RE: Powered Parachutes
I have the Sea Breeze PPC and it flies great. I had it made in the American Flag and have done a lot of opening RC Airshow ceremonies with it. Just a great piece of work and made in good ole USA. It's worth the price as mine is the 82" chute. I have many folks ask where they can get one. The best thing is that each chute is test flown before shipping and you get a video of it to see your chute in action. I do touch and goes with it ROG, and really nice tight turns. I can even taxi it in without the use of nose wheel steering.
Posted on: 6/13/2011 1:51 PM by Author "Tcoltpilot" in the forum "Unusual R/C"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=10571845

RE: Thunder Tiger Sea Fury....feedback needed!
The 5 bladed prop (16X14 was made by Zinger along with the pre cut spinner for $125. It flies this plane very well with the electric set up I had on it. The battery packs I use are 5400ma 5s times 2 in series. I get from 6-7 minutes of flight time. I use the same set up on the H-9 P-47 and use an APC 4 blade prop 15.5X12. No cleanup after flights. [:)] Can't wait to rebuild the Fury as it's just a great looking and flying model.
Posted on: 6/13/2011 1:02 PM by Author "Tcoltpilot" in the forum "ARF or RTF"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=10571773

RE: Thunder Tiger Sea Fury....feedback needed!
I made my TT Sea Fury all electric. I crashed it on the third flight and have since purchased another. Mine went together rather well. The wing tubes were very tight and needed quite a bit of coaxing. I put air retracts in the first one and now going to put the E-Flight electrics in. I have them in on my H-9 P-47 and work really well. The Sea Fury does need a lot of nose weight to get the CG correct. That was one reason mine crashed on the third flight when the battery pack shifted aft. Really nice looking plane in the air especially with 5 blades being turned by an electric Neu Motor 1515/2Y with the 6.7:1 gear reduction system. A very wonderful and unique sound. The elevator control rod on mine was a bit short and would have prefered one end being soldered and the other adjustable on the servo. Be careful slicing out the flaps and have a very sharp #11 blade or single edge razor blade. I had to do some repairs in this area. I suggest using flaps as it makes the lands smooth and slow. You won't go wrong with this plane as it's a beaut.
Posted on: 6/6/2011 11:13 AM by Author "Tcoltpilot" in the forum "ARF or RTF"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=10559724

RE: Banana Hobbies beware
Well to date I have 22 flights on the Banana Hobby A-10. What a great flying EDF. I changed out the servo's on the ailerons and elevators. Not one hint of trouble flying this plane. Pete does not own or run Banana Hobby. He only flies the planes for them and puts out the videos. Most products on the market no matter where it comes from is marked up between 300 to 500%. Commerce 101. Until you actually run a business with overhead don't fault the business how they price their products. Again I have not had but one issue with Banana since I've been dealing with them the past 4 years. I always get great service. More pics on the A-10 coming.
Posted on: 5/8/2011 5:51 PM by Author "Tcoltpilot" in the forum "Electric RC Jets"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=10508903

RE: Banana Hobbies beware
Nitro Planes has some good EDF's but they don't have the A-10 that Banana Hobby has. Jets need retracts or at least hand launch without the landing gear. Out here in the desert there is no grass to sofly land a no wheel airplane. Most of the flying fields out here have nice hard surface runways. The Nitro Planes F-18 with retracts is a good flyer as a friend of mine has one and looks good. I just got the 1/12th scale tank from Banana Hobby and everything I ordered with it was there. As far as epoxy goes, it would be best just to go down to your local hobby shop and get it or hardware store. Remember to support your local community. Nuf said. Time to move on.
Posted on: 4/13/2011 7:49 AM by Author "Tcoltpilot" in the forum "Electric RC Jets"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=10460228

