Luchnia

My Feedback: (21)

You will really enjoy it. The Escapade is nice however does not even come close to the Rev 70. The Rev 70 has some sweet style and is a very smooth flyer. Good choice.

microdon2

My Feedback: (47)

lostplane - first, nice handle. Second - I think you WILL love this plane. Today I maiden-ed my rebuilt Rev 70 \ OS 120 4s. The plane flew great! I missed the Rev 70 - SUCH a pretty plane, and handles and tracks SO well. And the OS 120 ran very well, too, after my rebuild \ new bearings. This is a great combination. Now, I have one more Rev 70 \ DLE 20 and one Rev 59 \ OS 91 4s to build...

lostplane900

Thanks, ya as all I need now is to get some servos and the electronics. Hope that dle isnt to hard to get mounted into the rev. Im new to the gasser.

microdon2

My Feedback: (47)

lostplane - the mounting of the DLE 20 into the Rev 70 isn't difficult, but it does take some customization, which has been discussed a few times in this thread already. But I don't mind repeating for a fellow Rev 70'er. Basically you CAN use the stock engine mount, but you'll need to cut the top cross-beam out to make room for the carb. And you'll have to re-seat at least two of the four blind nuts in the firewall. You also might want to grind that firewall center-hole out a little - not sure if it's needed, though.

For servos I use Futaba 3305's - good torque, metal gears, good price. Others might prefer faster servos, or digital - I don't think it matters too much on this plane. Though that depends on your servo budget. Pls keep us informed of your progress or any questions.

lostplane900

Microdon, Thanks for explaining that for me. When it gets here on friday im sure i will have some questions.
I'm thinking futaba for sure. I just looked at tower and 32.00 bucks that will work for my budget. Whats your take on a good Battery, A123?
There is so many pages on this fourm its crazy. I've been looking for some pics with the dle 20 setup.
Thanks again

microdon2

My Feedback: (47)

lostplane - For batteries I still use NiMh - a Hobbico 5C 6v 2000 mAH. I'm not up on the latest battery technology, but these NiMh batteries easily handle 6-8 flights. I also use a Voltwatch to monitor their remaining power.

mach2

My Feedback: (5)

I went big on the battery. I run a LiFe (A123) 3200mah from hobbico. I only use one battery for both Rx and ignition. I use the IBEC from Tech-aero. Its sweet. It drops the voltage down to 5v for the ignition (has options for four different voltages if you want a different voltage), has an opti-kill that enables you to kill the ignition from the radio, has noise interference filtering, and also has a sweet LED light that can be mounted on the side of the plane to show if it's on or off. You can chose between red and green for the LED.

i use hi-tec 645MGs all around, and a 225BB for the throttle. The servos are way more than whats needed, but I like the extra torque and at 32 bucks they are a good deal.

After doing the math on power usage, I figured I could safely get about 13 flights (about 8 min flights) with my 3200mah. So I could do very well with a smaller battery. I dont foresee ever doing anything more than about 6 flights in one day with this plane. I normally do about 3 flights per outing. On a good day I may do 6. 3 per plane if I take a couple out. Im slowly building my fleet, so I may someday end up taking out three planes if I know the weather is nice and Ive got a lot of time to go flying.

The DLE20 is awesome.

Jeremy

ShuttleAU

Hi all

My local DLE distributor has a note on his website that recent DLE ignitions are now rated at 8 volts.

See the link , scroll down to the end.

http://www.dlenginesaustralia.com/dl...ngine-faq.html

BC

Luchnia

My Feedback: (21)

I hear all the hype about A123 now and I fly mostly digitals with the same battery that you are using. I fly easily 6 or more flights on most any of my planes. Some of the guys I fly with use A123 and they are very nice and probably worth the upgrade over time, but is it as big a deal as all are saying? If I fly 12 times in an outing and I have three planes, or even two planes that is not bad and most don't fly that much. I think unless you are *****g out your surfaces and doing all out 3D I just don't see the need to get whacked out over battery upgrades.

