We recently bought one of these – strictly for medicinal purposes. It’s called a Carbon Cub SS and it is amazing:
This is the real version that it’s based on an experimental light sport airplane from CubCrafters.
This airplane can take off within several of its length (4 to 7). Can you believe that?
See for yourself. Peep the video:
Yes, this is real! As in, this is an actual, deceased pet cat that was stuffed by a taxidermist and then built into a remote control quad copter – a helicopter type aircraft with four smaller rotors.
I spotted this on the L.A. Times website but I have since seen it elsewhere and even heard a bit on NPR about it this morning.
The builder is a Dutch artist who was also the cat’s owner. The cat was called Orville (as in Wright), and he is posthumously called the Orvillecopter:
Check out the test flight:
I’m not exactly sure how to feel about this one. Certainly it is unique! And kind of funny. And of course morbid/unsettling.
Time for an update on what’s hanging out in RttRL’s hanger.
Here is a nice picture of most of the planes posing together:
2 T-28s and a Champ
My first was the HobbyZone Champ, the little orange one. It’s based on an actual plane called the Aeronca Champ, built mostly in the mid-1940’s to ’50s. It was a great trainer and I still enjoy flying it, although it doesn’t get as much flying time as it once did.
More recently I bought an aftermarket custom LED light kit, and I do enjoy flying it at night. It is very relaxing and fun.
Here’s what the real airplane looks like:
The other two are more Horizon products, the micro and sport scale North American T-28 Trojan trainer aircraft:
I recently installed lights on the micro T-28 as well.
I also picked up one of these recently:
It’s a Great Planes F-86, after the North American F-86 Saber
The little antenna with the plug wires coming out of it actually attaches to the trainer port of my remote control (radio), and it is a self-contained transmitter in and of itself, which piggybacks on the controller’s inputs.
The jet is tough to fly, I am getting the hang of it still. It moves a lot faster and requires a lot more focus.
I must admit, if I saw this thing flying around, I would probably conclude that I was experiencing some kind of flashback.
This guy sells plans to build your very own, FLYING remote control superhero.
You have to see it to believe it. I believe it is made of a type of foam.
Today we relate a truly bizarre real-life story that played out about a month ago, in Sacramento, California.
At a meeting of a local Sacramento-area model aircraft club, one of the members had a violent confrontation with another member, ending tragically with both of them dead. It turned out to be a love triangle involving the older man’s wife, who was also a club member and in attendance.
The bizarre twist? The older man was 73, and the younger guy was 62. The wife of thr 73-year-old was 49 (!!!).
These are people who should have been old enough to know better! That is to say, old enough to know better than to cheat on their spouse, date a married woman, or shoot someone over it.
Here’s the cops and possibly a club member taking one of their RC airplanes in as evidence. That is a really slick airplane, by the way, an electric ducted fan F-86 Sabre Jet – at least they had good taste in airplanes!
The way it went down, according to the reports linked here and above, an argument broke out in the parking lot, ending with the first shooting and fatality. The older fellow then shot at his wife, missing her but shooting out the windows in the Sacramento Municipal Utilities District where the club rents a room for their meetings.
He pursued her inside, but one of the other club members (who was evidently not involved in the triangle) persuaded the enraged gunman to go back outside. When he saw the police begin to arrive, he shot and killed himself.
Truly one for the “truth is stranger than fiction” file – very sad.
racing to the red light 