Freewing ME262 EDF Starter Settings
Just got this 262 for my son (birthday Christmas Eve so he doesn't know yet). He's just turning 14 but pretty natural while Im not too sharp despite being a retired USMC F/A18D WSO. He flies the 48" eflite p51 with retracts very well. BUT... only dabbled a bit so far with expo and dual rates etc. on Spektrum DX6i so far. Have read much on need for flaps etc. on takeoff and throttle on landing. Can anyone suggest best transmitter settings for starters? Expo..dual rates..throw etc. Getting 4000mah 60c battery to start and have spektrum 636 (As3x) receiver. Any suggestions appreciated! We'll probably put it together Christmas day here in Fredericksburg VA.Thanks!
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I'm not sure a 636 is a good receiver to start with on this plane. It comes unprogrammed so you need to get the dongle and the smartphone APP to program the gyro gains and anything else you might want the Rx to do that you don't want the Tx to do. If you don't do any programming, it'll act just like a regular non-AS3X Rx. Horizon has several video tutorials on how to program those things. If he flies the P-51 well, he probably will be OK without the stability.
The plane's manual should make suggestions as to throws/rates and expo. Follow them to start and adjust as needed. If not then just go with 100% and 25% - 30% expo on the high rate and 60% and same expo on low rates and dial in something in between for the middle rate if you have 3-position switches. Otherwise, go 100% and 75%. Use 1/2 flaps for take off and landing till he gets used to it and then try full flaps for landings. -
Hello Tooba22, The AR636 with AS3X requires all Digital Servos. Please see the instruction booklet for that receiver, the frequency is different. The ME 262 has metal gear analog servos, so be careful please. The F/W ME 262 beside that, is a fantastic jet that will have you laughing like a 10 year old. I was surprised when I flew mine for the first time, awesome experience. The DX6i also is mostly a park size transmitter if I'm correct? You should be okay, keep the model is site. I'd just recommend at some point, upgrade to the 8 channel system. Now days, there is more to EDF jets and, all of those functions are nice to have. If you have additional questions or want some information about a good transmitter or settings. Give our customer service a call. 224-633-9090, we are always happy to help. We also, would want your son experience to be a great one! Cheers. Matt C/S Rep Motion RC :DComment
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I started with the DX6i and I think it's a full range TX. I've flown many of my planes thousands of feet away, to the point I almost lost sight of them and luckily was able to bring them back. I started flying a Radian sailplane and that one got very far away at times. The key was to make sure the antenna was bent in just the right direction. I'm also not sure that the 636 requires digital servos. I took my old one out of my XL and put it into a home built MAKO, which I'm still flying today and I've got some really cheapo servos that came out of some old crashed planes that for sure didn't have digital. The plane seems to fly very well and the AS3X stabilizer even works well. But having said that, yes, it's time to get into a "modern day" TX like the new DX6 or DX8-G2. The 262 is too nice a plane to not have all the features of the newer TXs to operate all the functions to the fullest.Comment
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Thaks for the input though you are all making me a bit nervous now. Planned all along to connect and program the receiver prior to installation. Spoke with someone at Motion RC before selecting the 636 due to having a spektrum transmitter and was assured it would be fine. Never a word about digital servos. Son originally used a DXe xmtr and a fellow club member gave him the 6i. sent it to spektrum and they refurbished it free. Plane only requires 6ch so figured we are good. We'll take it slow on the programming and build. Will call for support if needed. Thanks again to all.Comment
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Hello Tooba22, Don't be nervous about this model, I know, some of what we are saying can make you nervous. It's really just caution, so your son has a good experience. Make sure you have a camera ready, he is going to go past his ears with the smile on his face. :DOriginally posted by xviper2 View Post
This is one of the best jets out there, in my opinion. In fact, I have a video of my maiden flight. I was laughing like a 10 year old with the performance of this model. It is super stable and does nothing but want to fly. He's going to be delighted, especially when it's soaring and, looks absolutely awesome. One thing is, flaps on landing, keep throttle on about 3/8 to lower half.
