RE: flyzone diablo

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idealhobbies -> RE: flyzone diablo (2/19/2008 2:37:27 AM)
Ok. What I did.... First, I pulled out the thrust director from the rear of the pod. ( The plastic piece that's pointed down across the back.) I Then pulled the rear cone off. I do not plan on putting it back on. It's glued on, so it will take a bit of force to pull it off. Unscrew the front blade. The cone will come off the blade. The motor shaft will be exposed. The shaft adapter has 2 locking screws on 2 sides. They are hex key and very difficult to get to. What I did was measure the depth to the side of the shaft adapter and drill a hole through the bottom of the pod right above the screw end of the prop adapter. This made it easier to get to the locking screws. I found it almost impossible to get the screws back in and the adapter lined up properly while screwing the things back down without the hole. Using pliers, carefully pull the shaft adapter off, may be difficult. Once you get it off, you will see 2 screws that hold the motor into the mount. You will need to apply a little force when unscrewing it because they used thread lock on them. Reverse the process when installing the new motor. Aligning the shaft will be a challenge when installing it. DO NOT PUSH THE SHAFT ALL THE WAY TO THE MOTOR MOUNT!!! You will need to leave a little space in order to reduce friction between the motor and the shaft adapter. I did this at first and the prop did not turn as easily as it should. I found the hardest part was trying to hold the new motor in place while I lined up the mounting screws. I could only get 1 finger in there and it was hard holding it centered while trying to screw it down with the other hand. I have completed my upgrade and will fly it on Thursday (hope it flies that is). My tests look promising. At 1/4 throttle she has a lot of thrust. I have not run it any higher yet. Good luck.

StormJunkie -> RE: flyzone diablo (2/19/2008 5:03:01 AM)
Well glad you got it in. You went about it a little different then I did. Did you use the motor centering ring? Or is the motor only mounted by the two screws now? Had problems with mine as well when I first fired it up. Hope I did not tear the motor up, after all that work I would be pretty frustrated with it all. I pushed the motor all the way forward, but I also opened the center of the duct with a drill so the motor would nestle in. I don't think that is where my motor rub was coming from though. Seems that if you mount the motor the way I did the screws that come with the Ammo motor are too long. Ended up running the motor and hearing a awful grinding and a small puff of smoke. Pulled the screw out and it ran fine. So I shortened the screws with a Dremel and reinstalled. Seems it is working now. Will run it through the 3 minute 1/4 throttle step up tomorrow and maybe get a chance to fly on Wed. If all goes well I will start working on getting them in dual pod. I do agree with ideal though, initial reaction to the brushless is it seems to put out a good bit of thrust.

idealhobbies -> RE: flyzone diablo (2/19/2008 12:12:00 PM)
You should not run static any more that 20 to 30 seconds. It will get too hot. Only solution that I've seen is running a house fan on it while doing it to simulate wind to cool it. I had to trim out the middle of the motor mount to have it fit. My screws did not fit either. I had to use completely different screws and trim those too. I'd worry about the smoke that you had.

StormJunkie -> RE: flyzone diablo (2/19/2008 1:14:07 PM)
I am a little worried about the smoke, but I am pretty sure it was all friction created by the screw. Heck, I am sure not taking the thing back apart. What is the worst that can happen, the thing crashes...As you said I think, been there, done that, bought the tee [:)] The ESC is what needs to stay cool correct? Glad you mentioned that anyway, I have my airflow duct at the front of the canopy blocked by the batttery. Need to put some extra holes in there for ventilation. Thanks ideal, look forward to hearing what you think about how it flys now.

idealhobbies -> RE: flyzone diablo (2/19/2008 2:44:40 PM)
Hell, at this point, I just hope that it flies. If not, I hope that the electronics don't get messed up. I sure would like to know how they got the Aerocell to twist and the wing to hold a brick! What a load of CRAP! If you notice, the wing in the picture is a 1 piece wing: [image]http://www.flyzoneplanes.com/airplanes/hcaa28-aerocell-lrg.jpg[/image]

Erik St. -> RE: flyzone diablo (2/19/2008 9:31:56 PM)
I'm really glad you guys are persuing the improvement of this plane. I wanted to say STOP! spend you money on something better, but the truth is you're getting very good tinkering skills and if all is a failure you have some good motors/esc/batteries and such to drop into a cheap kit. I still may upgrade this thing. Mine as well has tape holding all the broken parts together. Please keep us posted on the progress, esp how it does with a single inrunner. Who said it was hard to get the fan blades/cone thing off the prop? Not for me! I landed/crashed and broke the front off the grey plastic pod, dug out a bunch of dirt and grass, and tried the motor, but it sounded funny. I'm standing there holding it in one hand, staring at the motor, now at 3/4 throttle. Can you guess? Whooosh! The little set screws holding the blade thing to the shaft came lose and it flew past my head a 30ft across the field. Rather than making my Diablo too much better I decided to get a foam pusher, but I don't know what I will get yet. Then again this plane does look and sound cool on flyby's.

