Posts: 5522
Joined: 5/11/2006 From: lost coast,
CA, USA Status: offline
Hi all, I got in 2 more flights tonite, dead calm so flying was great. I did notice that I could not maintain a decent heading nor could I pull a clean loop. I found a spot near the motor that is torn. I'll fix that shortly.
I have decided that unless I find something new, or something really bad, that this will become a weekly post. That would mean just simple explanations of flying the bug. I will answer any quetions that I can. But the lack of participation of other bug flyers makes me think this is silly or narcisistic. I have enjoyed sharing my tales of flight with you, and look forward to your posts, if any.
Posts: 1080
Joined: 2/22/2007 From: sparta, NJ, USA Status: offline
Checking on the bug and my ESC beeps 5 times before it stops. Really don't know what it means but its 5 before I fly. Whats next after the bug? Tried the Slick but hammered it and using about 20 dollars of carbon rod to hold it together to try again. Any other planes hold up like the Bug? Very COOL! Ron
Posts: 5522
Joined: 5/11/2006 From: lost coast,
CA, USA Status: offline
Ron, I assume your getting 5 double beeps, that tells you that the timing is set on hard timing, which is what you want.
Not much to write up todayI had a 4 flight day yesterday without a whole lot of anything new. I did meet a fellow that seemed interested in buying the full package.
Ron I'm continuing to work with the bug and I have a tiger moth 400, a zero and a balsa p-40 being sent to me this week. I'm also trying to fly the SU-27XXL with the new bl motor.
Posts: 5522
Joined: 5/11/2006 From: lost coast,
CA, USA Status: offline
Ron, all of my bl esc have a beep signal. They usually beep the number of cell in the battery. My turnigy esc'c throw a fit when the throttle is open and will not give me a normal beep tone. The beep tone also indicates that the esc is armed. I went for the c series brushed esc's when I discovered that they also do the beep tone when armed.
Posts: 5522
Joined: 5/11/2006 From: lost coast,
CA, USA Status: offline
This is a quicky, perfect conditions, I flew 2 batteries, and during the second the starlings came out to see what I was . I had a couple come out last night, but this was a flock of them. Lot's of fun. They do not quite know what to make of a bird that flies inverted and will roll, at anytime.
Posts: 1053
Joined: 10/20/2005 From: corcoran,
MN, USA Status: offline
although this isnt a lightflite bug, its got the same design concept, so i thought i'd toss it in. its a PBF, or pizza box flyer, and its a great little flyer. AUW is 104 grams, but that'll got up when i add some LG or floats, and a 3rd servo to get some rudder control. the gear is an eflite park 250 Bl motor, thunderbird 9 ESC, corona 4ch RX, generic 4g servos, and a 640mah lipo. the park 250 used to be in my Speedster plane, which had a 32" span and weighed over 7oz, and had near verticle performance. this PBF only weighs 3.5oz with the 640mah, so verticle performance and acceleration is outstanding. flight times should be over 20 minutes too.
i can see why these types of planes (the bug, IFO, PBF, and so on), are so popular, they're a total blast!
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Joined: 5/11/2006 From: lost coast,
CA, USA Status: offline
Nick, sweet little build. And you got dinner as well . Have any pbf plans used elevons as big as the bug? The elevons are about 1/3 of the wing surface. Yours seems to like to hover more than mine. I usually hover at the end of a 40' climb, then torque roll it .
Posts: 1053
Joined: 10/20/2005 From: corcoran,
MN, USA Status: offline
hey Tim,
not sure about the elevon size on the PBFs, i just eyeballed mine, and there have been about a million PBFs of all sizes over quite a few years. a search on google for pizza box flyer gives a ton of results though. my elevons are quite small in comparison to wing size, but they're very effective, i can loop and roll in a hearbeat mine hovers ok, its pretty squirrely though, lots of prop torque. i added a 3rd servo for rudder control and its helped quite a bit, but its still a handfull. inverted flight is pretty easy, but sometimes my elevon control turns to complete mush - more throttle is the only cure
do you fly yours on windy days? mine gets kicked around pretty bad in the wind, but if i keep it low, i can hold it in a high alpha and the wind will push it backwards. fun stuff! any vids of yours around?
Posts: 5522
Joined: 5/11/2006 From: lost coast,
CA, USA Status: offline
Nick, lately I'm not flying in the wind but yes the bug will do wind. I just need space. I actually got the hang of the bug in the wind , I built it in january and the weather was poor. So by the time I got the thing going I had one decent flight and then the february weather set in. I wore out both of my 2 s batteries prior to the Daytona race in some pretty heavy wind. That was before I figured out expo and dual rates. Now I run with 20% expo and D/R, and 3s batteries.
My only bug vids are on this thread. One is one or 2 posts above yours , the other is accessible from that you tube link. St Paddy's flight.
Tim
I'm working on a Yak-55 right now, hopefully I can maiden it this saturday. Tim
< Message edited by FERNDALE AIR FORCE -- 5/30/2008 5:01:56 AM >
Posts: 1080
Joined: 2/22/2007 From: sparta, NJ, USA Status: offline
Hey Tim Do you have trouble with the servos on the BUG chattering or twitching especially on the ailerons? They always do this. I replace them and they do it again after about 5 flights. I am using the SG-50 5G servos from Ron. Maybe their a little light weight to hold the ailerons up so they seek center and bounce up and down.
Posts: 5522
Joined: 5/11/2006 From: lost coast,
CA, USA Status: offline
Ron I had that problem with the stock servos and with a set of hitec hs-55's. The failure on the hs-55's stuck me up in that tree. I have hxt-900 on it now and that is a thing of the past. They are less than $4 each from HC. I usually keep a bunch on hand.
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All Forums >> Electric Aircraft Universe >> Electric Indoor & Micro RC Flight >> RE: LightFlite Bug 
RE: LightFlite Bug - 
mine hovers ok, its pretty squirrely though, lots of prop torque. i added a 3rd servo for rudder control and its helped quite a bit, but its still a handfull. inverted flight is pretty easy, but sometimes my elevon control turns to complete mush - more throttle is the only cure 
, I built it in january and the weather was poor. So by the time I got the thing going I had one decent flight and then the february weather set in. I wore out both of my 2 s