R/c Airplane In Cm?

[Choonpon]

Sawaddee kha

Just wondering if there's anyone in Chiang Mai flies r/c airplanes? If yes, whereabout?

Thanks.

[kjhbigv]

There are 2 places where people fly, one is actually a flying school called Top Gun, they can teach you to fly and lend you the equipment, here:

https://maps.google...., Thailand&z=19

The other place is for flying on your own, just a runway but also has work tables and sheltered. It is located in an unfinished moo baan.

https://maps.google...., Thailand&z=19

Edited January 2, 2013 by kjhbigv

[rideswings]

I just thought I would give my experiences before you head out to Top Gun, which is the preferred and more civilized of the 2 flying fields mentioned above.

Charlie is the operator and owner of the field out at Top Gun, which he rents on a monthly basis from the property owner. Charlie will bend over backwards to help you in learning, buying, building and repairing your airplane. You can do everything or he can do everything for you depending on your comfort and experience levels. He will also don his waist high gators to go and retrieve your plane when the inevitable crash happens in a water soaked rice patty. He is like a bloodhound when it comes to finding crashed airplanes.

The runway is a little narrow but its long enough to launch R/C jets from with no potholes to speak of. There are a good number of pit tables with 220v electricity and fans to keep you cool, and some of the tables are under a canopy so the sun doesnt bake on you when youre working on your plane or heli. Charlie keeps his hobby shop pretty well equipped with new radios, used radios, and engines and motors of all kinds. He has some used planes for sale as well as some new kits. Most people order through him from Bangkok which only takes a few days to get your plane. A few people have Sporters, a low wing sport plane thats electric, cheap to fly, and easily repairable. The main attrraction though is the helicopters, almost everyone has one and sometimes when i was flying my biplane, i felt like a minority with all these electric and nitro helicopters buzzing around. I am an airplane guy but Im also a heli guy too, so I love to watch all the birds in the air.

The real guy to make friends with (and dont get on his bad side by doing something stupid in the pit area) out there is a great Belgian guy named Patrick who has 3 or 4 helicopters plus a few sportplanes. He is an intermediate heli pilot, but he never ever crashes and he flies like Iceman from Top Gun, no mistakes. He is out there almost every day and can help you out, just dont ask him for too much because after all he is there to fly, and dont ask any stupid questions or he will just stare at you haha.

As far as buying your entire setup from Charlie, I did and I let his employee build it for me, and I probably would shop around before I did it again. I bought a used Ultimate Biplane 90 size with a 4 stroke, JR PCM Radio (old radio but paid top dollar for it to Charlie), and before I walked out it was 30,000 baht which I felt like was about twice what it was worth. The 30,000 included 5,000 for a lifetime club membership, and a Phoenix RC sim that works with my transmitter. So, as I said, see what he has for sale, dont buy it until you have gone home and shopped it on the internet, and then try to cut a deal with him. I was impulsive and blew my wad where I really didnt have to if I had exercised some self restraint and waited to shop it around. Thats really the only down side I have experienced.

Just some other things to remember, Charlie gets there at around 3 or 4 every day, so does Patrick. Sometimes Charlie goes to BKK for a few days or weeks so he leaves the keys with one of the Thai members (i forget his name) who sometimes forgets the keys, and sometimes shows up an hour late, then we can't buy any soft drinks. When Charlie is away, the hobby shop part is closed so if you need parts, youre out of luck till Charlie gets back. On a positive note, I dont have a car, and Charlie stores my biplane and fuel in the hangar for 100 baht per month so I dont have to haul it out there. Club dues in addition to the initiation fee are 100 baht per month. On a more positive note, there are a few attractive young ladies who come out to fly their helicopters and airplanes, and it is really a pleasure watching them fly.

I guess my biggest pet peeve is that the road into the field from the main road is a very rutty dirt road, and I have almost lost it on my motorbike many times. Charlie said they are going to pave it soon, I certainly hope so because getting out there on a bike is treacherous.

There is also an offroad car track behind the hangar, but it needs to be cut to be functional.

All in all, its a fun relaxing place to spend the afternoon, and once you get hooked, theres no turning back. Some of those helicopters are worth $3000 or more including batteries and radio, so it might be more expensive than having a mia noi.

[Choonpon]

I just thought I would give my experiences before you head out to Top Gun, which is the preferred and more civilized of the 2 flying fields mentioned above.

Charlie is the operator and owner of the field out at Top Gun, which he rents on a monthly basis from the property owner. Charlie will bend over backwards to help you in learning, buying, building and repairing your airplane. You can do everything or he can do everything for you depending on your comfort and experience levels. He will also don his waist high gators to go and retrieve your plane when the inevitable crash happens in a water soaked rice patty. He is like a bloodhound when it comes to finding crashed airplanes.

