Posts: 245
Joined: 12/13/2002 From: Tucson,
AZ, USA Status: offline
Ok, so as usual the weatherman was a little off. It was 60 degrees and winds out of the SW at 9 gusting to 17 which was acceptable for a test flight, but not real useful for trim flights!!! :-) I did get 4 short 5 minute flights, which allowed me to just enough flight time to tell that I’m really going to dig the plane!! Like everyone else, I needed a good amount of down elevator, but rudder and ailerons were spot on. CG felt a little far forward, as I wasn’t able to get as slow as I would have expected before the stall, and it does pitch out a bit more than I'd like on down lines. I'll pull the .5 degree of positive incidence out of the wing and see how it goes. Power was fantastic, and the down line breaking was shocking. The plane fly’s a really nice constant speed if you manage the throttle just right. I've still got to log a bunch of battery figures before I can lay out a detailed report, but here's a couple of pics in the mean time. Overall, I’m really impressed, and the Electric aspect is just incredible!!!!
Bill
< Message edited by Bill_Higgins -- 12/7/2005 12:01:24 AM >
Posts: 3223
Joined: 10/18/2003 From: Nederland,
TX, USA Status: offline
Sounds like they are building these planes with great consistency. You are dealing with the exact same minor trim issues that I am. For now I have resigned to pushing a slight amount of down elevator on downlines to get a vertical track in trade for straight knife edge flight and no coupling. I got 6 flights today in about a 10mph crosswind. Great day for practice, not so great for trimming.. I may play with the incidence/cg on a calm day where I can get a predictable response.
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Mike East AMA793948 RCU Reviews Moderator: 3D, IMAC and Pattern Forums.
I know it is a different plane, but when setting up my Mantis I found that I wanted the CofG very far back to get rid of downline pullout and knifeedge problems, as well as making inverted flight and 45deg flight easier to maintain, but it got to a point where the pitch stability was detereorating. I ended up as far aft as I could get without losing pitch stability.
Posts: 151
Joined: 2/11/2002 From: Maryville,
TN, USA Status: offline
Bill, Can you describe the charging setup in your pictures. What chargers are you using and how many packs can you charge simultaneously using that generator? --Derek
Posts: 245
Joined: 12/13/2002 From: Tucson,
AZ, USA Status: offline
quote:
ORIGINAL: checksix
Bill, Can you describe the charging setup in your pictures. What chargers are you using and how many packs can you charge simultaneously using that generator? --Derek
The Astro Flight Chargers only charge 1 pack at a time, but depending on the charger you use, Im sure you could charge multipe packs easily off of the generator.
Posts: 528
Joined: 1/6/2002 From: Garland,
TX, USA Status: offline
Bill, that's a great setup you've got there, thanks for the pictures as it makes everything much more clear to me (especially the size of that nifty generator).
Can you please give a little explanation of the charging capacity of the generator relative to the capabilities of the chargers. I went to the Honda page and saw it's specs but I'm not sure how that relates to what the DC converters and chargers pull. Also, why did you go with the two 15 amp DC converters vs. just one 25 amp DC converter was it the 5 amps or another reason?
Posts: 426
Joined: 5/3/2002 From: Fresno, CA, Status: offline
You have a lot of $$$ in that charging set up. Sure is slick, but for $100 I have two deep cycle 12V batteries that let me fly all day. Actually, one will do it. A generator would be handy... but for the price of that you could buy another set of 5300s!
Plane looks nice...
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Any pilot can describe the mechanics of flying. What it can do for the spirit of man is beyond description.- Barry Goldwater
Posts: 151
Joined: 2/11/2002 From: Maryville,
TN, USA Status: offline
ExFokkerFlyer, What deep cycle batteries are you using and how much do they weigh? How many 5300 packs (TP 5s4p I assume?) can you charge before running out of juice? Needless to say I'm trying to decide which route to go: small generator+inverters vs. storage batteries. --Derek
Charging a 10s4p 5300 pack (@5A) requires about 220-240W peak give or take a few....so with a 1000W generator it should handle 3 packs charging without much problem...might even do 4.
However your car is the cheapest generator there is I use 2 28Ah gell cells to charge at the field and have 4 packs....I usually only do 5 flights so only need 1 charge at the field.
For charging at home look on Ebay for Iota power supplies, for their size and weight they blow anything away. I have their 55A model which can do nearly 800W, as well it doubles as a float charger for any gell cells you have and automatically adjusts itself for the size of gell.
You can buy a whole lot of gell cells for the cost of one of the Honda generators! As well you dont have to worry about fueling your generator to charge your batteries Or the smell of gas in your vehicle.
Get chargers that can charge 10s....even at less than max charge rate my 2 Schulze isl-330's will charge 2 full packs (2 10s or 4 5s) faster than 2 109's and have more funtionality in that they can charge all types of batteries and have 2 outputs. With TP's new balancer coming out, as well as Schulzes 14s balancer series charging is very simple and safe.
Posts: 151
Joined: 2/11/2002 From: Maryville,
TN, USA Status: offline
Chad, Great info. Thanks. I was planning to get a TP1010C charger + TP210 balancer but TP keeps pushing back the release dates. It sounds like the Schulze's will be my backup plan if TP fails to come through by spring. --Derek
Posts: 426
Joined: 5/3/2002 From: Fresno, CA, Status: offline
I have two Costco Deep Cycle batteries, Kirtland brand actually... just their generic house brand. I think they are about $40-50 a piece. I really don't even need two, but it's nice to have one as a back up just in case. I actually am using the TP ProLite 6000s 5s3p and can usually make six flights with one deep cycle battery as long as the flight's aren't longer than about 9 minutes on average. I go to the field with my two sets of packs charged, I can then recharge each set twice most of the time. If I make a couple of flights a little on the long side sometimes I can only get 5 flights, but that's usually enough for me anyway. I do need a power supply set up for the house, but that's also where the dual 12Vs come in handy as well.
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Any pilot can describe the mechanics of flying. What it can do for the spirit of man is beyond description.- Barry Goldwater
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RE: Genesis Arf Build (Electric) - 
I use 2 28Ah gell cells to charge at the field and have 4 packs....I usually only do 5 flights so only need 1 charge at the field.