Official Black Horse B.A. Eagle 1790mm ARF Discussion Thread

[Aros]

Product page: https://www.motionrc.com/products/bl...gle-1790mm-arf

The B.A. Eagle was a light aircraft manufactured in the United Kingdom during the 1930s. It was a three-seat low-wing monoplane built by the "British Klemm Aeroplane Company" (which later became known as the British Aircraft Manufacturing Co.) Production was limited, with 43 aircraft built.

Eagles were mainly sold to private owners, with a few also being used by flying clubs or as executive transports. Eagles were also used for air racing, with several being entered into the King's Cup Races between 1935 and 1937. Single examples were also entered into the MacRobertson Air Race of 1934 between Britain and Australia and the 1936 Schlesinger Race between England and South Africa.

Our model is scaled to approximately 1:6.7 and attention has been given to providing a realistic appearance with outstanding flight characteristics. The model was designed for electric power but can also be flown using a matched pair of internal combustion engines of about 15cc displacement. Features:

• High level of prefabrication right out of the box
• Lightweight, strong, and fully sheeted laser cut balsa and plywood construction
• Covered in high quality matte finish Oracover film with panel line detailing
• Aerofoiled tail surfaces.
• Recessed hinges on all control surfaces
• Large easy access fuel tank/battery/servo access hatches with sprung loaded latches
• Painted and detailed cockpit, pilot and interior included
• Fiberglass control horns with ball link connector
• Pull-Pull control system on the rudder for precision control and authority
• comprehensive control and fitting accessories included
• Two-piece, plug-in wings simplify transportation and assembly.
• Fiberglass cowl and landing gear covers/pants
• Mounts for both electric and gas power options included
• Fully illustrated instruction manual included and also available for download (see tab above)

Includes:

• Black Horse B.A. Eagle 1790mm (70.47") Wingspan - ARF

Requires (Electric):

• 6 Channel radio - select a minimum 6 channel radio from our Radio Collection
• 6 Channel receiver - select a minimum 6 channel receiver from our Receiver Collection
• 1100-1600 Watt brushless outrunner motor - we recommend the Admiral GP10 5030-400kV Brushless motor
• 60-100 Amp brushless ESC - we recommend ZTW Mantis 85A ESC with 5A SBEC
• 7x 45g standard servos - we recommend HS-425BB
• 6 Cell 22.2V 3000-6000mAh LiPo Battery with EC5 connector - we recommend Admiral 4000mAh 6S 22.2V 40C LiPo Battery with XT60 Connector
• Electric propeller - we recommend APC 14x10 Thin Electric Propeller - Black
• 6 Cell compatible battery charger - select a minimum 6 cell (6S) charger from our Charger Collection

Requires (Gas):

• Engine: 15-18cc Gas / .91ci Nitro, NGH GT-17 recommended
• Gas Propeller: 14x6 - 16x8 recommended

[Alpha]

I ran my Black Horse 1790mm BA Eagle without the stock spinner, and painted an APC prop brown for a more woodsy feel that reminded me more of a Ryan ST's front end.



Tips for this bird:

1) Assembly is very straightforward. The wings bolt on and the undercarriage bolts on without any fuss. The gear pants are fiberglass covers comprised of a base piece which you screw into the underside of the main wing, and a lower piece which actually shrouds the wheels. Screwing the two pieces together is what the manual recommends, but I ended up enhancing that with a strip of clear tape around the joint. This reduced the forward play in the wheel cover and retained quick access to the wheel axle collars. In my opinion the struts were overbuilt for this model because it's such a floater in the landing pattern, without or without flaps.

2) The cowl isn't predrilled, which I appreciated. This allowed me to line it up as I wanted before committing to drilling holes. The large one piece fiberglass cowl almost reaches to the leading edge of the wing, it's so big. Fitting any of the recommended engines or motors should be very easy and cutting to suit your exhaust follows the usual for a model of this type

3) I tried flying it on 4s, which is actually possible since the model is so light for its size. But I settled on a 6s power system for better acceleration and lower average consumption.

4) CG is spot on from the manual. There's about a centimeter of comfortable range for my preferences, but that will depend on your comfort level.

5) I painted the control horns since, while I like the thick fiberglass they're laser cut from, I don't like the color. Black Horse told me that they leave the fiberglass bare to show the unique color (a semi-translucent green) because apparently that indicates it's of a certain brand or quality of fiberglass and they're very proud of it. Fair enough. I would also go back and paint the wing walks matte black instead of the gloss black they're printed in from the factory.

6) The wheels are scale sized and the stance is somewhat narrow. Not Spitfire narrow, but not comfortable P-47 wide. So, take care when taxiing quickly.

7) The included hardware was great. No problems there are everything lined up well.

8) Standard servos all around. Plenty of space for fuel tank or battery.

9) Trimming and adhering the large plastic canopy was the most difficult part of the entire build. I recommend Beacon for a good joint that will adhere to the plastic, covering, and bare wood.

10) Overall, I'd give this bird a solid 90/100. It's a rare subject that stands out at the club, is very well executed with excellent laser cutting/sheeting/covering workmanship, in a practical color scheme that's easy to orient, and with easy access accommodations for fuel or electric power. Aside from minor tweaks to the wheel pants and color touchups for enhanced realism, it's hard for me to find fault with this bird, especially for the price.

[Twowingtj]

Nice looking model of a classic. I like that Black Horse went with a yoked oleo style strut instead of the coiled spring wire strut that usually comes with a wood airframe in this size class. Plenty of room in the equipment bay as well.

