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Official FlightLine OV-10 Bronco Discussion Thread

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  • Originally posted by jukeman View Post
    Just wanted to share my recent re purposing of my Bronco to a Cal Fire (fighter). I'm into red and white these days.
    JM, beautiful repaint, Sir. Nicely done. Best LB
    I solemnly swear to "over-celebrate" the smallest of victories.
    ~Lucky B*st*rd~

    You'll never be good at something unless you're willing to suck at it first.
    ~Anonymous~

    AMA#116446

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    • jukeman That looks awesome!

      It's the one plane in my collection that I really would love to be able to trail smoke on a switch. It would be even more fun with a CDF plane.

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      • hello, I built my Flighline OV-10 Bronco and bind it up all controls work fine except for the throttle it will not stop only if i turn the throttle cut switch, can anyone tell me why this is happening and how can I fix it. Thanks mag-29

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        • Originally posted by mag-29 View Post
          hello, I built my Flighline OV-10 Bronco and bind it up all controls work fine except for the throttle it will not stop only if i turn the throttle cut switch, can anyone tell me why this is happening and how can I fix it. Thanks mag-29
          Did you calibrate the throttles? This should be done for every new plane and anytime you have a new or different RX or TX.

          1. Lower throttle trim tab as low as it will go (ie, down).
          2. Do throttle calibration. This will teach the ESCs where zero throttle is and where max throttle is. It will also help to synchronize both ESCs.

          (If you can't calibrate both ESCs at once, do it one at a time by removing one throttle lead at a time. If you plug both batteries in quickly enough, you should be able to calibrate both at the same time.)

          Comment


          • I think you have throttle cut at -130 and it senses that as
            low throttle. When you turn off the throttle cut it goes to -100 and you’ll get motor turning. Set the cut to -100 and calibrate the throttles.

            Comment


            • Xviper, thanks-good info. One question I have is how can each ESC be calibrated individually if the UBEC (as wired from the factory) is only wired to one battery lead? The other battery lead (without the UBEC) doesn’t power the RX directly so the throttle/ESC calibration isn’t linked to the TX. I think connecting both batts at the same time as you suggested is best to produce same timed beeps with each battery, then throttle stick can be lowered to sync/calibrate both batts simultaneously at once. Appreciate thoughts on my thinking.

              Comment


              • Originally posted by RCAZDES20 View Post
                Xviper, thanks-good info. One question I have is how can each ESC be calibrated individually if the UBEC (as wired from the factory) is only wired to one battery lead? The other battery lead (without the UBEC) doesn’t power the RX directly so the throttle/ESC calibration isn’t linked to the TX. I think connecting both batts at the same time as you suggested is best to produce same timed beeps with each battery, then throttle stick can be lowered to sync/calibrate both batts simultaneously at once. Appreciate thoughts on my thinking.
                Needless to say (but I'll say it anyway), the RX must have power so that battery must be connected. In fact, you can still hook both up. The idea is to find where the 2 throttle leads are "Y'd" together and unplug one at a time and do the throttle calibration twice. Hint: Calibrate the one with the UBEC first while the other throttle lead is unplugged. Then start again, but plug the second throttle lead back in and unplug the first one. Now, plug in the battery for the second ESC and then plug in the one with the UBEC. Since the RX has no power when you plug in the second battery first, nothing will happen till you plug the UBEC in to power the RX.
                However, it's much easier (for me) to connect both batteries simultaneously (more or less - within a second or less) by being really quick or get a second pair of hands so you can plug them both together.

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                • Thnx for your feedback. I just assembled my new bronco and had enough fun dealing with wiring 😵‍💫 so I don’t think I’ll opt for using the Y lead process-which I would do if access was better. I’m going to get a friend at the field to assist me with connecting batts at the same time and calibrate both at once as you suggested.

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                  • Yes, that wiring can be a bit of a rat's nest back in there and isolating the Y can be a challenge at this point. I do it myself by holding both ESC plugs in one hand and one battery plug in the other with the second battery plug very close by and ready to grab. I can plug both in within a second or less. The two ESCs will begin to initialize with a slight stagger but well within the time before either one goes into programming mode. If you can't make it, just disconnect the batteries without touching the throttle stick and try again. As soon as you hear the second ESC gives it's first beeps, lower the throttle stick. That should do it.

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                    • Has anyone had any issues with the BEC? Twice now durring flight (the maiden and a flight today) i have had low voltage warnings via my telemetry and in both ocations the model has become almost unflyable until i throttle down. Todays episode resulted in a broken main and left gear. Also can someone share their control surface settings because it feels like the default setting are way to twitchy.

