Lessons learned from two years of park jets

Hi everyone -

It has been two years since I seriously started my journey to where I am now WRT park jet building and flying.  Although I still have much to learn and keep learning more with every build and every trip to the field, there are some general "big picture" things I might have done differently if I had to start over again.  So perhaps this post would be aimed more at a beginner in the hobby or in park jets for sure, but hopefully there is a little something for everyone.

I had actually dabbled a bit in RC flying about 5 yrs ago, I made the mistake of thinking I could learn to fly building 3D foamies from plans I got from RC groups made of "indestructible" EPP foam.  Well, nothing is indestructible and 3D planes are not good trainers in my experience... :/  Then I had a couple years off as I dealt with a bunch of life stuff.  So when I was able to properly commit to my dream of building and flying park jets two years ago, I kind of started all over again.  I still had my Spektrum Dx6i radio, some batteries and a couple receivers, but not really anything else.

So my first task was to learn to fly RC planes properly.  It was around this time that Dave Powers released a video on the Bixler 2 from Hobby King.  At the time, it was kind of the latest version of the Hawk Sky type planes and the price was right at $70, all I needed to do was supply a battery, radio and receiver, all of which I had.  So off I went.  It was about the best $70 I had spent in the RC hobby to that point.  I just kept taking that plane to the field and flying it over and over, practicing all the basics, it turned out to be an awesome training platform for me.  Even after I built my first park jet, the RC Powers F35 V2, I kept flying the Bixler til I had about 70 flights on it and I am very glad I was patient in doing that.

So here was my first park jet the RCP F35 V2 (which was free), elevons only, KF2, built way too heavy, but it flew and held up for about 60 flights before it just got too heavy to fly anymore.  Ugly as it was, it filled it's role in my park jet process.

So I progressed pretty quickly from there with my building, but not necessarily my flying... :/ building a total of 4 F35 V2s, the Mig29 V2 (my absolute nemesis, I built and wrote off three of these and got less than 50 flights among the three of them... :/)  My heavy building continued and pretty quickly as my control setups and mixing became more complex, I outgrew the capabilities of the Dx6i.  By the time I built my F18 V2, I had over an ounce of extra stuff (three mixers and three Y harnesses) in my F18 to get it to do what I wanted it to.  I was still doing a lot of what the "herd" on the forums was doing, chiseled leading edges on my KF4 wings, linked ailerons and elevons (2 servos running 4 surfaces or 2x4).  I was using uneven KFs, 6mm on tip and 3mm on bottom.

So enough rambling about how I got started, here are some of the things I would do different now right from the beginning if I could.  It would be a bit easier for me to commit to some of what I am going to discuss because I knew I wanted to build and fly park jets, perhaps this might not apply to other folks, park jets are a bit of a unique aspect of the RC hobby.

Choice of beginner plane

If I was learning to fly all over again, I would probably scratch build right from the start using free plans from Flite Test http://www.flitetest.com/articles?grid=true#/textSearch=FTScratchBuild  I think their power pod concept where you build one Power Pod that can be swapped among several airplanes makes a lot of sense for a beginner.  Inexpensive and easy to build planes from dollar store foam and hot glue is a simple, inexpensive way to get started.  You can learn scratch building at a very basic level, don't need to buy a whole bunch of gear, most of your build materials can be purchased at the dollar store or other inexpensive places like Walmart.  

Their beginner planes like the Nutball, FT Flyer and FT Delta are super simple to build and fly, you can build a few of them and then just swap your power pod between them or to your next one when you crash the first beyond repair.  A lot of planes can be built for the $70 I spent on my Bixler 2 and you get to start learning some basics of scratch building at a very easy level and their instructions and build videos are excellent.

Choice of transmitter

Knowing what I know now, I would have purchased a transmitter that I could grow into or could be easily and inexpensively upgraded as my experience and skills grew.  The Dx6i is an excellent radio for park and general flying, but the unique control setups on intermediate to advanced park jets max out it's mixing capabilities very quickly which led me to add weight and gear to my planes to get the mixing I wanted/needed.