RE: Banana Hobbies beware
To date I have four flights on the Banana Hobby A-10. I am very pleased with it's performance. I keep the flight time to five minutes which takes the battery down to 22.75 volts. This is average for an EDF jet with twin 70mm fans on a single 6s 4000 lipo. The landing gear works great. On landing the flaps aren't needed as the plane floats in for landing nose high as the real one. Slow rolls, 4 points and standard rolls are all excellent and axial. Go inverted and hold very little down elevator and tracks very straight without wandering. This plane is not pitch sensative either, even on high rates. The HITEC HS 81 servos on the ailerons and elevators are what I used to replace the preinstalled servos. It was worth the expense to do so and have a plane that I know is going to work. Next I'll be changing out the nose gear landing light with a high intensity white LED. The changing multicolor light just isn't the ticket for a scale airplane. I had to resolder the plug end for the canopy actuator as that was a little weak and broke from over flexing when removing the canopy to install the battery. Soldering made this much stronger. The nose gear didn't want to retract all the way. When the wheel rotated into the wheel well the nose gear light rubbed on the edge of the well. I used an #11 exato knife and cut a small slit in the foam where the light was rubbing and fixed the problem. 3 in the green as they say. There was one person I know of who had a bad experiance with this plane as I watched it spin in and get totaled. He used the equipment that came with the plane which I felt was substandard anyway. The preinstalled aileron servo on his plane locked up in one direction causing the plane to spin in. He tried to fly the plane on the rudders but was unsuccessful. Therefore when I ordered mine, I opted not to get the radio but left the servos in. The reason for this was so I could use all their wire harnesses. The servos on that come with the plane are cheap, noisey and aren't worth the time to use. So with $80 worth of good seros I have a great flying A-10.
Posted on: 4/12/2011 8:30 AM by Author "Tcoltpilot" in the forum "Electric RC Jets"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=10458226

RE: Banana Hobbies beware
I am sorry to hear of your troubles. I too have had to order a missing part with pictures and still to date haven't received the part. So with that I made my own part that worked for what I needed. Sometimes that is why this is a hobby and you have to just suck it up sometimes. Even many years ago there would be some part missing and you just had to make the part yourself. When a company says thirty days from date of purchase, they mean exactly that. If you waited a month later to open up the kit and find things missing you're not going to get any replacement parts free of charge. It's best to open everything up once received and ensure you have all parts required. If there is a problem don't delay in trying to get a hold of someone. Keep trying and don't give up. Put everything back in the box if things are missing and get an RMA number and send the defective item back for a replacement. You'll still have to pay for the postage for shipping back. There is not much else you can do. Don't fault Pete as he just flies the planes for demo purposes. He is a good pilot. When I flew the A-10 yesturday, I didn't go to full power as the plane didn't need it. It flew very well at half throttle. I have heard and seen fan baldes coming apart with other companies planes also such as Nitro Planes and Hobby King. These jets are all made at the same factory in China. Sometimes Pete will answer the phone or live chat. You have to have lots of patience to get through. I haven't had experience not getting through to BH. For what it's worth. As of to date I have had the F-18 with retracts, F-4 which you can find on you tube, and now the A-10 soon to be on you tube. I am waiting on the 1/12th scale tank and should be here Friday. This has been for the past 3 years doing business with BH. If I see something I like I will still purchase from BH. Regards Tim
Posted on: 4/6/2011 9:26 PM by Author "Tcoltpilot" in the forum "Electric RC Jets"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=10448154

RE: Banana Hobbies beware
For all concerned, just know that Banana Hobby is just a distributor and not the maker of the products. I would say do not fault the distributor on deffective merchandise. As far as parts missing that is another question that should be on the distributor for replacement. I would have gotten an RMA number and shipped it back and gotten a new one. As long as it is within the prescribed 30 days. I just got their Big A-10 and it took a total of 5 days to get it. This incuded a weekend. 3 days to assemble with pictures only in the constructions. It is a great looking aircraft to say the least. My advise is to buy their planes without the radio gear as it is defintely inferior. For the A-10, I removed the aileron and elevator servo's and replaced with HITEC HS-81's and used the Spectrum DX-7. [b](NOTE: Do not use the servos that come with plane on the ailerons or elevators, they may lock up or just burn up.)[/b] They sound really bad too. I had to use a reversing Y adapter for the elevator servo's. The battery it comes with is good and must be placed all the forward against the seat block. I opted to use only the canopy opening function and not the ejection part. After sitting in the sun at a display the hot glue holding the gear drive to open the canopy got soft and came off. I VPoxied this in place and it isn't going anywhere. I also used VPoxy on all the surfaces to be glued. Make sure you sand off the paint for the parts that will be glued together. The first flight of the A-10 was last night and must say I was extremely happy with the outcome. One great flight with a walk on landing. This plane flies very smoothly and you won't be disappointed. With 40 years of experiance in the hobby I give this plane a thumbs up with the way it looks, goes together and best of all flies. The misses I have already mentioned and don't use the glue that comes with the plane. Feel free to contact me on any Banana Hobby issue. I have not had any bad customer service with them. I don't work for Banana Hobby just had success with the company.
Posted on: 4/6/2011 12:23 PM by Author "Tcoltpilot" in the forum "Electric RC Jets"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=10447012

