Mr67Stang

Okay Tower Hobbies did it to me again... You know the deal where if your order is over $XXX.xx you save $XX.xx. Well I was a little short so I threw the Herr Cloud Ranger on the bill. See here:
http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...&I=LXZS57&P=ML
Anyway, has anyone built one of these? What engine did you outfit it with and what servos? How about a fuel tank that fits? I have two engines at my disposal that might work with this. One is a Norvel .061 R/C and the other is an OS .10 LA. I know some are going to say that the OS .10 is way to much but this is what I have. Well I should have the kit by Tuesday or Wednesday...

flyinrog

My Feedback: (1)

Hey Phil, its just a rudder/elevator and probably gonna just float around, I dont see where the OS would be of any value on the cloud ranger, or if it would fit on the front of an Herr either..not sure about the flight time either...Rog

JasonFalls

I've got one of them on the way too....do you have to use micro servos?

JasonFalls

woah...big letters....

eroc144

My Feedback: (1)

You don't have to use micro servos but it'll help keep your weight down and give you more room in the fuselage. Hitec 55s, 65s or 81s are all good choices, as are the GWS pico series. I'm sure JR and Futaba have similar micro offerings.

EG

Mr67Stang

I will be using HS-81s and an lil eflight micro for the throttle. I just got my kit and it looks great. Very good quality wood and not a overwelming pile of sticks that would scare off a newbee builder like me.

digital_trucker

I just finished covering my Cloud Ranger, ready for painting. Covered in Nelson Litefab, painted with Nelson paint. Airframe weight unpainted and minus landing gear 9.4oz. I know the scale says 11.5oz, but there's 3 HS-65's inside it. My scale says they weigh .7oz apiece. I also thought you might be interested in a couple of mods I made. I 'capped' the tail surfaces, they were badly in need of some rigidity. I also went a different route for the ailerons, not only did I want something better than the way Herr thinks it oughtta be done, but I wanted to experiment with a scale-like method of hinging them. Of course I'll be using Robart 1/2A hinges, hope it works out like I'm thinking.

Tee Bee

Those make nice flying planes and I plan to build one someday myself. I've seen some online vids of one equipped with an OS 10LA. It was a bit extreme but flew very well and very fast. Looked like fun stuff to me.

flyinrog

My Feedback: (1)

That was Mr67Stang's with the OS.10LA on it, I have the same setup, mines just still in the box.....Rog

2fast4u

My Feedback: (5)

I loved mine. I had a Norvel .074 on the front of it. If I build another one it will have a .10 on teh nose or I might go all E power. Now years later, I think the e-power would be best. Good luck & have fun.

digital_trucker

Here it is, pre-maiden. Covered in Nelson Litefab, painted with Nelson paint in Cream and Forest Green

combatpigg

My Feedback: (3)

DT, she really turned out nice. I like the looks of your runway, too.

digital_trucker

Notice I didn't get close enough with the camera to reveal all the goofs I made in painting it. This is the first paint job I've done since my stick-and-tissue days of rubber models when I was a wee lad. It's a bit on the heavy side (around 22-23 ounces). I brushed on the paint instead of spraying it, I wanted to get a good feel for the paint and whatnot. I'm going to strip the 'Kote off my US60 next and redo ite in Litefab and Nelson paint....sprayed on and mistakes on this taken into account.

combatpigg

My Feedback: (3)

At 23 ozs it should still be miles ahead of most other trainers in all around handling and ease of repair if something does go wrong. At the beginners forum I suggested that this size of plane would be a better choice than the typical 6 pounder with a .40. All I got was static from a couple of the brainwashed newbies, until finally one of the newbies got fed up with having to repair his 6 pounder everytime anything happened that was less than perfect....then he was all ears to learn about lighter and simpler options.
The mentality you run into with the guys who "run" that forum is that if the plane is too easy to fly and land, then the training time is worthless. The other school of thought is, "this is how I learned, therefore this is how you shall do it".

digital_trucker

Here's the deal; currently it's powered by an MP Jet .061 PB. It needed basically 2oz in the nose to balance. I could either put my OS .10LA (one of the blue ones, NIB) on the nose or I could stuff a bigger battery than the 370mA one it's got now. I decided to go with a custom-made battery pack for now, it'll be ready this week sometime. It's a 1000mA NiMH using 10 500mA cells in series-parallel, I was trying to get the weight right to balance this bird y'see.

