HobbyZone Super Cub returns to the air with new color

I have neglected my old workhorse, the HobbyZone Super Cub for far too long. With the addition of the ParkZone Corsair F4U and most recently ParkZone Radian I found less time to fly the ole' Cub. One of it's strengths is the ease of flights and less aggressive flying dynamics that make it a perfect trainer for the new pilot. I will always have a Super Cub in the hangar for this exact reason. As friends and family become interested, I have handed over the controls to the Super Cub to many new fliers after a short instruction. The most recent crash with the Super Cub was a result of a new flier and even though I had all the replacement parts delivered, I never put the Cub back to flight worthiness until last night. I added some high visibility trim strips from Monokote (Day-Glo Red) to the upper wing and tail rudder. After a range check I took the Cub out to the flying field even though it was very breezy. I did the same lipo conversion that I had on my previous Cub and placed my stock Corsair 3s1800mAh lipo in the bottom. I used my Skymate sm18 to check the wind speed out of curiosity and found that my guesstimate was pretty accurate. Winds were averaging 15mph and gusts up to 20mph during a couple minute test period. I was confident on my pre-flight and power of the lipo to pull the Cub out of harms way if needed.



The flight went pretty smooth, less than half throttle and the Cub would practically not move in the air, almost hovering and stuck in the wind. Tip the nose and add power and I was able to make headway. Performed a few instant flips heading into the wind, a few large circles and low flyby's feeling how difficult a landing would be. I landed after 15mins(no wheels) in the grass field just to check over the decals and surface areas incl rubber bands etc. All was well and the motor being new smelled a little as it was getting broken in for the first time and was warm. I readied for another hand launch and had the Super Cub in the air for 20 secs when throttle cut off, I still had control of plane so I just landed off in the field and figured it was a low battery cutoff. Yep, low-batt cutoff as I forgot to charge the 1800 fully before I left! It was reading 10.v right there on the spot. It was a good flight so I just decided to call it a day at the field and will make a return visit with additional color on the wing and other planes.

Thoughts - the new Trim sheet color(day-glo red) however bright as they are up close were not as noticeable at altitude as the trim colors I recently tried on the Corsair(yellow). That surprised me, so I have to try a little yellow or maybe the neon green I bought recently on the Super Cub's wings.

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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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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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Ballpark field Super Cub

Empty ballpark field for once so I got the Super Cub in the air to get a different perspective. Flight was cut short due to my transmitter batteries being low.

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Aerial view of Marina / Delta

Great weather although still a little hazy from California Wildfires but the Super Cub took some neat aerial footage of the surrounding area





Delta area with a few boats on the water but a lot of fishermen were on the dock which is located further in front of my launching area.

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Super Cub takes a dive

Added my Garmin GPS Vista unit on the top of the wings and checked center of gravity and it looked fine. A little heavy but should've been ok if not for the wind. Took the plane out in conditions that might be ok without anything attached. Took awhile to get altitude and the plane was rocking back and forth but I stuck with it. Reached 1100 ft and topped out at 47mph but the wind was getting too much. I'm sure both of these can be improved especially the elevation as the plane wasn't nearly as high as I sometimes fly. So the landing was a different story. Full trim with up elevator and if I place stick in neutral it dives at a steep angle. It's currently curing with all the Gorilla glue that was needed to mend the firewall/fuselage back together.

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