Cub Flyer Fresno

Yeah, really NICE!  Congratulations from me too!!!

One question, from the pictures the top and bottom look a lot alike.  Is that any problem for you?  If it were me... well, let's not go there! 

WacoNut

Not at all,
The green does show up very well, the pictures surprised me a bit as well. I was doing alot of vertical rolls and not once did I get top and bottom side confused. Another pleasant surprise is the white bands on the wings. I could see the L/E of the wing very well on landing and it was easy to tell if the wings were level.
I am topping off the batteries now and I will be heading back to the field in the morning for some more flying. I had the wife and grandson with me today and their interest wore out after a few flights. I am going solo tomorrow so I should be able to get quite a few good flights in.
Later!!
Anthony

WacoNut

David,
Here are a couple more pics. This is how it appears in the air most of the time. Like any paint scheme, once you get so far away it all looks the same.
Later!!
Anthony

VincentJ

Job well done Anthony! Your pictures look fantastic.

WacoNut

Thanks VJ,
I had a good flying session today until the DLE-30 started acting up. I aborted a flight and made an emergency landing due to the engine cutting out and came in a little hot and took a bonce then nosed over and broke the prop. I put another prop on and could not get the engine to run right so I packed up and came home. I am going to start trouble shooting the engine issue. I have another ignition and carb I can try if it comes to that. 1st thing will be to check the ignition battery.

The Stick fly's great and I am sure I am going to really enjoy the plane. I reduced the throws a bit and calmed the plane down a little to let me get used to it and was having fun until the engine issue popped up. Always something.
Later!!
Anthony

WacoNut

Engine problem solved, low ignition battery At least I will know next time when the engine starts missing at 1/2 throttle and above where to look. I peak charged the battery for a bit and the engine runs nice and smooth now thru the throttle range.
Later!!
Anthony

VincentJ

How many flights are you getting between charging?

WacoNut

I put 3 flights on yesterday and topped off the batterie last night(2000mAh) NiMh battery. I should have topped it off this morning. I put 3 flights on today. I did forget to turn the ignition off at one pint and left it on for approx 30 min.
I do have some dead weight in the nose, I will pick up a 3600mAh pack and replace the batetry and remove some of the dead weight.
Later!!
Anthony

acerc

I switched from the 2000mah to the 3600mah a year ago. I don't like having to charge at the field. With the 3600 I get 5 flight's, comfortably. With two plane'seach trip that give's plenty of flying time.
The Stick turned out real nice Anthony. Let's hope you have it a long time.

WacoNut

Thanks Robert,
I had a 3600 in the Stick to start with and the other night I was peak charging the battery and I had the charge setting too high by mistake and cooked the battery. I will pick one up tomorrow and swap the battery out. I plan on flying after work Wed. I think the Stick will be with me a while. It really does fly good.
Later!!
Anthony

joebob

My Feedback: (14)

Beautiful plane! I've been flying on and off for over 30 years and have never owned a Stik of any type. Was all set to order one of these until I stumbled on a deal I couldn't refuse for a RTF Great Planes Giant Stick. I now see why everyone loves these planes. I'm a 3D guy through and through, but yesterday my 50cc profile 3D plane never made it out of the truck, I was having so much fun with the Stick.

I was intrigued by your battery usage as it seemed pretty excessive, so I just checked mine. I use a single 2300mah A123 pack to power both rx and ignition, with a diode inline to drop the voltage to the ignition below 6V. The plane has 4 Power HD 1501s on flying surfaces, and Futaba 9202s on flaps and throttle. After four 8-10 minute flights, I put 924mah back in the pack. That's roughly 230mah per flight. You should be able to get a lot more than 5 flights out of that 3600mah pack!

WacoNut

Hi Joe,
The 2300 pack should have lasted me today but I left the ignition on for a period of I am guessing 30+ minutes, we were all just BSing at the field and watching guys fly it could have been much longer. Anyhow I am using Nimh batteries and from what I understand they hold more ma per cell size than NiCd but tend to start losing power as soon as they are charged and it is recommended that you top off the batteries before a flying session and not the night before. I have a 4200mah battery on the receiver and I have telemetry on my Aurora 9 transmitter so I can monitor the flight battery. From now on I will peak charge the batteries right before each day of flying and I should be fine.

