electric plane for the beach

[Chris Jones 21]

Hi,

just after somr advice please, I used to fly planes about 15 years ago, niwvwfter having a ho if someones plane recently got the bug again.

Now I live no more then 5 mins from the beach and would like to get something electric not to big and maybe out of ppe.

I have a fully working futaba ff8 transmitter and reciever and servos which have been tested.

so any suggestions?

Regards

Chris

[Devcon1]

Multiplex Fun Cub for me..

[onetenor]

Personally I would not take any model with a motor of any sort to the beach . I would be very cautious about R /C gliders too . Go on ask me how I know

[Dave Hopkin]

Apart from the obvious risk of your plane going for a swim, does the beach meet the requirements of a flying site? ie distance from buildings/people etc? As per CAP 658?

**LINK**

[ben goodfellow 1]

i know loads who fly on the beach , been doing it for years .. cant see the difference between them and motorbikes ,land yachts and the thousand other pasttimes that happen on there , i know a warden and he often watches us .i was once told by the police , correct me if im wrong ,, below the high water line ,different rules apply to as what you can legaly do.. ie shooting and what ever else,,,,, the risk of going in the water . well only if your very poor at flying or use the death id say 

Edited By ben goodfellow 1 on 18/01/2016 07:45:17

Edited By ben goodfellow 1 on 18/01/2016 07:47:32

[John F]

Posted by ben goodfellow 1 on 18/01/2016 07:44:07:

i was once told by the police , correct me if im wrong ,, below the high water line ,different rules apply to as what you can legaly do.. ie shooting and what ever else,,,,, the risk of going in the water . well only if your very poor at flying or use the death id say

With regards to shooting there are no exceptions; you must have Range Officers, flags to indicate live firing, insurance for non National Rifle Association users, assessed ranges, anticipated fall of rounds fired, recognised safe approach to the range etc, etc, etc, etc in short you cannot just arrive on a coastal beach and just go shoot some tin cans with a rifle.

Whilst there are different rules for game shooting just arriving with a rifle and shooting stuff will get the attention of the Police very quickly! 

Edited By John F on 18/01/2016 08:31:42

[GONZO]

AFAIK its my understanding that between the high (tide) water and low (tide) water levels is crown property and therefore falls outside the remit of the local authority. Just give Liz a call at Buck house to let her know your going flying.

[Ernie]

A big no no Sand and water dont mix with electronics and fiddly wee bits

ernie

[GONZO]

Hobby King Skipper XL **LINK**

Should fit your requirements nicely

[John Lee]

Posted by Ernie on 18/01/2016 09:01:44:

A big no no Sand and water dont mix with electronics and fiddly wee bits

ernie

Don't tell members of Southport MAC that. They have been flying off the beach at Ainsdale for the last 40 years!

+1 for the FunCub for me.

[Dave Hopkin]

Posted by ben goodfellow 1 on 18/01/2016 07:44:07:

i know loads who fly on the beach , been doing it for years .. cant see the difference between them and motorbikes ,land yachts and the thousand other pasttimes that happen on there , i know a warden and he often watches us .i was once told by the police , correct me if im wrong ,, below the high water line ,different rules apply to as what you can legaly do.. ie shooting and what ever else,,,,, the risk of going in the water . well only if your very poor at flying or use the death id say

Edited By ben goodfellow 1 on 18/01/2016 07:45:17

The Crown did indeed once own all the foreshore, however today that crown estate owns approximately half the foreshore, the rest being subject to crown grants and historic adverse occupation - other major owners of the foreshore are MoD, NT and Docks and Harbours

The Air Navigation Order applies regardless of land ownership.

[Piers Bowlan]

MPX Easystar, or Hobby King Bixler? MPX Easy Glider Pro if you fancy something a little larger. As long as you avoid flying near vessels, vehicles, persons or structures and fly in a responsible fashion there is no reason why you can't find a secluded beach which might be suitable for model flying. It rather depends on where you live. Be sure to check that there are not any local authority by-laws which prohibit powered model flying on the beach, in which case you should still be able to fly a HLG/DLG:- Dreamflight Alula or Libelle? As Ernie said, if you land out in the sea the salt water will 'fry' the electrics in your model. If you get sand in your motor it can be washed out with fresh water believe it or not, then immediately dried out with paper toweling and put on a radiator or in an airing cupboard to dry. I used to fly model flying boats and that is what I used to do at any rate, without problems.

