rustyrivet

My Feedback: (6)

I'm a newbie piolt. I have a trike Hobbistar 60 which will weigh about 10lbs with motor and battery installed. I currently fly in a dry rain- retention sump/pond which here in Texas are usually 10-50 acre fields of flat dry and undeveloped land.The land gets mowed periodically by the county and has a somewhat rough and weedy surface. The weeds are more of the problem then the texture of the ground which is just a little bit bumpy. I've currently only flown a 39" tail dragger Park Flyer off of it. I usually find a bald area to fly off of, or I bring a weed eater along with me to clear an area for 20' long take off strip. The problem is when it's time to land, the small 1.75lb Park Flyer catches the 4" -10" high thin weeds and less then smooth terrain which immediately catches the 3" wheels and makes the tail dragger plane do a complete 180° flip upon ground contact. The Park Flyer is light, and so no damage ever happens to it as it does a flip and rests there upside down on its vertical stab. But.... a 10Lb electric Hobbistar 60 will have a lot more inertia! I really don't want it to do a flip when it catches the weeds and bumpy ground. Unlike the small and light 1.75lb Park Flie, this 71" plane that weighs 10Lbs will likely break the vertical stab if it does a quick 180° flip. But then again, I'm wondering if a 10lb plane with the right size wheels will have no problem shouldering through some scratchy grass and weeds. (??)

I'm planning on scrapping the three 2 .75" factory foam wheels and replacing them with 4" Dave Brown Lite wheels. But, I'm wondering if even larger wheels will be necessary then that. (4.5"- 5" ??)

http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/3312593...chn=ps&lpid=82

TomCrump

Ten pounds seems a bit heavy for a 60 sized trainer. The specified weight is 7-8.

Those foam wheels may help, in the 4" grass.

I like the Dubro treaded lite tires better, but that is a personal preference.

If the grass gets taller, short of a full size air frame, I doubt that you'll be able to take off.

rustyrivet

My Feedback: (6)

My problem is that many good wheels like Sullivan lites are sold only in sets of 2 at $15-$20 a pair. I hate to have to spend $30-40 for 3 trike wheels when the 4 Dave Brown wheels sell for $18 total. I'm hoping the overly large 4" sized wheels on a 71" trainer will compensate for their being composed of light foam. I was wondering if anybody experienced would tell me that the 4" still won't work because of the spongy/soft foam composiition. (??) I would heed such advice from a guru who knows about this stuff and go with even larger wheels need be, though the 4" size already do look ridiculous on the 5/16" wire landing gear of a 60 sized plane. As it is, 4" wheels are usually for larger 18-20lb planes

The Hobbistar 60 is a heavy ply plane to start.. Then add 2lbs worth of 5000mah battery & ESC, and a 1Lb motor with 4 wing servos and it's 10lbs. I have no problems taking off from a designated cleared 20' long air strip that I cleared beforehand, but can't surgically land in that same spot.

skylark-flier

I've got a 41-yr old CG Sr. Falcon that flies off pretty much what you describe. She's had 3.5" dubro's on her for a long long time and they usually work just fine. She's roughly your weight (about 8 lbs or so) and 70" wing. Looks a bit wierd in the air sometimes but I've never had a problem in grass up to 5".

Here's a closer shot taken during her last overhaul/rehabilitation, last winter: If you'll notice, most of my planes in this pic have somewhat oversize wheels - just for the reason of rough ground and tall grass. My only real recommendation is that you raise the nose just a bit, maybe 1/4" above level. This helps a lot in taxiing around in the grass.

The mains are Robart scale wheels, http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...5&I=LXES45&P=K
and the nose is Dubro treaded, http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...&I=LXD782&P=SM

rustyrivet

My Feedback: (6)

Just curious; Why did you use Robarts for the main gear, and a DuBro for the front trike gear?

Thanks for the input Skylark. The Park Flier I've been describing that does the 180° flips has 3.5" wheels on it. So I feel inclined to try wheels the next size up to 4" for the Hobbistar. Of course the fact that my Park Flier is a tail dragger and only weighs about 1.75Lbs is largely the factor for the wheels digging in and allowing the plane to do a 180° flip when it lands. From what I'm deducting with the info you are providing for me, my 10lb Hobbistar ought to have a better time landing with the extra inertia of those 10lbs moving straight ahead while the forward trike wheel prevents the plane from pivoting downward. (as a tail dragger plane has more of a nose over tendency with the c-of-g closest to the wings leading edge and no front gear to stop it from nosing down)

skylark-flier

The Robarts came from my .40-size Cub when the original 40-year old main wheels simply came apart. They were mounted to get her back in the air FAST! Bought new ones for the Cub about a month later.

Yeah, your problems with the Park Flier is lack of weight, totally. As my "red-neck son-in-law" would put it, 'she just ain't got enough a-s-s...'.

The Hobbistar will be just fine with 3-3.5" wheels on her. Just keep your elevator pretty much full "up" while taxiing in that nasty-grass and she'll plow right through it.