The Stick is a fun plane, I always wated to build a stick and never got around to it but I am glad I finally built one.
Anthony

Cub Flyer Fresno

Okay, this looks like a good spot to for a lesson.  What's the rule of thumb for charging NiMH?  I've just barely started using them and have very little experience.  Up to this point I've been flying electrics.  I have a Turnigy ACCUCELL-6 that I charge my LiPo's with but it'll charge anything else as well.  I know the rules for LiPo's, what are they for NiMH?

Thanks,
David

WacoNut

David,
I am no expert. I charge my NiMH batteries on a cheap DC peak charger. For 4.8v packs I charge at 600mah per hour and 6v packs at 1000mah per hour. My charger has automatic peak detection and shut-off but I am constantly monitoring the batteries for excessive heating. I also remove my transmitter battery from the transmitter and peak charge it at 600mah. It is not recommended to peak charge a transmitter battery with it still in the transmitter.
Mind you as I said I am no expert so don't blame me if you follow my lead and pop a battery I popped one the other night. I thought I had the charger set at 800mah and it was set at 1.6amps. I went out to check on the battery just in time to hear it cook off.
Later!!
Anthony

Cub Flyer Fresno

I guess that counts as an "OOPS!"    My problem is I can't monitor my battery as it's sealed in my Ultimate and I'd rather not disassemble it to get it out everytime.  Although maybe that would be wise as I can inspect everything else before each session.  I haven't flown this plane much but I've been charging at 0.5 amps, it doesn't seem to take that long to charge from what I can remember.  Anyway, from what you said, it sounds like that would be a safe number.  Oh, and I don't know the mAh, just that it's 6 volts.

Thanks for the input, and don't worry Anthony, I won't follow your advice.  You're off the hook! 

Take care,
David

VincentJ

I'm using a single 3200 6.6VLiFe battery (Lithium Iron Phoshate Battery) with a IBEC to cutthe voltage down for the ignition to just under 6 volts. In my club a lot of flyers have changed over to Life from the traditional NiMH batteries.

acerc

joebob,
 I did not say they were out of juice. That's how many flight's I do generally speaking. As far as I can recall I have never put more than 1000mah back in. But I would rather have plenty than run short. I run the Hydrimax NiMh batteries, no particular reason other than I just like them. Although they have dropped the 3600mah, so I will have to change mah on the next build. As for charging I generally charge around 1/3 capacity.

dignlivn

Great job Anthony !!!!!


Bob

malitape

My Feedback: (213)

VJ,
I know what an BEC or UBEC is. What is an IBEC? Who sells them?

Thanks,
pete

joebob

My Feedback: (14)

Oh, sorry for my misunderstanding. There is not much harm in having too large of a battery, especially if you need the nose weight anyway. But there can be a lot of harm in having too small of one! I also have a Hydrimax on the ignition of my 50cc profile. But it seems to lose its charge fairly quick. If I charge it up and don't get to fly that weekend, by the next weekend I recharge it and have to put between 250-300mah back in.

The great thing about the A123 packs is that you can recharge them in 15 minutes, so even if you recharge after every flight you don't have to wait long.

acerc

Many of the guy's at my field are useing the A123's now as well. Maybe some day I'll make the switch. But for now I have too many batteries to consider doing so. Don't want to mix in A123's. Have enough problem's with everything the same.

OldFart1

Here's what I run on the 36% Katana
http://www.troybuiltmodels.com/items/WRCIBEFV2.1.html

wesaysoracing

i guess i need to get off my donkey and finish it's bigger brother , i have the giant stick 50 only have about 4 hours to finish it

VincentJ

Pete, IBEC stands for Ignition Battery Eliminator Circuit. Sold by Tech Aero Designs, here is the link http://www.tech-aero.net/
Very good quality.

WacoNut

Looks like a nice product VJ,
If I didn't need the extra battery weight anyways I would order one.
Later!!
Anthony