Doc Austin

First, thanks to Jimmy Hoffa for posting this link on another thread, but I think this airplane is such big news that it deserves it's own discussion, so thanks Jimmy.

http://www.toddsmodels.com/ARF/sportwood/EFL4025.htm

OK, my life will never be complete until I have one of these.


I believe this is the airplane I've been dreaming of since I quit flying in 1992. In January I bought a Mini Ultra stick and I think most of you have seen how much a fawn over that plane and how great it is. Very solid design. Very practical and extremely great flying airplane. Perfect, really.

Since I live in Pinellas County (wind shear capital of the world), at 3.5 lbs this plane is going to be much better all the way around for me than the little Mini Ultra stick is at 22 oz. It is a big, real wood airplane, just like big, real wood airplanes I grew up flying and loved so much. I never thought I would become a crotchety old purist, but let's face it, folks, real airplanes are made of wood.

Having flown sticks of all sizes, ranging from the Micro stick to the big Bud Nosen 1/4 scale stick, I can say I believe the bigger the stick, the better and smoother it flies. The Mini Ultra may be my favorite of all time (probably because it's in the here and now), but this bigger one is definitely going to have better reynolds numbers, be easier to see (important for an old guy), easier to maintain and work on, and fly better all the way around. Maybe it won't be idea for small park flying (and even the Mini is marginal for that), but I belong to a great club that has a terrific field, so I'm unaffected. The plane is going to be absolutely perfect for me.



Disadvantages:

Transporting it with the wing on probably won't be possible for people who have cars instead of SUVs, but I managed with 60 size Ugly sticks for years and years. You're going to have to take the wing off every day, but at this point, I don't care. I've gotten lazy with these electrics and don't pull the wing off to check everything often enough, so this will probably be better for my maintenance. If the wing is off when I get it home, it only takes a few seconds to check everything inside the plane. See how positive thinking can turn a disadvantage to your favor?

Batteries, anyone?

Now, I'm sure we've got a lot of electro gurus here, so I won't be aggrieved if one of you corrects me.....but I believe this plane will require about 4000 amps to get good power and a decent run time. This means expensive batteries, and of course, that's going to mean a new speed controller. We're not going to be able to jam our trusty 2100 and 480 into the thing. We're going to have to spend a few bucks, so let's all get together and figure out what we need so no one buys the wrong thing and is unhappy. Also, this is probably going to mean we're going to need a new battery charger and longer charge times, but I will let the electro gurus figure that out for us.




Quad flaps

Now, personally, since I'm going to spend the money, I may as well get a new Futaba 9 channel and go with the quad flap option. It looks like you can do some really stupid things with the crow option, and I can't wait to try it. I haven't done it with the Mini because of the weight and as an every day flier (therefore deemed expendable), it was already expensive enough. The big plane, though, I'm willing to spend a little more and fly it more carefully. This is going to be a real wood airplane, something I have lusted after for at least 15 years.

Radios and servos

On the radio front, I'm sure the trusty Hi tech 55s aren't going to cut it. What would you guys recommend? I'de like to stay in the Futaba line because when I buy the radio, my LHS will swap out the servos that come with the radio for whatever Futaba servo I need. If I go with the 9 channel, it may even come with something big enough. I'm sure the plane will be perfect for E flite or JR servos, but I wonder if the Futaba will just drop right in line the 55s do on the mini.

Hey, note to lurking E Flite representatives: Offer this baby as a plug N play


Brotherhood of sticks

As Knights of the Flying Stick our duty is to help and support each other through flying adventures thick and thin. Let's keep this thread going and the info flowing so we all end up with exactly the plane we want equipped the way we want it without spending unnecessary money. we can share sets up and building tricks. I'm sure there will be a few mysteries with this plane, so let's share them together.

FenceMagnet

My Feedback: (2)

I think I'll put my Saito 30 on it [X(]

Jim White

crash test dummie

That Jimmy Hoffa is a peach!! Thanks to both of you!

I think I'm melting, that looks so sweet. Do you know when it is going to be out?

CTD

conceptmachining

from the pics, it looks like they have the 25 on it. Unless there is a new 30 that is coming out to debut with the plane this July. I bought the 25 and figure I can use it on another plane in the future if Its not the recommended system. I would like to have performace similar to the MUS with the 450 power system. I have the MUS with the 480 and couldn't be more happy with it. The only problem I see with a larger sized plane and a high powered system (power32) is that it would eat up expensive batteries fast. I would like to have at leat 13-15 minute flite times with a 4200 4 cell 2P. I am thinking that a Power 25 with a 4 cell 4200 2P would have similar flight charicteristics as the MUS with the 450 2100 3 Cell. I hope there are some experts that chime in on here soon, or someone from E-flite that can help get us pre set-up so that when the time comes we are ahead of the game with electric components. We already lye away in bed at night thinking about the darn stuff...no need give us a sleep disorder! GIVE US MORE INFO EFLITE!!!!


