Tower Hobbies first order: Piece O' Cake!

Today I received my first order from Tower Hobbies, and it is a Dynaflite Piece
O' Cake glow powered sailplane. This will be my first radio controlled model plane, although I have built one die-cut free flight glow powered sailplane already. The day after I placed my order for the Piece O' Cake, I noticed that the price had been reduced to a couple of dollars less than what I had sent.
Because of this, I was curious to know how Tower would handle the situation.
Well, first of all, I was given the plane at the new reduced price, and then I was given a two dollar credit for a future purchase. In addition to this, I was sent what the invoice refers to as a "new customer package", which includes a 288 page color catalog. In the back of the catalog, I notice it says "at your request, we will issue a refund check for any outstanding credit". Well,
I am very happy that I was sent the package as quickly as I was, so I have decided to let that two dollars ride, because I certainly will be placing additional orders with Tower in the future. More specifically, It was just eight days ago that I mailed the check, by traditional mail, not email, requesting the kit, and I included the standard eight dollar shipping and handling fee. Well, the package was Sent by Federal Express! I suspect that since I am a new customer, Tower was only trying to impress me. Well, all I have to say about that is _it worked_!

made about the Piece O' Cake several times over, so I like to think that I am launching into this project with my eyes wide open. For example, I know that there other similar kits on the market which are laser cut, and I know that the first flight attempts with the Piece O' Cake should be reserved for calm days when the wind is five miles per hour or less. I also purchased a couple of books at my local hobby shop. They were "Radio Control Sailplanes", by Alan
Gornick, and "2-Stroke Glow Engines for R/C Aircraft", by David Gierke. These books have information that I think I would not be able to do without, such as information on ballasting and break in.

There is one thing which has me curious, though. According to the instruction manual which comes with the plane, the Piece O' Cake landing gear is "not intended for taking off (from) the ground". The plane is designed to be hand launched. Can anyone here give me some insight into this situation? I understand about hand launching, but if I tried to take off from the ground, would I be asking for trouble? By the way, I am very impressed by this kit so far. The rolled three-foot by four-foot plans lay down accurately, without a crease, and the seven-inch by eight-and-one-half inch forty-four page instruction manual appears to be very detailed. The good wood is well cut, and includes balsa, bass, and ply wood.

Michael Mandaville
Austin, Texas
We have our own independant power grid!

Just a quick note here I have a Futaba Attack 4 AM72 radio I could sell cheap. Unit is on Channel 42 (72.630) and works fine.

The unit is an FPT4NBL 4 channel and the Receiver is an FPR7H 7 channel.

Comes with TX and RX crystals for channel 42 and a good TX battery.

I'll sell it for $48 shipped

I have seen the larger Butterfly rise off ground quite well with a .25 engine . Pretty tough bird. I would have gone for the Butterfly.
Get a good radio if you can afford it. Think ahead if you are hooked by the hobby.

As plenty of folks will tell you, your best bet is to get into a club or at least let an experienced RC flyer help you. A simulator is a very good investment in getting started. If RealFlight, the best one out there, is too pricey for you, you can download FMS for free. Doo a Google search for
FMS simulator and you'll find the site. You'll have to get or make yourself an interface cable for it, though, and the planes don't exactly fly like the actual models. There are also other commercially-available sims that are not as expensive, or as good, as RealFlight, but you can learn on them.

I agree the POC should be hand launched. It's a hard plane to handle on the ground, and the little .049 probably doesn't have the oomph for good ROG (rise off ground) takeoffs. Most entry-level powered sailplanes have engines/motors have just enough power for slow, gentle climbs. The landing gear is on there mostly to keep the prop from hitting the ground when it lands.

Hello again, fellows...

..and thanks for the warm welcome. Although I identified myself as being from
Austin, Texas, I actually live outside of the Austin city limits, and I am a long way from the nearest club, which is one of the reasons why I chose the
Piece O' Cake to be my first radio control plane. I just spent several hundred dollars on a metal working lathe, though, so that should give you an indication of just how serious I am about this hobby. I'm still just a beginner, of course, but I just mean to show that I have identified this hobby as being one which is worthy of my thoroughgoing attention.

Jay, you have mentioned the subject of building boards, and since this seems to be the next item on my agenda, I have already given this matter a considerable

this, I have decided to build a steel top building table which will be in the general form of a drafting table. Of course, this means that I will be using magnets to hold down my wood. As soon as the television program which I am now watching is over, I will be driving down to get the wood.

I don't yet have an engine, though I am planning on purchasing the Norvel .049.
I already have a tool stand which should make a good foundation for a break-in stand. I'm sure you must already know that this engine has a throttled carburetor. Although I plan on getting started with two channels, I probably will eventually add a third channel to the Piece O' Cake. That way, I should be able to climb to altitude, search for a thermal, and then hope that my airplane doesn't get lost! Well, maybe I'll get micro servos, and add some spoilers

I don't yet have a radio, although I will probably just get one with two channels for this year, since I already spent so much money on the lathe that I want to watch my spending as closely as I can for awhile. Also, my mowing season will be over in a couple of months, and then I will have no income until the beginning of next season. I have already made a lot of progress this year, though, so anything else which I might be able to accomplish could almost be thought of as a bonus. I expect to be making my own engines before long!

Well, I want to get started designing my building table, so I guess I will just leave it at this for now. Again, thanks for the welcome, and I really am looking forward to participating in this fascinating hobby. This is also

Cheers!

Michael Mandaville just west of Austin, Texas