Avios/Hobby King 1600mm C-130 Hercules

[xviper]

The battery tray is set up for a 2200 battery to sit sideways across the fuselage very near the CG. There is a lot of room in there for larger batteries. I actually found I like mine nose heavy and place my battery ahead of the suggested location.

Also, keep in mind, my flight times are based on mostly 1/2 to 3/4 throttle and very little full throttle time.

Isn't the door on the left side of the plane where the battery goes in? It's well ahead of the wings. Are you saying that the battery lives well back of that door opening? Isn't the CG aft of the leading edge of the wing?

[wvrailfan]

The CG is listed as 65mm back from the leading edge. The battery hatch is 5 1/2 by 4 1/2 and is about 3 1/2 inches ahead of the wing. The battery is suppose to rest just behind the battery opening. I measured and that puts the battery about 4 inches ahead of the CG. I actually place my battery well ahead of the suggested battery location. I flew it with the battery at the suggest location and the plane seemed elevator sensitive to me, so I moved it forward and like the flying characteristics much better. I'm willing to attribute that to some quark in my flying ability, or lack thereof. Others that have flow the plane seem happy with it using the factory suggest battery location.

[xviper]

So the battery is not quite near the CG. Using a big battery could make a very big difference to how the plane balances. From your previously post, I was imagining that you were pushing the battery well under the wing to get "close" to the CG. Is there a possibility to carve out foam to the rear of the door opening to relocate the battery tray for a longitudinal placement of a big battery? Not that it really needs a big battery as all indications seems to point towards a decent flight time using a 2200mah.

[NoDirt!]

The CG is listed as 65mm back from the leading edge. The battery hatch is 5 1/2 by 4 1/2 and is about 3 1/2 inches ahead of the wing. The battery is suppose to rest just behind the battery opening. I measured and that puts the battery about 4 inches ahead of the CG. I actually place my battery well ahead of the suggested battery location. I flew it with the battery at the suggest location and the plane seemed elevator sensitive to me, so I moved it forward and like the flying characteristics much better. I'm willing to attribute that to some quark in my flying ability, or lack thereof. Others that have flow the plane seem happy with it using the factory suggest battery location.

That's good to know - That it appears to not be too sensitive to a change of CG. Thanks for the dimensions.

[Woodcock]

Damn, looks like I missed my chance to get one of these. i just returned from Asia. I actually flew one of these outbound to Guam. Our C-130 went down for a pretty serious maintenance issue, we had to leave it there. Returned on a C-17, (I got a little right seat time). This was my very last hop, I'm officially retired from active service now.
But I would have really liked to have got one of those. Just my luck.

Woody

[xviper]

Give it a month. The second batch should be available then and it can be purchased the regular way through their website. I find it really odd that HK would go the way of a lottery to sell these. Makes one wonder if there was a problem with the first batch and they had to weed out all the ones with problems, thus ending up with insufficient stock for the masses.

[Woodcock]

Give it a month. The second batch should be available then and it can be purchased the regular way through their website. I find it really odd that HK would go the way of a lottery to sell these. Makes one wonder if there was a problem with the first batch and they had to weed out all the ones with problems, thus ending up with insufficient stock for the masses.

Ya I can wait. A 6 Day trip turned into a 2 week trip. Just my luck, been watching these closely.

Woody

[wvrailfan]

So the battery is not quite near the CG. Using a big battery could make a very big difference to how the plane balances. From your previously post, I was imagining that you were pushing the battery well under the wing to get "close" to the CG. Is there a possibility to carve out foam to the rear of the door opening to relocate the battery tray for a longitudinal placement of a big battery? Not that it really needs a big battery as all indications seems to point towards a decent flight time using a 2200mah.

I guess "near" is a relative term, sorry if I misinformed.

Rearward of the hatch, there is a much thicker portion of the fuselage, which I assume provides structural strength for the main landing gear. It is 2 1/2 inches ahead of the 65mm CG point. You can place a battery against it and be just 2 1/2 inches ahead of the CG. It is not a solid bulkhead, you can in theory put a battery on top of the main gear, but you will have to clean up some wiring from what I can see.

Hope this is more helpful.

Jim

[MANFRED]

Opened mine today to discover there was no manual included. Anyone else have this problem?

[wvrailfan]

Opened mine today to discover there was no manual included. Anyone else have this problem?

Manual is online only.

[MANFRED]

I likey

[Jersey Rob]

I did a Google search and the listing popped up with a price of $347.56. I clicked on the link and it brought me to the HK main page. I went back and it was still there, after refreshing again - it was gone. It came back again, I was able to take a screen shot. I went HK chat and they told me that they do not have a date for release. Thought it was to good to be true. LOL

[xviper]

Interesting ........................... advertising something they don't have, at a price they can't confirm.

[ken.swa@outlook.com]

I also didn’t get a manual with mine as well. Where online is the manual available for download?

[ken.swa@outlook.com]

Just found it online if anyone needs the link, here it is;

https://cdn-global-hk.hobbyking.com/media/file/c/1/c130_manual_v1.2_1.pdf

[Pauly]

ONLINE ONLY? That's pretty messed up!

[wvrailfan]

Isn't the door on the left side of the plane where the battery goes in? It's well ahead of the wings. Are you saying that the battery lives well back of that door opening? Isn't the CG aft of the leading edge of the wing?

xviper, If you think you will need to move the battery rearward past the intended location, I think there is plenty of room, you will need to clean up some wiring and make a tray above the main gear. The good news is, the main gear comes out as a unit with four screws to give access to the fuselage.

To be honest, as far forward as I am running my 3000 Admiral, I don't think you will have an issue putting it in the designated location.

[xviper]

xviper, If you think you will need to move the battery rearward past the intended location, I think there is plenty of room, you will need to clean up some wiring and make a tray above the main gear. The good news is, the main gear comes out as a unit with four screws to give access to the fuselage.

To be honest, as far forward as I am running my 3000 Admiral, I don't think you will have an issue putting it in the designated location.

Appreciate the advice. Thanks. I don't have this plane (yet). I never entered the lottery and when they do become available for regular sale, I'll have to see what the price will be for the BA version. It's been hinted that they are raising the price on the BA version when it comes to the general public. I have the B-24 at present and I consider it to be an excellent product for the money. It's natural that I compare it to the C-130 in terms of value for the buck. If they price it too close to the B-24, it's not worth it to me. Some say it'll be for regular sale in January, so will wait and see. By then, more reports from private owners will be in. The latest one by Demo7 made the C-130 look extremely twitchy in the air, almost dangerously so. At our field, when a plane flies like that, we call it "doing the roller coaster". Granted, he said it was quite windy but I've flown my B-24 in some good wind and it's solid as a rock.

[crxmanpat]

Well, I'm out. Never got an email one way or the other about my lottery entry, and yes I have email notifications active, and no it did not go to Spam/Trash. I was disappointed that it was 1600mm and not 1800mm as they originally told us, and I'm not keen on the amount of flex in the wings.

Besides, I'm currently transitioning to larger models and getting rid of all my smaller stuff.

[Twowingtj]

Besides, I'm currently transitioning to larger models and getting rid of all my smaller stuff.

While the investment is a bit higher, you'll really appreciate the difference in how much better the bigger birds fly.