slowstickkid

Hi all,
I own a GWS Slow Stick. This has been an exelent plane for self taught flying and i think i have become pretty good at it. I love this plane because it is very forgiving and will take many of the crashes I have put it through. The stock battery is kinda wimpy so I bought a 1100 mAh 9 cell 10.8 volt battery, I know this is probably over kill but it works great and gives me estimated flight times of 30 to 50 min depending on how I fly. I would like to have other SS fliers post their flight times (as will I when my broken arm heals) just to compare setups and start a SS disscussion because I am in love with this plane and would like to talk to others that share my affinity for this plane. Also, it would be nice if I could get some disscussion on modifacations that have worked and ideas that anyone may have because I would like to "toy" with my SS and make it better. I will also post my succeses and ideas but not now because I am having trouble with the whole 1 handed typing. Thank you all! jimmy

Craig c

I hope your arm heals quickly Jimmy. How did you break it ?

I have been flying R/C planes for quite a few years, but wanted to take a stab at electrics, so a little over a year ago, I purchased a Slow Stick, some HS-55's a Pixie 7p and some 850 MAH Lipo's. I was instantly hooked on electrics. Since my initial purchase, I have upgraded to Kokam 1500's a speed 400 motor w/"D" gearbox and a GWS ICS 480 ESC. While I don't totally agree with other's on the forum, about the Slow stick being the world's best trainer, I do think, that is still an excellent trainer, and a great flying airplane and someone with reasonable aptitude, can certainly learn on this plane.
I use a timer for my flights, set to 15 min. I learned the hard way with Lithium's, You can't always count on low voltage cutoff's to save your batteries. The 11X8 prop seems to consistantly be the best all around prop for my particular set up. Even though I have since moved on to more advanced electrics, The "Stick" is still one of my favorites.


Craig.

west black

try using li-pos,much much more flight time!

BJAZ

Hi guys. I just got a slow stick recently and I am waiting till christmas to get the electronics for the plane. I have done a few mods to the plane while I'm waiting for the radio and stuff. I didn't cut the fuse, epoxied the fiberglass rods to the LE/TE of the wing before taping, epoxied and screwed the tail end, used good box tape instead of gws tape, ran a square piece of balsa through the length of the fuse, modified the landing gear and installed Dubro ultra lite wheels. I hope to attempt to fly it soon. I was wanting to get some extra props and was wondering what prop/props to get? What size prop does the plane have on it stock? The motor is stock right now.

west black

it must be 10,4.7 sized prop or in other words 1047. it may be different

Mike B944

I'm interested in getting a slow stick. I read somewhere that it requires a 4 channel w/ 3 servos and speed controler? Does it have ailerons? Also said you could use regular size servos? I had my eye on a hitec neon 3 ch w/ 2 hs-81 servos. thanks for any help, Mike

slowstickkid

Snowboarding, I hit a jump wrong and well crack now I have 3 pins in it for 3 more weeks[&o] but I think I'll be flying as soon as I get my transmitter battery charged so I'll get back to you when I do. As far as mods on mine, all i have done is better wheels and bigger battery with GWS electrics and Futaba radio. I am in the thinking process of making ailerons and will probably start construction when I have a little more movement in my arm, I'm really excited to get back in the air, its been too long, about 2 months. Another thing I recently did was pop can snow skis made from well pop cans. I have yet to fly it with them, only a little taxiing so far. They are lighter then the wheels I had on before so I think it will fly just as good. I will work on getting some pics and stuff. I took the radio and held it, I will be able to fly with my sling on, I can still use all the controls just as before, which is a good thing, so I will be in the air soon. well im gonna try to get some hw done, thanks to all who replied i will post back soon! jimmy

slowstickkid

Hi again,
I have started construction on my SS aileron project. Its not very easy with only one arm so i'm gonna call a friend here pretty soon to help me out with it. I can't wait to fly it again! Maybe today if i'm lucky, and I might get to try out the ailerons too. Well i'll post back with my "results". bye for now ,jimmy

bribri543

I've got a slowstick, and I am only getting 3 minute flight times from my stupid 270mah battery. ICS50 and pico servos. I used good packing tape instead of the gws stuff. I want more flight times, so I'm looking at the GWS600mah, but i think i need a new speed controller.

