Official FlightLine OV-10 Bronco Discussion Thread

[xviper]

Hey everyone,

Just doing a makeover on my recently arrived OV10. An impressive model but I found the screws into the wing centre section into the booms appear too short. As a result the centre section raises up. Before I remove those screws and attempt to use longer screws, has anyone had a similar issue. If so can you please advise your experience and how the fix went.

I also had minor trouble with the rudder not working correctly and traced that to a defective lead.

Thanks

I don't think it's that the screws are too short. I think you're missing the hole. IE, the alignment is off. However, I could be wrong. Next time you push the wing section into the boom section, have the plane upside down so you can see the slot of the wing section as it slides onto the peg of the boom. Does it go in far enough to align the path the screw must go to get threaded and seated? If the alignment is off just a little, the screw will be pushing up against the peg, thereby shoving the boom section up as the wing section is forced down.
PS. If you don't have ALL the wires shoved into the space in the boom section, a single wire hanging in the space between the wing section and boom section will prevent the wing section from mating flush with the boom. That gap is enough to misalign the hole.

[Mad Baron]

Has anyone had any problems with the blue box? I had my OV10 go out of control for no reason at all I was able to get control of the plane but it landed pretty hard and broke the nose gear. When I replaced the gear the connector in the blue box was loose.

[xviper]

Has anyone had any problems with the blue box? I had my OV10 go out of control for no reason at all I was able to get control of the plane but it landed pretty hard and broke the nose gear. When I replaced the gear the connector in the blue box was loose.

I have never trusted these "blue boxes" since the early days of them coming into service. I've had a couple of crashes due to them. My OV10, along with almost all of my planes that have these boxes, have had the critical control surfaces by-passing the box - AIL, ELE. I don't bother with the other servos. If any of them fail, I can still "bank and yank" the thing back.

[Mad Baron]

I think I will bypass the blue box Aileron and Elevator as well. I don't want a repeat of what happened last time I flew it.

[Evan D]

I agree, while I don’t not trust them I either remove them or just leave retracts and lights through them… I do it more to get more programming with higher channel count receivers.

[xviper]

I think I will bypass the blue box Aileron and Elevator as well. I don't want a repeat of what happened last time I flew it.

Another thing to consider is momentary loss of signal. Do you have a RX with telemetry? It will tell you the number of frame losses and holds during the flight.

[Mad Baron]

I do have a telemetry ready RX but l don't know how to set it up. I have a Spektrum NX8.

[xviper]

There's nothing to set up on the RX. It's already sending stuff to the TX. You have to tell the TX to show it. You need to see what's in the "flight log".

[Mad Baron]

Got it. Thanks for the info now I can see the telemetry!

[Gosche]

I have never trusted these "blue boxes" since the early days of them coming into service. I've had a couple of crashes due to them. My OV10, along with almost all of my planes that have these boxes, have had the critical control surfaces by-passing the box - AIL, ELE. I don't bother with the other servos. If any of them fail, I can still "bank and yank" the thing back.

Have a question Sir. Can you bypass the blu-box for AIL, ELE and still benefit from the multi connector in the outer wing (taking the wing off for easy transport/storage) ?
I have not bought the OV-10 Bronco yet, but am seriously considering it.
Thanks in advance

[Evan D]

The aileron goes through the multiconnector so that would defeat the purpose. Along with the ailerons the outer flaps and lights go through it. You can bypass everything else, rudders, retracts, motors, etc.

[xviper]

The aileron goes through the multiconnector so that would defeat the purpose.

^ This. If you are real good with hunting down the correct wires from that multiconnector for the AIL, you can remove them and solder your own 3-pin connectors and "Y" them directly to the RX. It's risky business as these multiconnectors use common grounds for multiple servos. A lot of really bad things can happen if you make a slight "boo-boo".

[Gosche]

Thanks a lot, all clear :-)

[Helmsman52]

Has anyone converted this to run off one 6s lipo like the fms Tigercat yet? Thanks.

[jseese]

I am just finishing my makeover to the Cal Fire civilian scheme and I am in need of better pilots. I tried emailing a place in the UK from an earlier post but he has not responded to my email. Anyone else found a better civilian type replacement?? Thanks!

[Uncle Bob's RC]

“I always wire my twin setups in parallel so to avoid a catastrophic engine loss on a twin due to losing a battery dedicated to a single motor.”

Ever since I read OV10’s comment in his build post (#42), I wanted to wire my OV-10 batteries for parallel operation just like his. Soldering XT60 connections is daunting enough but soldering them hanging out of the fuselage was not happening and I really didn’t want to dissemble the wing.

Here’s my solderless solution and completely “plug and play”. 1 each BenchCraft XT60 Parallel ESC Adapter to plug the ESC’s into and 1 each BenchCraft XT60 2 to 1 Parallel Adapter to plug the batteries into. Plug the adapters together and you are in business. With only the ESC adapter you could use one large battery.

[Evan D]

Just remember you have the power of both motors going through one XT connector.

[Uncle Bob's RC]

Just remember you have the power of both motors going through one XT connector.

Thanks, I hadn’t considered that. I’ll check the actual amp draw of each motor at full power tomorrow. From what I’ve read, the XT60 should be good for 60 amps. Two 30 amp ESC’s = 60 amps. I’ll only be using full power for takeoff and some occasional aerobatics.

[Evan D]

Yes, the stock set up isn't that powerful, that's why I said "remember" and not "caution". You should be fine. That said it would be best to solder a jumper between the wires instead of using adapters, I really dislike using them... :)

[Uncle Bob's RC]

Yes, the stock set up isn't that powerful, that's why I said "remember" and not "caution". You should be fine. That said it would be best to solder a jumper between the wires instead of using adapters, I really dislike using them... :)

I agree that a jumper would be better and at some point I will probably do that. With a watt meter this morning I got 50 amps running both motors at full power.