Testing New App

Hey Everyone! I'm posting this from my iPhone. I figured I could keep this thing updated more often if I didn't have to sit at my computer and sign in. So here's a test post from my phone. Woot!

--Tom K.

*NEW* Extreme Flight Extra 300 78" Un-Boxing Video!

Hey Everybody! It arrived in the mail the other day, and I spent the last few days chopping up the video. Here's the un-boxing video! I'll have flight video in a few weeks once I get it built and all set up; but for now, here's the un-boxing video!




--Tom K.

*UPDATE

--Tom K.

PFFC 2012!!!!

Hey Everyone,

I was poking around RCGroups.com, and I got invited to submit a video to the Park Flyer Freestyle Contest. The PFFC is a freestyle contest for planes under a 61" wingspan, and all you have to do is take a video of you flying your plane, fit it to music, edit it using 2 or less cuts, and upload it to YouTube or Vimeo and post it on the thread on RCGroups.

So, yesterday I brought out my 48" Extreme Flight Edge 540T EXP with the Motrolfly 2820-680 and Savox servos featured in my "Wind Therapy" video. I haven't flown the plane in months, but I know from experience that normally one of the best flights of the day, for me, is my first flight right as soon as I get the stuff out of the car and the battery strapped in... must be a release from the monotonous half hour drive on the highway to get to the field. So my dad turned on the camera, and as it turned out, that first flight ended up being the flight I use in the video.

I didn't really have a song in mind, and figured I would go home and mix together some production music I have on my computer for the music aspect. However, when I got home and reviewed the video I learned that I wasn't going to need to mix any music, or even use the production music; AC/DC hit the nail on the head with their song, "If You Want Blood, You Got It" and it came out better than I expected.

Here's the video. Keep in mind the contest is open until September 18th, so you still have time if you want to participate. Pilots like Daniel Holman are also competing and have already submitted their videos. Below is also a link to the RCGroups thread if you are interested in joining in the fun.

Enjoy!

PFFC 2012 Forum Link:
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1639479

--Tom K.

More Cowbell!... er, I mean, GODFREY!

We went out to the field yesterday and managed to shoot some video of the Godfrey again. This time I decided to go about filming a little differently. I wanted to make the intro a little more exciting than a title screen, some funky music, and a takeoff... so I did some thinking and I think the result was pretty cool. The video is below, but first, I just want to say a few things about this amazing airframe...

With an 84" wingspan, this 27% Extra 300 was pretty much built to be powered by a DA-50, or similar 50cc gas engine. However, I really haven't had that much good luck with gas engines... maybe that's because we bought a first generation DLE-30 before they made some necessary tweaks to the design... but I digress... Anyway, we wanted to go electric. There aren't really a lot of good choices out there for a 50cc electric motor. You could go the knockoff route, but you may end up playing magnet pickup... or worse... You could also go a heavy underpowered route, which, let's face it, is so 10 years ago. Or you could go for a super light setup that gives you almost a 2:1 power to weight ratio. I, being me, chose the latter. For the motor, we turned to Hacker. I learned from the Sham-Wow guy that the Germans make good stuff... so we did some research and decided on the Q80-7M.

The Hacker Q80-7M can swing a 24x10TH Mejzlik Carbon Fiber propeller about 6400 RPMs and provide roughly 32 pounds of static thrust when measured with a fish scale. If you just found my blog by googling "RC Airplane" that means it swings a big prop, fast enough, to provide insane power. Also, with this setup, it pulls about 116 amps on the ground via an inline meter; and if you wanna go crazy, you can stick a 24x12 Xoar on it and pull about 130 amps and 37 pounds of thrust. Oh, did I mention this is all happening on 10S? Well yeah, 10S. It's a light and sweet setup, and it rarely comes down over 120 degrees F on a rather balmy Florida summer day with a heat index of somewhere around 105 F.

So, we had the motor figured out. Now it was time for the speed controller. Again, we have a few choices... well, two actually. One with a smoke system, and one without. So we turned to Castle for a Castle ICE2 160A HV ESC with wires about as thick as my pinkie finger, or one without a smoke system. Upon later testing, we discovered 160 Amps for an ESC on this setup may have been overkill... but hey, better than learning you pull 120 amps on a 60 amp ESC and wondering why your cowling's on fire. This ESC is a monster. It's big, chunky, and yet surprisingly light for its size. And since there's such a high amp buffer between 116 and 160, it comes down cool.

So all in all, we run 10S through a Castle 160A ICE2 HV ESC that turns the extremely awesome Hacker Q80-7M motor 6400RPMs that, in turn, swings a Mejzlik 24x10TH CF prop that blows 32 pounds of thrust over a 19 pound airplane, and let's just say... it's pretty sweet.

Not to mention it sounds Bad@$$!


--Tom K.

Second Look

Well the video of the Godfrey the other day was a little short and had a lot of cuts in it. I know a lot of people out there aren't a big fan of having a whole lot of cuts in a flying video because they wan't to see more flying and less editing. So I decided to re-import all the footage and take a second look at what I had from that day. The video is a bit longer at 7 minutes, but it still has good flying. I also re-cut some production music for different feels throughout the video. So go ahead, sit back, relax, and enjoy this second look at the Godfrey Extra 300.



--Tom K.

New Godfrey Video

Well we brought the Godfrey back out to the field yesterday and the weather was perfect. We had a beautiful sky backdrop, minimal wind (however it did pick up now and then as thunderstorms loomed nearby), and the beautiful, manicured field to ourselves! It was a great day!