As far as the wing walks, on a plane this size and larger, I like to glue on strips of wet/dry sandpaper in the 400-1000 grit range. It adds a nice believable look and can even be worn down for a weathered effect.

A few added Golden Age style graphics from Callie would really finish this bird out nicely.

[Bellke]

Any idea when the electric motors will be in stock? I rather stick with electric than get a whole new system for this.

[TwistedGrin]

I am in on this one.....ordered up Motion RC recommended electronics except bumping up the the Gecko 85amp ESC from the Mantis 85amp ESC. 6s Power train. Not very many video's or rants anywhere regarding this aircraft but here on HobbySqawk. This will be my 1st Black Horse ARF assembly.....I am not finding negative comments on any of the Black Horse Balsa ARF's.....expected to see something. Looking forward to seeing this low manufactured British aircraft in the air

TwistedGrin
GSWAM Fort Worth AMA Club Field #1140

[TwistedGrin]

I might paint in some window trim as noted in couple of these photos ....not having much luck finding that snub nosed spinner yet.

TwistedGrin

[Twowingtj]

Looks like it's going to be a fun build. As far as spinner, something designed for a DH Tigermoth might work. Tru-Turn might get you close too

[TwistedGrin]

At the risk of sounding too romantic or providing an impression I am prone to bloviating about a new model......this airframe is unique and simply marvelous just with the un-assembled components laid out. It will be an excellent model for static display alone....just sayin

TwistedGrin

[TwistedGrin]

NOTE: (If you purchase the suggested Hitec HS-645MG servo's) due to the positioning of the wing servo cover/mounts having no offset that would place the the servo arm to center in the middle of the slot.....it places the servo arm to set way off center which in turn causes the servo arms to strike the servo cover/mounts in one direction depending on which way you mount the servo. This is not an issue as the travel is limited to about 20mm...the book calls for 10mm travel both ways

Also the tail wheel wire may be too short to install as delivered for the pre-drilled tail wheel hole of the rudder......this may require a new hole drilled lower down on the rudder inside leading edge.

TwistedGrin

[TwistedGrin]

The tail wheel is too short.....the 90 degree elbow designed to fit into the forward edge of the rudder appendage is at least a full inch short.....this stops the assembly. I have to find a way to make another tail wheel or lengthen the stock tail wheel.

TwistedGrin

[TwistedGrin]

You will need a servo reverser for one of the flaps if you don't have enough channels on your radio system to do it via transmitter separated channels. You will need at least (2) Y-Connector cables one for Aileron and one for Flaps...and (1) extension for your throttle .......these is NOT included in the kit. The stock plastic spinner is marginal soft plastic. You will need to ream out the spinner backplate and the prop to fit over the recommended Motion RC Admiral GP10-400KV motor shaft. The actual prop spinner will need to be cut deeper to all room for the APC 14x10 prop blades. In my opinion you do not need to use the extra spacers provided in the kit for the X-mount .....this will allow the cowling to seat further back on the fuselage without penalty I think. I might order another set of spring loaded landing gear for my motorcycle trailer.....they are massive, heavy and will probably never get compressed!!

https://youtu.be/f5x-IAqj1oI

TwistedGrin

[TwistedGrin]

Build notes continued:
1.The canopy cover is slightly long on the side fuselage....about 2.0mm each side. It's not an issue unless you struggle with some amount of OCD
2.The upper Wheel pants may not line up perfectly (gap) on the forward leading edge of the wing if you want the center of the axle to center into the lower wheel cover. Not an issue for the non OCD builder
3.The decals are not the vinyl peel away type (Lay down the stickers and peel off the top clear cover). Unless you are willing to have the entire sheet on the wing you will need to cut each decal letter out individually and apply
4.The side fuselage decals should be fine to apply without cutting each individual alpha letter out.....

TwistedGrin

[Terminater007]

wished they used better side stickers the white is too translucent , might have to get callie graphics to make up some new ones

[TwistedGrin]

Agree the side fuselage stickers end up being nearly pink....the wing decals are ubra delicate.....I cut mine out individually and placed them on with warm soap water using slivers of painters tape for position markers. A very tedious process.

I deployed the package power train and servo combo as offered by MotionRC.....however I elected to deploy a separate UBEC for peace of mind.

TwistedGrin

[Terminater007]

Here's my one, Just waiting for the new reg decals from Callie graphics..

For the spinner I use ones from theworldmodels.com - Zero Plastic Spinner with Aluminum Backplate 57mm
with a 63mm plastic spinner cone which I cut down to fit on the aluminum backplate - roughly cut 30mm off the bottom :)

might paint the spinner white of silver yet ...

[Alpha]

The spinner looks good, actually! I like it! I've also passed along your notes to the factory. Adjusting gaps for wheel pants and extra canopy edging aside, the semi-trans white is the most finicky to address, since opacity has to do with the material itself. We're looking into it.

[Terminater007]

Painted the spinner and prop Silver :)

[Twowingtj]

Terminater007 That looks nice in the silver.

[Terminater007]

Painted around the windows and added some struts and a mass balance :)

Also flown the plane and it flies with a couple clicks of up trim and that's all , fairly quick little plane :)
Powered by a turnigy L5055b 600kv on 5s 5000mah it flies quite happily on under half throttle.

Still waiting for the rego decals from callie which should come this week..

[Alpha]

That's a nice improvement! Every little bit helps; I really like the counter-balance.

Your power system sounds like a spritely one. I only ever flew mine on 4s, so I imagine it's quick at full tilt on 5s! What kind of flight times are you getting at sub-half throttle cruise?