Avios/Hobby King 1600mm C-130 Hercules

[Husafreak]

Thanks guys, that sounds reasonable! With the Avios C-130 representing my USAF days and the possibility of a Motion RC B737 representing my current ride I could be one happy camper ;)

[wvrailfan]

I'm still flying mine, which was one of the first from the first batch. I have replaced the ramp servo, other than that it is still bone stock.

JB

[xviper]

Have the bugs been worked out of this Avios C-130? I was all set to buy one when they were first introduced but early reliability reports were poor. So I decided to wait a year. And here on this thread we have another unsatisfied customer, icepirate3. I am not averse to minor modifications (BEC, servo distribution board, etc) but the motors, esc's, and servos should be adequate out of the box before I would purchase one.
I flew the C-130 for many years in the USAF so yeah, I really want one.

I bought this plane when it was in the second production run and I'm flying it bone stock. It's been a terrific plane. The only thing I had to do was re-glue the main retract box as it came loose. The front retract door control arm broke and I had to epoxy that back on.

[Husafreak]

Have the bugs been worked out of this Avios C-130? I was all set to buy one when they were first introduced but early reliability reports were poor. So I decided to wait a year. And here on this thread we have another unsatisfied customer, icepirate3. I am not averse to minor modifications (BEC, servo distribution board, etc) but the motors, esc's, and servos should be adequate out of the box before I would purchase one.
I flew the C-130 for many years in the USAF so yeah, I really want one.

[JamesonC]

So into my BA out today after relocating the receiver and satellite after loosing all 4 engines on the maiden a couple weeks ago. It failed range check again. So I plugged a different receiver in that I had just used in my Avanti and it seemed to pass so I taxied around a bit and when I got close to the end of the runway I again lost all 4 engines. After about 5 or so seconds I hear the esc's initialize again and I had power to taxi back. Now I'm confused. So to rule out a corrupt model file in my iX12 I bind the original Lemon receiver to my other C130 file which doesn't have similar issues (it has it's own, trust me). Did a range check and it seemed fine so I taxi out and again loose all 4 engines about 300 feet away. I've ruled out a bad receiver. I think I've ruled out the TX. I guess at this point I'm going to submit a ticket and see what HK has to say. It's a strange problem for sure but I can't deny that my frustration level is topped out. $700+ on two Hercs and they are both decorations. (Not really the BA as it's scratched up pretty bad from the maiden crash).

Any update on what you found?

[icepirate3]

I did check all of them after the maiden crash but will look into maybe replacement.

[xviper]

Have you considered the condition of the "Y's" that join all 4 ESC throttle leads? Maybe replace them with known good ones. It's likely that's where the RX gets its power from.

[icepirate3]

So into my BA out today after relocating the receiver and satellite after loosing all 4 engines on the maiden a couple weeks ago. It failed range check again. So I plugged a different receiver in that I had just used in my Avanti and it seemed to pass so I taxied around a bit and when I got close to the end of the runway I again lost all 4 engines. After about 5 or so seconds I hear the esc's initialize again and I had power to taxi back. Now I'm confused. So to rule out a corrupt model file in my iX12 I bind the original Lemon receiver to my other C130 file which doesn't have similar issues (it has it's own, trust me). Did a range check and it seemed fine so I taxi out and again loose all 4 engines about 300 feet away. I've ruled out a bad receiver. I think I've ruled out the TX. I guess at this point I'm going to submit a ticket and see what HK has to say. It's a strange problem for sure but I can't deny that my frustration level is topped out. $700+ on two Hercs and they are both decorations. (Not really the BA as it's scratched up pretty bad from the maiden crash).

[icepirate3]

Update on my BA. I was ruling out the possibility of a signal loss or receiver issue causing all 4 engines to quit as I assumed I would have lost control of everything. Turns out, I may have been very wrong in that assumption. When I did the range check before the maiden, I could hear and see the control surfaces moving and kept walking as I could still see the elevator and rudder moving. (mistake) Called it a good range check (mistake 2) and took off. Lost all 4 engines a couple minutes later but still had control of the surfaces.

