Official FlightLine RC 2000mm B-24D/J Liberator Thread

[boomer108]

Hey Wild Man I can understand your frustration but most companies have a 30 day return policy and some won't even take electronics back at all. That is why when you get a plane you should check all the servos with a servo tester and also hook up your reciever and battery and check the motors then you can be sure everything is in working order before return date is up. Good luck.

[Wild Man]

I finally got around to finishing the B-24 now that the weather is warming up. While getting ready to install all linkages I centered all the servo's in my trans The first set I decided to install were the two Elevator rods, while looking at how the two servo arm to see if they were both straight up I could see the one was leaning forward, and the other side was leaning back after installing the linkage I started to set the throws one elevator in the up position the left elev. was more than 10 mm higher than the right elev. By changing the position of one servo horn I was hoping they may match they did not even come close. so now I either have to hook one elev. to another channel and use travel adjust to match or replace but I called MRC and since it has been over 30 days I will have to pay for the servo's, I should not have to pay for something that was messed up from the factory, not a good situation. This makes me a very dissatisfied customer

[falcon62]

Hey Guys, Has anyone had trouble with the control boards??? Haven't flown mine yet because of some aileron and some elevator twitching. Also while trying to trouble shoot, I was moving wires and connections, the motors would come on and off. Thinking about by-passing the control boards...Has anybody had to do this??? Thanks in advance

[Wild Man]

I just received one earlier today assembled it and did the programming. I also ordered the shock absorbing Oleo struts for it so if I do not like the currently installed gear I will changed them out Very nice plane another top quality bird from Motion now for some good weather. We will be flying off some snow we are about to get this weekend here in the Black Hills maybe a total of 8 to 12" by tommoraw night and high wins with blizzard conditions tomorrow

[mshagg]

All is well with this plane. Took a bit of lead to balance with the single 6200mah configuration, but still talking 10 minute flights ruddering her around (definitely not a bank and yank plane hey). Absolutely smitten with the look and it flies like it's on rails.

Arduino system for the turrets works well but, as expected, it's only really a kitch thing to show off on the ground.

[mshagg]

So here's the (almost) finished product. It needs some tweaks to the code controlling the turrets but it 'works'.

Maiden was exciting after I got the CG wrong by the better part of an inch lol. She lived to tell the tale and looking forward to some calm weather this week to remaiden.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MdG-s9W4yFE

[Hardway]

[mshagg]

It's one of those disciplines that's enjoyable and rewarding, but also incredibly frustrating at times lol.

Once youve figured out how to read a servo input your mind starts wandering to all the cool stuff you could have it do on a plane.

[Elbee]

. The plan is to have an Arduino running the show -

Coding is going ok I think, hopefully get the soldering iron out and have a proof of concept working tomorrow.

MS, Good to read that others are using an Arduino to put some motion into some parts. I think we should start an Arduino Forum here at the "Squawk" similar to the 3D Printing Forum to share ideas and Sketches. Between a 3D Printer, Arduino Boards, and MotionRC, I am pretty certain anything is possible. Best, LB

[mshagg]

Some success with the semi-autonomous gun turrets - nothing went pop when I plugged it in.

You can see here it is working in two basic modes, triggered by PPM from the servo tester (eventually by the rx) - 'off' (servos @ 90) and 'random sweep' where the turrets move to random positions. Obviously need to tweak the code to make it more of a sweeping motion rather than moving directly to a servo position, to make it look a little more natural and to ease the burden on the servos, but reasonably straightforward to work with now the structure of the code is established.

This base will work in conjunction with some mosfets/LEDs and a sound card to create various modes of activity.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ErQWvULhlAg

[mshagg]

So she arrived this week. A few false starts 3D printing the detail parts (theres some tricky prints!) but getting there.

Have motorised all of the turrets, including the rear and 360 degree on the top. The plan is to have an Arduino running the show - different variations of moving the turrets and activating gun noises (by outputting pwm to a sound card) with flashing LEDs to simulate muzzle flash. Doubt it'll be noticeable in the air, but when has that ever mattered lol.

Coding is going ok I think, hopefully get the soldering iron out and have a proof of concept working tomorrow.

Next big question is detail. I have a vinyl cutter so only limited by my imagination. The Royal Australian Air Force flew these but details are scant. Toying with the idea of something inspired by our local flying crew "bank and yank".

