WhtBronco

I am inclined to take the landing gear off my Eflite Ultimate. However I am concerned about how to prevent prop damage when landing. The best way I have found to land this plane is doing a harrier which of course requires power. Since it doesn't glide at all really I can't land any other way and not touch the prop, dang gear is super flexible. I also don't like the thought of the rubber band prop mounts.

Not to mention my $60 HiMaxx 2812/0650 that I don't want damaged.

I cannot hover well enough to catch it yet.

So do you prevent the damage without landing gear?

TIA

Foamaholic

My Feedback: (1)

Try to land on grass?
Cut the throttle when the tail touches?
If you can get it to hover a little you can grab it by a wingtip.
The E-Flite props are much more flexible than gws or apc. They hold up really well.

XpastywhiteboyX

My Feedback: (5)

my e-flight will harrier with full elevator no power and nose is high alfa, i catch mine but it will harrier power off! just need about 50 degrees. try that

Wayne Miller

Hi,

I'm not sure of the size of your electric, but a lot of the foamie's are using a "prop saver". This is a method of mounting your prop using a rubber/elastic band or "O" ring.

If you accidentally touch something with the prop, it will deflect without damaging the prop. There is some discussions here at RCU showing how to make them, but they can also be bought. I'd check for you, but I got a meeting to attend.

Can anyone else help? Does anyone know where the prop savers are discussed?

Fly4Fun,

Wayne Miller

Leety

Landing in tall grass or snow is pretty good.
I don't think you really land fast enough to bang up the prop, it'll just rotate out of the way.

make sure you put a carbon fiber strip, or epoxy the bottom of your plane (or both).
that way the fuse doesn't get chewed up and damaged from landings (especially hard ones)


Also, about prop savers.
I think he mentioned that he doesn't like to use rubber bands, so I'm not sure where to get any non rubberband kinds.

JohnVH

My Feedback: (38)

I just hover and grab it out of the air

WhtBronco

Well I would like to grab it outta of a hover as well, but I can't hover that well yet. I can hold it in a hover, but I cannot make it go where I want it to yet while hoverng.

I actually swapped the Efilte prop for an APC prop because the Eflite was flexing so much in flight it concerned me. During loops it was flexing really bad. I could try the Eflite again, but now with even more power I don't think I'd keep using it.

Most of the flights on this plane are in front of my house. Tall grass is not an option. I must say that I am actually nervous about grabbing this plane outta the air at all, it is so flimsy. This being said I have been catching gliders for 15 years now, so I am not concerned about catching planes in general. I am even worried about breaking this little plane carrying it outside to fly it. Probably more worried than I should be though.

Anyway, I may try the carbon fiber strip on the bottom and remove the gear. Course I cannot put the gear back on again if I do that. Maybe I should get another and try this first. My Efilte Ultimate glides like a brick so I am not real keen on landing with the power off.

Thanks all.

Foamaholic

My Feedback: (1)

I can't control where it goes in a hover very well either. I walk out to it and when it seems stable I use throttle to get it the right height and grab the wingtip with my right hand. Works almost every time.

3DFanatic

My Feedback: (5)

Yup, just hover it and grab the "canopy"

Foamaholic

My Feedback: (1)

After I get a stable hover I usually walk out to it rather than trying to bring it in close to me.

WhtBronco

Well due to continued problems with this plane my last 2 landings were dead stick after 6-7 minutes of flight. Both times the ESC cut off while pulling out of a 30+ second hover at full throttle. I am using the recommended 10 amp ESC and the batteries are only half discharged. I changed from a GWS Rx to a JR 610UL and now I have this prob with the ESC. The LHS suggested setting the CC 10 ESC down from cutting at off at 9.0v for a 3s li-po to 7.2v cut off. I'm not sure that's a good idea, but I also wonder if the new Rx is using more power and causing the ESC to cut off due to over amp draw.

Deadstick landings are gonna prevent me from hovering and catching the plane for sure.

Matt Kirsch

My Feedback: (21)

Frankly, you're making much ado about nothing. I have belly-whomped foamies with THREE-bladed props on hard gym floors over and over and over, and have NEVER broken a blade. Watching the guys fly in the gym, it's amazing the kind of abuse a GWS prop will take.

If you bring it in and shut the motor off just before touchdown, the blade will simply move out of the way. "Arrivals" don't count; you'll break a blade.

