papajeff

Dr. Watson, I presume! Sorry, I just could not help it! Now, your question is a good one and it is suggested that you ask Fliton. The email is;
[ [email protected] ] and why not post the reply as I am sure that others would like to know.

Taildragger726

Papa, I used an AXI 282012 on 3 cells Evo's 2170 an APC 13X6.5, CC45 and four HS-65's. Very light and simple. That set-up could not hurt the battery or motor. Not ballistic, but adequate. Made the airplane a real floater. Probably could use a little more prop. One of the new planes has the same setup. The other is 4S.
Now I am really liking the 4S and Hacker 10XL. Great power(!) and the little extra wieght adds momentum. I tail mounted the rudder servo on the 4S,,,
It is spooky how much these plane feel like a 35%-40% aerobat!
I have been waiting on a couple of the Castle BEC's,, hope they start hitting the market soon! Hitec will introduce their digital 5082 and 5065 and I want a bullit proof BEC for that! Also the Spektrum is vunerable to 'brown out', So Castle,,, hurry up and get these BEC's out there!

wagen017

I am really curious now when I will receive my planes. Today the "big brown truck" passed by (actually here they are orange!) to deliver the shipment from the US containing motor, batteries etc. The planes will arrive from China directly, but when??[&:] Anybody out there that also will receive from China? Did you get something?

Volkert

papajeff

Volkert,

Did they (either Fliton, if you ordered from them, or the company in China) send you a shipping notice or a tracking number? If not, send them an email and get some sort of expected delivery date. Don't they realize that we have to take extra medication to remain calm when we are waiting for a "NEW" plane to arrive! What's wrong with them????????????????????? Be sure to let us know what is going on.

papajeff

Rmenke,

Regarding your battery, if you ordered a 3S 4000mAh pack and got a 4S 4000mAh pack you could use it on the AJ! But, you would have to use a BEC, with the 4S pack, to power your servos. The X-55 ESC that I am using can handle the volts from a 4S pack when used with a BEC. What ESC are you using? Also, you might want to check out the Castle BEC. By the way, I agree with you about not joining two 3000mAh 7.4 packs for your AJ because it's better to use the one proper pack for correct power, duration and balance. Let me know the results.

papajeff

Tony,

Thank you for the power set-up info that you have used on your two great FG-AJ's. I think that I am going to favor a 4S pack with the new Castle BEC, but I still plan on testing the various combinations and the Watt meter will tell me what's what. Have a good weekend.

wagen017

PJ: the US shipment had track and trace. I could very well follow it flew over in a day , got stuck in customs for 11 days [&o] and arrived here the day after. So much for fast shipments! On the China shipment no info yet, I emailed Fliton yesterday on this. Both shipments are from Fliton!!

rmenke

My Feedback: (13)

Papa J:

Feeling so sorry for you, have dug through 4 cabinets of misc. stuff, but no 1/8" axel, otherwise one would be in the mail. The machine bolts provided seem to work ok, although do not like them either. Finished the Katana MD, supprised I got it to CG ok with the battery. Now going to work earestly on the AJ. Should maden next weekend as not a bunch left to do. Intend to use a Castle 60A with new Castle bec and see if she will like the 4,000mah cell. If not, looking forward to your findings battery wise as we have the same motor. New experience last night. Ran Katana axi 2808/20 on 3,000mah bat., watt meeter said pulling 24 amps. Hay, I can use my Castle 35 on this and save the 54 for the AJ. Exchanged controllers, hooked her up and got the correct beeps, then the controller went up in smoke. Guess my electrical theory needs a little more work huh? Apparently the controller must be equal to the batterys max amps regardless of the motor demand. In this case battery is 20C, 60 max amps. ,demand on same 24 amps. Still wondering why poof? Gonna bug Red S a little. ENJOY

wagen017

It seems the shipment from China failed, so they will ship from USA instead the two planes. All this by Fliton email info. Although this is a bit of a cockup, I must say I am positively surprised by the responsiveness and kindness of the Fliton people. Hurray!

papajeff

Volkert,

Those Fliton guys are the best! I have found that they are loyal to their customers and are most accommodating. Edson, Sam and the crew are "young lions" and sure have accomplished a great deal in in the RC arena. Let us know when your planes arrive.

papajeff

Rmenke,

Thank you for taking the time to look through your inventory to see if you had an extra set of 1/8" axels. I found a set at my LHS, yesterday. Sorry to hear about your burnt-out ESC. Usually, it's hard to know what actually caused the issue, so it might be advantageous for you to send it to Castle (ATT: Joe Ford), he is the Chief Tech. and see if they can analize it for you to determine the problem. Hey, they might even send you a new one. You never know, right?