After considerable research and a tight budget, I decided to buy another radio, the Turnigy 9x with the er9x firmware upgrade.  By the time this radio and parts were shipped to me, it cost me about the same as my Dx6i did from my LHS, but it's mixing and fine tuning capabilities are exponentially better than the Dx6i.  If you go to this post, I put links to all the goodies needed to have the Turnigy 9x with the er9x firmware upgrade http://migsrus.blogspot.ca/2014/10/my-park-jet-workshop-video.html  

This is certainly not the only radio available, the number of highly capable, easily programmable radios just gets better all the time.  I found You Tube an excellent source of information, lots of folks have taken the time to do reviews and comparisons of many of the popular transmitters.  RCmodelreviews has done many reviews on inexpensive Hobby King transmitters on his You Tube channel as well https://www.youtube.com/user/RCModelReviews

My main point here is if I could, I would have outlaid the cash required to buy a transmitter I can could grow into or was easy and inexpensive to upgrade rather than having to buy a second transmitter which in the long run was not only more expensive, but required I learn a whole new programming setup.

Choice of first park jet

If I had to do it over again, I would have started off with a profile park jet like the RCP Mig29 V1.  The Mig29 V1 was a real turning point plane for me in my park jet career, unfortunately I didn't build one until I had already written off about a dozen score and fold RCP V2 type planes.

The Mig29 V1 is super simple to build, one sheet of depron or it is even an excellent candidate for dollar store foam.  It flies amazing with elevons only, can be built in about a half a day and is super simple to repair because everything is a flat surface.  Even if you get a little "glue happy" and build a bit heavy, you can still use the D2826/6 motor from HK and have a lot of fun.  This was a real confidence builder for me after having a real run of bad luck crashing a bunch of V2 planes, so if I had to start over again, I would have built this first and just flew the wings off it before moving on to a score and fold plane.

Learning to build lighter sooner

I have joked many times about being a card carrying member of "overbuilder's anonymous", but this mentality of over building I'm sure cost me many planes early in my park jet career.  Of course my skills were not then what they are now, but my planes rarely survived serious impact like they do now because I failed to learn quickly enough that heavier is worse, not better.  Again, it is basic physics, more weight coming to a sudden stop causes more damage than less weight doing the same thing.  

Fortunately, I made another big turning point in my park jet career when the V3s were released by RC Powers as these planes were smaller, designed to be strong but light and didn't need big power setups like many of the V2s did to have any decent performance.  With all the flying and testing I have done in the past year I have found an overall ideal weight for the V3 size planes to be about 20-22 oz as this allows for best stability and wind penetration and when using the Focal Price type motor still gives great speed and aerobatic performance.  

Breaking from the "herd" sooner

This is probably a tough thing to do, many of us when first starting off see what the "hot shots" on the forums and You Tube are doing and fall into the trap of trying to follow that same path.  Now there is nothing wrong with that, but if it is not what you really want to do, it can lead to a lot of disappointment and frustration in my experience.  I know when you are first starting off it is tough to answer the question "what do I want my plane to do", but I think that if I had to do it over again I would ask myself that question much sooner as well as "how do I want to build and fly?" and then stuck to my guns as I moved ahead rather than trying to keep up with the pack.

  

Even though many of the things like 2x4 linked elevons and ailerons, uneven KF4 airfoils (thicker on top, thinner on the bottom) and chiseled leading edges on wings and elevons didn't make sense to me aerodynamically, I kept following that path because that was what was what the "herd" was doing.  So what happened?  I was building and flying my planes like other people did because I thought that was what I needed to do to become a good park jet pilot, not what made sense to me or fit in with how I wanted to build and fly.  How does that old saying go?  "Insanity is continually repeating the same behavior expecting a different outcome".

