Jeremy Z

My wife dragged me to Wal*Mart yesterday night. It turns out that I'm remarkably good at killing time in Wal*Mart. Electronics, tools, guns, flashlights...

In the back of my mind, I had decided that I need a new, bigger flight box. One that had room for my transmitter, 7 Ah lead acid battery, charger, all my flight packs, etc.

I noticed this beauty as I was walking down the aisle.

Design Features:

1. The construction is sturdy. It's sturdy enough to sit on.
2. The segmented compartments in the lid are removable. This is quite handy, as your smaller battery packs fit in here nicely.
3. The large storage area is big enough for the biggest things you need to carry with you.
4. The removable tray is plenty big for the basic hand tools you'll need in the field, and/or props. I like how it is divided so you can store batteries in parts of it and keep their terminals away from potential shorts.
5. The center, non-removeable compartment in the lid is sized for a standard 25' tape measure, and is pretty deep. There are room for smaller packs in there.

If you decide to remove the dividers in the lid compartments to make room for more LiPos, be careful in doing so. If you just try to break them off, you'll split the side of them. They're much sturdier than they look. Even after scoring them with a razor, I managed to split the sides of them. I also tried cutting them with a knife, and that split the sides. They're not flmsy. So the bottom line is to use a smallish saw or something that requires less force.


Box Contents:(for your reference)

1. Lid: Battery packs. In the right container, upper-left slot is a Thunderpower 3S 1320. Below that is an Apogee 3S 1570. Surrounding those are the 7 cell, 900 mAh sub C KAN packs.
2. Lid: In the left container, center compartment is a Hyperion 3S 2100. Surrounding that are prop adapters, velcro, a swiss army knife, and a flim canister with tiny stuff.
3. Lid: In the center compartment are my two GWS 8 cell 750 mAh AAA packs.
4. Tray: Miscellaneous tools, a couple of 8 cell, 3.6 Ah NiMH packs for the TwinStar II, a small LED flashlight, and a syringe of 5 minute epoxy. The small holes in the tray are for 1/4" hex screwdriver bits.
5. Bottom: 7 Ah lead acid battery, a couple of chargers, sunglasses, strapping tape, electrical tape, wattmeter, squishy soccer ball and empty Hobby-Lobby box to keep contents from shifting, fleece gloves, a transmitter, and gap-filling CA.

One minor thing is that the dividers in the sub-containers are not easily removable. However, keeping in mind that this is only $11, I don't mind a bit of manual labor.

A comparably-sized tackle box costs about $25-35 for all those dividers.

skiman762

That looks like a good setup
How long does the 7ah last charging your batts at the field?

qban_flyer

HE, HE, HE.

Don't mean to rain on your parade, but I purchased something similar at "Dollar World" four plus months ago.

Since they were priced "right" I bough ten of them and gave seven away to some of my flying buddies as X-Mas "presents". Kept the rest for myself. :o

Nope, I am not cheap, just frugal.

PS: Wally's box looks nifty, though I wouldn't dream of putting any of my TXs. in that box.

MountainFlyer

Jeremy,
I have the exact same box .. well except yours is less messy than mine

crxmanpat

What about this one from Stanley? My wife has one for all her bead jewelry stuff, and I'm planning on getting one for my field kit. Only $20 at Wally World last time I looked.

Pat

firemanbill

I like that one too Pat...

Qban, What do you tote your transmitter around in? I'm looking for something to keep mine in.

By the way Pat, My cessna is flying great. I ended up going with the park 400 on it.

Jeremy Z

Pat, I saw that one and checked it out. It is the right height for sitting on! But in the end, I decided that it would take up too much valuable room in my small car that could otherwise be used for planes! The one I got cost $11 instead of $25-30, and it fits behind the passenger seat. If I had gotten the bigger one, as you show, it would have to be either in the trunk, or broken down into two parts to fit it in front of & behind the passenger seat.

So if you think you need that much storage and you don't ming lugging more stuff around...

On the other hand, you wouldn't be doing as much lugging, since it's on wheels.

I guess it comes down to how much room you can dedicate to it in your car. I like to take as many planes as I can jam in my hatch when I go, hehehe.

qban_flyer

An internally padded, aluminum Tool Box by Husky purchased at Homer's Depot. I have two of them, as I carry four TXs to the field on occasion. See attached photo. Flap on inside lid is to carry tools around, on back of the flap I carry my flight log book. Middle partition is for Li-Pos.

