All-New Freewing PJ50 Twin 70mm EDF Jet - Official Thread

[MeyerVW]

Is the AS3X not enough to help with the waggle on the PJ and the AL?

[GliderGuy]

Noticed that the PJ50 started rolling right slightly after lowering the flaps.

There was no hint of the problem during pre-takeoff control checks.

Might want to add some extra glue to the flap horns!!!

Likely the “partial loosening” of the flap horn was a result of the stress encounter with the embankment a few weeks ago.

BUT——Never hurts to check that your control horns are securely glued.

Roll problem solved.

-GG

[xviper]

Yep….ordering several more gyros for the other planes…especially the AL37.

-GG

It waddled like a fat hippo on the dance floor.

[GliderGuy]

After my experience with the AL-37, which acts similarly in winds, I installed the AR637T (SAFE select/AS3X) in my PJ. The AL has a HobbyEagle and the lower winglets amputated. Both planes have been very solid in any kind of wind I fly in.

Yep….ordering several more gyros for the other planes…especially the AL37.

-GG

[xviper]

With (after this morning flights) 150 landings, I have come to the conclusion that the PJ50 will REALLY benefit from a gyro when flying in wind above 6-7 mph.

After my experience with the AL-37, which acts similarly in winds, I installed the AR637T (SAFE select/AS3X) in my PJ. The AL has a HobbyEagle and the lower winglets amputated. Both planes have been very solid in any kind of wind I fly in.

[GliderGuy]

With (after this morning flights) 150 landings, I have come to the conclusion that the PJ50 will REALLY benefit from a gyro when flying in wind above 6-7 mph.

Any gust can tip up a wing followed by a wing waggle that is a challenge to handle during approach and landing. More often than not….a tip scrape happens or a go around is initiated.

Normal flying (not landing) she does great. Slow down, add flaps, get on final…low and slow…then have a gust hit her / watch out. You’ll have your hands full.

I increased the aileron EXPO to 50%, and that helped.

However, today I flew her with a Hobby Eagle A3 in normal mode (blue light) and gain on 25%. WHAT A DIFFERENCE! Now she does the approach to landing w/o wing waggling, and she behaves like my other EDFs (AL37 needs aileron EXPO, too).

Calm to weak winds = no issue. Other than that, she very much benefits from a gyro. It’s not just me. I have watched some YouTube on board videos. On approach, she definitely gets to dancing when the wind is blowing.

She is sooooo much better, now.

I will be ordering more gyros. This particular one interfaces with my 6 ch Futaba RX perfectly well.

-GG

[Hugh Wiedman]

avanti127 inspired me to go ahead and do a full cut out for the windows. I tinted some sheet plastic with a paint the model car guys use then cut out the lenses with my cricut cutter to insert into the lens holders I printed.

Almost time to paint, but I think I'll add pilots first.

Excellent, see you're getting a head start on next year's Mayhem!

[Evan D]

Very nice!

[Gilatrout]

avanti127 inspired me to go ahead and do a full cut out for the windows. I tinted some sheet plastic with a paint the model car guys use then cut out the lenses with my cricut cutter to insert into the lens holders I printed.

Almost time to paint, but I think I'll add pilots first.

[Twowingtj]

avanti127 Very nice window mod!

[avanti127]

Send me your email address and I will send the files.

yes the geometry is the same as the decals.

[Gilatrout]

Sure no problem sharing. Do you have a 3d printer? It was really easy to do. The window portals are printed from PLA so it is stronger than the foam.... The JIG I made is to move from window to window. Pin them in the center of the first two window, cutout the one to the right, then move two the next by moving the jig that way everything stays in alignment. I used a #11 Xacto knife and gently traced around the jig, then went back and cut straight through. The foam came right out and my window portals pressed right in solid against the foam.

I can send you the files if you want to print everything out.

Sure, I'd love to try your files. I'm pretty sure .stl files can be attached to thread messages.

I already copied your jig. ;)

Did you curve the window portals to match the diameter of the plane's fuselage?

Thanks

[avanti127]

Very nice. I was thinking about a slightly different approach for mine. I like yours better. Did you add any internal supports?

Tell me more about your jig. I could use something like that. Interested in sharing?

Sure no problem sharing. Do you have a 3d printer? It was really easy to do. The window portals are printed from PLA so it is stronger than the foam.... The JIG I made is to move from window to window. Pin them in the center of the first two window, cutout the one to the right, then move two the next by moving the jig that way everything stays in alignment. I used a #11 Xacto knife and gently traced around the jig, then went back and cut straight through. The foam came right out and my window portals pressed right in solid against the foam.

I can send you the files if you want to print everything out.

[Gilatrout]

Got my windows cut out last night and the 3d portals installed. The plastic window were cutout yesterday and just need to be tinted. Then a repaint and install the windows, PJ will be ready for maiden soon.

Very nice. I was thinking about a slightly different approach for mine. I like yours better. Did you add any internal supports?

Tell me more about your jig. I could use something like that. Interested in sharing?

[avanti127]

Got my windows cut out last night and the 3d portals installed. The plastic window were cutout yesterday and just need to be tinted. Then a repaint and install the windows, PJ will be ready for maiden soon.