The runway is a little narrow but its long enough to launch R/C jets from with no potholes to speak of. There are a good number of pit tables with 220v electricity and fans to keep you cool, and some of the tables are under a canopy so the sun doesnt bake on you when youre working on your plane or heli. Charlie keeps his hobby shop pretty well equipped with new radios, used radios, and engines and motors of all kinds. He has some used planes for sale as well as some new kits. Most people order through him from Bangkok which only takes a few days to get your plane. A few people have Sporters, a low wing sport plane thats electric, cheap to fly, and easily repairable. The main attrraction though is the helicopters, almost everyone has one and sometimes when i was flying my biplane, i felt like a minority with all these electric and nitro helicopters buzzing around. I am an airplane guy but Im also a heli guy too, so I love to watch all the birds in the air.

The real guy to make friends with (and dont get on his bad side by doing something stupid in the pit area) out there is a great Belgian guy named Patrick who has 3 or 4 helicopters plus a few sportplanes. He is an intermediate heli pilot, but he never ever crashes and he flies like Iceman from Top Gun, no mistakes. He is out there almost every day and can help you out, just dont ask him for too much because after all he is there to fly, and dont ask any stupid questions or he will just stare at you haha.

As far as buying your entire setup from Charlie, I did and I let his employee build it for me, and I probably would shop around before I did it again. I bought a used Ultimate Biplane 90 size with a 4 stroke, JR PCM Radio (old radio but paid top dollar for it to Charlie), and before I walked out it was 30,000 baht which I felt like was about twice what it was worth. The 30,000 included 5,000 for a lifetime club membership, and a Phoenix RC sim that works with my transmitter. So, as I said, see what he has for sale, dont buy it until you have gone home and shopped it on the internet, and then try to cut a deal with him. I was impulsive and blew my wad where I really didnt have to if I had exercised some self restraint and waited to shop it around. Thats really the only down side I have experienced.

Just some other things to remember, Charlie gets there at around 3 or 4 every day, so does Patrick. Sometimes Charlie goes to BKK for a few days or weeks so he leaves the keys with one of the Thai members (i forget his name) who sometimes forgets the keys, and sometimes shows up an hour late, then we can't buy any soft drinks. When Charlie is away, the hobby shop part is closed so if you need parts, youre out of luck till Charlie gets back. On a positive note, I dont have a car, and Charlie stores my biplane and fuel in the hangar for 100 baht per month so I dont have to haul it out there. Club dues in addition to the initiation fee are 100 baht per month. On a more positive note, there are a few attractive young ladies who come out to fly their helicopters and airplanes, and it is really a pleasure watching them fly.

I guess my biggest pet peeve is that the road into the field from the main road is a very rutty dirt road, and I have almost lost it on my motorbike many times. Charlie said they are going to pave it soon, I certainly hope so because getting out there on a bike is treacherous.

There is also an offroad car track behind the hangar, but it needs to be cut to be functional.

All in all, its a fun relaxing place to spend the afternoon, and once you get hooked, theres no turning back. Some of those helicopters are worth $3000 or more including batteries and radio, so it might be more expensive than having a mia noi.

Thank you so much rideswings for your detailed information.

30000 baht for the used biplane with everything in and lifetime membership is not expensive, compared to Singapore prices. Hope you have enjoyed your pastime there and am definately looking forward to visiting there. Finding the exact location seems to be a challenge.

Are there many enthusiasts there everytime you go? Will it be overcrowded? Especially when comes to heli, I'm very cautious about safety. No matter how skillful the person is, the chances of accidents happening is higher than flying airplanes. I have witnessed myself and heard on several occasions, the players just lost control of their helis. Afew occassions there were injuries to bystanders who weren't noticing.

I usually fly size 40 planes, as they can be fitted into the car. Love biplanes- sopwith camel, fokker, nieuport. Unfortunately nowadays there is no stock for size 40 biplanes (nitro). But never tried ultimate before. Is it easy to fly?

Cheers

[Choonpon]

There are 2 places where people fly, one is actually a flying school called Top Gun, they can teach you to fly and lend you the equipment, here:

https://maps.google...., Thailand&z=19

The other place is for flying on your own, just a runway but also has work tables and sheltered. It is located in an unfinished moo baan.

https://maps.google...., Thailand&z=19

Sawaddee kha

Thank you for replying. Will you be able to provide more details for the locations please? Like the name of the road, etc. The maps didn't show.

Cheers

[Diablo Bob]

I wonder how much something like this would cost?

From what I understand, it was designed by a Boeing engineer.......

A_lawnmower.wmv

[Choonpon]

I wonder how much something like this would cost?

From what I understand, it was designed by a Boeing engineer.......

A_lawnmower.wmv

Are you the engineer?

[Diablo Bob]

I wonder how much something like this would cost?

From what I understand, it was designed by a Boeing engineer.......

A_lawnmower.wmv

Are you the engineer?

Yes, but not that discipline.

[T_Dog]

Choonpon....I sent you a PM with better directions to the second choice. I tried signing up at Top Gun but he wanted thousands of baht for a membership, no mention of a monthly option. Went out there four times and it was a different story each time on cost which was always in the thousands of baht. Friends have signed up there with just monthly fees and love it so I guess it was just me.

RC Flying in Thailand is a lot of fun and there probably half a dozen sites to fly at around Chiang Mai. Cowboy field is probably about the most fun, but not as refined as Top Gun or the Mae On Jet Field.

