StefG

in the video i saw on the PT-17 it looked to me like it was underpowered. has anyone tried this plane with a 25, and if so what was the results.

Thanks, Stef

theradioflyer

It's not under powered with the 15 by any means. They throttled it back for more "scale" looking flight. It will run great on the APC 12x6e.

Blessings,

Jay

StefG

Thanks Jay. i think i am going to use a 25 with a 4 cell battery. i will post results

Greg Covey

Lee,

Thanks for the alternate pack information. I was wondering if a heavier 5AH pack might do it. Was your pack any special shape or just a regular flat pack from 5"-6" long? I'll be using the stock 3.2AH E-flite pack and 3oz of lead weight in the cowl for my review.

Stef,

100w/lb is plenty of power for the Stearman. Keep in mind that this is not an Ultimate or Pitts muscle bipe but rather a scale biplane from the WWII era. It was the first of a three phase training regimen for fighter pilots. The progression typically went from Stearman to AT-6 to Corsair.

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E-flite has included specially designed wing jigs that hold the upper and lower halves in place as you slide them on. When it comes time to pack everything up and head for home, the jigs will allow you to leave the upper and lower halves connected for simpler transport and storage.

Greg Covey

E-flite offers the ([link=http://www.horizonhobby.com/Products/Default.aspx?ProdID=EFLA150]EFLA150[/link]) 1/9 Military Pilot as an option to use in the Stearman. The windows and pilot were glued in place using Pacer Formula 560 canopy glue.

I only had one pilot on hand so hopefully I put it in the right spot for a solo flight or the scale guys will be on my case again.

LNL

Greg, the 3S 5000 mah Max Amps pack is fairly standard, between 5-6 inches. When balancing the Stearman, the nose is even, not tilting downwards. Should Bi-planes have their noses tilting slightly downward after
balancing, or simply parallel to the ground? Lee.

theradioflyer

For you guys that like nostalgic stuff. Here are three original training videos for the Stearman. I really got a kick out of watching them. It reminded me of watching the projector movies in science class, LOL!

http://www.zenoswarbirdvideos.com/StearmanNS2html.html

For those running a Power 25 and 3s try a Xoar 13x6... you won't be sorry

Blessings,

Jay

Greg Covey

Lee,

You have it right...nose even with the tail.

Jay,

Awesome link! Thanks for sharing.

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The components were placed per the manual recommendation. My extra satellite receiver was positioned between the two servos. Note that the battery pack is held by Velcro on the bottom as well as a strap.

The APC 12x6 e-prop seems like a good fit and my initial run up to full throttle revealed plenty of power!

My photo postings are actually behind my true progress. I will be test flying the Stearman today so I'll have flying photos and a video soon.

Greg Covey

I don't have much time to post today so here is one photo from yesterday's test flying. As Jay proclaimed earlier, the Stearman looks and flies fantastic!

The only thing interesting we noticed, so please add your comments, was that when landing the Stearman, the elevator control was sometimes blanked out by the air over the wing. This caused a slight dampening effect where we would feed it elevator until it reacted so you will see a slight pitch change when landing. We should be able to see this effect on some of the video landings that I will post next week. Other than that, the Stearman flies great will plenty of authority which we will show on several hammer-head maneuvers.

Have a great Labor Day!

theradioflyer

Great pic Greg!

I haven't noticed anything on landing other than the controls get mushy as usually when settling in for a 3 point. Interesting though. I may have a more aft CG then you giving more pitch authority at the slower speeds... maybe?

23 flights total right now and just Loving it

Blessings,

Jay

Greg Covey

The last step of the assembly was to check the CG. The manual recommends 2oz to 4oz of lead weight to obtain proper balance.

I added 3oz of lead to the inside of the cowl to get my Stearman to balance right in the middle of the suggested CG range.

Greg Covey

My Stearman PT-17 was Ready-To-Fly at 61.4oz (3.8lbs) including the 9.4oz E-flite 3s 3200mAh LiPo pack. The power system measured 420 watts at 36 amps which gave me a strong 109w/lb.

MrMulligan

My Feedback: (314)

That is a handsome aircraft. Great pictures!

Greg Covey

Thanks. The Stearman is very photogenic. Here are few more flying photos. I hope to have the video posted by Thursday.

flying photos by "Papa Jeff" Ring

StefG

Well i finished the PT-17 and flew it today. i used an E-Flite power 25 with an E-Flite 60 amp speed controler, 4cell hyperon 3300 MAH 14.8v lipo. the plane balanced out perfectly @ 3.5" with no extra weight.  i was ble to hang the plane on its prop and vertical takeoffs were no problem. i was able to get almost 20 minutes flying time on one charge at about 25% to 30% throtel. Really glad i went this way.

Greg Covey

Stef,

I'm glad it worked out for you although I don't think the Stearman was meant for vertical take-offs and prop hanging. At least when you decide to fly it scale, you can simply throttle back.

