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Finally! I’ve been working on adding a smoke system to my Extra and today I got to see the fruits of my labor. The system consists of a Sullivan Skywriter smoke pump, DA50 muffler, Dubro 20oz tank and Super Dri smoke oil.

The system was installed in the pipe tunnel that runs down the center line of the fuselage. This allowed me to build a tray for the tank and pump. I placed the tank directly over the CoG.

The first test was configured with the pump being controlled manually using a rotary dial on the transmitter. It didn’t take much to get a nice cloud of smoke coming out of the muffler.

The next step will be to configure a mix to have the pump actuated by the throttle channel. Then get it in the air.

Here’s a video

Well it was a beautiful spring day yesterday, a perfect day for some flying but I decided to stay away from the field and get some work done on the trailer instead.

The trailer is a new Haulin 5×10 enclosed trailer. It’s a nice rig but needs some work to get it ready to haul planes. My plan is to have a flexible a layout as possible so if the need arises the trailer can be used to haul non hobby related stuff. The main part of this plan is to have vertical E-track on the walls that will allow me to moves shelves and anchors around as need be. More after the jump

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Another weekend has come and gone and it was a busy one for the RCAviator.

On Saturday my buddy Goose and I drove down to Toronto to pickup my new toy hauler. A brand new Haulin 5×10 enclosed cargo trailer. I bought it from the gang at Via Trailers in Bolton. These guys gave me a great price on the trailer and it was well worth the 5 hour drive.

After picking up the trailer we headed for AJ’s Hobbies in Concord. It turned out to be a great little hobbyshop that really caters to the RC hobbyist. We browsed around for a while and inevitably both Goose and I walked away with a couple of hard to find purchases. More to come on my purchase later.

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Yesterday marked a huge day in the Silver Dart project. For the first time the model rolled under it’s own power. The team took the model out to a local hangar for some testing. Initially some taxi testing was conducted. After a little tweaking the plane was tethered to some braided fishing line and some high speed taxi testing was conducted going in a circle a la control line flying. It was obvious that the chosen power system has more than enough power to get this bird airborne. The CoG appeared to be a little too far back and will have to be adjusted. All in all it was a successful test and the team gained some valuable knowledge.

Congratulations team! You’ve done a great job so far.

Well the weather kept me grounded this weekend so I have nothing to report on the flying front but there was some RC related activity this weekend.

Last week Ed had some perplexing problems with the motor setup on his new Pitts. It was cutting out at any power setting over half throttle. After running a bunch of different tests he has determined the problem to be his battery packs. Under load the voltage is dropping quickly on his lipo packs. It then rebounds when the throttle is pulled back. This is an indicator that the packs are nearing end of life. Doh! More money to spend.

Sunday I dropped by Goose’s place for a little Photoshop help and while I was there I got a chance to see the Silver Dart project team in action and get a first hand look at the progress they’ve made. This is a complicated build with many challenges that this team is tackling with smiles on their faces. You can read more about the project and follow it’s progress on the Stetson Flyers website at www.stetsonflyers.com

Well let’s give this a try. This will be home to my new blog. A place to share myexploits into the world of Radio Controlled (RC) aircraft. Currently I fly a variety of aircraft both fixed wing and rotary, airplanes and helicopters. My latest airplane is the Extreme Flight RC Extra 300. Pictured here. It’s got an 88inch wingspan is powered by a 50cc gasoline engine and weighs 17lbs. It is one incredible flying airplane and will do just about every maneuver in the book.