[Ernie]

Of course people can fly succesfully from all sorts of strange sites.

But as far as I'm concerned, it's pretty fundamental to eliminate as many potential problems as possible

ernie

[J D 8]

As a Coastguard officer I can tell you that below the high water mark is our responsibility on behalf of the crown in most places.As long as you meet requirements as per CAP658 and there are no local bylaws then I don't see why not. There are several who do in this area but not when the beach's are busy.

[Geoff S]

Posted by Ernie on 18/01/2016 09:01:44:

A big no no Sand and water don't mix with electronics and fiddly wee bits

ernie

Whilst you're right, flying off hard sand below the high water mark shouldn't be a problem if you do some basic maintenance after your flying session. What I never fancied was sailing a model racing yacht in salt water because the hull's underwater half the time if it's windy. It was bad enough washing down our dinghy after a week's racing on the sea.

I'd second a Multiplex Fun Cub but they're not a buy and fly the same day ARTF foamie.  There's quite a lot of work (and expense) over and above the initial purchase.

Geoff

Edited By Geoff Sleath on 18/01/2016 12:38:18

[Josip Vrandecic -Mes]

Dear Chris , I have been in a similar situation, because the beach is three minutes from my place of residence and is a shame to travel to long distant places for flying.A model for beach fun should be electronically reliable with large wheels ,not more than 1500 g in weight and not more than 1500mm span.Of course to be foamy structure with short takeoff/landing characteristics and it runs by E- drive.
All this I counted because there is always the possibility that in the early winter days appears a man, a child or dog , why you have suddenly and land safely ASAP.
This is my experience, and I use Fun Cub.......I know there are smaller fun beach models but I have not enough of a challenge.
Note: In my country it is still possible to fly models in some public areas (beaches and similar areas)) and how long? we will see ...Thanks for your time.

Cheers

Jo

[Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator]

I live about 100 yards from a large very flat beach. I do fly there occassionally - but not often. Mainly I use it for my H2O seaplane, taking off and landing on the large tide pools.

Conventional aircraft are more difficult! The dry sand is a real drag - literally! - and the wet sand, whilst harder, is very messy!

I'm lucky in that, at least during the autumn, winter and spring, the beach is nearly always deserted - so no people problems. And like most beaches in this part of the world, when the tide goes out it really goes out - miles! So the region bteween high water and low water is enormous. The down side is you have to know what you're doing, because, as the beach is so flat, the tide comes in at a hell of a lick and its very easy to get cut off from the land!

So, having done it, my view woud be, if you have no alternative go for it. But if you can find a other option I'd look seriously at it.

BEB

[AVC]

I've flown in the beach just a couple of times, and just light gliders. The main problem, unless you're lucky as BEB to have a desert beach near your house, is that very soon people will start approaching and asking questions like "is it too difficult?" or "how much it costs?", and it's ok to ask, but not to do it in from of your face when you're landing (that sounds like a joke, but it happened to me...)

I'm with BEB and other: I would do it only if there's no other option...

[Martyn K]

I have an electric glider (1.7m span) that I built a few years ago. (Ohm Maiden if you want to search for the blog)

I fly this on the beach near Aberystwyth - a fairly quiet beach off the beaten track - but only when its very quiet - its mixed sand/shingle. Never had a problem with sand and water ingress.

If its too busy - i.e. more than a handful of people on the beach then I wont bother. Its great fun and much better than propping up the bar or watching telly. I have a got an indoor foam shockie that I keep planning to assemble for more adventurous flying.

Just use your common sense and be very selective on your choice of model (fly only what you know you are comfortable with) - then edge on the side of safety. Its probably safer than flying in a park - especially if you keep your model out over the sea.

Martyn

[Charlatan]

I've flown my Durafly Cessna 310 on Crosby beach with no problems

[MattyB]

The new Durafly Tundra is probably perfect, and pretty affordable given it flies on cheap 3S packs and includes a set of floats too.

I would not use 35MHz in a beach environment nowadays though, purely because you cannot guarantee frequency control - I've seen loads of RC cars and RTF toys flown on the beach by owners who have no idea that frequency clashes are both possible and dangerous. Just get a decent 2.4 module for your TX (FrSky are reliable and affordable) and you can operate without fear of interference.

Edited By MattyB on 01/02/2016 00:41:49