joseph1266

My Feedback: (8)

hi guys,i have a few questions and i hope you can help, i just bought a 50cc airplane. i bought it rtf minus receiver. however i am having issues. they are these... 1. no optical kill switch 2. no receiver regulator 3. no choke set up (no way to operate choke at all) 4. no elevator nuts 5. missing servo extension (wing. bummer) 6. aileron servo screws, one stripped one broken. 7. ignition and receiver switches stacked together 8. batteries together in motor box. look guys, just need a little feed back am feeling a little burned.what do guys think?

apalsson

My Feedback: (1)

Mate, it may not be as bad as it sounds.

1. Optical Kill switches are not mandatory. If you have a manual switch on your ignition and ensure you can kill the engine with the throttle trim, you will be fine.
2. What batteries are on the receiver? I typically don't regulate the Rx voltage, especially on a small-ish plane like 50cc
3. Run a 4-40 wire from the choke and out through the front of the cowling. This is a very simple setup that works a treat
5, 6. You should be able to sort these out in no time
7. This is typically OK with modern electronic ignitions. Just make sure you do a good range check with the engine running (you should do this for each flying day anyway)
8. Same as 7

I hope this is of some help

Charlie P.

No problem. They are nice but not required. Does it have a mechanical kill switch or a transmitter operated non-optical one?
Is it powered with Lipos? If it is 4.8v or 6v you won't need a regulator.
No butterfly valve in the carb? That's very odd. All my gassers have a manual choke for starting. Once started . . . no choke needed. What make is the engine?
Ihave to ask . . . what nuts were you expecting on an elevator?
Buy one.
Remove broken screw piece. Plug holes with epoxied toothpicks, Redrill.
Is that a problem?
There's your problem - it's an electric if it has a notor. ;-) If that's what it took to get the C.Gcorrect without dead weight added that's not a problem. Servos should not be inenginearea due to EMI/Induction.


Ithink Ineed to see the model itself.

joseph1266

My Feedback: (8)

guys , thanks especially for my australian mate. to the guy on batteries i have 7.4 cheetahs... need to step down to 6 volts. you all need to understand that i left the hobby 11 years ago and am new back. these things that i am putting in forum are new to me as tech has evolved. while i love fooling around with this new to me stuff. i'm a bit nervous. my main issue is and has been what and what not should i expect from a rtf plane? i probably shouldn't but i am at: [email protected]. blow me up guys. thanks joe

apalsson

My Feedback: (1)

No problem at all Joe, only happy to help.
We have all been at this point at some stage

Re your Rx batteries, - you might be better off getting some LiFe (A123) batteries for your Rx than use a regulator
That way, you can plug them straight in and there will be one less point of failure
In this game, simple is good !

Spraytec

My Feedback: (18)

Some good advice and all well intended by the previous posts.
Kill switch certainly will come in handy if you have a throttle servo or servo linkage malfunction. Yes it is a requirement in IMAC if u are so inclined.
Regulator .. a definite with 6volt max. servos running 7.4 volt LiFe. Talk to any major manufacturer tech. rep on this issue or put your blind faith in an old electronics engineer like myself!
Servo screws he is referring to just MIGHT be the allen head cap screws that hold on the servo arm to the gear? Don't overtorque them
Choke linkage requires a little bit of thought in this case. (Old style beam mount BME 50 with carb on side. Henceforth: can't use the old hang the 4-40 rod between the zip ties on the standoffs) Maybe a 3inch (or so) rod held by a tight clevis? Possibly the choke lever which sits atop the carb is accessible simply by reaching thru the front of cowl and sort of caressing it a bit!
Elevator "Screws" referred to are in actuality the horizontal stab retainers. (allen head cap screws)
Generally considered good practice to separate ignition circuit from flight control circuit by minimum of 8 inches. In actuality the 2.4 GHZ signal CAN be MORE susceptible to IGNITION SPARK INTERFERENCE due to the fact that it is a "cleaner" signal. In some opinions ... range check it, engine running 30 meters, paces whatever floats your boat and FLY IT LIKE YOU STOLE IT!
If while executing the snap to inverted flat during a blender, one or both wings fold, you will generally need 3 TrashBags and a rake with a 30 %er!

