Park Flying Envy

We live across the street from a good sized park that has four soccer fields at the end closest to our home. Unless the weather is really crummy it seems that not a week passes where I don’t see some dude out there flying a radio controlled plane.

They really are interesting to watch and the pilots I see usually make flying the thing look easy. Sure it would be a blast to get one and join the fun but they’re way too expensive, time consuming and difficult to learn… Fortunately, as you’ll soon read, I couldn’t be more wrong about that statement.

Seed Planted

One day last week on a bike ride near the park, curiosity got the best of my wife and I so we stopped to ask a guy how much he paid for his ridiculously fast styrofoam jet. He said that everything he needed to fly the thing set him back less than $200.

Given the speed and obvious advanced experience required to fly his plane I was very surprised, I would have guessed a price closer to $350.. his radio was pretty sweet.

Okay so the price is right, how about the difficulty and build time? Well after looking at many many planes and reading many many discussion forums I decided to look into the HobbyZone Super Cub.

This particular plane is a beginner aircraft that even many advanced pilots seem to thoroughly enjoy as a slower change of pace to the inherent stress of flying a screaming jet.

One Super Cub Please

The main wing and fuselage are nearly entirely made of high density foam so repairing damage - even breaks is straightforward and should only cost you the price of glue.

I wasn’t sure I would be able to self-teach myself to fly any radio controlled plane but after reading this dedicated thread about the Super Cub I became convinced that it would work for me.

(ain’t she a beaut!?)

It took a day or so for me to run to the local hobby store and pick up the Super Cub and then 30 minutes to piece her together.

As soon as the weather calmed a day or so later - I went to the park with my buddy Nabih (who has rc flight experience), his son, my wife, and the guest of honor… the Super Cub.

So how was the maiden voyage you ask? Stay tuned to find out!