sound like the speaker of the house in parliment

by **ZK-MAT** » Tue Mar 05, 2013 9:54 pm

I've been out flying every time the wind has been slight - 7am before work and 7pm at night - and loving it. The Firebird Stratos is very forgiving and whilst it can be twitchy when caught by wind if you are high enough you have plenty of time to get out of any trouble. This forum here has a very long thread about this particular model. For $200 all up I think it's well worth it.

by **ZK-MAT** » Sat Apr 13, 2013 5:43 pm

I've bought another plane.....

http://www.foamworks.co.nz/product_info.ph...roducts_id=2881

Parkzone Radian motorised glider, had its maiden flight today and I loved it. The serenity of soaring, after using the motor to get to altitude was great. Was up over 25 minutes then had to head home. My youngest son had his first go with my other plane, and successfully flew circuits and landed it with no dramas.

There were 4 other planes at the park tonight, it's getting quite busy and may need ATC soon lol.

by **Ian Warren** » Sat Apr 13, 2013 6:03 pm

Gawd ... Dogfights in the park of a different kind

by **Splitpin** » Sat Apr 13, 2013 7:05 pm

ZK-MAT what a great hobby .... i dont suppose your interested in this giant R/C chopper Ive got ? ..... been trying to give it away for months now .... it has issues (nasty thing) but its free ... as is of course . Flown once ... crashed once .... but still intact.

by **ZK-MAT** » Sat Apr 13, 2013 7:32 pm

Actually Splitpin (Marty?), I was thinking I'd like to catch up with Ian and meet you some time. I'm very interested in a chopper! I'm in CHCH every 6 weeks or so for 2 weeks at a time. Next visit is 29 April for 12 days - how about we catch up?

by **Ian Warren** » Sat Apr 13, 2013 7:36 pm

Matt , I have the venue .. Marty be here tomorrow we can sort dates out ...

by **Splitpin** » Sat Apr 13, 2013 8:31 pm

Im good with that .... tell you what, I'll leave it with Ian on sunday , and when your here next ..... just take it ...if you want it .....

by **ZK-MAT** » Fri Apr 19, 2013 4:49 pm

Seeing as wet weather's on the way I had to try out the plane and camera. I had a day off so headed down to the park. This is filmed with a low res 808 keychain camera bought for $13 from TradeMe.

It would be awesome with a clearer day and on the glider for a steadier picture but all in all I'm happy with how it turned out. Cheap and cheerful video editing to get it online asap

by **Ian Warren** » Fri Apr 19, 2013 4:56 pm

COOL , next time also wait for a few others to turn up ... then you be able to show off some ACM

put some combat chatter instead of the music SWEET!

by **Splitpin** » Fri Apr 19, 2013 5:04 pm

Ian Warren wrote:
QUOTE (Ian Warren @ Apr 19 2013,4:56 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
COOL , next time also wait for a few others to turn up ... then you be able to show off some ACM put some combat chatter instead of the music SWEET!

Cool indeed ...ZK-MAT dont forget , you have a "beast" to collect from Ians in the near future .

by **Charl** » Fri Apr 19, 2013 5:54 pm

Looking at that clip... free as a bird.

I while ago I had the roof painted.
I put the quadricopter up, it has a live feed to the controlling Smartphone.
"Left a little.. more... there! you missed a spot!"
I drove them crazy!

Then, another time, I showed off!
It could do flips!
There was a slight breeze... up above the treeline it turned into a howling gale!
Gone forever.

Never show off in front of girls, always has a bad outcome.

by **ZK-MAT** » Fri Apr 19, 2013 6:54 pm

Hahaha Charl, great story!

Marty, I haven't forgotten mate

I'm in CHCH next on 29th for 2 weeks, will get in touch with Ian during the first week!

by **Naki** » Mon Apr 22, 2013 1:22 pm

Those are great looking models Matt - what is the easier to fly?

by **ZK-MAT** » Mon Apr 22, 2013 4:48 pm

The glider is pretty stress free, it's so slow and basically flies itself, the twin prop is designed as a basic trainer/beginner plane that anyone can fly. I'm not sure about that as you can lawn dart it into the ground quite easily (thankfully I haven't yet!) but with a bit of practise it's a great plane to fly too.

I would recommend the Firebird Stratos for anyone wanting to get into flying with low risk and at $200 all up it's pretty cost effective.

If anyone wants a few nights' worth of reading, here are some links to forum threads about these planes:

1: over 1500 posts about the Stratos: http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1601533
2: over 15,000 (yes, 15 thousand) posts about the Radian: http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=922599

by **ZK-MAT** » Mon Jul 01, 2013 6:13 pm

A bit of an update. I collected Splitpin's helicopter from Ian, bought a charge lead and grabbed some new rotors and shafts from EBay. Installed the new components and it flies - but it's very unbalanced. I haven't managed to get it out in a field yet, just small ups and downs in our yard, to be honest it scares me, I keep thinking decapitation for some reason lol - I need space, no wind and long grass to absorb impact on landing!

I have however been flying the glider a fair bit, I picked up a wing cam from HobbyKing (details here) and here is my latest video. If you can, watch it at 720 resolution, it's blurry at lower resolutions - it won't play on mobile devices.

My next challenge will be building a multi-rotor copter, I'm thinking of either an "Any Copter" home made build from Flite Test or going all out and buying this carbon fibre frame.

Then I will hang a Go Pro under it ...

I am on a slippery slope ..... yehaaaaaaa

by **Splitpin** » Mon Jul 01, 2013 6:54 pm

Matt ..... check the balance bar!! last time i flew it , it hit a tree ....
Dont fly it around the kids for god's sake .... its a beast.

If you need a new bar let me know .... happy to buy a new one for ya

by **ZK-MAT** » Mon Jul 01, 2013 7:02 pm

Thanks for that Marty, I replaced the bar and main shaft so that should be ok now, maybe it just shudders like that normally, it really winds up doesn't it! Will get it outside on the weekend - it's dark now when I get home from work

by **Ian Warren** » Mon Jul 01, 2013 7:16 pm

Arr decapitation ... bit like coffee without the bite ...

... we still need to see an air battle from ya Matt .

by **KiwiElf** » Tue Jul 02, 2013 1:57 am

Well, I was passing Dick Smiths a few weeks ago having renewed my driver's license across the road,... and they were doing a clearance sale on all these RC goodies,... so I bought a little electric mini-chopper - a Micro Twister Pro. I love the durned thing - it flies for about 6 mins and a recharge from the USB connection to the computer takes about 30 mins. It even comes with spare bits like extra screws and rotor blades. All those intricate little parts! Amazing wee thing.

I just gotta make sure the pussies don't catch it! So far no "catastrophic" crashes. Hmmm now to scare away that pesky black bird!

Have had tons of fun with it. Hope I can move up to more RC aircraft!

NZFF

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