Buddy of mine got me a “Mini Storm Launcher” for my b-day. Darn fun little toy. 8 to 10 minute flights and I’ve managed to get semi-skilled. Can do one “acrobatic” and make her go where I want (more or less). Good little learning experience.

May make a leap at bigger/faster planes someday. Flying this little guy in my “test field” (see below) makes me realize just how much room I’ll need. That will be a big limiting factor to go bigger/faster!

For now … having fun flying this little sucker and calling this goal complete. 5 years ago

Geocaching and other things are taking up my time now. Going to leave this as a failed goal (cry cry) but may re-visit later. 6 years ago

I’ve got a pretty sizable field half a mile away from my place. Run by it often … and did so tonight on my jog … after seeing it again on google maps ‘satellite’ view. (great way to spy for possible airfields. Pic above is the field image from google maps. =-)

I’ll at-least do some small launches and landings there. If it feels too small in flight I’ll need a bigger option.

I might be able to gauge size a bit better come daylight. I need a minimum of a 300ft radius circle to fly a Stryker in (so quoth the manual). I may not have that in this location but it will make a suitable test field. 6 years ago

I’m pretty well decided on the Stryker. The weather was so nice today I almost got impulsive. Must resist. Must slow myself down. Some mini-goals to put the air-brakes on this desire …

Before I justify buying a Stryker:
- Find a couple fields/locations to fly in.

Before I fly Mods.:
- 12” of ribbon on the battery pack. (as a visual locator for when it explodes out of the body of the plane. Sweet!)
- Remove fake air intakes to reduce drag
- CF rods across wings to re-enforce
- CF plates to re-enforce engine mount

Before I fly Misc.:
- Some ‘ground school’ prep and zen like focus of my flying spirit
- Plenty of CA and clear packing tape on hand for repairs in the field
- Charged camera for documenting my first “flight” (notice flight is in quotes)
- Some fans for moral support, and to laugh with, when I cripple the plane 6 years ago

Ok gang. I may have found my first set of wings. Much to my surprise it is the Stryker F27.

While not rated/advertised as a beginners plane the guys down at the hobby store highly recommend her. She’s no more expensive then some of the beginner planes I was looking at and supposedly much hardier and simpler to patch up and get back in the air.

This is a much prettier plane then I thought I would be flying/destorying as my first. Bonus! Got a lot of web combing to do. So far looks as if people are successfully learning to fly using the Stryker. 6 years ago

... but hopefully not burn.

I drool over the thought of a low wing fully aerobatic WWII era fighter rolling through the skies at my command. Yet, I’ve only done rolls in a real prop plane! Hard to believe … but I got a tiny bit of stick time in a fully aerobatic trainer.

I’m no pilot. I’m no RC pilot either. So, the first goal on my trek to RC Ace-dom … uhhh … learn to fly one. =-)

Gonna drop by the hobby store again and inquire about planes to start out on and clubs. I’ve got a couple ‘beginner’ planes in mind (none of them like the lovely FW 190 you see in the pic above, no no, it will be a slow trainer of some sort).

I’m also combing through RCGroups.com for info and insights. 6 years ago