Someone posted a link awhile back to these R/C jets that had electric powered turbines or something.  There were Migs and F14's etc that hauled ass.  Anybody have a link to the product?

ETA...found youtube link...anyone have one of these?

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=electric+ducted+fan&search_type=&aq=f

www.hobby-lobby.com

My son has a ducted fan F-86 Sabre jet - pretty damn cool.

How badly does it suck down batteries?



 

Do they have the ducted fan versions at Hobby Lobby?  There's one right by my house but their website doesn't keep an inventory.

This one is bad ass.

F15

http://www.bananahobby.com/1540.html

F22

http://www.bananahobby.com/1493.html

I fly all electric RC, props last up to 30 minutes watching the throttle, jets about 12-14 minutes tops


Its a hellava lot of fun

and the e-jets, think a computer fan spinning much MUCH faster

Turbine powered.

My co-workers son is a "show pilot" on these electric jets. He also works for the company that manufactures the ducted fan assy. He put on a great show on July 4th. I was totally impressed. The top speed is about 200MPH. These things burn up real estate in a hurry. We were on a 3000 foot private airport (fly in community) and the little jet went from end to end of the runway in just a few seconds. It was louder than I expected. You could clearly hear the motor/ducted fan sound and the aerodynamic whistle as it went by. Very cool.

I think he flew it for about 10 minutes. The power management was interesting. It seemed to me that the airplane spent more time with the power off than it did at full power.

He gets about 18-20min flight time, but he's got some 'hot rod' batteries in it.
 

With electrics, props are faster than ducted fans.  I guess there might be a ducted fan that tags 100 mph, but hitting 140 is not all that hard with blades- and bleeding edge is over 200 (noted F3S record is over 250 mph).

Funnest part - I the fastest plains are gliders.  Slopes have some interesting air currents - lifts on front side, downdrafts on the back.  You normally think of slope soaring playing with the lift.  But by utilizing the downdraft on the back side to get speed (and climbing outside the down draft), you can get the extended ride - and be rocketing.  Anyway I think it is called dynamic slope soaring.  Net said some planes have clocked near 400mph.  Next edge is using electric to get altitude and diving for speed (the prop folds out of the way).  Oh, speed is measured flying level (after the pull out) - those are called hotliners.  They cost $$$ and can suck the better part of 200 amps / 2000 watts.  Imagine climb rates faster than most flat speeds.

Gas could probably get there - but AMA insurance has a speed and weight limit.  So nobody talks much about playing over the 200mph barrier.  Jet turbines can do it without breaking a sweat - and so can a lot of pylon racers.

I like small electric - and 100mph with a 20" wingspan is wicked fast - and under 30 amps.  As such I guess small electric ducted fans could be fun - but when you feel the need for speed it is not the answer.
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money marks a lot of the edge - how much money do you want to put into the batteries and your brushless set up.  I think you could drop a grand w/o much effort.

R/C Planes are fun. A trainer is always a good place to start. They have anti-crash technology nowadays and are very easy to fly.

While everything the above poster stated is pretty much true, I want to say that if as a layman you get them impression that EDF's (elec. ducted fan) are slow you have mis interpreted what he is saying.  Out of all my planes my EDF is the fastest.  This is more airframe then powerplant though.

The site I'm on has some that'll do 170mph, though those models are $500.  There's a couple that will do 130 and most will do 70-95 for under $200....which is probably plenty fast for a noob.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwF2Il7PmCk



B-52!

Seen the videos of that.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vi0hrjqU15I




edit to add principle being used and mechanics of it,

http://www.rc-airplane-world.com/dynamic-soaring.html

If you want to see the fastest of the fast electrics, F5D is where it's at. Here's a guy I know in California, he's on the US world championship team, and the event is coming to America this year in Muncie, IN.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3Z0pCVINX0&feature=related

WAAAANT!!!

 now that's fast!
 
 

That's close to a kilowatt to the prop...., and the motor is only about an inch and a quarter diameter by one and a half long! That's over 1.5hp continuous!