With ESC's, I've found that it's safer to use your new theory; "Use an ESC whose amperage equals the batteries max amps output." Also, with any 4S or higher Li-Po pack a BEC should be used to power the servos. Then, static test your system with a watt meter! It' the old addage......"It's better to be safe-------than sorry!" Ohhhhh.....Yeahhhhhhh!!!
At full throttle, note volts & wattage, as well as amps. Then V x A = Watts is a sort of double check of the figures. For me, it's then helpful to determine watts per pound
just to make sure that the battery/prop/motor combination is proper for the type of plane. ie: @65-75 w/lb for basic general flight ----- @90-100 w/lb for agressive sport flight
----- @120 w/lb and more ----- for 3Dflight. There are many different opinions out there, but this theory has worked for me. Let me know what you think.

rmenke

My Feedback: (13)

Pappajeff:

Thanks for the heads up, will send it in to Castle, and Joe. Your approch of watts relationship to weight seems standard for most of the electric guys and realistic to me. Overall, think we would be better off and more accepted by others by using the normal power to weight relationships as a general guide. I notice that some motor manufacturers are starting to show a glow engne equivalent. Expressing motor output in pounds of thrust would be more meaningful to me. A watt meeter test is as nessary as a glow plug for glow engines. I would hope we all check for equipment heat as a further test of correct ballance of motor, controller, and battery. Working hard on the AJ 330S, should maden the Saturday, with or without the 1/8" axels. Found some on my "Miss Ashley" sitting dormant for a while. Keep up the great work!! ENJOY

papajeff

Rmenke,

You are correct about motor comparisons. It is truly confusing because there is no standard guide and all the different Mfg's have their own special rating. Hobby-Lobby has done a good job of rating their AXI & Atlas brushless motors (see Catalog 49 pages 67-73). Horizon also has a logical rating for their E-flight brushless motors comparing them to the equivalent glow engine. It's still somewhat confusing and that is why it makes sense to rely on the good old Watt Meter. Also, when using different size props with a certain motor & ESC, to get to the best power combo for the type of plane that one is building and the individuals' flying style, a watt meter is an invaluable tool.

Regarding electrical heat build-up from operating our electronics and the theory of disappating that heat, this concept needs to be of more concern to the modeler and Mfg's as well. Too often, it seems, correct intake and exit vents are not given much attention. Lately, it has become better, but
it's imperative to have proper air flow over the ESC, battery and Rx to keep their operating temperature down. Also, the "Exhaust" opening (or vent) should be about 2/3 larger than the incoming air opening (or combination of openings). Well, that's my lecture for today! Hey, did I seem to get carried away with all of this????? Oh, just remember that tomorrow there will be a test on todays lecture and I do expect all students to get a
B+ or higher!!!!!!!!!!!! Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.......................Yeahhhhh hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!

wagen017

Just received the notification email from US Postal on my planes. Kind a ridiculous, these guys fly it over in a day, then I have to wait two weeks before it clears customs! Really hope things go a bit quicker this time.....

Anyway, they are on their way, and I am in no hurry anyway with the winter coming up.

3DAP

My set up is Hacker x 40 with 10xl and a park bec with 4s fliton 2150mah and fliton 2500 mah. hs 81 mgs all around. Only problem is time on a battery. with a 13 x 6.5 only 5-6 minutes with 13 x 4 and 2500mah 8 min plus of 3d flying. This bird flies very well. Now I want the flyin giants one with bolt on wings!

3DAP

lwatson

My Feedback: (2)

"Do you know if Fliton is going to make these mods to the regular color scheme? and how would I know if I was ordering a V1 or V2? It makes me want to wait a bit."




"Dr. Watson, I presume! Sorry, I just could not help it! Now, your question is a good one and it is suggested that you ask Fliton. The email is;
[ [email protected] ] and why not post the reply as I am sure that others would like to know. "


Fliton did reply that they will be incorporating the FG mods into the normal color scheeme. The easist way to tell is to look for the small snap on fittings for the wings and the elevator stiffner in the hardware bag. I do not think there will be any indication on the outside of the box.

