slevin1

My Feedback: (23)

Great video Enzo! I saw you had a green hand-held pump for the retracts. Who makes it & how do I get one? I plan to use it when I finish my Adam A-500. Also, are you using the retracts that came with the plane or are you using a different brand? If you are using the retracts that came with the plane have you had any problems with them? I ask this because I have spoken to another KMP Adam A500 owner who told me the stock retracts are junk & he actually replaced them with a set that were designed for a turbine BAE Hawk jet.



Saul

enzo65

Thanks to everyone for the compliments !!!

regarding the green gun use to load retract and brakes is a mini compressor bosch see photo in Italy in this moment is not easy to find it bat there are many made in China.......

You're right, I replaced the retracts and legs kit with German Behotec the best for me right strength and light the bettter, then why I do not fly on asphalt runway when I going around Italy and also for modelshow and also because I'm sponsored by the Italian distributor of Beohtec.

I've used for almost a year but the retratcs of te kit the is very price cheap and you can not expect much.
I used them up to test the air but once was good and I was sure of its flying characteristics I've changed......

if you have any questions, there are problems and I am pleased to meet you also published some video ... keep in mind that there are now few copies flying this plane ...

best regards Enzo

[link]http://www.enzoriccio.it[/link]
[link]http://www.e-flyteam.it[/link]

slevin1

My Feedback: (23)

Thank you Enzo for the reply. The info you provided will be of great help. Could you please tell us the website for the retract manufacturer and tell use the name of the retracts you are using for your Adam A500. Thanks again.

Saul

jamesc43

My Feedback: (2)

The Adam A500 didn't sell very well. I am guessing they only went through one production run of the airplanes. The full scale manufacturer (Adam Aircraft) had one
hanging in their lobby prior to their bankrupcy filing. I'm not sure what happened to it after that. It was never set up for flying.

I bought one of the first production runs and started to assemble it. I realized that I didn't have the skills required to complete the assembly so it is sitting in a holding pattern until my skills improve and I become a memeber of a club where I will be able to fly it.

James

agrinter

Hi guys
I have just finished my A 500 -2x E Flite power 90 with 6s 5000mah packs.Managed to get the plane to balance with the packs at the windshield and she came out at about 10 kg.Hoping to maiden her this weekend.What weights do these planes normally come out at ?Any advice for the maiden would be appreciated.

slevin1

My Feedback: (23)

Agrinter,

Your plane looks great!

Could you please post some detailed pics of:
-exactly where the batteries are placed
-the battery tray that holds the batteries for the motors and where it sits in the plane
-and pics of how you access the batteries.

It looks like from your pics that you have the front windshield hinged. I too want mine to be electric but have been trying to figure out how to access the batteries since they need to be placed as far forward as possible.

Also what ESC's are you using?

Thank you for posting,
Saul

slevin1

My Feedback: (23)

Agrinter,

Also, what size props are you using?

Saul

maxiemac

Hi Agrinter - a new name with an A500 to talk to - around 10 kg (22lb) is about right - lighter is nicer - but with the right power your a/c weight is not an issue, mine flies fine at 22.5 lb.

Recheck your balance point with 'wheels up' - read the earlier posts and add some up elevator when flaps go down - I think mine was about 3/32" up elevator and about 28 degrees flap.

Next step - do some taxi runs to aquaint yourself with steering and to observe acceleration to confirm that it will reach flying speed - after that fly it like you've done it before - watch Enzo's movie and see how well it flies. This plane will take off at half normal flying speed - just keep the wings level and not too steep climb out.

The first banking turn after takeoff will show you it needs a fair amount of aileron - you could add rudder but for first flights just get used to high angles of bank in the turns and later couple in some rudder. You can add exponential and dual rates later on to suit your flying style.

After takeoff and in level flight circuit maybe reduce power to say 3/4 and adjust your trims as required and enjoy the 'presence' of an A500 in the air. This plane is very stable and you can confirm that by getting some height, reduce power and pull the nose up to stall it - it can drop a wing but not violently, then just power on gently, level the wings let it pick up speed and go back into circuit.

If landing into a breeze depending on what strength you may not need flaps, but if no breeze and particularly on hard surface runway flaps are needed. I put my gear down and flaps on the downwind leg prior to base and final. Just fly it on in and adust your sink rate with a bit of power on - and wait for it arrive - if you wait long enough and just gradually bring the nose up it will flare on to the deck.

