About Real Reviews

Real reviews are unbiased product reviews. I pay the full retail price for every product I test. The review was not endorsed in any way, shape, or form. In other words, nobody is paying me to write nice reviews of their products.

In the most part, these are products that I use and like. But I do not hesitate to mention any issues or drawbacks to using them. I do not sugarcoat it. My goal is to be a reliable source of information. These are real reviews.

Click here to buy the Turnigy 7 in 1 Mega Meter from Hobby King.

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Sources

Kites & Fun Things Clearance Items

Goodwinds Specials

Goodwill Store Locator

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Full Product Name

Click here to buy the Turnigy servo tester from Hobby King.

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What makes a good pilot? How can you tell by watching others fly?

Click here to listen to The Crash Cast #162

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It’s a Process

Designing a great new original model airplane is a very time consuming process. That is why there are so many half-baked designs released. It takes a lot of extra work to turn a model that flies well into a model that flies great. Experience helps, but there is no substitute for just plain trying things out.

Pickerel Refinements

From the time I made the first test flight of the final prototype, the tweaks might seem to have been truly trivial. But boy, did they make a difference in its flying and handling!

First, the elevon tips needed to be upturned by 3/4 inches. The rest of the airplane is entirely flat, so all of the pitch stability comes from them. They are not large, either, so just mounting them at neutral and then using up trim did not work.

Second, I switched to mounting the battery at the nose. The CG now is about 1/2 inch ahead of the slot cut into the foam. Wow! I won’t say that it now flies as if it were on rails, but it sure is close. Very stable and very controllable.

Summary

I still do not recommend Pickerel for a beginner pilot. The design is very clean aerodynamically and gains speed quickly if you let the nose point down. You have to fly the airplane through turns, giving it up elevator as necessary.

At the same time, it looks great in the air. When I was out at the field shooting this video, I had at least half a dozen pilots walk up to me to ask about the airplane. They loved the simplicity of the design and the great handling in the air. It looks like a Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk and has no vertical surfaces.

I do have one small recommended change to the construction process. When I built my prototypes, I would cut the foam and glue on the leading edge dowels first, then cut a slot for the square transverse (horizontal) support hardwood rods. It would probably be easier to make a single cut in the foam, push the pieces of foam apart, glue on the square rods, and then add the leading edge dowels. This way it is simpler and is easier to get right, too.

If you are planning on building a Pickerel, be sure and tell us about it in the forums!

Pickerel article index and discussion thread in forums.

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Background

This four and a half pound (2 kg) hotliner glider was flying at high speed when the pilot lost control. The fuselage buried itself into the ground at least 20 inches (50 cm). As can be seen in the photos below, the wing was completely buried. Instead of trying to pull it out, they decided to dig it out.

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Background

Three weeks ago I profiled the Synergy airplane design in my on-going “Model This” series of articles. It is a unique looking airplane that incorporates many radical new ideas. The interest in the full-size aviation community has been strong, for good reason.

I wanted to describe some of the technical details of the airplane in my article, but the lack of available information prevented me from doing so. You see, Synergy has not been built and flight tested yet. Even worse, the need for secrecy has kept the amount of technical public information to a minimum.

All of these factors have conspired to create a mystery surrounding this airplane. Some folks believe that it will revolutionize aviation, others say there cannot possibly be anything of value there. All I can guarantee is that the truth is somewhere in between!

Because of this, I was forced to keep the amount of technical details in my article to a minimum. I also felt it necessary to talk about the controversy surrounding the airplane.

You see, my goal for this website is to be the best source of quality information to model airplane enthusiasts. The best way that I know of doing that is by always being very honest and open in everything I talk about.

John McGinnis

Mr. McGinnis is the inventor of the Synergy airplane and the force behind the company. After my article was published, it came to his attention. He contacted me shortly afterwards.

To me, this feels a bit like the tail wagging the dog. I am definitely not used to the full-scale aviation world paying much attention to what we do with our models.

Anyway, he insisted that I interview him so that I may better understand the technology behind Synergy. Because of the need for corporate confidentiality, at first I did not see much point in us talking.

