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Caelus New F3A design by Top RC Model

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Caelus New F3A design by Top RC Model

Old 08-13-2015, 10:42 AM
  #126  
mups53
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Hi Allen it is almost identical in speed envelope to those planes. That being very middle of the road and mostly dependent on how you set it up.
I run the Falcon 21.5x13 which is a tad slower than most.
I flew the Prolog last year and the Griffin the year before and the Nuance part of 2013.
This plane rolls better and snaps better than the others.
That's not to say anything bad about the other planes, It just does.
It's the best plane I have flown to date.
Mike
Old 08-18-2015, 04:19 PM
  #127  
luckymacy
 
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Any new flight reports or videos? Anyone replaced anything stock besides the battery tray? Are the cooling holes either pre-cut or is there markings on the plane where they recommend to make cuts?

Anyone flying and satisfied with trimming it out have any strong opinions on what the 'right' stab, wing and canalyzer incidences should be (yes, I read what the one guy changed it to but there's not been any flight test report to back that up if I remember correctly).
Old 08-19-2015, 04:56 AM
  #128  
jetmech43
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You have to cut the cooling holes, and there are no markings, I used a hole saw to cut mine. As of right now im running .5 on the wing and 0 on the stab, and about .3 on the canalyzer, and im tweaking the set from there.
Old 08-19-2015, 07:04 AM
  #129  
mups53
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The free lipo promo is down to 2 left.
After that it goes away.
If interested still here is the link:
http://www.f3aunlimited.com/caelus
Thanks, Mike
Old 08-29-2015, 12:38 PM
  #130  
kdunlap
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Well, still have not flown my Caelus yet. Most of the delay is just attributed to my schedule. The other part is just little things that are cropping up as I finish it off. The current problem is the latches that lock down the canopy. Despite my best efforts and endless adjustments I can't get the latches to hold. Truth be told this is the first time that I have an airplane with latches like this so there is a learning curve but boy oh boy I haven't found the trick yet. Would appreciate any tips. This is really annoying.
Old 08-29-2015, 04:22 PM
  #131  
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How are you testing the canopy/latches? Mine seem to hold on just fine but I'm not trying to pick the plane up by the canopy either. Are the side latches completely fitting in the pin cutouts?
Old 08-29-2015, 06:19 PM
  #132  
kdunlap
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I slid my fingernail between the canopy edge and fuselage "rail." Pops right off. Did not even have to pull on the canopy. I've been adjusting/playing with the length of the brass pins so that the groove fits into locking pin. 'been moving it up/down in 1/8 turn increments. Can't find the sweet spot where it will lock in. It must have something to do with the latch mechanism attached to the white push-pin. Maybe it is getting stuck. Also, the pins that are about mid way down the length of the canopy are off as well. YIKES. I think my next move is to put some chapstick on the latch to try to lube it. If that doesn't work, I will buy some new latches from Mike.... Yeah... it's a reasonably priced airplane, but it's just these little things that drive me nuts....
Old 08-29-2015, 11:25 PM
  #133  
jetmech43
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Mine locks just fine too,
Old 08-29-2015, 11:28 PM
  #134  
jetmech43
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The pin latches are 3/4 in length on mine if that helps
Old 08-30-2015, 06:45 AM
  #135  
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Just tested mine and the canopy fit is perfect and I can't pry the canopy off once latched. One of the two latches does catch on something and requires extra effort to push in 100% however it doesn't need to go beyond the range where it operates smoothly to actually function nicely. There's an obvious click when the latches catch so there's no question they engage.

