Merry Christmas Travel Tips!

December 23, 2012

Merry Christmas from Paul's Hobby Hangar!

We have all heard that song.. 'Grandma Got Ran Over By A Reigndeer! But Santa ran over by an Airliner??? Wonder what ATC would say about this? Merry Christmas!

How to make your holiday flights jolly

From 'On The Go With Amy!

Long lines, lost luggage, storm delays-flying during the holidays can quickly turn you into Scrooge. But if you follow these tips, you'll still be in the holiday spirit when you arrive at your destination.

Lose the layovers Avoid stopovers, especially in airports such as Denver, Chicago, Detroit, and Minneapolis where weather delays are common. If a connection is necessary, fly through a Southern hub such as Dallas, Charlotte, or Phoenix, where you can at least eliminate the possibility of weather being a problem.

Check in at home Most airlines' Web sites now make it possible for passengers to print out bar-coded boarding passes at home.

Beat the traffic If you live far from an airport and have an early flight, stay at an airport hotel the night before; some allow you to park your car at the hotel until you return. Check www.bestwestern.com.

Reserve parking During the holidays, airport parking lots fill up fast. Luckily, you can reserve spaces ahead. Even better, ask a neighbor to give you a lift or arrange for a shuttle.

Avoid gift glitches Leave the presents unwrapped because security measures may require wrapped packages to be unwrapped. Another option: To avoid gift wrapping late into the night after your arrival, mail gifts ahead.

Carry on some fruitcake—and a sandwich Food is nonexistent on most flights these days so bring a sandwich from home and a holiday treat to keep yourself in the spirit.

Entertain the kids...or just yourself Play holiday movies such as Polar Express and Elf on the DVD player; bring paper, stickers, and crayons to make holiday cards; and pack travel Scrabble but play with new rules—holiday words only.

Spread the joy Pack a box of chocolates to pass out to other passengers, or bring a treat for the flight attendants.

Bedeck your bag The last thing you want to deal with is a piece of lost luggage so tie a red ribbon around the handle.

Review: DYNAM A-10 Warthog

Courtesy of MyCoolRC.com

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Dynam A-10  Review

Build:
Build was straight forward to me.  You can use the included glue.  I prefer to let the glue sit for a minute before bonding the surfaces. I also stress that you should dry fit everything first.  One additional thing is to hook up ALL of the electronics and test it before building.  On mine, I did pull the fan off and balanced it with a magnetic prop balancer.  Since I fly off of Grass, I elected to not install the landing gear so I could belly Land.  I also added some holes up front and on the top rear to allow more airflow.  This plane has ZERO air flow internally which you should have for the battery and the ESC.  Adding holes are a must!  Some people have added Fiberglass or CF spars to the rear stabilizer. I still have not done so. I try to fly scale with mine.  You must however add in 3-4mm of UP elevator prior to maiden as the angle of attack of the wing requires you to do that or mount the rear stab with a matching downward angle of attack. The build is less than an hour and your ready to maiden.  I used the recommended CG.

Flying:
After Maiden (Hand Launch) I put in 2 screws into the bottom of the wing to mark CG finger points, then marked the battery position for future flights. It flew well and hand launching was easier than I expected.  You should have a 2nd person hand launch it if you elect to hand launch.  The plane is heavy for it's size but the wing is generous and with dual 64mm fans, it will suck up power from the 2200mAh 3S that I used (I used a Gens Ace 2200mAh 3S 25C pack) I recommend you do most of your flight at 1/2 throttle and reserve the full throttle for climb outs.  Doin so, I set my timer for 5 mintues and don't fly beyond the 5. This plane truely is impressive in the air just from the looks. I can do loops and rolls no problem. It does not have a high thrust ratio like the Concept X or the Meteor though so fly ahead of the model. We later put a 4S 1800mAh as well as a heavier 4S 2200mah pack and the speed increase was noticable but the stock wings can't take it in a high G turn. Wings will snap.  You have to use the full throttle sparingly because it will overheat the motor and/or ESC.

Durability:
Well, I wanted to get other's opions on the plane and loaned it out to sever others.  One had a mishap and broke the nose some.  No bother, he glue'd it on and it was back in the air. Some people have added CF rods to the wings and stabs to stiffen things up in a mishap or added straping tape to the bottom of the main wing to sustain tigher loops better.

Conslusion:
This plane is a blast to fly and draws much attention at the field.  It looks really scale in the air (especially with the landing gear removed) and belly lands/hand launches pretty well.(do not twist your wrist like you throw a football). This so far is my pick for the best "first EDF" ever. .

RCGroups thread on the Dynam A-10





Slower flight