Guan 'Li 64 MM Brushless A-10
07-07-2010, 09:15 PM
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Guan 'Li 64 MM Brushless A-10
This is my re-entry into modeling in about 20 years. I used to fly control line speed and combat years ago as a kid and about 23 years ago tried getting into RC but, alas, life had many pressures and demands. That was then. This is now and I hope to squeeze a bit of time for the new hobby.
My Grandson got me interested again and I gave some thought to getting what I hoped would be a fairly stable planform but with a bit of juice. The Memorial Day sale at Nitro Planes tipped me over the edge and I decided on the Guan 'Li A-10 64 MM EDF. I also ordered the ESky simulator anda micro camera with 2 GB micro card. Ordering was easy but the wiat from the West Coast to Georgia waslengthy.
Time was at apremium so I had to set the plane aside but I didcheck out the micro videocamera/recorder. In attempting to charge it upand check it out I foundthat the cord was intermittent. Ihappened tohave a cell phone programming application with anumber of adapters and using that set up I confirmed that the cord was the problem. This is a pretty neat little gizmo and I'm looking forward to mounting it in the plane at the appropriate time. As for the cord, Nitro Planes is sending a replacement.
I couldn't keep my hands off the plane and checked it out for parts, etc. The first thisng I noted was that all the seals on the box had been slit. The plane cost $99.95 on sale and it was advertised with no ACcharger. I figured that there might be a DC charger but, alas, no. On the inside of the cover I found a QC checklist and clearly marked was the line showing that the box had been packed with a charger at some point. Question: Is/was this a tactic to sell the charger separately (a charger was specified as an option for around $50.00 when I ordered) to realize some more profit. Hmmm.
All parts were present otherwize and I am quite pleased at the finish on the airplane and the general quality of the product. Well, life has its demands and the plane was set aside.
Later I had some time and hooked up all the electronics (the instructions could be improved andthe drawing of the electronics for the fans was incorrect/incomplete with nodetailed explanations. I have an electronics background and made a stab at the hookup and the first time worked great. I'm really surprised at the power of the EDFs. This thing may just haul! Later my Grandson came over and I hooked up everything again to show him and all was fine. He's amazed too.
Finally, last night I had some tie and decided to work on theplane again routing wirining out of the way of the aileron servo arms, attaching the vertical finsand installing the fans to the fuselage. NOTE: Idecided to use epoxy over the rubber cement supplied. All went well and after letting the glue dry overnight I decided to test things again. The fans wouldn't come up. They just continued to beep periodically. I topped offthe batteryjust to be sure it was OK. Still no good.
Later today after checking connections and even consulting some of the forums and configuration routines I pulled the ESCs and checked the wiring again for any obvious faults. Nothing. In pulling the ESCs I noted that one (Starboard) was a bit warm while the other (Port) was at ambient room temperature. Not knowing what all the initializing beeps meant and how to troubleshoot further I called Nitro Planes and eventuallyspoke with "Charles". We went through a number of checks and finally it was decided that the ESCs are bad. They've issued an RMA (and they're sending a replacement USB cord for the camera). I'm still enthused and can't wait to get the thing done and to try it out. I look at it as a positive that I'll get more simulator time to practice....
Pros:
The product arrived as stated although I have questions abouth the charger thing
The product arrived in one piece even though it came across the nation by UPS
The finish and detail are surprisingly good even though this is my first look at this new stuff
The price was right
The ESky simulator is pretty good given the price of $20.00 and beneficial for me
Nitro Planes is standing behind their product
Cons:
This is not truely a RTF plane as advertised. A number of things were noted.
Fuselage holes for EDF wires needed to be opened up
Wing decal is upside down
The wing servo mont needed to be relived just a bit with a Dremel tool
The wing servo arm needed to be drilled out for the linkages
The Port wing aileron hinge came loose but just a bit of CA took care of that
The aileron arm fittings needed to be drilled out for the links to fit
The camera USB cord was faulty but, as I said, they're replacing same
The simulator doesn't allow you to view your immediate suuroundings while flying the planes.
This doesn't allow you to have that perspective and setup for an approach can be a bit of a
challenge if you're trying to land on the runway. I've had a fair number of grass strip landings
and you can even pull off a landing on the water without sinking.