lowwinds -> RE: flyzone diablo (2/19/2008 10:55:52 PM)
While you guys keep trying to get this plane to fly the rest of us are out flying our planes . Who is having more fun?

idealhobbies -> RE: flyzone diablo (2/19/2008 11:03:41 PM)
Lowwinds- Yes, we could just throw it in the trash. Yes we could just write off the loss. What good will that do us? The real world B24 crashed twice in it's test phase, yet turned out to be one hell of a great bomber. If you give up on everything that challenges you in life, you are in for one long life, or a short one if you decide to give up on that too.....

mbliss90 -> RE: flyzone diablo (2/20/2008 12:36:39 AM)
I also have the diablo with the ammo set up, tried to fly it the other day for the first time, after 4 hand launches it was off and flying at a very disapointingly slow speed. After spending the original amount for the plane then the wings then the brushless set up I expected a little more than a flying brick. I also ran into the cg problem with being tail heavy. I think my next move will be to get the hobby knife and the torch out and put this chubby bird on a diet. If i ruin it I guess I can't be to much more disapointed, thinking about getting the synaps arf and transfering things into that if this fails.

paul daniel -> RE: flyzone diablo (2/20/2008 12:57:41 AM)
Mbliss90: You hit the nail on the head. It is a chubby little bird. I found that out with the duel pod and short wings. I made a downwind turn and it fell right out of the sky. Looked good crashing though. I would not buy a Synapse although the parts might fit I was not impressed. Check the forums for other EDF's. I have heard good things about the Sanpac planes and the Hobby Lobby A-4. Mostly all new gear but you want to end up with a plane that flies. We have a wind chill advisory here and about a foot of snow. I'm dying to maiden a Twister, which is also a good one. Ignore the early posts. If you build it stock it flies pretty good, I'm told. I love EDF's but these two by Great Planes I think missed the mark.

StormJunkie -> RE: flyzone diablo (2/20/2008 1:44:33 PM)
Morning all. One way or another I am getting this thing to fly....Thinking about just building my own power pod... Also want to know if more Kv on a motor correlates to more power? If so, then why would I not just put the 20-40-4200 or higher brushless in the plane? Anywho, anyone have any experience with the miglet/XPD or have a recommendation on a good electric Bipe? Thanks y'all

Erik St. -> RE: flyzone diablo (2/20/2008 4:20:47 PM)
bliss, or others who say the plane is slow, I agree it is no Stryker, but it is a "trainer" jet. have you seen the video form flyzone? Does yours fly like that and you're calling that slow or does yours not perform like the one in the flyzone video? I really want to know because if you're calling the one in the video slow, then you just need a higher performance plane. If your's does not fly like the one in the video then I think we can help get the thing to do it. When your's is flying slow, is the nose pointing up? If so, and I cant stress enough, you've got to get the weight way forward, again, I had to carve out an inch of foam to get the battery far enough forward and add a nickle. I also have the pod about .75 inch forward which helps. Before these mods mine flew with the nose up and was SLOW, now mine flys just like the video and it's as fast as anything should be with only two adjacent soccer fileds space. Mine flys just like this, not blistering, but fine for a second plane for me. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tWUqR_4DH8&feature=related

brokenplane -> RE: flyzone diablo (2/20/2008 4:21:31 PM)
Hi. I love air planes since i was a kid. I am bought small plane form targe and toy store. but now I am ready to get a new plane. I was looking the diablo and i like the fact that I can convert the Diablo in a bigger plane (meam more power plane). but i saw coments that this plane has a lot of problem. Please let me know How you like it before a buy my. I will apriciate a lot. [sm=drowning.gif][sm=drowning.gif][sm=drowning.gif][sm=drowning.gif]

StormJunkie -> RE: flyzone diablo (2/20/2008 9:11:15 PM)
Erik, when I got it to fly on a calm day it flew pretty much like the video showed. Nice easy flying plane. Have not tried, and won't but have heard bad things about the dual pod and the advanced wing. If the brushless makes it a faster plane in the single pod then I will likely put brushless in the dual and see how it goes...Brings me to my next ???? How do you wire 2 ESCs in? Next ?, I lost my advanced wing instructions, how do you wire it to the Tactic reciever? Next ? to extend motor leads should I just solder in some 16 gauge? Now for my updates....Apparently the smoke from the first brushless motor I managed to get in to a single pod was caused by a short in the yellow wire just inside the large heat shrink on the motor...Going to have to call GP and get that taken care of. Meanwhile I am starting another brushless install and hope it goes better then the first. Also bought one of the tower hobbies scratch and dent $80 "severely damaged" with supposed damage to the tail and wings...Just got it today....There was a very small portion of the top of the rudder that was broken. The wings look better then the set of wings I bought new...Little CA to the rudder and she is good to go. Makes me angry I paid 200 for a new one...Guess I just have to buy several more scratch and dents so that my overall cost goes down...lol[&:] Bottom line is that for $80 that is a heck of a deal. I would not buy another new one, they are too easy to fix and the scratch and dents are just too good of a deal. Y'all please help me out with the above questions. Thanks! ps...The engine pod that came with the scratch and dent has very little glue on it. So far this is the easiest one to come apart [sm=49_49.gif]