Tried making skis from my plane, but it kinda failed. Either too heavy, or my wimpy battery didnt have enough power in the cold. Now im gonna get the Dubro skis, those look prety good for the money. Hope your arm heals soon! Good luck.

goofup

Don't forget- ailerons and diahedral don't mix! (You think ailerons will make this a better flying plane because....?)

slowstickkid

The ailerons are just a little project and I already have the stuff layin around so why not? As for the flight times, go to your LHS and talk to them about what to do for batteries, thats what I did and I'm getting 30+ min outta it. good luck! jimmy


hey i was also wondering if anybody has aol instant messenger out ther, I would love to chat. My screen name is pigeonspets , talk to me if you want.

john 8750

Mike--
It does not have ailerons and does not need them. You will need a 3 channel radio and standard stuff works fine. But if you plan on other small park flyers then you might want the mini's.
Have fun. It is a cool plane.

Mike B944

Thanks a bunch for the help John. Its nice to know there are people like you to help out a newbe!

Larry Costa

I fly a SS with a JR 700 (small, standard rx), a couple of 20 year old 18g servos and a GWS NiCad-600 battery. Quite a heavy bird, but does fine. With a little ridge lift I have kept her up a half hour.

slowstickkid

well, im thinking about maybe getting a GWS Zero. Does anyone else have this plane? What do you have to say about it?
well not much else to say. jimmy

SeenMCrash

SSKid, do some searches about the Zero. I hear it needs a lot of battery/fuselage mods just to fly though. Some people say it flies worse than the P-51, and my P-51 is a POS. I have also heard glowing flight reports from some people. Good luck, Andrew

hurt

My Feedback: (1)

I had a zero and it flew awesome just they way that gws tells you to build it. I didnt put on the wheels and I used a 7 cell 650 mah battery.

Turbo442

I have gotten 1hr and 13 minutes doing touch and goes in the grass. 2100 mah lithium, stock motor and stock 11x8 prop. Cirrus 4.4 gram servos and Cirrus MRX-4 rx.

If you ever break a blade off your prop you can do this if you get bored....

http://www.rob.com/matt/rc/one_blade.JPG

It flies fine like that. Balace is critical of course.

Here is a 16mb video with a Canon A-70 strapped under her belly.

http://www.rob.com/matt/rc/A70_RC8min.wmv

this is a wmv file so it should stream just fine.

dive4life

My Feedback: (1)

Do you have a pic of the camera setup? I would like to mount my canon under my SS, I thought a 8oz camera would be too much for this bird. Obviously not. Nice video.

FlyingTiger2

Hi All,

I'm looking for the square tubing used in the Slow Stick, does anyone know of a source for it? Any help would be much appreciated! Thanks again.

Dave Edwards

syntheticsman

The slow stick is my first plane, I'm doing pretty well, I have a silly question though, I can't seem to get this thing to gain much altitude at all. I'm using stock motor and 650mah battery. Getting maybe 7-8 minutes flight time. Is this normal?

Thanks

Kale

john 8750

Kale-- That plane should climb out of your sight.
Check your CG, with the wing on and the battery in place. Dont be heavier than the plans show. Have the recommended amount of travel for elevator and rudder fin. Check that your push rods are not flexing.
Are you using the proper ESC? Is your prop on with the lettering facing forward? Prop damaged, loose, shaft bent?
It should take off on its own at 1/3rd power in about 20 feet.

Let us know the results.

darrell_f

My Feedback: (2)

Kale,
Your results are similar to mine. Stock motor with 7 cell 800 mah 4/5 AAA. I don't know exact weight, but it's probably a 'heavy build'. I ordered extra props with mine. Stock prop was 1180, but the extras that shipped were 1260 which most people like. With the 1260, ESC shutdowns beyond 1/2 throttle. With the 1180, it flys, but needs 3/4 throttle to stay at level flight. Only getting about 5 - 6 minutes per charge like this. I suspect that there must be a motor problem to have this little thrust and this much power consumption. Have new 350 motor and 8 cell 2/3 AA on order.

Darrell

bribri543

That flight time sounds about right, with my 270mah I'm only getting 3 minute flight times, with extreme throttle control. 600/270=2.22 3*2.22=6.66 so that is about right for your flight times. Hope that helps.

slowstickkid

I had the same peoblem using a prop that was 1 biggere then stock. Try shaving the trailing edges about 1/4 in and cut about 1/2 in off each tip, cut it so it is rounded and looks like it did before. make sure its still balanced after this. This little mod made a huge difference for me, but I would reccomend just using the stock prop, thats worked best for me