FERNDALE AIR FORCE

Hi all, I pulled out a ribbon today due to the swirling wind. I put it on the single stir stick. Lo and behold, non flyable airplane can fly. It won't go iinto a nose up climb or a hard dive, and it won't flip turn. But it will fly, and the other option was to try really hard not to lose the plane to the wind, or just plan on chasing the plane around the yard. If you used these before the shorter version for the bipe isn't long enough. Silk ribbon works best, I've got a peice about 36" right now. Tim

update, the shorter ribbon will work on the double stir stick, and you get a bouncier flight. BTW, the wind as measured at a nearby school is 7-10 mph, gust to 18 mph. Needless to say, a gust will generally land the plane for you. Have fun, Tim

update 2, stir stick flyers, in the wind with the stir stick and ribbon, I flew the wing off of the plane. If you think about how much force is needed to remove the wing, I think that is amazing.

Tim

voodoo_chicken1

*****Attention*****

I just had my dispute settled with aeroacemods.com through paypal. They found in my favor. However, of my $60 order, I was able to recover about $7. So, I had to step it up a notch and take the dispute to my credit card company.

This is really disappointing. If anyone from aamods reads this forum, I tried to email you several times to cancel my order and get a refund just as described on the website. I never saw a time on the 30 days I waited.

To everyone, I would recommend to not place any orders with them. If you have, dispute it with your credit card company. AA mods was taking orders for some time without letting anyone know they were unable to fill orders. Funny as it seems, they are still withdrawing money people have sent them which is why I was only able to recover $7 via paypal.

Very disappointing. I love these Aero Aces. If ony there was a reputable place to get parts/supplies.

Neurotex

That's a shame that one of the few outlets for us has turned out this way.
The web site is still active and taking orders and claiming they want you
to be 100% satisfied. When they first started out they were even using
this forum to boost sales. I doubt they read this thread any more. Keep
at it and I hope you get a full refund. Everyone else should stop ordering
from aamods until their reputation becomes good again.

Finished the airframe for the FSW jet. 1.75mm foam plate for the bottom
reinforced with two balsa sticks with 1.13mm foam plate covering on top.
The rear of the fuse is airfoil shaped so I should get some added lift from
it since the wing design channels air flow back down the center.
Weighs just under 4 grams. If I can keep the wings and rudders down to
5 grams she just might fly.

[link=http://www.area51zone.com/aircraft/switchblade.shtml]switchblade[/link]

msim

This is about my AA jet motor problem.
How would I get the gunk out of the motor?
I put some lubricant (sp?) on the motor and it seems to not do anything.

MegaByte-2

Neurotex

I don't know where you get the time to build all these planes.
You come up with some real unusual desigs to challenge. The S-37 ? is really sharp looking.

msim,

Radio Shack has a spray can of Electronic Cleaner. It works very well at flushing out pager motors. It won't damage anything.
It has a spray nozzle. Give it a good blast towards the motor bearing. Try to gently shake out any excess. It evaporates quickly.
It has revived some motors for me and others. Especially when over oiled. Hope yours comes alive.

Website has some new items. Stop by.

Tony
ARS Software & Innovative Solutions
http://www.falcon1.net/~ars/rcmodels.html

ahaacobbler

Thanks for the explanation of the stir stick mod. That is very helpful. I will try it as soon as I can grab some stir sticks.

I had a new stock AA bipe out On saturday. This was the first time I have flown stock for several months. I could not believe the difference. I only flew my first plane stock for a couple of days before removing the bottom wing and making other mods. I guess I didn't remember how slow and non-responsive it is with both wings. I took it inside and flew several laps around the living room.

Now I understand all the posts where people are saying that they rarely go higher than 20 or 30 feet. Maybe a lot of those guys are flying stock. It took me at least a minute to get up to 30 feet. I commonly fly at maybe 150 - 200 feet - way above the mega-size power poles that run down a nearby field. It takes me only a minute or so to get up that high with my mono mod plane. During one charge I will go all the way up and glide down several times.

Neurotex

Thanks, I really don't spend all that much time on building. The airframe took
about 3hrs. while the plate foam test gliders usually take half an hour.

The X-29 below left took about 35 minutes. It could easily be scaled up into an
AA conversion and built in several hours.

Found some good glue at ACO for foam builds. It's called Duco Plastic Model Cement
and is a good bond for polystyrene.


Up past 30 feet winds become stronger. Especially rough on a light plane.
The higher you go the better your chances are of losing it. I'm not one lucky
enough to have an empty field of a square mile surrounding me so I'm happy
enough to stay at around 50- 80 feet up.