Good luck!

Greg Covey

The E-flite Stearman PT-17 flies as good as it looks! The video shows the first two flights we had on the Stearman and just how dynamic the flight envelope is for this WWII trainer. Pilot, Devin McGrath, puts the Stearman through a series of maneuvers that includes loops, rolls, hammer heads, inverted flight, and some great slow flying around the field.

The stock E-flite 3-cell 3200mAh LiPo pack provides a good 15 minute flight with plenty of mixed aerobatics. We had no problems with grass take-offs or landings other than the occasional elevator delay. The Stearman didn't want to stop flying and really loved to float before landing. This model is an easy build and an easy flier but still requires intermediate flying skills. Although the Stearman seemed to handle 10-15mph winds without issue, we had the most fun in calmer conditions.

[link=http://www.gregcovey.com/reviews/EfliteStearmanPT17.wmv]E-flite Stearman PT-17 Test Flying Video[/link] (26meg)

theradioflyer

Looks great Greg! Now she needs some flying wires[8D]

Blessings,

Jay

theradioflyer

I wanted to share with everyone how I installed the flying wires. It's EXTREMELY easy to do!

For the wires I got a tip to use elastic bead chord for jewelry. I found mine at Michaels Crafts store. The stuff is used for making beaded necklaces and bracelets. It also makes some great looking flying wires Where the N struts meet the wing there is a gap from the mounting pegs. This is great because you just need to wrap the chord around the mounting peg. The Stearman design makes it hard to loop the chord on the inside so I made "pucks" from balsa wood. I tack the chord where I tied the knot with thin CA and insert them into the fuse where I cut slots to accept them. The wires the go to the cabane struts are simply wrapped around both and back the the N strut. I tied a simple knot and hid it under the strut. For the tail I drill holes in the fin and stab where I wanted the wire to go through and wicked them with thin CA. Let the dry completely before putting the chord through it. Route the chord through the fin and stab around the bottom of the fuse and tie a knot. pull the chord until the knot is in the middle of the balsa on the fin. I then put a screw in the bottom of the fuse to hold the wire where it looks scale. I also made a spreader bar for the flying wires out of a piece of carbon fiber rod.

It took me less than an hour to add this great modification[8D]

Blessings,

Jay

Greg Covey

Jay,

Thanks for the tips on adding the wires. I think I will add them this winter. My Stearman is currently packed in the trailer for the upcoming NEAT Fair.

Regards.

t57f100

yes hello my name is tony i recieved an insert telling me to use an extra battery pack for the reciever cut the red wire for the esc unit and a seperate on off switch but with all this weight because i put the the reciever battery on the top of the motor and the esc unit under the motor that cg is way off if its right a previous writer wrote it took 6 or 6and a half oounces to get the plane to balance if you go with the rule of thunmb trhe corect mark is about 25 to 30 percent of the front leading edge or 1.6875 and aprox 2.025 or the first spar i balanced mine at 3 and a half with the reciever pack and it didnt look right to me but when i took it up the tail dropped right out and bang it went the only thing that broke was the landing gear on one side it bended a little because before my first flight i reinforced the landing gear platform area with micro lite balsa and zpoxy so it was safe but just for my own flight next run im going with the 25 to 30 percent rule of thumb i am just commenting on this plane because it is a real good looker and im done with gas except for my h9 fokker and great planes dr1 fokker i feel the insert should have also stated that in order to get the right balance it should have changed.my plane didnt fly at the 3 and a quarter to 3 and three quarters mark.sometiimes i feel the stuff i buy is different from all elses planes need help on this .

AIRPLANENUTS

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Great thread! Not trying to outsmart the designer, but I happen to have several HS-55's on hand. Torque rating is lower than recommended. Any thoughts from those who've flown the plan as to whether these servos will work well?

Thanks,
Rick

mbarrack

How did you manage to balance the E-Flite PT-17 without any lead in the nose? You are the first person I've read about that accomplished this. (Even the Model Airplane News guys had to add "4-5 ounces" of lead. ) What did you do differently?????

MB

t57f100

ok got mine going again new plane bad speed controller smash wow need new plane.same setup got castle speed ice controller getting 138 degress high end i was tols 180 is the limit so its ok need to have a bigger exit hole.good flyer did my own gear painted it yellow looks good to me and i put a snoopy on mine with a pilot from eflite and a long scarf on the pilot looks cool.i didnt add weight because i went with the 25 size and streghten the landing gear area so that is my wieght. added 3 quarters of an ounze on last flight because of snoopy being futher back adding to tail aft cg first flight was good next flight will remove the extra to fly it again so far ths bird and the lg i made is awesome went with vintage tires i think a 5 inch diameter.love it and did it my way. come on does anybody want to see a pic tell me

lear31A

My Feedback: (123)

I had to be a little different I guess..........