Dez's Precision Aerobatics Page

The Quasar was my first foamy attempt. I have only flown it outside in relatively mild wind. The clevises for all control surfaces that the kit comes with are simple terrible. (Heat shrink tubing over flimsy di-cut cut ply horns.) They don't flex properly especially in cool outside air and therefore give terrible surface throws. This system also strains the servos to the point that they jitter uncontrollably. I also found the string used to support and tie the wings together very flimsy and unsuitable for outdoor flying, so I replaced them with balsa sticks. Once I replaced all of that, it was a whole different story.

The plane can be flown in very confined spaces and can slow down to very slow speeds. I use it to practice rolling circles and hover mostly

I like how the fuse hides all of the radio gear and battery. The landing gear is not suitable for outdoors or grass. You will break it on first or second landing

I give it a thumbs up

The Tensor 4D I built in about 3 evenings. Its a very easy and fast build. The hardware that it comes with is cool. I love the control horns as they simply snap in through di-cut slots. No glue required.

I walked across the street into an empty school yard to fly. This plane is very cool to fly. On first flight I notice a few things and these can be good or bad depending on your perspective.

It hovers well, it flys very well in general. On knife edge no rudder is needed. It is hard to practice rolling circles for F3A just because the inputs required are totally different. I suppose I will try to move the CG forward and see if that helps. You can turn on a dime with the rudder only and the plane locks in altitude which is an interesting experience. Comparing it to the above Quasar, this plane is a touch more unpredictable. I think that the tail isn't stiff enough and it has more trouble when there is a breeze. Loads of fun.

Landing gear is more suitable for the outdoors and will take landings in grass with no problems

I give thumbs up

This is my version of the Reflection. It weighs 7.12 oz ready to fly with .450 battery included. I built it with limited carbon fiber re-enforcement's and put a different gear system on it. As well in an attempt to slow it down a bit I put spoilers or dams on the wing. The spoilers didn't work out, so I cut them off.

In my experience, this think hovers very well, and does slow rolling harriers well, but forget about anything else. Also, for tight indoor spaces, forget about it especially if you make it from kit.

This year I competed in my first indoor competition and I felt as if I were a novice. The plane I used was my forth generation Tensor rip off, which I felt did a great job. I swept back the wings, made the body more arrow shaped in the nose, and the wing a bit deeper. The ready to fly weight was at 7.1oz . Comments about this plane were that it was very slow, especially on knife edge and very stable. The design change I think improved the rolling circles and made the model a bit more predictable, but I know little yet about indoor flying as at this point I have only flown indoors on 5 occasions.

Here is a funny video of me hitting an obstacle at the indoor event on the preliminary round.

Also, I am working on a page with a few comments and pictures of the event.

Aha. After seeing how well the IKARUS F3A and the YAK performed in my first indoor event, I decided to try building one myself and to see what it was all about. Here are some pictures just after my first flights across the street in the park. This one weighed in at about 6.8 ounces ready to fly which isn't a lot lighter than my above biplanes.

It is amazing that flight characteristics are so different compared with the biplanes. Way less stable and rolling maneuvers are a real challenge. It will take time to get used to this. With the biplane I could achieve slow constant speed with one throttle setting, apposed to having to work the throttle constantly with the monoplane. This is a technic that I will have to learn. I think that this new challenge is going to help me be a better pilot as a result.

I find that even after one flight, this plane is able to do more and do it with predictable outcome to pilot radio input.

Still, at this point I have it in my mind that there is a secret waiting for me in experimenting with the biplane design. It will be my challenge over the winter months.