Honestly, the jets are the real power mongers though-the high end jets are pushing 4 and 6 kilowatts. The speed isn't there because ducted fans aren't that efficient and the airframes are draggier than purpose built racing planes.

I used to compete nationally with the even that bread F5D, and manufactured composite kits and airplanes just like in the video. The costs of F5D got really stupid about the time I wanted to get into it seriously (I sport fly them) so I stopped buying high end gear about 3 years ago when they only did 180-190mph. Nowadays, the airframes are close to $800, motors are $300, controllers are $200, servos are $150, batteries are $200, so you are flying a $1650 accident waiting to happen. Most guys never reach an experience level to where they don't crash at least twice a season and give up after that.

They are money pits !   Don't do it !!

200mph is insane !  I would lose that into the horizon so quickly, I would be better off spending my money at titty bars.  

Check out Tower Hobbies.

I'm not familiar w/planes but IIRC Tower has a few
A10 EDF

Looks fun, but I have enough expensive hobbies.

Looks fun, but I have enough expensive hobbies.

Sorry, speed is a relative thing too.  I grew up flying r/c pylon racers.  My favorite plane was a 400 class plane that could probably fly 125 - I would really have to guess at it;'s specs, but I think it had about a 10" wing core and a 40" wingspan.  That is a fairly beefy wing - it was fast but very manageable.  I have mostly smaller planes now - and can tell  you that 65 mph with a 2" core and a 20" wingspan feels fast - but the same speed with the first plane would have felt like it was waddling.

The smaller plane is harder (lots harder) to see, so must be flown fairly close (at 100 yards it all but disappears).  It covers your visual (very reduced) range quickly, and is usually fairly low so it just does not have much room for mistake.  The larger plane could be flown with several 100's of yards altitude and I bet I could spot it close to 1/2 mile.  It takes time to eat up that much sky.  The dynamic soarers don't look nearly as fast as they are because they have larger wingspans (probably 2-3 meter) and are eating up a ton of sky fast.  Likewise Jet Turbines only look fast when they are doing a fly by - they are big planes and fly mostly at range.  A smaller electric turbine could feel as fast (or faster) due to it's drastically reduced size and range that you can fly it at.

fwiw - I really need to finish my speed 400 plane - with any luck it will tag 140-150.  I probably will not fly it much, the 65mph plane is just too much fun.  Darn Cox for discontinuing the micro war birds - they were a blast to overpower (they were designed for about 3 amps, I ran them well over 10 amps - just under wing snapping speed).
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history repeats itself.  Q200 and Q400 were the cheep race planes of the 70's.  They eventually got so fast and overpriced that the hobby all but died (hollow cored wings, very hot motors, etc...).  Saw the same thing happen with 1/8 scale rc cars - That death was almost instant - Associated released a new car - 4 wheel drive.  It cost about 1k to get it running well - I saw every club I knew die in 2-3 months (since then that hobby has come back).  No fun to race when you can't win.  Electric pylon seems to have gone the same path.  Last pylon I watched was Q400 ish again - but they specked the kit and motor you could use - and I think they added anyone could by the plane from you for $200 (about $50 more than the kit and motor costs) - helped to keep people honest.  Most people already were too burned, but hope they have luck getting it revived.

And for us old guys with poor hand-eye coordination there's this speed demon:



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lP8gYKa1ozY

Tower Hobbies usually has the good stuff.  I used to deal with them a lot years ago

I'd rather have this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDbQ5xvsrIU

SR-71.

 

DAMN, was some sort of RC plane in that clip?

That shit was fast.

cox micro warbird corsair
This is about 65 mph

NitroPlanes.Com

I bought an ARF biplane from them, other than a couple pieces of junk hardware the pre-assembled and covered plane is fantastic, and a steal. All laser cut parts, etc. i think the low end electric jets use more foam etc. Great place to deal with.

They also have a flight simulator with control box for under $20!!!!!! Planes and helis!

That's fucking impressive....

