shannah

My Feedback: (5)

What a great flying day it was. I put in several flights on the Essence and I'd say it was very successful. It is a very stable and great tracking airplane. After about 5 flights on it I had it pretty well trimmed out, thanks to the help from Andrew Jesky who drove over from Yuma, AZ to fly with me today.

The first flight showed that it needed some left aileron trim and a bit of down. But after that it was just some very minor mixing trims. A very small amount of down elevator at low throttle to correct a bit of a pull to the canopy on downlines, small amount of rudder/aileron and rudder/elevator. I also had a very slight rudder/throttle mix. Minor tweaks was all it really took.

It tracks really, really well. I am looking forward to my next flights so that I can try some more complex maneuvers. I pretty much stayed with P15 sequences today. It has tons of rudder authority and looks like it will do well on the F15 rolling loop etc.

All in all, I am pretty impressed with it. It was very easy to set up and get tuned in. It won't take much to finish dialing it in.

I was really fortunate to have Andrew visit today. He helped me dial this in quickly. It turned out to be a fantastic flying day. Great weather, great people and great airplanes. I really enjoyed flying his Proteus. That is a great flying airplane!!.

I think B.J. achieved his goal with the Essence. It is a very good tracking airplane that just about anyone will instantly lock in with. If you liked the Nuance, you will be amazed at the stability of the Essence. If you were impressed with the Episode's knife edge performance then you will really like the Essence since it is easier to fly through the rolling loops etc. It is faster, overall, than the BiSide, but I think it can be flown at a similar pace.

It was a very successful first outing. Hat's off to B.J. once again.

shannah

My Feedback: (5)

I put in 6 more flights on the Essence this afternoon. I changed to a larger servo arm on ailerons and increased my travel for snaps. It does very nice, crisp snaps. I still have to work on dialing it in on upline snaps a bit, but it is doing good so far.

It is an extremely consistent flying plane. I flew it in fairly windy conditions early in the afternoon and in dead calm later. It really felt very solid in all the conditions. So, that is really a good sign since it seems to handle the turbulence quite well.

I also switched back and forth between the two blade and the three blade. On the BiSide, it was a night and day difference to me. The BiSide really tracked and flew nicer on the MZ 20x13EL 3 blade. However, the Essence doesn't show much performance change between the two props. I may just stick with a two blade since it is easier on the packs (and cheaper in case you have a mishap.....)

I feel very comfortable flying it in P15. It has no bad habits. I still need to work on settings for F15 so I may not have it ready for the Hemet contest next weekend. I have noticed that it really does nice rolling loop maneuvers. It is effortless. The axial rolls are really easy and it does great at the 4 opposite rolls in F15. So, I think it will be a good one once I get it all dialed in. But, with only about 13 flights I haven't had time to get it set for F15 totally.

Overall, I'm very happy with this one. Only two flying sessions and I feel comfortable and confident with it and think I could do well in P15 competitively. It is kind of funny, at first I thought it looked very large. Now, after seeing it at the field and flying it, it looks normal to me and the other planes look rather....small....

bem

My Feedback: (1)

Hi,
Any flight video available on the G2 Essence?

/Bo

Daveeast

Has anyone upgraded links, or tail wheel?

ewan

Aileron linkage as per kit with Z bends and 2mm ball links. We changed the elevator and rudder linkages with a 3.5 inch titanium 4-40 left and right thread turnbuckle action linkage with 4-40 Du-Bro ball links. A Du-Bro 4-40 link with 2mm balls would also work well. Reasoning being with a IMAC size servo use an IMAC linkage! I think a carbon tube slipped over a standard linkage would work well. I am sure there are plenty working well in standard form.
The tailwheel and its linkage is totally trouble free proven over 450 flights on BJ's aircraft, some of those on tarmac. (Nuance and Biside also)
The 3mm cap screw axels on the mainwheels seem inadequate but are also trouble free.
Photo shows the rudder linkage. The rudder is removable with piano wire thru the hinges for airfreight
Ewan.

