Official Hobbyzone Aerobird 3 Thread

Official Hobbyzone Aerobird 3 Thread
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Official Hobbyzone Aerobird 3 Thread - 6/15/2007 2:02:44 AM

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Joined: 5/8/2007
From: Darien, IL, USA
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I maidened my HZ AB3 today. Nice plane, very fast. Unfortunately I crashed a couple of times but it was my fault not the planes.

RE: Official Hobbyzone Aerobird 3 Thread - 5/18/2008 4:34:55 PM

Rob68

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From: , USA
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I maidened my AB3 this morning & this thing flys like a dream! I went through the learning curve on a Skyfly & I don't mean any disrespect here, but this is a plane that will very easily "loop at will"! I got about 2.5 hours in before the winds picked up to the point where it was a struggle to fly, so I brought her in to go back in the hanger. This aircraft has a very good "balanced" feel to it & has a longer tail boom. I was getting 15-20 minutes or more on a battery cause I would bring her around & just ride on the wind w/o any motor. I've got 3, 8.4V 7-cell batteries & 3, 7.2 6-cell batteries left from my Skyfly, which work great in the AB3. I wish my Skyfly would fall out of that tree so I could at least get my battery back! Pro-mode, which basically sets the controls like ailerons on the tail make the plane so responsive! This was the best flying session that I've had yet & was w/o incident. I was considering getting the Aerobird Swift, but after reading up on it & how most say that it really isn't a great aileron trainer, & the fact that I really haven't yet "mastered" a 3-channel fixed-wing craft to the point that I'm bored with it, I'm really glad I trusted my gut & went with the AB3.

(in reply to Cards15mc)

RE: Official Hobbyzone Aerobird 3 Thread - 5/22/2008 6:02:50 PM

Rob68

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From: , USA
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My Zagi 400 pusher-timed specific motor came yesterday & I got her into my AB3 as fast as I could! I definitely noticed a power difference & flew the aircraft around at full throttle in responsive "pro mode" a lot to get myself more used to faster flying. The motor would run a little hotter on average at 120 degrees after a flight cause of the advanced timing. For $8, this upgrade was well worth it. Now I wonder if this motor will fit in a Frebird Phantom?-Anyone know?

(in reply to Rob68)

RE: Official Hobbyzone Aerobird 3 Thread - 5/23/2008 1:00:24 PM

Leo L

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Joined: 10/12/2005
From: Flushing, NY, USA
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Hi Rob,

I'm glad to hear of the enjoyment that you are getting from your AB3. I have the predecessor, the AC, which was a great plane for me for several years. Toward the end of my cycle with this plane, I converted the tail to make a ProTail. It basically doubles the surface area of the control surfaces, making the plane much more responsive to your control inputs. If, and when, yoj are ready to try a ProTail, you make the modification by filling in the gap between the control surface and the sationary surface with epoxy and reinforcing the fill with packing tape that has fiberglass reinforcement. You then cut a new slot toward the front of the tail, causing the entire tip to become part of the control surface.

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RE: Official Hobbyzone Aerobird 3 Thread - 5/23/2008 6:10:27 PM

Rob68

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Joined: 3/31/2008
From: , USA
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quote:

ORIGINAL: Leo L

Hi Rob,

I'm glad to hear of the enjoyment that you are getting from your AB3. I have the predecessor, the AC, which was a great plane for me for several years. Toward the end of my cycle with this plane, I converted the tail to make a ProTail. It basically doubles the surface area of the control surfaces, making the plane much more responsive to your control inputs. If, and when, yoj are ready to try a ProTail, you make the modification by filling in the gap between the control surface and the sationary surface with epoxy and reinforcing the fill with packing tape that has fiberglass reinforcement. You then cut a new slot toward the front of the tail, causing the entire tip to become part of the control surface.

Thanks for the idea. I haven't even moved the control rods to the hole on the horn closest to the control surfaces yet! It already feels pretty responsive & must really be wild with your pro-tail mod!!!I'll have to try this when I get to the point that I start getting bored. I have seen that people even put ailerons on the AB3. (I was starting to wonder if anyone out there even had this plane). I don't have much of a budget for my hobbies, so maybe once I have mastered the V-tail set-up, I will go ahead & add ailerons instead of buying a new plane.

< Message edited by Rob68 -- 5/23/2008 6:15:20 PM >

(in reply to Leo L)

RE: Official Hobbyzone Aerobird 3 Thread - 5/26/2008 3:31:54 AM

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Joined: 2/14/2005
From: quebec, QC, CANADA
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Can someone tell me what are the 4 cutoff settings for the esc. The first two beeps looks like they cut off at the same voltage and the third looks like it is higher and the fourt looks like the two first one.

Thanks
Luc.

