Radio Control! RC trucks, cars, planes, boats, whatever tickles your pickle!

I broke my thumb a couple weeks ago, but I'm getting in some RC time now before I have to go back to work. I went to Frost Woods for an easy hike to see how things will go. So far so good. The thumb's not holding me back too much. It makes setup more difficult, but I can get around on the trail no problem. This is also my first outing with my new 3S 5000mAh battery. No fire, no problem! Unfortunately, someone packed in some dirt into this spot that was a great challenge climb. At least the rest of the hike wasn't changed very much.

 

I went to Julian L. Capik Nature Preserve today, and I was there for nearly three hours. That new 3S lipo is treating me well! I mean, it did run out after a couple hours, but I had another 3S to swap in when I needed it! I hit nearly every trail there and even went on some new to me trails. I found a small network of trails near the entrance that I'm going to explore some more next time.

 

I went to Walter D. Faith Memorial Field for some light snow and moderate ice fun this morning. I was only out for a little while. I didn't want to go out for too much time, but I wanted to get out of the house some. I'm glad I went out. It was a good outing. There was still some snow on the ground, but it wasn't overwhelming. I also got stuck on a fallen branch. I studied what my situation was, and I think I would benefit from high clearance links in the rear. My driveshafts are upgraded, so I shouldn't have to worry so much about breaking them. I also got in some Tokyo Drift action on a large and cleanly flat area of ice. I would have recorded it, but I can't one hand my controller with my broken thumb. I also made it to the top of the final hill at the park. I had to try different approaches until I found something that worked. I had to use momentum to get up to some dry ground at one point.

 

@Gamma Ray how long is the run time on a full charge?

 

It depends mostly on the capacity of the battery and to a somewhat lesser extent how you drive it and what the temperature is like. I pretty much just use 3S LiPOs these days. I have one that's 4500mAh and another that's 5000mAh. I typically get close to two hours of runtime, give or take 15 or 20 minutes. I recently got the 5000mAh one, and I've been routinely taking both batteries out with me. I've gone out for hours at a time.

My Trailrunner originally came with a 2S battery. I think it was 3300mAh. Last time I used it completely, it was about 45 minutes. It is a 2S, though. Lower voltage, lower speed. I like having higher speed when I need it, so I like 3S. Throttle is fully proportional, so you can get 2S max speed with a 3S by simply not pulling on the trigger so much.

My 3S batteries are big batteries. Big and heavy. They run a little low in the Enduro chassis. Kind of diagonal. Positioned wide. Like a dashboard, just lower, like where your legs would go. If you run smaller batteries, you can swap the tray for a smaller tray. It actually comes with the smaller stray stock, but it also includes the bigger tray. Also note that you can get smaller 3S batteries. You don't get much capacity out of them, but they are lighter if that's what you're looking for. I already spent plenty of time and money on parts getting my Trailrunner's weight the way I want it, so it's pretty well performing with the big battery for what I like to use it for.

 

2 hour run times?? My how RC has changed with LIPOs. I was into RC in the early 90s and I’d be lucky if I got 10 mins off a full charge.

 

To be fair, RC crawlers are slow. You wouldn't get quite so much runtime with the same battery in a super fast car.

 

Exactly. I run a Goldbat Champion 5200mah 2S. Runs 2.5 hours on my crawler, 35 minutes on my Ruster 2WD basher.

 

Right?? When I was a kid, I grew to hate RC's because how quickly they ran through batteries.

 

I’m running 4S, twin 2S in series. kyosho Mad Crusher!

 

Don't worry, the Walmart New Bright RC ones still last about 3 minutes if you're needing some nostalgia

 

When I was at Iwakuni, Japan, there was an RC off-road course, and airport, just down the road from the barracks. Usually you could make about 3 runs around the driving track before the battery ran out.
Right in the overrun for the runway. Whenever a couple of Phantoms would taxi out for their take off run ups, everybody would fly like heck to get their planes back on the ground fast as they could. Not only would they get blown around badly by the engine exhaust, but many times, when the Phantoms would key their radios, the RC planes would either go wild, or just level up, and fly away from the area. Usually crashed into a barracks building someplace, or the ocean.
If your plane wound up on the runway, or some place like that, though, not only would you be explaining what happened to the MPs, and the entire chain of command, but the people stationed there would ALL be P/Od at you for making them go out and FOD Walk the entire runway.

Hugely popular thing to do in your free time, though. The BX had a massive RC selection, including all the goodies to go with them. Most guys left their cars and planes in the barracks for the next guy to use. No room to carry them back to the States.

The day after we left, a C-141 crashed into that overrun. Landed heavy, and a little fast, light snow had fallen, and he couldn't stop. His wing tip went right through where our maintenance van complex HAD been. The plane burned, but a MSgt. on board worked like mad, getting many off the plane. He was an Iwakuni hero for quite a while after.

Sorry, ramble down memory lane.
Carry on!
Pat☺

 

Well I ran the Frog, it’s fast enough! The gear sound is loud. My dog chases it all over. But, the neighbors PitBull Petey got reel excited and squeezed under the fence. I thought he was gonna go for it but he stoped and he thought o shucks. How do I get back.lol

 

I went to Mill Pond Park yesterday morning. I was hoping to have some off trail fun, and I did, but a lot of it was washed out. The recent rain affected the place a lot. I still was able to find some places to have fun, though. I also just missed a local built up 4Runner at a crosswalk. It would have been cool to give him the thumbs up. I've seen the 4Runner around Milltown in the past.

