Official FlightLine OV-10 Bronco Discussion Thread

[RCGuy83]

Arriving at the field winds were moderate at times but not awful. With roughly 22 flights the goal was a few safe flights, push it around, and work on quick landing approaches dropping it in touching down on a mark 15ft in front of me. Go to the 2min mark to see landing approaches from both the plane and the fence. The OV-10 with no flaps comes in slick if you drop it in but you can flare it out nicely. The video includes: speed passes, rolls, no flap approach, some flaps approach, a bad bounce, a couple clean touch downs, and some bush trimming off-roading at the end.

[vduniec]

Here's my FPV flight from today. A little sketch on the takeoff, but it's because of the tendencies of the 90mm T-45 landing gear. The first attempt at the loop was a fail as I pulled too much elevator and it just stalled on me. The second attempt was a little better.

I designed and 3D printed the armament panels and the APR-39 indicator that are on the instrument panel coaming. This is still a work in progress for me. Still have to add a wet compass, a vent and mirrors to the canopy frame. Also want to add some colors to the instrument panel decal which is pretty accurate. I'm undecided on the gunsight. I'll have to see how that looks and see if it's too much of an obstruction.

I will be sharing these 3D files as they come along for anyone who's interested.

[Oldman]

Battery question,I am trying very hard NOT to buy this plane,losing every time . One question will 2- 4s,5,000mah 60c battery fit side by side in the plane,long story for the reason to ask.? Better yet what is the width of the battery compartment.

[themudduck]

Battery question,I am trying very hard NOT to buy this plane,losing every time . One question will 2- 4s,5,000mah 60c battery fit side by side in the plane,long story for the reason to ask.? Better yet what is the width of the battery compartment.

The inside of the compartment is 8cm wide, and its about 8 inches long more or less.

You really don't need huge batteries for this plane, It will make it very heavy and may lead to other problems (like the fuselage cracking and it will be very nose heavy). I am using two 2500's and I can fly for 6 minutes, and more than 10 minutes on 3600's.

Lighter always flies better!

[Evan D]

Todays flights...

https://youtu.be/OUJUnRzOFX8

https://youtu.be/JtrOqioZzBg

[Evan D]

When I first built mine I reported it's not a "keeper". After a couple dozen flights I have to say that if this was kept stock I would be bored to tears with it by now but with 2 1/2 times the power and some tweaking of the throws and rates (plus crow and differential throttle) I am having a blast flying it. I still has that nagging wobble though. Some day I'll have to try and remedy that but I'm having a good time just flying it.

[xviper]

Skimming over past pages of this thread and trying to find any postings about what kind of watts this drivetrain is registering, can’t seem to see it. Did anyone actually take a measurement of the stock system’s watts/per side?

[ronwc]

I showed back in post 395 amp and watt reading with stock props and with 10x8 APC. Here is stock again.

[Evan D]

I didn't answer when you posted as you didn't say exactly what battery you want to use and there are different size and weight 5000 batteries.

Assuming it's an Admiral there's two choices...

The 60C has these specs;

Weight	500g / 17.63oz
Length	158mm / 6.22in
Width	45mm / 1.77in
Height	32mm / 1.25in

I am using 4600 Hobby Stars with these specs But mine weigh 380g each.

• Capacity: 4600mAh
• Voltage: 14.8V (4S)
• Dimensions: 130x43x30mm
• Weight: 395g

As noted the main area of the fuse is 8cm (the strap slots are much narrower) wide but there are two areas of foam towards the rear that intrude into that space. Having heavier batteries (even my 380g packs) you'll have to push them back between these two protrusions. There is about 61mm between them. Then a little further back there is a second stepped in protrusion and there is only 54mm between them.

So your packs will fit in the main area but since your packs are 1000g together you'll also need to push them pretty far back and may be okay at the fist protrusion but no way at the second.

Battery question,I am trying very hard NOT to buy this plane,losing every time . One question will 2- 4s,5,000mah 60c battery fit side by side in the plane,long story for the reason to ask.? Better yet what is the width of the battery compartment.