I'm seriously considering pulling the trigger on this one...couple more rums in me and it just might happen.  

http://www.bananahobby.com/1882.html



It seems to be a decent size so it would be a little easier to track.

imho I would learn with diy foamies (go to rcgroups - there is a forum for them).  Something just nice about $5 airframes.  Get a radio that you can grow with, and start with small burshless - you might get started for $500 (lets see, radio 250, 15 motor, 15 battery, 50 esc, 10 servoes, $40 reciever, $100 lipo charger (lipos are best not to abuse - that was some of the best money I spent) = 480)

The price on that package you linked is less than I would have bet.

I got to ask what shipping would be -
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omg - just looked, a new company has bought out the tooling from Cox - the micro warbirds will be flying again - msrp for the airframe is going to be under $15. I have been hording mine for 2 years now. cox micro warbird thread II

Oh, needless to say, the cmw are NOT for begginers.  It is probably why cox dropped them.  I bet 99% lasted 1 10 second flight.  But with someone who knows how to set them up and fly - they were the most fun I have ever had with an rc plane.  I loved chasing birds (mostly swallows) with them.

Check out the Alfa line at hobby lobby, they are made in the Czech Republic and are top notch. I have the wildcat and the performance is nothing short of spectacular. Alfa makes a F16, F86, A4 and a MIG 15.  None of the planes are for beginners I might add.

$20 bucks to where I live.

My thoughts about the F22 style was that it had significantly more wing area than a lot of the others and could probably maintain a slower stable speed.

A lot of that just does not add up to me - but I have been out of touch for 2 years.  I always dealt with hobby grade components (Futaba radios, Castle Creation esc, etc) - but 20c lipo and brushess are not that bad - and 50 amp esc is about what you would need for 2200mah at 20C,  (understand that wide open you will have a 3 minute flight time - but you rarely fly wide open).  About the only thing truly missing is a programmable radio (very nice if you are planning on making this a long term hobby).  One game a larger toy RC plane manufacture would do is make all there radio and esc equipment proprietary - so you would have to gut the entire electronic package to upgrade anything.  Even if they are doing that with this one, it might not be a bad deal (just airframe, battery and motor).

Anyway good luck, and go to RCgroups and ask around about it - someone will have an educated opinion or review.

Well, my guess would be it's kind of like paintball.  When I got into it 10 years ago, the basic Spyder marker package I got was like $300...several years later you could buy essentially the same setup at Walmart for under $150...

Anyway, I'll go check it out.  I'm not looking to drop a whole lot of money into it if it's something I'll only do once in awhile.

The new r/c jet setups are fun, but are pretty lousy to learn to fly on.  They tend to be fast and get small even faster.  Buy a couple of cheap planes, beat them to crap then move up.

Funny thing, before DS was invented the speed record was still held by a glider.  IIRC they were flying off a slope in Australia.  Crazy Aussies.

Lets not forget the simple joy of the r/c world, helis.  I have flown almost everything in the r/c world, nothing is like a heli.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvWfLAC2EDQ

with the way these things maneuver, it is no wonder that future combat aircraft will be without a pilot.

I've wanted a helicopter since I was a little kid, but the gas powered ones were not only expensive, but hard to fly.  I never could bring myself to drop $1000 on a setup, throw in a software sim, and still probably crash it.    I could stomach a $200 crash...I burn up that in a range session.

Most people learn to fly on a sim then move up to a "foamie" then on to something else.  The foamies are made out of EPP foam, almost indestructible.  They literally bounce when they hit the ground.  The only caveat about learning to fly is a lot of the cheap Chinese stuff is exactly that, cheap chinese stuff.  
 

Everything in the box for less than 2 bills.  

http://www.parkzone.com/Products/Default.aspx?ProdID=PKZ1200

What's better about the product you posted vs what I'm looking at?  I'm asking because I don't know?  Slower?  Easier to handle?