[T_Dog]

By the way, there is an RC forum in Thailand that has threads from just about every flying site in Thailand. It is in Thai but if you can read it or are handy with Google Translate, it is a good resource.

http://www.rcthai.net

[kjhbigv]

There are 2 places where people fly, one is actually a flying school called Top Gun, they can teach you to fly and lend you the equipment, here:

https://maps.google...., Thailand&z=19

The other place is for flying on your own, just a runway but also has work tables and sheltered. It is located in an unfinished moo baan.

https://maps.google...., Thailand&z=19

Sawaddee kha

Thank you for replying. Will you be able to provide more details for the locations please? Like the name of the road, etc. The maps didn't show.

Cheers

Hi, you do realise that you can zoom out of the above maps and move around?

Ok, Top Gun is easy, up the 118.....over superhighway, straight over inner ring road lights (market 100m further on the left), next set of lights straight on,, another 3km at the outer ring road and lights, turn right towards San Kamphaeng. About 5km on the left, signposted. In the first link below (on the 118), turn right.

With the other site in the deserted Moo Baan, you will have to use the map, too difficult to explain.

https://maps.google....,59.25,,0,-0.18

https://maps.google....129.59,,2,-0.31

Edited January 4, 2013 by kjhbigv

[kjhbigv]

Choonpon....I sent you a PM with better directions to the second choice. I tried signing up at Top Gun but he wanted thousands of baht for a membership, no mention of a monthly option. Went out there four times and it was a different story each time on cost which was always in the thousands of baht. Friends have signed up there with just monthly fees and love it so I guess it was just me.

RC Flying in Thailand is a lot of fun and there probably half a dozen sites to fly at around Chiang Mai. Cowboy field is probably about the most fun, but not as refined as Top Gun or the Mae On Jet Field.

Can you give location of Mae On Jet Field?

[T_Dog]

Choonpon....I sent you a PM with better directions to the second choice. I tried signing up at Top Gun but he wanted thousands of baht for a membership, no mention of a monthly option. Went out there four times and it was a different story each time on cost which was always in the thousands of baht. Friends have signed up there with just monthly fees and love it so I guess it was just me.

RC Flying in Thailand is a lot of fun and there probably half a dozen sites to fly at around Chiang Mai. Cowboy field is probably about the most fun, but not as refined as Top Gun or the Mae On Jet Field.

Can you give location of Mae On Jet Field?

It's the second link of the prior post. The owner of that field flys jets there occasionally, but it is open to others when he is not there. Hopefully that privelage will continue if flyers keep it tidy.

[jaideeguy]

anyone into RC gliders??? Not that there is any ridge lift, but maybe some decent thermals if you could get up to them.

[MESmith]

anyone into RC gliders??? Not that there is any ridge lift, but maybe some decent thermals if you could get up to them.

Probably no interest in Thailand, not noisy enough, I type as the freaking paramotors circle metres above my house.......

[Choonpon]

Yep zoom in to max and out too but nothing.

[Choonpon]

Gliders not for me:)

[koratjohn]

I live near the Top Gun location and stopped by this afternoon to take a look at their operation. We were able to see a few helicopters and couple planes flying in just a few minutes. I have to say we enjoyed the quick visit to Top Gun and their hospitality was over the top. I had stopped by with my 4 & 6 year old and within 15 minutes of being there, they had both the kids with a controller in their hands trying to fly an electric powered airplane. The kids were on cloud nine and now had a great story to tell their friends for sure. This was done with little conversation or introductions, just pure hospitality and gracious hosts.

I have a feeling we'll be back and try to get some sort of kit and see of we can get off the ground.

[Choonpon]

I live near the Top Gun location and stopped by this afternoon to take a look at their operation. We were able to see a few helicopters and couple planes flying in just a few minutes. I have to say we enjoyed the quick visit to Top Gun and their hospitality was over the top. I had stopped by with my 4 & 6 year old and within 15 minutes of being there, they had both the kids with a controller in their hands trying to fly an electric powered airplane. The kids were on cloud nine and now had a great story to tell their friends for sure. This was done with little conversation or introductions, just pure hospitality and gracious hosts.

I have a feeling we'll be back and try to get some sort of kit and see of we can get off the ground.

For safety reasons I don't recommend young kids to stay at the flying site too long. This hobby can be very dangerous, because of the propellers. I have seen enough incidents, one being a friend's thumb was severed while starting the engine.

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Thaivisa Connect App

[niteowl]

I've a question -

An electric RC helicopter crash landed in our yard, possibly Monday, 29 July 2013, or Tuesday, 30 July 2013. I discovered it (I believe), Tuesday morning between 6:00 and 6:30 am. It doesn't appear to be badly damaged.

I don't find any identifying marks or ID on it, other that the numbers on the fuselage, which are probably not unique.

I tried calling some phone numbers I found on rcthai.net, but haven't gotten through to anyone.

Somebody must be missing a helicopter; feel free to PM me to claim it (or, if you have any advice or thoughts on finding the owner.)

Thanks.

[BB1955]

Where can you order kits off the internet ! I flew some RC back in the states would love to start again ... Building it is half the fun watching it crash is like loosing a child !!!!!!