One thing thing I did adjust is that the latch knob on each side was barely threaded on, there was a noticeable gap between the knob and fuse, so I snugged them down by hand until the gap is gone.
Old 08-30-2015, 10:49 AM
  #136  
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My latches were the same as kdunlap. Took quite some time to get them adjusted. Also, when I attached the T-can it was set at -2 deg. Not .2 but - 2.
Old 08-30-2015, 11:24 AM
  #137  
jetmech43
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you have to adjust the t-can too
Old 08-30-2015, 11:31 AM
  #138  
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Originally Posted by jetmech43
you have to adjust the t-can too
What are the latest incidences on everything?
Old 08-30-2015, 12:11 PM
  #139  
jetmech43
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I started mine with .5 on wings, 0 on stab and .3 on the t-can and tweaking from there, feels pretty locked in at those settings
Old 08-30-2015, 12:12 PM
  #140  
jetmech43
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Should I say locked in for me
Old 08-30-2015, 01:33 PM
  #141  
kdunlap
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Default Caelus Maiden Flight

CAELUS HAS FLOWN!!! What an incredible airplane. Can't say enough about the Caelus! Got 3 trimming flights in and it was such a pleasure to fly her. If Mike can get a couple wrinkles worked out at the manufacturing end he will have a game changer…. The airplane weighed in at 5185g with zippy compact 5S 5000 batteries. Each pack was 1130/1135. There are certainly some places I can take the weight out and don't see a problem getting the airplane below 5000g. On the first flight I had the batteries at the aft end of the battery tray and the CG was way too far forward. By the third flight the batteries were hanging over the edge of the tray going as far back as the aft end of the wing adjuster. CG better but not great. Will be changing the batter tray so that I can slide the batteries back another 1 - 2 inches. Thanks to the great guys at the FARM club who helped me out!!! You guys are the best!!.
Ken




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Old 08-30-2015, 07:25 PM
  #142  
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Congrats ken. That's a big CG shift. How far back from the leading edge of the wing do you think you'll end up? Where do you have your receiver and RX batteries? Almost sounds like one could put the rudder servo in the tail and keep the batteries motor batteries way up front on the stock tray. What incidences are you at now after flying?
Old 08-30-2015, 08:57 PM
  #143  
Dave Harmon
 
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Originally Posted by kdunlap
CAELUS HAS FLOWN!!! What an incredible airplane. Can't say enough about the Caelus! Got 3 trimming flights in and it was such a pleasure to fly her. If Mike can get a couple wrinkles worked out at the manufacturing end he will have a game changer…. The airplane weighed in at 5185g with zippy compact 5S 5000 batteries. Each pack was 1130/1135. There are certainly some places I can take the weight out and don't see a problem getting the airplane below 5000g. On the first flight I had the batteries at the aft end of the battery tray and the CG was way too far forward. By the third flight the batteries were hanging over the edge of the tray going as far back as the aft end of the wing adjuster. CG better but not great. Will be changing the batter tray so that I can slide the batteries back another 1 - 2 inches. Thanks to the great guys at the FARM club who helped me out!!! You guys are the best!!.
Ken




Ken....you can save a LOT of weight up front by changing to a Falcon carbon prop and Falcon carbon spinner.
I can tell you for sure that if you are moving the battery that much....something is misplaced and should be moved as well as getting as much weight off the nose as possible.
Old 08-30-2015, 11:30 PM
  #144  
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Great guess you got the canopy to latch down ok
Old 08-31-2015, 01:25 AM
  #145  
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Ken, how much elevator trim are you carrying to maintain upright level flight, if any, and is it up or down trim? How are you judging being way too nose heavy and have you adjusted any of your incidences since the first flight?

Last edited by luckymacy; 08-31-2015 at 03:41 AM.
Old 08-31-2015, 05:39 PM
  #146  
kdunlap
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Thanks for all of the questions... Here are the basics

Wings: +0.7
Stabs: 0.0
Tcan: +0.2

Trim +1.90mm or about 2 degrees

On inverted 45 upline airplane will do a gentle split S

receiver is about 1.5 inched in front of rudder servo
esc (see pictures earlier in thread)
receiver batteries just fwd of wing adjusters

I just put the plane on a balancer and my CG would be 1.75 inches behind the wing tube with my batteries hanging off the back of the tray.

