Bird of Time ARF

[doctormike]

I am finally assembling my BOT. What a beauty! I am using all electronics, motor, hardware from MRC. You can't beat FMS servos. I have Motorized it with an E-Flite 25, and a Mantis 65 AMP Esc. All the mods are a challenge, and I'm lovein' it!!! If I do say so, my motor installation looks like it was meant to be that way. It's really nice that the 10 ft. wing breaks down into 3 parts for transportation. Can hardly wait to try her out!!! Doc

[doctormike]

RE: Bird of Time ARF

Maidened my BOT this morning. Absolutely wonderfull! E- flite 25 is more than enough power. Just needs an encrease in rudder throw( no ailerons). My spoilers worked TOO well. Need to reduce the throw greatly. I'm a happy camper! Doc

[Konrad]

RE: Bird of Time ARF

Great!!
What cell count and prop! Also what brand of BOT? 

Never knew you could have too much spoilers.  Might need more elevator mix (correction). In my style of flying after a certain point there is no added loss of lift. But the added drag is often welcomed.

Have you tried to use the prop as a brake? High idle, just enough to unfold the prop will add gobs of drag, again necessitating some down trim (mix) to keep from stalling.

Also how are you mounting the motor? I really like to add a rear support (removable). I'm showing a Hyperion style rear support on my Multiplex Cularis (2.6m) with E-Flite 15 (3 cell 13x7 prop @ 42 amps).

http://media.hyperion.hk/dn/gs/
http://rctruth.com/index.php?topic=2424.0

Yep, I too am using servos from MotionRC in the wings. Mine are 4 Freewing 9 gram MG digitals.

[doctormike]

RE: Bird of Time ARF

With my spoilers up only 3/4" it dropped like a rock. I just lowered them more. I don't use elevator mix, usually. I like to fly my planes in my self. I made my on motor mount. 1/4 " plywood. It wasn't easy, but the motor is inside the nose and I can remove it if neccesary. I've had great luck with FMS servos. Nice long leads. I'm using a 4s 2500 Admiral. Right now my problem is, trying to program the Mantis ESC to break so the prop doesn't freewheel. I have followed the directions exactly no less than 12 times. No break! I don't know if it's me or the ESC. Doc

[Konrad]

RE: Bird of Time ARF

Dropped like a rock? Was that nose down or flat? Not sure what you mean by fly my planes by myself. As the pitch moment changes as you change the lift of the wing it is advantageous to mix in the appropriate elevator trim. This is assuming a pitch change. But if she just drops like a rock (flat) that is what I assume you want. Then no mix needed.

There is no valor in hand flying an out of trim model use the radio mix. In the old days we had all sorts of mechanical linkages to try to address these pitch (trim) changes as we set up for launch and landings.

For fiberglass fuselages I like to use fiberglass boards (often found as PC boards). This gives a good bond to the fiberglass fuse and offers very little compression under the force of the motor mount bolts and or landing force (Lawn Darting). 1/4" plywood is good for the old glow engine motor mounts but for a more modern power system, stiff non-compressible materials are best.

Don't know about FMS but Freewing offers their servos in various lead lengths. This results in nice neat installations.

Are you using a programing card? I've had no issues with the ZWT programing cards.
What size prop? There might be too much momentum for the brake, not likely but a possibility.

For safety sake I hope you are setting up the ESC without a prop on the motor.

All the best,
Konrad

[doctormike]

RE: Bird of Time ARF

I guess "Drop like a rock" was a bit of an exaggeration. I can put her down wth no floating, nice and level. No programming card. Just trying to program it with my TX as the instructions say. I really need help with this from someone who can figure out what I'm doing wrong. I am leaving the prop on (very carefully) so I can check to see if the brake is on.  I hate it when I don't know if it's me or faulty equipment. Doc

[Konrad]

RE: Bird of Time ARF

Please remove the prop, SAFETY FIRST!

You will notice when the brake engages! The motor will come to a sudden stop. You might need the mass of the prop to tell if you have programed a soft or hard brake, but that is another issue.

Trouble shooting is a skill learned the hard way.

I hate programing ESC with the TX stick! So it's not just you.
$9 dollars for a programing card is well worth it!

All the best,
Konrad

[Flygirl]

RE: Bird of Time ARF

Maidened my BOT this morning. Absolutely wonderfull! E- flite 25 is more than enough power. Just needs an encrease in rudder throw( no ailerons). My spoilers worked TOO well. Need to reduce the throw greatly. I'm a happy camper! Doc

Dang Doc.... We HAVE to teach you how to post pics and videos because I'd really like to see that thing flying.....

[doctormike]

RE: Bird of Time ARF

Maidened my BOT this morning. Absolutely wonderfull! E- flite 25 is more than enough power. Just needs an encrease in rudder throw( no ailerons). My spoilers worked TOO well. Need to reduce the throw greatly. I'm a happy camper! Doc

Dang Doc.... We HAVE to teach you how to post pics and videos because I'd really like to see that thing flying.....

I know. It's lazyness on my part, more than anything. My wife put my post picture in, so I know I can do it. I really want to show off my Tiger Moth paint job. Apparantly, from what I've seen, you are the expert. Doc
[hr]

Please remove the prop, SAFETY FIRST!

You will notice when the brake engages! The motor will come to a sudden stop. You might need the mass of the prop to tell if you have programed a soft or hard brake, but that is another issue.

Trouble shooting is a skill learned the hard way.

I hate programing ESC with the TX stick! So it's not just you.
$9 dollars for a programing card is well worth it!