After about 25 flights I'm really starting to settle in with this plane. It was a little odd stepping up from flying four foot wingspan planes to seven foot wingspan planes, and jumping from 3 pounds to 19. I tuned in the setup and got it just the way I like it, and we managed to shoot some decent video yesterday. I was practicing a lot of high alpha stuff, and I think it looked okay.

Enjoy!



--Tom K.

Better Godfrey Video

Wow, did I really post the video that's more suckish? Hmm... well here's the better one. A bit less editing, and I used my other computer to edit and it has a better editor and saved it in higher quality. I then uploaded it to Vimeo because I didn't want 5 videos of the same flight on my youtube channel. Anyway, here's a better video than the one below, and hopefully sometime this week we'll get out to the field and get some more. I'm getting more used to this plane and it's a blast!



Godfrey 27% Extra 300 Electric from Thomas Kitt on Vimeo.

--Tom K.

*New* Godfrey Extra 300 video

Hey Everyone,

We got out to the field late yesterday afternoon and shot some good video. Here's the result. Enjoy!





--Tom K.

Godfrey Extra 300

Whoa! I'm back! Wow, has it been almost two months since I updated this thing? Dang. Well, if you've been wondering where I've been, I haven't gone anywhere, however I have been completing a new project: A Godfrey 27% Extra 300, with an electric motor. This plane is the third best plane I've ever flown (only because the Godfrey 40% Extra and the Godfrey 35% Laser beat it), and it's completely awesome! Incredibly neutral, this plane flies like I would expect any other Godfrey aircraft to fly: smooth, neutral, and true. Even for an airframe that has been around for years, it's still holding true and still flies like a dream, and I still find myself correcting when I don't need to. Now I see why the saying back in the days of the TOC was "Go Godfrey or Go Home."

Powered by the Hacker Q80-7M with a Castle ICE-2 160 HV ESC, it has insane power. The Mejzlik 24x10TH Carbon Fiber propeller spins up past 6500 RPMs and pulls over 32 pounds of static thrust with a fish scale, i.e. this power combo is a MONSTER! The 160 Amp ESC is a little bit overkill because the system only pulls almost 120 amps on the ground, but being the first time we ever set up an electric aircraft this big, we figured it may be good to provide a little headroom on the first try.

At the moment, we're using two Sky LiPo 5S 5000mAh packs in series for a power setup that peaks at 42 volts. We also have some Venom 5S 5000mAh packs I'm excited to try as well. I'll report back with the results of those packs. On all our batteries we're using 6.5mm bullet connectors to handle the high volt and amp draws, and we made sure to cut one battery lead shorter than the other to prevent shorting it out. Also, as a preventative measure during non-use, we bought a box of  "carburetor caps" from the LHS, and a certain size fits right over the female bullet connector nice and snug. If anything, it makes me feel better about wrapping them up and putting them into a box with a half dozen more.

The Extra is guided by JR DSM2 technology from an X9303 transmitter... yeah, I haven't gotten the upgrade to the 9503 yet, but this works fine for now. Also, on the other end we have an AR9100 Spektrum 9 channel receiver with three satellites. It's powered by two 2300mAh A123 batteries from Wrong Way RC, providing enough juice for a safe hour of flight time, the ability to charge extremely fast thanks to the A123 nano-phosphate technology, and battery redundancy thanks to the AR9100's dual battery ports just in case one should decide to go bleh mid-flight.

For the video, it's not that great. This was the second flight I had with the plane and power system, so I'm still feeling it out... plus the gusty 20+ mph crosswind wasn't doing me any favors. My dad's still getting used to the camera (I had to mute his complaining about not seeing it in the LCD screen) but he did okay. I'm thankful he has the patience and generosity to aim the dang thing at the plane for 6 minutes at a time... just bear with him for the first 30 seconds or so, it eventually smooths out.

So, dim the lights, cue the music, and... Enjoy!




--Tom K.

Therapy Anyone?

Well my poor 48" Edge EXP has been being neglected the past few months as I flew the 60" Edge or the new Twisted Hobbys Extra Slick, or took a few OPP flights. This weekend I decided to take it out for a spin. Saturday we forgot the camera, unfortunately, but Sunday we didnt. Even though it was a bit windier on Sunday, I still managed to grab a few flights. Here's the result. Wait for the music, then strap in!



--Tom K.

*All-New Twisted Hobbys 32" Extra Slick

The Twisted Hobbys Xtra Slick is what made Twisted Hobbys an awesome company. It was built well, relatively regid, flew amazing, was inexpensive, and easily repairable. But now, Twisted Hobbys went and did it... they somehow improved upon the Xtra Slick's already amazing design, and... it's... AWESOME!!!

Made from wire cut foam, the New Extra Slick is extremely regid, light, responsive, and very attractive. It flies extremely precise, goes where you point it, can do any trick in the book, and still gives you the warm and fuzzy feeling of flying a foamie. With EPP foam trusses to eleminate twist from the Slick's fuselage's vocabulary, a new 1800kv motor with insane power, and a tested Extra Slick design... this plane is at the top of the list.

With the Extra Slick, the search is over. The new design makes this "foamie" fly like a high-class extreme aerobatic balsa plane... without taking a hugh bite out of your wallet, time, or resources. It flies like a balsa, but wrecks like a foamie... with a little bounce.

Now without further adue, The Extra Slick:


--Tom K.