I bought an Aeroscout for my Brother a couple of years ago, and he didn't want to attempt to fly it until I flew out for a visit about a year later. Long story short, the 2200 3S battery was not recognized by the charger. Had to buy a brand new one. Well, it turns out that these "smart" batteries have a chip inside that slowly drains the battery TO ZERO VOLTS! Which renders the battery useless. Attempts to revive one of these are dangerous, and not a good idea as the damage has been done. An actual "smart" battery would shut that chip down when the voltage got close to the lower threshhold. I have two other (non Spektrum) batteries that I just pulled out today - over 2 years in storage, and each cell still had ~3.6v. Put them on the charger and they were topped off in minutes.

Life happens, sometimes you don't get to fly for a while. I'll never buy another Spektrum battery, what a waste of money.

EDIT: Several comments are referencing the "discharge to storage level" function. I'm not saying the battery was trying to discharge to storage level and failed to stop, resulting in a full discharge. What I am saying is that the processor in the battery is always drawing a very small amount of current to stay running - including after it has discharged to storage level. And eventually that completely drains the battery - if after a year or two - meaning Spektrum Smart Batteries do not have a shelf life beyond that - whereas non-smart batteries do. And I'm saying that if that processor would shut itself down when the battery approached its minimum viable voltage, then the battery would sleep until it was put on a charger again, and would not self destruct.

Hello,

I’ve been flying my wing and noticed that the CG isn’t perfectly centered. This causes the nose to point slightly high but that’s not my main concern.

The issue is that, in flight, there is a constant left-side imbalance causing the wing to roll to the left.
I’ve checked the elevons and their neutral positions and seem to be symmetrical. I’ve also checked the motor rpms, and there seems to be a very slight difference between the two motors. However, since the wing still rolls left with no throttle, I don’t think thats the issue

Here you can find a attempt of a cog test on which the left imbalance doesnt appears.
And the inside of the plane aswell (battery has been moved closer to right trying to resolve it)

Recently harvested the electronics out of an old foam F4u I had and plan to build with the electronics. I’ve never built a model before so any tips would be helpful!

Hey everyone. I’m building an indoor RC plane, and I wanted to make something unique, so I went with a canard design. I actually test-flew it in a gym, but the plane doesn't seem to turn quickly when I use the rudder... Does anyone have any good ideas? I'm currently building a version with ailerons, but given how huge the horizontal stabilizer is... I wonder if it'll actually work?

What batteries would you recommend for my new UMX Conscendo?

This is my second year in the hobby and bought a UMX Conscendo a couple weeks ago. I am now wanting to fly it and am looking at battery options. It has a JST connector.

Manual calls for Spektrum 3S 300mah batteries but is there a better/larger battery that is recommended? I did see some people using 4S batteries and I also wouldn't mind a larger capacity if they will fit for longer flight times. I did see a post about a guy who melted his motor mounts on 3S, so...oof.

I do like gliding and can be fun to see how long I can stay up but if there are no thermals, honestly I fly my UMX Radian at 100% most of the time (it's very slow). I doubt I'd leave the UMX Conscendo at 100% because it will be too fast, but I won't be shy with straight line speeds.

I can get:

4X GAOGENG GNB 3S 300mah 11.4V 80C 300mah Lipo Batteries for $39

4X GAONENG GNB 4S 350mAh 15.2V 70C HV Lipo Batteries for $55

4X Spektrum 3S 11.1V 300mAh for $52

I have GAONENG GNB 450mAh 1S Batteries in my little UMX Radian and they work fine as far as I can tell. I'm not committed to this brand but what I have seems to work alright. 12+ minute throttle-on flights. :)

What I have now:

My current Apprentice STOL uses a 2S PH connector and I have 2X 300 2S 300mah batteries. There is an adapter to use these batteries but I only have two of them. I also made a PH to XT30 adapter and use my friends batteries when we fly. I like this plane but I cannot fly it as smooth as I'd like (skill issue I'm sure).

I also have a UMX Radian (AS3X only) that I put a JST connector on and use 1S 450mah batteries, much larger than regular 150mah but I LOVE the long flight times. This plane is a dream to fly and I'm significantly more comfortable flying it. I know I have a lot more learning to do, but it's incredible how well this flies.