* (pics right) X-29- AA size. 14" length, 8.5" wingspan, 10.2 grams. 1.80mm plate foam.

FERNDALE AIR FORCE

Ahaa, I'm with neurotex on this. Last spring I got to flying high and that was a lot of fun, but as spring moved into summer the wind shear kept my planes down. At times 25' was tough, you learn to compensate. About 2 monthes ago the weather pattern began to shift, and I decided to fly back at the 200+' level. The first flight was fine, I brought the plane down, life was good. Second flight I decided to time, In under 2 minutes(1:55) the planes was lost in a tree 1/4 mile away 300 feet up and I was about 100 yards from my launch point. The plane is lost in the jungle. I don't want got really high and let the air stream get it. Tim

ahaacobbler

Luckily I have never permanently lost a plane. I have had big wind come up or batteries die when I was way up there. I have climbed a lot of trees and roofs and gotten good use out of several lengths of PVC pipe. Once I didn't find a plane until 2 days later (one of the happiest days in my life). it was sitting right up on the top of a tree. I didn't find it untill I climbed a neigboring tree and looked down on it. I have also had a few real good runs chasing a wayward plane and a handfull of hops over neighbors' fences. All that action kind of adds tot he excitement of flying these planes.

Neurotex

The closest I came to loosing one was when my stock jet hit 40'
and landed 2 stories up hanging it's tail off the edge of the roof.
Went home and duct taped some hockey sticks together and brought
my ladder back. After standing on the second from top step I managed
to push it into the gutter where I could only see a tip of it sticking out
if I stood back on the ground.
Only after taping another stick to the top, pointing slightly down, did I
manage to flick the plane out. I got it back and they got a free gutter cleanin

ahaacobbler

For her first AA flight, I took my wife out in the powerline park for a dog fight. She was concerned about hitting the power lines. I told her she would have a hard time hitting one even if she tried and that it wouldn't hurt the plane if she did. Well, it only took her about 30 seconds to get her plane stuck on the wire. There was a wire spiral-wrapped around the wire bundle apparently this wrapping wire was a little loose right where she hit it. The horizontal stab slid right in and got stuck. We spent maybe half an hour thowing balls at either the plane or the wire. The plane finaly dislodged when I positioned a double length of PVC pipe right below the line and then threw the pipes up like an arrow.

I had one in the gutter just like you talked about. I put a piece of packaging tape on the end of my trusty PVC and grabbed it right out. AAs are so light that you hardly have to tap them to get them to stick to the tape.

Neurotex

[sm=stupid.gif]damn... I didn't even think of that![sm=angry.gif]

FERNDALE AIR FORCE

Ahaa, the worst part of my loss was every time I walked out my front door I could see it. It was taunting me. My neighbors made a point of pointing it out to all of our mutual fraends, their friends, and aquaintances. I was actually glad when it blew out of sight. A draw back to living in a village is that some people refer to me as the airplane guy. They don't know me and I probably have not met them. But the grapevine uses the "airplane guy", or so I'm told. I suppose it could be worse, there is a guy in town who's name we all know because of his driving, and his truck.

Ahaa, on a more serious note, if or when you try the stir stick mod the plane will handle differently. Your turns should be tighter and at first you'll probably have to counter-steer out of turns. The counter-steer is a result of the turn radius your used to versus the wings pushing on the fuse(imparting energy). It usually takes a couple of flights to get the hang of it.

Neurotex, or anyone else, have you tried a lower profile AA? It seems to me that if you moved the battery forward that leaves about 1/2 of dead space. If the wing was lower on the fuse that might make the plane more of a stunt plane. Any thoughts?

Tim

micro_builder

My Feedback: (1)

lookin pretty sharp, neurotex, its amazing what foam dinner plates can do

Tim, i had done something similar to what you're speaking of (i think). i chopped off the top section of the AA, including the top wing, leaving just a nose, some fuselage and the bottom wings. almost no dihedral, and with the motors at the very tips of the wings it would do some usual stuff during the turns. it was completely differant than the normal AA.

nick

FERNDALE AIR FORCE

Micro, what I'm thinking of is using the top wing and attaching it to the body lower than it is presently attached. The biggest problem and the best thing about the AA bipe is the way the weight is slung lower that the wing. I think we can all agree that with the full lower wings installed the plane flies slower and is slower to take commands. With the lower wings removed the plane flies different. There are several mods based on shorter or no bottom wing, and supports for the wing to the body. [8D].

