diabolic-mind

i figured i would start a thread for people with the flyzone playmate to have a place to post there modifications and upgrades. sofar all ive done with mine is straighten out the landing gear and curve it forward so that the nose doesnt tip down and hit the ground during landings and when taking off on un-smooth surfaces.

another thing i did was add struts or braces to the wings. ive been noticing that the main wing has a good amount of flex to it and i thought it wouldnt hurt to stiffen it up a bit. for the braces i used a piece of pushrod from a slo-v that i used to have and cut it so that i had 2 6" pieces. i then bent both ends of it, the one end that goes into the fuse goes in and curves down to kinda get a gip inside the fuse, and the other end i bent so that it sits flush with the bottom of the wing. i then taped it on both end to secure it. the added weight from the pushrod hasnt effected flight at all and it seems to fly a little more stable in the wind with the braces. just thought i would share my mod with everyone.....

diabolic-mind

i also just added a tail wheel to it tonight so it can be steered on the ground. i went out in the dark just now and tested it and it works great. but full rudder left or right and it spins around in circles so turns have to be done with just a small amount of input.

to add a tail wheel i took the landing gear that comes with the fastlane r/c micro fighter jet (its the same as the starscream jet that used to be popular) and i cut the front wheel of that landing gear so that there was about 3/4 of an inch of the wire left coming out from the wheel. i then straightened it out and gave it a slight curve and pushed it up into the bottom of the rudder. and then i made sure that a small portion of the wire came back out the side of the rudder so that i could use some tape to hold it in place and also to prevent it from twisting left or right so that it doesnt fall out of allignment. i also added some tape to the bottom leading edge of the rudder to reinforce it a bit due to the wire from the wheel being poked into the foam.

yet another thing i did and forgot to post. i moved both the pushrods for the rudder and elevator in 1 hole each on the rudder and elevators servo horn to give it more rudder and elevator throw. i also trimmed a slight amount of the foam off the body where the elevator goes up and down to prevent it from hitting the body and binding up. heres some pics of each, not sure how well you can make out the cuts but the tail wheel is easily visible....

diabolic-mind

i finally had a crash with the playmate, it resulted in the motor being shoved inside the nose of the plane causing the prop to rub the front. it was a rather easy fix. the fuse can be seperated down the seem along the isdes rather easily as it is only held together by double sided tape. to fix i i repositioned it back where it should be and then i too 2 3/4" carbon fiber rods and pressed them down through the holes on the motor mount into the foam in the nose as braces, i left a little sticking out the top sides to go into the foam on the top side of the fuse aswell. i applied a small amount of hot glue just to secure it then pressed the 2 halfs of the fuse back together and VIOLA!! good as new.......

diabolic-mind

i was thinking tonight that it would be sick to extend the wings on the playmate to give it more lift. with wing extensions it would make a pretty good sail plane i think. if i decide to do it ill post some pics for you guys and a guid for it too. ill def use foam plates though,, thats a given

parrot pilot

I've wanted a little back yard flyer like this for a long time.... I have one coming in a few days, can't wait! I'm surprised that there aren't any other mods posted here, this little plane seems like a perfect candidate for "messin' round" with! I'm thinking of just ordering a few parts rather than cutting mine up, unless I have a bad crash first! I was thinking that for about $15 I could put together a nice little bi-plane. Add a little brushless motor, 4 channel... What do you think?

FERNDALE AIR FORCE

I think you might have a bipe for your hangar soon.

Fern

[email protected]

I have several Playmates, they are the most best planes going, unless maybe a Nexstar....We haave flown Playmates most every evening since April... They will fly any day there isnt a hurricane, They fly best in calm air naturally. And the best feature , you can fly them in any big yard...100 ft. sq. is about minium...
As for crashes so far i,ve had many crashes , thats bound to happen -but the only damage is knocking the prop off. When this happens its easy to push it back on , but sometimes it bends the prop shaft some . If someones know how to straighten a Playmate prop shaft let me know plese.... If lucky just push the prop back on and good to go.HOWEVER sometimes the shaft bends and i cant straighten them, theyre too little, the only choice is to replace the shaft and theyre 4 bucks....
Except for occasional prop damage I HAVE NEVER DAMAGEDTHEAIRFRAME and thats a lot of bad landings -dumb thumbs - bad luck - and other stuff that prevent good landings.
Ther should be a law that al fliers should have a PLAYMATE , they are FUN 80 BUCKS FOR EVERYTHING