paul daniel -> RE: flyzone diablo (2/20/2008 10:22:27 PM)
Storm Junkie: I'm pretty sure you put one wing in Ch1 and the other in Ch6. I think they have PDF's of all the instructions on the GP web site. As far as 2 ESC's get a "Y' Connector for the reciever end of the ESC that then gets plugged into the receiver in Ch3. Since you will be using one battery and I'm assuming you're using Dean's connectors (the red ones) you can get a "T" connector. You will then plug each ESC into opposite ends and then the bottom of the "T" in the connector into the battery that you'll be using. If you need more wire from the motor to the ESC, it's your call. Add more at the ESC or the motor. Stick to the same size and for sure don't go any smaller since you have more current going through this time. "A" for effort on making this "chubby little plane" (I love that) fly. Get back to me when you can on the weather thing.

idealhobbies -> RE: flyzone diablo (2/21/2008 12:54:32 AM)
By God she flew! I got her in the air this morning. The brushless set-up is night and day. I launched at 100% throttle and she took off like a shot. I found that the sweet spot for the throttle was about 50% for cruising. I did most of my flights between 40 - 50%. I did a glide test to see how she handled with zero throttle trying to get a feel for her to land. It glides pretty well with the 40 inch wing span. I was quite pleased with the flight. I have the throws on the servos set to the furthest holes. She turned extremely sharp at high speed and the plane climbs extremely well. This is how I expected the plane out of the box! Seeing my flight performance today, I seriously doubt that the planes in the video are stock. No way. Overall, I'm pleased with the plane now. Now, I am trying to figure out how to land without scooping dirt into the pod. I'm thinking about putting the wheel struts from a Super Cub on it to make gear to keep from ruining the pod or motor. She scoops up quite a bit of dirt/mud/grass on landings, no matter how good your landing. Next up, change out the receiver to AR6000, and possibly the advanced wing set. If you have a Diablo, do a brushless upgrade. She's a decent bird afterward. If you don't have a Diablo, and are thinking about one.... DON'T!!!!! Let this bird go. Good idea, very bad execution on Hobbico / Flyzone's part. My personal opinion, this plane should be recalled, and owners given the option of a different model. For the ones having a balance issue... I dropped in a 3c 2200mAh battery and it balanced right up. I have the battery pushed all the way forward, and it hit balance with no additional weight added. My thanks goes out to Newjak from Wattflyer for all his help!

mbliss90 -> RE: flyzone diablo (2/21/2008 1:43:29 AM)
I have not even tried this thing with thetrainer wings. I went first thing to the brushless setup with advanced wing, I must say it looks very impressive. But as far as performanceit really is lacking, barely enough speed to stay aloft, and for god sake don't cut the throttle the very least bit or it will lose alltitude very quickly. I had to full throttle with the throttle trim all the way up to get any kind of speed to keep the plane up. I am going to go to the basement on friday and I'm taking the dremell to it and take as much weight off of this over weight bird as possible. This includes boring hole in the aft section but not enough to cause structural failure. I have been looking at this closely and the inside of the pod, where it connects to the plane can even stand to lose a little weight. I will then try and use econocote and cover up the gouges. It will probably not look so good but I have just got to try it. If this does not help, I will stick the trainer wings back on and let my 6 year old fly it, he has been wanting to fly it since he first seen it.

idealhobbies -> RE: flyzone diablo (2/21/2008 2:00:23 AM)
Maybe the advanced wings cannot generate enough lift? The brushless that I used is putting out some serious thrust. I agree, this thing is a flying brick. Just for a heads up, for those looking to put in more power, the instructions for the pod say that you should not exceed 50,000 RPM. My 4200kv puts out about 46,620 rpm max. Just keep that in mind.

