Waited too long. now float is out of stock. I wanted this plane mainly to fly off the water. Any where else to order floats????
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Official Nexa 1870mm DHC-6 Twin Otter Canadian Yellow (Balsa ARF) Discussion Thread
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I am happy to see this Nexa Twin Otter back to stock at MotionRC, and I am pondering if I should get one.
Before ordering it, I would like to understand some basic things about owning this model:
1. how to transport it? I guess that I will have to disassemble it at home and assemble it again in the field, is that true? How hard/easy will that be? Especially will the srew be easy to turn?
2. what is the quality of the landing gear? I am really tired of fixing landing gear. Looks like the main gear is solid, but is the main gear solid too?
Thanks a lot!
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Originally posted by long-love-rc View PostI am happy to see this Nexa Twin Otter back to stock at MotionRC, and I am pondering if I should get one.
Before ordering it, I would like to understand some basic things about owning this model:
1. how to transport it? I guess that I will have to disassemble it at home and assemble it again in the field, is that true? How hard/easy will that be? Especially will the srew be easy to turn?
2. what is the quality of the landing gear? I am really tired of fixing landing gear. Looks like the main gear is solid, but is the main gear solid too?
Thanks a lot!
The fixed main gear strut is quite sturdy. I use the bigger, spongy tires from the HobbyKing Tundra. There is some flex when side loaded. I use one stock main tire for the nose gear. It's quite sturdy also.
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Originally posted by xviper View PostI store mine with the wings off. That's how I transport it. I do not use the big plastic screws to hold the wings on. They are very difficult to reach and turn. I use the big plastic screw as a permanent alignment rod. I've purposely stripped the threads so the wings just slide on and over the big screw shaft. Once each wing is near the wing root, I connect the wires. There are the main power wires, which I use EC3 connectors. Then the AIL, flap and throttle wires are connected. Then the wing is pushed fully seated. The wing strut is then screwed on (one bolt). Like my gliders, the seam on the top of the wing where it touches the fuselage is sealed with a strip of clear hockey tape. Repeat for the other side. Wings come off for the trip home. I can grab some pictures of the wing end and the fuselage part where the wing meets up a little later if anyone wants. If you do it like in the instructions, then you won't need to see any pictures. I just can't reach those big thumb screws to turn them tight.
The fixed main gear strut is quite sturdy. I use the bigger, spongy tires from the HobbyKing Tundra. There is some flex when side loaded. I use one stock main tire for the nose gear. It's quite sturdy also.
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This first picture is of the fuselage where the wing attaches. You can see the 3 sets of JR plugs that go to the RX and the EC3 power connection that goes to the batteries. You can see the big plastic thumb screw poking through at the front of the wing mating surface. It's permanently glued in from the inside. In the middle is the stock wing rod. You can leave that loose so you can easily remove it but I glued mine in, so I never leave it at home. At the rear, you can see the stock wing location peg (CF rod), also glued in permanently. Far below the main metal wing rod, you can see the installed bolt where the wing strut gets attached. I keep it there so I don't lose it.
PS. The reason why I can't reach and turn the plastic wing screws is that I made a balsa tray to hold my AR636 RX. The tray makes it impossible for me to access the thumb screws. If you install your RX in any other location, the thumb screws won't be that much of an issue.
Next, you can see the wing side, with the matching JR plugs and EC3. You can see the wing strut that's installed into the engine nacelle.
Lastly, just a picture of my "balloon" tires and nose tire.
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Originally posted by xviper View PostThis first picture is of the fuselage where the wing attaches. You can see the 3 sets of JR plugs that go to the RX and the EC3 power connection that goes to the batteries. You can see the big plastic thumb screw poking through at the front of the wing mating surface. It's permanently glued in from the inside. In the middle is the stock wing rod. You can leave that loose so you can easily remove it but I glued mine in, so I never leave it at home. At the rear, you can see the stock wing location peg (CF rod), also glued in permanently. Far below the main metal wing rod, you can see the installed bolt where the wing strut gets attached. I keep it there so I don't lose it.
PS. The reason why I can't reach and turn the plastic wing screws is that I made a balsa tray to hold my AR636 RX. The tray makes it impossible for me to access the thumb screws. If you install your RX in any other location, the thumb screws won't be that much of an issue.
Next, you can see the wing side, with the matching JR plugs and EC3. You can see the wing strut that's installed into the engine nacelle.
Lastly, just a picture of my "balloon" tires and nose tire.
Fantastic! I believe your pictures and texts will not only help me, but also help other hobbyists! Thank you for the crystal clear explanation how you work with your TO! I will order mine, no more concern.
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long-love-rc My wife removes the wings on hers for storage and transport as well. She does use the nylon wing bolts to mount the wings. She shortened them to a better length so, not so much twisting is needed.
