New E-Flite AT-6

[Boots Whirlygig]

Very good catch. I could only count 3 beeps on both batteries. Mine came out of the box with one magnet for the flaps stronger on the left side than on the right causing it to veer badly on deployment.

Just as I suspected. FAKE NEWS!:Angry:

[Bob Symes]

Hi Ole-Timer, were you able to attain the manual cg of 92-98mm with the 4500 battery as per your photo and no additional tail ballast?
i have struggled to balance with a 2200 t shut graphene 4S, had to add some tail ballast.
Maidened on the weekend, eventful flight with very abnormal, slow to respond controls, including a throttle that would not shut down, would run at about 1/8 speed. Managef to get back on the ground, broke one wheel hub( now replaced with 3” pro lite s). I have never had any luck using the AR636 units. When I repowered it in the workshop to put the gear down to replace the wheels the receiver was dead. Tested with another esc and no go. I replaced the Ar636 with my stock go to Lemon units and all good. Late yesterday afternoon went out to check all the throws with the lemon and now the lemon is dead. So after dinner I stripped the plane down, soldered up a new ESC(Turnigy plush, 60A) hooked up another lemon and all good.
next test is when I get home from work to check if it powers up ok. Not sure what happened, must have not seen the black cat in the dark, LOL.
am waiting on a lemon with end pins(current test one has top pins which does not suit the compartment layout) to have a V2 maiden flight.

V2 maiden yesterday plus another two flights with 3000 4 cell all the way forward. Very Ed to save it and get on the ground in one piece. gentle flyer, easy scale take off with no motor torque evident. Can be thrown around if desired but enjoyed flying it scale. Had anyone had any issues with the connections from the wings? On my final flight for the day the plane decided to do a full spin on its own, managed to save it and land in one piece. I will be rechecking the wing connector for alerions and flaps as it appears there may be an intermittent connection issue.
Apart from this minor issue this is now my favourite flyer. Next one to maiden is my eflite 2m T28.
thanks for all the info for converting to 4s Old Timer, definitely worth it.
Cheers Bob

[Ole-Timer]

My CG is 75-80mm not what the manual states but what I believe to be around 20% of mac given the cord of around 265mm and the swept wing. Remember I ditched the counter weight spinner. It flies fine that way.

[Bob Symes]

My CG is 75-80mm not what the manual states but what I believe to be around 20% of mac given the cord of around 265mm and the swept wing. Remember I ditched the counter weight spinner. It flies fine that way.

Thanks OleTimer, I ditched the spinner as well and Cg around80 to 85 mm has worked
it is a beautiful plane in the air, reminds me of when I fly my blue nose 140m P51
kerp well

[Bob Symes]

Thanks OleTimer, I ditched the spinner as well and Cg around80 to 85 mm has worked
it is a beautiful plane in the air, reminds me of when I fly my blue nose 140m P51
kerp well

Fat fingers on the phone again
1400mm P51
Keep well

[Ole-Timer]

Plenty of info on this post...

[Twowingtj]

Just picked one of these up for my wife for Christmas. Looks like it will be a lot of fun. She likes flying the CZ Cub and several other 4 channel birds. Now she wants to get into warbirds with flaps and retracts in prep for her CZ T-28 and others.

[Ole-Timer]

Ahhh, hmmmm, I see a pattern forming here.

Tiger Moth

AT-6

A Spitfire must be next on the horizon!

[dkalwishky]

Glad I found this thread, I was going to sell my Texan at an upcoming swap meet but now I'm going to order 3" Robart diamond tread wheels, change out the ESC and replace the motor with the FlightLineRC 3648-880kV Brushless Motor and run it on 4S. I'm excited all over again.

[Ole-Timer]

To add the 3 inch Robart scale tires you’ll need to sand the bottom of the strut until adequate clearance is achieved. They add washers for clearance when retracted and trim the excess off the axle so the hub cap fits on. I get 8 minute flights from my 4s 4500s and due to their length they conflict with the stock location of the Rx. I simply added a dowel to space the battery upward at the rear. Trimmed a lil off the canopy to fit.

I have flown in this 4s configuration a lot this past summer and like all the Eflite releases I’ve purchased, it does have AS3X installed. As stated prior it’s my go to beater warbird because I’m willing to fly it in conditions I would not fly my full on warbirds without gyros in. Growing up in control line then radio control none of the modern amenities that help fly the models smoothly existed so I’m still largely non-gyro in my fleet. But age is beginning to degrade my vision and reflexes slowly and it does help me to have the gyro in poor flying conditions. Therefor this model seems to always sneak aboard the truck in case conditions at the field are less than what I’d like and I really appreciate that .

[Twowingtj]

Ahhh, hmmmm, I see a pattern forming here.

Tiger Moth

AT-6

A Spitfire must be next on the horizon!

