Joshua broke his nineteen minute F1R record at the October TTOMA contest using the new F1R v1.1 hub in excellent conditions. On this flight, the model climbed continuously until the 13 minute mark, expending a great deal of available energy which could have been devoted to a longer cruise.

After numerous tests, it became apparent that the torsion shaft setup on the v1.1 hub is too stiff to provide a fully optimized flight profile in Cat I sites, so Joshua built a prototype hub using a wound torsion spring like those used on larger hubs. While much more difficult to build, this setup produced the soft spring needed for this flight profile.

After a long day of F1D testing at the November TTOMA contest, Joshua pulled out the Girder Grabber II, and after a few quarter motor flights, launched the model with this new hub. Unfortunately it hit a patch of bad turbulence and stalled in after climbing to about 15 feet. Joshua launched his second attempt without rewinding the model. This took at least 30 seconds off the clock and wasted valuable climb energy so that the model never reached the ceiling. It climbed very slowly for about 5 minutes before leveling out. The second climb began around 12 minutes and gained about 5 feet of additional altitude. Final descent began a little after 18 minutes. The model maintained a nice nose-high attitude all the way down to achieve an impressive 23:33, the new US record for Cat I F1R. Joshua believes the model is capable of much longer times if he can beat the turbulence and fly the model in warmer weather.

The new F1R v2.0 hub is now available in our store for $45. If you fly small low ceiling models, this is the hub for you!

Here’s a little footage of the record setting flight. This was taken around the 14 minute mark, and you can see that the model is slowly climbing.