TOPIC: Accessible small jet model flying fun with the R/C

I normally ignore R/C toys but this one looked like it might be worth a go for a bit of cheap fun. What got me interested in the first place were the nice flights in this video (see beginning and at 6.13) that popped up on F/B one morning. I found the foam cutting quite enlightening too. www.facebook.com/watch/?comment_id=10190...nt_mention&ref=notif
Then I found this review of the model kit that featured the same R/C power and control units. The video shows a child of seven and his dad getting to grips with first flights of this model and the youngster did amazingly well: I think the dad must have done some initially trimming first though but the lad obviously knows his left and right orientation. You can see that getting it to fly more level was not so easy, just as I later found (see below). A little nose weight helped in the slight breeze I flew it in. Fun though for £17.



If it interests you, do a search on Ebay with this: SU-27 Foam Fighter Remote Control Plane Model Easy To Fly RC Red Blue Yellow UK
Anyway I succumbed and bought one of these little model jets and have had a lot of fun with it. However I found it needed 20 clicks of left trim before it would fly straight under power. It is great to see a little jet whizzing around again, however it is powered. Over the last few days I have flown it quite a bit in my garden and over neighbour’s garden, as well as in the club flying field recently. I can only fly it in short bursts though or my nerves start to jangle! It is tricky too, the throttle is on the left where I am used to the elevator and works in the oppose sense, so the forward stick for full throttle makes the model climb like mad whereas if it were an elevator stick in that position it would make it dive! Fun though.
While I was there flying the model in the club R/C field I also had a few TSP L1 powered flights with my profile Hunter and Jetex Wren. I haven’t flown the Wren for 20 years or so but it flew well straight out of the box. Nice and straight climb into the breeze then a fast cruising circuit back to the landing.



The Hunter also behaved perfectly; I would say it flew better than the Wren even though it is 50% heavier at 14.5g. The TSP L1 is the perfect power for these two although to keep the flights within the field I delayed the launch a few seconds each time.



The other model I flew was a KK Cadet that I modified to look like a half sized KK Chief which also gave some very nice flights, the twin Cri-Cri style electric motors on a timer proved about right as it climbed gently then glided gently, lovely stuff. Again I delayed launches, this time to only leave around a 6 seconds power run. The two power units with timers came from the YW008 foam biplane toys. The Cadet is a real floater and I began thinking that it could well be a cheap and cheerful little free flight assist soarer with the SU-27 unit as the radio and power, hmmmm.



As getting to a place where there is plenty of flying room is such a pain these days it would be great to have some more regular flying fun right on my doorstep i.e. my garden. Likewise I am thinking of a simple Valiant or Comet foam profile models maybe at 20-24” span for more relaxing ‘jet’ flying in the local fields. I can feel an order for two more SU-27’s coming up.

Nice stuff!
Is the timer adjustable at all? I am looking for a cheap source of power/timer myself.

Thanks.
The YW008 foam biplane timer can run either for 15 or 20 seconds, they are the only choices. You can make the run shorter in the air of course by holding onto the model for a few seconds. There are two units on the Cadet one each side of the nose, so I have to press the two timer buttons at the same time as well as keeping my fingers out of the way of the props. No mistakes so far, so no bandages needed yet!!

Good stuff, Howard. When can we expect a micro-RC version of your OD SU-27?

Thanks Roger but I am going to ponder on it and it may change again when I have the actual borrowed units in my hand and can see what I can do with it.