MTK

Should you decide to run A123 and a Vreg, let me recommend the Tech Aero Vregs. I run mine at 6.2 volts for standard (not hi voltage) JR equipment. BTW- with a Vreg, you can use any battery technology, including LiPo. You want around 2000 mah capacity minfor the typical4 hitork-hi speed, 1 very high tork and1 stdservo set-up of a 50cc model. If you double up on the servos for some reason, you will need higher capacity. Will let you fly around 75 minutes for a flying session.

And while you are at it, get the Tech Aero IBEC (ignition battery eliminator). It has certain great features you will find useful, convenient and safe, including an arm-disarm feature from the TX. It's a kill switch plus much much more. If you do get the IBEC, bump up the battery capacity to 2500 min.

A good habit to get into is checking battery voltage after everyflight, at least initially as you are gaining experience and confidence with the set-up,to determine how much voltage each flight uses. You are looking for consistent voltage drop after each flight in every flying session. Stop flying when your battery reaches its rated voltage or just a hair under

All this stuff sounds like a lot but it isn't that bad. The big plus is that you will develop new habits and these things will become second nature quickly. There is so much peripheral equipment available today, it's easy to get sidetracked and spend a lot of money. Investing in a good digital voltmeter is a good idea and is about the only supporting thing you need at the field. This doesn't have to be expensive. There are various sources

Spraytec

My Feedback: (18)

Good post MTK. Another is the Wike IBEF (ignition battery eliminator/ filter) which i am running without issue in a 3D hobby shop 72"Extra. Where space is not an issue (30% and larger) I still prefer a dedicated system with redundacy on the flight control side. Kinda provides a security blanket
If one is intent on flying precision, voltage regulation insures that the servos are operating at the same voltage at all times therefore they respond the same regardless of any change in battery pack output.

earlwb

Yeah for something RTF it doesn't sound like it.

Well as to the choke, some engines started easily enough for the owner that they didn't bother with a choke. Other guys had enough room to reach in and slip the choke on, then they flip the engine a few times, reach inside and release the choke, and then flip the prop to start the engine. Some engines you flip on the choke, flip the prop until the engine sputters and tries to run, then flip the choke off, and flip the prop and the engine fires on up. So it sort of depends on your engine setup and the engine being used. I actually don't have the choke hooked up to use remotely on any of my engines or planes at the moment. Plus two engines have no choke at all on the carbs too.

One doesn't neccessarily have to have a remote cut off for the ignition, unless they are at fly ins or contests, but it is a nice thing to install. You never know if you'll need it or not, and it is handy to kill the engine with too. I have seen guys have a throttle failure of some sort and wind up trying to fly around with the engine at a fast idle, too fast to land and too slow to fly, which usually results in a crash at the end. So killing the engine is handy to have. Some systems, especially the magneto equipped engines use a On/Off switch that is toggled by a servo.

Most electronic ignition systems, that aren't currently made, are usually rated to work on a 4 cell nicad or NMH battery back with 6.0 volts being the actual maximum voltage. So using a voltage regulator with a lipo or LiFe battery pack is a required item. Using a iBec like from Tech Aero works well if one wants to use one battery for both the radio and the ignition system. But using separate batteries for the radio and ignition is still the common method to use though and maybe wise in some cases depending on how sensitive the radio control system is.

Usually one has the ignition components separated from the radio control components, but if you are using 2.4ghz that separation distance can be fairly short if that much. So it depends.

Now as to servos, etc. I don't know, it sort of depends on their brand and quality. I normally use the more expensive brand name servos in a big expensive plane instead of the no name brand cheap stuff. But with a big plane it is easy to damage a servo just taking the plane to and from the flying field when you accidentally bump a control surface or something.

Now for servocableextensions, I either tie off all the connector connections or tape them up using masking tape so the plugs don't come loose easily. For wing and fuselage cables, I take some string attach a weight to one end and feed it through the hole and then with the wing upright, jiggle it down until I can grab it at the other end and pull it through. I then attach the servo cable to the string and pull it through. So it isn't as bad as it sounds if it has to be done, it isn't difficult. On your plane you want to chekc all of those connections closely. Worst though is if the plane has had some time on it, is that the servos may need replacing as the feedback pots and motors get worn out after a while. Very very few people use the servos with brushless motors in them or magnetic non contact feedback pots or optical feedback for that matter.