A few things.  I should mention the F-27 is a good "second" plane.  If you have some sim experience and/or someone coaching you its a decent place to start.  When learning to fly you want something that will fly very slow.  Fast is fun until you are trying to figure out what is going on.  It takes a while for the brain to become programmed how to handle the airplane.  For instance, the controls are somewhat intuitive until the plane is coming towards you.  Then pushing the stick right makes the plane go left.  The f-27 is also made out of a very durable type of foam.  Many of the chinese jets are made out of EPS, about the same as a beer cooler.  Kick it once and it disintegrates.  Other planes like the F-27 are made of something like EPP foam.  EPP is the same stuff inside the bumpers in most cars.  Fly it into the wall and it bounces.  Pick it up and go again.  Your first few planes WILL hit the ground, they might as well survive it.  After figuring out the basics of control the next hardest thing is speed management.  Too slow and the plane will fall out of the sky (stall).  Most jets are of the configuration they may fly slow, but they can also do nasty things like flip upside down if flown too slow.  A trainer will slow down and mush, maybe wiggle the wings to let you know you are doing something stupid.  Lastly, Parkzone is part of a larger company that is known for making good quality stuff.  Its not high end, its not the cheapest, but has broad appeal for very good reason.  You really cannot go wrong with their stuff.  Its the Glock of the r/c world.  When a servo takes a crap on something from china you may or may not be able to buy parts for it, chances are any hobby shop in the US carries parts for an F-27.  You will need parts.  The cool thing about the F-27 is its pretty hard to outgrow.  I have one with a brushless motor on it, much faster than stock.  Its great for screwing around with.  


Airplanes are like guns, one is never enough, you always want one more to do something your others don't.  

Good info here

http://www.easyrc.com/airplanes/index.html

And here

http://www.rcgroups.com

Anybody considering getting into RC needs a simulator first. Realflight G4.5 is the standard.
I flew the sim for 10 hours, and went straight out to the field and maidened


http://www.realflight.com/products/gpmz4430-index.html

How much does that program run?  The place I was looking at the EDF jets sells a sim that is an additional $35 called BlitzRCWorks who also makes the jet.

Wow...It's $170 on ebay...cheaper than crashing a plane I guess...but not much.

There are a few cheaper sims out there that are pretty good, FMS and Clearview.  The only downside is they do not come with a "radio" with which to practice.  Those can be had online for about $30.  IMHO this is the best way to go.

There is one called FS1 that is about $100.  I was very unimpressed with it.  Graphics are okay but the flight dynamics suck.

RealFlight has a lot of fans, it has pretty good graphics but requires a pretty stout computer to run it.  If you look around you can find one of the older versions for between $50 and $100 with a controller.  

Reflex is a great sim, a little older now.  Graphics are not as good, but IMHO I think the flight dynamics are better.  It will run on an older PC without too much trouble.  Comes with an adapter to plug into your computer and you supply your own radio.  

It seems most heli guys go for Reflex and airplane guys go for RealFlight.  You cannot go wrong with either.  There is a good chance your local hobby shop will have a sim setup you can try out in the store.

and don't forget the up-and-coming stars out there  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pLQhU1cKkx0&feature=fvsr

Justin Chi at 4 years old putting a Raptor 50 rc heli through its paces.  The transmitter is so big, his dad built him a special harness.

I can noodle around with the little heli's in the living room when it's storming or dark.  This one fits in the palm of your hand.




I deal a lot with Terrance at http://www.chinesejade.com/walkera.htm

Micro electric helis are WAY harder to fly than big fuel powered ones.



The bigger they are, the more forgiving. The smaller ones like the original blade CP are a workout just to keep them in a hover.



I stepped up to an Align Trex and it's a lot more stable, but a 60 or 90 size fuel powered heli is a lot more stable. (And not much more expensive to repair).





 

Interesting.  I cut my teeth on the little ones,  and yes..they are twitchy as a hummingbird.  They will swoop sideways at 30mph in the blink of an eye with just a flick of the controls.

I totally destroyed a couple of them before getting the hang of it.