Official FlightLine OV-10 Bronco Discussion Thread

[boomer108]

Well I finally got around to doing a maiden on my OV10 last week flew well after adjusting the Cg she kept wanting to climb when throttle was applied down trim wasn't enough. I fly two 4s 3000s so I added 3oz of weight to match the weight of two 4000s. I flew it today and she flew beautifully. I paralled the batteries for safety don't want to lose the plane to the loss of a battery on one motor. I also replaced the stock bec with a Castle bec. Very solid flying plane now. Love it!

[xviper]

Has anyone had any issues with the BEC? Twice now durring flight (the maiden and a flight today) i have had low voltage warnings via my telemetry and in both ocations the model has become almost unflyable until i throttle down. Todays episode resulted in a broken main and left gear. Also can someone share their control surface settings because it feels like the default setting are way to twitchy.

Thanks

My OV-10 has not been known for BEC issues.
More info ................................ So you've only had a couple of flights? Brand new airplane? What kind of telemetry is giving you this warning? Is the telemetry reading both batteries or just one? Type and age of batteries? What do you mean by unflyable until you throttle down? It almost seems to me that one motor is powering down while the other is still working OK. This would induce a severe yaw effect until you power down so you also reduce the power of the "good" engine. Is this a good description?
Control surface settings from someone else may not necessarily help your plane. Do you fly with any reduced rates expo? Have you tried to increase expo to see if this helps. (Probably not since you mention "default" settings.) "Default" settings is sort of a misnomer. It's just what it is before you dial in rates and expo. Flying almost any plane without some rates and expo can seem twitchy. Which control surface seems "twitchy"?
For what it's worth, Although I have 3 different rates and expo dialed in for AIL and ELE, I typically use something like 70% rate with 30% expo and a little higher rate for rudder, mostly for ground handling.

[ElCid]

Has anyone had any issues with the BEC? Twice now durring flight (the maiden and a flight today) i have had low voltage warnings via my telemetry and in both ocations the model has become almost unflyable until i throttle down. Todays episode resulted in a broken main and left gear. Also can someone share their control surface settings because it feels like the default setting are way to twitchy.

Thanks

[xviper]

Yes, that wiring can be a bit of a rat's nest back in there and isolating the Y can be a challenge at this point. I do it myself by holding both ESC plugs in one hand and one battery plug in the other with the second battery plug very close by and ready to grab. I can plug both in within a second or less. The two ESCs will begin to initialize with a slight stagger but well within the time before either one goes into programming mode. If you can't make it, just disconnect the batteries without touching the throttle stick and try again. As soon as you hear the second ESC gives it's first beeps, lower the throttle stick. That should do it.

[RCAZDES20]

Thnx for your feedback. I just assembled my new bronco and had enough fun dealing with wiring 😵💫 so I don’t think I’ll opt for using the Y lead process-which I would do if access was better. I’m going to get a friend at the field to assist me with connecting batts at the same time and calibrate both at once as you suggested.

[xviper]

Xviper, thanks-good info. One question I have is how can each ESC be calibrated individually if the UBEC (as wired from the factory) is only wired to one battery lead? The other battery lead (without the UBEC) doesn’t power the RX directly so the throttle/ESC calibration isn’t linked to the TX. I think connecting both batts at the same time as you suggested is best to produce same timed beeps with each battery, then throttle stick can be lowered to sync/calibrate both batts simultaneously at once. Appreciate thoughts on my thinking.

Needless to say (but I'll say it anyway), the RX must have power so that battery must be connected. In fact, you can still hook both up. The idea is to find where the 2 throttle leads are "Y'd" together and unplug one at a time and do the throttle calibration twice. Hint: Calibrate the one with the UBEC first while the other throttle lead is unplugged. Then start again, but plug the second throttle lead back in and unplug the first one. Now, plug in the battery for the second ESC and then plug in the one with the UBEC. Since the RX has no power when you plug in the second battery first, nothing will happen till you plug the UBEC in to power the RX.
However, it's much easier (for me) to connect both batteries simultaneously (more or less - within a second or less) by being really quick or get a second pair of hands so you can plug them both together.