[MeyerVW]

It was a very cross windy day. Flies pretty good. It gets tossed around but its controllable. It lands nicely with a few clicks of engine idle when landing I found. Some video of the flights.

[GliderGuy]

Background; Trying a new flying site / Narrow isolated county road with zero traffic / Slight dirt/grass embankment parallel to the road about 15 ft distant / Slight cross wind / Landed off center / Wing tip caught on grass / Spun the PJ50 into the embankment...nose first / BAM = Ouch = crushed nose and damaged gear door hinges.

As mentioned in my prior post #408, I added weight to the tail (under the engine mount wings) during the repair of the mashed nose. The intent was to experiment to determine whether or not the infrequent crow hop tendency (about 5 times in 100 landings) might be reduced; similarly to what moving the CG back on the A-10 accomplishes, in this regard.

Just measured the CG. Apparently, it is a good thing that I added the tail weight. She balances ever so slightly behind the CG mark...maybe 1 mm. I'd hoped to have moved it back farther, but more weight will need to be added to accomplish this. Maybe I will add more, maybe I won't. Still deciding. Perhaps I just need to improve my PJ50 landing technique (most probably).

Bottom line, it was a good thing that I did add the weight to the tail. Otherwise, the material added to the nose area for the repair would have made her slightly nose heavy.

Update: Logged flights = 104 total since new and 5 days of down time for the repair and uncooperative winds since the crash on 03/25. Uneventful post-repair flights were made on 3/31. Perhaps adding the pilot figure in the cockpit (photo in post #408) will improve my flying! She's one tough bird!

Back in the PJ50 saddle again. Post-repair photo in post #394.


-GG

[xviper]

Thanks, Hugh. Hehe, once you cross the border straight up from where you are, there's still nearly a whole country to cross to ship those things to me. One day, I'm going to bit the bullet and order some directly from Danny just to see what the process (cross border shipping) is like. My other "go to" brand (CHL) has set up a Canuck warehouse, so getting those is quite easy now. In fact, so many people at one of my clubs are impressed with them that they're setting up a group buy this spring.

[Hugh Wiedman]

Hugh, I've been meaning to ask you ............................ Have you used the SMCs long enough to get data on their duty cycles? When I started to buy high C LiPos, another thing that I noticed besides greater punch in all kinds of planes and longer flight times, was that they gave me more duty cycles than my early low C rated batteries. Where I used to get around 200 cycles on the low C bats, I was getting well beyond 300 cycles, some even approaching 400 cycles and still those batteries have yet to degrade (sag) early during a spirited flight. There's more advantages to high C LiPos than initially meets the eye.
BTW, I'm still yet to score some SMCs. That store in Canada only stocks certain SMC stock and they never seem to have any that I would like to have. They cater more to the RC car market.

That's a shame, I know you would really enjoy the 6200 in your Pj50 and your SU-30 (actually, in anything you put them in). I need to take a trip north some day and sneak a few across the boarder for you.

I haven't got enough duty cycles on them yet to make any meaningful conclusion. I have 16 of them and 8 of the 5300's and each is numbered so I don't use any one of them more than the others. In total, each has about 45 cycles (but don't really even log every flight) so it's too early to tell for sure. So far, I've tested each one continuously on the Progressive IR meter and with the GT power meter in certain aircrafts and none have shown any loss in any cell on IR/amps or power usage yet. I did test and record each cell on a chart I keep for all my batteries when I first got them to at least have a starting point and all are still the same as when first purchased. If I start seeing any degradation, I will definitely let you know. My main flying buddy, RudyD54 who first turned me on to these, has so far seen the same and he's got a lot more flights on them than I have. As I've said before, Danny is really customer service friendly and I think Rudy had an issue with one of his packs recently and Danny sent him a new one, sight unseen. When he came up with the 5300's, I told him I wanted at least 4 of their new design but he wouldn't send them to me until after a couple iterations of them that he was happy with and that passed his tests. When you send him an e-mail, he always answers within 6-12 hours, so he is definitely one of the good guys in this hobby!

[xviper]

The SMC's give me longer flight times (12 minutes on the Spitfire and 10-11 minutes on the Corsair) then I used to get and when I punch it, it's got at least 20% more "giddy up" than any other battery I've tried, get's off grass like a carrier shot and goes vertical like a missile. So for me, proof is when I'm happy about how it flies!

Hugh, I've been meaning to ask you ............................ Have you used the SMCs long enough to get data on their duty cycles? When I started to buy high C LiPos, another thing that I noticed besides greater punch in all kinds of planes and longer flight times, was that they gave me more duty cycles than my early low C rated batteries. Where I used to get around 200 cycles on the low C bats, I was getting well beyond 300 cycles, some even approaching 400 cycles and still those batteries have yet to degrade (sag) early during a spirited flight. There's more advantages to high C LiPos than initially meets the eye.
BTW, I'm still yet to score some SMCs. That store in Canada only stocks certain SMC stock and they never seem to have any that I would like to have. They cater more to the RC car market.