BTW, DO NOT set the LVC lower. That's not a solution to your problem, and will only serve to further damage the batteries. If you're already abusing the batteries enough to cause damage, riding them even harder won't help things.

Your motor is cutting out because the battery voltage is going too low, and the low-voltage cutoff is kicking in. The battery could be fully charged, and still do this because the current you're drawing is too much for the battery. I'm guessing, "it worked fine before," right? How many times before? The fact that you switched receivers could be, and probably is, mere coincedence. You've run the battery enough times now that it could be starting to show the signs of fatigue from being mildly overstressed over the course of several flights.

If I may ask, what "3S LiPoly" are you running? Also, do you have an idea of how many Amps you're drawing at full throttle?

Foamaholic

My Feedback: (1)

Right. Could be stressed batteries or batteries that can't deliver. Some batteries are better than others.
Use at least 860 batteries rated for at least 10C.
If you are getting a sudden cutoff then program the esc for Soft Cutoff but leave the cutoff at 9 volts. This way the motor will chug telling you to land but it won't cut off. This is what I did when mine drove me crazy cutting off.

Zagiflyer576

you could try doing a parachute...that would rack up the wow factor of you landings. just come strait down with some power, then just above the ground, punch it for a sec. and give it full up elevator at the same time. The plane should suddenly go from verticle to horizantle then cut the power, and if you do it at the right hieght, it should lightly plop down with the prop not moving...

have fun...
bob

Foamaholic

My Feedback: (1)

This I gotta see!

WhtBronco

The soft cut off fixed it. I did not set the ESC to 7.2v cut off with a 3s li-po. Seemed like a bad idea.

I'm not sure what discharge rating off hand my batteries are. They are TP 3s1p 1320mah.

Yeah parachute. Sure. Sounds cool though. After tonights experience the landing is staying put. Without it I fear the plane would have been badly damaged.

Foamaholic

My Feedback: (1)

Discharge rating is likely 10C, so around 13 amps.

Dany boy

Also, make sure the brake is set to OFF if your brushless controler is programmable like mine , it is made in Czech republic: MGM Compro TMM, which is to my opinion Top of the Line. See the specs here:

http://www.modelflight.com.au/rc_mod...controller.htm

WhtBronco

Why set the brake to off on my ESC? Mine is programmable so I can do that, and on a heli I can understand why. However, on a plane that deosn’t glide well if the prop is spinning on it’s own since the brake is turned off it glides even worse. The prop remaining still when the deadstick causes less drag.

Zagiflyer576

you could also do this.....http://www.flyrc.com/Inverted.wmv

just another idea ...

cloudancer03

My Feedback: (22)

the props are pretty sturdy and landing in thick grass from my side of it hasnt hurt it so I am unclear what the big deal is..I will say having landing gear on the electric and landing is 10 times more likely to rip out so no gear is the best way..i THINK CATCHING IT IS OK BUT i HATE SEEING SMALL KIDS DOING IT AND MISSING GETTING WHACKED WITH A PROP..

WhtBronco

Well guys I appreciate the info, but the gear is staying on. I had a hard landing the other, really a crash from a harrier 6" off the deck and the prop got a small nick in it, but the prop shaft broke right off the motor. I bought some new foam wrapped wheels that are much better as well. I am just not comfortable with trying to land this flimsy plane without the gear. I have no faith that it will hold up. Catching it I am not ready for. Maybe some day.

WhtBronco

Wow, while searching for something I found this thread I started a while back. It's amazing how naive I was regarding foamies back then. However, I still have not tried a prop saver or landing with landing gear. My new plane that's holding for the weather to cooperate for its maiden has a prop saver(still questioning this) and no landing gear. The landing gear shouldn't be a big deal now as all my landings are harrier style anyway.

Since my kids fly with me I won't grab my planes out of a hover. I don't want them to try it.

FWIW, that E-Flite Ultimate with landing gear had over 43 hours flight time on it when I retired it recently.

hobbydude214

My Feedback: (13)

why dont any of them have landing gear?

flyingace451

Just land it. 2 bladed props will always move out of the way as long as you touch the rear of the plane down and then the nose, but don't touch down at anymore than a 45 degree angle. I've never broken a prop in my life and I've been flying for 3 and 1/2 years, 2 of those years being 3D.