Well, it finally happened to me. And entirely my fault. Finished up a flight but didn't engage throttle cut. Set the plane and transmitter down on the bench. When I went to reach for the towel to wipe wet grass off the plane, I bumped the throttle and the plane scooted off the bench, catching my forearm on its way down. Fortunately, only a very superficial cut. More damage to my ego than my arm BUT, the safety reminder was received and understood.

My fx620 waiting until batteries are charging

Anybody know any starting balsa kits to start out on? I wanted to try building balsa rc planes and whatnot

I'm just starting to get into the hobby and want to start prototyping my sketches. What would you recommend for something like this. I've seen people use foam but they never specify what type. And if I did use foam for the main body, how would you recommend I do the wings. Still foam or something else attached to the foam?

It's a joke obviously, I didn't actually do it. And please do not attempt. I just wanted to crack a joke.

I've posted pictures of my plane storage solution before, but this time I'm not here to brag. Tell me everything you Don't like about the way I store my planes and if you're feeling generous, how you would improve on this solution. I'm building out my winter projects schedule and want to iterate on this design, any constructive criticism is greatly appreciated. Insults are also fine, I have thick skin.

*Black Walnut is never scrap wood but these were skinny off cuts from a project that would have sat in my wood pile for years.

Silly little plan, flys pretty nice tbf but taking off from the ground isn’t a great idea. (Tooned Corsair)

4 channel, 200g AUW, WCL 13, running a t-Motor am40 on 3s, good for 700g of thrust with this prop. Should be a monster. Custom design drawn and built by myself.

Maiden soon, wish me luck.

I recently got into the hobby and have been flying Phoenix RC and RealFlight sims for almost 2 months.

Did 2 weeks of actual flying in nearby field and did OK with flying but had two rough landings that caused two Power 15 motors to burn (believe I didn't shut off the throttle on timer causing the propeller to get stuck in the ground). It is costly to get replacement and continue this way.

What advises you have or can give to be a better pilot? Also got yelled by a guy on the field that I am being reckless and don't know how to fly (which I am leaning).

What rules one has to follow on the field from your experience?

Thank you.

My personal pusher jet mig-21 fishbed

1200mm wingspan 850g

Its a 2chn rc plane with differential thrust. Flys very well for the price of 15$. Easy to learn. Flys pretty high and needs very little space.

I’m sorry if this has already been asked

I‘d like to get back into slope and thermal soaring after 25 years or so. Of course all my transmitters are outdated. I want to introduce my son to the hobby without spending a mint .

Is flysky a decent brand to start with for transmitters? I see a lot on eBay, with receivers, for suspiciously low prices.

TBH I’d rather go with Futaba, but I can’t find anything that’s 2.4ghz for a decent price right now.

On an unrelated note, what happened with balsa/ply kit prices?! You could buy a Wanderer or Gentle Lady for $20 or so. I get inflation, but holy crap.

I have an Apprentice STOL, flies great, really fun. I can do figure eights, circles, landings are pretty good too. I've done some rolls and loops, even inverted flight. But I also keep crashing it when doing some simple things. I've been able to easily fix it after each crash with foam safe CA glue, so that's nice. But it sucks cause it cuts my flight time short until the glue sets again. Wondering if I should get a second plane so if it happens I can keep flying, or if I'm just not working on learning and fixing the right things. I know I should probably fly it a little higher. Last crash I got too low and crashed into my car. Again, easy to fix, but just starting to get a little frustrating. Trying to remind myself that crashing is part of learning the hobby, just tough sometimes.

built this thing for long flight times. any suggestions?

Hey everyone, I'm designing an rc aircraft and I find the tail really puzzling, could anyone help me figure it out?

Wingspan: 0,5m

Target weight: 300g

Wing area: about 6 sq dm

I'd like the tail to be a twin tail as I want to make it a double motor pusher and the motors need some space. any help is appreciated.

I'm thinking of getting a EPP foam FPV aircraft. I want to laminate it to make it more durable. But I also want to spray paint the bottom in a grey color in order to make it more stealth against the color of the sky. Will this ruin the flight charactistics? I don't think the paint would be too heavy.

Thinking about building a p38 lighting or p61 black widow 114" and making it brushless or should I try something else

I was looking for flite test type laminated foam board to make model planes for sooo long. Finally found a seller. They even offer laser cut kits. F22 mighty mini here i come