I love flying RC planes.  I don't love crashing them.  The two actions go hand in hand however for a still-learning hobbyist like me.

My 2 little planes have both had/are due for a fuselage replacement.  They've already had an assortment of minor repairs, and replacements of tails and wings.

Today's big news is the re-introduction of the Super Cub to my hangar.  The fuselage has been cracked in half 4 times, and everything except for the wing and electronics and fuselage had already been replaced.  I started gathering parts almost a year ago, and a few months ago was the final straw.  I was flying my FrankenCub with its 4th set of custom landing gear, hit a power pole, and crashed 25 ft to the ground.  She was not going to be repaired this time.

Luckily, by then I already had the motor, servos, speed control, receiver, and propeller.  A new fuselage, tail, landing gear, and motor mount, and I could get her airworthy again.  2 weeks ago I had all of that stuff on hand.  This week I have been doing the physical reconstruction - removing some unnecessary interior foam, mounting the motor, do a small mod to the battery box to accommodate the larger batteries, installing and adjusting the tail and landing gear.  Last night, I finished the soldering.  This afternoon, I did the final checks and adjustments - rough and fine correction of the elevator and rudder via the push rods and servos, and caught a reversed servo which would have been catastrophic had I missed it.  And, on a lark, I added a bomb bay door.  It's not operational yet (no servo installed) but it is hinged and ready for action.

The final configuration for her maiden flight was not ideal but reasonable.  I didn't have the electronics velcroed in, but otherwise she was shipshape.  She was no longer my FrankenCub; she was my SuperDuperCub.  The maiden went pretty well, considering this was the first plane I ever built from the ground up.

Problems: CG was too far forward.  Control surfaces were set up with too small throws.  She was unexpectedly heavy.  The motor mount may be too far pointed down and right.  I suspect this because when she was under throttle, it was hard to get her to go up.  When I killed the throttle, she glided very nicely.  So it might not be a weight issue at all.

Good stuff: The rear wheel was almost perfectly straight.  The brushless motor performed as advertised.  She can take off literally like a rocket - straight up.  Stock full throttle is less than half throttle with the new setup.

Next steps: fix control surface throws (done), redo motor mount to straight setup (I have the mounts, just need to use them).  Set up CG after motor mount change.  Yeehaw - flying time is here again!