Tell him to get a feel before he lands. Practice that while you have some battery left. Set her down gently, you don't want to hit the nose wheel first; if you can help it. Also, watch some pilots fly this online at you-tube videos. It will help him get a visual of what to expect. Lastly, have fun, it can always be fixed or not. Enjoy this one, it's worth the smile it will bring. Merry Christmas. MattComment
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Thanks again. Well figure it out once we start putting it together in few days. Ive got some items per recommendations to reinforce the nose. Going to pick up some slightly longer screws in case needed in some areas also taken from many comments.We'll watch several videos.I guess last questions: How vital is installing a BEC as many have recommended for better survivability and steady cerrent? And are the reviewers on MRC ME262 page discussing engine blow outs primarily experiencing that due to not pre-flight checking for damaged blades (imbalace etc.)? Or is it just bad luck of engine failures? Either way I hope ro update with good news when weather allows. Thanks again to all.Comment
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Hi there Tooba22! The 262 is a great jet to fly for sure. The decision to go with an external BEC vs the internal BEC vs a separate receiver battery is mostly a personal choice. The provided 60A ESC have a built in BEC that is more than adequate to power your receiver and electronics. That said, some people have a particular BEC, or brand that they like to use, such as Castle Creations or ZTW. If you install one of these in the plane, you will need to disable the internal BEC in the stock ESCs or you will have too much power going to the receiver, and will burn it up. You can do this by lifting the tab that holds the red wire in the connector, and sliding it out. You can then solder your external BEC to the battery leads of the ESC. In my opinion, I do not like to use the flight battery to power the airplane's control surfaces and retracts. I use a separate NiMh pack to power all of that, so in the event that my LiPo dies, or anything else happens to it, I still have control of the airplane, and can attempt to glide it to a safe touchdown. There is food for thought for you, and I hope that you enjoy your Me-262!! Happy Landings!!Comment
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Again thanks. I need to beg for some help or advice regarding an issue with assembly now. I posted a ticket email with Motion RC also. Christmas evening and started assembly. No problem with ESC harnesses etc. in first steps. Plastic base/shoe for one screw on one ESC cover was not attached to Styrofoam but I glued it back with foam tac with no problem. Wires for elevator were not run through to tail as supposed to be but I managrd to fish it through with thin carbon rod and tape. THEN..with wings assembled and wires run into fuselage went to screw wings to fuselage. Metal screws and plastic base so I knew to be careful. Only 2.5 turns and hardly any resistance yet and heard plastic crack. Figured I could fix one so tried second. Same thing with probably less turns (back set). I opened back up and they were cracked down to about half of their length. I still figured if I could find same size and thread but longer screws I could get enough bite if front set were ok. The other two (front set) cracked with initial turns but only about top 1/8" maybe. So I quit. My son was upset initually but he's ok now and I'm proud of his patience. Here's the problem. The plastic bases (screw receivers) are glued in hard to reach place in fuselage and aren't pieces listed as spare parts. That means whole new fuselage. Something was not right with those pieces..like they were brittle. I tried to find solutions and even tried gluing broken plastic back on but no luck. Bought plane battery and charging adapter from MRC and planning more business to include a plane for myself in spring. I told my son we're committed to getting her up. Plane really does look great. Heard Absolutely nothing but rave customer support reviews and hoping for good news. Suggestions? Picking up Grannies at airport tomorrow (one from MRC neck of woods in IL) so on road but will be watching for replies. Thanks in advance.Comment
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And now I'm more concerned. Even fuselage replacement would mean we'd have to swap out everything from elevator servo to pilot to nose gear etc. Everything on aircraft is fine except for those crucial plastic pieces.Comment
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Hi Tooba22, first of all thank you for your military service to our nation! The Service Team is out tomorrow, Monday 12/26, for the Christmas holiday. They'll return on Tuesday the 27th and can respond to the service ticket you created. Your ticket will likely be assigned to a technician who has personal experience with that aircraft. If you haven't already, please be sure to attach photos of what you're up against.