                      Thanks

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                      • Originally posted by ElCid View Post
                        Has anyone had any issues with the BEC? Twice now durring flight (the maiden and a flight today) i have had low voltage warnings via my telemetry and in both ocations the model has become almost unflyable until i throttle down. Todays episode resulted in a broken main and left gear. Also can someone share their control surface settings because it feels like the default setting are way to twitchy.

                        Thanks
                        My OV-10 has not been known for BEC issues.
                        More info ................................ So you've only had a couple of flights? Brand new airplane? What kind of telemetry is giving you this warning? Is the telemetry reading both batteries or just one? Type and age of batteries? What do you mean by unflyable until you throttle down? It almost seems to me that one motor is powering down while the other is still working OK. This would induce a severe yaw effect until you power down so you also reduce the power of the "good" engine. Is this a good description?
                        Control surface settings from someone else may not necessarily help your plane. Do you fly with any reduced rates expo? Have you tried to increase expo to see if this helps. (Probably not since you mention "default" settings.) "Default" settings is sort of a misnomer. It's just what it is before you dial in rates and expo. Flying almost any plane without some rates and expo can seem twitchy. Which control surface seems "twitchy"?
                        For what it's worth, Although I have 3 different rates and expo dialed in for AIL and ELE, I typically use something like 70% rate with 30% expo and a little higher rate for rudder, mostly for ground handling.

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                        • Well I finally got around to doing a maiden on my OV10 last week flew well after adjusting the Cg she kept wanting to climb when throttle was applied down trim wasn't enough. I fly two 4s 3000s so I added 3oz of weight to match the weight of two 4000s. I flew it today and she flew beautifully. I paralled the batteries for safety don't want to lose the plane to the loss of a battery on one motor. I also replaced the stock bec with a Castle bec. Very solid flying plane now. Love it!

                          Comment


                          • Originally posted by xviper View Post
                            My OV-10 has not been known for BEC issues.
                            More info ................................ So you've only had a couple of flights? Brand new airplane? What kind of telemetry is giving you this warning? Is the telemetry reading both batteries or just one? Type and age of batteries? What do you mean by unflyable until you throttle down? It almost seems to me that one motor is powering down while the other is still working OK. This would induce a severe yaw effect until you power down so you also reduce the power of the "good" engine. Is this a good description?
                            Control surface settings from someone else may not necessarily help your plane. Do you fly with any reduced rates expo? Have you tried to increase expo to see if this helps. (Probably not since you mention "default" settings.) "Default" settings is sort of a misnomer. It's just what it is before you dial in rates and expo. Flying almost any plane without some rates and expo can seem twitchy. Which control surface seems "twitchy"?
                            For what it's worth, Although I have 3 different rates and expo dialed in for AIL and ELE, I typically use something like 70% rate with 30% expo and a little higher rate for rudder, mostly for ground handling.
                            So it’s a new plane, I have had 3 flights, all very eventful.
                            The first flight was a simple take off and land affair to address some trim issues.

                            The second flight was a bit more adventurous, but the plane felt very soft with 30% expo on the “recommended” low rates. It also had a yaw issue that I thought I could attribute to the ESC being not synchronized. After the flight I put it on the bench and re calibrated the ESC after resetting them to factory defaults. I checked all throws and the flaps / elevator mix and all seemed spot on.

                            The third flight the take off was smooth as silk but once I put the gear up, the plane became very unresponsive, and still had a yaw issue, also my radio was squawking a low receiver voltage alert. The batteries were fully charged.
                            Only after I throttled down did the low voltage warning clear, but the plane still felt like it was on a delay to react. I managed to get it turned around and landed but lost the nose gear in the process. On the ground, both packs which are new, were at 4.01 volts after I landed (in the air for about 2.5 horrific mins). All surfaces seemed to work without issue, and I ranged checked it and all was fine.

                            So the only thing I can think of is its a BEC issue or an issue with the ESC its connected to.

                            This weekend I want to give it another try. So, I have done the following:
                            • Repaired the damage from flight 3
                            • Replaced the ESC with a new Jeti ESC
                            • Two new batteries
                            • Y harness for the batteries and ESC's
                            Fingers crossed, i so want to enjoy this plane and feel like its a good easy flyer

                            Comment


                            • The ESCs have nothing to do with the voltage your receiver gets, it's all from the separate BEC. As long as the LiPo has more than 5.5-6V in it the BEC should be producing it's full voltage and amperage. That would mean you have 1.5V per cell on a 4S LiPo and no way would that happen since you'll hit LVC way before then.

