Graupner Tipsy — RC Electric Plane (ARTF)

The Graupner Tipsy is the first proper RC plane that I had any real success with. Before buying this aircraft, radio control model flying seemed too difficult. After it, I felt like I knew what I was doing.

I would recommend this as a first RC plane to anyone

The plane is made entirely from grey EPP foam, and comes ARTF (Almost Ready To Fly), requiring only a few hours' assembly time. It falls into the ParkFlyer category, as the wingspan is small, and it is pretty quiet.

I would call it "Quiet But Deadly" though, because I nearly cut a finger off testing the motor / propellor. I hadn't realised how deadly even a small electric motor with a sharp propellor on it can be. I wasn't thinking, and moved the throttle control when I was testing the elevator. Boy, did I get a fright, followed by a week of pain.

I chose to paint the canopy with some black paint I got at a model shop. There are plenty of paints suitable for foam planes; just ask the model shop for advice.

Up in the air

So, how does it fly? Excellently! You've got plenty of dihedral, a fast and efficient wing, a pusher prop that doesn't get damaged in crashes, radio gear that is encased in foam, and long long flights to practice in. I would recommend this as a first plane to anyone. With the 1200mAh Lithium polymer batteries, I can fly for at least 30 minutes. I have got it to slope-soar over sand-dunes and I'm sure it would thermal if the sun would just shine.

On the first flight I nearly flew it into my face. I probably hadn't learned to give the plane a good look-over before flying, to see if the control surfaces look straight, etc. I found that I needed some left-trim. It climbs really well, and the throttle is more of a lift-controller -- full power sends it up quite rapidly.

I once broke it into 5 distinct chunks

I had many many flights with it, and ended up buying 3 sets of batteries, so I could fly for ages on one journey to the flying field. A few times I crashed it badly, and once broke it into 5 distinct chunks. Each time I was able to repair it easily with epoxy, and it flew just as well afterwards as it had before.

After a few evening flights I tried using some self-adhesive plastic sheet to give a bit more colour and visibility, as the grey plane looks a lot like the grey sky. I even experimented with a couple of ultra-bright LEDs under the wings, but I concluded that flying at night too risky.

Soon I'd mastered loops, barrel-rolls (after increasing the rudder throw) and was getting bored with it. So I moved up to a Smoothe so I could learn ailerons.

2005 Update

I recently went on holiday to the coast, and found that I only had one working plane to take with me, the reliable old Tipsy. I discovered that by flying around at very low throttle, I could get flights of considerable length by hunting around for thermals and little bits of slope lift. The plane flew for so long that I got neck ache before the battery went flat.

The plane is now retired after a spot of pilot error resulted in a crash with the sea wall. The wing broke through where it joins the fuselage. I'm going to take out the servos and use them in my SU27.

2006 Update

After looking at the plane in a bit more detail, I realised that it would be impossible to take the servos out because I had glued them in with a big blob of Epoxy. I also thought that maybe the wing-break was repairable. So, I mixed up some more Epoxy and got to work on it. The left wing was glued back in place, and some other damage to the wing-bolt mount was repaired. I failed to notice that the other wing was slightly cracked too, until too late.

I took the plane on holiday again this year. It's easy to do because it came in a very sturdy cardboard box that it still fits back into, along with plenty of space for other useful items. I flew the plane on the dunes near the sea, but I was careful to not do any stunts because I noticed a slight crack as I was getting ready to fly. No harm done, but I certainly didn't try any loops!

Once again, I was not disappointed by this plane. It's simple to fly, resilient, and a long lasting source of enjoyment.

Graupner Tipsy technical details: