guapoman2000

Many of my club members from Moon Port Modelers in Titusville, Florida frequent RCU instead of RCGOUPS so, I am creating this thread for their benefit and hopefully others with the same interest on this new model from Great Planes.

http://rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=313871

The above link takes you directly to my build thread at RCGROUPS.COM and it shows you all how I acquired the model, how I followed those instructions provided by Great Planes, how I messed up in one area, and items that I deviated because of personal taste, however, the model ecessitally is completely Stock as far as the power setup.

I hope that you all can benefit from my experiences in the build up as I did .....oh, yes, I did maiden her already and there's a video at:

http://www.hopeforhonduras.com/rcplanes_supersport.htm

Enjoy!
Carlos[8D]

552transco

My Feedback: (3)

Hi Carlos, thanks for sharing your experience with all of us. I really appreciate it.
I have been looking at the Super Sportster off and on since it was introduced. I flew the gas version back in the mid 80's and just loved it. It was a lot of fun.
I was wondering if you used the stock 550 motor. I have read some threads, from people that haven't flown one yet, and they were commenting about they didn't think that motor was strong enough. I really don' t like to change original setups unless it is absolutely necessary.
Thanks for your time Carlos,

Wayne

guapoman2000

Wayne.

Those In-Flight pictures at the beginning of this thread are actually with the STOCK setup and yes, it is with the 550 brush motor and ESC that comes with the ARF!

Check out my thread at RCGROUPS.COM as posted in my original post and you will find out more....

Carlos[8D]

552transco

My Feedback: (3)

Hi Carlos,

I should have done my homework before I asked you if you were using the stock setup. Sorry about that.
I went to your thread in rcgroups and all I can say is OUTSTANDING. What a great job you did documenting it. From the time you sneaked it out of your trunk to flying.
I have been flying gas planes my entire RC career and have just recently thought about electrics. Like all other parts of the RC world, electrics have come so far. They have really caught my attention.
Not being into electrics, I don't understand a lot of what you are talking about. I guess it is time to learn. I like the idea of being able to go to the park or school yard and doing some flying.
Thanks again for sharing your experience Carlos.

Wayne

jb86

My Feedback: (8)

i'm planning on buying the sportster. would it be worth lowering the wing loading by recovering w/microlite? would save about 1 1/2 ounce. could also go brushless with a lipo battery, would save another couple ounces. like to keep wing loading down for landing approach speed. all in all looks like a great choice for a wood built up sport plane. I'm east of phoenix for now, local club flies all elect., so i need something i can put in the air soon, most of my aircraft are glow.

guapoman2000

I personally Love the covering that this ARF came with and I don't feel the weight savings is worth the sanding and re-covering job that goes along.....

The biggest weight savings is definitely the motor change out. This 550 motor weighs almost 8 oz. up front...... Going brushless is good should you have the $$$ for it. However, I impressed many at my club (Glow, Gas, & Electric flyers) by just flying this wonderful model completely stock out of it's box for $119.99 US.

guapoman2000

Fans:

She flew for the second time at a local Community High School Band Practice Concrete surface we all call (Edwards) here locally in Orlando, Florida!

I throttled up and her tail immidately came up and I allowed her to roll on the smooth surface and she gained air speed rapidly It was sort of strange to see the model sort of angle downwards with that large propeller and yet not touch the surface.

I finally gave her good amount of up elevator and she zoomed upwards with good authority. This time I was able to fly her inverted for one complete lap around this large concrete surface and adjoining access road.

She flew at mostly two clicks below 3/4 throttle for all type of flying using the Gold Peak (GP-3300mAH), 7_cells, Ni-MH battery pack.

My Buddy, Gerry was going to take some in-Flight pictures but, he was just too amazed and enjoying the 2nd maiden flight in wide open mouth look!

Upon landing was the most exciting since I tired to come in from the South but, I had to dodge some low lying trees and she just gained too much air speed due to the rapid angle of down I had to give her for level landing after she cleared the trees Someone there, a new flyer was sweating more than I everytime I attempted the landing approach.

Okay, so, I changed direction of approach and brought her in from the South-South West inbetween two small concrete light poles and she came in nice and slow and level. However, the first attempt she came in too fast and I was running out of concrete surface....so, I decided to throttle up and to all our amazement she turned super slow with full throttle, just hanging from the prop. and she turned without any nasty tip stall habbit.

The second approach from the South - South West was much controlled and I throttle down even more and she came in for a very nice smooth landing...kissing the ground almost. Her main landing gear touched down and I was just shocked and surprise that I managed to fly her in such confined place with so much obstacles! that I forget to give her Full up and her tailed maintained in the up and she continued to glide down so, I quickly gave her FULL UP elevator defection and the tail finally came down.

