In praise of the humble Hobbyzone Champ!

Even though I flew in the Navy, even one of the early UAVs (the "Pioneer"), I had always wanted to be able to fly an RC aircraft.

Well, at 42 years some guys buy Corvettes and others by RC Aircraft (okay, maybe it's just me, but it was about $59, 900 less than the Corvette).

When I flew the Pioneer UAV, I was an "Internal Pilot."  Basically, the Pioneer was launched and landed by an "External Pilot" visually and with that same type of controller/transmitter that any RC hobbyist has.  That person was trained to do all the stuff we do flying and RC aircraft externally... extensively.  I, on the other hand, was an "Internal Pilot"  (note: Internal) and sat inside a trailer with the camera (FPV) image, instruments, etc. and flew it downrange, spying on things with the Thermal camera.  (Following random cars, practicing beach landings with the Marines, nearly causing international incidents with Iraq in early 1998, etc.)  I know!  Boring, right?  

Anyway, I did always wish I had learned to fly an RC aircraft so I could do so in my free time.

Fast forward to nearly the present and we have me researching RC trainers online to determine what might work best for me.  I settled on the Hobby Zone Champ RTF.  (And then went to the store, got persuaded to buy the Hobby Zone Stratos, and promptly crashed it into a tree about 100 feet up because overconfident me decided to fly it in an area a fraction of the size as recommended in the instructions -- see future story "Why it helps to have friends that mountain climb.") (The Stratos, btw, is an excellent airplane as long as you follow the manufacturer's recommendations and don't do what I did.)

So, not wanting to show my face in the LHS so soon after and do the walk of shame, nor wanting to give up on one of my life-long goals, I bought the Champ on Amazon.com and got it in the air as soon as the tiny Lipo was charged.

It's amazing how nervous you can get the first time you throw this thing that you just spent $90 on up into the air -- especially when your attempts at flying an RC aircraft have been, shall we say, less than stellar.

Anyways, just like the box says, it IS everything you need to teach yourself how to fly.  That said, accidents happen.  And accidents.  And accidents.... You get the idea.  Considering the punishment this little thing has been through, it is amazing it still flies.  I have repaired it with tape and glue many times, replaced the motor and gearbox once, crashed it many times (often pretty hard) into trees, grass, and pavement and the little thing is still going strong with repairs that I (a newbie) could easily do.  

Before you think that America is defended by aviators that can't fly, in my defense, the range on the thing when I first got it was about 60 feet -- at which point I would totally lose control of the aircraft.  Through trial and error, I eventually ruled out radio interference (which I initially thought was the problem) but flying it somewhere else and having the same problem.  As it turned out, the controller antenna (on the little plastic controller that comes in the box) was not plugged into the circuit board.  It is basically a very tiny coaxial connector, so no solder issues to deal with.  Plugged it in and now I can fly it up to, and probably beyond if I wanted to, visual range.  So, fyi in case others have an issue like this.

Well, being able to fly past 60 feet and not lose communication with the Champ obviously helped my training regimen and not too may problems since then -- except for the little can motor not lasting very long.  The current one that is in it gets oiled frequently and that seems to be helping its longevity.  I also oil the gearbox drive shaft frequently, too.  

It can also handle light winds fairly well.  Sure it gets knocked all over the place, but as long as you give yourself some altitude cushioning, you should be fine.  (I would not, however, recommend learning to fly it in anything but very light breezes.)  Basic loops are easy, just give yourself enough altitude cushioning initially.  Avoid high speed dives as the top part of my rudder (the part that juts forward of the rudder hinge) bent and caused my plane to keep going into a downward spiral that I luckily got out of but had to limp back with full left rudder just to keep straight.  Discovering what had happened only after landing.  (This was during a flight overlooking a large forest and would have almost certainly been adios for the Champ, so the stakes were high.)  Since I almost exclusively hand launch and belly land d/t my flying areas, I usually remove the main landing gear so I don't have more weight and drag than necessary.  Obviously have to adjust trim but CG isn't severely affected.

So, there you go.  The plane is so light it helps prevent damage and keeps you from worrying excessively about property damage it might cause if you mess up.  Also, it is so easy to repair that I started tinkering with it, improving areas of structural weakness discovered from my rough handling, etc.  It feels very personalized to me now and also gave me the confidence and skills necessary to move on to building/assembling aircraft kits that do not come preassembled (which really expands what aircraft you can add to your hangar.

I am lucky enough to have a soccer field-sized flying area next to my house.  IMHO that is more than enough space for the Champ.

Even now that I am more experienced and have moved up to 4 channel (aileron) planes, the Champ is still a lot of fun to fly and a very relaxing way to end an afternoon of hectic, twitchy 4-channel flying.  Plus its light weight and large wings give it a very scale feeling in my soccer field-sized area -- much more sore than my micro Corsair, which needs to go a lot faster than the Champ, despite its similar weight, due to it's lesser amount of wing area.

You really cannot go wrong with the Champ.  I highly recommend it to anyone -- especially people who might want to get into the hobby but do not have the time to drive to a flying field and schedule time with an instructor.

Happy flying!