Class Supplies

Here's some good things to get for your OPQ.

Batteries.  Both of these are good.  I will usually buy whichever one is (a) in stock at the USA warehouse and (b) cheaper at the time.

• Turnigy nano-tech 2200mah 3S 25~50C Lipo Pack (US Warehouse)
• ZIPPY Flightmax 2200mAh 3S1P 40C (USA Warehouse)

Battery Chargers.  These come in a couple of variations.

DC-only input.  You can make these work if you (a) buy a DC power supply or (b) have an old PC power supply sitting around and are willing to do a bit of connector soldering.  If that's the case, buy some 4mm banana connectors and I'll show you how to do it.

Both of these are similar.  The IMAX brand has a better brand reputation than the Turnigy  brand. I can't quite make out which cables come with the IMAX, but it may be that some extra cables will be necessary from the (tiny) picture.

• Turnigy Accucel-6 50W 6A Balancer/Charger w/ Accessories (US Warehouse)
• IMAX B6 50W 5A Charger/Discharger 1-6 Cells (GENUINE) (US Warehouse)

I've got one of these.  It's basically four of the Accucel-6 chargers in one case.  You need to buy extra power leads, I think it only comes with one set.

• HobbyKing™ Quattro 4x6S Lithium Polymer Multi Charger (US Warehouse)

AC/DC Input.  These will work with AC wall power as well.

Here's the IMAX with AC input:

• IMAX B6-AC Charger/Discharger 1-6 Cells (GENUINE)

Note for the above Hobby King links:

• these are all links to the USA warehouse.  If you order from the international warehouse shipping is a lot longer.  Make sure you're ordering "USA Warehouse" items if this is important to you.

APC Props

These are good props, but more expensive and only come in a single color. APC props are proudly made in California!  The "P" props are the reverse orientation prop.  The price is per prop, so be sure and order two (at least) of the "SF" ("slow fly") and "SFP" ("slow fly pusher") models.

• 8x3.8SF
• 8x3.8SFP
• I think the 9x4.7SF and 9x4.7SFP sizes will also work but haven't checked them out.

HobbyKing Props

These are similar to the GemFan props.  Lots of colors. 8038, 8045, and 9047 are good sizes.

• Multi-Rotors & Parts > Propellers > 8 to 10 inches

GemFan Props

Super-popular, these are sometimes hard to find.  A lot of people like them because they're lighter and (the theory goes) will break and protect the motor shaft.

• Heli Direct

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"Mod C" Slow Flying UMX Radian

Here's an interesting mod by Rick Rademacher.  It makes the UMX Radian fly almost like a Vapor.  I'm going to try it!


Main Wing

• obtain three Horizon Hobby Citabria wings (part PKZ3120).  Got mine here.
• overlap two wings by 3.5 inches.
• tape the wings together with a strip of tape on each side.
• insert the wings into the fuse.
• don't tape the wings to the fuse; the friction will hold the wings in place.

Top Wing

• cut the third wing in half longitudinally.
• mount it upside down on the other wings, leading edge forward.
• lightly tape each side to the other wings

Krueger Flaps

• use post-it tabs to make krueger flaps on the leading edge.
• bend tabs to desired direction and shape.
• vary tabs to match your desired style of flight.

Blogger can't find it, but the howto video is here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9sXTsMXxIaY

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Interesting RC Kite: Preview

Here's a heads-up on an interesting new project. We may be getting some prototypes of a flying kite to test.  I've always thought flying kites were beautiful and I'm excited at the change to try one out!

Preliminary specs for the two three channel models:

1.8m wingspan
motor: 2212 1400KV
battery: 3S, 1300-2200MAH 3s
servo: metal gear 9g
ESC: 20A
prop:  9050

1.0m wingspan
motor: 2204 1400-1800KV
battery: 2S 800MAH
servo: 9g
ESC: 12A
prop: 8043

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EastBay RC Celebrates the Nobel Prize!

Congratulations to Isamu Akasaki, Hiroshi Amano, andShuji Nakamura for getting this year's Nobel Prize in Physics.

“for the invention of efficient blue light-emitting
diodes which has enabled bright and energy-saving white light sources”

Coincidentally a roll of blue LED strip lights happened to arrive on this very day.  Gentlemen, the night-flying RC part of the world salutes you!

http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/2014/press.html

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Nice Foamy LED Mounting

 Not sure where I ran across these, but they've been sitting on my desktop for a while.  A nice simple method of mounting LEDs with skewers and hot glue.






This is a neat idea... the LED shines forward, giving you a light for orientation at the same time that it lights up the propeller.






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