Hobby Lobby’s Hot Seller

Posted on December 18, 2010 by Hobby Lobby Team

Hobby Lobby has finally released their new J5 for public purchase on their website! Come check out why so many people have already made pre-orders for this fantastic beginner aircraft!
Over all, this is a fantastic entry level plane that comes with the unique feature of having ailerons built in with servos and control rods already attached on the main wing. This transitional feature is a simple switch from 3 to 4 channels and should only take the user between ten and fifteen minutes to make the switch. It is an incredible deal for only $199.99 when you consider that most people had to buy an entirely new aircraft when they were ready to bump up to aileron flight.
This aircraft is perfect for clubs who want to train their new members how to fly. It moves back to a 3 channel plane to hand down to the next beginning flyer needing some flight time. Also, unlike many trainer planes, this Piper Cub looks great and has actual scale details. Make sure to make your pre-order quick before all these trainer planes make their way under other people’s Christmas trees!

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Just One More Thing Hobby Lobby’s Micro Stik Can Do!

Posted on December 17, 2010 by Hobby Lobby Team

With a whole weekend to play around with the Micro Stik, Jason Cole had plenty of time to see just what this little flying marvel was capable of at the 2010 JR Indoor Flying Event, In fact, he was able to happen upon a trick that he hadn’t even tested while demonstrating at this event. Even though this plane’s climbing power and ability to perform nearly straight vertical take offs was enough to make this plane virtually sell itself, Jason still wanted to see if he could take it a step further.
When Jason first gave this new maneuver a try, he wasn’t even entirely sure it would work, but that never really stopped him from testing the limits of Hobby Lobby’s planes in the past. Apparently, the maneuver consisted of bringing the plane up to a pretty high level and then flying it in toward himself at the flight line. From here he decided to point the nose straight down at full power in a dive, not looking as though he would be able to pull out of it in time. At the last second, Jason would pull the plane out of the dive, inverted, and fly it around just above the ground upside-down for the spectators to see. The crowd was thoroughly impressed that this little plane had such power and maneuverability.

Posted in Beginner R/C helicopter, Heli Haven (R/C Helicopters), R/C Model Airplane Events, R/C Models, Wing World (R/C Model Airplanes) | Leave a comment

From Sore to Soar

Posted on December 17, 2010 by Hobby Lobby Team

It has been over a month since I first saw my girlfriend take a small Hobby Lobby piper cub and run it into various forms of wooded plant life. To my amazement, the plane (and my girlfriend’s willingness to pick up another radio control) had somehow survived the first horrible crash and every crash since. Sure, the little cub has about a full two ounce glue bottle fused into it now, and every once in a while I remind her that nobody was “really” harmed in the crash, but it is still her that gets out there each time and puts herself behind those set of controls, regardless.
It wasn’t until the last time I went out with her that I saw a phenomenal difference in skill. Apparently, she had gone out with her Dad once without me and he had done some troubleshooting with the trim adjustments. When I saw the difference it made, I was astounded. She seemed to have COMPLETE control. How relieving that must be for her after all her flights before when we would tell her to “turn left… no, NO… Your other LEFT!” She was ecstatic when she saw herself really doing what she was attempting to do. We even tried some spot landing by marking a circle in the dew on the grass. She did excellent. That same day we let her fly the Wing Dragon as well and she demonstrated even better control. The larger wing surface gave her a bit more stability against the small gusts that would have otherwise given the other plane a bit of hassle. I am so excited to get her the J5 that is going to be released from Hobby Lobby soon. It should be the perfect plane to give her a decent transition into aileron flight!

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Making It Duplicable

Posted on December 16, 2010 by Hobby Lobby Team

After the experience of a slow and steady flight, I came to a realization. I had started my journey as a pilot with the mentality that it was my clumsy thumbs alone that were flying the plane. With that mentality, the only hope for a steady flight with my CHAMP would be for my thumbs to improve their skills. A whole new world of possibilities opened up when my dad had worked his electronic magic on the controller. The minute I saw that little plane flying low, slow, steady, and true, I knew I was in love with flying. The fact that my thumbs were able to maintain that steady flight simply solidified that feeling.
This time, however, I was braving the field by myself and crossing my fingers that I could duplicate what my dad had accomplished. Of course, my nerves were heightened a bit with the fact that my boyfriend was with me and excited to see all that we had been bragging about from the last flight. I decided that the key to the day would be patience. The first flight attempt was a little rocky because the controller calibration wasn’t ideal for the slight breeze we were experiencing. A few beeps and buttons later, I was able to figure out how to adjust the elevators in order to counter the little plane’s tendency to climb dramatically. My boyfriend looked at me with a huge grin on his face and I couldn’t help but to return it. I had successfully duplicated the low, steady, calm flight, and I was thrilled.

