Parkzone Radian Sailplane - Maiden Flights

Had a fun time and did 45mins on the included 1300mAh stock battery. This was mainly flying low checking the glide ability and feeling the wind(5-11mph according to w.underground, always seems lower) as it was a little more breezy than I would've liked. I practiced low glides at no power for short landings and had some really graceful, at the side of my feet landings. The Radian can be one of those hand toss launch and hand catch planes. I had some 10+ feet slides that surprised me, but this was what others warned that you need to rub off some speed as it just wants to hang on landings. I was expecting the plane to want to slide forever but I circled around for re-approach if it was coming in too hot.



I was flying at a sports complex and the little league teams occupied 3-4 of the other fields. I positioned myself way out of view across a parking lot on the unused soccer fields. Man what a great place to fly minus all the stadium lighting. I had two gentleman leave their grandkids games to try and track the "pilot" down, they had to walk around the complex to find me so I landed and got to talk with both at separate times. One has been flying over 50 years and mainly flies gliders, slope soars. He was familiar with a lot of the equipment I had and some models both of us had. Explained to them this was my maiden and had a good laugh at a close call early in the flights(stadium lighting). They gave some positive comments on my flying being it was my maiden so that was certainly generous.

Sunday morning, 5-14mph (w.underground) very breezy, the Radian was literally not moving on dead stick, fun times practicing dead stick landings, high altitude. 31mins on stock 1300mAh - only 768mAh charged back in (fma mulit4).

Changed rudder pushrod to inner most hole on control horn for added response. Rudder is still slow when wing is flexing, but isn't to aggressive on slow flight either. Dead stick landings, all were smooth even with the wingtips dropping due to the wind, the Radian was at a basic hover until the gentle landing. Makes my flying look a lot more impressive than it is :D


Thoughts on Parkzone Radian maiden flight.
1. A little down trim for first launch
2. Conservative throttle at launch, be prepared to bring that nose down
3. Rudder input is slow on this breezy day, long turns
4. Rudder input REALLY slow on high throttle or nose dive(haven't changed the control horn position from stock on maiden, should've)
5. Will be a fun platform for my camera
6. Used 874mAh from stock 1300mAh battery 45mins multiple landings and goofing around really low just laughing at the glide hang time the plane has, powered on for 30 secs bursts then glide etc/ Also flew a PZ1800mAh for 40mins and had PLENTY left.
7. Needs under wing identifiers, also may put on holographic tape on leading edge, Econokote coverings for wing like a translucent orange or something bright .. still deciding.
8. Larger 1800mAh did fine, have a bunch of 2200mAh I'll try next.
9. Not that confident in the push on wings to stay put for the life of the plane, magnets, simple tape .. still thinking.
10. Very easy to fly, fun, great looking in the sky, very very stealth in air, does loops very easily, but I was enjoying the glide ability as this is my first plane over 48" wingspan so the 78" Radian wingspan is awesome!.
11. I am a noob thermal hunter, so far the Radian loves the wind.

Some Parkzone Radian Related sites:

• Parkzone Radian RTF - Parkzone's product listing
• RCgroups - Parkzone Radian review and forum posts
• WattFlyer - Parkzone Radian review and Forum posts
• Youtube - Various Radian Videos
• Vimeo - Various Radian Videos
• $12.01 Replacement Battery ZIPPY Flightmax 1300mAh 3S1P 20C

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Parkzone Radian Sailplane Arrives

Read a few reviews and watched the flying videos that were posted on forums, vimeo, youtube and was excited to research the Radian further. Well, I purchased it and the Radian just arrived today. I'll be soldering deans ultra plug on and then off tomorrow morning to a park for it's first maiden flight.

Next I'll attach my video camera and add some aerial videos. It'll be great to see the different perspective and sound the Radian will have once at high altitude and no throttle. And here is the rest of it.

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Parkzone Radian awesome sailplane

update - I purchased the plane and have already started a few mods Parkzone Radian page

Parkzone Radian is a brushless powered, 2 meter sailplane that came on the market at the end of last year. I have always liked the flying dynamics of RC gliders and was researching either building one or perhaps purchasing a RTF (ready to fly) model. Now, new owners have added their flying experiences with the Parkzone Radian, adding their posts to various forums and videos on Vimeo and Youtube. I have made a decision and the Radian will be my next plane.


The Parkzone Radian has plenty of power and goes near vertical on takeoff with the brushless motor. It essentially uses the same powerplant as my Parkzone Corsair, a brushless 480 size motor with 11.1v - 3 cell Lipo's. The battery with the Radian is a little lighter as it's rated at 1300mAh. It is a basic sailplane as far as controls are concerned, it doesn't have ailerons. Those more experienced glider and sailplane pilots are equally impressed with the Radian and it's flying characteristics and ability to catch thermals and sustain very long flights. No stopwatch needed to get down in time before the battery runs out with this plane as once you power off at high altitude, get comfortable, she'll float for awhile and I foresee neck pain as the main reason to bring her back down.

