Official Freewing Twin 70mm AL37 Airliner Thread

[GliderGuy]

Need your expertise....please.

I noticed the EC5 on the AL37 was hot after a recent flight. Investigation showed severe degradation of the fluting on the male barrel connector (tons of flights on this bird).
I have installed a new EC5 of the split barrel flower pedal type. She runs cool, now.


My question is related to the different designs of the male EC5 barrel connectors...

It appears the split barrel / flower pedal type is a more robust design...that is to say, more resistant to the spark damage that results at the instant the power plugs are mated.
Is this a correct observation? Comments? I am aware that there are sparkless connectors...and I may move to that type of a connector. But for now, I have installed a new split barrel/flower petal type connector.

See photos below. Thanks....

Note: This is not a system problem...this connector has been mated/un-mated about 1000 times. Plenty of action, so to speak, and limited life is expected.

-G.G.

Photo #1 Area where connection sparks degraded the metal.


Photo #2 Close-up of the degraded metal fluting pointed out in Photo #1
You can see the end on the left is where the spark occurs during connection.
The metal is totally eaten away by the spark.


Photo #3 Newly purchased split barrel / flower petal type. More robust than the above? Seems to be....


Comments are appreciated.

[Swarick]

I use those connectors on almost all my planes/packs. That damage is on the battery end is it not? Maybe the battery manufacturer used a cheap version of those plugs?

[GliderGuy]

I use those connectors on almost all my planes/packs. That damage is on the battery end is it not? Maybe the battery manufacturer used a cheap version of those plugs?

Thanks - This is the airplane end....Male plug. The battery end is the female. No issues with the battery side.
-GG

[themudduck]

That connector probably had a cold solder joint to the wire, it wasn't making a completely perfect electrical connection and perhaps it was arcing a little bit each time you plugged it in. My opinion. Good thing you caught it and replaced it!

[GliderGuy]

Thanks guys....but my question is regarding the reliability in your experience with the split barrel / flower petal male connector. Is it a better design EC5 connector?
-GG

[xviper]

Thanks guys....but my question is regarding the reliability in your experience with the split barrel / flower petal male connector. Is it a better design EC5 connector?
-GG

I don't fly my planes nearly as many times as you do (too many planes) but this past year, I've got a couple of planes where I've put those "split" males onto ESCs and quite frankly, I've not noticed much difference. They still arc when put together. To date, none of my EC5's have rotted away like in your picture although the odd one has gotten very hot. Those had very poor solders at the wire/bullet junction. Once re-soldered properly, they never got hot again.

[Scale Freak]

GliderGuy, wow! I have never seen that type of pin damage in normal operation of any plug. That is indicative of sever arcing, most likely sustained during use as well. looks like the area at the solder joint was also damaged, this only could be either a cold joint, or if the wires were breaking at the solder joint. Either way, that is not normal wear at all.

[GliderGuy]

GliderGuy, wow! I have never seen that type of pin damage in normal operation of any plug. That is indicative of sever arcing, most likely sustained during use as well. looks like the area at the solder joint was also damaged, this only could be either a cold joint, or if the wires were breaking at the solder joint. Either way, that is not normal wear at all.

Thanks S.F. Yep, This sure made the connector body get hot due to the high resistance. I’m gonna do more frequent connector inspections, for sure. Since installing the new, and new type=split barrel male, connector, she’s cool to the touch after a flight.

A good idea for everyone.

-GG

[Waconut]

Hi Guys,
I am thinking about ordering the AL37, I want to do a full repaint and after dealing with lifting factory paint on a couple other planes I want to fully strip the factory paint. Has anyone attempted this and if so what is the best method ?

Thanks!!
Anthony

[xviper]

Hi Guys,
I am thinking about ordering the AL37, I want to do a full repaint and after dealing with lifting factory paint on a couple other planes I want to fully strip the factory paint. Has anyone attempted this and if so what is the best method ?

Thanks!!
Anthony

Since the paint seems to come off very easily when you mask it off to paint and then remove the tape, you might just get some sticky tape and use it to pull the paint off. This is assuming that Freewing hasn't addressed the peeling paint by now. If they haven't, then whatever paint the tape didn't pull off, you could do light sanding to get the rest.
I've been using the sticky Gorilla tape to remove paint off surfaces that I need to glue together or glue stuff onto. Even with other planes that have better paint adhesion, the tape trick works pretty well.

[Speedrick]

Hello,

As a day 1 employee at TUI Belgium, I dreamed about building, painting and flying the 737 in the company’s livery.
This summer, this dream came reality.

After quite some struggling with the applied white paint, a nice livery was born😁, even if I say it myself.
Actually, I only need to apply some more decals, and apply a clear coat to protect the paint job and decals.


Will upload a picture when then airplane is finished completely.




Regards,

Eric

[Aros]

Welcome Speedrick the livery looks great!

[Waconut]

Will the AL37 takeoff from a well groomed grass runway?

[xviper]

Will the AL37 takeoff from a well groomed grass runway?

Yes, unless it's really plush grass, there shouldn't be an issue. The plane lifts off very well with those wings and the those engines are quite strong. 1/2 flaps will shorten the run even further but no flaps is still not a problem. Mine takes about less than 200 feet from rough grass. Just give 'er from the get go. Don't try a "scale" take just because it looks pretty. Full blast right from the start.

[Scale Freak]

Will the AL37 takeoff from a well groomed grass runway?

Our field has pretty thick grass as it was a very wet spring, but it is mowed well. My 37 takes about 250 to 300 ft of this 400ft runway to takeoff at half flaps. That being said, on landing, the ground roll is a lot shorter as the grass grabs the wheels. No worries of overruns here this year. lol

[Waconut]

Thanks for the response guys, I just pulled the trigger and ordered the AL37 and placed an order with Callie for the graphics.

[cybersarg]

EXPO. Is anyone using expo on this big bird? Just wondering if i need it or just a little or more. Thanks for the advice.

[themudduck]

EXPO. Is anyone using expo on this big bird? Just wondering if i need it or just a little or more. Thanks for the advice.

Just an opinion from me - expo is something that is mostly up to the pilot's preference. It can smooth out the controls so the plane is less sensitive, so you can fly smoother. This can be really helpful on planes that are very fast and sensitive (like the Lippisch or the ME163 Komet for example) but the airliner is a very smooth flyer right out of the box. Some will say its not needed in this case, but a little expo just calms things down so what's not to like? I use around 25%-30% on most of my planes as a default, for aileron and elevator. A bit more for the rudder to help with taxiing. I enjoy flying my planes "realistically" and smoothly, but that's just me. If you like to fly "at maximum volume" you might have a strong preference that the surfaces should be as sensitive as possible. I'm sure others will chime in and explain why they prefer using no expo, and use multiple rates instead. To each his own!!

[Aros]

Yep to each their own of course and part of what makes the hobby so enjoyable. We all have our preferences but just to throw it out there I have been flying for nearly 30 years now from everything you can imagine minus gas and turbine. Micros to giant scale composites and I have never, ever (to my recollection) not added some amount of expo to my models.

FWIW.

[piloti modele]

My AL37, Boeing Tarom YR-BGM