Wanting to get a 'park flyer', have a question on radios
09-19-2003, 11:39 AM
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Wanting to get a 'park flyer', have a question on radios
Ok, Ive been wanting to get a small 'park flyer' type of plane to fly at my house. Ive got PLENTY of room, just dont feel confortable flying my larger glow powered planes around there.
I see that some of these planes come with a flight pack, with a reciever, servos, batteries, etc, but no radio. Not a problem, I have a couple of 'extra' complete 4 channel radios around. What Im wondering is:
1) Do I need a flight pack being as I already have servos/reciever/etc? Granted these servos and reciever are 'standard' size, so that may present an issue.
2) If I do end up getting a flight pack, what do I do to make the flight pack reciever match my radios channel? Take the crystal out of my other reciever and put it in the new "mini flight pack" reciever?????
thanks for any help you guys can provide!!
clay
I see that some of these planes come with a flight pack, with a reciever, servos, batteries, etc, but no radio. Not a problem, I have a couple of 'extra' complete 4 channel radios around. What Im wondering is:
1) Do I need a flight pack being as I already have servos/reciever/etc? Granted these servos and reciever are 'standard' size, so that may present an issue.
2) If I do end up getting a flight pack, what do I do to make the flight pack reciever match my radios channel? Take the crystal out of my other reciever and put it in the new "mini flight pack" reciever?????
thanks for any help you guys can provide!!
clay
09-19-2003, 11:57 AM
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RE: Wanting to get a 'park flyer', have a question on radios
Clay,
i am not an expert here as I have only been flying my park flier for one week (GWS A-10), but here is what I did with respect to radios and why.
Weight was critical so all my "normal radio" flight packs were out of the question, too heavy and too big to fit. I also opted to piecemeal my flight pack gear, maybe a little more expensive, but I got what I wanted.
Receiver, GWS micro, 4 channel. Picked up a GWS crystal for my frequency as well. I don't believe my futaba crystal would have fit in the GWS receiver. All my Futaba TXs are FM/PCM but work fine if I put it in the PPM mode. Not sure about AM type TX though.
Servos. Due to weight, must be micro-mini or nano. I chose the Hitec featherweights.
ESC. Choose one that is light and will handle the current you will be pulling for your motor. Otherwise, it will be an expensive, and short, flight. I went with a wattage C-10 I believe.
Batteries. Your choice based on weight, current requirements, and budget. LHS had a nice sale on chargers so I opted for the Nickel Metal Hydride (sp?). Lighter than nicads and seem to work well.
The end result for me was a relatively light A-10 at 13.75 oz with reasonably good performance.
Good luck!
Cary
i am not an expert here as I have only been flying my park flier for one week (GWS A-10), but here is what I did with respect to radios and why.
Weight was critical so all my "normal radio" flight packs were out of the question, too heavy and too big to fit. I also opted to piecemeal my flight pack gear, maybe a little more expensive, but I got what I wanted.
Receiver, GWS micro, 4 channel. Picked up a GWS crystal for my frequency as well. I don't believe my futaba crystal would have fit in the GWS receiver. All my Futaba TXs are FM/PCM but work fine if I put it in the PPM mode. Not sure about AM type TX though.
Servos. Due to weight, must be micro-mini or nano. I chose the Hitec featherweights.
ESC. Choose one that is light and will handle the current you will be pulling for your motor. Otherwise, it will be an expensive, and short, flight. I went with a wattage C-10 I believe.
Batteries. Your choice based on weight, current requirements, and budget. LHS had a nice sale on chargers so I opted for the Nickel Metal Hydride (sp?). Lighter than nicads and seem to work well.
The end result for me was a relatively light A-10 at 13.75 oz with reasonably good performance.
Good luck!
Cary
09-19-2003, 12:24 PM
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RE: Wanting to get a 'park flyer', have a question on radios
If you are going to be flying away from other people and source of interference, the GWS or Cirrus MRX receivers are good choices. They are cheap and light (both good things) but neither of these are very selective (the bad thing). If you expected to fly with other people at the same time, Berg makes some very fine and selective receivers, but they are a little more expensive (but how much do you value the airplanes you will be flying?).