Has anyone cut down the top of the plane and reattached the main wing? I think a loop may be possible with this mod, assuming it will fly. Tim

Neurotex

Thanks, I believe I've got most of the building problems solved except
for strength vs. weight. Putting the necessary reinforcements into the
structure increases its weight to the limit. It's a trade off.
To keep the weight down on the X-29 I had to give up the two sided
airfoil for the wings. I might try some thinner foam for the airframe next
time and use more balsa support.
The next project will be a true scale version of the S-37. If you've got
any building hints (like wing structural support) I'd be glad to hear em.

Ferndale, er... airplane guy, having the wings below the fuse should give
you tighter turns. That is if it doesn't roll over on you. Give the wings a
little extra dihedral to help you out. Not sure if you would have to change
the tail any.
I've stayed clear of any designs that have lower than fuse wings because
I believe the two motor's varying speeds would cause too many problems
I don't want to be bothered with.
The only planes I've flown with the wings lowered have been
control line, and they don't roll much. I don't consider the jets to be in
this category because the longer wing chord compensates for most of
the rolling. Good luck with it!

MegaByte-2

Neurotex

Looks good. I have a feeling that you are going to find it will have wide turns, but fly straight very well. Just the length to width ratio.
Interested to hear a flight report.

Tony
ARS Software & Innovative Solutions
http://www.falcon1.net/~ars/rcmodels.html

ahaacobbler

I remember reading a while back about a problem where the green charging light was not coming on for someone. I ran into the problem last night on an almost brand new AA. I had chrged it the first 2 times on older batteries and the charging went well. Last night I stuck in the turning diode mod. When I closed it up and stuck in fresh batteries, the green light would not come on for charging, although I think the battery is being charged. I re-opened it and checked for loose wires or something touching something it shouldn't. Everything was in order. I tried removing the batteries several times. Has anybody seen this problem? Any solutions?

Thanks.
AHAACobbler

Djstinger

AHAA, Maybe the charging wire got pinched when you put it back together. If it works ( charges ) don't fix it and if not you can always exchange it.

FERN, My mono/jet has a weak motor, I am installing a pair of red/pink SS motors and will keep you posted. My Jet lights are almost done and I am working on lights for my SL.

Has anyone had problems with charging a Single-wing? I have to go back to TRU again (bummer) for my 3rd one...It won't charge after the first flight. Tried: new batt's and AA charger =(

POST #100

FERNDALE AIR FORCE

Good Luck DJ, I'm at a standstill on my monojet.

I just pulled out my last bipe, the one that would only turn in circles despite equal readings on the tach. AA 101, if the plane only turns in circles check motor direction first. I forgot that part. I forgot how much lift the plane has as well, I was flying in a wierd wind condition and the plane would hang in place and then slowly move forward as the wind changed direction, in about a minute or less. After determining that the thrust angle was my problem I brought that plane in and tried another. The single stir stick was extra twitchy, but flyable. I'm looking forward to the next time I can bring out the planes and try out a bipe all over again. I'm also considering pulling out an unmodded controller. As I remember with the un-modded controller you can feed in as much or little throttle to the turn. Tim

Neurotex

I don't know, I should cut down the canopy some more, it's like a forward rudder
to some extent. That might help a bit. Soon I cut this stock jet open...[>:]

Pics & plan for a surprisingly stable flying wing.
Should make the AA go nutz!

MegaByte-2

Neurotex,

I was referring to the pic in post 3272 on the wide turning.
The one in post 3746 should be very acrobatic. Kiss your butt turning and the ability to loop pretty easy when you see the nose "pop" up when turning into a puff of wind.


Tony
ARS Software & Innovative Solutions
http://www.falcon1.net/~ars/rcmodels.html

Neurotex

Yeah, that's the one I was talking about- the X-29. The canopy acts like a
forward rudder in a sense. The smaller model takes turns nice. The larger
version, for the AA works, glides great but I haven't tried any turning with
that one yet.

The flyingwing (flig) flys great also once trimmed up. It takes turns on a dime
and once you start adjusting the flaps, does some crazy stunts.
I'm making a larger AA version for this one also. Should be a blast to fly under
some power.

micro_builder

My Feedback: (1)

the Fling is neat looking! i may have to use that as my foam plate flyer cookoff contestant. i'll build one today, as i just happen to have a huge stack of foam dinner plates by my feet

interesting about the anhedral in the wingtips. does it help its stability a lot? did you try it with a polyhedral wing?

nick

ahaacobbler

Is lithium ion the same as litium polymer? What is the difference? - Looking at some battery replacement ideas.

Thanks.