Bye Bye Depron?
You might have heard through the grapevine that Depron is going away in the very near future. Well, it looks like it will be getting a lot harder to get, at least in the U.S., as the domestic supplier is closing down its supply of flat 6mm depron....
You might have heard through the grapevine that Depron is going away in the very near future. Well, it looks like it will be getting a lot harder to get, at least in the U.S., as the domestic supplier is closing down its supply of flat 6mm depron.
Depron has been a great material and certainly sparked the parkjet revolution. The ease of use along with the smooth finish meant people could achieve crazy results that looked very scale while maintaining an easy building experience.
If you still want to get your hands on some depron, especially in the form of a kit, now is a great time to head over to our sponsor's website, www.6mmflyrc.com and pick up a parkjet kit. I know they will be making some adjustments soon to their product, but depron is on the shelves now, so get them while they last.
So what now? Well, there are other alternatives on the market and there will sure to be some other similar materials to fill the gap. We like to use all kinds of different foams and each one has its strengths and weaknesses.
Drop us a line at parkjets@gmail.com if you have some suggestions and some tips on handling the new foam that will surely come to the front of the builders worktable.
HALLOWEEN PROJECT - FLYING WITCH
This is a great little project that was passed along to us by a reader of Parkjets.com. We thought the timing was perfect! After all, Halloween is just around the corner and putting together a quick project to fly around the neighborhood is a perfect weekend project.
This is a great little project that was passed along to us by a reader of Parkjets.com. We thought the timing was perfect! After all, Halloween is just around the corner and putting together a quick project to fly around the neighborhood is a perfect weekend project.
The design is very simple actually, but in profile, it looks just like a witch on her broom. Since this is a speciality plan, we thought we would post it here first and then move it to the catalog a little later. Our publishing schedule in the catalog is a little backed up.
Here are the vitals:
AUW: 9.5 ounces
Motor: TowerPro 2408-10 brushless
Prop: GWS 8x4
Battery: 11.1V, 800 mAh Common Sense R/C Lipo
Servos: 9 grams per servo
Video:
Plans (Contains tiled and full size plans)
CHRISTMAS PROJECT - FLYING SANTA AND SLEIGH
When October rolled around, we put up a great project (suggested by a reader) and he sent over another project that is appropriate for Christmas. Rather than post in our regular free RC plans page, we like the idea of simply putting them right here in our blog.
This particular build is pretty limited to the pictures in the build thread and doesn't actually have a maiden flight! So maybe you could classify this build as purely experimental. If you do end up building this one, be sure to send over some finished pictures and results. We know the designer would love it and we would love to post the results.
Here is a video of a simplier build (two deer) that inspired the design.
When October rolled around, we put up a great project (suggested by a reader) and he sent over another project that is appropriate for Christmas. Rather than post in our regular free RC plans page, we like the idea of simply putting them right here in our blog.
This particular build is pretty limited to the pictures in the build thread and doesn't actually have a maiden flight! So maybe you could classify this build as purely experimental. If you do end up building this one, be sure to send over some finished pictures and results. We know the designer would love it and we would love to post the results.
Here is a video of a simplier build (two deer) that inspired the design.
And a still photo of the simplier build.
Here is the RC Groups build thread to the multi-deer plans.
Finally, here is a .zip file of the Santa Parkjet plans ready for you to download. Enjoy!
AMAZING HELLBERG F-18
Our sponsor, 6mmFlyRC, sent us these amazing pictures of one of their customer's modification to their kit, which is based on the Tomas Hellberg F-18E Super Hornet. Of course you can download the plans here for free, but this customer chose to use his time doing some customization rather than cutting foam. I think we can all appreciate his efforts.
The F-18E by Tomas Hellberg is a very popular download, although it doesn't ususally make the Top 10 every month, it's always lurking just behind the leaders. The F-18 just doesn't look good, it flies great, is very easy to assemble and from the looks of these modifications, a great platform to let your imagination run wild.
Our sponsor, 6mmFlyRC, sent us these amazing pictures of one of their customer's modification to their kit, which is based on the Tomas Hellberg F-18E Super Hornet. Of course you can download the plans here for free, but this customer chose to use his time doing some customization rather than cutting foam. I think we can all appreciate his efforts.
The F-18E by Tomas Hellberg is a very popular download, although it doesn't ususally make the Top 10 every month, it's always lurking just behind the leaders. The F-18 just doesn't look good, it flies great, is very easy to assemble and from the looks of these modifications, a great platform to let your imagination run wild.
The F-18 features thrust vectoring tabs and a profile design. The large wings and strake give it great lift, and a huge platform to put just about any motor on it you want. So go for it. In the mean time, get inspired! Check out the pictures!
BUNGEE LAUNCHER PLANS
Sometimes it's easier to get your parkjet in the air if you can use a bungee launcher. Sometimes the plane is too big, sometimes its just hard to hold. There are plenty of stories out there about pilots getting their hand or arm cut in by the propeller and that usually requires a trip to the emergency room.
Here is a great design for a home built bungee launcher that incorporates a foot pedel so the entire thing can be operated by one person.
Sometimes it's easier to get your parkjet in the air if you can use a bungee launcher. Sometimes the plane is too big, sometimes its just hard to hold. There are plenty of stories out there about pilots getting their hand or arm cut in by the propeller and that usually requires a trip to the emergency room.
Here is a great design for a home built bungee launcher that incorporates a foot pedel so the entire thing can be operated by one person.
LINK TO RC GROUPS BUNGEE BUILD THREAD
BUILDING YOUR 1ST PARKJET
Building Your First ParkJet
If your handy with glues and tools, knifes, soldering iron's, and so forth, you may want to build your first ParkJet, especially if your planning on staying in the hobby long term.
The main advantage of doing this, is that your cost-per-airframe is going to be a lot lower than if you only fly RTF or ARF (Almost Ready to Fly) ParkJets. Your cost is even lowered further if you crash your jet, you just take the old parts out of the crashed jet, and install them in your NEW scratch built Jet!!
Building Your First ParkJet
If your handy with glues and tools, knifes, soldering iron's, and so forth, you may want to build your first ParkJet, especially if your planning on staying in the hobby long term.
The main advantage of doing this, is that your cost-per-airframe is going to be a lot lower than if you only fly RTF or ARF (Almost Ready to Fly) ParkJets. Your cost is even lowered further if you crash your jet, you just take the old parts out of the crashed jet, and install them in your NEW scratch built Jet!!
The foams we use are very cheap, compared to the molded foam kit jets available.
Building Materials - Foam
Some of the popular types of foam that we use to build ParkJets are:
Depron Extruded Foam Sheets (Take-out containers, store meat trays)
Dow Corning Fan-Fold Foam (a.k.a. Blucor, used in Home Insulation)
PolyStyrene Foam (Think of cheap picnic coolers)
Expanded PolyPropylene (Bend able "Memory" foam)
The Top 2 are the most common used, as they sand well, accept most (Foam Safe) glues, and are relatively easy to work with. There are MANY other variations of foams, in a wide variety of shapes and sizes,