Thinking better of it, I decided to take Mr. McGinnis up on his offer. We may all be pleasantly surprised at the amount of technical details he can share when asked direct technical questions.

Bottom line, this is a unique opportunity that we have here. We get to pick the brain of a full-size aircraft designer!

Your Questions

Are you working on a model, and something is not clear? What would you like to ask John McGinnis about his airplane? What is it about the design that you do not understand? What would you like to know about the company?

I already have many questions myself, and I’m sure you have great questions, too.

Send me all your questions. You can use either the comments below or the contact form. In about a week I will compile them and send them off. I cannot guarantee that he will answer any of them, but I can promise that at least I will send them.

Original “Model This” Synergy article

Website member working on Synergy model airplane

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Pilots

Let me get the obvious comment out of the way first. There is absolutely nothing wrong with liking radio controlled model airplanes and being into it just because you like to fly them.

Old timers (the folks, not the airplanes…) are always reminiscing about the old days of model airplane flying. The days when you could not fly if you were not also a builder. Guess what? Those days are long gone. Get over it.

I say the more the merrier. Everybody that is into the hobby brings something different to it. The more people that are into model airplanes, the more interesting the hobby becomes.

Today anybody with $100 to spare can walk into a toy store (what used to be called hobby stores) and walk out with a reasonably well flying RC model airplane. Learning how to fly such an airplane is another matter entirely. I’m always running into these folks at local parks. At the point I meet them is when they are just realizing just how far in over their heads they are.

It is not always a hopeless situation. If they were smart and had the budget for it, they also bought an RC flight simulator with their ready-to-fly airplane. Those folks have a decent shot at flying their airplane without any help. I try and gently persuade the other ones to get some help before they make an expensive mistake and we lose them from the hobby.

Most folks that are into RC are in it primarily for the flying, whether they are willing to admit it or not.

Builders

A lot less common than the pilots are the builders. These are the club members that only go to the meetings once in a while. But when they do, it is always to showcase their latest masterpiece. If it is not a scale project, it may not look like much to the untrained eye. Rest assured, the model has been meticulously built. The devil is in the details, and the builders take special pride in getting those right.

Problem is, your flying skills are bound to be a bit rusty after spending a few months in the workshop. They go and try to fly their masterpiece when their flying skills are simply not up to the task. These are the saddest crashes to witness, and I have seen more than a couple of them over the years. Countless hours of work gone within a few minutes of the start of its maiden flight.

To a builder, the joy is in the execution. They are always refining their construction methods. Easy and inexpensive are pretty far down on their list of priorities. High quality, consistent results are what it is all about to them.

Builders love to talk about building tools. They are also always sharing building tips and tricks. These are the folks that love to build from plans. There is great joy in their craft.

Designers

Yeah, I see myself as a designer. To me, building and flying are secondary. I enjoy both, but they are definitely not what drive me.

I am driven by the challenge of the unknown. The dream is always to create the ultimate airplane. But we are willing to settle for a more realistic goal. We are happy if our creation is interesting and better than the others that came before in at least some ways. Of course, we get to define what “interesting” and “better” mean!

Our lives are defined by a never ending series of “what if” questions. The better designers leave no stone unturned in their quest to push the boundaries of the unknown.

If you want to impress me, tell me about your latest wacky experiment. I’ll be impressed by the fact that you tried it, not whether it was a success or not. Telling me how much money you spent on your new airplane will only get yawns.

Do you agree with my categories? Am I missing any?

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Update

Since I shot this video yesterday, I have almost finished building this first prototype. According to my calculations, the flying weight should come out very close to the targeted 25 ounces (700 g). The wing area is a generous 468 inches square (30.2 dm^2). I did not skimp on the power system with a Park 480 motor and 3S 2200 mAh battery pack.

The interest on this design has been strong, and I can see why. I expect it to be a tiger in the air. I went out of my way to make sure it is very strong and stiff. It is also very quick, easy, and inexpensive to build.

It would not surprise me if this becomes my favorite airplane to fly for fun.

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