Daveeast

Cheers Ewan, my first impression was that the accessories looked little cheap, but I am not interested in adding bling for the sake of it, which JR servos do i spy?? Dave

Hamish Galloway

Hi Dave.. We ended up putting JR DS-8911 on rudder and elevator running on regulated 6.0v..A bit over kill but they are well proven and center really well. They are on the heavier side at 69 grams.

I have run JR brushless servos in the Biside but didn't like the feel of them it the air so went back to what I know..

Daveeast

Umm, I was contemplating 8411,9411HV's on the Lipo direct

Hamish Galloway

They would be perfect for the Essence.. We are running 9411 on the ailerons..
I'm a fan of stable voltage to get consistent feel of the model so if you can regulate to a stable 7.4v for your HV servos is ideal.

Hamish Galloway

Just thought I'd post my control throws and setting as a starting point for anyone that wants to use them..

I fly with a farly soft feel and fast snap...

Essence control Rates

Elevator


Servo horn length 13mm .. ATV 140% ...... I also slowed the servo speed down by 0.27sec on my JR xg11


Main Flight Mode

Travel 14mm up & dn or 5 deg up and dn

Expo 7% up & 10% dn

Snap Mode

30mm up & 24mm dn or 10.2 deg & 8.2 deg Dn
I unload elevator in the snap

Expo 55% up 62% dn


Spin and Rolling loop Mode

30mm up & 24mm dn or 10.2 deg & 8.2 deg Dn

Expo 55% up 62% dn

.................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .....................

Rudder


Servo Horn length 15mm.. ATV 140% ...... I also slowed Rudder servo by 0.25sec which made the rudder less sensitive


Main Flight Mode

Travel 65mm for first 25% of Throttle stick then
reduced to 50mm from 25% upto 100%
of the throttle stick Helps the stall turn klick
over at low throttle

Expo 75% left and right

Snap Mode

43mm left and right

Expo 70% left and right

Spin and Rolling loop Mode

55mm left and right

Expo 75%

.................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. ....................

Ailerons

Servo Horn length 13mm .. ATV 150%

Main Flight Mode

Travel 7.5 deg up or 11mm up
7.5 deg dn or 11mm dn

Expo 75%

Snap Mode

29mm up or 20 deg up
29mm dn or 20 deg dn


Expo 90%

Spin and Rolling loop Mode

3.5mm up or 2.5 deg up
3.5mm dn or 2.5 deg dn

Expo 50%


.................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .....................

Mixes

I havn't got many ..

Throttle to elevator at low throttle down line mix 1mm dn elevator at low throttle

Throttle to Rudder.. 1mm right rudder at full throttle

Rudder to Aileron .... its like 1% on the transmitter +\- to suit

Rudder to Elevator .... none

Prop sizes

I have tried mej 20x13 Blade which i ran for 70 flight which was very constant speed in New Zealand's colder thicker air but was hard on batteries in Australia's hot thin air so changed to my Falcon 21.5 x13 with more brake which i'm going to stay with for normal conditions...

Falcon 21.5 x 13 light wind to moerate closer F style pattern

Falcon 20 x 13.5 stronger wind and larger F style pattern

.................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. ...................

C.G

I like to fly with a slight forward C.G so balance point is at the back of the canopy frame with wings on as shown in the picture attached..

shannah

My Feedback: (5)

Here are some pics of my linkages. I use ball links for all surfaces except the flying stab. I chose to use ball bearing clevis links on that. I use Central Hobbies carbon tube with titanium threaded rod for the links on the elevator and rudder. Ailerons are Dubro Ball Links with carbon fiber rod CA'd in place. That setup has worked great on many planes.

My servos are Futaba BLS171 on ailerons and elevator and BLS175 on rudder. I probably could have used BLS171's all around
.

I will be doing more setup flights in the next few days. My CG and settings are similar right now to Hamish and Ewan.

