Sunday, June 6, 2010

Aventures in Flying - The Super Cub

When I was 10 years old (or so), my big brother had a remote-control gas-powered airplane. I thought it was the coolest toy ever invented in the history of chromosomes. Ever since, I have wanted my very own airplane, but not badly enough until about 9 months ago.

The exact date (even the month) is lost in the annals of my mind, but I did a bunch of online reading, and went to the local hobby store. (Insert plug for Hillsboro Hobby here. They are the best.) The guy recommended the Hobbyzone Super Cub, hands down. I put down the money, and soon I was on my deck at home, assembling the behemoth. It has a close to 4' wing span, and 3' body, and looks like an honest-to-goodness airplane to my eyes. I flew it a bit, crashed it a bunch, and repaired it a bit. I took it out flying with my kids last fall, and nose-dived it full-throttle into the ground. The fuselage lost a large chunk of foam, and I repaired it, but it still wasn't flying well. I thought it needed a whole new fuselage, and wasn't willing to shell out the $$.

A close look at the propeller a few months later showed that it was rough where it had hit the ground a few times. I took a hobby knife and cut off the rough edges. Voila! Up in the air! This was just last weekend. I really learned finally how to land the thing, how it turns, the importance of trim - appreciating it as a vehicle instead of a toy. I fell in love with flying.

Wanting to share my joy of flying, the next afternoon I handed the controls to Aria. The first time, she did fine - I gave her the controls while she had plenty of safe airspace. The second time, I gave them to her when we were close to some trees. A sharp turn, a bit of panic, and the plane went full throttle into the ground again. This time, the fuselage broke in half. The decals held it together.

So I'm fully into this hobby, having a lot of fun. I find that there are many many others with Super Cubs that they love. And I took this opportunity for a major repair to explore modifications.

Look for upcoming posts on:
1) Changing connectors
2) tools for modifying foam
3) replacing landing gear
4) the wonders of LiPo
5) Center of gravity in model aircraft
6) modifying the battery box on a Super Cub
7) Using the Veho Muvi to take video from the air

Not that many of you will be interested - frankly it's a rather esoteric, technical topic, but it's a brand-new type of experience for me (I've always been capable this way, but more talented with artsy-fartsy stuff).

Wahoo! Come with me to Gorilla Glue and Dremel Land!