Ok Found the answer
1 beep = 5.6V (6–7-cell Ni-MH )
2 beep = 6.0V (8–9-cell Ni-MH, 2-cell Li-Po)
3 beep = 9.0V (3-cell Li-Po)
7 beep = 70% Smart Cut soft cutoff

< Message edited by supermp -- 5/26/2008 12:47:48 PM >

(in reply to Rob68)

RE: Official Hobbyzone Aerobird 3 Thread - 5/27/2008 12:51:32 AM

Rob68

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From: , USA
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I had a great flying session today!!!, it actually stopped raining for a while & the sun came out. I picked up some 2" lite foam wheels for the landing gear & was ready to take the next step with ROG & landings. My fav. flying place had a few puddles & a little mud! I felt like a WW1 pilot puddle-jumping across a muddy field with a little mud splashed on the fuselage. Wow-ROG takeoffs are easier that hand launches! When your into the wind, you don't even have to give her full throttle-nice & smooth. I also learned to fly in the wind today. I would say the wind was around 10-12 mph, so I was careful to stay upwind & would cut to half throttle & bring her around, riding the back of the wind. I would hit full throttle, turn into the wind & pitch the nose slightly down to cut through it. I have noticed that as my flying skills are improving, I can handle more wind. I flew at half throttle most of the time, just carving lazy eights. I did a couple of loops, tail slides & chandelles, but I didn't wanna push my luck in the wind. I went through my 6 battery packs, which gave me over an hour of flying time. A few of my landings were so smooth that I could of caught the bird! All in all, just a perfect way to end the holiday weekend.

(in reply to supermp)

RE: Official Hobbyzone Aerobird 3 Thread - 5/27/2008 1:13:07 AM

Rob68

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From: , USA
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-Is the Aerobird 3 considered a scale aircraft if you put a Luke Skywalker action figure next to it? It looks like it would be the right size for a human. I can just imagine this as a somewhat cheap, modestly powered, glider with a slider throttle & a stick for control.

(in reply to Rob68)

RE: Official Hobbyzone Aerobird 3 Thread - 6/11/2008 7:25:31 PM

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I've made several modifications to my Aerobird 3. The first one was a nylon nut & bolt for centering and holding the wing in place. This not only makes it easier to attach the orange rubber bands, but also reduces the amount of wing shift and propeller tearing up the trailing edge of the wing during a crash.

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RE: Official Hobbyzone Aerobird 3 Thread - 6/11/2008 7:33:50 PM

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The next modification was to reinforce the beam while enlarging the hole opening (both width and length) so the guide wires didn't drag/bind requiring more servo arm torque then necessary.

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< Message edited by Swift427 -- 6/11/2008 7:34:30 PM >

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RE: Official Hobbyzone Aerobird 3 Thread - 6/11/2008 7:42:55 PM

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The next modification was a more substantial canopy hold down. The first was drilling a hole for a small nylon bolt in the bottom of the fuselage for securing a rubber band. This still wasn't secure enough and looked kind of funky. Then I cut through the hinge so I could remove the canopy for later converting to a 3S LiPo w/480 brushed motor. I now use just electricians tape to hold the canopy in place during flight.

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RE: Official Hobbyzone Aerobird 3 Thread - 6/11/2008 7:51:32 PM

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The next modification was the Pro-tail. It's OK on the conventional rudder low throw rate, but IMO is too much surface area for the mixed ailerudder high throw rate. Takes some getting use to as the mixed ailerudder on the high throw rate is very touchy/sensitive.

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RE: Official Hobbyzone Aerobird 3 Thread - 6/11/2008 8:01:33 PM

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The next modification was adding another orange rubber band shaft&nub for better securing the parachute and combat module. The combat module I had fit my Challenger, but it didn't fit tight/close on the A3. I had to remove some of the module stand-off as well as some of the rear undercarriage of the fuselage. I then filled the open area with epoxy. I also put some extra epozy around the boom where it enters the fuselage. I only use the combat module as a shrill locator if the A3 should ever get away from me and go down out of site.

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RE: Official Hobbyzone Aerobird 3 Thread - 6/11/2008 8:23:10 PM

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Finally, punching 4 holes in the cowling with a pencil soldering iron for a tie wrap to better secure the 480 brushed motor. Also, some rearranging of the cockpit interior to make room for a 3S 2000mAh 8C LiPo. This required removing some of the forward styrofoam and a slight repositioning of the X-port connector and sanding off a little of its edge. It's a tight fit, with only 1/8" between the rear of the LiPo and the Rx/ESC. I foamed in the LiPo on this A3 so it isn't going anywhere. Probably not the smartest idea, but the current draw(flying pattern) isn't enough to even warm the LiPo above 98.6F. I also greased the LiPo and it has partially released from the foamso it can be removed; however, with my 4 other planes (one is a Challenger) I don't need to fly it more than once a day. No problem charging it in the cockpit.

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RE: Official Hobbyzone Aerobird 3 Thread - 6/12/2008 1:08:00 PM

Rob68

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-Very nice Swift, I haven't checked out this forum in a while. I've been on Wattflyer more often. Lemme know how she flies! I think you just turned a "Wildcat" into a "Hellcat"!!!

< Message edited by Rob68