Official Skynetic Bison XT STOL Discussion Thread

[2much2do]

My kit came with 2 left wing struts.....they can't be built upside down...wtf

I even tried to flip one by re-tapping the plastic parts, the angles on the plastic do not fit with the bottom of the fuselage.

[2much2do]

OK, so no screws came in my tail wheel assembly bag eigther. Did anyone get screws in here for the tail wheel like the instructions say? Are they the 2.6x12 screws?

[Starck Mad]

Your landings on the gravel road looked tops, that's for sure. I'm anxious because I spend money, and I'm willing to take it all back if I get to fly it Saturday and all is amazing.

I hope it goes well my friend!

[Capt G]

Finally got the airframe together - not like Freewing is it? Turns out the left wing has the wrong slat on it. The plastic atach points do not line up with the actuator wires. Anyway - i opened a ticket and will try to fly with no slats? I hear it flys ok that way?

[2much2do]

I thought it did very well...slows down well. Keep in mind I never was at full throttle long at all on takeoff...trying to get a more scale take off. Landings were good I thought, but a plane this big is going to roll out more than a super light foamie half its weight for sure. As far as hovering...I know some sport/ scale planes will, but a lot won't. It isn't a 3D plane, but with a better battery it probably will...my Pulse packs are older with a lot of cycles on them...most in pairs in a 12s 3DHS 75" Edge.

Your landings on the gravel road looked tops, that's for sure. I'm anxious because I spend money, and I'm willing to take it all back if I get to fly it Saturday and all is amazing.

[Starck Mad]

The build doesn't bother me at all, I've built foam, balsa, composite, whatever, that's not the problem. Wrong parts in the kit does bother me, but is recoverable.

But my biggest gripe is that from your video, every single Tundra, Timber or foam cub I've seen in person out-performs this thing. That's my biggest worry, it neither took off, nor landed great in your video, until that very last scenes on the dirt road, I felt a little better watching that, but I'm worried its under-powered (you can hover timbers at 3/4 throttle), and now that I've held it WAY too heavy.

I thought it did very well...slows down well. Keep in mind I never was at full throttle long at all on takeoff...trying to get a more scale take off. Landings were good I thought, but a plane this big is going to roll out more than a super light foamie half its weight for sure. As far as hovering...I know some sport/ scale planes will, but a lot won't. It isn't a 3D plane, but with a better battery it probably will...my Pulse packs are older with a lot of cycles on them...most in pairs in a 12s 3DHS 75" Edge.

[2much2do]

The manual says in step 2 of the undercarriage section to use 6x12 on the main strut mount. Those are self tapping by the way...

The wing strut attach screws are in the same packaging as the struts...at least mine were. They are short self tapping screws with a big head.

Yeah, those little screws aren't in the bags with my struts, I haven't opened them yet, but I shook them in the bag, nothing there.

Next thing is the main gear on one side fit the M3 bolt just fine, the other side doesn't and has to be drilled out to fit the M3.

[2much2do]

Thank you for watching! I think this build has taken some by surprise. I get that. It is a more advanced build than most foamies and introduces a new step airplane guys don't usually do with the tires. I see this mentioned as a failure by MRC...I don't see it that way personally...and I mean that with the upmost of respect. I know you're frustrated and I'm sorry you are. If I may...just want to give another perspective. What we do is model aviation...we are modelers, but in today's market so many foamies are made so easy to assemble that when we are challenged with having to actually do some modeling we can get frustrated. I see the tires as a new skill set to add to my capabilities as a modeler. It was also my first time doing it, and I messed it up a bit...not as clean as I would have liked. That said it doesn't make sense to me to blame MRC for that. Its not their fault for making the step the way they did...if it wasn't doable at all that would be one thing, but it is doable, and its my fault for not doing it right. That said lots of things didn't go my way the first time I tried it...soldering comes to mind. I sure can solder like a champ now though.

As far as the lights I had no issues with over heating. I hope you feel better about it soon bud...tomorrow is a new day. When you fly it...it will all be worth it. Happy flying!

The build doesn't bother me at all, I've built foam, balsa, composite, whatever, that's not the problem. Wrong parts in the kit does bother me, but is recoverable.

But my biggest gripe is that from your video, every single Tundra, Timber or foam cub I've seen in person out-performs this thing. That's my biggest worry, it neither took off, nor landed great in your video, until that very last scenes on the dirt road, I felt a little better watching that, but I'm worried its under-powered (you can hover timbers at 3/4 throttle), and now that I've held it WAY too heavy.

[Starck Mad]

So, I've made it to literally step 3 in the manual so far, and none of the screw sizes match up, some of them don't even exist in the kit. What screws are supposed to hole the top strut mount to the fuselage?

Also my landing gear was assembled incorrectly, the mounting plate was on the wrong side of the braces and had to be moved before it would fit the fuselage.

I also appear to be totally missing the screws to joining the wing braces together, the instructions just say "Use the correct screws" but there is nothing in the kit that matches the ones that are on the braces.

The manual says in step 2 of the undercarriage section to use 6x12 on the main strut mount. Those are self tapping by the way...

