Stephen Jones

  <!-- @page { margin: 2cm } P { margin-bottom: 0.21cm } --> Hi , FIRST FLIGHT OF MY ELECTRIC FANTRAINER Well on the day of the maiden flight, it was clear skies and freezing cold. I had arranged to meet a flying buddy of mine, John, on site but there had been some delay due to confusion about as to where we were to meet up. Half an hour later when John turned up it was starting to go dark and the ground was getting colder and colder. As there was not much wind, conditions were still favourable. The first pre-flight checks were done. I had set up the control movements as per the plan and I also checked the balance of the plane. All seem correct to the plan however, other members were not quite so sure. This was because the engine was in the middle of the plane and there would be no flow of air over the wings until the model had achieved flying speed. There were concerns as to how little movement there were on the ailerons and elevator. That said it was decided John would pilot the plane and I would launch the model myself as I had seen so many hand launches end in disaster and if the control movements are that ineffective at low speed then I would give it a long run-up before I launched the model into the air. After launching all our worries and concerns were proved to be unfounded, it literally pulled out of my hands and hurtled skywards. All my concerns explained to John not to nose-up too steeply and not to bank too harshly were totally unnecessary as the model turned out to be quite aerobatic and fast. John stated that he was happy flying on half throttle majority of the time. First flight over with, and still pictures taken, it was time to try a landing. Several landing approaches were attempted as the model did not seem to want to slow down. Phew she eventually landed all safe and well.

Hi dave , Thanks for taking the time out and coming down to take some pictures and do a video , its only when you sit back and look at pictures like this that you can really appreciate  the day and the model it self . Nice camera work shame it was getting dark so soon . And now looking at the pictures i wish i had come up with a better way of holding that canopy in place .                    "  you'll just have to put a maiden flight review in here "  yes i will . thanks to everyone for there help

hi dave , yes rochdale at 13 :30 ish unfortunately i only have one flight battery  which may give me about 5-7 minutes flight time if i have cal correctly . Iam pulling 18.0a and my battery is 2200ma 11.1 v 

Hi Dave , Well the sky's are clear today but boy is it cold and frosty , hopefully it'll warn up this afternoon . Still it'll keep everything cool .

Hi Dave, It was dead foggy today hopefully sunday afternoon will be better if so ill be at rochdale's site about 13:30 lets hope the weather will be better . ill see how I turn on my pm settings

Here in manchester it is usually raining and windy so if its none of the above its a bonus . I have in the past sat in the back of my car while it was poring down with rain and still flown , mad for it ,yes I was . Any way weekend looks as though it'll be overcast so it may still be ok yet .I maybe flying from rochdale's site or bury's , here's hoping

Cheers guys, Hopefully this weekend will be a good one

Hi Dave, Will do, pictures taken from my phone and do not do the model much justice .

Come on let me win thia one,

Hi again, Here are some more pictures nearly ready for a test flight now , if the digital scales are correct weighing in at 27 oz and with a cut down two bladed 8x6 on a 2208/8 brush less motor , 11.1v 2200 lipo iam pulling 182 watts and when i hold the model vertical and let go she rises . and on the 3 bladed 6x4 iam pulling 132 watts . just waiting for the right time and weather to test fly both new model and radio system out futada 7c .

Hi all, paint job not finished yet but here is a few pictures of my fantrainer , oh and the office needs some work on it too ,

Opps yes, 135 watts, but hang on ....... ive re`tested on a fully recharged battery ,  150 watts ....but.... i cut down a cheap two bladed 8x6 prop to suit my duct  and was pulling 170 watts  . I have started painting the plane now so when the paint job is finished and servos in place i will re test to see wot i can come up with . Oh and phill the motor i sent back was a helli motor with an integral fan on which meant i could not reverse it , however it did boast better kvm .  cheers for the help so far guys,

Hi , sorry about the delay ive been away , then busy doing jobs around the house , and then to top it off the whole family got ill . Any how yes ive got that motor thanks and is running the prop at 20,000 rpm peak .and pulling 135 amps not shure it will be enough though .after taking it to the field my pals reckion it will fly it although might not be fantastic. Model still needs painting and servos fitting hoping to get that finished this week , i have cut down a 8x6 prop to see if will be any in provement  on the 3 blader . ps more pictures to follow

Hi , Well i believe my loft will make a suitable hanger for this one so count me in .

Hi again, Well i think the point has been made , ARTF`s are good value for money if they give you enjooyment , whether it be for the flying or the looks . As is true of kit builds if you have the time and enjoy the building of them no matter how long it takes cost doesn`t always add into the enjoyment factor of things . Its maybe true that some new modelers/flyers may not of ever built a plane in there life so would not have a clue how to fix them , but then without ARTF`s they would not be in this hobby to start with and that would be a sad loss as many of these flyers are quite good flyers . And as i belive this is a dying hobby we need all the new comers we can get big up the foames and the ARTF for bringing then into this fine hobby .