My buddy, Gerry caught her at the last minute before going off the concrete surface....looked like a tail hook landing at the end....

Here are some static pictures before and after the 2nd maiden flight!

Carlos

guapoman2000

I just proved that this model weighing at 3.24lbs. can be flown almost like a park flyer (Experienced Flyer is Required!)

I have proved once again that the model can fly completely Stock (550 motor and stock 30 AMP ESC) right out of the box! Of course I used the more robust GP-3300mAH, 7-Cell, Ni-MH battery pack.

Just a wonderful day and a wonderful and exciting flight!

I just Love what Great Planes did with this model!

Carlos

Patrnflier

My Feedback: (1)

I just received mine today and out of the box it looks great!

guapoman2000

Glad to learn that all is fine. The covering finish and cowling looks real sharp for an ARF under $150.00US!
Hope your build goes smooth....

Carlos.[8D]

Patrnflier

My Feedback: (1)

Actually I have about 5 hours in it and its ready to fly! Everything lined up, all the pre-drilled holes were right on. Built very straight.

guapoman2000

Great!

Make sure you arm the motor correctly...this ESC demands that the throttle be in the NULL (OFF) position before it can arm the motor correctly. Should you have the Throttle stick in a position other then NULL then you will NOT obtain the FULL THROTTLE range of the motor and you may not be able to take off or worse......

Buzz Kill

My Feedback: (220)

Hey guys, I just ordered my ep sportster tonight. WIll the stock setup work well? I have heard of changing batteries to lithium over the stock one. I currently have 3 2100 mah 3 cell lithium packs in other models, will one of these work with the stock motor and speed control?

jb86

My Feedback: (8)

i finished mine last week. i put in an astroflight 020 #803G with a 11x7 apc prop and 1900 3 cell thunder power sq shape pack. took some effort to mount the motor, and i pushed the motor forward about 1 1/4" and the square battery to the front, to get the cg fore, because of the lighter motor system. i removed about 13 oz. haven't flown it yet, the weather is hit or miss in the phoenix area recently. should be quite powerful, and a much lighter wing loading.

P-51B

My Feedback: (5)

For anyone flying this on the stock setup, what is the all up weight you are seeing?

guapoman2000

Since I can not make too much noise at this early hour of the morning....I opted to do other things and prepare the model for it's maiden flight in the morning at the club!

A couple of Pic's showing you what I did for ....

1. Installation of the Battery Hatch (Stock).
2. Doping the gear (Prop. Shaft) with LOC TITE (My idea).
3. Final Weight of the FUSE with the Stock SC2100, Ni-Cd, 7-Cell pack.
(Recall on Post # 35, It was announced that the Final Weight of the wing assembly was 8 3/4oz. Therefore, this makes the model exactly 3 lbs. - 3/4 oz. without the wing attachment bolts and tiny washers.

guapoman2000

Final AS-BUILT data!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Final Flight Weight: 3lbs. - 4 3/8 oz.

SETUP: Completely Stock except for the following:

1. Larger diameter light foam wheels for grass field operation.
2. MPJET Collet type Propeller Adapter.
3. GOLD PEAK (GP-3300mAH) Ni-MH, 7-Cells. <--Heavier than the STOCK!
4. Computer Floppy Disk material of tail feather hinges.

Other comments:
Someone pointed out that I have a HITEC HS-81MG instead of the HS-85MG for the aileron servo. All others are the HITEC HS-81's for Rudder and Elevator.

Here's the pre-flight pictures from this morning before heading to the field!

