"Stealth" Park Jet showdown - RC Powers F-22 and T-50 V5s

Hi Everyone -

Had these two beauties at the field today having a bit of a "stealth" park jet fly off😎

Here is today's flight video.

The RC Powers F-22 V5 and the T-50 V5 (on the left) were released at the same time and I have been enjoying the F-22 for a long time as it is my favorite of all the RC Powers V5 park jets.  I am a newcomer to the T-50 V5, but have been enjoying it immensely.  Both planes are modified quite a bit, you can read more about my F-22 V5 build at this blog post, and the T-50 build by watching this table talk video.  Also, through this blog starting in December 2017, you will find a multi part build log documenting everything I did with my T-50 build.

For today's flight, the power setups were exactly the same.

• Motor - EMAX RS2306 2750 Kv;
• ESC - HobbyWing Platinum PRO 40A with custom settings of 26.25 degrees for timing and 8 Khz for PWM (pulse width modulation) frequency;
• Prop - 6x4 APC gas; and 
• Battery - Gens Ace 2200 3S 45C.

I guess one of the biggest parts of today's flyoff was to see which one is faster😊  In the promo for the T-50 V5, Dave Powers says "This one is even faster".  I suppose I assumed that was meaning it was faster than the F-22 since they were released at the same time.  Now perhaps it means it is faster than maybe the last version of the T-50, the V2 which was huge with a 39.5" wingspan? 

Both these planes have the same wingspan, the T50 is actually almost 1 oz/28 gr lighter than the F22, but I don't know, after watching the video a couple times, it is a very close call which is faster😑  In my previous videos with the T50, I had said it was the fastest plane in my hangar at the time and it is certainly one of the quickest planes I have ever flow, but that was before I gave the F22 a 160 gr/5.6 oz thrust increase, so who knows?!  Guess I'll be happy having two really fast stealth park jets in my hangar😀

They are both a lot of fun to fly and certainly fast.  The F22 with more weight below the wing plate than the T50 is certainly more stable and a bit smoother to fly.  Also, looking at the picture above, the F22 seems to have more wing area and coupled with the lift of the flat bottom shown below makes it feel like it has a much lower wing loading.

The T50 is noticeably more agile and responsive than the F22 even with smaller elevons and less control surface travel in the pitch and the roll.  In fact it is almost borderline "twitchy" which isn't always a bad thing as it certainly allows me to fly it aggressively, however it is not as forgiving as the F22, so it really forces me to fly smoothly and stay ahead of the plane😳  While it will respond more quickly that the F22, the T50 is like flying very close to the razor's edge, push just a bit too far and it can become a bit of a handful.  Whereas with the F22, I can push hard but because it is a bit more stable and forgiving, I have a second or two more to recover if I do something a bit beyond my skill level😵

These are both excellent planes, RC Powers did a great job on the designs.  If I was to recommend a stealth park jet to try first, it would be the F-22 V5 hands down.  RC Powers has been the leader in getting an F-22 park jet that flies will without being a complete handful to fly.  The T50 would be good for a second stealth park jet once you feel you are ready to handle it's incredible responsiveness and want to really push the envelope😀

Park Jet noise...the "other" sound of freedom😎

Cheers,

Scott