Retro RC’s
Radio
Flash
Joe Konefes’ classic Phantom Flash becomes a great micro R/C model for indoors and out!
By Darryl Miller PHOTOGRAPHY: DARRYL MILLER & JIM BLACK W
e all have stories of how we came to fly model airplanes. As for me, there is not a time in my life that I cannot remember be- ing involved with aviation, either full scale, or models. My earliest aviation related rec- ollections revolve around Sunday afternoon trips with my Dad to the club flying field where he joined his modeling buddies. There they would take to the skies with their glow engine powered balsa creations in demon- strations of modeling skills that I could only hope to one day emulate. (I was only 4 or 5 years old, after all!)
However, I didn’t go to the field empty handed! My early love of airplanes was not lost on my parents, and I would always have at least one of my own “creations” to fly while the big boys had their fun. The planes of the times for me were Guillow’s rubber powered Sleek Streaks and hand toss gliders that we would buy at the local drug store or Five and Dime. While my planes only cost pennies, they provided hours of fun and a learning experience that would serve me well for years to come.
Many times as I was chasing my planes at the field, and watching my Dad and the oth- er club members fly their planes with com- plete control, I would wish that I could do
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the same with my little balsa creations. To have the ability to fly my own little planes with the same guidance and accuracy was just a silly little boy’s dream. Little did I know, that one day I would not only be able to fly these little gems via radio control, but I would be able to do so on a level not even a starry eyed child could have imagined! Fast forward to the past few years we find ourselves in an explosion of small and micro radio controlled aircraft that I could only dream of as a child. Thanks to the RTF and BNF options of the manufacturers, we have small, lightweight planes that can be flown not only outdoors, but indoors too! Their per- formance is amazing, and they have brought many new people to our hobby! However, it was only a matter of time before another beauty of these small craft became evident. The heart of these micro marvels, the radio bricks, can be harvested, and used to guide our own creations! Thank you, Horizon Hob- bies and ParkZone!
Over the past few years, I have been trying to build at least one new micro sized, indoor flyer for the winter flying season utilizing the AR 6400 bricks. They have ranged from available kits, to a few of my own adapta- tions, and I have quite a list of future proj- ects for the little receiver units. I hadn’t
AT A GLANCE Type:
Construction:
Wing span: Wing area: Airfoil:
Length: Weight:
Wing loading: Motor/ESC:
Battery: Radio:
micro R/C
balsa, basswood and ply
24 inches 76.5 sq. in.
flat bottom ribs, with covering only on top wing surface
17 inches 30 grams
.39 g./
sq.in.
ParkZone Champ micro motor/gearbox or equivalent
1S 130–150 mAh Li-Po Spektrum AR6400 receiver
Manufacturer:
Retro RC P.O. Box 193
Keego Harbor, MI 48320 248-212-9666
www.retrorc.us.com
quite gotten to this season’s project when Jim Wiggin asked if I would be interested in doing a review of a micro kit he had avail- able. In his hands was a Retro RC Radio Flash, and I don’t think he expected that a 51-year-old could move quite that fast as the kit was snatched from his grasp!
SEPTEMBER 2013
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