Big Oakden

My Feedback: (3)

Guys,

We built two of these planes, one of each color.

Powered by Saito 125 Black Knight, with Xoar 16x8 Black Prop.

All Digital servoes (Hitech 7925) and MG-85 on throttle.

First flight:

Once started, and running rich, got motor to idle after a few minutes........

Take off, only a couple a clicks of down elevator and aileron adustments and we are off.

I reduced the throws another 1/2" than specified. I wanted it a little mild on the first flight.

Ok flew for 10 mins just getting used to the plane. Did a couple of loops and rolls. nice flier.

Did some touch and goes, and then time to land.

Landed and brought plane back to bench to go over all connections.

Found that battery had come loose during flight. So we re-anchored with velcro this time.

Rechecked balance and time to fly again.

Take off and time for some 3D attempts.

Go half way around the field, ime for fun. As I am going vertical, I notice that something flew off the plane.

I think I lost a hatch, so time to land. Turn he nose over and start the downhill ramp to land.

I hear a really nasty noise, and lost power.

Plane is still about 300 feet up and out about the same.

As I get closer, I notice that the fuel tank is barely hangng on by the fuel lines. so, Land NOW !!!!!

I land and take plane back to table and find that the electrical ties provided by Aero Works are brittle.

Both of them snapped. I have NEVER had an Electrical Tie fail on the first or second flight. I have had them fail after 6 months of flying, but never after one flight.

The electrical tie was so brittle that if you bent it backwards, it would explode into two or three pieces.

Very dissapointed with Aeroworks on this, as We have purchased 9 planes from them. And have never had an issue like this.

My suggestion would be to lose the electrical ties and go to the large Velcro straps.

We swapped out the original foam(lost in the desert somewhere) and went to 1/2" receiver wrap.

Cut to fit between the eyehooks and just long enough to run full length of the fuel tank.

Then used the large velcro straps that re provided in the Extra 260 100cc arf.

Will fly again this weekend, and post the results.

Aero-Works

Big Oakden,

I am sorry to hear about the poor quality of the nylon straps. Aeroworks tries to provide our customers with the highest quality hardware possible and we also try to provide everything the customer will need to assembly his plane. When purchasing hardware like the nylon straps we purchase several thousand at one time so it is possible to have a few that might be defective or brittle. I hope that you can get the plane back in the air soon and have a very successful second flight.

Please keep us posted!

Thank You
Rocco /Aeroworks

eyefly3d

I had the same problem this morning. Maiden flight went perfect until i landed to look for loose bolts, screws, etc. Noticed the fuel tank had shifted forward and the rear zip tie had come loose, no big deal just tightened them up a bit and used some ca to keep them from sliding. About three minutes into second flight i noticed something hanging and landed the plane. The forward tie broke in half and the rear one was barely holding the tank on, done flying for the day.  Im going to look into a different fuel tank that has grooves moulded into it to keep the ties from moving forward and aft.  Seems the zip ties are way to brittle for the task they are required for, I'm also going to try the velcro straps.  This is my first aeroworks kit, and so far i'm not a pleased as i thought i would be. I know a lot of guys that fly aeroworks planes and have never heard any of them have a complaint, and that was a big influence on my purchase of  the 260.  I hope aeroworks can do something about the defects in the ties so others dont have this problem, or find a better way of attaching the fuel tank.  I don't mean to bash aeroworks, other than the zip tie issue the plane is awesome, just think for the money involved that little things like this would'nt be happening.

Aero-Works

Eyefly3D,

Thank you for your input and comments on the Prox260. Aeroworks is constantly looking for ways to improve our product from flight performance to hardware. When it comes to hardware, like the nylon ties we purchase tens of thousands at one time and sometimes there can be a small percentage (less then 5%) that may be to brittle. Unfortunately, this is impossible to check on a one to one basis per kit. I will look into this more and see if there is anyway to improve on this.

Thank you and Happy New Year!
Rocco / Aeroworks

wvrcracer

i have had issues with the staps also. broke several replacements even. fianlly found some that would handle the strain then one of the eyelets broke off at the fuse. looking at some alum straps now with bolts all the way through the fuse. trying to find something thats not to heavy. the balance is perfect at this point. didnt even add one click of trim on first flight.

eyefly3d

I solved the fuel tank issue with the velcro straps. I put a piece of velcro with double sided tape on the back of the tank, then used two straps run thru the eyebolts and around the tank and it has held great thru about ten flights. The other issue that came up is the control clevis retainers. Ive had three of them break already and the plane only has 12 flights on it. Easily taken care of with some fuel tubing. Now that the bugs are worked out, this thing flies GREAT. Thanks aeroworks for a fantastic airplane.

rchusker

My Feedback: (24)

I am convinced that the zip strips are of poor quality in all of the kits...myself and 3 others I know of here locally all have brittle straps(mine were broken when I received the kit) in the kit and dle install kit as well. Not really a big deal to me because I just bought better quality ones.

v6goose

I am interested in your post Eyefly3d... not because I am a vendor, a hobby store owner nor do I have any affiliation with Aero Works whatsoever although I have owned two of their aircraft.

I'm amazed that a $0.02 part leaves a bitter taste in your mouth for a product that you later say "...other than the zip tie issue the plane is awesome..." & "... Thanks aeroworks for a fantastic airplane...".

AW don't make zip ties and I see you have replaced them with velcro. Good choice.

Of all the aircraft I have built over the last 30 years, I don't think there was a single one that didn't need replacement hardware, additional bracing or more expensive reinvestment.

That is how it goes.

Enjoy your plane.

Goose

crackerjackfl

My Feedback: (15)

Hi I have owned several of these planes.ai had the samething happen to nylon tie break and lost tank lucky I didn,t damage plane I solved the problem L bought a Dubro tank with a hub on front of tank and now it can,t slide forward.Simple fix Thanks Bill