Very much like a JR case without the name and price tag. I'm the eternal cheapskate, under $20 each, cheaper on sale at Harbor Freight at times. Lockable too!

firemanbill

Very professional looking Qban... I may have to copycat that one

Jeremy Z

Hey, the less you spend on toolboxes, the more you'll have for RC, right? We've got to have our priorities!


As long as you don't put so much crap down there that things are falling on top of it, it won't be an issue. I'm going to get some high end packing foam from work and carve it up to fit the Tx. I just need to keep it from banging against the side of the box and it'll be OK.


You can figure it out by dividing the capacity of this battery (7000 mAh) by the capacity of the batteries you're charging. So for my 3600 mAh packs. it would charge... 1.94 of them. For the li'l GWS 750 mAh packs, it would charge 9.3 of them. It comes out just about like that in practice too.

I saw that and checked it out. I like that it is at the right height for sitting on and lining up your charger with your car battery, but I don't like how bulky it is. The space that box takes up in the car would be better used for more planes! Of course, it depends on the size of your car and how many planes you'd like to bring, but in a Honda CRX (like yours) or a Civic hatchback (like mine) space for planes is already at a premium.

If I had a minivan or pickup, I'd have thought more seriously about that one.

Heck, in another 5-10 years, I might have kids & a minivan, and that box will be $11.

qban_flyer

Thanks FB.

Errr! I may advise you that I have Copyrighted the partition arrangements inside.

Really a nifty carrier.

I like JZ's and crxmanpat's but I already have three similar to one and would carry the larger one to the field if were in the mood to do some crashing and repairs while there as it looks like a nice full sized shop on wheels.

firemanbill

Yeah I like both of theirs as well. I've got a big ol red ford pick up with a high top camper shell on it. Named him BART (big a#% red truck)!

I can pretty much take my whole shop with me. I just need someway to arrange it all.

ps Jeremy, I've got a minivan too!

Twmaster

Wally world is evil. I have not set foot in a Wally World in almost 4 years.

*spit*

I also use the aluminum skinned foam lined cases for my TX. I get mine at Lowe's for $24.95 each. The ones at Harbor Freight do not come with the foam insert though.

And just to toss it out there on the floor, I drive a Chevy pickup with a back seat to put my gear in.

qban_flyer

Youse rich guys, I only have so much room in my Kia to carry R/C stuff around. Besides gas costs too much these days.

Kia Spectra (specter?), gas prices, there I go again, the eternal cheap one!

firemanbill

A Kia? does't that stand for Killed in action?

Did you hear the bringing the Yugo's back? as a station wagon now...

gonna call 'em a Wego

Twmaster

<snicker>

<groan>

firemanbill

<groan>

Yeah I know Mike... my feeble attempt at humor

qban_flyer

If it is as reliable as the original You-Go, the We-Go won't go anywhere.

rca

Let's don't get started on the poor Yugo. I was once an auditor for a Yugo dealership and had to read all the warranty claims, that was the most fun I ever had, laughed for days.

Just a sample:

• Steering wheel came off in hand while turning
• Gearshift detached from tranny while driving
• Brake pedal broke off while breaking
• Door handle broke off in hand, unable to exit

Jeremy I have the exact same case too, love it.

firemanbill

I was at a car show in Virginia Beach last year and a guy had a restored Yugo there

All I could think of was, WHY???

skiman762

I had a yugo once
I went to napa and ask if I could get a gas cap for my yugo
the clerk said that would be a fair trade
They did a safety survey to see what cars kept their owners safe from head injuries during a crash they had to leave yugo owners out of the survey because they figured most of them all ready had some sort of head injury

All these nice flight boxes I may have to get rid of my cardboard box and upgrade I did spring the 2.99 for the heavy duty dish moving box from home depot

Twmaster

One of the local Yugo dealers here was also a Lincoln dealer. Near the end he was offering a free Yugo with the purchase of a Lincoln. I'd suspect the price of the Lincoln was higher without the Yugo....

firemanbill

get a gas cap for my Yugo Now that's a good one...

Grasshopper

The Yugo does have one nice standard feature. It has a heated rear window. That way your hands don't get cold while pushing it in the winter. You can also easily tripple the value of one by filling it with gas.

qban_flyer

HAR, HAR, HAR! Very good!