The servos don't have to be super powerful unless you are going to be biulding large 3D planes. I have very good luck with the Cirrus or Hitec servos. I have started using the 6 gram Cirrus servos (under $20 each, usually $17 and change), and the 5 gram servos are also hitting the same price range. These are very light items and you need to make sure you don't strip the gears in them by turning the output shaft by hand. They are really feather weight and help keep the weight down.
NiMh batteries are lighter then Nicads, and you can charge them with most any adjustable charger. Again they help keep the weight down. I have converted almost entirely to LiPoly batteries (they do need a special charger due to their charging limitations), but the are about 1/9 the weight of a similarly sized NiCd pack. For a parkflyer, LiPolys can easily shed an ounce or two.
Brushless motors are expensive, but they last forever (almost), and deliver lots of power for their weight. 'Out-runner' motors are also interesting since they provide gobs of torque and turn larger props without needing a gearbox. GWS makes a lot of cheap motors with lots of gearing options. They don't last all that long, but for $18 or so, you can afford to buy new ones when they are toasted. Also, a lot of planes are now designed for them since they are everywhere (they're the only Chinese products I buy).
Wattage (from Hobby People) makes some fun airplanes, and most come with motor, gearbox, prop and everything except the electronics. The Crazy Maxx is a fun aerobat and it costs $30 on sale. Some people think that all packaged planes need to be immediately upgraded to bigger motors and more cells, but for knocking around the yard, they seem fine to me.
I have a Wattage Hawk (pylon racer looking aerobatic sport plane), and using an AstroFlight 010 direct drive and 3 x 560 LiPolys, it came in more the 2 ounces under the minimum weight they tell you, will fly straight up out of my hand, and flies for 20 minutes on a charge. Park and yard flying is a lot of fun; enjoy yourself!
The servos don't have to be super powerful unless you are going to be biulding large 3D planes. I have very good luck with the Cirrus or Hitec servos. I have started using the 6 gram Cirrus servos (under $20 each, usually $17 and change), and the 5 gram servos are also hitting the same price range. These are very light items and you need to make sure you don't strip the gears in them by turning the output shaft by hand. They are really feather weight and help keep the weight down.
NiMh batteries are lighter then Nicads, and you can charge them with most any adjustable charger. Again they help keep the weight down. I have converted almost entirely to LiPoly batteries (they do need a special charger due to their charging limitations), but the are about 1/9 the weight of a similarly sized NiCd pack. For a parkflyer, LiPolys can easily shed an ounce or two.
Brushless motors are expensive, but they last forever (almost), and deliver lots of power for their weight. 'Out-runner' motors are also interesting since they provide gobs of torque and turn larger props without needing a gearbox. GWS makes a lot of cheap motors with lots of gearing options. They don't last all that long, but for $18 or so, you can afford to buy new ones when they are toasted. Also, a lot of planes are now designed for them since they are everywhere (they're the only Chinese products I buy).
Wattage (from Hobby People) makes some fun airplanes, and most come with motor, gearbox, prop and everything except the electronics. The Crazy Maxx is a fun aerobat and it costs $30 on sale. Some people think that all packaged planes need to be immediately upgraded to bigger motors and more cells, but for knocking around the yard, they seem fine to me.
I have a Wattage Hawk (pylon racer looking aerobatic sport plane), and using an AstroFlight 010 direct drive and 3 x 560 LiPolys, it came in more the 2 ounces under the minimum weight they tell you, will fly straight up out of my hand, and flies for 20 minutes on a charge. Park and yard flying is a lot of fun; enjoy yourself!
09-19-2003, 02:54 PM
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RE: Wanting to get a 'park flyer', have a question on radios
what kinda of plane are you looking for...i have the GWS pico stik...(looks like the GP bigstik)they are great flying planes...i ve been flying mine for about a year now...i've only had one crash...they are easy to fix if you crash it...
the only problem is that the motor get hot and quits...i've replaced mine every three times i go out with it...but then again i don't give it time to cool down before i fly it again...
p.s. looks like i'll be converting it to glow power soon...thinking of useing a .020 cox...
john
the only problem is that the motor get hot and quits...i've replaced mine every three times i go out with it...but then again i don't give it time to cool down before i fly it again...
p.s. looks like i'll be converting it to glow power soon...thinking of useing a .020 cox...
john
