Dave Wilshere

I always do it....maybe why I don't get gear issues ;-)
Any model car buggy shock oil is my choice, only needs a few drops in each cylinder. Between assembly in hot humid China to your workshop could be years.
The test is gear up! Down is a short time before you fly after filling with air.

D

Si_B

Will sort some out. No idea how long this valve has been sitting around. Did strip it but all looked good. Will pump up system and leave wheels up tomorrow. If I get a few cycles after a couple of hours of leaving it, I will assume it's good to go.

Cheers,
Simon

Quandry

Clean install mate - Looks great!

Si_B

Left it full of air last night and it was still the same this morning so all good. Hopefully setting up throws etc tomorrow.

Simon

Si_B

All done but needs a complete check over and plugging together to check cg. Not had chance to plug it all together yet but I'm surprised by how big it is compared to my standard Xcalibur even though I've seen one before. Hoping it will drop into my strip as easy as the standard one.

Cheers,
Simon

Si_B

Got it together, needed roughly 200g in the nose to get the cg to 195mm as per the instructions. Will see how it flies and the adjust to suit.



Cheers,
Simon

Dave Wilshere

Fuel in main tank and hopper? Fuel is in front of the balance

Si_B

Yep, hopper full and 20mm of fuel in the tank. I've got two 4000 mah 2s lipos and one 3600 2s lipo in the nose. Could probably get a larger pack in there but I like to share packs around my models which I wouldn't take to field at the same time.

Does something sound wrong then Dave?

Simon

JP-1

Simon,

The painted tank looks good, I presume you left a viewing window for the level.

Dave Wilshere

I have a 5000 2s ECU and 2 x 3350 2s Rx batteries and no weight. But I'd need to check where my balance is as I fly if it feels about right and adjust to suit.

Dave

Si_B

Well, she flew. Few issues were trying to spoil the fun. First off a missing wing bolt which I hadn't noticed. Managed to use one of the boom bolts with a spacer. Not pretty but did the job.

Next problem was wheels didn't retract. No idea why but flew the flight with them down. It flew lovely but just big circuits with some height incase of any issues. Didn't touch the trims. Was really enjoying myself until I realised that my timer doesn't count down when wheels are down position. Bit of a panic so deployed the flaps, more panic as it looked like the flap hadn't moved. At this point I just focused on the landing which was a greaser. Model ran on a bit due to no brakes but with the breeze it was very easy to land.

Now, there was nothing wrong with the flap I just don't think I could see it being white on white so will add a sticker. Might have been a bit of nerves.

With regards to the retracts I had no air at all. Checked at field and everything worked as it should. Couldn't find any leaks or issues. It's currently pumped up in shed with wheels up to see if I'm losing air but I've already checked this. Have no idea what's going on.

Didn't fly again as some of the trim on one of the wings had started to peel away. Looks like the upper surface has come away from the colour.

Need to work out why the system randomly lost all the air. I'm still not convinced about the old C36 valve I'm using. That might be the first thing which gets replaced as I don't know it's history.

Cheers,
Simon

tp777fo

My Feedback: (28)

Another Excalibur + took the skies today. Sport paint job, JR DMSS rx, 8411 servos, Cheeta SP (34# blow). Weighed 29# dry with header tank fuel. Test flight was at 93 deg. on grass runway. Took about 300' takeoff. 2 clicks down trim, 0 aileron. Great flying jet. We now have 2 Plusses and 2 regular Excaliburs and all fly exceeding will from our 800' grass field. The Cheeta is the perfect motor for this jet. My only complaint of the build is the wing tube is excessively tight. I have sanded it down and it is better but requires a little more work. The leading edge cf spar did not ling up perfectly but a little "modeling" cured that problem. For the price you cant beat the quality and performance.

Dave Wilshere

You taking off with flap?
even on wet long grass mine does not need more than 120'

P-140 in mine

Dave

tp777fo

My Feedback: (28)

No flaps for TO. Temp was pretty high.

Dave Wilshere

Never flown or owned a model fitted with flaps that I did not use take off flap! You want the lowest ground speed possible. 1" flap will shorten the run a lot.

Dave

bistodude

Check out the youtube link below of Dave Wilshere flying the Xcalibur plus at Throckmorton. I only managed to film the last third of the flight but the landing is worth seeing!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4GiY33Nhxk

Dave Wilshere

Shane....it is the easiest jet in the world to fly! Big, lightly loaded, large flap, low JetCat P-140 idle thrust, perfect

See you at JP

Jannica

I´m glad that i finally bought one. It will be flying with my old P-80 next summer. Seems to be the perfect match for an old lady.

Dave Wilshere

Jannica
Fit skis and fly when the snow comes!

Dave

richbran

Retracting those might bring a problem

Jannica

Dave, soon we will have plenty of frozen lakes around here. If the cold arrives before the snow we will have endless runways. I´ts just that it is so *** cold for your hands.

RONW

I had a few small issues with my Xcalibur sports jet and despite two email to Ripmax they were both totally ignored.
My issues are centered around the wing clamp bolts supplies which were M5 x 25mm thread. They were not long enough to engage the nut in the clamp and I had to replace them with 5mm longer bolts to reach the nut. I know of at least one other kit with the same problem. To make matters worse in trying to get the bolt to engage I dislodged the nut from the clamp and had to cut a small hole in the bottom of the wing to get the nut back into position. If the nut could be retained in the bottom of the clamp somehow to stop it dropping out would be a help which is a job for the maker. The only other small issue was that I had to do some tweeking on the canopy hooks to allow the canopy to slide back enough to align the retaining bolt holes.
Apart from this I think the model is well made and looks great.

Has anybody tried changing the turbine thrust line? I am not sure I like so much down thrust and am wondering if there is much change to the flying characteristics with an inline thrust line.

Ron

Dave Wilshere

Ron

Are you talking about a std size Xcalibur? The bolt length did crop up on a batch of kits with those. Did you contact the retailer you purchased the kit through?
The thrust line is good on all Xcalibur models, the different sized kits were all extensively flown before release.

Dave

RONW

Hi Dave

Yes it is the std or mid size Xcalibur. Yes I did contact the retailer and he was as mystified as I was and had not heard of this problem.
While I did manage to overcome the issues I am not very happy with Ripmax for ignoring my email for help, twice.

When first trying the bolts it felt like they were pulling down by the thread but never tightened at all and I was not sure if I had stripped the thread without much effort. Until you come across the nut at the bottom of the pinch block you tend to think that the plastic is threaded. It was only after the nut dropped out and I had to cut a hole in the bottom of the wing was I then able to see were the nut sat.

Ron

Dave Wilshere

OK. This is a Plus thread, the biggest one.
Ripmax have always been really good to respond, they do have various email addresses, so maybe they can look into that

Dave