Happy Holidays!Live Q&A every Tuesday and Friday at 9pm EST on my Twitch Livestream
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Camp my Instagram @Alpha.MakesComment
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Thanks Alpha. Will do. Figured they'd be off.Comment
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He had maiden flight on New Year's Day and despite my nervousness, he did great. First flight just over 3 minutes and landed with full flaps beautifully. Almost no charge left on landing and he didn't go past maybe 5/8 throttle for first easy flight. Re-charged and he began downwind at 2:30 on second flight, turned base leg and at the 90 it suddenly dropped - BEHIND a treeline out of site. Silence. Then after about 2 seconds it came back up smoothly (I swear, I originally thought it was a hawk stirred up by a crash) and he finished his approach. At about 100 feet from the threshold I noticed I couldn't hear the engines, which are loud and distinct, and thought out of shock, he was not keeping throttle up for landing, which everyone recommends you keep at least at 1/4 for this plane. I said "don't forget to keep some throttle up" and he said he had no throttle. I was glad and amazed he had recovered it from behind a treeline but then thought landing was not going to go well and he dead sticked it to a perfect landing. Very proud, especially as I looked back the flightline of our club and saw about 10-15 very experienced pilots with their jaws in the dirt. Turned out upon testing after that one cell of the brand new admiral pro 4000mah 6s battery was bad-went to 0% while rest were all at 3.7v and 14-16% after short flight. Sent ticket and MRC already replaced it. I asked him what the heck input was he putting into his xmtr after he lost site and he said he wasn't sure, but was pretty sure he held his last (I know receiver does same) so that would explain the recovery since it would have been slight right aileron and up elevator with throttle probably around 50%.
Problem is afterward (before discovering battery issue) we were inundated with "brown out" mitigation theories (capacitors, receiver batteries), etc-though those solutions would require another receiver since we went with 6ch and there would be no additional port for that purpose. And I'm back to wondering if we should install a UBEC, as seen in the model upgrade suggestions, and rich Baker's build video, etc. One other guy who flies EDFs said go higher on discharge rate as well, but 60c is higher than even MRC has listed as recommended on the ME 262 page (5000mah 6s 50c) and a MRC advisor told me he flies his with the 4000 we bought (because 5000 was out of stock).
If any further recommendations before next flight (batteries..Receiver change?...UBEC..etc.) ready to listen. My bet is he's going to be really nervous now.
Thanks!Comment
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I installed the UBEC as recommended by many on this forum through other "twin engine" posts, and based on the recommendation of the references you mentioned, as well as my local hobby store master technician. It seemed to be unanimous. I found that constantly assembling and dissembling the wings on this plane and all the wiring having to be tucked and untucked was tearing up my antenna on my Spektrum receiverComment
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I installed a Lemon 6 channel feather light end pin configuration receiver instead of the Spektrum. Smaller, cheaper, and I like the end pin layout for the mess of wires for this plane. Have had no issues since installing these components, with 19 flights on this new combo. Kid sounds like a natural. Tell him nice save from the Squawk for us! :cool:Comment
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I always run a cc10 ubec with higher cell count/lots of extra stuff type planes. Higher cell count reduce the ability of ubec's to work well, add 3 retracts, a bunch of servos and you get the picture, $20 is cheep insurance. I don't think I'd put anything less than 5k batt as twin jets are really power hungry. Try to stay as light as possible but get the capacity you need, don't go cheep with the batt, get a higher c rating. Been working on mine for quite some time, she's getting pretty close. Thanks for your service !!!! Good luck and happy landingsAttached Filesrc flyin addictComment
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Thanks all. Weather's been poor anyway so maybe some shop days ahead.Comment
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