If it acts sluggish I'll give the .10LA a whirl.

digital_trucker

Well, 'tis still in one piece. Has plenty of power for sport/trainer flight, but it's definitely not overpowered. I'm having troubles getting this engine to have a consistent run though. I'm thinking either I need to put a pressure tap on the muffler or go up to standard fuel line for the vent. The MP Jet has no provision for muffler pressure, so the tank just vents to atmosphere. It runs fine on the bench, but in flight the top end is a little wonky and the idle is problematic.

mtntopgeo

My Feedback: (12)

Don't have a clue as to your top-end problem, but if you got the stock pb carb, the bottom end may be a pretty good challenge. The fixed bleed hole in the barrel doesn't allow any low-end tweaking. Also, on mine, can't rotate the barrel enough to cover that hole, & as a result, can't shut the engine off cleanly. It just coughs & sputters for awhile, & dies if & when it wants to. ( the only reason that I like a carb on these small engines is to be able to kill the engine when I want to.) Too bad the dual needle carbs supplied with the bb engine are nonexistent. Also, as a side note (you're probably aware of), no "sealing" washer or collet drive on the pb engine. Alum. on alum means easy seizure between prop drive & case. I added a thin nylon washer after I did some damage by being too heavy handed with the electric starter. ......... George K.

Mr67Stang

Good looking plane DT[sm=thumbup.gif]

I know I enjoy mine with the .10 LA on it. I supose I could just use end point adjustments to limit the opening of the throttle if I want it to fly like a trainer.
If you get any video of it in flight make sure you post it.

combatpigg

My Feedback: (3)

If the difference in performance is always worse in the air, I would look at air in the fuel lines.
I don't see how any throttled engine can run consistantly without a variable and proportional amount of tank pressure. As you can see there is nothing extravagent about the Norvel system but it works very well.

digital_trucker

Ayup, there's a bit of 'blackness' coming from the front end...gotta add a nylon washer there too. Sure does start easy!

digital_trucker

I pretty much solved the galling issue, got some non-stick sheets that are used to line baking pans and suchlike and cut a couple of washers out of it. This stuff is basically a fabric impregnated with the same stuff that's on non-stick pans - must be some kind of teflon I should think. Seems to work well in any case.

Adding muffler pressure has solved the problem with getting a consistent WOT run, still won't idle. Idles for a few seconds and stops dead (no slowing down first). Maybe the plug is bad or I need a hotter plug? I'm currently using OS P8 turbo plugs (they're cold). They worked great on my Wasp, but this ain't my Wasp...any thoughts will be considered.

Mr Cox

Have you tried with a hotter plug or the original head?

I have one of these engines too but haven't had it runned in yet. Nice and tight fit but I can't understand why anyone would make a carborator without an airbleed screw, and they're not the only ones....

digital_trucker

I put a warmer plug in it, and it seems to help some. The general consensus amongst the locals is that it just needs to get broken-in more. My Wasp was the same way, needed a lot of running before it would idle reliably.

Mr Cox

The piston/liner is steel/steel I believe so that makes sence. Would still like to have an airbleed though, if the groove in the throttle barrel is small enough to make it rich then one could always add one of coarse.

Not so sure about the Wasp, thought that would be an ABC type but then again these engines seem to vary a lot in performance....

digital_trucker

The MPJet is an airbleed...just a fixed airbleed. The Wasp has no airbleed at all.