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ModeratorPermalink Reply by Chris Anderson on April 27, 2008 at 1:44pm

Neither the SkyTec Shark or the Plantraco Tri Turbofan are made anymore, unfortunately (if you google around you can find a few in remainder sales, but they won't last long). As a result, we've switching to the Mach III (http://www.rctoys.com/rc-toys-and-parts/MACH-3Z-GOODYEAR/RC-BLIMPS-...), which is a more expensive ($54) but comes with a usable 52" envelope with fins. The only downside (aside from the price) is the that the thrusters aren't ducted, so they're a bit less efficient.

Stay away from the Megatech blimps, as their envelopes are too small to carry any extra weight (they're also more expensive than the Mach IIIs and have more silly lights and other unnecessary electronics to remove.

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Permalink Reply by Alasdair Allan on April 27, 2008 at 1:44pm

The only blimp Plantraco currently sell is the MicroBlimp

http://www.microflight.com/Online-Catalog/R-C-Toys/MicroBlimp-RTF-Set

which is a lot smaller than their Tri-Turbo Fan model used to be, so my guess is that their current design just won't carry the weight of the extra payload..?

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ModeratorPermalink Reply by Chris Anderson on April 27, 2008 at 2:24pm

Yes, confirming what Howard said, the Plantraco MicroBlimp is a lovely bit of design but totally inappropriate for modding. The envelope is too small and the motors are built into the RC circuit board.

For modding, you want the motors and mechanical assembly to remain after you remove the RC board.

Of course it's always possible to build your own gondola from scratch, but unless you want to do something fancy like vectoring thrusters it's not worth the hassle, especially when the toy industry has already done a pretty good job of light plastic and motor integration ;-)

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ModeratorPermalink Reply by Howard Gordon on April 27, 2008 at 1:54pm

I did a quick search and found that all of the earlier sources I'd seen for the Tri-Turbofan blimp are now sold out. I bought 2 of these kits and have no need for them, so send me a PM if you want to buy them from me.

I have one of the Plantraco MicroBlimps - as discussed in this thread. It's cool, but the envelope is quite small and the rotors are not powerful. Also, one of my motors died after a few days and I had to send the "gondola" back to Plantraco for repair.

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ModeratorPermalink Reply by Chris Anderson on April 27, 2008 at 3:53pm

PM is the little envelope icon at the top left of your screen. Or just click the little envelope ("Send message") icon below his name in the message above.

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Permalink Reply by Richard on May 7, 2008 at 3:45am

Hi Howard,

I'm interested. What do you aks for one kit? I can't see a "see message", so I can't mail you.

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ModeratorPermalink Reply by Howard Gordon on May 7, 2008 at 6:42am

Peter Klemperer already snagged both of my Tri-Turbofan kits. Maybe Chris can suggest another source.

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ModeratorPermalink Reply by Chris Anderson on May 7, 2008 at 7:12am

I don't recommend the Plantraco Tri-Turbofan, and not just because it's discontinued and hard to find. It also has the vertical thruster in the middle of the gondola, which makes it hard to find room for the board and IR sensors.

The best candidate today is the Mach III at RCtoys.com. It's canopy is narrower than our Shark, so you have to double-stick tape it to the outside, which is a bit graceless, but it works.

When we move to our surface mount board, it will be thin and rectangular and will fit inside all RC blimps, including the Mach III.

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ModeratorPermalink Reply by Wayne Dancer on April 29, 2008 at 9:21am

Here is a place you can buy RC blimps, but I do not know how much they can carry.

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ModeratorPermalink Reply by Chris Anderson on April 29, 2008 at 9:25am

Yes, those are the same Megatech blimps I described above. Not recommended, for reasons stated there, including weight carrying capacity.

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Permalink Reply by Alasdair Allan on April 29, 2008 at 9:25am

See Chris' comment above about Megatech blimps. Easiest place to go if you're in the US for gondolas and envelopes is rctoys.com,

http://www.rctoys.com/rc-products-catalog/RC-BLIMPS.html

while in the UK otherlandtoys.co.uk carry some of the same stock,

http://www.otherlandtoys.co.uk/rc-toys-rc-blimps-c-80_96.html

although not the high lift envelope unfortunately.

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ModeratorPermalink Reply by Howard Gordon on April 29, 2008 at 9:35am

As I have noted in other threads, the envelope from rctoys.com is nice. That's what I use with http://www.surveyor.com/YARB.html , and if you purchase without the motor control, cost is a bit over $200 with gondola and motors.

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