arcticflyer

Noone has posted here in a while so I thought I'd put my 2cents in (not that Its worth anything)! I purchased this model one month ago and while waiting for it to arrive began reading this thread and the original thread done on the build. WOW, after reading the threads I was dizzzzzy[X(] from the back and forth over power and motors and the like. The original writer of these posts did a great job and if you purchased the model concentrate on the original thread and don't get caught up in the back and forth over the electronic physics that totally baffles the mind of us common folk. Don't get me wrong I'm not anti 3D or anti Brushless or anti LIPO. I might even upgrade someday and this winter plan on some indoor foam 3D stuff.
First if you haven't ordered the model yet and are getting ready to place the order I will give a humble suggestion. Order several (I ordered 2) Electrfly 3600 7 cell NIMH batteries and a good charger ( I got the MRC 977 ). I have never used the minimal 2100 Nicd that came with the model and never plan to. I believe that GP saved some green backs there.
My build went like the original post and I have the same complaints about (hinging) which I hate and some of the other things the original post gets into.
Before you install the servos I must tell you that this plane with the above listed 3600 NIMH batteries is a nose heavy pig! You will have to move the servos way back to even come close to an acceptable CG. You can fly it nose heavy but it is no fun! I moved the ESC, receiver, and servos as far back as I could get them then pushed the battery way back.
Flights- first few flights were (lead brick like) due to the nose heavy condition and I finally relented and moved all the stuff mentioned above to get a decent CG. I am flying the stock..... yes I said, the STOCK motor and ESC with the above mentioned batteries and I can't be happier with the plane. No, it will not do vertical zoomies out of site and hang on the prop but it will with the STOCK set up and STOCK prop fly in a respectable sport kinda way "on the wing" if you know what I mean.
Take off- Don't yank this thing into the air! Let it get light on the wheels and ease it up allowing the airspeed to build. With the stock system this thing flys on the wing and it takes time for the 12/10 prop to load up. For ROG off of anything but flat and hard I suggest larger wheels and toss the wheel pants.
Set your landing approach up with plenty of room as this thing takes some time to bleed off airspeed and hold up elevator after touchdown or the nose goes.
I am getting between (9) and (10) minute flights at FULL throttle before the engine konks and she slides in dead stick. Batteries and electrics are an acceptable temp after these flights.
I am really happy with this plane and hope others will enjoy it as well.

Thanks Guapoman for the original thread! Skip

jb86

My Feedback: (8)

i shaved 13 ounces off of mine by going brushless and lipo and 11x7 apc prop. it is a great flying a/c, not at all unlimited verticle. gets off the runway easily and lands darn near as a trainer, much slower than you mentioned. does nice loops and barrel rolls. it definitely flies light, but not at all over powered. it was defintely a good match. but i have known people that used the original power system and have seen it fly just fine. i hate to leave just "good enough" alone. biggest difference is, it flies lighter.

nice sport flying plane, don't fly really much anymore, i prefer my 3d glow planes.

jon

arcticflyer

jb86 To be honest with you I can't leave well enough alone either and will eventually modify this plane but for now it really suits my purpose. My village is on the edge of the arctic ocean and calm days here are very very rare. I would love to lighten this thing as you mentioned but at the same time I like its ability to penetrate the wind in its slightly nose heavy attitude. Curious...what are your run times with the LIPOS. That would probably be the biggest reason for me to change over as I would really like to get about (15) per flight. Skip

jb86

My Feedback: (8)

w/1900 3s thunder power (used because it is the same battery in my mini funtana) i get about 8 minutes of good flying w/some throttle management. i would recommend about 2500 mah.
as i said earlier, i know it is a nice flying a/c w/even the stock set up, however it is definitely a bit more spirited after i lightened it. it flies off the runway very quick and lands slow, grass runway is no problem.
i won't fly it an any wind though. if wind is a factor, then keep it heavier.
one thing i do know, i saw one spin in. he said the cg was right. it went into a spin and never recovered. maybe because of the heavier air frame? i have spun mine, no trouble getting out of it.

jon

arcticflyer

JB86 depending on what battery he is using, and how far back it has been pushed to get the CG close, I have found in my model my battery sits on top of the aileron servo and is dangerously close. I have simply crossed my fingers on each flight hoping that the battery doesn't come in contact with and subsequently jam that servo. I am considering building a guard around that servo so that it won't happen. I have spun mine several times with no problems however I have noticed that as it spins the altitude drops rather dramaticly and one turn to many would be unrecoverable. With our wind problem I think I am going to stay heavy for a while. I read a post claiming 30 minutes on LIPOS with this plane the guy put two 2100's together sidways in the battery compartment and had a photo of it. Skip

opjose

I'm the guy.

It works great and I continue to surprise the heck out of everyone at my field when they notice that I've been flying for over 25+ minutes non-stop. Very disconcerting even to those with big tanks in their glow fueled planes.

Since my original post I switched to a 10x7E prop so I've lost about 2-3 minutes of flight time but I've gained a much faster flyer.

The plane has NO problem with the additional weight of the dual 3S 2200mAh packs.

Another person here ( he posted on the thread I started about this ) also tried my setup with 2X3S 1800mAh batteries and he is also reporting 20+ minutes of flight time though he stuck with the 9x6E prop.

arcticflyer

Those are some pretty impressive times. I will probably make the switch next flying season for that reason. As you know the rest of this season will be getting my gasser P-51 in the air. Skip

Country_Flyer

Quick question..

I appologize if this gets asked alot, but suppose I decide to use a 11.1V 2250mAh 25C Li-Po pack, instead of the stock/heavier battery.. What kind of performance increase are we talking about due to lighter weight and higher voltage... and also... do I need to downsize on my prop size and/or pitch? I don't want to over-amp the motor.. but im sure the performance increase is worth it.. I know it sure makes a big difference on my supercubs.

Thanks in advance!