Those are my experiences and it's a joy to fly.

have a good one.

cheers - maxiemax

smile it don't hurt

agrinter

Hi Maxiemax
Thanks for the input.We are going to fly jets at a full scale runway this Saturday which should make the ideal place to maiden the Adams. I'll recheck the cg with the wheels up -thanks for that.She is hangared at the LHS at the moment because their is no more space at home , so i'll take some pictures of the layout this weekend and post them here. Do the flaps make a noticable difference on landing ? How steep do you make your approach ?

maxiemac

Hi Agrinter - I've been around jets at meetings on full size aircraft hard tarmac runways for at least 10 years and I know that jets with slippery bodies and residual thrust can come in a bit quick and yet some models as slow as you like also with residual thrust. The A500 can land as fast as you like but not too slow - keep the speed up - actually with engine residual thrust it tends to keep coming, especially with flaps up - I try not to let it get too slow - watch Enzo's video and pretend you're the pilot. It's not coming in like an express train nor is it wobbling in on the stall - just smooth and even with good descent rate.

As you are going to test fly from a hard surface your acceleration will be better than off grass and as an electric powered model, when power is off it means no residual thrust therefore it will roll to a stop in it's own time according to its landing speed. Enzo's has 4 stroke pumped 91's and needs brakes to stop, because like jets on hard surfaces he has residual thrust - he flys a lot from hard surfaces. I've only ever flown mine off grass.

Your landing speed will be slowed quite a bit with flaps down so you need to keep some power on, say quarter to third throttle maybe even more and adjusting your sink rate right up until just before touchdown, then power off and hold it off and slowly bring the nose up. This will slow it even more and allow you to flare it on.

The angle of approach can be between say 10 and 30 degrees. The lower the slower, the higher the faster. Practice some landings 'in the air' first.

With maiden flights what I tend to do, is after adjusting trims, I get height, check the stall characteristics, fly a couple of circuits to get the feel of it, then practice decsents from plus 50 ft with less and less power so I can guage its sink rate and potential landing speed. Then I power up and go around again, then reduce power to a bit above half, wait for it to slow down and start to sink, drop the gear and flaps to again check sink rate and speed still at about half power. Then start reducing more power to adjust sink rate and setup for landing - all above 50ft - then go around again to settle the nerves and setup for actual landing - works for me.

Hope this helps and have a good one.

cheers - maxiemac

agrinter

Hi Guys.
So the Adams got maidened by a friend yesterday.Whats an awesome aircraft !She took off much sooner than we were expecting and after a few clicks of trim was flying like it was on rails .After a few circuits to check the speed and handling range she was doing two foot passes down the length of the runway , and she slowed up nicely on landing.She was also very stable throughout her speed envelope.Unfortunately no one had a video cam there so there are only a few pics ,but I'll try and take a vid if we fly again next weekend.We only flew here for about five or six minutes and I want to check how much of the battery capacity was used , we might also increase the pitch of the props , will keep you guys posted on that.Thanks again for all the input guys and enjoy the rest of the weekend.
By the way , the sound of the two E Flite power 90's was music to the ears.

slevin1

My Feedback: (23)

Agrinter,

Congrats!!! Please let us know what pitch and size prop works best. Also please post some detailed pics of:
-exactly where the batteries are placed
-the battery tray that holds the batteries for the motors and where it sits in the plane
-and pics of how you access the batteries.

Also what ESC's are you using?

Thanks,

Saul

slevin1

My Feedback: (23)

Hi all,

Just wanted to know the status of everyones' Adam A500.

Saul

maxiemac

Hi Saul - this thread has been a bit quiet of late so I'll kick in with my news that I broke the centre section and tore out two retracts when landing short into tall weeds many months ago at a flying site I don't usually fly at.

The pilot boxes are at each end of the strip and not in the middle where most pilot boxes are - subsequently my depth of field view was altered from watching the final approach from the end of the strip and not the middle which is what I am used to - so into the weeds it went and banged on to the ground at the end of the strip and rattled the cage in the centre section as shown in the pics. I've cut inspection holes to repair broken ribs and to lay up fibreglass for the sheeting repairs - but I stopped fixing it at least six months ago.