The wing strut attach screws are in the same packaging as the struts...at least mine were. They are short self tapping screws with a big head.

[Starck Mad]

Watched the video. I think buyers remorse is the right description, but I'm hoping to feel differently after flying it. *sigh

Thank you for watching! I think this build has taken some by surprise. I get that. It is a more advanced build than most foamies and introduces a new step airplane guys don't usually do with the tires. I see this mentioned as a failure by MRC...I don't see it that way personally...and I mean that with the upmost of respect. I know you're frustrated and I'm sorry you are. If I may...just want to give another perspective. What we do is model aviation...we are modelers, but in today's market so many foamies are made so easy to assemble that when we are challenged with having to actually do some modeling we can get frustrated. I see the tires as a new skill set to add to my capabilities as a modeler. It was also my first time doing it, and I messed it up a bit...not as clean as I would have liked. That said it doesn't make sense to me to blame MRC for that. Its not their fault for making the step the way they did...if it wasn't doable at all that would be one thing, but it is doable, and its my fault for not doing it right. That said lots of things didn't go my way the first time I tried it...soldering comes to mind. I sure can solder like a champ now though.

As far as the lights I had no issues with over heating. I hope you feel better about it soon bud...tomorrow is a new day. When you fly it...it will all be worth it. Happy flying!

[Atrix]

So, I've made it to literally step 3 in the manual so far, and none of the screw sizes match up, some of them don't even exist in the kit. What screws are supposed to hole the top strut mount to the fuselage?

Also my landing gear was assembled incorrectly, the mounting plate was on the wrong side of the braces and had to be moved before it would fit the fuselage.

I also appear to be totally missing the screws to joining the wing braces together, the instructions just say "Use the correct screws" but there is nothing in the kit that matches the ones that are on the braces.

nvm, I misread

[2much2do]

So, I've made it to literally step 3 in the manual so far, and none of the screw sizes match up, some of them don't even exist in the kit. What screws are supposed to hole the top strut mount to the fuselage?

Also my landing gear was assembled incorrectly, the mounting plate was on the wrong side of the braces and had to be moved before it would fit the fuselage.

I also appear to be totally missing the screws to joining the wing braces together, the instructions just say "Use the correct screws" but there is nothing in the kit that matches the ones that are on the braces.

[Starck Mad]

Watched your video this morning; it was great. I am going to try your setup this weekend.

Thanks for watching! Keep in mind any set up is a personal thing...my set up may be too sensitive for some. If that is the case adjust your expo as needed, but the elevator throw I have is necessary to achieve the higher angles of attack I was hoping to get. This plane for me is very mission specific...I want to fly it as a scale STOL/Bush plane...including STOL contest style landings. For your first flight I would recommend a CG a little forward of where mine is and adjust that to your liking as you feel it out. I love it!

[Randy H]

I want to thank all of you that have purchased the Bison and given an honest opinion of this model. I was thinking of pulling the trigger on this plane but I have decided to wait for the next batch. I don't want to spend $400 on an model that I have to put a lot work into to get it right. Reminds of the MIG 29 where there seemed to be a problem with the elevator servo and some MIGS became $700 lawn darts. It seems that Motion should be more diligent in making sure that the product is right the first time out.

[Atrix]

Yeah, I actually pulled out the controller to put in a step down regulator in its place, so I am not using the controller at all in the bison. I have the regulator set to 6V to match what the original controller was putting out, but I tested the wing light units (which also have an overheating issue) on the bench and they work down to 4V with much less heat. The trade off is brightness.

[2much2do]

I agree that the manual could be improved, but I do not think the overheating is due to wiring mistakes. I pulled the controller out of the Bison and powered it on the bench at 24V using a single wing light as load and a servo tester to activate the lights using PWM, and it got too hot to touch, my IR temp gun reads 180 degrees F.

I see, since you have it on the power supply already, will it run off of 5V? My thought would be to replace the BEC on the ESC with something more substantial and run the whole thing at 5V.

[Atrix]

James It sounds like the manual should also have a section on wiring, if everyone is getting it wrong and that's the reason for the overheating and damaging of equipment.

I agree that the manual could be improved, but I do not think the overheating is due to wiring mistakes. I pulled the controller out of the Bison and powered it on the bench at 24V using a single wing light as load and a servo tester to activate the lights using PWM, and it got too hot to touch, my IR temp gun reads 180 degrees F.

[2much2do]

James It sounds like the manual should also have a section on wiring, if everyone is getting it wrong and that's the reason for the overheating and damaging of equipment.

[James]

I think the long rod provides a large range of flap movement.

I was also missing the screws that mount the landing gear to the fuselage. The manual says 2.6 but the part they screw into is actually an M3 thread. I used some extras I had laying around.

Also, mistake in the manual, should say 3x14 machine screws for the main gear. you should have plenty more of the 3x14 machine screws (same used to mount the shock absorbers, but those used the nuts). The extra 5 3x14's you should still have give you 4 for the main gear and an extra if you lose one.

I will have the updated manual correction done today

[2much2do]

Watched the video. I think buyers remorse is the right description, but I'm hoping to feel differently after flying it. *sigh