Essential RC aero-modelling video thread (UltraHD and 4K)

[dominicm]

Hans Litjens rocks up to Weston Park International Show every year with his Scout Pulse Jet and every year I get a little bit better at tracking it. This is definitely my best effort to date.

[dominicm]

After the less than successful maiden where an overshoot on landing ripped out the landing gear, James split the ailerons for flaps and put in beech bearers to support the mains. Time for a second attempt.

[dominicm]

Simon Potter flies his G.91 at Classic Jets #75 event in Abingdon. A rarely modelled scale radio controlled jet in an amazing scheme applied by the master, Philip Noel of Pinnacle Aviation.

The Fiat G.91 is an Italian jet fighter aircraft designed and built by Fiat Aviazione, which later merged into Aeritalia. The G.91 has its origins in the NATO-organised NBMR-1 competition in 1953, which sought a light fighter-bomber "Light Weight Strike Fighter" to be adopted as standard equipment across the air forces of the various NATO nations. After reviewing multiple submissions, the G.91 was picked as the winning design of the NBMR-1 competition.

[dominicm]

Take a ride onboard the huge Avro Vulcan Bomber flown by Dave Johnson, Chairman of the Large Model Association. After he gets in the air the Valiant and Victor bombers flown by his son and grandson, Andy and Adam, take off and catch up for some formation flying.

This is a 360 panoramic video. You control the view. Use your mouse pointer to move the field of view. Pan left, right, up and down. Recommend selecting the highest possible resolution from the list available in the bottom right of the player. An up to date version of your browser is required to play these 360 videos. Chrome is best.

[dominicm]

Owned and built by Keith Mitchell, this model took 5 years of combined design and construction. Its initial flights were taken under the Large Model Association scheme (approved by the CAA) for model aircraft over 80KG. It underwent 12 test flights for combined flight time of more than 2 hours to get it's LMA\CAA certificate to fly at public shows.

A rarely modelled scale radio controlled jet in an amazing scheme applied by the master, Philip Noel of Pinnacle Aviation.

Specifications of this fantastic model.
Wingspan: 21 Feet
Length: 19 Feet
Weight: 220 Lbs
Engines: 4 x ZDZ 90cc petrol
Props: 4 x 28 x 10 Biela Carbon
Radio: Futaba 14 Channel
Servos: 22 (13 channels for ailerons, elevator, rudder, flaps, throttle x 4, landing gear and lights)

[dominicm]

It was great to see a big scale Dornier Do 335. Rarely modelled and understandably. I suspect it's a very challenging project. This one flown in great style at the Weston Park International Model Show in formation with several other WWII fighters.

[dominicm]

It had to happen and no surprise that Anton Lin of Skymaster Jets is leading the way. The first gas turbine powered VTOL Harrier AV-8B. Development and testing continues and we're not likely to see it at a public show flying a full VTOL routine until 2019 but nonetheless what has been achieved so far is a sign of things to come.

[dominicm]

With all my recent filming of turbine A-10s I had to have the nearest thing. One of the 'Essential RC' team had told me Motion RC had opened an EU warehouse so after a quick stock check on their web site I made the order for the big 1.7m Freewing A-10. It shipped same day and was with me 2 days later! Building time is very quick. Simple assembly takes 30-60 minutes. Applying the water type decals takes several hours if you want to apply them all. I used two Optipower 100C 5S6000 lipo packs. Achieving CG was easy at about 85mm from leading edge. The video shows take off from a very short strip. Although possible it's not recommended. Having a more aft CG and holding in the elevator until the front wheel is off the deck is a must to achieve it. A fully aerobatic flight. Enough power. You can retrofit 90mm fan units but I don't see the need unless you want unlimited vertical but at the cost of less flight time. I timed for 4.5 minutes which gave me 15-20% left in the packs. The landing was overshot on this video. First time flying the A-10 at this site. In hindsight should have made a lower approach. The descent gave me extra speed on touchdown I didn't need!

All in all a spectacular and big EDF jet. Not cheap but considering it's size and it's plug'n'play format it's fair. Building something like this from scratch would be a lot more expensive. The included ordnance set is fragile, especially the sidewinders but 3D printed replacement versions can be found in thingiverse.com.

[dominicm]

Handled like a full size pilot. Nice skills in a potentially disastrous situation.

[dominicm]

An array of fantastic WWI fighters and scouts in this slot at RAF Cosford. Each model aircraft built from plan by hand by its owner. Certainly challenging to fly in any kind of wind but the weather was fairly kind to us on this day.

[dominicm]

I have filmed several turbine F-4 Phantoms. It's an iconic jet and have always wanted to try flying one but a turbine version is well out of my reach. Cue to Freewing F-4D Phantom II. Looks like the real thing after 15 minutes of assembly and applying the decals. Dropped in my receiver and a 6S5000 flight pack and I was ready to go.

[dominicm]

Was nervous about flying this one out of my small local grass flying field but was no problem. It's a very unique and distinctive looking jet! Get the nose wheel off the deck for the positive AOA and it's airborne quickly on the stock power system. Maybe 10mph of semi-gusty wind when I flew which does move it around a little when cruising. I think a rudder gyro would help with that but if you keep the speed up that disappears. Full flap slows it up nicely for landing with a bit of power to keep the nose up. All in all lots of fun and looks so good in the air. With 2 other pink SkySwords at our club we're looking forward to some formation flying. Action down the flying field starts @ 3:32 and was filmed as always in 4K60FPS.

[dominicm]

The Republic F-84F Thunderstreak scale jet from Sorvolando Compositi (distributed by Rc-Passion) displays at Weston Park International Model Show 2018 in the highly skilled hands of Federico Spada. At 1:5 scale and with it's impressive scheme it looks super realistic against the threatening skies at Weston Park International Model Show 2018.

Specifications of this model are as follows:
Span: 204 cm
Length: 265 cm
Weight: 16 kg
Turbine: 14-20kg
This is a full composite GFK kit. The pilot of the flight shown in this video was Federico Spada.

[dominicm]

This was fun to film. Who needs expensive turbine jets when you can get these amazing ready to fly electric ducted fan EDF jets for a fraction of the price. They look superb in the air and especially when there are 2 of them being flown so well together.

[dominicm]

A new version of the T-28 Trojan in, what I think, is the best scheme Durafly have ever applied to a model. Takes a few minutes to assemble, drop in a receiver and setup the transmitter. No decals to apply. It comes out of the box as you see it on the box. In the air the most noticeable characteristic is how slow it will fly. With the air brake out and the flaps extended it will crawl along and keep well within a small flying field like mine. This T-28 is also highly aerobatic and it would make an excellent 2nd RC plane for the relative beginner after they have mastered something like a Bixler 1.1 for learning the basics. The model comes with a frame to help in installing FPV gear under the canopy. I'm looking forward to trying that out myself. Here's my flight test of Durafly's latest offering.