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Virtual Surgery

Posted on December 16, 2010 by Hobby Lobby Team

I finally got a chance to sit down and get some simulator time for myself now that flying season has mostly migrated to indoors. I had decided that I had a taste of flying R/C planes and just got to a point where I really wanted to get more time behind a heli. I don’t own a heli, but they have always been a point of interest since they seem to be a little more difficult to pilot than planes. Granted, it isn’t like the R/C planes weren’t giving me enough of a challenge. However, I had planned to have a double counter rotating prop heli come in the mail soon and so I thought I would give it a go.
At first, I had no idea which direction I was going in. There were times it seemed that no matter which direction I gave the radio control the heli seemed to continue going in the same direction until it crashed. Soon, though, I managed to get the helicopter to just hover a few virtual feet off the ground. This was the perfect way to do gradual adjustments and see how they effected the orientation of the helicopter. Once I could tell my back from my front, I seemed to manage baby steps in directed movement.
At this point, I decided to challenge myself and see if I could land on one of the virtual tables in the simulator next to the other model helicopter that sat there. It took me maybe 20 minutes, but I finally managed to figure out the depth perception enough to land on the table. I was ecstatic! This was the coolest thing ever. Flying an R/C plane was fun, but this was precision. It was like surgery… except my scalpel was a whirling set of blades that were all trying to fly away from each other as fast as possible. After the table, I landed on the hood of the virtual truck in the parking lot. I’d never get a chance to do that to a real car, so I figured this was the perfect time to do it. I must say, after making that precise of a landing I think I might be more hooked on heli’s at this point than I am R/C planes.

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Girls In The Hobby?

Posted on December 15, 2010 by Hobby Lobby Team

For the first time since my girlfriend and I had begun flying R/C model airplanes, we had decided to check out a local flying club. The club was called the Eugene Aeronauts and the meeting we ended up sitting in on was the election for next year’s club officers. It was incredibly interesting to hear how the club worked and operated and the idea of being a part of one soon was pretty exciting for us.
Although I already knew a bit about how scarce girls were in the hobby, I had no idea the kind of attention my girlfriend (Kira) would get when diving into a meeting like this. When the officers were talking to us about what it would cost for us to join, they were discussing the bylaws which detailed what the initiation fee was for new members. By the sound of the discussion, the bylaws seemed only specific about men and their sons joining.
Apparently, there is a $100, one-time initiation fee to join and $60 annual dues after that. Members at the meeting seemed confused as to whether it was a fee that they extended to each member of a separate house hold, or if a father paid an initiation fee and the son living with his father would not have to pay the fee again because he lived in the same household. The confusion came when they were discussing that the bylaws seemed to only address male members wishing to join.
In the end, we left the members considering the need to amend the bylaws simply because of our presence at the meeting. If that doesn’t shed some light on how rare it is to run into a female in the hobby, I don’t know what is.

Posted in Beginner R/C helicopter, Heli Haven (R/C Helicopters), R/C Models, Wing World (R/C Model Airplanes) | Leave a comment

Another Day In The Repair Shop

Posted on December 15, 2010 by DragonflyR Divine

We’ve developed quite the little repair corner at our house, along with a nifty box of fix it necessities. My dad and I make a great team, him with a love of solving problems for the repairs, and my gift for slowly destroying the plane and continually challenging him. We both love our roles. After this last flight we had to glue the top of the rudder back onto its other half, and followed it up with a lamination to make sure it didn’t remain a weak spot on the plane.