Last edited by kdunlap; 09-02-2015 at 02:05 PM. Reason: CG measurement added
Old 09-05-2015, 09:34 AM
  #147  
luckymacy
 
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Originally Posted by kdunlap
Thanks for all of the questions... Here are the basics

Wings: +0.7
Stabs: 0.0
Tcan: +0.2

Trim +1.90mm or about 2 degrees

On inverted 45 upline airplane will do a gentle split S

receiver is about 1.5 inched in front of rudder servo
esc (see pictures earlier in thread)
receiver batteries just fwd of wing adjusters

I just put the plane on a balancer and my CG would be 1.75 inches behind the wing tube with my batteries hanging off the back of the tray.
Is your thrust at 0 with respect to the flat of the fuselage with the canopy removed? Are your incidences relative to the engine thrust or the fuselage flat area with the canopy removed? Have you made any more CG or incidence changes again since you posted?
Old 09-07-2015, 07:47 AM
  #148  
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Here's what I have 'discovered'. I've been using the white latch buttons as the balance point reference. It's behind where the manual's suggested CG is by about the amount some of you guys seem to like better once you fly. To get mine to balance there I have to put the motor batteries FORWARD, not aft, of the main batter tray.
With the light 4500s that Mike sent along with the plane the batteries protrude forward of the battery tray. If I use my yellow zippy 5000mah battery packs they are more or less centered right on the tray, maybe towards the rear a little. So here's some photos including my whiteboard where I kept notes with the different weights involved.
Preface these numbers by saying I don't own a precision scale that can weigh values this high so I'm just using a digital fish/luggage type scale but it seems to be pretty accurate when I test it out against known weights. With no batteries it came out to 3884 grams. 4820 with the 4500 mah pack in the picture. That pack weighs about 950 grams on my food prep scale. So the numbers don't add up the same every time but they are plus and minus about 20 grams or 0.71 ounce which is less that the resolution of my digital scale.
There were a few issues so far that others have also had. The T-can fit is off for sure and in one pic you'll see my temporary solution for first flight to increase the incidence. The front and rear battery tray supports were so poorly glued on that the rear support actually bent up and down like a hinge as you can see in the pictures. I don't know how it managed not to come off as I moved it up and down a couple of times. The front support was glued better and didn't move but it also didn't extent on either side to touch the fuselage side nor did they bother to put whatever kind of glue they used to fill the gap between the front and rear supports and the fuse side. So that's what I did front and back. I used Hysol and glued the back support on permanently and filled the gaps front and back between the supports and the fuse sides. It's stiff as hell now and the tug test says very secure. I was going to use carbon fiber strips to beef it but now I don't think it's necessary. One of the two landing gear halves did not match the predrilled holes so I had to work that out. Hopefully it's fine now. All the hinges are overkill big when you compare what Sebart uses but not worth replacing since the holes are drilled already. However, on the rudder, the predrilled hole in the vertical stab for the middle hinge was drilled so poorly it barely went into the wooden block that was there for it. Instead of being drilled in level it was drilled in at a big angle upwards so that when you looked at the hinge from the inside through the hole in the fuse bottom for the stab adjuster you saw almost the entire hinge out in the open glued to nothing. It was barely touching the block. Those hinges are also a lot longer than necessary and stick out quite a ways through the block. I didn't figure this out until after the epoxy dried so all I could do was cut off the excess from just one of them through the stab adjustment opening. What I did figure out was that the hinge knuckle is too big for the holes drilled so that it prevented the rudder from getting close to the vertical stab and left quite a gap so I carefully opened up the holes at the surface just enough for the rudder to fit better and had to also file away material on either side of the holes so the rudder could be free again to move far enough either way. Much better fit after that. I haven't flown it yet but actually am very happy so far so don't take the above as anything other than just something to keep an eye out for yourself.

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Old 09-07-2015, 07:16 PM
  #149  
Dave Harmon
 
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Lucky......you can buy a pretty decent digital scale at your local Harbor Freight store.....you gotta have one nearby.
It will weigh up to 5kg and is powered by AA cells and also comes with a wall wart.
it measures in grams, ounces and pounds...selectable with a push button.
About $15...I use mine all the time.
Old 09-09-2015, 09:08 AM
  #150  
kdunlap
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folks. great questions and tips. I have been on the road a lot the last two weeks. will be back in the hangar over the weekend to do some tweaking. Thanks.

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