[mshagg]

Wonderful, thanks alpha. Sounds like CG and physical fit the last things to investigate before hitting the 'crazy' button!

[Alpha]

mshagg The primary reasons we spec'd a dual battery setup in the B-24 were because of CG. operating cost, and availability of batteries. Most notably, there are far more 4s 4000 mAh batteries in circulation than there are, say, 4s 8000mAh. And the way the B-24 is configured from the factory for an outboard pair and an inboard pair, you would still be able to fly level if one of the batteries failed.

Regardless, I agree with the other sentiments expressed here that a single battery in a multi-engined aircraft is commonplace these days and has proven reliable across many platforms from many manufacturers. Personally I fly my FlightLine P-38 on a single 4s 5000mAh pack, and fly a single pack in the FMS B-25, Durafly Skymule, Eflite Convergence, Banana V-22, and all five of my Dynam twins (P-61, Bf-110, C-47, Catalina, Grand Cruiser and Turbo Jet). Not to mention any multi-rotor we've ever flown.

[mshagg]

Thanks guys, good food for thought. Appreciate the failsafe concern but honestly not sure how realistic a risk this is. All of my other multi engine planes have a single point of failure with one battery and it hasn't been an issue (touchwood).

I guess my mind turned to the fact they made a conscious decision to spec the plane like this. Perhaps because they figure a pair of ~4000mah packs are more accessible than a single large pack.

I can't see the current draw being too much for a single pack.

Pending physical fit, would also open up the possibility to run 3x 2200 with the appropriate parallel harness, as I've got piles of those things.

[xviper]

Ive had my eye on this bird for some time - it's a lot of plane for the money and looks like lots of fun customising.

Only thing putting me off is the odd battery configuration, going by the book it would require another set of packs.

Has anyone y-harnessed the two ESCs to the one pack? I've got some 6200mah 4s bricks from another plane and it would be fantastic to be able to use them.

Flying multi-engined models on one battery pack is not unusual and in fact, many brands of multis do just that. In terms of mah of battery, your flight times will be at the lower end of the what you'd get if you used what is suggested for the upper range. I have flown mine on twin 3000mah, 4s Graphenes, so equivalent to 6000mah total (a little more as Graphenes tend to have more content than the average non-graphene battery). Even with 4 engines, this plane is not an energy hog and the difference in flight times between twin 3000's and twin 4000's wouldn't be huge for the average flyer. All you need is the appropriate Y adapter for the ESC leads.

[Mikdys]

Ive had my eye on this bird for some time - it's a lot of plane for the money and looks like lots of fun customising.

Only thing putting me off is the odd battery configuration, going by the book it would require another set of packs.

Has anyone y-harnessed the two ESCs to the one pack? I've got some 6200mah 4s bricks from another plane and it would be fantastic to be able to use them.

I'd guess you could do that but you'd lose the failsafe of having two prop's stay live if a battery failed (this failsafe may only work if the failed battery is the opposite one to the UBEC connection and, if you regularly check your batteries, I doubt it's much of a risk anyway). I think the limiting factor will be space. Two 4S 4,000s are a pretty tight fit in the battery compartment and take up pretty much all the space there is including vertically. If you think of going ahead check this aspect out first I suggest. (I calculate the space you have available is 141mm long x 84mm wide x 30mm high.)

[MikeT]

Did the first flights on mine on 3S and I love it.

Mike

[mshagg]

Ive had my eye on this bird for some time - it's a lot of plane for the money and looks like lots of fun customising.

Only thing putting me off is the odd battery configuration, going by the book it would require another set of packs.

Has anyone y-harnessed the two ESCs to the one pack? I've got some 6200mah 4s bricks from another plane and it would be fantastic to be able to use them.

[Mikdys]

Made a mount to fit in the front turret to hold my Muvi cam ( https://www.amazon.co.uk/Veho-Camcor...43590473&psc=1 ):

[davegee]

I really like your choice of markings, NoDirt! I remember building a Revell kit years ago and ended up modeling the exact same bird!

Nice Job on the markings and finish. Your plane is of my dad's squadron and bomb group (446th BG, 705th BS) in WWII. The tail markings were changed to what you have yours painted a few months after the unit started combat operations in December 1943. I made the markings of my dad's unit from when they first arrived in England for my plane. You can see on the vertical tails the "circle H" that was used until the high vis colors came in. Your model looks great in the air!