Thanksgiving Smoker WSM: The Super Cub... Carcass and Carnage

Happy Thanksgiving!
So the Weber Smokey Mountain cooker turned out some great Thanksgiving day turkeys. I had (2) 15lb turkeys and used an Garlic oil, dark ale, cayenne injection and stuffed another with apple and fresh rosemary sprigs. They were on the WSM for 4hrs and the 2nd one off at 5hours. Pics were taken as soon as the Turkeys were taken off the smoker and placed in a pan to rest. I missed taking pics of the full table spread but it was fantastic and PLENTIFUL. Many left with a lot of leftovers that come in so handy later in the evening and especially the next day.

Injection Turkey

Rosemary apple

The turkeys were extremely moist and had reached 175º in the breast which was higher than I originally wanted to reach. The Rosemary Turkey stayed on longer since it was on the lower grate and I wrapped in foil to try to retain moisture and have it pull a little.

SUPER CUB

Later in the day I had family try one of my RC planes, the Super Cub. It's the easiest to fly and with the new Lipos can approach 20mins flying time. First beginner pilot went fine and performed a few loops without difficulty. The second beginner pilot performed a inside loop then immediately followed with an outside loop. THE WING FOLDED. Even though I had support tape and the struts on, the outside loop put pressure on the wing area that wasn't protected. I have his support for the parts needed and I'm guilty for allowing him to stunt fly the plane on his very first flight but I had no idea that he would attempt aerobatics =). So on Thanksgiving add that to my list of what I'm thankful for.... not allowing them to fly the Parkzone F4U Corsair I just purchased.

Super Cub aftermath

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Thanksgiving Meal Prep: Using The WSM Smoker

I'm in the process of preparing the meal layout for Thanksgiving and I will be using my WSM- Weber Smokey Mountain Cooker. I plan on using the smoker to cook (2) turkeys in the WSM and perhaps another additional in the oven. We have several fruit orchards nearby and now is the season that they cut and burn a lot of their trimmed trees. I have A LOT of Apricot and Cherry wood that I was given so I plan on using that for my smoke wood.

The virtualweberbullet.com site has been a source of great advice, answers, and a ton of pics that help the owner of the Weber Smokey Mountain cooker and BBQ enthusiast alike. I have noticed quite a lot of traffic to my posts regarding the cooks I've done with the WSM and wanted to point out that the above site has opened their specific Thanksgiving TURKEY related section. All BBQ enthusiasts are welcome! I'll be adding my pics of the two turkeys later this weekend. It can't be any easier to smoke the birds with the WSM. You basically add your charcoal or lump with your choice of smoking wood (apple, apricot, cherry, hickory, etc) then depending on your desire for a slow cook at 240º-260º or you can go much higher like 350º+ and with a probe thermometer you have an excellent turkey in approx 2.5 - 5hours that will rival any Turkey you've eaten. You can get as fancy or as simple as you'd like with brining and injection but it's not necessary. Take a look at the virtualweberbullet.com site for pics of some fantastic Thanksgiving Turkeys.

I'll post my BBQ later in the weekend!

Here are some of my previous cooks using the WSM - weber smokey mountain cooker


Happy Thanksgiving from our family to yours!

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Parkzone F4U Corsair on board vid test

Added my Aiptek PocketcamX to the Corsair this morning with good results You can see the

Corsair videos here.



Testing camera location and first ever flight adding a Aiptek PocketcamX to the underside of the Corsair. The flight was originally 7m30s but the camera only captured half due to low batts.

This is about the 8thflight with the new corsair and marks the first time the battery ESC/BEC cut the power to the flight. I used more throttle then usual and with the additional weight ended the flight much shorter. The previous flights where timed at 10-11 minutes and I would land to avoid the auto low voltage cutoff.

Stock Corsair - except added larger Dubro 2 3/4 Super Lite wheels.

Park overhead view where I was flying and missed the initial landing approach:




RC Parkzone F4U Corsair missed landing approach from DynamicJ on Vimeo.



Parksone F4U Corsair video test from DynamicJ on Vimeo.

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RC Hobbyzone Super Cub Flyer - for new owners

New Pilots or seasoned flyers -

Here are a few websites that I visit and cover a lot of great information for the RC Hobbyzone Super Cub. Anything additional just send me an email by clicking on "Contact" at the top of this page.