Could be. She's been flying for four years now and had been struggling with consistent landings. It finally clicked this year and she's really got her confidence up now. She's a really good kit builder and has several new builds lined up for the bench. She's a keeper for sure.

[Ole-Timer]

That’s so awesome for both of you! Being in the airplane hobby for 50 years now, I have had girlfriends that thought it was cool and my wife put up with it for decades but none of them ever had the gumption to approach it at that level. Glad your both able to enjoy that type of relationship and play nice together!

[Twowingtj]

We've always done fun things together. For many years, in our younger days, we built and rode Harleys together. Then it was Hot Rods. Yes, she built and drove her own. I started with the planes in 1964, then took a break while in the Air Force and exploring other things. When I got back into it about 6 years ago, she watched with interest. One day she asked if she could give it a try. Two minutes on the sticks and she was hooked.

Back to the AT-6. I think it will be a great first 6 channel warbird for her.

[Ole-Timer]

It will be a great 6 channel warbird for her. Now just a word of caution, in its stock 3s configuration it has a light wingload and crappy tires. It can be a bit of a kangaroo like this. Don’t be afraid to change the tires to Robarts as that alone will help tame the bounce and perhaps once she’s comfortable on 3s she can modify it to 4s as it really prefers the added weight.

[Twowingtj]

That's the plan. I've got a pair of 3" Robart diamond tread ready to go on it. Once she's got some stick time on it, we'll likely do the 4S conversion.

[Boots Whirlygig]

Hey Ole-Timer I’m luvin your T-6 modifications and will use the robarts on my Hollywood Zero. Which FL3648 are you using, the 880KV? Im going 4S but want to turn a 13 inch three blade so I ordered the FMS 3648-600KV. I do have a FL3648-830 but think it may not want to spin a 13x9 3 blade. These motors are quite different, the fms is larger and heavier than the FL.

[Ole-Timer]

I used this set up, the 880kv with the 12 x 8 prop
It still flies nice and slow when you like, but zips around when you want speed. Vertical is straight up unlimited.

https://www.motionrc.com/products/flightlinerc-1200mm-f8f-sport-power-system

[Ole-Timer]

Hey Ole-Timer I’m luvin your T-6 modifications and will use the robarts on my Hollywood Zero. Which FL3648 are you using, the 880KV? Im going 4S but want to turn a 13 inch three blade so I ordered the FMS 3648-600KV. I do have a FL3648-830 but think it may not want to spin a 13x9 3 blade. These motors are quite different, the fms is larger and heavier than the FL.

In spite of having 3 inch tires, my 12 x 8 prop is very close to the ground. It will in fact cut grass if the grass is over 1 inch high. You may want to reconsider the 13 inch prop and use a 12 inch three blade on your Zero.
One other thing, this model has a low wing load and is prone to float in on landing. Even with the 4s mods. A higher pitch three blade will result in higher landing speeds with even low throttle settings. You may want a 12x8x3... your call

[dkalwishky]

I would like to point out that the T-6 never had a three bladed prop, so if you're wanting to keep the scale looks stick with two blades.

[Ole-Timer]

Taming the AT-6 kangaroo hop during landings...

I just got back from flying this bird and wanted to share my experience with hopping down the runway as I just performed 20 some landings and caused it to bounce!

As a personal rule for landing all my prop airplanes, I do not drag my final legs out. By the time I make my turn from base to final I’m within 50 to 100 ft of the end of the runway and I already have the airplane configured gear and flaps so I can focus strictly on the final glide slope, I have just a whisker of power on as necessary, and I’ve now picked my spot where I expect to enter ground effect then glide to touchdown. Ground effect occurs when you’re within one wingspan of the ground. The general effect is like riding on an extra pillow of air and your model now floats longer than you had expected... Heavy warbirds with high wing loads require more power on final glide slope and power during the entire transition through ground effect. Medium weight warbirds also require some power throughout landings. This AT-6 has a light wing load, even with the 4s set up. It needs only the smallest amount of power during its final decent and before you enter ground effect, kill the power and learn to just glide it in through ground effect. As she settles toward the ground begin to flair about 6 inches above the ground but don’t let it stall until her wheels are literally on the runway. Once you learn this technique on the AT-6 all your landings will be greasers. If you try to ride power in with the light wing load she just does not want to settle properly and the end result will be hopping. It doesn’t matter if flaps are up, half, or fully deployed, the results are the same. Kill the power before entering ground effect and ride her down or your most likely gonna be hopping. It’s a lot more like landing an Apprentice than a warbird...

I strongly recommend if you are the type that flies really long and drawn out final approaches like a jet would, to please reconsider and adopt a closer pattern. Unless of course your actually flying a heavy jet model.
I have just one propeller airplane that I use a slightly longer approach with and that is the P-38 due to its heavy wing load and higher landing speeds. She’s power on all the way to touchdown.