It took me awhile (probably a lot longer than it should... :/) to come to the realization that my building and flying should be measured by what gives me the most fun and satisfaction, not what others are doing.  Even if it is completely opposite what the "herd" is doing, if it means I am excited to build a new plane, go to the field and fly it and leave satisfied, that is what is important.  If I could give a new RC pilot any advice at all, it would be exactly that, don't worry about what others are doing, just do what gives you pleasure and satisfaction, no matter what that might be.

Fortunately since Stephan and I have been sharing ideas, I have broken free from that "pack mentality" and the fun and satisfaction I have from this hobby has taken another huge turn for the better.  With Stephan's help and encouragement, I have broken from many of the old paradigms of building and flying and the overall performance of my planes has instantly leaped to a whole new level of performance as has my flying fun and satisfaction.  

So while I think it is a good idea to experiment with new things, if something makes absolutely no sense to you, don't be scared to do it your own way.  One of the greatest things about building and flying scratch built park jets is each build is like a new artist's canvas waiting for you to experiment with a modification or a change that you want to test and evaluate, even if others haven't tried it before.  You just never know what might happen until you try.  Fear and common sense are sometimes highly over-rated... ;)

Another aspect of this "go your own way" (not the Fleetwood Mac song... ;) ) is not to be scared to try out new gear once in awhile.  Maybe it is a different power setup or even testing a different prop.  You don't have to go to the trouble of testing 10 different park jet motors like I have over the last year to find something very simple to breathe new life into your plane or your power system.  

Let's look at something as simple as changing a prop.  The 6x4 APC prop is without doubt the most popular park jet prop around and is an excellent overall prop.  Even though I knew people were using the 6x3 EMP prop, again I was worried about trying something new until I saw how a lot of motors perform with that prop.  I realized after trying out this different prop that I had been cheating myself of some real fun because I was scared to try something new for too long.

While with most of the motors I probably lost some top end speed, the increase in pop and acceleration for all round flying and aerobatics was truly eye opening for me, and that was a very easy and affordable change to make my plane fly differently.  The other good news is that my motors ran cooler and more efficiently with the 6x3 EMP prop.  So my point here is don't be scared to try out some different gear once in awhile, you never know when you will stumble on something simple that will better suit your building and flying style and your pocket book.

The research is never over nor should it come from one source

I know that Stephan and I get a lot deeper into research of aerodynamics and other things than you might be interested in and our testing is maybe beyond what you might care about, but I think always keeping an open mind in what you read or what you see your planes do is key to continually evolving your building and your flying.

The internet with Google, You Tube, the many RC forums and blogs like this one have an overwhelming amount of information.  Sometimes it feels like you might be trying to drink from a fire hose until you find good reliable sources of information.  But even then I think it is important not to "sole source" yourself to one person or one site.  I have always found collecting from many sources and then filtering through it from a standpoint of what suits how I like to build and fly always works best for me.

Even though Flite Test http://www.flitetest.com/ doesn't really do park jets, they make their living designing scratch built foam planes and I have picked up lots of little build tips from watching their build videos.  I have also learned several technical things from listening to some of their podcasts, so I do check their website quite often to see what is going on there, I never know when I might find a new nugget of info.  

Google and wikipedia are also good sources for theoretical research on aerodynamics, propeller performance, etc.  For gear research, including different people's testing and assessments or comparisons between other components, You Tube is a great source as lots of folks have taken the time to shoot videos of their findings.

Anyway, enough of my rambling... :/.  I guess of all the big picture lessons I learned from above that made the biggest difference in my park jet career was to do things my own way.  I try to measure my success by the fun and satisfaction I have when standing at the side of the field watching my plane fly around, not by how my build or my flying skills match up with what others have done or are doing.  It doesn't matter what I do, or what others on the forums or You Tube does, it should be about what you do... :)

Cheers,

Scott