Erik St. -> RE: flyzone diablo (2/21/2008 3:12:21 AM)
Oh ideal, you're tempting me to upgrade! I have got some 2200 lipos and can't wait to try them. If, I'm happy with it stock (except for the balance and fragility issues), I would be very happy with a faster one. StormJunkie, you're well beyond me with those questions, but I am into weather a ton because I windsurf. Instead of spending more $$$$ on this plane I went the route that all suggest and got a good radio and a foamy jet, "it's cheaper in the long run". Well, I've spent over $400 for a set up, and I will contend that buying multiple RTF is not a bad way to go. I've always wanted the PZ P-51, but didn't get it cause it's RTF.......well, I could have bought 2 with the money that I've spent so far on the cheaper you-build-it. Sorry for the rant, it just reminds me that I'm happy with the Diablo. mbliss: maybe try the beginner wings? advanced don't have the lift? try the beginner wings, I've had success with those, but then again I'm a beginner. Any answers to my questions about the nose during flight? UP attitude? Try it and let us know how it goes. And lastly, if you give up on this piece of trash, let me buy it from you. And I do want to say, that a JET IS A FLYING BRICK! Otherwise it would be a cessna, mine is most fun when I keep the speed up and swoop buy at speed. BTW, and this is sorta sad, I don't crash this plane any more, I just fly it. I used to have something to do when I come home, now I just waste time.

StormJunkie -> RE: flyzone diablo (2/21/2008 4:19:51 AM)
Thanks Paul, you have mail... Just got my "suggested" Ammo motor put in the single pod and it is actually working! Now just to get a test flight sometime. Seems like it has a lot of thrust. Think the Dual pod brushless will be interesting. May even have enough umphh to get it going with those advanced wings. Erik lol at both of the last lines...And thanks for the "hollow out the front of the compartment" tip. I did this as soon as I got it out the box and it made balancing a breeze. Wind surfing huh? You in the OBX area? Just down the coast in Charleston here. Did you check out the site? http://www.stormjunkie.com/qcklnk.php Thanks again for all the help y'all!

idealhobbies -> RE: flyzone diablo (2/21/2008 4:56:43 PM)
For those really wanting a sad sight.... go to Tower Hobbies scratch and dent section and see how many Diablos they have.... it's really sad.

White Raven -> RE: flyzone diablo (2/23/2008 4:04:34 AM)
Has anyone bought any of the "Very Severe" damaged kits? I know Severe damaged was mentioned, but I wonder about the added "Very".... my brother is now interested, and they are cheap... I'm willing to put some work into them, but VERY severe makes me a bit cautious.

StormJunkie -> RE: flyzone diablo (2/23/2008 1:47:13 PM)
Hey WR, A few posts back I posted about a "very severe damage" plane that I got. It was in great shape minus a small crack on top of the rudder; CA+ and two minutes later it was like a new plane. It said "wing and tail damage" There was no damage to my wing. I think several others have posted about purchasing the scratch & dents as well. I would avoid the missing parts one. So basically, I was very happy with my "very severe damage"

White Raven -> RE: flyzone diablo (2/23/2008 2:58:57 PM)
Yup... I was just being cautious, as it stated "Very Severe"... however, I did purchase two with damaged wings and stabs. $68 each!!! not bad... might order a couple more for parts. There WAS a couple listed for $17 but they were used and for parts only. I am assuming they might have used them to "price" the problems with the plane. I noticed several more "damaged kits have been added. And prices seem to have dropped. Very sad sight. I will use one, and the other if for my brother. Figured I'd get them before they are gone. He's never flown before... heh... his B-day is coming up too... :) I agree... will not purchase any missing parts bird. Though, I do have a NIB futaba radio that has sat on the shelf a good while. Wish me luck... because I swore I wouldn't buy one, and now I am!

StormJunkie -> RE: flyzone diablo (2/23/2008 5:36:29 PM)
Yep, thinking about getting another couple myself. Anywho, I hope they do not discontinue the plane. I really hope that at some point they will start providing upgraded brushless engine pods. I seriously think that once the plain has some power it will be fun to fly. Heck, it was pretty fun for me just flying it with the single pod and beginner wings. Granted I am a rookie pilot and this is my first real rc plane. That said, what I truly love about this plane is the construction. Yes it breaks, and is not what they show in that Aerocell picture, but the repairs are about as simple as they get. Again, I am new to all of this, but I do not want to spend hours trying to recover and realign wings, or put hours upon hours into building a plane. I just want to fly, tinker, modify, and make "easy repairs". I mean how many planes are out there that can go nose down from 30 feet up and be ready to fly again 30 minutes later with some CA and packing tape? I am not looking to show off wonderful craftsman ship of a plane, although I really respect those of you that build some of the really pretty, more serious birds but it is not for me. So with all of that said, is there something else out there that I should be flying? I would like to get a Yak or some other sort of sport plane, but again, I am nervous about these ARFs and how much work will go in to the build, as well as what happens if the bird crashes and how hard repairs will be. Eventually I will get something else, but all in all the Diablo, although slightly lacking in performance, is exactly what I wanted.

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