I fly a lot when I am at the field. Most of the time more than anyone out there and I have not had any issues. I have often used 75% of a gallon of glow fuel at an outing. So that is some air time for smaller glows. BTW are you running all digitals on your Rev? I run all digitals on all my planes over 90 size and everything else has maybe a mix of analog and digital or all analog and after 3 years I have not had one issue with running NIMH batteries. I do run all 5C 6V 2000 mAH except for the ignition packs which are 4.8V packs.

I do plan to upgrade to A123 especially on my 50cc plane but I am not jumping into the herd quite so fast as it is rather costly to change out all my planes and I need a new charger too. Hopefully by next Spring I will get that upgrade moving along.

wjcalhoun

The battery discussion can get as heated as the 'which oil for my 2 stroke gasser' discussion.

I run hi torque digital MG servos, which can draw an amp or so each if heavily loaded (knife edge, flat spin), so my battery must be able to deliver 4-5 amps instantaneous without voltage drop. LiFe (or nearly equivalent) A123, or LiPo chemistry can handle that, as apparently can NiCd, but NiMH batteries will allow output voltage to sag with larger current draw due to their internal impedance. SOME receivers may brown-out or re-boot with a voltage sag, so that possibility does concern me personally. I don't want to lose a plane to a brownout.

Like Luchnia, I used NiMH at first, but now have converted to LiFe, except for the NiMH 4 cell ignition packs for my 50cc gas planes; LiFe gives solid 6.6v, so servo performance is much better than 4.8v, and lighter than NiMH or NiCd for a given capacity. LiFe chemistry is relatively much safer than LiPo batteries with respect to fire, and no regulator is necessary for receiver or servos. The prinicipal downside of LiFe chemistry is that because the discharge curve is flat, one cannot determine the state of charge by checking unloaded (or loaded) voltage. You need to measure how much energy is used per flight, and keep track. For example, my R70 is powered by a 3200 mAh LiFe, which drives the receiver and servos, and also a IBE/optikill for the gas ignition. I use about 450 mAh per 15 min flight, and i fly hard, so i can easily fly 6 flights without recharging. If you fly less aggressively, or have analog servos, you would use less energy from the battery

If you use standard servos that do not have the high instantaneous current draw, then you could certainly get away with the (somewhat) less expensive NiMH.

Luchnia

My Feedback: (21)

Makes good sense to me. I recently bought some .09 sec high torque servos and those things scream like a wild mountain lion! [X(] I bet they can suck the batteries dry fairly quickly. I used to be really anal about monitoring my batteries but I am not as stringent now since I am used to my planes and just how long to fly them. I know once I convert some over to the A123 batteries it will be a new learning curve for me.

I figure I probably use about 200 to 250 mAH per 10 minute flight since I am not a massively aggressive flyer. Although sometimes I do turn it loose some. On my gassers I am sort of leaning towards leaving the 4.8 nimh on ignitions since I already have switches with charge jacks all in place and then going to A123 2300s on my receiver. That way I only have to change out the receiver side and buy a charger for the new chemistry. Mo money, mo money, mo money! Playing with RC planes sure has it cost factor.

mach2

My Feedback: (5)

My new edge has digital servos, but other than that, I have never had digitals. Apparently a couple of the older futaba digitals in the plane arent made to handle more than the 4.8v packs. So there is a 2700mah nihm flight battery, along with the Lipos used for the motor.

The first plane i ever built was the Revolver, and I went straight to to the LiFe battery, so it was the first chemistry I learned. It is pretty simple actually. I bought the cheap (not cheap for the very little it does) auto charger from hobbico. It has three different settings for charging LiFe. Its simple and easy to use, but I figured I was going to eventually want something that charges everything. So I went with a "Common Sense" charger that does everything. 69 bucks. Its great. Ive seen a "sky charger" and its exactly the same thing.

Now that my new Edge 540 is an electric powered plane, I'm good to go with my charger. The LiPo batteries are a much more complicated battery in my opinion. Maybe because they are used in a different way, and there is so much varying info on what to do and not to do, it makes my head spin!

I dont see any reason for someone to switch all their planes out to life, unless they have the need due to the digital servos sucking more juice. My personal experience is that Nihm batteries lose their charge very quickly just sitting. If I charge and dont fly, and top them off again a few days later, my Life, and Nicd dont need hardly anything to top off, but my 2000mah nihm will take almost 300mah simply from sitting for a couple days....

