All Us intermediate pilots, Lets Share

[doctormike]

RE: All Us intermediate pilots, Lets Share

I put my seriously modified Art-Tech Pitts thru the grind today. Thanks to the Gman, I have pulled myself away from my hard headed attitude about gyros. The A-3 gyro has turned an aerobatic plane into an AEROBATIC plane! The thing does amazing Lomcovacs, flat inverted spins, on and on. Thanks, Gman. Doc

[Grossman56]

RE: All Us intermediate pilots, Lets Share

Hey Guys!
Yes Charlie I agree with you, had me holding my breath through most of the flight!!
And Doc, good for you to be open minded enough to try it.  The difference between any of my planes with or without the gyro is incredible.  Its not a crutch and it certainly doesn't fly the plane for you as many imagine.  To me, it just locks that plane right in.  I flew the Pitts without the gyro at first, trimmed her up and took off and landed a few times.  At first the gyro wasn't set right, but I got that adjusted and took her back up, got some altitude and switched it on.  Immediately it was an old friend.  Loops rolls spits s's, Cuban eights the whole nine yards effortlessly.  I also put the master gain on the dial of my DX8 so I can adjust the amount of gyro I'm using, which is a cool thing to have.  It also gave me a chance to focus on high, mid and low rates to see where the difference is.  Yes, there is a difference, the gyro doesn't take that away, but it smoothens out an airplane incredibly!

Got my 17g metal servos for BBD today, so I'm replacing the ailerons and elevator with them.  I have a spare for the rudder, but some trimming on the plastic bar is required, so I'll get to that.  I also ordered a set of each size of the Freewing ball/link connectors and an 85A ESC for her. I just figured that I'd make her a better plane all the way around.  If I like what I'm seeing, I'll probably go a MR R/C sound system as well, later on though. 
The 580 and the zip tie prop mod are really impressive and at some point I may order the Freewing 4258-580kv to see what I can gain from that.  It'll be a while though, as I would like to see what I've got so far and it looks as if the season is pretty well over here in the Rockies.
Old Crow is all set to bounce back in the air as well.  Shangrila impressed the folks at the fly in last weekend but everyone loves Big Beautiful Doll!!
We had an incident with the Apprentice.  Not quite sure what went wrong, but I found the elevator trim was pegged and so it must be that.  So, I'm going to attempt to bind the DX6i to her, so the trims are not so easy to knock.  Pandora Two has been grounded for a while as I removed the gyro from her to experiment with the Waco.  Now the Waco is down because I pulled motor out of her to try in Pandora One (complicating isn't it) But Pandora Two is getting stripped pretty soon and a new paint job.  I also have some touch ups to do on Pandora One and some small dents to patch up for the next season.  Things I've put off for when the weather gets sour.
Glad the videos a interesting.  It was a unique way to shoot the aerial portion of the Fly In.  It was the first time I have flown with more than me in the air so that was fun!.

Grossman56

[Grossman56]

RE: All Us intermediate pilots, Lets Share

Those magnificent girls in their flying machines.....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=323&v=FpVBoB6lr5E
Priceless!!

Grossman56

[Konrad]

RE: All Us intermediate pilots, Lets Share

I often ask myself who has that much storage space for gags like those.

[Grossman56]

RE: All Us intermediate pilots, Lets Share

Does make you wonder doesn't it..........

Grossman56

[boomer108]

RE: All Us intermediate pilots, Lets Share

Hey Gman!

    What size Freewing ball links did you use on BBD the 1.2 or 1.5? FMS uses 1.4 control rods. I would like to use them on my Corsair and Dallas Darling. Thanks and good flying!

Roy B.

[Grossman56]

RE: All Us intermediate pilots, Lets Share

Hey Roy.  I used the 1.2's (Stock number N321) on the ailerons and the rudder.  The elevator took the 1.5 (N322).  Seems like a great fit all around.  I wasn't sure on the sizes and they're not expensive, so I ordered a pack of both.

Grossman56

[Grossman56]

RE: All Us intermediate pilots, Lets Share

Hey guys and gals:
Anyone have any idea what kind of a switch I can get to replace the on/off switch on the side of the Apprentice?
They don't show up on the spare parts list and Motion said they've never heard of one giving out and to get in touch with Horizon Hobby.  I did and they want me to send the fuselage to Illinois!! I don't even send myself to Illinois!!
Its a damned switch!! So, rather than go through all the pain and hassle of doing this, I'm looking for a good replacement part.
What happens is that when we turn the switch on, the receiver blinks once and then nothing.  If you keep turning the switch off and on, its the same thing.

Any advice??

Grossman56

[Grossman56]

RE: All Us intermediate pilots, Lets Share

Ok, the problem is solved, I hope.  Part of it would seem to be the bind to the radio, so I rebound it, and the other part would seem to be the throttle trim.  You have to have the trim down below half to get the chimes apparently.  I've tried it and it seems to work, just waiting for a chance to fly her to make sure.  The weather has been nice but the wind had been up as well, hoping for tomorrow.
In the meantime, I have all the mods to BBD complete.  Ran into one snag with the Mantis ESC.  The battery leads are extremely short and almost impossible to hook up when its in place.  I was hoping to find a battery extension, but it would seem that all that's available through Motion is the motor lead extensions.  Fair game, I go to the esc page and spare parts, and order the extensions.  Turns out that they are the wrong size, they are 4.0mm and you need the 3.5mm, so beware if your getting this ESC.
Meanwhile, all the servos are changed over and the prop mods are done, with the new ESC and motor upgrade she should really be something.