[Jim Donohue]

This makes a perfect wing bag for the OV-10. I cut the strings from the bottom grommets so it does'nt act like a backpack but like a top close drawstring bag. $8 on Ebay.

[xviper]

I showed back in post 395 amp and watt reading with stock props and with 10x8 APC. Here is stock again.

Thanks again. How much of a gain in watts were the 10x8's?

[ronwc]

Here is readings with the 10x8 - although it has better speed and pull, watts went down. Going to go to 10x10 this week and get more readings, the perfect props may well be 11x7 or 11x8 two blade.

[xviper]

ronwc Keep us posted. Interesting experiment.

[XairBoss]

I just have 5 flights on my Bronco. One thing I noticed was an oscillation in the roll axis in turbulent conditions. The oscillation is worse at lower speeds. The oscillation diminished as the conditions became calmer. I don't have a gyro on this model. I texted a friend from the field about it and he told me his old 80' Rich Uravitch Bronco did the same thing, that it was a tendency they have. So, is there a hack to make it go away? I was thinking of towing the rudders in a few degrees. I noticed the model is extremely sensitive to rudder inputs. I'm guessing that might have something to do with it.

[Evan D]

Welcome to the forum. They all do it and no one has a cure except installing a gyro...

[Evan D]

Todays first flight.

https://youtu.be/WoA6Gyb__ao

[xviper]

This morning's flight. Gyro ON for the whole flight.
Warning: hatcam

[The Sheriff]

Well, I had an incident on Saturday. The wind was howling and gusting. Normally, I fly my Carbon Z Splendor in these conditions, but the Splendor was down due to a canopy issue. Having done about 20 flights on the Bronco without incident, I boldly proclaimed, "This thing is a tank" as I walked to the flight line. As it turns out, that was mistake.

I regretted my decision immediately after liftoff. The turbulent gusts were forcefully shoving the Bronco into uncontrolled 90 degree banks. After 3 or 4 approaches I managed to get lined up over the runway only to be hit by another gust inches off the ground. An input of heavy aileron correction leveled the plane as it touched down on the center-line on the mains. The crowd of 2 murmured unenthusiastic cheers while my blood pressure returned to a healthy level.

As I taxied back, I could see the right wing sagging with the prop having barely enough clearance for ground maneuvers.

I removed the right boom and repaired the gear by straightening the connecting pin with a vise. Then I removed and re-glued the plastic mounting bracket. Also, side note, the connector from the ESC wire ripped out so I soldered that. She's now fully operational and ready to rip. Aside from some scuffed ordinances, there is no sign of damage.

I love this plane, and will limit flying it to calm days if need be. I would, however, like for it to be an everyday flyer if possible.

Has anyone had success flying in moderate winds with a gyro? I've tinkered with the A3 Super 3, but not in this plane and haven't really used gyros otherwise. Has anyone tried an A3 Super 3 in the Bronco? If so, where did you mount it? Does a gyro help with the wobble that occurs in low to no winds?

[xviper]

Has anyone had success flying in moderate winds with a gyro? I've tinkered with the A3 Super 3, but not in this plane and haven't really used gyros otherwise. Has anyone tried an A3 Super 3 in the Bronco? If so, where did you mount it? Does a gyro help with the wobble that occurs in low to no winds?

That last video I put up was with gyro ON the whole flight and the video I posted before that, I showed what the plane looked like with gyro ON and OFF. It may have been too small in the video to see but I did comment about it in the post.
You don't need such a fancy gyro on this plane to fix the tail waggle or to tame it down in strong crosswinds. Yes, I've flown it in very strong cross winds. I use a simple 3-axis Freewing gyro. The cheapest HobbyEagle A3-L, 3-axis gyro will do the same thing. I built a wooden platform for it and mounted it above and just behind the batteries. I've posted up a picture of that installation earlier in this thread.

[The Sheriff]

Thanks xviper

I didn't see that post earlier, thought I was keeping up with the thread. It was difficult to see in the gyro on/off video, but the commentary was good. Are you able to adjust the gyro okay in the limited space?