Took it back to the field yesterday and as I got a good distance away during the range check, I could hear the ESC's reset (beep). Huh oh. Took it back to the stand and had someone stand next to it while I did another check and they confirmed that the surfaces started to get jittery and the ESC's reset. So it's probably safe to say that the receiver is the issue, which is a relief to be honest. Lesson learned is to get out of the habit of not asking for someone to watch the plane during a range check!!

Not sure if I'm going to order another Lemon. May go with an Admiral as I've had good luck with them.

[icepirate3]

I opened up my BA and didn't find anything loose or any obvious signs of problems. The only two things I can think of that would cause all 4 engines to stop simultaneously and still have control would be the white multi function board or the receiver. I'm using a nee Lemon 10ch with satellite. I am going to put the receiver from my other Herc in and see what happens. If I'm missing something I'm open to suggestions.

Was able to salvage one door and have decided not to repaint or even clean it up. It's not worth making it look nice if I can't trust it will stay airborne.

[Hardway]

Better just hand launch it Bro!!! Good luck!!! Have a great Sunday!!!! Jerry

[xviper]

Nice job! Looks like handling 10' high scale grass is not a problem! I bet you could have taken off and landed with the gear up!

I does plow and cut grass quite badly on that. It was due to be mowed. On GeoTex, it's easy, except for that horrible squeaking noise come from the wheels. I've oiled them. The grass did pull those little lights on the gear doors off. I've got them glued on now. It also does tend to steer based on the grain of the grass. The steering only has minimal effect.

[themudduck]

Nice job! Looks like handling 10' high scale grass is not a problem! I bet you could have taken off and landed with the gear up!

[xviper]

Got a camera that works and go a full flight on video this morning.

[Bajora]

I've had mine out for several more flights now. I am really enjoying it. An honest flyer IMO. Flies like a parkie ... and I mean that in a good way!

[icepirate3]

I may be "reaching" by focusing on this sentence. Check all the propeller nuts and/or motor shaft set screws to see if one or more of them came loose. See if any of the props can be pulled slightly forward and backwards on the motor shaft or if the prop can be turned independent of the motor. That sound is reminiscent of when one of my props were loose (not this plane) and wasn't being turned by the motor. If memory serves, since these are counter rotating motors/props, the ones on the right side of the plane spins in the same direction as the way the nuts go on. This can cause the nuts to back off during motor operation if they weren't done up tight enough. I put FoamTac on all those nuts.

That's kind of what it sounded like to be honest but i'm 90% sure I lost all 4 simultaneously. I use foam tac as well on the bolts and had just checked them prior to takeoff but I admit that I didn't check the motor mounts. I want to check where the low-voltage shutoff is set as I am leaning towards it being set WAY to high as a possibility. Or something may have happened to the board they used as a junction between the 4 ESC's. The only thing labeled inside is the main gear so it will take some fishing to figure out what is what. Not going to stress over it for a while though as I came close to just putting my size 12 through it's backbone before loading it up. So for the sake of salvaging any hope on flying it again, it will stay in the shed for a couple weeks.

[icepirate3]

What does the cling to the ESCs look like? Could have been ESC heating and thermal shutdown if they are encased well in foam with no cooling air flow.

Lack of proper cooling air passages is a common theme in foam models.

Not sure how they are encased but i'm pretty sure I lost all 4 at the same time as there was no visible yaw as I was cycling the throttle once I knew there was a problem.

[xviper]

there was a strange, high pitched sound and I lost all throttle response.

I may be "reaching" by focusing on this sentence. Check all the propeller nuts and/or motor shaft set screws to see if one or more of them came loose. See if any of the props can be pulled slightly forward and backwards on the motor shaft or if the prop can be turned independent of the motor. That sound is reminiscent of when one of my props were loose (not this plane) and wasn't being turned by the motor. If memory serves, since these are counter rotating motors/props, the ones on the right side of the plane spins in the same direction as the way the nuts go on. This can cause the nuts to back off during motor operation if they weren't done up tight enough. I put FoamTac on all those nuts.

[fhhuber]

What does the cling to the ESCs look like? Could have been ESC heating and thermal shutdown if they are encased well in foam with no cooling air flow.

Lack of proper cooling air passages is a common theme in foam models.

[Hardway]

That is not cool!! I had that happen to my FMS P-47, but that was the ESC and only one motor... It made the same noise and same symptoms, but with four (4) motors and ESC's, I just don't know.... Sorry!!!!!!