Grossman56

[Konrad]

RE: All Us intermediate pilots, Lets Share

Are you aware that it is often dangerous to increase the lead length of the battery side of the ESC? If you do lengthen the battery side total length to be more than around 8" (8" is the normally allowable OEM length) you should add capacitance to the line. This is to save the ESC mosfets. Most OEMs offer these Capacitors. Here is what Castle Creation offers;
http://www.castlecreations.com/products/cc-cap-pack.html
The manufacture of these is not important, but the capacitors should be of the low ESR (Effective Series Resistance) type.

As the motor winding offer the protective impedance it is usually safer to lengthen the 3 motor leads if you need to lengthen any motor/esc leads. Now in the old days of 35mHz and 72 mHz one could experience RF issues with the longer motor leads. But on the modern 2.4 gHz this doesn't appear much of an issue. But the shorter the leads, motor and battery, the better.

[Grossman56]

RE: All Us intermediate pilots, Lets Share

Yeah, I hear you.  I'm going to lengthen the esc to motor cables.  The Mantis battery leads are maybe 2 1/2", extremely short.
I can get it to work but it is a b____ch to connect.
Anyway, got it all plugged in at the field today just to see where the difference was. (Still waiting for the ESC to motor leads, got a set that was posted as spare parts in the Mantis ESC page, but they are the wrong size, 4.0 mm when they have to be 3.5 mm.  Motion is sending me a set gratis).
So, with the 580 coupled to the 85 A Mantis ESC with the zip ties behind the prop blades, up she goes.  Holy Christ, she goes and goes and goes....I never did get it up to full throttle as I had trim adjustments and myriad other things to cope with as well a pretty stiff wind.  But WOW what a difference!!, She'll give most planes of her size a run for their money.  Also, with the 17G Metal servos and ball links, she's extremely sensitive compared to stock.  Best to use a lower control rate at first.  It was just like remaidening her.  So I got what I needed to know out of the flight and landed her.  Very impressive but there's a few bugs to work out, nothing major, and I'm waiting for the extensions to make it easier to plug in.
I was reminded of the hype concerning the Freewing Old Crow, how it would have nearly unlimited vertical and almost hover, I don't know about the hover thing, but the unlimited vertical is definitely a possibility with this set up.  I'll probably have to wait 'til Spring to find out though.

 Also, got Diane's Apprentice in the air again.  And again the wind was really a bit too much for her, doing Harrier landings!
Now, I've bound this plane to our DX6i and reversed the landing gear channel as instructed in the manual and I've set the switches on the receiver for primary/intermediate.  So, help me with this, does that make the L/G channel the beginner/intermediate switch or is that the auxiliary switch that does that?
Because of the wind it was hard to tell,  I know it was in primary mode on take off but could really tell what was happening when I hit the switch.  Ended up leaving it in the original configuration and landed it.  It flew ok, but was bucking the wind, it was a bit much for Diane and I want to make sure everything is where she expects it to be before she flies.
Any help on this?

Grossman56

[Konrad]

RE: All Us intermediate pilots, Lets Share

2.5 inches really is short. ZTW does say that the battery lead can be 8.5 long (total length). Do you know how to do the brass tube splice?
I might have to do a tutorial on this.

I think I show what this looks like in the first post of this review.
http://rctruth.com/index.php?topic=1447.0

[Grossman56]

RE: All Us intermediate pilots, Lets Share

Thanks Konrad, I know, I couldn't believe how short they were as well.  When I get the extensions, I'll pull the ESC out and take a picture of it beside the stock one.  I mean it barely stretches for the motor to the back of the battery.  The ones I've got in the Pandoras are so long, I've put a loop in them.

Grossman56

[Konrad]

RE: All Us intermediate pilots, Lets Share

Are you willing and/or able to solder? It sounds like one set up is too long and another is too short. 5 minutes with a soldering iron should address these issues.

[Grossman56]

RE: All Us intermediate pilots, Lets Share

I've got the proper extensions on order.  Got the 4.0mm by mistake, MotionR/C supposedly sent me the right ones, but all I got was the bullet connectors, I thought they'd send me the 100mm extensions, but now, just the ends.  So I went back on and ordered the correct 100(4") extensions with the 3.5mm bullet connectors, this is getting ridiculous!
Anyway, flying season is over anyway, so what the heck.

