Electrics-2011/08

THE TOLEDO
R/C Expo is old
news by now, but as
I write this, I only
returned from it a
week ago and it’s
fresh in my mind.
The show was
another success and
if you’ve never
been, you owe it to
yourself to make the
journey to the Weak Signals Toledo Show
next year.
I’m not going in depth since I know MA
Editor Jay Smith was there doing the big
coverage, but I will hit on some of the electric
highlights.
Stevens AeroModel: Bill Stevens’ booth
was a highlight for me and many others. He
has boosted the market with his incredible
smaller electric-powered airplane offerings,
including CL models that are actually
practical now. His kits range from scale to
cute to everything in between.
If you’ve never built from a kit before or
are looking to rekindle your love of building,
you should check them out. Some can be built
in an evening and others will take slightly
longer. Bill carries everything from motors to
ESCs to all the building and covering supplies
you’ll need.
Bill and his kids all fly the products, so
you’ll get a knowledgeable person on the
telephone when you call or email.
FMA Direct: The Marks brothers were
there in full force with a staff demonstrating
and explaining all of the company’s products.
I’ve been eyeballing a Cellpro 10s charger for
some time now, and after getting a great
demonstration and lesson on what it will do, I
pulled the trigger and brought one home.
This is in Red Scholefield’s territory so I
won’t review it here, but it’s everything Red
has told me it is, and I’m just scratching the
surface of its capabilities.
What was of particular interest is
how it treats two 5s packs when they
are charging simultaneously. Because
my 10s airplanes use two 5s packs in
series, it’s the perfect charging situation.
The packs connect to two charge-andbalance
ports on the charger, but are
treated internally as a series
pack so the cells are
balanced across the
two packs. This is
incredibly cool for the
health of your packs if you
run them this way!
The display of the internal resistance of
each cell intrigues me. Now when you think
you have a cell in a pack starting to go
downhill, you can
monitor its actual
resistance and
compare it with the
others. This is a
great charger for the
money.
Sig Manufacturing:
It was great seeing
David Martin at the Sig booth. He has a long
history in the aeromodeling business and his
dad was a good friend of mine. David brought
his expertise, along with a couple of investors
(also modelers), to Iowa and purchased Sig.
The company’s outlook is great and
production is in full swing. Its new Rascal EP-
49 ARF drew large crowds all day. I’ve flown
the larger Rascals and they’re great-flying
aircraft, so I expect this one to be the same.
Sig brought its full line of building and
covering supplies for scratch builders. The
company still makes kits too, so maybe
building is making a comeback.
Xtreme Power Systems: Jim and Scott
staffed the booth at Xtreme Power Systems
Also included in this column:
• Keith Shaw “Mr. Electrics”
wins it
• Jim Ryan’s Cheyenne takes
the prize
Toledo follow-up
August 2011 101
Electrics Greg Gimlick | [email protected]
Above: I finally bought one of these
Cellpro 10S chargers, and boy am I glad.
Keith Shaw’s prize-winning, scratch-built Designer Scale Yak UT-1.
Left: Jim Ryan took first place in the
helicopter division with his scratch-built,
self-designed Cheyenne.
(XPS) and brought a prototype of the new 16-
channel radio I shared with you.
Unfortunately the FCC certificate didn’t
come through in time for the production run
to make the show. I suspect by the time you
read this I will have one in my hands and be
happily trying to figure out all its possibilities.
XPS sold the heck out of its receivers and
accessories so things look good there. I’m
still a big fan of the high-capacity Li-Poly
packs!
Horizon had its new Blade mCP X micro
helicopter on display and I already have one
on order. This little guy is incredible and the
best feature is that it’s flybarless! I bet if it
had been available for purchase at the show it
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102 MODEL AVIATION
Horizon showed off its new Blade mCP X. What a crowd pleaser! Horizon also had the new Mosquito that brings great multiengine
fun to the park.
would have had a line around the building.
What a cool little helicopter and it’s 3-D
capable.
The new Mosquito also drew quite a
crowd and I’ll be assembling one of those as
soon as I return from my trip.
Great Planes had its usual huge presence
and a large staff ready to answer questions. I
looked at some new receivers and battery
packs for my FASST-equipped airplanes.
The T7C continues to perform well. With
the new Hobbico LiFeSource battery packs,
there is no worry about in-flight power to
the system.
Keith “Mr. Electrics” Shaw: I’ll admit it.
I’m a huge fan of this guy! I’ve known
Keith for many years, going back to the
Quakerstown days of the famous KRC
Electric meet. He’s been my friend and
mentor throughout the years and I’m always
amazed at the subjects he chooses to build
from scratch. Keith does “one offs” so plans
are not available, but he’s always willing to
share information with serious scratch
builders.
Throughout the years he’s entered an
incredible collection of scratch-built scale
models in the Weak Signals Toledo Show
competition. A shock for many of us is that
Jim finished the Cheyenne a few days
before the show and entered it in the
Helicopter class against some tough
competition. He pulled off a first-place
win for his efforts!
I happened to see one of his “reject”
glass fuselages and it was better than any
I’ve bought that were considered first
class. Jim’s attention to quality is
unsurpassed. Congratulations on a great
job!
Final Approach: Well that’s it. I’m off for
the adventure of the year. I’ve packed the
motor home and found room for some
helicopters and airplanes, too.
Flying at various sites around the
country is always a fun experience and I
hope by the time I write the next column, I
will have met a bunch of you at fields
throughout the west! MA
Sources:
Stevens AeroModel
(719) 387-4187
www.stevensaero.com
FMA Direct
(800) 343-2934
www.fmadirect.com
Sig Manufacturing
(641) 623-5154
www.sigmfg.com
Xtreme Power Systems
[email protected]
www.xtremepowersystems.net
Horizon Hobby
(800) 338-4639
www.horizonhobby.com
Great Planes Model Manufacturing
(217) 398-8970
www.greatplanes.com
Ryan Aircraft
(513) 729-3323
http://ryanaircraft.net
he’s never placed except in the MonoKote
category.
I won’t mince words. I think there has
been an injustice, but this year all is well and
I’m happy to report that he won first place in
nonmilitary Scale. Keith’s subject was a Yak
UT-1 1936 Russian aerobatic trainer. It sports
live suspension inside those wheel pants that
had to be seen before covering to be
appreciated.
Keith also hand carved each cylinder head
on that radial engine. The patience and
attention to detail he portrays is beyond belief.
The 9-pound model is ¼ scale and is covered
with MonoKote. The span is 72 inches with
950 square inches of wing. Power is provided
by a Scorpion 4035 outrunner, a Castle
Phoenix 45HV ESC, and 10 A123 2300 mAh
cells.
Jim Ryan’s Cheyenne is a show stopper!
You’ll soon be treated to a construction article
from Jim about his scratch-built helicopter.
It’s based on a 450-size airframe and he will
have glass parts and plans available.
Jim is well known for his Ryan Aircraft
line of Speed 400-powered scale warbirds and
a few years ago he morphed into an amazing
helicopter designer and flier, too. This project
follows his scratch-built Chinook.
Sig Manufacturing is back, offering new items such as the Rascal EP-49.
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