Oh, and by the way, I used my last New In The Box MK Tailwheel on this plane. I was saving it for something special.....

MAVROS

Gday Hamish,

Mate I had a chance to have a look at your machine at the Aussie NATS.Very nice...

I have a question for you if I may.

In your post you state that for the Elevator your control arm is 15 mm and your ATV is at 140 % how big is your servo arm to achieve the 15 mm surface travel.

kind regards

Mavros

AUSTRALIA

Hamish Galloway

Hi Mavros.. The servo arm from centre of the servo to centre of the ball link is 15mm.. The control horn from outside of the Tailplane

surface to the centre of the ball link is 45mm .. Hope this is some help.

i look forward to coming back to the next masters.

Take care Hamish

shannah

My Feedback: (5)

We had a really nice flying session today out at OCMA. Bill Wallace came by to check out the field prior to next weekend's contest. It was another perfect flying day at that field. I lined it up next to his Nuance and you can see the profile difference in the planes.

I am really happy with the progress on the Essence. It is a great flying airplane. Very, very consistent. It draws nice lines and really plants well in the lines.

Here is a tip for flying setup, based on what B.J. Park told me.

1. CG at 230mm from LE of wing. (or very close to that). Hamish's picture above is very close to that mark but is slightly forward. His position works too, but I moved mine back about 1/4" or so
2. Trim the plane for level hands off flight at 70% throttle
3. Adjust wing incidence so that you get rid of any aileron trim
4. Fly it again and check Knife Edge.

You will see that with the CG at that spot and trim for 70% throttle you will have no rudder to elevator mix on knife edge. That's right. I turned off my rudder/elevator mix.

It will need a slight amount of down elevator at low throttle and it may also have a slight aileron to rudder mix, but very little.

That's about it. My experience is similar to what Hamish posted earlier.

I spent most of today working on my snap setting. I ended up using a switch enable stick condition for snaps. I throw the switch and that enables stick position snap condition. I tried that on Andrew Jesky's Proteus and liked it. I had tried stick position snaps before but didn't like them, but using the logic function to turn it on or off works really nicely. The snaps are great on the plane. Knife Edge snaps stop on a dime and look awesome because this airplane flies knife edge nearly perfectly flat with no nose up attitude.

I did set up my snaps differently on this plane than on others. Normally, I would set maximum aileron and then reduce elevator and rudder slightly from normal flight. However, on this plane I boosted the elevator and rudder throws for snaps. It snaps really cleanly in this mode.

I also set up a spin condition where I go to higher rudder throw and also increase the elevator throw quite a bit. With the flying stab you really want to get the increased throw so you can get the nose up upon spin entry and you will have a clean break into the spin.

That's about it for setup. I've only got 30 flights on it now and I am feeling comfortable with it, even in F15.

This is an extremely easy airplane to fly and really has no bad habits that I can find.

RuneG

Hi
I have been looking on this planes from BJ some wery nice designs, but I have some questions to you guys that have some 100'd flights on them .
Some off them has full flying stab , I'm a bit concern about this ..mostly because this is not what we are used to have ...
And I has try to find out how is the stab "hinged" is it just a carbon tube inside another carbon tube?
What are the main flying advantages and maybe what are the disadvantage With this system?
I'm think about will this system be thight after maybe 500 flights ?

shannah

My Feedback: (5)

Hello Rune

i have flown the flying stab on the BiSide for about 1year. It is still very tight and moves well.

The Essence uses the same mechanism as the BiSide. The center carbon rod is inserted into the carbon tube in the fuse. There are 1mm smooth washers which form a bearing surface for the stab halves to ride on.

I like the overall feel of the flying stab. However, I have not flown the BiSide or Essence with a traditional stab so I have no true comparison. But, my impression is that it is easier to fly round loops and consistent radius with this stab. It takes less work to keep the loop round. I find that less elevator change is required in a loop and the throttle really helps to keep it round.

The flying stab takes much less expo than a standard stab so it has less bad effects from expo.

