Fubar-One

My Feedback: (1)

I have maybe 3 flights on mine. Powered with a Saito .30, gws & HS81 servos. It has to be about the squirreliest thing I ever flew.
Almost impossible to get straight level flight out of it, it either decides to climb straight up or tuck and dive. What I mean is that it will be flying straight and level then suddenly head for outer space or will suddenly dive at the ground. Speed really doesnt seem to matter.
Exciting to fly but not what I would call fun.
CG is set where the instructions stated to begin at. Not getting hits as it shows no tendency to roll suddenly and no throttle blips. I am also operating on 50mhz and have never taken a hit at this field on that band. I use identical rx's in my kit built Uproar and Super Sportster 20 without these symptoms.
Wondering if anyone else has run into this with this plane.

Salty25

My Feedback: (9)

Fubar,

I have this ARF also. I haven't built or flown it yet but plan to this summer.

I would suggest you look at how many rubber bands you have holding the wing on, maybe it is moving in flight. Is something loose inside the fuse, shifting your CG?

Clancy makes some good planes and Hobby People has stood behind their line for as long as I have dealt with them.

I'm planning on using either the Magnum .30FS or an OS 48FS on my Speedy Bee.

Keep us posted on what you figure out. Good Luck

Fubar-One

My Feedback: (1)

I only used 3 per side the first couple of flights and did have the battery come loose towards the end of the second flight. Was VERY noticable when the battery moved and I knew instantly that the CG had moved to the rear.
I had also wondered about the wing moving so I used 4 per side the third flight with no difference in flight, once I secured the battery, of course. Still did the climb and tuck bit. In fact, during take off it went from taxi to straight up in about 10 feet. Almost lost it.
The instructions say to use 6 per side but 6 #64 bands per side look like it would crush the wing. Since they go on so tight to begin with, I am afraid to put that many on!
So.... I dunno.

Salty25

My Feedback: (9)

I saw a guy that had that happen once on a trainer. We found out the wing was loose and would shift in flight. He put on more rubber bands and the problem stopped.

Try putting the rubber bands on like you normally do. Grab the wing and shake the plane up and down a bit to see if the wing seperates from the fuse. The wing should be on there like it's glued.

Only other thing I can think is to get a second set of eyes to look it over. Sometimes when you build things it looks right because you did it but others will see something that's not right.

I think if it was a design issue there would be plenty of people out there pointing fingers and screaming foul. Which leads me to think it's something with your plane or build. Not to say you didn't do a good job but we all can and do make mistakes.

Salty25

My Feedback: (9)

I know you said you have the ARF but try posting in the Kit forum for possible solutions. I'm sure more Speedy Bee kits are out there then the ARFs. Also the guys that build kits would probably have a better knowledge of what's going on to cause that type of flight problem.

Again let us know what you figure out.

Fubar-One

My Feedback: (1)

Before the next flight I will recheck the CG. I have run into horrible translations with some ARF's, the Global D-VII being about the worst, so its possible that might be off. I have also had the wing shift with a trainer (Airmaster 40T) where at high speeds, the plane would suddenly do this fantastic shorts soiling loop/corkscrew thing. Would be exciting for an experienced flier, for the beginner I was at the time it was terrifying!
Near as I could tell, with 4 bands per side (even with 3 for that matter) I was unable to get any movement from the wing.
As far as mistakes, I never make em!
I will check the kit forum as you suggested to see if anyone there had this problem.

Fubar-One

My Feedback: (1)

Ended up adding an oz of weight to the nose under the engine. This moved the CG about 1/8th of an inch forward from the recommended starting point but still within specs. Immediate improvement in flight. Actually ran the tank dry the first flight this morning where all the other flights used about a quarter to half a tank before I brought it down. That sucker glides!
I guess it likes to be nose heavy. Landing into a stiff breeze was difficult. It would just hang there in one spot and refuse to descend. You could probably just walk up behind it and snag it out of the air.
Much more fun to fly now!

Salty25

My Feedback: (9)

Glad to hear you got it figured out.

What was the final CG point you came up with? I still haven't started buildign mine yet. I need to get two more HS-81s. I wonder if I use standard size servos in the wing if I can just use a slightly larger engine? I do have that 48FS which is more then the recommended 30FS.

Fubar-One

My Feedback: (1)

A 48FS might be a bit much for it, of course you can always throttle down. I cant quite hang it on the prop with the Saito 30. Does a pretty impressive knife edge tho. Absolutely not lacking in power!
The recommended CG range for the ARF is 4 1/2" to 5". Recommended starting point is 4 3/4" which is where I thought I started at but I was fingertip balancing instead of using my balancing machine which I still havent found since moving so it might have been farther back than that tho still well within the range. It now fingertip balances at about 4 5/8".

Salty25

My Feedback: (9)

So do you think that with the 30FS I could use standard size servos on this ARF?

That's really all need to put it togethor, 2 more HS-81s. I was thinking of the 48 to compensate for the weight of the larger servos. I don't want to cut the hole out just to find out it was a bad idea.

Fubar-One

My Feedback: (1)

I dont know about the standard servos. I used Cirrus mini's that got as close to the recommended torque as I could get. Still had to cut the holes a bit bigger to get em in. Used an HS-81 for the throttle. Pulled the servo tray out and flipped it around. Used a cable/sleeve for the throttle linkage. I dont remember the make as it was something that was left over from another project. Possibly Sullivan Golden Rod not the Ny-rod.
They call it a Speedy Bee but Im not sure how fast it is really supposed to go. Goes plenty fast with the Saito .30 and a 9X6 prop. Originally had a 10X5 on it but switched to the 9 inch to see if that might solve the climb and dive thing. Didnt so I might put the 10 inch back on.
Another thing about the 48FS is that the plane has a pretty small tank. Due to how its rear half fits into the front of the wing/fairing I dont know if you could get a bigger one in there.
You might be ok with the 48 but it seems like overkill to me. I have never been much for overpowering a plane tho I do usually go to the upper end of the recommended range of engines.
I suppose I should take a picture of the thing before I crash it or something.

Salty25

My Feedback: (9)

I'm not into overpowering either. Like you I just tend to stick to the upper level of the recommended range.

I'm not so much worried about the torq on the servo, I don't 3D or anything extreme like that. I just figured I had a bunch of them laying around, instead of going out to buy the 81s.

Maybe I'll just wait to get the 81s.

flyinrog

My Feedback: (1)

I just got the ARF speedy bee today in the mail, covering looks ok except a small area on the wing...I am going with an OS .25FX on mine..will watch that CG.....Rog