MF-15 Speed Test

by FliteTest | November 19, 2014 | (8) Posted in Challenges

If you saw our episode from this past Monday, you might already be familiar with MESA rcFoam Fighters.

We got to visit them in Colorado and they sent us home with this amazing design. They call this the MF-15 and was created by one of their very own, Ashton. 

They told us that they were able to get this thing up to 90 mph (145 km/hour)! We though we would put it to the test and see if we could beat their benchmark.

We equipped the MF-15 with the Voltron GPS Black Box V3 Logger. This is the same one we used for our Shinden Rocket Plane.

This will give you a readout of your speed and can record GPS tracks which also tell you altitude and position for your entire flight. 

After the first flight we were having some issued getting a reading from the Voltron. This may have something to do with the fact that Peter practically strapped it to a pipe bomb inside the Shindin. 

If you don't know what were talking about, watch the Shinden Rocket Plane episode. 

Even without a reading, the plane's speed seemed to be underwhelming. So we up'ed the prop size and battery. 

The second flight was noticeably faster. But alas, the Voltron was still out of commission, so still no measurable speed. 

Our last resort was to dig out our old radar gun from the 100mph Under $100 episode and do it the old fashioned way!

 

Lucky for us, Alex "volunteered". 

At the end of the day, our best speed was 80 mph (129 km/hour). Not enough to beat MESA, but still impressive!

We might revisit this plane again to see if we can top that benchmark in the future. All in all, this is an amazing plane made by some amazing people.

You can check out MESA at their official website: www.mesarcfoamfighters.com

A huge thank you again to Ashton for this design and to everyone at MESA!

Also, congratulations to Ashton for achieving his TOP ACE Honors! 

COMMENTS

PropSpinner on November 19, 2014
Talking about "making memories". Those kids in the MESArcFF are making some great ones! They're learning skills they'll use their entire life also.

Another fun episode guys. Peter said this was his favorite flying season in another episode. I'm expecting some fun video this winter!
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sailorJohn on November 19, 2014
Experimental airlines has a simple pizza box flat delta that seems very fast with a 2200kv motor. I
It'd be fun to see how fast a motor could be put on one of these before it went into flutter and destroyed itself, maybe a series 6 3600kv inrunner . What motor were you using?
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nerdnic on November 20, 2014
80?! Surly you can do better than that ;-)
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WhiskeyJack on November 20, 2014
Josh / Peter,
Use a 2700kv and a 6x4 or 6x3 APC prop on a 3s. If you don't hit the 90's go 4s and for sure you'll hit the 100's. WJ.
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Hunter Staples on November 20, 2014
Does anyone know what quad Alex had right in the beggining of the episode? I doesn't look like his blackout.
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BigSam on November 22, 2014
Good to see you still out having fun! Alex - did you work out what happened with your quad? My guess would be some snow got on the FC. Too bad you weren't up there as I would have liked to see your chase footage. Fingers crossed for next time!
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MF-15 Speed Test