All the best,
Konrad

Thanks, Konrad. MRC's Wayne programed it for me. They said it worked fine. I need a programing card, allright. I can't say enough about the great service from MRC! Wayne even put it on youtube so I could see it working. Doc

[Konrad]

RE: Bird of Time ARF

Maidened my BOT this morning. Absolutely wonderfull! E- flite 25 is more than enough power. Just needs an encrease in rudder throw( no ailerons). My spoilers worked TOO well. Need to reduce the throw greatly. I'm a happy camper! Doc

Dang Doc.... We HAVE to teach you how to post pics and videos because I'd really like to see that thing flying.....

I know. It's lazyness on my part, more than anything. My wife put my post picture in, so I know I can do it. I really want to show off my Tiger Moth paint job. Apparantly, from what I've seen, you are the expert. Doc

[hr]

Please remove the prop, SAFETY FIRST!

You will notice when the brake engages! The motor will come to a sudden stop. You might need the mass of the prop to tell if you have programed a soft or hard brake, but that is another issue.

Trouble shooting is a skill learned the hard way.

I hate programing ESC with the TX stick! So it's not just you.
$9 dollars for a programing card is well worth it!

All the best,
Konrad

Thanks, Konrad. MRC's Wayne programed it for me. They said it worked fine. I need a programing card, allright. I can't say enough about the great service from MRC! Wayne even put it on youtube so I could see it working. Doc

Fantastic!!!
Good luck getting that kind of service from any of the big box US distributors, or HK for that matter.

MotionRC is the best! And this is coming from an anti ARF/Foam guy. Well, until about 18 months ago. This change can be traced back to MotionRC and the products they sell and support.

[Flygirl]

RE: Bird of Time ARF

Okay Doc! Here we go! Ready? I'm going to post a picture of my son Kris holding my two gliders.... After you have hit "Reply" or "Post New Thread" and you have the "reply" window open, scroll down and you will see a blue bar that says "Attachments" and just below that you will see the words "New Attachment" with a button next to it that says "Choose File". When you left click with your mouse on the "Choose File" button a window will open which should be your "Pictures" folder on your PC. If the window that opens is not where you store your pictures then you will have to browse to the correct folder but for now let's say all your pictures are in your PC's "Pictures" folder. When you find the picture you want, left click on it with your mouse then left click on the "Open" button at the bottom of the window. Alternatively you can double left click on the picture you want to post and it will skip the step of having to click on the "Open" button. Once you have done that the "Picture" folder window will disappear and you will now see the name of your picture file next to the "Choose File" button you clicked on earlier at the bottom of the reply window you had open. The next step is to look to the right on the "New Attachment" bar and you will see another button that says "Add Attachment" When you left click that with your mouse the picture will upload to the forum hard drives and you will have a new bar under the "New Attachment" bar that shows the name of your picture. You will notice that the picture name that was next to the "Choose File" button now says "No File Chosen". To the right on that bar you will see two new buttons, "Remove" and "Insert Into Post". Left click on the "Insert Into Post" button and the words "[attachment=xxxx]" (the x's will be a number) will appear wherever your cursor was in the open reply window. Those words mean you were successful! You can now either click on the "Post Reply"button, add text, or attach another picture by repeating the above steps....

Here's my picture.... Let's see yours! You can do it!

[doctormike]

RE: Bird of Time ARF

Holly cow, flygirl! Now I'm really scared! Thank you for taking the time to type all that. Now I HAVE to try it. I printed it, and with Marcia's help, will give it a try. I know, like most everything, it will be a cinch after I learn it. Doc

[Flygirl]

RE: Bird of Time ARF

You're welcome! Can't wait to see the BOT!!! :) That has long been a favorite of mine.....!

[doctormike]

RE: Bird of Time ARF

You're welcome! Can't wait to see the BOT!!! :) That has long been a favorite of mine.....!

[hr]
Flygirl... We did it. Doc

[Flygirl]

RE: Bird of Time ARF

Yessssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!! Gimme a high 5 Doc!!

It is effing beautiful!!! Okay now I want one... How hard was it to build?? Do you need a wing jig? How does the wing break down? 4 pieces I hope? I think this could be a really nice winter project... :)

Boy oh boy, that has to be one hell of a thermal catcher...

Jeez I just looked it up and it's an ARF! Amazing.... Is the construction pretty good Doc? How did you go about motorizing it?

[doctormike]

RE: Bird of Time ARF

It's an ARF. The wingtips come off. I can carry it in the back seat of my Subaru. It is stock as a high start launcher. I added an E-Flite 25 motor and a folding prop with a Mantis 65 A ESC. The fuselage is fiberglass. I don't remember what it cost, but around $200. Tower Hobby sells them. If you buy one I will give you all the details for my modifications. She just floats forever. I also added spoilers to make it come down. I can give you details on this too...pretty simple. You'll love it! Doc

[Flygirl]

RE: Bird of Time ARF

Thanks Doc!!

[doctormike]

RE: Bird of Time ARF

I flew my BOT again today. Holy cow!!! The thing doesn't want to come down! I had to use  spoilers to bring it down. Little to no thermals and it just stayed at about 800'. I love my BOT!!! Doc

[Flygirl]

RE: Bird of Time ARF

All it does is rain rain rain here.... Glad you got her flying good Doc! It's a beauty of a plane!

[Konrad]

RE: Bird of Time ARF

Now that you got the ESC to work, have you had a chance to try to use the prop drag to bring her down along with the spoilers?