 

I went out for a couple easy outings between going to the comic book store and the hardware store today. First I went to the small western part of Ireland Brook for a quick little hike. I then went to NJ Devils Way for a little more fun.

 

I went to Frost Woods today. I had poo-poohed the place as nice but boring yet good smelling. I went exploring the unmarked trails in the western part of the area, and it was actually really great! There wasn't a lot of super hardcore off roading, but it was interesting and fun to see where the Trailrunner could go and the little things I could discover. I found loads more bicycle stunt spots that look like fun except they're not fun because I'd totally kill myself on them! There was more varied terrain than I expected to find, including a couple big sand areas, and there were even some significant elevation changes. And in the one video where I try climbing up that one spot, believe it or not I actually got up it in a few seconds on my first try. It took me over a minute on my one-handed try. And on top of all that, I saw a woman on a bike who looked like the teacher from the old Pete and Pete TV show and she fake chastised me for driving a motor vehicle in the woods like the teacher on the show did. All in all, I'm really happy I went to Frost Woods today!

 

I did a couple outings today. I went to John A. Phillips Open Space Preserve before Easter lunch and then Kennedy Park after lunch. I did the big northern loop at Phillips, and I went all over the place at Kennedy Park. Kennedy Park has some new interesting terrain left over from the construction on a walking bridge that was recently done. I wonder how long the terrain is going to last.

 

I went to Raritan Bay Waterfront Park today. Some of the terrain and scenery has changed. It's a nice beach run no matter how you slice it.

 

I went for an epic hike at Jamesburg Park Conservation Area yesterday. Now my ankles are trash. It was just trails, but it was fun. I went off on one unmarked trail. It was supposed to loop back to the main trail. I found no evidence of the loop, but it did go off onto a dead end by a nearby main road. There was even a nice place to change batteries.

I swapped out the rebuildable motor for a stock motor late last night. The rebuildable one was giving me problems yesterday. I don't think I'm ever going to use a rebuildable motor again.

 

I took my Trailrunner out for a wet post-rain trail run. It started out fun when I passed by two cops chatting with their cars 69ing in the dirt. I waved and walked by. That's a great way to start your day. The trails were wet. Really wet in parts. I'm glad I recently switched back to the stock motor because my previous rebuildable motor would have choked on the muck this morning. There was a spot with a new barricade deterring dirt bikes or whatever. I was able to drive around it. Right behind that was the longstanding fun barricade. I got stuck on that one today. Oh well. There were some spots with smoothed over sand from the rain. There was another really challenging spot with a little stream running through the sand. I was side hilling where I could. Even myself. I thought I was going to slip and fall a few times. I got the Trailrunner almost all of the way through the wet sand challenge area, but it got stuck at the very end. Oh well. I feel like a TRX4 2021 Bronco would take it more easily. I then found some more big puddles and eventually went onto a short trail I never went on before. Then I headed back home after about an hour and a half. I hit the big puddles and even used one to clean my truck off by driving through it really fast a few times.

The cops were gone by the time I finished, and I used the parking lot area to exercise my 4WD low range on my real truck. One spot was butt puckering. I thought I was going to have to unpack the MaxTrax, but I got through. I had it in low and kept my speed low.








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A RC float plane on a camping trip is a must!

 

I finally got out with my new hiking boots today, and I did two outings! Julian L. Capik Nature Preserve in the morning and Tamarack Hollow Preserve in the afternoon. It wasn't very hot in the morning, and even in the afternoon it wasn't bad. I was mostly in the shade both times, so it was nice. I set my new motor's gear mesh too tight which I was hearing this morning and the previous time I went out. I did a readjustment this afternoon, but it was too late. I began losing my spur gear most likely while at Tamarack, and I babied it home. I'm going to change the gear this evening. My new boots performed great during both outings.

 

I’m attempting to change a Hasbaro Transformer Decepticon Blackout. No directions. It’s harder than a Rubik’s Cube. With a dozen of these I can take over the world.

 

And I have the AllSpark.

 

I finally made it out with my Enduro Trailrunner again. This time I did a quick outing at NJ Devils Way. My truck needs work, which I knew, but I still need to do it! I'm losing power when starting moving. I think I've probably got a chipped gear in an axle. I've been rough on it. It's going to be a lot of dirty work to fix, though. I've been putting it off.

 

Not RC but tickles my pickle. Grown man playing with toys.

 

When I got stationed in Millington, TN. the first time, in 78, I bought an RC tank at the PX. Pretty good size. Had a cannon that fired little red plastic projectiles with a pretty strong spring. Great range on them. Used to drive all over base, would shoot at the pretty girls. Got me a couple dates out of it

Grown man playing with toys indeed
Pat☺

 

Have a few RC cars. Traxxas Slash VXL, a Stampede that I've got way too much money into. But lately have enjoyed my scx24 the most. It's got bigger tires, rock sliders, coilovers. Today I disconnected the rear coilovers for some flexing.

 

That is a cool SCX24! I have to get one. I have a Mini Z 4X4 (which you can likely find in this topic or maybe my older topic), and while I like it, it is a first gen 4Runner after all, it's just not as capable as an SCX24.

 

I went for a shorter outing at Walter D. Faith Memorial Field this morning. My Trailrunner needs an overhaul, but it's overall doing well. I'm looking forward to giving it the work this upcoming week.