All in all, even though there will be some delays for the replacement ESCs, I'm still looking forward to getting this plane done and in the air. Maybe there will be enought time to squeeze out some sky time.
My Grandson got me interested again and I gave some thought to getting what I hoped would be a fairly stable planform but with a bit of juice. The Memorial Day sale at Nitro Planes tipped me over the edge and I decided on the Guan 'Li A-10 64 MM EDF. I also ordered the ESky simulator anda micro camera with 2 GB micro card. Ordering was easy but the wiat from the West Coast to Georgia waslengthy.
Time was at apremium so I had to set the plane aside but I didcheck out the micro videocamera/recorder. In attempting to charge it upand check it out I foundthat the cord was intermittent. Ihappened tohave a cell phone programming application with anumber of adapters and using that set up I confirmed that the cord was the problem. This is a pretty neat little gizmo and I'm looking forward to mounting it in the plane at the appropriate time. As for the cord, Nitro Planes is sending a replacement.
I couldn't keep my hands off the plane and checked it out for parts, etc. The first thisng I noted was that all the seals on the box had been slit. The plane cost $99.95 on sale and it was advertised with no ACcharger. I figured that there might be a DC charger but, alas, no. On the inside of the cover I found a QC checklist and clearly marked was the line showing that the box had been packed with a charger at some point. Question: Is/was this a tactic to sell the charger separately (a charger was specified as an option for around $50.00 when I ordered) to realize some more profit. Hmmm.
All parts were present otherwize and I am quite pleased at the finish on the airplane and the general quality of the product. Well, life has its demands and the plane was set aside.
Later I had some time and hooked up all the electronics (the instructions could be improved andthe drawing of the electronics for the fans was incorrect/incomplete with nodetailed explanations. I have an electronics background and made a stab at the hookup and the first time worked great. I'm really surprised at the power of the EDFs. This thing may just haul! Later my Grandson came over and I hooked up everything again to show him and all was fine. He's amazed too.
Finally, last night I had some tie and decided to work on theplane again routing wirining out of the way of the aileron servo arms, attaching the vertical finsand installing the fans to the fuselage. NOTE: Idecided to use epoxy over the rubber cement supplied. All went well and after letting the glue dry overnight I decided to test things again. The fans wouldn't come up. They just continued to beep periodically. I topped offthe batteryjust to be sure it was OK. Still no good.
Later today after checking connections and even consulting some of the forums and configuration routines I pulled the ESCs and checked the wiring again for any obvious faults. Nothing. In pulling the ESCs I noted that one (Starboard) was a bit warm while the other (Port) was at ambient room temperature. Not knowing what all the initializing beeps meant and how to troubleshoot further I called Nitro Planes and eventuallyspoke with "Charles". We went through a number of checks and finally it was decided that the ESCs are bad. They've issued an RMA (and they're sending a replacement USB cord for the camera). I'm still enthused and can't wait to get the thing done and to try it out. I look at it as a positive that I'll get more simulator time to practice....
Pros:
The product arrived as stated although I have questions abouth the charger thing
The product arrived in one piece even though it came across the nation by UPS
The finish and detail are surprisingly good even though this is my first look at this new stuff
The price was right
The ESky simulator is pretty good given the price of $20.00 and beneficial for me
Nitro Planes is standing behind their product
Cons:
This is not truely a RTF plane as advertised. A number of things were noted.
Fuselage holes for EDF wires needed to be opened up
Wing decal is upside down
The wing servo mont needed to be relived just a bit with a Dremel tool
The wing servo arm needed to be drilled out for the linkages
The Port wing aileron hinge came loose but just a bit of CA took care of that
The aileron arm fittings needed to be drilled out for the links to fit
The camera USB cord was faulty but, as I said, they're replacing same
The simulator doesn't allow you to view your immediate suuroundings while flying the planes.
This doesn't allow you to have that perspective and setup for an approach can be a bit of a
challenge if you're trying to land on the runway. I've had a fair number of grass strip landings
and you can even pull off a landing on the water without sinking.
All in all, even though there will be some delays for the replacement ESCs, I'm still looking forward to getting this plane done and in the air. Maybe there will be enought time to squeeze out some sky time.