                              IF, and a big IF you really had low voltage to your receiver, I have to think you have something drawing down the power output from your BEC or you have a bad BEC. If it was me I would rmove the wing panels and separate the center panel from the pods and fuselage and check every single connection throughout. Then hook up a voltmeter (or use the reading on your TX and move every servo, apply a little physical resistance even, cycle gear multiple times etc...

                              You said "once I put the gear up, the plane became very unresponsive". To me it sounds like one or more of the retracts may be drawing too much and over loading the BEC...

                              None of the things you just posted doing address a receiver power issue.

                              Comment


                              • The "yaw" thing is a known characteristic of this and some other twin boom model airplanes. It's not an issue as such. It's just a thing with these sorts of planes. In the real airplane world, particularly in airliners, they use a computerized "yaw damper". For us, we would use a gyro with the rudder gain set a bit higher than usual. That would take care of it.
                                You should also check to make sure that your ESCs LVC (low voltage cutoff) hasn't been set too high and also check how it deals with it when it below the set cutoff. Also check that BOTH ESCs LVC are the same. Any plane when under load will draw the battery down to a very low point and come back up to more normal if you back off the throttle a bit. The older the battery or the lower the brand quality, the more the voltage will sag under load. You may have simply replaced 2 good ESCs that has the wrong settings.
                                As Evan just said, your RX low voltage has nothing to do with the ESCs in this case. It's something to do with the BEC. Look at that, maybe replace it.

                                Comment


                                • Originally posted by ElCid View Post

                                  [So the only thing I can think of is its a BEC issue or an issue with the ESC its connected to.

                                  [
                                  Sorry I misstated that; I meant the BEC that shares the same connection with the ESC to the battery. In the end, as suspected, it was the BEC was bad. It was not producing sufficient voltage. I have replaced it with a Jeti SBEC set to 5.5v and created a harness so both ESCs connect to both Batteries in parallel. She flies like a champ with zero issue now.

                                  Comment


                                  • Originally posted by xviper View Post
                                    Just finished installing Eflite P25's into the OV-10 so they can drive the 5-blade scimitar props. As previously noted, I've already installed 60A ESCs. The stock motors can't quite spin those props us to speed, so I'm hoping these motors will make them sing and give the OV the kick in the pants I'm looking for. The new motors are a bit longer overall than the stock ones and there's quite a gap between the cowl and the prop base plate, but I care more about the performance than the looks. The picture of the prop is with the stock motor. Test flight will be in a couple of days.
                                    Was the stock motor performance with the scimitar props verified with any onboard monitoring/logging equipment? I'm curious to know how far out of the motor specifications the setup would be with a more scale style of flying. I have already upgraded my ESCs and have installed 11x8 APC props, but would like to run the 5 balded props on the stock motors if the only performance issue is during acro maneuvers. The gap between spinner and nacelle could be addressed with a 3D printed backing plate for those that the gap bothers.

                                    Comment


                                    • Originally posted by Gizmo6023 View Post

                                      Was the stock motor performance with the scimitar props verified with any onboard monitoring/logging equipment?
                                      No. I have no such equipment.
                                      PS, from the time I posted that, I have flown this plane many, many times. In level flight, it is much livelier and faster. Before, it could not do a loop from a full throttle level pass. It would fall out long before it got to the top. After, with scimitar props and new ESCs and motors, it could do loops all day long. climbing at a steep angle became effortless. Take off run, although not bad before, was much, much shorter after (if I so desired). As I said, the stock motors, even with the new ESCs, could not spin those scimitar props from the Eflite EC1500 up to speed.

                                      Comment


                                      • Lost my OV-10 today. I had a total of 2 good flights out of 5 attempts, before today’s mishap. After fixing the items in prior posts I thought I had all the gremlins sorted.
                                        Take off was smooth and the plane was flying perfectly. On my 3rd loop around the field (flying from right to left) making a left hand turn towards the runway, the left wing dropped a bit, I corrected thinking it was wind. Then midway down the runway it went off tune, started to visibly yaw left and before I could cut power, correct and get the flaps down it, was in a uncontrollable left hand spin into the wood behind the field.
                                        Upon retrieval of the plane, we found the left nacelle ESC was fried and the aircraft is un salvable.
                                        On the one hand this plane has been a nightmare since day one, but on the other hand, when it was flying well it was a TOTAL JOY.
                                        Now I am torn, do I roll the dice and buy #2 or change it up and go with something else?

                                        Comment


                                        • Has anyone 3d Printed a "D" model nose yet ?

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