Pandora

[Grossman56]

Personally, I've always used Velcro, got some industrial strength at Walmart, but OV's idea is just as good I would think, all depends on which way you want to go, either is better than a sliding battery. Those straps are a pain, in the Pitts, they're no where near the battery position, so pretty well useless. You have to use something else.

Grossman56

[boomer108]

Well I finally finally finally got to maiden my Pandora. The winds and rain decided to give us a break, just cloudy. What a great flying plane! I have it in the low wing taildragger configuration and its fun to fly. I found a new go to plane.

Roy B.

[Grossman56]

Great to hear Boomer, welcome to the Pandora Family. There are some great mods that you can do as well, let me know when you're ready to upgrade it a bit, I have a different motor/ESC. and different wheels as well, the foam ones don't last long in pavement.

Grossman56

[boomer108]

Great to hear Boomer, welcome to the Pandora Family. There are some great mods that you can do as well, let me know when you're ready to upgrade it a bit, I have a different motor/ESC. and different wheels as well, the foam ones don't last long in pavement.

Grossman56

Thanks Gman!

I already put Dave Brown's on it, like all my planes and changed out that weak 30amp ESC for a Mantis 45amp ESC. I also put a A3L gyro in it. Any other suggestions I would appreciate. Thanks again Gman!

Roy B.

[Grossman56]

Hey Roy, I also swapped out the stock motor for a....

http://www.motionrc.com/fms-3536-kv850-motor/

580 kv which will give you an added boost in power. Its the motor from the RocHobby Waco.
I run this with a 50 A ESC and I balance out so that I can use the canopy hatch for the battery instead of the little stock one.
Works great for me with the battery all the way forward, touching the wooden platform.
A lot handier for getting the batteries on and out.

Grossman56

[boomer108]

Thanks Gman and where did you get an ESC with such long battery leads?

[Grossman56]

I ordered it from Motion. Id have to look up the number, I'll let you know. It is really handy though, no trouble plugging it in. It's an FMS 50A.

http://www.motionrc.com/fms-50a-esc/

Grossman56

[boomer108]

I ordered it from Motion. Id have to look up the number, I'll let you know. It is really handy though, no trouble plugging it in. It's an FMS 50A.

http://www.motionrc.com/fms-50a-esc/

Grossman56

Thanks again Gman!

. I got the Mantis 45 amp from Motion but the leads are about 100mm long if that,that is just to short for my liking. The should make them all 400mm long and let the customer customize the lengthy. Thanks again Dan!

Roy B.

[Grossman56]

I hear you, the Manits ones on the 85A ESC I put in Big Beautiful Doll were waaaaay too short, I had to get some extensions. Don't know what they're thinking, but for me its part of the learning curve. Don't order a Mantis without some extensions.....

Grossman56

[boomer108]

Hey GMan!

. I was out flying the Pandora this morning and after two flights I noticed the esc was hot although the battery was just warm. My esc is under the battery tray and I noticed unlike the rest of my planes there is no exit vent holes in the fuselage. My thinking is there's not enough air flow through the fuselage. What's your thoughts on that? I would appreciate your input. Thanks Dan!

Roy B.

[WintrSol]

I don't know about GMan, but I noticed the lack of air when I first assembled it, and cut a NACA-like vent behind the wing/main gear panel opening. So far, no issues with excess heat on the stock ESC.

[Grossman56]

Interesting, my battery sits under the cockpit hatch and the ESC is up where the battery used to go. I like WintrSol's idea, I think I'll try that too. I've never noticed an unusual amount of heat from the ESC, but venting sounds like an answer.

Grossman56

[boomer108]

Thanks guys! That's what I thought.

Roy B.

[Dewey H Lee]

Hello guys and gal
Finally got to fly today. Couldn't go earlier because I had to help my son tune up his car. After charging batteries I didn't get to the field until around 6:30. Everyone had already packed it in for the day and I had the field to myself. After not flying in over 6 months I started out flying my 44" corsair with safe. I flew through 4 batteries and I'm glad I did. Boy I felt as if I was just flying for the first time again. But by the end of the 3RE battery my confidence was back and then flew the 4th just because I was enjoying myself so much. Finally I decided it was Pandora's turn I went through and checked all the throws and a rang test. Pulled the wing just to make sure of my setup for turning the a3l off and on. After being satisfied everything was good I carried to plane to the side of the runway and put out my cigarette.( I know there bad for you) l advanced the throttle smoothly with just a little right rudder input. Grass was almost 3" tall( the company that cuts or field normally cuts on Friday so I don't know why it was so long)so I was up to at least 3/4 throttle before lift off. Plane had just cleared 3 foot and then all of a sudden it attempted to go vertical. Not having enough airspeed yet for what it was wanting to do caught me totally off guard. The plane started to waive from side to side before I regained my composure and slammed the throttle all the way up and at the same time made an attempt to get the nose down. Bad move plane heading straight for flag pole. Quick bank right and barely missed the pole but now it's heading for the ground at full throttle. Splate right. No now I'm back on the stick going back up and slowly gaining control I thought. Everytime I would ease off the elevator ounce I got it level it would try to go straight up. Believe me that thing will hang for about 10 seconds before stalling out. Finally I'm realizing I've missed something and got enough control by holding 3/4 down elevator and started a wide circle while backing down the throttle trying to get it back over the runway. After what seemed an eternity I made a one wheel landing that ended on the mains with no damage. Sat my butt down right there next to the runway for a few before I could move. Pandora was looking at the dirt so many times and just barely pulled out at the last second that I just knew she was gone. After checking my pants for wet spots or odor I went to the plane to find out the problem. Nothing was evident at first and then I was working the elevator with my tx and saw the horizontal move. Yep l had tightened the front screw sufficiently but not the back one there was 5 more turns needed to finish the job😳. Needless to say after all of that I was not in any shape to try it again. Besides it was starting to get dark now and I need to pack everything up before it got dark because there's no lights at the field. So failed maiden. Next time I hope a better result. We'll just though I'd share with you guys how dumb I've become. I really wish I'd had a video of that maiden because anyone watching would have written that plane off several times and came out without a scratch. Thank the Lord. He had to have been on my shoulder.