1.) Videos that I took using the Aiptek PocketcamX

Jason's Super Cub Aerial Videos


Aiptek Order Page-$25


2.) RC SuperCub Club Forums:
Super Cub Club site

RcGroups Super Cub Forum


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3.) GENERAL R/C Forums:
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/index.php
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/
http://www.wattflyer.com/forums/

4.) BATTERIES -Suggested by Hobbyzone for upgrade is the 9.6V:
$18.99 http://www.all-battery.com/96v1400mahnimhsquarebatterypacksforfirebirdairplane.aspx

VS

$31.99 http://www.horizonhobby.com/Products/Default.aspx?ProdID=PKZ1023

I've purchased (2) of these high output batteries 10.8V 1400 mAh NiMH but when using these you need to modify the battery space:
http://www.all-battery.com/108v1400mahnimhbatterypackforrcaircraftparkzonefirebirdetc.aspx

BOTTOM LINE=

Best Scenario - Use LIPO's!
Yes I have heard the other RC fliers talk about how great they are and the weight savings but I put off purchasing them for quite awhile (needed new charger, balancer etc) UNTIL.... I purchased the Parkzone Corsair F4U. What a difference the lipo's make not only in the extreme speed but also flight times. I went from a stock battery (8.4V 1000mAh NiMHBattery) to the 10.8v 1400Mah and I thought that was substantial but nothing compares to the lipos! I easily get 20min plus flights and do not need full throttle. It literally gains altitude beyond belief and blew away my expectations. I use the stock Corsair lipo and then purchased additional ebay lipos NEW following some members advice on the forums. Here is what can be purchased on the inexpensive route. Hobbycity ZIPPY Flightmax 1300mAh 3S1P 20C $12 OR Ebay 2 x 2200mAh 25C 11.1V 3S Lipo FAST flying! They almost all ship from Hong Kong etc they work very well and and are dependable. Just visit the forums as a lot of the owners use the Zippy and other Hong Kong variants. Just try to keep the weight down, with my heavier 2200mAh batteries the performance is fantastic but I also get more than 25mins but they are kinda heavy.

You will need to remove a small jumper on the Super Cub's receiver when using Lipo's. This post on Wattflyer explains it in more detail:
http://www.wattflyer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=13831

You can email me and I can give further leads on my experience. The Super Cub battery box once again needs a little modification to accept the larger lipo batteries (one example) I left the battery box and and just dremeled the space. I use Deans Connectors(ultra) on all my RC planes and for charging lipos I have the stock Parkzone charger but have a FMA multi4charger on the way. My first battery charger that I purchased (Triton Jr) I used mainly for NiMH's and it allows you to see how many mAh you used and put back in the batteries along with cycling and other features.

I am sure you have questions so email me and ask there is a lot to go over. Contact link top of page

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F4U Corsair - Parkzone -

Purchased a NEW PLANE!!

Here are a few pics after 3 flights and one pre-fight just in case the maiden flight went terribly wrong.


Just picked up the new Parkzone F4U Corsair from the local Hobby shop. Man, this plane flies so much faster than the Hobbyzone Super cub which was my main RC plane for a year. I have been eying the Parkzone Trojan T-28 as my next plane but the new Spektrum DX5 radio that comes with the RTF Corsair convinced me to purchase it instead. The brushless 480 motor and the ailerons and the new LiPo battery and 2.4ghz Spektrum radio changes the whole flying dynamic.

I woke up this morning and took off ROG and had to play with the rudder to keep it straight. It took off pretty easily and had a relatively short takeoff. The plane performed flawlessly with the new 2.4ghz Spektrum radio system. I was able to put the plane into a few loops and consistent rolls and flying inverted was a piece of cake. I limited flying to timed stopwatch flights of anywhere between 7-10 minutes until I familiarize myself with the discharge rate and capacity of the new 1800mah lipos. Scared myself a few times and lost orientation by fooling around with rolls, outside loops, and rolls to inverted flight. Very pleased with the new performance and flight characteristics of the new plane. I had the plane at altitude and throttle completely off to test the gliding capabilities and it passed with flying colors. No drama, no wing tip and spin reaction but I will stall the plane without power to test recovery at a later time. I think it will accommodate my pocketcamX nicely and I'll be able to add my Corsair videos soon.

I need to purchase additional Lipo's for the plane as I only have one and it takes 1hr+ to charge. The last flights I hand-tossed the plane which is my normal practice with the Super Cub. I also left the landing gear on and didn't use the skid pads for the under belly. The plane was released in Aug/Sept 2008 and is quickly drawing praise and attention in the forums. There will be countless mods and additions that owners will experiment with much like the Super Cub and the T-28 Trojan planes.

Here are the Specs of the plane and the Manufactures website:
F4U Corsair RTF

My Parkzone Corsair On Board Videos

...other F4U Corsair videos on VIMEO


RC Parkzone F4U Corsair missed landing approach from DynamicJ on Vimeo.



Parksone F4U Corsair video test from DynamicJ on Vimeo.

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