Larry

papajeff

Volkert,

Any word from customs yet?? What are they doing, checking for some rare bacteria or virus imbeded in the covering?

papajeff

Larry,

Thank you for the update information about the FG/AJ improvements that will be incorporated in the "Second Generation" regular color scheme
AJ Extra. I think that these changes will be most appreciated by hobbyists that have been interested in the evolution of the Fliton AJ Extra 330S.

papajeff

Thanks for posting the set-up info of your AJ. Your (#1) 4S 2150mAh pack with a 13 x 6.5 prop gave you 5-6 minute flights and your
(#2) 4S 2500mAh pack with a 13 X 4 prop gave you 8+ minute flights. If I got this correct and your flying style was the same for both combinations, was the only advantage the gain in flying time? I ask because, I have flown my AJ with the Hacker A30-10XL & X-55 ESC,
Flight Power EVO 25/3S/3700mAh and 13 x 6.5 prop and I got about 10 minutes of what I would call "mild 3D" flight. On the watt meter, I got 415W @ 10.3A which gave the AJ 140W/lb. which is good 3D power. What results did you get by going to your 4S set-ups?

wagen017

What do they do in customs? Well, I will have another test of this coming up. Yesterday I finally had a chance to really check out the first box sent to me. In it should have been all electronics etc. but the motor and ESC were missing. Emailed Fliton, it checked out and they immediately (without discussion) sent out a third box with motor and ESC. So, again great customer service, but they could have saved themselves some money by sending everything at once.

Anyway, so now with this one order I will have three chances to check the speed of our customs department. Lucky me!

Volkert

papajeff

Volkert,

Some of us "OLD TIMERS" here in the US, call what you are going through, Murphy's Law. Basically, that is; Usually, if anything can go wrong.......IT DOES!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hey, I just thought of something to attach to this post for you!

These are the Fliton guys, so now you can see who has been taking care of you so well. Yes, as you can see, they are "Young Lions" of the RC
Universe.

wagen017

Yeah, well, I sort of should have known to call upon ol' Murphy. I didn't REALLY needed to order this plane, since I am in the middle of moving to another house. So, the idea was to order everything now, and start working on it in December, when everything has landed in the right place.

This off course was utterly wrong! I should have ordered everything with the mindset of needing everything IMMEDIATELY, so I could fly this baby BEFORE it would be too cold to fly. Then nothing would have gone wrong. Well, what can you do....!

bylandandair

Great build thread papajeff!
I recieved my FG scheme AJ a few weeks ago and am very impressed with the quality. I finally got a chance to maiden it this weekend but unfortunately it was fairly windy so I couldn't really get comforatable with such a light plane. I did do a few mods as suggested by a friend who had his first generation all summer. Kept things as light as possible, no epoxy anywhere on this plane. Just thin and med CA. I ditched the screws for the conopy and used pinstriping tape to attach the clear canopy on the hatch. Looks good and holds it fine. Another improvement was instead of using a HS81 for the elevator I used two HS65. So I'm running dual elevator servos each on their own channel. This of couse allows for perfect alignment of the elevator halves and I'm not hurting on weight at all. I also upgraded to larger wider 2" wheels and no pants for rough fields. I also had some control horns made by a friend out of electrical circuit board which allows for a custom shape. I'm running the extreme flight torque motor 2814-820 and also the airboss/extreme flight 45A speedcontrol. Power is a TP 3cell 2100 which gives it plenty of punch for 3d. Weight came out to an impressive 46 ounces flying weight even with the extra tail servo. Cant' wait for a nice calm day to go out and fly it again. 10mph winds bump it around too much for my taste!

3DAP

I went to 13 x 4 for both batteries because 13 x 6.5 would cut out x 40 speed control after 5 to 6 min even with speed control set to soft cut off. Fliton wired this set up together for me along with park bec. I now wish I had gone with x55. As far as power on, usual flight is 2/3 to full throttle rocketing straight up hovering and high alpha maneuvers. I still have a little left when I land but I would not want to push that a little more. As far as 3s and watt meter I have not put my 4s set up on meter. But I know it has a lot more juice. And on windy days it makes it more stable. I have flown in 15 plus winds and still have good results. The more people I read about going to 4s from 3s would not go back, Me included. 4s will not have as long of time as 3s same mah. 11.1 vs 14.8 volts.
Fliton has 2150 4s for 85.00 and 2500 for 90.00$ I have not been able to come close to these prices and the batteries have been consistent and reliable so far. I will probably get an x 55 even though in the beg I was told I did not need one. I would like to have 8 min of 13 x 6.5. Check at rc groups.com there are over 4000 posts on this bird with every set up.
3DAP

papajeff

3DAP,

Thank you for the info regarding your AJ set-up. It sure sounds like you have a handle on the battery situation and I think that you are on track with the 4S packs. The Flight Power EVO 25 4S packs just arrived and I will be using the new Castle BEC. The testing of the different power combinations should be started in a day or so and I will post the results. Again, I've used the A30-10XL and X-55 ESC from Hacker and it should be interesting to see what the watt meter has to say about the different set-ups.