Hunter850

My Feedback: (1)

brownlab , I assume you have all of the electronics from the predator and the radio buy yourself a multiplex easystar. It is an excellent flyer and very very tuff. About $52.00


Better check out the tanks as they do not normally come euipped to shoot BBs. A pellet or BB gun works much better for hunting.

Kevin

brownlab

yep i still got the guts, a 4 channel tx and rx, a 290 motor, 2 7 gram servos, a 15 amp esc, and some screws and crap. but seriously, you guys should check out advantagehobby.com, they have some good stuff and free shipping on orders 50$ and up. i might get the mini delta from great planes.i just got an aero ace to fool around with. my parents wont let me get an air soft gun.

CloudNineAviation

Nice thread here, with some great laid back but technically astute postings, driven by papajeff in the main i believe

So allways looking for somthing different and fun ordered a Predator yesterday, what £80 deliviered, Nice. Suppose i'll get bounced for VAT etc but what the hell, Small beer.

Have a Flycamone in stock as well as a 11.1v 2500MaHr LiPo and a 250 W brushless, just going to go round the RX, Servos, & speed controller. Any definative do's or dont's for this project?

Probably 2.4 the Rx, might as well takes away to many niggly worries not to.

More later

Peter.

chrishornby

Peter
Just received Predator #2 from Nitromodels, lightening delivery here to the UK and no customs duty to pay! (described as "toy airplane value $5 on the declaration), This has made me feel much better after we lost the world cup rugby to South Africa over the weekend. So CloudNine, looks like you might get away with the VAT after all. I am busy putting my rockets and missiles together, designing a mark2 steerable nosewheel, and a more realistic housing for the flycam.

BTW a 2500Mah 11.1 should be just the right size, I have been using a 2100 and had to add quite a bit of lead weight. Otherwise your setup much the same as mine including the 2.4 rx/tx

Chris

papajeff

Chris & Peter,

Look at you two distinguished, UK, gentlemen flyers from across the pond! You sure lend a great dimention to this Predator thread and I truly appreciate your involvement. So, just be aware that progress reports with photos are expected from both of you. Now, remember that both of you are important contributors to this project and certainly give this thread an "INTERNATIONAL" flavor. Yes, you do!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

brownlab

CRAP!!!!!! I keep trying to post pics of my predators damage but it wont work, i even have some pics of my little f4u corsair.ill try again

brownlab

ok got em i hope these are the right pics because i didnt name them and was just clicking

brownlab

sorry, thats my turtle peanut. cant find the pics, ill look again

brownlab

F4U CORSAIR

CloudNineAviation

Sounding better and better all the time......

Just had a Magnificent 4 days of model aviating ...electric wall to wall blue skys...brushed up on some electric stuff in preperation for the grand arrival of ...The Predator...

All excited now..

Edit to add Photo's..

brownlab

this is something i think is weird. a brushed motor most of the time cant make a plane go fast or do loops without gaining speed in a dive, but a tiny little brushless motor can make a plane hover. i would take one apart but im scared of being cooked by it. i dont want to be barbecue. oh yeah, the lipo on my aero ace bussed, once i take it back i can get a fire bird scout or phantom.

Greg Covey

Video by Papa Jeff Ring of the Nitro Models Predator...on a very special mission.

[link=http://www.gregcovey.com/reviews/Predator.wmv]Predator UAV Testing Video[/link] (9meg)

jreece

My Feedback: (58)

Brownlab,

You have been thinking of getting a Wilga 2000. They are great palnes and very easy to fly. You will get around 12 minutes of flight time with them. They are foam and light so they do not like wind very much. As for the mini delta I do not recommend getting one. The roll rate is very fast and you have to fly them quick or they will stall and crash (i own both planes). Go to unitedhobby.com and pick up a tower pro 2408-21 motor and esc combo for 15 bucks and put it in a wilga and you will have a nice trainer plane with plenty of power to progress into 3d FLIGHT. Keep practicing, every day if possible and like others have told you in about 1 month you will be doing great. DO not worry about having crashed the other plane. I cannot even recall the times I have crashed and broken my planes or helicopters. With practice comes perfection and then you can get the "Big" planes. Good luck

Pappy-86

My Feedback: (6)

I just got this plane last week and took it to the field today for the madin flight and all went well nice flying plane and sure turned some heads. My question is I was told by someone at the field that has been into electric for 20 years that I should of put the speed controler up front and ran the motor wire from the back to the front. Every thing I have read on this plane says it is ok to add more wire to the battery. But I was told I will burn the speed controler up If I keep flying it this way. I made a jumber wire which I plug the speed controler battery wires into and run it to the front about 24" added then I plug the battery into it up front I used 12 gage wire and all seem to work fine is this kind of a set up ok? Also what did you make the dome on the front underside out of? Also I powered it with a Axi 2212-20 and used a jeti 18amp speed controler turning a 8x6 pusher prop pulling 17 amp at full speed.

papajeff

Dave,

I'm pleased to hear that you had a successful maiden flight with your predator. That tells me that you did some good work on the build and set-up your flying surfaces pretty darn good, also. It's a real fun plane to fly once you get the used to the way it flies. Now, here is what I did with the set-up of the ESC in the rear and the battery up front.

papajeff

Dave,

Before I forget, the special top-secret, infrared, heat-seaking laser dome.............is just the clear plastic cover from one of those 7-11 or Mobil
mart kids candy sucker ring things. I have also seen them in the Wal-Mart candy dept. Can you tell that I'm a nut cast Grandpa?????????
I painted the interior and CA'd it on.

