some videos of the plane below

Did I mention it was fast?

Reallyfast

But at least it is still in one piece



By the way, that is my dad breathing hard into the camera. I, of course, was completely calm and in control. . .

Noch ein Flugzeug!

Here is the latest attempt to put together a pylon racer that will be able to compete this year. The last two I built have glow-powered engines. I have had a little trouble keeping those engines running This one will compete in the speed 200 class. The pictures are from its maiden flight Saturday morning. The plane feels fast and the first flight was really hairy until I was able to trim it out for level flight. Even at 1/4 throttle, it was almost all I could handle. I landed and adjusted the elevator to move only half as much as it did on the first flight. The reduced twitchiness was very welcome.
The motor is a 1900Kv Turnigy brushless outrunner motor. I am using 1350 mAh 3-cell lithium-polymer batteries--the same type as is used in cell phones, except with a higher discharge rate. the propeller is 6.5" Graupner propeller (made in Germany!). As you can see, I have decorated it with the German colors. The speed controller (a computer chip that controls the battery-motor interface and acts as a throttle) can be programmed to play various songs when it is powered up and ready to fly. In keeping with the German theme, I set it to play Beethoven's Ode to Joy. I don't think many of the people I fly with will get the joke.
The design is my own, although I took a lot of cues from others that are also flying. The plane has a V-tail and a slightly forward-swept main wing. It feels really fast, although I am not sure exactly how fast. Others who have similar designs have clocked their planes at between 100-110 miles per hour. I need to get used to flying at this speed at about 20 feet off the ground. This last picture is my favorite.