Come on guys, you who love the MUS will also love this plane (except for cost of batteries). We aren't hearing from you!!!

My tip tip to eflite is to put some forward rake on the front landing gear so that it doesn't tip as easy as the MUS does.

conceptmachining

Okay...since nobody wants to say anything. I wrote tech support at E-flite. This is the info they gave me.

Using the Power 32. 11x7 prop. 2, 7.4V 4200 mah batts in series, with at least a 45A ESC, should get about 15-18 minutes flight time. They wouldn't mention anything about using a 3 cell. He just mentioned that the plane would balance well with the above discription. This comes out to 8400mah with 14.8 volts.

r/cdawg

If you check on Horizon's website for the US25 and click on the "don't forget to buy" tab they have listed two power system options. The first has the Power 25bl with a 3s2p 4200mah battery option for sport flying, and the second has the Power32bl with the 2s2p 4200mah battery option for high power. My experience shows that they are accurate with their recommendations.

I'm getting ready to pick up a Brio when my lhs gets them back in stock. We have a couple flying at our club field, one has the Power 10 the other a Park 480, and they perform spot on per Horizon's recommendations. This would seem to indicate that they test these products to insure a high level of success for the end user with their power systems. This alone has converted many in our club to venture into electrics.

I am also excited that they are offering floats to fit the US25 and the Cub. I have flown many hundreds of glow powered flights with floats and on many an occasion, when it was a beautiful, calm, quiet morning or evening at the lake it was a shame to have to fire up the engine to enjoy the moment. I think they are going to sell a bunch of these.

dawg

cloudancer03

My Feedback: (22)

hi doc..I just moved to clearwater in march and am looking for a rc club to fly with.. I see your in largo??is there a club nearby.your right I am realizing if you fly in gulfcoast "get used to winds"..I was going to archies??beautiful plane!

conceptmachining

RC dawg,


yeah, I'm looking forward to the floats too. I may pick up the Cub too, but don't tell my wife!!! Eflite is putting out the nicest planes! Too bad some of these other MFGs wouldn't do the same. I think that its a matter of time before they do. There is a huge and up-coming market for solid running powerful electric planes. I went the the local flying spot with me MUS and the guy was just floored. He wanted one right now. I was thinking he was going to ask me for mine for a price. NOT FOR SALE!


Jimmy

r/cdawg

This size of electric will be very popular I believe as the lipos required will be somewhat more affordable. It should fly no different than a glow powered model with similar feel and inertia which is lacking in most of the current parkfliers. The size is such that it would be at home not only at large parks/athletic fields but also the club field. Horizon has the right idea expanding with the time proven Ultra Stick and Piper Cub as both cover a broad market segment. Hopefully they will release a Brio/Showtime/Funtana type plane in this size also.
dawg

conceptmachining

Need to see a step by step guide for building a series connector for lipos. Anyone know a good site for that. Looks like I will need to be doing that for this plane!

Thanks!
Jimmy

conceptmachining

I see on their site that it states a 4 cell, 4200 2P for the power 32. I wonder what kind of watts it will get with the 11x7 prop? Says the flight time is 15-18 minutes. How does one exactly balance a 2P pack when they are in one unit. I was thinking about paralleling them myself, but would I have to make sure that they are real close in voltage everytime I connect them, or should I just charge them connected?

John Redman

My Feedback: (8)

Good to hear the excitement over the new Ultra Stick 25e. Our Power 25 motor will power this bird for the everyday flyer (and then some) with power to spare. The 4200 3S2P pack from Thunder Power works great. If you are trying electrics for the first time and don't want to invest in the Li-Po world at that cost (can't blame you there on a "first try it" type purchase), our new 1800 mAh 10 cell NiMh battery (EFLB4010) will give you 95+% of the power you get from the Li-Po but at a reduced flight time of 8 - 9 minutes. That battery is pretty cheap and can be charged by just about any basic field charger. Believe me it works very, very well!!

If you are going to do the float thing, our new E-flite floats bolt right on. I recommend the Power 32 for float flying for one simple reason, you will need the nose weight. I have flown it on the Power 25, but with the added weight, the performance is good, but not great, and it eats batteries. The floats add a considerable amount of drag to the airframe. You really want the power 32 if you are float flying. The floats are painted with automotive paint and are fuel proof for the guys who use those engines we call slimers.

by the way, the Cub is where it is at on the water!!![sm=thumbup.gif] That plane just works out ghreat on the water!!

