Hey guys,

Nitroplanes has just released their Miss Dara ARF for EF-1! This is great news. I saw the prototype fly at the NATS, looks to be a great performer. Now maybe we can water down the Shoestring strangle hold on the class. 

http://yhst-17210252890263.ecommerce-site-search.com/?query=DARA&searchsubmit=Go&vwcatalog=yhst-17210252890263&.autodone=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nitroplanes.com%2F

Anybody got enough balls to have one together for this weekend? 

Red

Steve and I had a great time last weekend, looking forward to more racing.

Incredible weather at the field this weekend. Hard to believe its January and its in the 70's! Steve and I have our EF-1's there. A couple more are in the works.

Tony,

Steve and I are planning on flying our EF-1's on Sunday, can you make it? Woodland has already scheduled a EF-1 race for May, and a couple of other clubs are working on them too.

Part of the attraction for me is racing at other clubs as well. Looking forward to it.

Red

Well it arrived yesterday.

Overall impression is that they did a nice job with the fit and finish, it looks superb! The wing has a laser cut plywood spar that stiffens it considerably. It went together with a few minor issues. The retracts are noisey, but they work and rotate just fine. Even the tail wheel retracts! I have concerns with the retracts holding up over time though.

The biggest problem I'm facing is that the scale prop is drilled/molded off center/out of round so it shakes pretty badly. I'm not sure if there is anything I can do about it. If I can get it sorted out I will maiden it today.

Apparently this plane is made by Starmax and resold by others like Banana & Easy Tiger Models. The prop is a well known problem. Other resellers offer this same model with a multi piece prop and that is reported to work well. ETM has this prop as a spare so I may try that.

Red

Well.....I wen't ahead and ordered the Skyraider. Hope it's not a POS lol. 

http://www.bananahobby.com/2184.html

I agree they are making some very cool stuff. I like the Skyraider myself. If they would offer them without any electronics so I could put my own in, I would jump on it in a heartbeat.

Great input guys thanks. I think this info will make it easier when the club decides what to do for next year.

I don't think it's too early at all! 4 months for folks with other priorities is cutting it close already. That 4 months will evaporate quickly, especially if we test out more than one or two planes or combos. Keep in mind that people will still have to buy/buils/assemble what ever the new class may be.  If we can agree that an inbetween class is the way to go, at least then we can look that direction. As it is now we can't even agree what direction to look.

We need to decide on a direction soon, otherwise it will be mid next season before anything gets done. Ideally we would have a class picked out before the end of the year.

Thanks everyone for the replies, its all good info. One thing is clear however, there is no clear consensus or answer.  I've restructured the poll a bit and reposted it, please have a look. Maybe we this will head us a bit more in the right direction?

Link to new poll: http://www.wcflyers.com/index.php?option=com_smf&Itemid=28&topic=82.0

Hey guys,

Sorry to keep rehashing things again, but after talking to some folks, we felt the need to ask the same question, but in a different way. Please take a look at the above and vote, and add your comments below.

This racing for your benefit. The more the folks that organize the races understand our needs and wants, the better racing will become. Please be assured that before any permanent changes are made, there will be plenty of discussion here, at the field, at club & board meetings.

Cheers
Red

John,

Yeah that was pretty fun wasn't it? I haven't been up to the field lately, only on race days. Are there still quite a few guys flying trainers?

Hey Guys,

In the interest of keeping things fresh, there has been some talk of adding/removing a class or two to our monthly races. I think we can all agree that 1/12 scale is suffering from lack of entries and that time slot may be better served by something that will drawn more interest. For me personally I've had a rather busy year work wise and have missed the majority of the races, but I will race something for sure when I can.

I'm curious about the thoughts of others regarding racing. If you would be so kind as to answer the above poll, and if you don't mind also answer these questions in your post?

* If you were to race, what is the most important thing to get you to participate?
* Would you build a kit if it were available or is arf more your thing?
* How important is cost to get you to participate? What is the maximum you would be willing to spend for plane/motor/esc combo?
*Would you prefer that all fly the same airplane (Like T-28/Corsair) or be allowed to "tweak" your own
* If you answered "Other", please elaborate

Keep in mind there are no right or wrong answers here. Please share any and all thoughts you have. I'm just looking to guage interest here and see if there might be something new that would excite us all.

Cheers
Red

Hey,

Gotta make room for the next project. UMX Micro 300 3D in like new condition. Includes a 160 mAh Thunder Power 25c lipo. This has much better punch than the stock one.

$100

Red
481-9504

Thanks to those of you who decided to show up. We got the pits and runway all cleaned up and even flew for a couple of hours before the rain set in.

My Flying Football/Martain Spaceship had a great first couple of flights as well. Flys better than I expected!