Avios Grumman Albatross!

[mr.frankenjet]

HK planes can look slick but they are still in the good old days of - by the time you get the plane the way you want all you got from them was the foam shell. Got a Skysword, looked cool but I will be working on it for some time before it takes to the air. Not to say they won't fly but takes allot of mods to get them the way I like um. Now their graphine batteries on the other hand, ohhh so sweeeet

[xviper]

The Skysword always looked a bit "gimmicky" to me and really never appealed to me. I can't really say that all HK planes require some work to get "right". My Albatross is pretty good and no extra work was needed out of the box. The elevator thing was my fault as I had trouble getting the end of the rod into the hole, so I drilled it out - a bit TOO much. My Mig-17 has been perfect out of the box as is my BushMule. My C-130 Herc was the second production run and it too was perfect out of the box. I can't say the same about some of the many other early HK planes that have come and gone from my hanger. There have been Freewing and FMS planes that haven't been as good as some of the HK planes I listed above.

[Bluebird]

Interesting that you mention your elevator control rod as being one Xviper. The airplane I bought last September has two elevator rods attached to one servo. After each crash the elevators were literally locked into full down position so that the gears in the servo were damaged and it no longer worked. I just assumed this was the result of the impact of the crash but I've never seen that before and I am an experienced crasher. LOL. So another mystery I guess. It would be scary to assume this actually caused the crash!

It's good to hear you have not experienced any unusual handling issues with the plane. I have had issues with the rubber pad in the fuse for holding the battery in place. Velcro tape doesn't seem to stick well to it when it's wet or very cold. This is why I suspect the battery is coming loose. I will remove that pad next time and put the Velcro right on the underlying wood, along with an extra strap.
I also plugged the little drain hole in the back because when flying on the water everything gets wet inside. A real dumb idea from Avios.

Thanks for your feedback Xviper!

[xviper]

I don't fly on or off water even though I have a big pond beside one of our fields. I bought the plane because I fly in the winter and a belly skidder is always something handy to have when the ground is covered with snow/ice (and also because I liked the look of it and the size). I completely forgot about the 2 in one rod at the servo for the ELE. This isn't the first plane with that design and on this one, it hasn't appeared to be a contributing factor to any deficiency even though it's not my "preferred" way to do it.
I had to go take a look at the plane after the last couple of posts. The elevators have a ball link on each one. It was one of the ball shafts that was too big to fit into the hole of the elevator horn and that's what I had to drill out. It gets a little sloppy after it works around a little. Next time I fly it, I'll go and put some glue where the shaft and nut are so it can't move around. That shouldn't be a problem since the ball and socket are the things that need to move.

[Woodcock]

Well heck, listen to xviper, he know his stuff. I'm proud to call him one of my online friends.

But, I gotta say. I think Hobbyking planes are as good as any. They're comparable to Flightline, and Freewing, "IN MY OPINION". My fleet consists of about 50% HK, 40% FW, FL. and 10% of various other stuff. About 60 planes in total. As a matter of fact I have two 64mm Stinger jets. One HK, and one FW. They're virtually identical in almost every way. But I kinda liked the HK paint job better than the Freewing. Simply a matter of taste.

As a matter of fact, FW has some pretty serious issues of their own with elevators, with more than a few of their models. I know FW, FL and company do there very best to make sure we have the best quality models they can provide. So does HK. Saying one is dramatically better than the other is simply nonsense, "in my opinion".

W

[wvrailfan]

I have flown my Albatross from grass and water and I like it. So far I haven't had any negative issues. I did remove the water rudder and set up differential thrust for ground handling and that seems to be working okay.

I will fly it from snow, when we get some.

I think the later HK stuff is better than HK of old, and, I think Motion is part of the reason. Motion made about everyone else step up their game just to keep up.

JB

[OV10]

I think the later HK stuff is better than HK of old, and, I think Motion is part of the reason. Motion made about everyone else step up their game just to keep up.

JB

OH SO TRUE ...……….Same comment I've said for several years.

[rafeeki]

I've had trouble with this thing from the start. Using a 4s 4000mah battery and balancing at the spec 80mm It takes off like a rocket ship straight up. Takes some finger work to tame it every time.
Any thoughts anyone?
tks
rafeek

[xviper]

I've had trouble with this thing from the start. Using a 4s 4000mah battery and balancing at the spec 80mm It takes off like a rocket ship straight up. Takes some finger work to tame it every time.
Any thoughts anyone?
tks
rafeek

Mine did that on the maiden. It was way out of trim and was hard to get trimmed. It took the second flight to get it right. I dialed down the rates and increased the expo tremendously. Now, it's quite predictable. I balanced it by the book but can't remember what that is at the moment. Don't give it so much power on take off. I give it enough to get it skidding along the grass and then back off once it breaks friction. Then I increase throttle more gradually so it doesn't leap into the air so violently. It can be tricky to keep the wings level at first so a tip pontoon doesn't drag and cause it to veer off in that direction.

[rafeeki]

Mine did that on the maiden. It was way out of trim and was hard to get trimmed. It took the second flight to get it right. I dialed down the rates and increased the expo tremendously. Now, it's quite predictable. I balanced it by the book but can't remember what that is at the moment. Don't give it so much power on take off. I give it enough to get it skidding along the grass and then back off once it breaks friction. Then I increase throttle more gradually so it doesn't leap into the air so violently. It can be tricky to keep the wings level at first so a tip pontoon doesn't drag and cause it to veer off in that direction.

I need to replace my broken prop but can't get the spinners loose. as they are counter rotating I dont know if the shafts are threaded the same normal way "righty tighty lefty loosey"?

[xviper]

I need to replace my broken prop but can't get the spinners loose. as they are counter rotating I dont know if the shafts are threaded the same normal way "righty tighty lefty loosey"?

I just went to give them a try. Both are the same thread (standard). I put mine on with a little FoamTac on the threads, so I need to use a surgical glove to grab them tight enough to turn.

[rafeeki]

I need to replace one of my props as it sheared off after hitting the water hard.
I cannot unscrew the spinner. Does anyone remember if one of them (right) is counter threaded? How can I grip it as it is smooth?

[xviper]

Did you not see my post just before yours?

[rafeeki]

Did you not see my post just before yours?

Got it thanks. My hands hurt from trying I have the gloves ill let you know in a flash:) tks
Was good to know which way to turn as I used Loctite on the shaft thread.
Now I can replace my prop.:)

[JLambCWU]

Quick clip flying off the lake in my backyard at sunrise here in the mountains of Utah.

[JLambCWU]

[JLambCWU]

About that sunrise though....

[boomer108]

About that sunrise though....

Nice plane beautiful scenery!

[chadheinrich]

JLambCWU where abouts in Utah is this lake? Fully private?

[JLambCWU]

JLambCWU where abouts in Utah is this lake? Fully private?

South Jordan, yes fully private.