[farmflyer]

Minus the flag pole that sounds like my first attempt with the popwing. I believe it was Gman that said any maiden that ends with the plane intact back on the ground is a successful one. It sounds like your reactions are still pretty good or you would have piled it in. Youll have a better outcome next time I'm sure. By the way what did you come up with to cg the F6f with the gear up?

[Dewey H Lee]

Hey Farmflyer
With the 2 and a 1/2 once it balanced at 75me with the tail being ever so heavy. I'm not talking much at all. But with the gear down it's pretty nose heavy. I was really surprised at the outcome. Still thinking of adding a tad more to get it neutral. What do you think.

[farmflyer]

Dewey I have 3oz in mine. I only have one flight on it but it flew really well. I do not like mine to be tail heavy at all so I went with the 3oz barely nose heavy nearly neutral at 70mm with a 2500 admiral all the way forward. That is on the panel line right behind the retract mount plate on top of the wing.

[Flygirl]

Hello guys and gal
Finally got to fly today. Couldn't go earlier because I had to help my son tune up his car. After charging batteries I didn't get to the field until around 6:30. Everyone had already packed it in for the day and I had the field to myself. After not flying in over 6 months I started out flying my 44" corsair with safe. I flew through 4 batteries and I'm glad I did. Boy I felt as if I was just flying for the first time again. But by the end of the 3RE battery my confidence was back and then flew the 4th just because I was enjoying myself so much. Finally I decided it was Pandora's turn I went through and checked all the throws and a rang test. Pulled the wing just to make sure of my setup for turning the a3l off and on. After being satisfied everything was good I carried to plane to the side of the runway and put out my cigarette.( I know there bad for you) l advanced the throttle smoothly with just a little right rudder input. Grass was almost 3" tall( the company that cuts or field normally cuts on Friday so I don't know why it was so long)so I was up to at least 3/4 throttle before lift off. Plane had just cleared 3 foot and then all of a sudden it attempted to go vertical. Not having enough airspeed yet for what it was wanting to do caught me totally off guard. The plane started to waive from side to side before I regained my composure and slammed the throttle all the way up and at the same time made an attempt to get the nose down. Bad move plane heading straight for flag pole. Quick bank right and barely missed the pole but now it's heading for the ground at full throttle. Splate right. No now I'm back on the stick going back up and slowly gaining control I thought. Everytime I would ease off the elevator ounce I got it level it would try to go straight up. Believe me that thing will hang for about 10 seconds before stalling out. Finally I'm realizing I've missed something and got enough control by holding 3/4 down elevator and started a wide circle while backing down the throttle trying to get it back over the runway. After what seemed an eternity I made a one wheel landing that ended on the mains with no damage. Sat my butt down right there next to the runway for a few before I could move. Pandora was looking at the dirt so many times and just barely pulled out at the last second that I just knew she was gone. After checking my pants for wet spots or odor I went to the plane to find out the problem. Nothing was evident at first and then I was working the elevator with my tx and saw the horizontal move. Yep l had tightened the front screw sufficiently but not the back one there was 5 more turns needed to finish the job😳. Needless to say after all of that I was not in any shape to try it again. Besides it was starting to get dark now and I need to pack everything up before it got dark because there's no lights at the field. So failed maiden. Next time I hope a better result. We'll just though I'd share with you guys how dumb I've become. I really wish I'd had a video of that maiden because anyone watching would have written that plane off several times and came out without a scratch. Thank the Lord. He had to have been on my shoulder.

Wow! That called for a cold beer after that! LOL! When you took off Dewey, was the gyro on or off? Just curious...

[Dewey H Lee]

It was off. I had taken the main wing off to make sure my switch I had assigned to it was doing what it was supposed to do. Have Pandora set up high wing tail dragged configuration right now.

[Grossman56]

My first thought too. But now that you 've figured it out, try try again!
The first flight with Pandora One, I had the ailerons reversed, so here I am, a novice with reversed ailerons, of course she headed for the nearest pole and snagged it.

Believe it or not, minimal damage, lesson one, check your control directions/surfaces. Second flight was when I augured in, can't remember why any more, but that was when we had the fire. Dejected, the wife said why don't you order another one. So I did, never say no to the wife!! Meanwhile, took a serious look at the fire damage and assesed it as fixable. Meanwhile Pandora Two was on her way. Got her, she augured in one day, due to the fact that I wasn't hitting neutral, unbeknownst to me at the time, she just spiraled in. Took a while to find her, but did and she was fixable as well.
To make a long story short, two years later, they're still great planes and both are flying wonderfully.
The measure of a great trainer is how much they teach you and how forgiving they are. Pandoras are number one in my books for those very reasons