Anyone who wants to switch to LiFe batteries and wants my simple charger, Ill sell it for 20 bucks shipped.
www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p


Oh, I also wanted to mention that the price of the LiFe battery itself isnt much different than an equivelent Nihm. At my LHS, the 2000 nihm was about 24 bucks, and the 2100 life was like 30....the new charger needed ups the price of a switch of course....

landeck

My Feedback: (1)

Wish me luck guys! It looks like I am going to maiden my second Revolver 70 tomorrow. This one has a new OS 95V four stroke in it. I will let you know how it goes.

Bruce

wjcalhoun

What does she weigh?
And what prop are you swinging?

mach2

My Feedback: (5)

Good luck. Stay relaxed and im sure all will go well. I still haven't gotten started on my new one since we have still been settling into our new house. Im working on getting my garage set up so I can get some work space. And Ive got my used RTF Edge 540 that i need to get programmed into my radio and get flying first too.

I do miss having a flying Rev. They are SOmuch fun! And an absolutely beautiful airplane!!!

Jeremy

microdon2

My Feedback: (47)

landeck - just checked weather.com - your weather looks perfect tomorrow in Sandy Springs for your maiden - 80 def F and 5mph NNW. Just make sure your wing bolts are fully in, your ailerons are going in the right direction, and all control surfaces are set to low rates for that first takeoff.... Good luck and enjoy!

landeck

My Feedback: (1)

AUW is 9 lbs 5 oz. The prop is an APC 14x7. Tomorrow I have another maiden planned. That will be with a GP Super SkyBolt with an OS 61 SF ABC. These two days will be interesting.

Bruce

wjcalhoun

You should have good thrust:weight and nice performance. My R70/DLE20 is 9#11oz dry, so a full 6 oz heavier than yours. Good luck with her.

landeck

My Feedback: (1)

Well, the maiden went very well. The performance was great. Only one click on aileron and rudder trims and two on elevator trim were required. Verticle performance was good. It is great to have a Revolver flying again.

Bruce

lopflyers

My Feedback: (12)

Awesome, welcome back

mach2

My Feedback: (5)

I really like the Super Skybolt. I think that would be my bipe of choice. Id like to do one with with the DLE20.

Well, I guess that this kinda proves that having a gas engine doesn't mean that your plane has to be way heavier than a plane with glow power. My first one weighed 9 pounds 9 oz.

There was discussion at my club field the other day about a guy's 60-90 size AW Extra 300. He is a die hard glow power guy (most of them are), but was actually asking if the DLE20 would be to big for his plane. I said I thought it would be great. Another guy chimed in and said that it would probably fit, but it would weigh ten pounds. Then it dawned on me....there was a flight video on the aeroworks website of that exact plane being flow with the DLE20. I thought that was pretty funny....

The flight weight is 6.25 pounds with the DLE, and is offered on their website with it as a combo. Its a really cool combo too!

Slow and Steady

I have been using life batteries for two years without a failure. They are recharged when I get back from the field and if I top them off a week later it usually only takes 4 to 8 Mah. Only issue I see is with Futaba gear. Per Futaba, there receivers cannot take a constant voltage greater than 6, except for their new high voltage receiver. But I have found them to be very dependable with a long useful life. I usually only use up to 1100 Mah off a 2100 Mah battery between charges. I have read that their life is shortened by a high draw down, even within the limits of their voltage. Just my 2 cents.

mach2

My Feedback: (5)

Maybe I should email futaba. I use the 617 Rx with the 6.6v LiFe...

Slow and Steady

Hi Mach 2,

As you probably know, Futaba has a manufacturer's support thread on RC Universe. Here is a link to their recommendation. However, I know others who have used Life with the 617 receiver, without an issue. I think there are also older posts on Futaba's support thread that are consistent with your experience. I have used a regulator just to be safe. My new EF 50cc Extra will use Futaba's new high voltage receiver. I have to wonder if it is really necessary. But that plane will be $1800 in the air that I would hate to see come to an abrupt and premature end. S&S

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_94...tm.htm#9497913

Slow and Steady

Incidentally, the 617 is good for up to 8 amps of load per the following:

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_78...tm.htm#7833981