RE: Black Mamba Turbine
Troy, Thanks for the feed back. I actually go to Chula Vista on occasion in support of US Customs and Border Protection out at Brown Field Airport. I am with the ESH team for DS2 for the guys who maintain the aircraft. What was the cost of the engine and glow plug vice ceramic ignitor for the turbine? Some say the glow plug needs to be changed frequently compared to a ceramic ignitor. Lots of questions. My base of operations is in Tucson, AZ Davis Monthan AFB.
Posted on: 10/27/2010 5:13 PM by Author "Tcoltpilot" in the forum "RC Jets"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=10098270

RE: banana hobby 50mm f-86 sabre/blitzrc
I got the BH 90mm F-4 II Pro and several items of importance with that plane. Landing gear is very flimsy and received with the engine crooked and not glued down properly. You Tube at Mrtcoltpilot56. The CG in the book is way wrong at 165mm-175mm. The correct CG should be at or near 150mm from leading edge at the root. First flight verticle to a controlled flat crash breaking the R wing and tail section, nose gear popped loose. Repaired that day and moved the cg 1" forward on second flight with hard right turn and very sensative elevator but flew. High speed greaser of a landing. Needed more nose weight. Moved the LIPO as far forward as it would go plus .5oz lead in the nose. Third flight flight adjusted aileron with sub trim to left. Much better take off with 4 clicks of right trim and flew straight, 3 clicks of up trim and level hands off. Doesn't like hard bank turns but medium ok. That's when the flameout happened. The ESC fried and had a hard landing bending all the soft wires on the 3 landing gear. The plane itself was fine. Upon investigation, to much heat shrink around the ESC and the cooling fins do not go into the airstream where located inverted into the intake ahead of the fan. Thankfully the BEC was still operative. I was not able to procure another ESC from BH because the 30 day warranty was up. Total flight time 7min maybe. I will purchase an ICE 100 ESC and modify the plane for better cooling. Using a DX-7. Motor ran very well at half throttle flying the plane at a good speed 80 or so. Can't imagine what full throttle will do. 37 years of flying RC and building all types of aircraft.
Posted on: 10/27/2010 4:42 PM by Author "Tcoltpilot" in the forum "Electric RC Jets"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=10098195

RE: Black Mamba Turbine
Now that's what I call impressive. New to the TURBINE crowd and looking for answers where and what to get. The to get is simple. The Fly Eagles Jet F-18 1/8.75 scale in the Canadian blue and gold color scheme. This will be a year and a half project due to financial constraints. In other words a budget. Gotta have one. Now with so many engines out there, which one to put in it. Flying all types of RC 37 years and you can keep the heli's. Looking forward to being part of the growing numbers in this great hobby. Retired Navy Air Traffic Controller.
Posted on: 10/27/2010 4:04 PM by Author "Tcoltpilot" in the forum "RC Jets"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=10098107

RE: Powered Parachutes
My brother just got his PPC from Seabreezeparachutes last Thrsday and is in the process of getting it all together. We are both in our early 50's. I gave him my Airtronics RD6000 to put in it as I no longer have a use for it. What a nice set up as I viewed the video of his PPC in action during its test flight by the company. Yes all chutes are tested before they are shipped even if it takes an extra day or two because of weather conditions. The web site is awsome and takes you through every stage of how the chutes are put together. I would have to say a very nice product with quality materials and personel workmanship. My brothers PPC can be viewed at the following link (http://www.seabreezeparachutes.com/2009-parachutes/82/82-6-28-09.wmv) that was videoed by the company before being shipped. He and I should be ready this weekend for the first flight. My brother has had a flight in a real PPC and enjoyed the experience. I am getting my brother involved with the RC aircraft side to include AMA and local clubs. I personnaly fly the Aeroworks Pitts Python with a DA-50 and smoke. What a plane. I have been into RC for about 35yrs. Hope this brings some insight into the PPC world. Tim
Posted on: 7/7/2009 3:29 PM by Author "Tcoltpilot" in the forum "Unusual R/C"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=8913868