I just took some pictures of a Bristol F.2B I completed a few weeks ago. It was kind of significant for me since this month marks 100 years since Bloody April. Anyone else in the hobby? I realize that politics lately have been kind of harsh on RC, but I enjoy getting out every now and again with my fleet.
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Wow, gorgeous!
I flew a nitro helo in college, occasionally dream of getting back into the hobby.
Your airplane is almost too pretty - I’d be afraid to fly it and get her dirty or bump it too hard on landing. Absolutely gorgeous!
Electric, I take it? What’s flying time? Do you have any video of her flying?
That’s beautiful. I’ve always wanted to fly some RC stuff…just have had to pick and choose my hobbies lately, so perhaps at some time in the future…!
Yup, electric with a 6 cell Lipo, turning a 16" prop. For the batteries I intend to use with it, I’m looking at about 5-7 minutes of flying time, though I could double that and still be in the green – I just don’t like to run my Lipos that hard. I haven’t been able to fly since January due to poor weather conditions in my area, but as we go further into spring that’s looking to change.
More dirt is actually good for this one (and the Nieuport 17 pictured next to it) since it gives it a used, field condition look. It comes as an ARF with typical shiny finish, so I wiped it down with a couple coats of matte varnish before assembling it to get a fabric appearance on the covering. Liberal amounts of charcoal applied complete the appearance, though I had desired to add some additional detailing that didn’t cooperate with me last year.
Despite appearances, these aircraft are actually quite sturdy and unless you intentionally crash them, can take a lot of abuse. The Nieuport has survived several rough landings and a rough takeoff that required a few repairs. That being said, care must be taken on landing since they have no shock absorbing struts.
So far, I’ve only “crashed” one and that was a 80" Tigercat that I built when I first started on this stuff a couple years back. It’s sitting in my trailer and I’ll probably try to fly it again this year, but I have to fix up the port firewall which seems to be loose – missed it when I repaired it after the second crash.
Last year was a good year for biplanes, since the Bristol, the Nieuport, and a Stearman were all on sale when I got them. The Nieport and the Stearman are very docile flyers, so I’m looking forward to the Bristol!
Last year, bringing my Stearman in for landing:
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Oh man that is awesome. I am especially challenged with handling “reverse directional space” or however you want to call it… basically controlling in the mirror directions. My brain freaks out and then bad things happen - essentially loss of air control and then a crash.
I stick to a simple quadcopter that I fly in the driveway for my easily entertained two year old. Occasionally comes to the park, though I live right under the flight path near the airport so can’t go high with it anyway without going somewhere else.
Those planes look great, man.
I fly RC!
Those are some beautiful aircraft you got there!
I only have a few electric backyard flyers. But I have some scale kits waiting to be built. Amongst them a 1/4 scale Tiger Moth…! 
Beautiful models. I only have a plastic quadcopter. The WW1 are too delicate for me. I wish…
My e-flite Pitts ended up in a tree. I have an Align T-rex 250 helicopter which I adore. It can do anything a “plank” can do…only better. I was never able to master 3D stuff with it but it is really relaxing just to fly it around to back yard.
I actually tried out flying RC 20 years ago, when I was a kid, but things didn’t pan out at the time. I got back into it a couple years ago with helicopters, but went to planes because my brother in law was into them.
@Rhinosaurus Getting adjusted to reversal just takes a little bit of practice. If you’ve already got a quadcopter, you can practice just by making an oval flight pattern around.
@Troll Quarter scale Tiger Moth? Who makes it? I’ve seen the Phoenix Models Tiger Moth but I really don’t need another plane now. I have an 80" SBD-5 Dauntless to complete this summer!
@Maico Actually, I find that the WW1 models tend to be pretty durable in comparison to other types. Lighter construction, lower speeds, much better handling.
@smokinhole I have a T-Rex 250, too! Try as I might, I can’t do much with the helicopters beyond basic hovering. I have a Blade CPX but rarely fly it for the same reason. Any tips?
PhoenixRC (simulator) helped alot. And it worked with my existing radio, a Spektrum DX-6. Figure eights done chest high also helped get safely acquainted with nose-in. I am thinking of getting a flybarless newer model that will recover to hover when things get ugly.
It’s a Duncan Hutson design. Traplet sell kits and plans for it.
@smokinhole I was able to do well with PhoenixRC but it seemed like what I was doing wasn’t translating well to the real thing. Maybe I need to just put more hours in the sim.
@Troll That’s a big one! For that size I’m kind of surprised they don’t require a larger engine. You could probably run that one with a pretty mild electric setup.
The sim is pretty close. But just like flight sims, it lacks the most important model, fear. I was much more nervous flying my 250 than I have ever been in a real airlane, including the first flight in the squirrely little single place vixen that I own. My T-rex lifts off almost thumbs off. So trim is important. Get it light on the skids and if it shows any tendancies, lower the collective and trim. Rinse. Repeat.
It is indeed!
I got a original kit at half price from a guy who got tired of storing the box
I just love the Tiger Moth…
I plan on using a electric setup and a sound system with it.
Beautiful ships @Franze!
I started with pod and boom helis, and worked up to a Chaos 600 (TRex clone). Then started building multi-rotors, then camera ships, then FPV quads, then raced them for a couple of years. Now I don’t have the time or the reflexes to race, so just do some casual FPV freestyle, which I really enjoy. I’ve never gotten into planks, although I’ve been very tempted. If I did, it would have to be with FPV gear. Once you’ve done that, it’s hard to fly any other way. I’ve seen some really incredible WW2 aircraft setup for FPV. That would probably be the way I would go.
My last build. Sometimes less is more. Should follow-up with some goggles video.
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I have a quad-rotor I’m learning to use for our photography business.
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Total RC geek here, came back to the hobby after a break last year and went nuts. Grew up on Gliders but now pushing into different types. Heres a little clip from my first flight with my condor Glider. First flight it dawned on me that I was engineless had never aerotowed (a model) and had no idea how she would fly or if I would even get back to the field…
No need to worry
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Cool!
PS: When you’re ready
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