I also have a ultra micro e- flite cub which is very similar. But its 120 bucks Thats an extra 40 and i dont think its worth it......Jerry Dearmond So. Ohio 740-357-4276

diabolic-mind

hey jerry, the way i straighten bent pop shafts is to look at the prop from the side and turn it with your finger, you should notice a slight bend as you turn it, when you do, keep spinning it a few times until you feel comfortable when you have stopped it at the upward most position, once i get it there i simply grab ahold of the nose of the plane and then grab the prop itself and bend it down slightly. i then turn the prop a few mors the times to see if it is still bent, if it is i keep bending it in the opposite direction until i feel it is straight. once you think you have it straight power it up and give it some throttle. while the prop is spinning look at it from the side, if the blades arent tracking together then you know it still has a slight bend. bu ive noticed that it is still flyble with a slightly bent prop shaft.

also an update on my playmatem i made a optional wing for mine out of foam board. i made it so that it is the same size as the stock wing from front to back, but it is about 3 inches longer on both wing tips. i used my fingers to bend an airfoil shape into the wing thaat is basically the same as the stock airfoil. i also removed the stock wing simply by peeling it up and off. i then used 2 toothpicks and stabbed them through the fuse just in front of and behind the leading and trailing edges of the wings. i did this because now i can use rubber bands to switch between the custom and stock wings. the custom wing give muh more lift and a little more speed. it also has completely different turning characteristics as it doesnt have the dihedral that the stock wing has. ill get some pics up once i find the usb cable for my camera. maybe even a video, who knows

parrot pilot

I have scratch designed and built planes that I've spent ... well, way too much time and money on, and I'm actually as excited about getting this little plane! There are so many times that I just can't get to the field, I'll look outside, all calm (the air, not me) and wish I could fly. It's funny how this plane got TRASHED by almost everyone even before anyone had one, now despite a few hiccups in the first production (the prop for one), this little "toy" has quite a devoted following!
As for mods, I'm a fabricator/artist, so ya know I just got to do something to it! Going to order a few extra props, and the whole airframe with an extra wing today. I'm thinking now of something that's bi-wing using the entire stock wing rather than cutting them down as I first thought, then a 2 cell with the appropriate motor to compensate for the extra weight. Extra reinforcement where needed....... On the other hand Diabolic dude, that EZ star sized wing might be fun to catch some thermals and glide, getting it down might be a problem for me LOL I have a reputation for taking light planes too high and having to chase after them by car!
I've got a few [link=http://www.headsuprc.com/servlet/the-1552/2836-dsh-22-Inrunner-Brushless-Motor/Detail]2836-22 inrunners[/link] from another project just sitting here, OK, WAY too big, but... hmmmm I do like TOO much power, even when it's a waste... but 3 oz.? OK, too much coffee!
Dan

diabolic-mind

hey dan, i suggest flying it stock a few times first before modding it. in stock form it flies so incredibly good. as for people trashing it, well its there loss. out of all the planes i have flown this is by far my favorite. mainly because its so damn easy to fly, its durable, and with the way i fly i can get close to 20 minutes of flight time off of a single battery. as of now i have 12 lipos for all my micro sized planes and the playmate always sees the most sky. i usually fly it a little under half throttle, it flies nice and slow at that setting and i can fly it with just my right hand. i usually use my left hand to smoke a cig while flying lol. but you should love it. ive done alot of mods to it. the larger wing, tail wheel, stock wing extensions, wing braces, oversized props, you name it ive tried it lol. but all in all in stock form its the most fun. the larger wing i made is nice only because it doesnt have any dihedral in it (it is straight all the way across, no upward curve) so it flies a bit faster and turns sharper. im not sure what the manuever is called but i like going into a hard turn then using the elevator to keep it in a tight spinning circle type of turn, and give it a bit of opposite rudder input, when i do this it spins around in a tight circle about the size of a car tire in one spot. it looks kinda cool, almost like its aerobatic.

