2013 Hornet Flight Report from Gary Hinze

"This airplane kit slips together quickly in about a minute and its ready to fly. The kit comes with a 9-1/2" loop of 1/4" wide rubber to turn the propeller. I found this to be much too powerful and it did not turn very long. The plane would power stall and tumble, or it would left roll and spiral dive into the ground. I could not get a flight as long as 20 seconds.

"A couple test windups allowed me to select a more appropriate motor size. I went with a motor having about the same weight, but half as wide and twice as long as the distance between the hooks, a 17 1/4" loop of 1/8" rubber. That was a bit less than my estimated 0.134" width, but 1/8" is the closest standard size and engineering estimates are just that. This motor will take an estimated 1,790 turns before breaking. I started with 1,500 turns to break it in.

"It is best launched with a very slight left bank to get it into its groove. The motor unwound in the air and came off the propeller hook, but still made a great flight of almost a minute."

Note: Gary Hinze had a second 1:21.69 flight with 1,700 turns in the motor. You can watch this flight in the video below.

Here is a photo of the current production A-J Classics Hornet. This is the model Gary Hinze used in his videos, however he doubled the length of the rubber motor.

I am glad Gary brought the oversized rubber motor to my attention. Currently the Hornet is shipping with a lighter 3/16" rubber motor instead of the 1/4" used earlier. I appreciate input and feedback from modelers who fly our planes.

If anyone has stories to share, I would love to hear from you.......Scott Griffith