She doesn't use the wing struts either. The wing and tube are plenty strong. Simplifies set-up at the field.
We've not had any problems with the gear.
Her wing connections are much simpler. She uses a single multi-servo connector on each side. It combines the throttle, aileron and flap servos. Then the battery/esc connector. So, it's two connectors per side. easy to work with. Link to where we get them. She ordered two three servo connectors to do the job.
https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/show...-Servo-Harness
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Originally posted by Twowingtj View PostHer wing connections are much simpler. She uses a single multi-servo connector on each side. It combines the throttle, aileron and flap servos. Then the battery/esc connector. So, it's two connectors per side. easy to work with. Link to where we get them. She ordered two three servo connectors to do the job.
https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/show...-Servo-Harness
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Originally posted by xviper View PostI thought about using these things myself but at the time, I was in too much of a hurry to wait for shipping. I may still get them one of these days. ThunderboltRC (in Canada) have been selling such things for years.
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My Otter arrived early. Hurray for FedEx Sunday delivery
Everything was well packaged, everything safe. Beautiful looking airplane.
Before I put anything together I wanted to Watt test the setup. Using the recommended GP2 3520-950kV motor, a B24 Propeller (9.5 x 7 Three Blade) , an Avian 45Amp Esc, and a 4S 3200 battery
I topped out at about 41.5 Amps at full throttle. Closer to the 42 Amp rating for the motor than I'd like, but it was under it. Watts was 566, which I then based on a 9lb airplane (actual weight should be closer to 8 over all) puts me about 126 watts per pound.
She will fly.
Now I just need to figure out the spinner situation. Any and all suggestions for prop adapters and spinners would be appreciated.
I'm also reasonably pleased with how my pilot dude fits. Need to print him a buddy
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Originally posted by Twowingtj View Postlong-love-rc My wife removes the wings on hers for storage and transport as well. She does use the nylon wing bolts to mount the wings. She shortened them to a better length so, not so much twisting is needed.
She doesn't use the wing struts either. The wing and tube are plenty strong. Simplifies set-up at the field.
We've not had any problems with the gear.
Her wing connections are much simpler. She uses a single multi-servo connector on each side. It combines the throttle, aileron and flap servos. Then the battery/esc connector. So, it's two connectors per side. easy to work with. Link to where we get them. She ordered two three servo connectors to do the job.
https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/show...-Servo-Harness
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Originally posted by Gilatrout View Posta B24 Propeller (9.5 x 7 Three Blade)
They are a sailplane shop but they sell spinners that you can adapt to whatever prop you choose and come with instructions on how to cut your own slots to fit your props.
These guys also make spinners: https://www.truturn.com/product-category/electric/
Another option is to find a plane that uses a 3-blade prop and see if its spinner appeals to you. For eg. The B-24 uses the same prop as the OV-10 Bronco. Look at that spinner and if you like it, it can always be painted. HobbyKing has a few 3-bladed prop planes. Look at them.
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Originally posted by Gilatrout View PostThanks, I Hadn't realized the OV10 and B24 used same props. I checked the spinner from my Bronco and it should work nicely. Much appreciated.
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Originally posted by xviper View PostYes, I have both the OV-10 and B-24. The spinners from the Bronco are very nice, just the wrong color for the T.O. unless you do a military version and even those seem to have chrome spinners.
As to chrome, I've had excellent success painting plastic parts with my airbrush using Molotow Chrome paint pens. The paint from the pen can be airbrushed directly.
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After some back and forth with various people at Horizon, I was able to set up the otter with counter rotating propellers and thrust reversing. Horizon said it wasn't possible, but it was, in fact, trivial.
I have it working and it is using stock Spectrum smart hardware
2x Avian 45A esc
1x 8 channel receiver AR8360T
Escs Y into channel 1.
BEC disabled from stbd esc. (Power wire removed from plug)
Escs were programmed using the Avian ESC programming box (V1). Default settings used except where specified below.
Stbd motor esc programming
Brake type Reverse
Brake Force 2
Rotation CW
Reverse Channel 9
Port motor esc programming.
Brake type Reverse
Brake Force 2
Rotation CCW
Reverse Channel 9
IX20 Transmitter - channel assign button I to channel 9 and reversed so that it reverses thrust when pressed.
It just worked
The cool thing is because the receiver is listening to chan 9 even though there are no outputs, I can use it without sacrificing an control surface channel
I will do some additional research to see if I can also add in differential thrust for water taxiing.
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I sometimes think some of those Horizon tech guys are handicapped by their own lack of understanding of the things they sell.
I think differential thrust may require an extra channel for mixing. A "ghost" channel like we see in those 6-ch. smart RX's are likely not to work because you need a physical port to plug one throttle channel into. I hope I'm wrong.
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