Grossman56

[Grossman56]

RE: All Us intermediate pilots, Lets Share

Hey Guys and Gals, just an update regarding the esc swap on the P51D

As you can see, the stock battery lead is a lot longer than the Mantis, why I couldn't tell you.
So, if you're going this route, throw in a set of 3.5 mm motor leads to make up for the short coming, I just went 100mm and it worked fine.
I'm sure that for those of you who are better at soldering than I am could lengthen the battery lead, but for me this was the easiest route to go.
Now, since this is done, it opens up a whole new world for me.  I can go 5s now which I'm thinking of doing, just to see.  The combination of the 85A ESC and the 580kv motor really adds some pep to the plane.
By the way, I pulled the trigger on the FMS 1400mm P40B so I'm really looking forward to that as well!!

Grossman56

[Loneflier]

RE: All Us intermediate pilots, Lets Share

Hey Guys and Gals, just an update regarding the esc swap on the P51D

As you can see, the stock battery lead is a lot longer than the Mantis, why I couldn't tell you.
So, if you're going this route, throw in a set of 3.5 mm motor leads to make up for the short coming, I just went 100mm and it worked fine.
I'm sure that for those of you who are better at soldering than I am could lengthen the battery lead, but for me this was the easiest route to go.
Now, since this is done, it opens up a whole new world for me.  I can go 5s now which I'm thinking of doing, just to see.  The combination of the 85A ESC and the 580kv motor really adds some pep to the plane.
By the way, I pulled the trigger on the FMS 1400mm P40B so I'm really looking forward to that as well!!

Grossman56

I'm with you on the soldering. I just can't seem to get a good result, so I go with the same method you used! I am really looking forward to reading your impressions and first flight reports on the new P40. Beautiful plane!

[Lon]

RE: All Us intermediate pilots, Lets Share

Hey Guys and Gals, just an update regarding the esc swap on the P51D

As you can see, the stock battery lead is a lot longer than the Mantis, why I couldn't tell you.
So, if you're going this route, throw inut a set of 3.5 mm motor leads to make up for the short coming, I just went 100mm and it worked fine.
I'm sure that for those of you who are better at soldering than I am could lengthen the battery lead, but for me this was the easiest route to go.
Now, since this is done, it opens up a whole new world for me.  I can go 5s now which I'm thinking of doing, just to see.  The combination of the 85A ESC and the 580kv motor really adds some pep to the plane.
By the way, I pulled the trigger on the FMS 1400mm P40B so I'm really looking forward to that as well!!

Grossman56

Gman,
If you do try 5s. You will find yourself going to it all the time after the experience. I still run 4s on mine because i'm waiting for the 5s to recharge:).
I got some flights in yesterday. First couple flights was with the 5s. While 5s was charging i put a 4s in. While flying i found myself pushing the throttle forward, but i was already a click or two from maxed out! I'm sure Santa is going to contribute to my inventory of 5s this winter, making 4s flights with the Mustang rare next year.

[Konrad]

RE: All Us intermediate pilots, Lets Share

On the soldering issue, I've found that most issues can be traced to insufficient heat as a results of insufficient thermal mass from the heat source. Or put another way use as large (heavy) a soldering tip as will fit the application. Don't use a pencil thin PC Board tip to solder heavy wires and connectors. I like to use broad chisel tips. Also never use a soldering gun no matter the wattage. The thin wire tips of soldering guns are very poor at conducting heat to the solder joint fast.

For us electric fliers soldering skills are about a valuable as proper rudder skills at to pattern fliers. Get a soldering iron with a replaceable tip about 3/8 minimum diameter. Some spare wire and practice. After looking at some U-tube video and an hour of practice you will open up a lot of options in this fine hobby. Then there is the savings, both in equipment and money!

All dedicated electric fliers need to develop soldering skills. It really is more a function of having the correct tools than skill.

When you guys change cell counts don't you also change the motor load (prop)? When I swap batteries of various cell counts I also change the prop. To maintain pitch speed the prop that I use on the lower cell count battery will have a much larger pitch than the prop used with the high cell count battery.

All the best,
Konrad

[Lon]

RE: All Us intermediate pilots, Lets Share

On the soldering issue, I've found that most issues can be traced to insufficient heat as a results of insufficient thermal mass from the heat source. Or put another way use as large (heavy) a soldering tip as will fit the application. Don't use a pencil thin PC Board tip to solder heavy wires and connectors. I like to use broad chisel tips. Also never use a soldering gun no matter the wattage. The thin wire tips of soldering guns are very poor at conducting heat to the solder joint fast.

For us electric fliers soldering skills are about a valuable as proper rudder skills at to pattern fliers. Get a soldering iron with a replaceable tip about 3/8 minimum diameter. Some spare wire and practice. After looking at some U-tube video and an hour of practice you will open up a lot of options in this fine hobby. Then there is the savings, both in equipment and money!

All dedicated electric fliers need to develop soldering skills. It really is more a function of having the correct tools than skill.

When you guys change  cell counts don't you also change the motor load (prop)? When I swap batteries of various cell counts I also change the prop. To maintain pitch speed the prop that I use on the lower cell count battery will have a much larger pitch than the prop used with the high cell count battery.

All the best,
Konrad

Hey Konrad,
Yes, i go with a larger pitch too.  But if i go to the field with 4 batteries, and just one is a 4s.  I don't switch.