Using the Power 32 you run (2) 4200 2S2P packs in series. You get 4200 mah of capacity with 14.4 volts on tap for great power.

Hope this helps you guys a bit. I will try to keep them coming for you.

conceptmachining

Hey John, thanks for chiming in! Say, would one of those series board modules work okay for this application after paralleling 4, 2000mah 2 cells with bullet connectors? Of course it would be a little less flight time being it only 4000MAH...its okay though because I do have several 2 cells sitting around. Would keeping my packs seperate allow me to balance them? I guess what I am asking is, Can a 2P pack be balanced and charged together, or should they be disconnected? I see many of the 4200 2P UNIT packs out there, can those presoddered packs be balanced? ALSO, I've seen people saying, "be carefull when connecting two packs in parallel, in that you want the voltages to be as close as possible to one another". Now, would this need to be monitered every time you pull the packs apart. I hope they can be charged together. If not, thats not really that much of a pain in the rear, but a slight one! I'm really looking forward to this plane! Can you please let me know what kind of vertical the Power 32 has with the 2 cell 4200MAH 2P in series has?

Thanks again!


Jimmy

conceptmachining

John,

would this work okay? http://www.allerc.com/product_info.p...oducts_id=2064

John Redman

My Feedback: (8)

I would ssay it should be up to the duties. We routinely only use Thunder Power batteries herre at Horizon. This is mainly because we have them in the warehouse. I am sure the others will work just fine, but we have never tested them.

P-51B

My Feedback: (5)

Mr. Redman,

Does the same power recommendation hold up for the Cub on floats. I picked one up last night with the floats. I was thinking about using the 32 in it.

John Redman

My Feedback: (8)

Use the Power 25 on the Cub, even with the floats. That is all the motor that plane needs.

P-51B

My Feedback: (5)

Thanks Mr. Redman!

TooLy

I flew the ultra stick 40 from hanger 9 with motor that pretty similiar in the performance to the e-flite 32, running 3s 4000 mah and 60 amp esc.
great power for aerobatics, flight time about 18 minutes and it's heavier than the new electric version.

schweig1959

Hello all, looks like Horizon Hobby has the 25 Ultra Stick in stock. I pre-ordered one and hope to get it soon.

Rich

P-51B

My Feedback: (5)

You should get it very soon. My LHS had one on the shelf last night.

MrMulligan

My Feedback: (314)

I ordered one from Horizon yesterday and the web site said it was in stock.

schweig1959

Mine is on its way.

Rich

conceptmachining

Got mine in the mail a couple days ago. Almost done, just waiting on a Park BEC. The only thing I noticed on the build is pushrod tubes for the rudder and elevator need about 3/4" cut from them, otherwise the retainer on the servo arm will get in the way of the excess material on it. The plane is beautiful!. I am using an eflite Power 32 and a 4 cell 3700MAH Hyperion battery 11x7E prop with a 60A CC ESC. Trying to think of where I can stuff all the wires for it...and where the battery will need to be placed to balance it. I may just keep it in an easy accessable location and put weight on the back of the plane to balance it out perfectly.

Good luck with the maidens! I should have mine out and about this weekend sometime


Jimmy

Doc Austin

Mine came into my LHS five minutes before closing time yesterday, so I'll be sitting on their doorstep waiting for them to open later this morning.

I'll probably go with the Power 25 and 4200 battery combo. I'de like to keep the weight down as much as I can. A friend saw it fly at Seff and he says even with the 25 the plane is overpowered. I'de use the 32 if I were installing quad flaps or floats, but I think with the 25 and lightweight setup I'll be happy with it. If not, it's already got the bolt holes on the firewall for the 32 and all I'll have to do after changing the engine is wire up a bigger battery pack.

For those who haven't seen it, watch this thing take off. It looks like the pilot is taking off at 1/4 throttle or so, but once it lifts off, apparently he hammers it and the thing goes up like a ballistic missle. I don't know if he is using the 25 or the 32, but it sure is impressive.

Broadband:
http://www.e-fliterc.com/ProdInfo/Files/EFL4025_lo.wmv

Dialup:
http://www.e-fliterc.com/ProdInfo/Files/EFL4025_hi.wmv

If everything goes smothly, I'll try to fly it this afternoon and report back. I've already downloaded and memorized the instruction manual ( http://www.e-fliterc.com/ProdInfo/Fi...25e_Manual.pdf ), so I think assembly is going to be a snap.