Dad and I were thoroughly pleased with the repair, and started admiring the little CHAMP. It was then, that we noticed the propeller prop was loosening. Wanting to get a better idea of what was going on, I removed the top fuselage. It turned out that the Styrofoam of the planes’ nose had started to weaken and buckle after its many nose dives. Looking around the house, we found a couple of different kinds of stray Styrofoam that we thought we’d strategically place in the nose to help reinforce those weakened areas. The first Styrofoam was a low density material and wouldn’t take my abuse well. Luckily, we found another Styrofoam that was high density and all around perfect. So we cut out some pieces and had some fun with the glue. I can’t wait to get it back into the air and see if counter weight near the tail is going to have to be added after our repairs. Stay tuned!

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Pieces, Parts, and Lots of Glue- Plane Crash

Posted on December 14, 2010 by DragonflyR Divine

The flights today may have been graceful, but with the unpredictable wind gusts, my landings were not. There were a few nose dives, and since the poor CHAMP was landing in grass, it had a tendency to flip as well. All I really have to say is that I was impressed with what a tough little plane the CHAMP is. We’ve repaired the nose, the base of the rudder, the very tip of the top part of the rudder, and more. The flight ended when the plane had a kind of emergency landing, due to the fact that it wasn’t fully responding to the rudder controls and looked like it wanted to soar into the trees. I figured, a less than graceful landing would cause less pain than making my boyfriend climb up a tree again.
David started jogging over toward the plane and staring at the ground. “What are you looking for?” I called to him. He told me the battery flew out, right as I picked up the plane to demonstrate that the battery was still holding on to the plane for dear life. “Well something flew off…” he retorted. I was looking over the plane, trying to figure out what this mysterious flying piece was. There it was… or more so, wasn’t. About half of the top part of the rudder had torn off and had flown to the side in the grass. We were grateful that we were able to find the little yellow piece amongst the colorful fall leaves. So the plane went back home and sat patiently on the craft table for yet another session of gluing and laminating. Soon the poor thing will be nothing more than glue and laminating material. But until then, we still have a great little craft!

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The CHAMP… Dogs Almost Best Friend

Posted on December 14, 2010 by Hobby Lobby Team

It’s always an adventure when we take our little R/C plane out to the parks. There’s always a broad range of different people sharing the park with us. Sometimes there are seven year olds focusing on soccer practice, couples strolling in the park together, families playing on the play structures, and even people with their dogs out for a walk. Each time is a new set of elements to consider and adapt to, like an ever changing obstacle course. Trees and signs are one thing to consider when the plane is in the air, but when you have people moving, and dogs chasing our big yellow bird in the sky, you never really know where to land!

One flying excursion, I was pleased to see that there were very few people out at the park. So up into the air the plane went. Before I knew it, there were six people near us with their dogs, having a doggy play date. It was adorable watching the dogs run around with each other, chase the plane in the sky, bark at it, and do what dogs do best. What I wasn’t prepared for, was just how playful they wanted to be. I landed the plane a little ways from the dogs, who all rushed toward it with excitement. They were about to play with a new toy! Oh dear goodness, that would have ended badly for the CHAMP. Luckily, David saw the dogs charging, and ran over to the plane himself in order to save it from a very slobbery death. Who would have thought, R/C planes, dog’s almost best friend. =D

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Always Growing & Improving

Posted on December 13, 2010 by DragonflyR Divine

With my new found partnership with my plane controller and the added inspiration to continue practicing flying, I find myself increasingly eager to get out there. In a way, I’ve proven to myself that the first great flight experience wasn’t a fluke. One thing I’ve learned, and grateful for having learned, is that while most of the flight depends on the skills of the pilot, the other piece is how well the pilot utilizes her electronics. It’s amazing how different a flight can go when you do or do not choose to take advantage of the controller settings.

Another opportunity to better my skills came about and of course I took it. Off to the park I went with my boyfriend for another flying adventure. The plane took to the air and started off fairly graceful as well. I had a moment of confusion though, when the plane seemed to have adopted its old stubborn behavior again. After a moment of just sensing my surroundings, I realized that the wind had started picking up, which was causing the CHAMP to stall and struggle to respond. I was excited for the challenge. I let myself stay calm and study the plane as the wind played with it. I focused on small, deliberate movements with the aileron and elevator, and glowed with excitement as I was able to keep up with the wind and still maintain a mostly steady flight with my little craft. You’ve got to love seeing improvement!

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