dan, if your like me and arent affraid of giving the less popular companies a chance then i suggest getting the ERC micro p-51 ridge runner mustang a try. its only 60 bucks, looks much much better than the parkzone mustang, and comes with the controller batteries, 2 lipos, and a display stand. with it i suggest ordering the outdoor prop. it makes it fly so much better. but for 60 bucks you get alot, and its a blast to fly. i have 2 of the mustangs now

parrot pilot

That looks like it would be a cool plane! That's next on my list.
Just ordered the fuse, wings (2), tail, landing gear for the bi-Playmate (that sounds dirty) so I don't have to cut up the stock Playmate. By the way, Hobby Lobby is GREAT, got the PMate yesterday... they ship FAST. Amy ideas on motor/esc/battery combo I could use for this bi-plane?
Dan

diabolic-mind

im not too sure on the whole electronics package to use, i like it the way it is. but as far as getting the most rpm out of a plane i would say order the motor, motor mount, prop shaft and motor/prop gears from the parkzone suhkoi. i got a set of the electronics from a suhkoi from a buddy of mine and the suhkoi motor is larger than the one used in the playmate, and erc mustangs. also it has a higher gear ratio meaning the prop gear is smaller than the ones used on the erc mustang and playmate. i plan to use the suhkoi electronics in a bipe that i built. theres a thread for it in the electric indoor and micro rc flight section. im currently rebuilding the fuse for my scratch buit bipe trying to make it lighter.

diabolic-mind

here are some pics of the alternate wing i made for the playmate, i also included pics of plane with the wing off so you can see how i stuck the toothpicks into the fuse for the rubber bands to hold the wing on, and also 2 pics of the stock wing on the new one for size, and dihedral comparison. enjoy

diabolic-mind

and the rest of the pics

diabolic-mind

sorry about the fuzzy pics, my camera only works when it wants too lol. also the one pic of the airfoil profile of the wing makes it look wicked thick, its foam board and thin but the upward curve i put at the wing tip makes it look thicker than it is

[email protected]

mr diabolic mindWhere can i get an ERC Mustang micro thing. I aint very savvy... J.Dearmond ??????????????????????

diabolic-mind

jerry, you can find them on hobby lobby's web site. here is a link! do you have any experience flying? if not i dont reccommend starting out with the mustang, its a bit tricky to fly. but if you do get one and you are good with working with your hands check out my erc micro mustang thread, theres alot of useful information there that will help you out.

http://www.hobby-lobby.com/micro_p51...54849_prd1.htm

parrot pilot

I want one too! First, to the mods batman! Looking for a brushless motor for my bi-playmate; found [link=http://hobbycity.com/hobbyking/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=7025&Product_Name=AD-C5_Micro_Motor_4.6g_Weight_3700Kv]this[/link]. Wanted to mention Diabolic M, you where Right about how much fun this thing is stock! Glad I decided not to cut her up. Flew three times so far, lots of fun! I think the only thing I might think about changing is taking out just a tad of the dihedral and a bit of the down thrust. I took her up using the breeze to get me up to max height, then cut the motor and ride the waves! 20 min. flights.... nice. It started getting a little too breezy as the morning went on so I took up my E-starter. Ended my early morning flight by getting the E stuck in a 50 foot tree. Oh well....
Dan

diabolic-mind

yeah the playmate has really long flights if you get it into some wind to keep it up there, or what i do is fly it at around a third of full power and it flies for around 20 minutes. get it up nice and high and try some inverted flights, and reverse loops, it does them both nicely. also connect the elevaors pushrod to the inner most hole, the hole closest to the elevators surface, it does nice tight loops with it set there.

[email protected]

Thank You mr DB. 59 bucks get me interested, no matter..... This RC univ. fascinates me ... You answered with some real info, cant get over how handy this RCU thing is.. Dont know why it works or how but think its great-how did I get italics???? Im 78 this stuff amazes me.. Now how do i get rid of italics ????
This is too much I quit.. JerryD.

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Mr DmSOrry I used DB cause I aint too smart...

diabolic-mind

glad your finding rcu useful. its a good thing to have around in this hobby. theres alot of people here including myself who can answe any question you might have about you planes.

parrot pilot

When I ordered the extra wings, fuse, tail, LG from Tower Hobbies, I was so deep in thought of my bi-mate mod that I didn't even notice the "out of stock" ... late July? Anyone know of another source?
Dan

diabolic-mind

i got my first playmate from a hobby shop about 40 minutes from my house, he had several of them in stock. but i dont think he does shipping. the second one i ordered about 4 days ago and i contacted customer support about a arrival time and they told me 5 to 7 buisness days. if you want to check and see if the shop i got my first one from does shipping its called adirondack train and hobby supply. the owner/shop keeper is a nice guy too.

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sourc...LlltPv8xKQHr9A

diabolic-mind

heres a video i shot yesterday of my playmate. it was fairly windy and the cam was stationary so its a bit hard to see.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RhuXqXZODKw