[RCAZDES20]

Xviper, thanks-good info. One question I have is how can each ESC be calibrated individually if the UBEC (as wired from the factory) is only wired to one battery lead? The other battery lead (without the UBEC) doesn’t power the RX directly so the throttle/ESC calibration isn’t linked to the TX. I think connecting both batts at the same time as you suggested is best to produce same timed beeps with each battery, then throttle stick can be lowered to sync/calibrate both batts simultaneously at once. Appreciate thoughts on my thinking.

[Evan D]

I think you have throttle cut at -130 and it senses that as
low throttle. When you turn off the throttle cut it goes to -100 and you’ll get motor turning. Set the cut to -100 and calibrate the throttles.

[xviper]

hello, I built my Flighline OV-10 Bronco and bind it up all controls work fine except for the throttle it will not stop only if i turn the throttle cut switch, can anyone tell me why this is happening and how can I fix it. Thanks mag-29

Did you calibrate the throttles? This should be done for every new plane and anytime you have a new or different RX or TX.

1. Lower throttle trim tab as low as it will go (ie, down).
2. Do throttle calibration. This will teach the ESCs where zero throttle is and where max throttle is. It will also help to synchronize both ESCs.

(If you can't calibrate both ESCs at once, do it one at a time by removing one throttle lead at a time. If you plug both batteries in quickly enough, you should be able to calibrate both at the same time.)

[mag-29]

hello, I built my Flighline OV-10 Bronco and bind it up all controls work fine except for the throttle it will not stop only if i turn the throttle cut switch, can anyone tell me why this is happening and how can I fix it. Thanks mag-29

[SanExup]

jukeman That looks awesome!

It's the one plane in my collection that I really would love to be able to trail smoke on a switch. It would be even more fun with a CDF plane.

[Elbee]

Just wanted to share my recent re purposing of my Bronco to a Cal Fire (fighter). I'm into red and white these days.

JM, beautiful repaint, Sir. Nicely done. Best LB

[jukeman]

Just wanted to share my recent re purposing of my Bronco to a Cal Fire (fighter). I'm into red and white these days.

[JohnVH]

Checkout Reckem Roys Custom Painted OV-10!

[Evan D]

My set up...

The motors work well. They may be a little too hot of a set up, see my prop suggestion below. I got the 900kV since they were about right and the only ones in stock. I have one of these in 790kV and may get a second one and smaller props and then go 6S using one 6200mAh battery- https://www.rcjuice.com/motor-esc/br...ner-motor.html

The ESCs were out of a Tigercat, nice that they come with long battery leads that are more than long enough for the Bronco. You'll have to change the bullet connectors for the motors- https://www.motionrc.com/products/fr...less-esc-xt-60

I picked APCe 11x8 propellers in normal and pusher. I think 11x7 would be a better overall pick, but I used these- https://www.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXASTW

https://www.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXHAP5

Spinners. You have to carve the opening on the pusher one.- https://www.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXBMY2

Can anyone recommend a “bolt on” spinner that will take a MAS prop?? Thanks in advance

[Builda]

Can anyone recommend a “bolt on” spinner that will take a MAS prop?? Thanks in advance

[Gizmo6023]

Can anyone confirm that the DuBro 2.75 wheels will fit the axle and retract, or is modification required?

[Gizmo6023]

Thank you OV10, I will order some.
I have read almost the entire thread and seen numerous posts stating the BB are a known weak link and several people state they have bypassed it for primary flight controls, sounds like the route I will take as well. Does anyone have the pin out for the ribbon cables? yes I am just being lazy but if someone has solved this riddle it would save this grease monkey from playing with avionics systems.
There are many posts regarding installing gyros to solve the tail wag issue, the real deal had Yaw Dampers installed at the factory so for the scale purist a gyro is allowed.

[OV10]

What would be a good filler for cleaning up unwanted seams on the OV10?

Try this stuff
Beacon Foam Finishing Compound - 8oz [54947-12301] Motion RC

[Gizmo6023]

What would be a good filler for cleaning up unwanted seams on the OV10?