I plan on attaching my video cam(pocketcamx), as seen in my previous aerial videos, and getting some vids up on my Vimeo site. I'll first trim the Radian controls out and get used to it's flying characteristics and get a few maiden flights under my belt. The plane looks to be an easy flier and would probably great as a starter plane for a beginner pilot. The landing may pose difficult for a newer pilot based on the Radian's ease of maintaining a glide and staying aloft, it wants to float all day and a longer landing field or spot will need to be utilized. As owners have indicated, the Radian may need a couple of approaches to settle the altitude and speed down enough for a graceful landing without taking up a lot of ground. I'm so looking forward to relaxing and flying without the need of the motor constantly on and having the prop folded at high altitude I'll be capturing the surrounding area with video and the wind as the only audible noise so it'll make my next few aerial videos very unique. Stay tuned the Parkzone Radian is already en route and will be delivered in just a few short, or long, days.

Parkzone Home - Radian
Parkzone Radian - RC Groups forum
Parkzone Radian - WattFlyer forum
Parkzone Radian - Vimeo vids
Parkzone Radian - Youtube vids

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Parkzone Corsair F4U mods and new items

Well since the last crash involving the Parkzone Corsair it still flies perfect thanks to the minimal damage. In the meantime my order arrived from FMA and included a new Multi4 charger. Also included in the package was a battery connector (Parkzone and newer Hong Kong lipos I grabbed on Ebay) and a PC cable to connect with the included chargers software on my PC. It's pretty neat and you can view graphs, control presets, change charger variables and download new REV versions and basically customize the hell out of it to your desires. Here is a pretty extensive review that I used and ultimately convinced me to purchase. FMA and the Cellpro line has long been embraced by the RC community as one of the best RC chargers on the market and you rarely see them for sale used.




I recently ordered two more 11.1v 3s 2200mAh Lipos off of Ebay. The two other Ebay lipos have been working fine and it's hard to beat the prices they're offered at. They should arrive from Hong Kong in about 10 days.


And lastly I received my fiberglass cloth (3/4oz lightweight) that I will experiment with applying to the foam Super Cub. It should add some great stability and toughness and resist the little 'hangar dings' that occur. I have been following this thread for the fiberglass application and materials used. If it works well I may try the fiberglass cloth on the Corsair. The other option is to reinforce vulnerable areas with the familiar strapping tape or packaging tape. Weight is my largest concern as it should be with our lightweight foam models.

So I have reinforced some areas with packing tape, added larger Dubro wheels, added new larger (4) 2200mAh lipos, new charger, added a video camera set-up (vids here) but there are a lot more fun additions that can be added. Some popular mods that I may pursue are motor upgrades such as the Power 10, Power 15. Lipo upgrade moving to 4 cell 14.8v battery, adding the Spektrum DX6i, etc. Here are some posts from several owners with their upgrades (Park Zone F-4U corsair modification thread) . Tons of ideas on wattflyer , rcgroups and the other RC forums.

Wattflyer RC forum Parkzone F4U Corsair

ParkZone's Newest Warbird: F4U Corsair In Action

Corsair Mod Thread - RC Groups

ParkZone F4U Corsair RTF Review - RC Groups

Parkzone f4U Corsair Rtf - RC Universe

F4U Corsair - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Vimeo Video - parkzone corsair power 15 11x7E on Vimeo

Vimeo Video - Parkzone Corsair F4U PNP Stock 4 cell 2200 Thunder Power Battery

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Amazon finally lowers prices on HDTV

Still following the HDTV fluctuations and if you followed the previous post I'm still using various deal watching sites that will email me when there is a price change. Due to Amazon finally lowering the price it is now at it's lowest in around 3 months with the extra Gold Box discount trick (see post here search gold box trick)

$1709.98 for the Samsung LN52A650 52-Inch 1080p 120Hz LCD HDTV.

The 46" model has also lowered and matched the alltime lowest price $1399.98.

And here is the rest of it.

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Attack Of The Killer Tumbleweeds

The last few weeks the backyard has become a drop zone for the thorny tumbleweed invaders. The vile tumbleweeds are thorny as hell and far too large to keep in our yard recycle bin.So the easiest solution thus far has to string them up with butcher twine and literally drag them behind a vehicle to the empty field to dispose of them there. I have taken this trip 4 times already with over 15 tumbleweeds in these last few weeks. And then this HUGE ass Tumbleweed decided to invade the property, and chose our pond as the crossover point in the yard.

Soon I will ONCE AGAIN round them all up (tumbleweeds) and make yet another trip to the border to drop off the uninvited guests. Don't suppose a No Trespass sign will do any good.

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