It takes a lot more elevator to bring the nose up for a spin.

Overall, I really like it.

The Essence is available with either flying stab or traditional.

wildwillie3

Steve,

In post #54 you have pictures of the wing adjusters installed, but I didn't see the carbon tubes installed in the front holes. Is that because they are not needed if you are using the adjusters?


Bill

shannah

My Feedback: (5)

I left the front anti rotation pins out for the first couple flights so that I could adjust any incidence as needed. I zeroed out the aileron trim and then put the anti rotation pins in the wing and the reinforcing donuts on the inside of the fuse.

wildwillie3

Okay thanks!

patternflyer1

My Feedback: (11)

Just heard from Alex last night and mine is shipping.. I'm excited about this plane! Thanks Steve for the tips! Mine will be flying 2 days after I get it. Looking forward to it!

Sorry I gotta miss the contest Steve, I had to work today and tomorrow after almost 4 weeks of having no work. What are the odds? Have a great contest!

Chris

TonyF

My Feedback: (92)

I got a chance to fly Steve's model this weekend at the contest. This is a great airplane! It does everything extremely well. This model is a winner!

shannah

My Feedback: (5)

I really enjoyed flying it in contest conditions. It is so different flying in competition than in practice. But, I felt very connected to the plane and even with so few flights, it is really competitive. The bad news, for me, is that I mid aired it in my first F15 round today



Luckily I can fix it. The impact was basically at the tail wheel and there's a hole in the fuselage where the tailwheel used to be. My rudder got ripped out as well. That was a pretty clean break and the rudder post can be glued back in. I just have to repair the rudder servo tray, glue in the rudder post, carve a balsa filler for the gaping hole, and glass it over. Some glass, primer and simple white paint and no one will know!!

Lots of positive feedback on the presentation of the plane. I felt like I was able to really plant the wings on the finishes of rolling segments to give a good crisp finish look. Once I get acclimated to it (I was adapting after coming from flying the BiSide for over 1 year, which is pretty different in feel) I should be good.

I think Tony hit the nail on the head. This is a real winner.

It is, as I have said, an extremely consistent flying airplane. Headwind, calm, crosswind, turbulence, it really handles these conditions well.

Here's a pic from Friday practice at OCMA showing it with the Proteus and Galactik. I used to think the Galactik was a large plane. I had a lot of comments about how well the Essence presents and how good it looks in the air.



Some other notes from this weekend's contest:
-most of my P15 flights were in the 3200mah range
-I have some fine tuning of settings to do, but right now I am still at zero rudder/elevator mix
-I will probably reduce the throw on the flying stab a bit. I am at a longer arm than recommended by B.J. Park, so I will reduce the arm length on the servo
-I set up a spin condition with a much higher elevator and rudder rate than stall turn, I liked it
-knife edge flight is effortless.....

bem

My Feedback: (1)

Do You know in how high winds You have flown the plane?

The fuselage height on G2 Essence is very high so one could suspect the plane to be little more sensitive to higher (cross)wind conditions?
Maybe You can compare this subject to other planes You have flown.


/Bo

shannah

My Feedback: (5)

Hello bem,

I have flown it in winds of various conditions. I did not measure them in any exact fashion, but we have a wind sock at our field which gives us a good indication. I think the highest winds I have flown have been approximately 15 mph with stronger gusts (perhaps 20 - 25 mph). This is also true for cross wind flying. In addition, at the site which I have been flying the Essence we can have some turbulent conditions when the wind comes from specific directions.

My feeling is that this is a much better tracking airplane in the wind than any other design I have flown. It takes less work for wind correction and is less sensitive in "bumpy" or turbulent air. In addition, It is more consistent across all conditions than the previous airplanes I have flown. There is less change from calm to windy than, for example, with the BiSide.

Hope this helps
Steve

Daveeast

Which size arm are you guys using on the stab, rates and expo, I am just waiting for my engine to back from the UK before staring my build, Chris Bond has kindly upgraded the gearbox.