Your breath of fresh air curiosity will get me going again - however I have been building and refurbishing other planes such as TF Cessna 182 assembly, Aquabird repaint, Giles 202 maintenance repairs, Staudacher S300 undercart repairs so the A500 has taken a back seat - so has my second A500 (see pic), it's sitting on the bench waiting for me to finish it too - no more talk, more work.

cheers - maxiemac - smile it don't hurt

slevin1

My Feedback: (23)

Maxiemac,

Sorry to hear about the crash. It looks like you also bent the aluminum wing tube. It's ashame they don't make the plane anymore. I would suggest writing KMP & Hobby Lobby to see if by chance they happen to have replacement parts lying around. The composite honeycomb used on the wing looks like it could be a difficult repair job. The thing that bugs me the most is that for the price of the plane they could have taken the time to fabricate the LG mounts out of carbon or at least done a better job of mounting them in terms of gluing. When you look at the glue job you can see they did not run epoxy along edge of the formers that mate to the fuse. They simply put the formers in place and ran a bead of glue along the edges of the formers. Rather than finishing the second one I would just use it as spare parts. It would save you time & money. Also for your retracts have you considered sending them to the company Down and Locked to have them converted over from air to electric? There is an article on Down & Locked in the magazine section of R/C Universe.

Saul

maxiemac

Hi Saul - this thread has been a bit quiet of late so I'll kick in with my news that I broke the centre section and tore
out two retracts when landing short into tall weeds many months ago at a flying site I don't usually fly at.

The pilot boxes are at each end of the strip and not in the middle where most pilot boxes are - subsequently my depth
of field view was altered from watching the final approach from the end of the strip and not the middle which is what I
am used to - so into the weeds it went and banged on to the ground at the end of the strip and rattled the cage in the
centre section as shown in the pics. I've cut inspection holes to repair broken ribs and to lay up fibreglass for the sheeting
repairs - but I stopped fixing it at least six months ago.

Your breath of fresh air curiosity will get me going again - however I have been building and refurbishing other planes such
as TF Cessna 182 assembly, Aquabird repaint, Giles 202 maintenance repairs, Staudacher S300 undercart repairs so the A500
has taken a back seat - so has my second A500 (see pic), it's sitting on the bench waiting for me to finish it too - no more talk,
more work.

cheers - maxiemac - smile,, it don't hurt


If you are wondering why Slevin is answering my post about my bent A500 that is now appearing after his post it is because RCU advised me of problem with pic sizes in this post so it was removed and I have inserted the original text back here with pics -

slevin1

My Feedback: (23)

Any updates on any of the A500's?

Saul

agrinter

Hi guys
I've been flying my A500 a lot.She is such a stable plane to fly and the flare on landing is a picture .She has also won a few prizes.The E Flite Power 90 motors are a perfect match and I do most of my flying at about 60% power.
Fly safe
Andy

slevin1

My Feedback: (23)

What size props are you swinging?

Saul

superpuma332L1

Hi

I´m a new owner of a A500 and when i got the plane ..........all Parts to heavy.......

a friend of mine and i decided to rebuilt it ( the manufacturer isn´t existing anymore)...and we changed the engine cowls and the Fuselage .....

our aim is to beat the weight under 7 kg MTOW for eletric( Kevlar Honeycomb) and 8 Kg for Glow version with two 91 OS FS(Carbonfibre Honeycomb)

As an Aircraft Builder in real Life it schould be possible to overtake the Chinise workers....

we found e.g a double Filler/Painting on the Fuselage and the engine cowls....nonacceptable

The next Time i will make some Photos of the changes ( rear Cowling we did the most)

See you next Time

M.Gross

slevin1

My Feedback: (23)

Sounds great. I look forward to hearing about your progress.

Saul

superpuma332L1

Today we sand the main Fuselage and the Two engine Cowls

what´s the way to insert pic´s here...

ask for someone to give me some advise

Best Regards

M.Gross

superpuma332L1

here are the first Photos of the rear cowling

It will fit on the original fuselage

It shows the lines of the older Types...because it seams to be , that every serial number is somewhere different

The calculatetd weight should be about 100 g instead of the 250 g of the orginal ones of chinise work.....

M.Gross

superpuma332L1

The Front cowling in half mold.....

and today the rear one...it will be a 6 part mold...this is the 1. part....a lot of work

slevin1

My Feedback: (23)

Looking really good. Anxious to see the final product.
Saul