rcparkflyers.com
           -Where flying is fun every day!

Hello All,
Welcome to RCParkFlyers.com!
Thank you for stopping by...

I would like to post an introduction and write about what this site will be about and some history of how I got started.

My name is Jacques, but I go by Jacq (pronounced Jack) since most are not familiar with my birth name. I reside in NE Kansas (St. Marys) pretty much in the geographic center of the US. I am a license fixed wing pilot working on my helicopter rating.. Since those two endeavors are quite expensive and I have need for a flying fix I recently re-entered the RC flying world. I had been involved about 7 years ago but never soloed.. Just sold everything and went on to other endeavors..

Well about a year and half ago my interest in Amateur Radio waned and I wanted to do a hobby that was outside, so I started kite flying. I bought all the different kits even a 20 foot wing span one.. (I will have to get a pix posted of that one). Tried my luck at stunt kits.. Did pretty well but just got sort of board.. Wife and kids still enjoy that so have to keep them around, but its just not my cup of tea.. Anyway, again being focused on being outside, and getting my flying fix, I re-turned my eye to RC flying..

Boy things had changed...


Seven years ago the gear that I purchased cost over $500, now a Hanger 9 Alpha from the LHS (Local Hobby Store) cost $289 with all parts needed and receiver and servos installed. Just fuel, starter, field box and a few inexpensive items were needed to be added and I could be up and flying.. I just could not believe it.. All put together and ready to go with about an hour of invested time... Man I was excited.. So excited I purchased it and through it in the back of the van and then and then had to figure out justification :).... Oh well.. This is going to be my last hobby period.. No really I mean it :)

The LHS owner upon purchase said he would help me get it flying and get soloed at his local field in Topeka.. Ok great I am going to get this done!!! So off I went to put it all together. Well Topeka is 30+ miles away and his field is on the east side and that can be quite a drive.. I started to look into another type of aircraft to help fill the void of daily flying.. At that time fortuitously a lady was helping my Dad with work on our low power radio station (KSMK-LP 98.3) and it resides above on the third floor of a large gymnasium. Her husband saw the gym and being a 14+ year RC pilot asked Dad if he could fly in the gym while his wife was working on the station content. Dad said talk with the “powers that be” of the facility. He did, and he got permission.

I happened to mention to my parents about my new found re-interest in RC flying and they said I should hook up with the pilot who flies in the gym.. Well to shorten the story Alan and I had a meeting and hit it off right away. He assumed the "Big Brother I Never Had" role. :) (Actually we go around introducing each other as "the brother from another mother.. boy, that really throws people..) We both actually grew up in St. Marys but had never met. His wife is the sister of one of my classmates in high school. Anyway with all
his patience and expertise he got me soloed at a full scale airfield north of St. Marys. Just kept handing me the TX and saying "FLY IT" all the while with no buddy box!! The guy has eagle eye site and can get the plane out of the most unusual flight attitudes..

Alan also showed off his Slow Stick, wow that is the ticket.. I, as I alluded to earlier, needed an aircraft for weeknight flying that was forgiving enough to recover from my unusual attitudes but still allowed me to build my skill so I could build some flight experience and then step up to the gas planes on the weekends when Alan came to town... So off I went to the net and purchased everything I needed for the Slow Stick . And that was the starting point in my new adventure..

This blog is about my RC experiences with the park flyer sub set in RC flying.. While I started out with the focus on gas planes as that was my knowledge from the previous trial at RC, finding this electric sub set of flying really got my interest. Being able to go out in the evenings and just flying around the high school parking lot or a large field very close to home, not causing too much noise and commotion, not having to have to bring a ton of equipment really re-pointed my compass so to speak.. Just "sneaking" out for 30 minutes or so after home chores are done really takes the edge of the day being a System Administrator/Programmer as my day job.

This site will focus on a wide range of topics in the electric RC park flying field. Experiences, tools, receivers, glues, brushed vs. brushless motors, mods or hop-ups, chargers, batteries, spare parts other sites of interest, indoor flying just about anything with regards to park flying is fair game.

Alan and I got so excited we wanted to fly our Slow Sticks as much as possible and when is the best time to do that... At dusk and…night... Well those times are time when you are flying what is called "flying the shadow" when the plane is just far enough away that it you can see it but can not really tell which way it is going since you can not make out its orientation due to not being able to see the color scheme.. So what did we do.. We went to my electrical engineer Dad and he helped up draw up a LED (Light Emitting Diode) system for our planes. It was crude but it worked.. And everybody loved it.. Even got the city police to stop by..
(More on that later).So even lighting systems will be discussed here.

Well that is about enough for the intro. My intention is to provide information that hopefully will be interesting to other fellow RC park flyers. Thank you again for stopping by, I hope you will stop by in the future more stuff will be posted I just have too much to tell. :) I love this hobby and hope I can give something back to others for all the help and encouragement people have given me. I am still learning and have a ways to go, but with this site maybe we all can learn more from each other..

Finally a couple of thank you's...

To Alan (my brother from another mother) :) You the man!! Thanks for all your help, patience, guidance and for "being there" during some rough spots!!! You truly are a great friend! I would not be where I am now in RC flying without you..

To Jim. JJ thanks for being a very good friend and kicking my backside into gear and getting me started on this blog. Thanks also for all the help and bothering you allow me to do when I get stuck in some of my sys admin work. I know you are very busy, but still need to get you up and flying RC park flyers...