Now with the long "battery wire extension", as we shall call it, I have had no problems what-so-ever after dozens & dozens of flights. The battery is cooled by the front air vent (that was added in the build) and the ESC is super cooled by being placed within the rear cowl which had the cooling opening built in. It just works perfect and there has never been an overheating issue. Oh, the battery used was the 3S 1800mAh 15C from Nitro and recently I have been using a Flight Power EVO 25 - 3S 1800mAh which has not only increased the flight times to about 15
minutes (from a previous 10 min.), but the power has noticeably increased. I'm sold on Flight Power Li-Po packs!

Pappy-86

My Feedback: (6)

Jeff, Thanks for the fast responce your set up is just about the same as mine so I'm going to keep the set up the way it is. The Axi 2212-20 is more then enough power to fly the plane. I have to give the credit for the successful madin to my son I let him madin all my builds he put the plane up 3 times and all 3 flights were a joy to watch the last filght he set up mixing so the plane had flaps and spoilers he played around with it high in the air and decided to land it without flaps or spoilers employed I did fly it a little bit and like you said it will take getting used to I have never flown a glider and it is a lot different then a P-51 or Corsair. Only thing I plan on adding to it is a steerable nose wheel as I land on a paved runway lined by a chain leak fence my son came a little close on one of the landing and my heart stopped a min.
Thanks again
Dave

papajeff

Dave,

You and your Son......I like that!!!!!! Building and flying together......NICE!!!!! Well, you both did a nice job with the Predator, so how about some photos????? Hey, it's like now, you are a part of this thread and I'm sure that photos of your Predator would be most appreciated by all of us. Hey, have a good weekend and I'm pleased that you have contributed to this forum.

brownlab

what time is it right now where you guys are. in texas its 11:20 pm i should be asleep, i know

Pappy-86

My Feedback: (6)

I will post some picture tomorrow I'm at work now I have some before flight and some low fly bys. Well didnt have time to post the pictures went to the flying field with my son. Put the Predator on the run way for take off and one of the members who didntt see it fly yesterday walked up to me and said you know those airplane dont fly I looked at him and said O really? and with that my son took off to the sky for flight number 4. And as with the outher 3 flights it was a perfect flight with a little bumpy landing. All 4 flight have beed 10 min flights using a 2100 mah battery and after charging only putting 800 mah back in the packs so could keep this plane in the air an easy 20 to 25 min. I have a Warbird fun fly to go to tomorrow but Sunday I will post some pictures.

Pappy-86

My Feedback: (6)

Here are a few pictures of my Predator at the flying field.

CloudNineAviation

Fantastic ......BUT... Do you fly inverted much ...is the Star and Bar upside down.?..?....Shame on you..

Brg

Peter.

Pappy-86

My Feedback: (6)

Never even noticed and nor did anyone at the field its fixed now thanks for letting me know. Added a picture of my best Buddy who is always looking for a good dog fight and he has all his stars pointed the right way.

airflow

My Feedback: (1)

Hello to that Texan called brownlab. Peanut looks good, maybe he'll fly someday. Your Corsair looks like a very nice model.

Papa Jeff says, "Hey, we have all gone thru what you are experiencing. The issue is not one of luck, it's just like riding a bike. You try and try and try again, but you keep falling over, so you try those training wheels. Now you get the feeling of riding your bike on two wheels and whey you are ready, off come the training wheels...............and you have learned to ride a two wheeler. See, you never give up.....so how about "Back to basics?"

I read where Papa Jeff suggested a Multiplex Easy Star as a good plane to practice with.
Here's a web site that should convince you that his advice is right on the money:
where they explain why the Easy Star is Winner of
the Most Recommended 1st Plane Award 2005-2006
http://plawner.net/3/1st_plane/1welcome.html

Multiplex has some of their customers tell their stories about this :
http://www.mpx-easystar.de/

A lot of guys talked about it at:
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_3375575/tm.htm

RCGroups has a discussion of more tha 450 pages:
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=459096

I've seen it fly at several fields, and I know it flies well, and is a very rugged plane.
Hobby-Lobby has a nice review for you to read.
http://www.hobby-lobby.com/easystar.htm

Here's a video:
http://www.hobby-lobby.com/media/MPX4192-EasyStar.wmv

Here's some beginners on Youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_dNh7VHLbk

Here's another Youtube video, lot's of them there:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4c0K_2nwJUs

You say you're 12 and would like to know:
WHICH ONE
Well. I'm here to tell you that the Easy Star is a good investment for you,
and I've seen that you like advantage.com, well look at this:
http://www.advantagehobby.com/produc...cat=181&page=1

You spend the next two years flying, maybe crashing, and maybe fixing, this great Easy Star
and I'd bet you could build and fly a Predator even better than Captain Chaos ever did !
Predator UAV Testing Video (9meg)
http://www.gregcovey.com/reviews/Predator.wmv

brownlab

captain chaos rocks but i probably could fly better than him