Hello all!
Yesterday, (May 24,2026) I want out and did some test flying and tweaking to get my 36-inch Tomboy (that I originally built for SAM’s 36″ replica event) for a 2-minute quick climb and a 15minute glide time. Went out to the field after the rain stopped earlier in the morning and made it to the field after I had my lunch at home at noon time. Little after 1:00pm I got there.
Well, I originally built the 36″ Tomboy from Vic Smeed plans but learned from my free flight Tomboy that the R/C version could use less dihedral. Next was to change out the Cobra outrunner ( 2850Kkv) to a slower motor, which I change it to an Astro 010 16-turn brushless motor. Using the same Castle Creations Phoenix 10 mini-ESC ( no longer available). I have the Tomboy balancing on the rear section on the wing spar. 1st flight was o.k. but the glide was fast? I brought along 1/32″ basswood strips to shim the wing ( if I need to?)
First flight lasted just over 9 minutes?
Stuck in a 1/32″ shim at the spar on the fuse. The glide speed reduced but I thought it was still too fast?
This flight lasted just short of 14 minutes.
One more 1/32″ shim.
The glide seemed o.k?
I put in 3 clicks of up and it was just about right. I was able to throttle back to 1/3 throttle and got a flight time ofover 24 minutes. GREAT DAY — lift everywhere light and variable wind but the down side, no clouds, just a blue sky? That was it for the day as I brought my three 2-cell packs of 500mah with me to the field ( no charger). Went back home and made a wedge to glue on the fuse foe the “now” proper incidence? Attached photo included. Made the wedge for the incidence but didn’t glue it on and just taped it ( I’ll glue it later?). Then went to work on my Voltino the rest of the day until midnight. ( didn’t even fly the plane the next day). Anyway, Jack scheduled Monday for flying starting at 7:00am Jack was there, and Glen got there minutes before me. Good day for flying,
Monday May 25,2026
Weather conditions: Low humidity (61%)
Temperatures:
6:30am — 59°F (15°C) / 9:00am — 71°F ( 22°C) / 1:15pm — 83°F (28°C)
Wind started off calm at 6:30am, kicked up to about 5 mph (8 kph) to about 5-10mph ( 8-16kph) at 1:15pm
No clouds but a slightly hazy sky.
Glen and Jack flew Glen’s BOB BIENENSTEIN’S rubber design. I brought out my 36″ Tomboy for the 2026 NSFC Tomboy Cup postal contest.
Monday is another good day but not like the day before with the no wind/variable wind condition.
But Monday has a lower humidity than the day before where it was at 83% humitity and 83°F (28°C)( hot and sweaty!) It did rain in the morning on Sunday and the sun came out and dried out the things that were wet! I got my 36″ Tomboy out after the changes from the day before. Plugged in my Receiver’s single cell lipo cell (220mah) which is plugged into the battery port on the Rx. Next plugged my Tattu 2-cell pack to the Castle Creations 10 amp ESC ( Yes, I did pull the red wire out from the ESC, so it cannot feed power to the motor) I also have it where the ESC low cutoff is set to 3.2 volts ( to get what I can out of the motor pack) I have an attached photo that shows that when charging the pack on the battery charger, that there is about 9% power left in the pack. So, I completed two flights. With Jack and Glen looking on as the flew Glen’s plane one at a time.
First flight time was: 41:16
Second flight time: 47:17
Glen packed up a little bit before I landed. Jack hung around while I got my plane and I took a photo of Jack with my 36″ Tomboy. On the 2nd flight, I was able to thermal for a bit with a Turkey Vulture (Buzzard) Could have done better if there were clouds around and less haze?
My 36″ Tomboy details:
Built from Vic Smeed’s original plans — only modifications are to reduce the dihedral and top/bottom spars
Span — 36 inches / Wing area 211.5 sq.in.
Wing area reminds me of the 1/2A Cox Texaco planes I use to fly when the changed the tank size from 8cc to 5cc.
The planes went smaller as the tank size did and they still had the same problem — smaller planes at high altitudes.
I built the plane as light as possible ( using “Contest” grade balsawood) to make it light for SAM’s 36″ Replica event.
Pull-Pull on rudder / 2mm carbon rod for the elevator inside tubing. ( twin elevators connected with carbon rod)
Servos are Hitec 35HD Ultra Nano @4 grams each
Sanwa/Airtronics 4 channel Micro Rx-471 @5 grams
Castle Creations Phoenix 10 micro-ESC @14g ( low voltage cut-off set to 3.2volts and red wire removed from ESC- no power to motor)
Astro Flight 010-16Turn brushless motor @ 30g
GWS 7×3.5 direct drive prop
Tomboy covered in transparent Red/Orange Monokote
Tattu 2-cell 500mah pack @13g
All up weight / ready to fly: 9.75oz (277 grams)
