Roger,
The Tribute flew great with the AXI 2208/34 and a 3 cell pack. A 2 cell pack with that motor doesn't have enough power, for a plane this heavy. I have a HI MAXX out runner in it now because I wanted to put the AXI back in my shock flyer.

Thanks for the reply Mike:
Been wanting try an EFLIGHT OUTRUNNER on one of the EFLIGHT ULTIMATES.

Weight needs to be around 10-12oz for this to work OK, I think

Might try it???

Riger

So far this winter, I've been putting 3 to 4 batteries through my Tribute every Sunday night at the dome and its still going strong. Fair amount of prop chops in it as you can imagine the mid airs from congested traffic in a restricted space. I've read of others doing this and can see the benefits of placing all components close to the center, so I figured why not. Cut a hole in the bottom of the fuse and placed the battery flat against the bottom of the wing. With experience on how this plane handles I should be able to notice right off if it makes a difference. Tomorrow night is the test. Joe

Comm thru, how does it fly with those fuse stiffeners? I've been thinking about adding some to mine.

I'm completely happy with it. No twist and has held up very well with abuse. Along with putting the wing on upside down, I couldn't ask for more. With the wing reversed it dosn't flex any more than other foamies I've had. Now an outside loop.......thats a different story. I fly indoors and the bottom line there is wing area. I've looked around and this is one of the few to offer just a hair under 375 sq. in. with this wing span. I think with the side stiffeners it brought it up to about 400 sq. in. Still have the stock landing gear with original glue job and no problem with the motor mounting stick. Joe

Hey Cumn thru, Where did you pick up the foam for the stiffeners? Thanks

Last year I bought a kit from 3Dfoamy.com and asked him to throw some scraps in the box when shipped. I was surprised as to how generous the pieces were in size. He offers some nice laser cut hardware and CF landing gear. He may sell Depron as well. Off hand, the first place that comes to mind is Depron USA. There are online hobby shops that now carry it as well. Good luck, Joe

Almost forgot, tried the battery placement mod this past Sunday night in the dome. Surprisingly it did make a difference. For one it locked into a hover right away, it used to pull to the wheels. The big difference was the way it limited the pendulum effect in snaps and rolls. Carrying the weight closer to the center is a big improvement.

Things started getting crazy toward the end of the night and I smacked it good. Broke the stick mount off right at the CF rod. So I whipped up a radial mount for the out runner. On the positive side the new mount puts the prop back on the center line. The bracket for stick mounting out runners had the center line 1/2 inch lower than the intended geared set up.

Flew my tribute today. This thing is great! Although I realized that a brush-less is the only way to go with this model. I have an AXI in my ultimate and it does a vertical take off. I'm going tomorrow and pick up a brush-less. Thought I'd try an eflite out-runner & a castle 25 amp speed controller. I'm thinking of getting a 800mah 3S battery this time to save little weight.

Spud, you could save a couple bucks with the E-Flite speed control. I don't have one yet, but a few guys at the dome do. I like the way the motor wires plug right in to the control as opposed to the wire harness of the Pheonix. But if you need the length of wire for placement, go Pheonix. Joe

Ended up with a hi=max outrunner, & a hacker x-20 esc it has the ready set plugs also. I've run about 4 batteries thru it now and is doing great. Flew the tribute into my roof this morning, it was still upright so I flew it off. Had to get the ladder out to retrieve some of my foam. The winds picked up before my repairs were done. Guess I have to wait till tomarrow to get some more stick time on it. Spent the rest of the day throwing the eflite yak 54 together. Seems to be a nice plane. Have to wait till I destroy one of the others with too many repairs before I can transfer one of my motors.

I modified my Tribute last night at the dome. This plane is truly old faithful and has entertained me all winter long. Well.......in the dome there is netting protecting one half the field against golf balls. So, the same way I started the winter season, I'm almost ending it, with a plane caught about 35 feet in the air. Our attempts at retrieval started with a friend trying to nudge it in a hover. After chopping an elevator loose and severing the lines in the pull/pull setup, we thought another approach might be better. So much for flying it out at this point if it came loose. Now we start kicking soccer balls at it for about a half hour. Some good hits, but it was stuck fast. Another friend comes back in with a FFF B117 Stealth bomber. Perfect, slow, maneuverable with the prop mounted mid section. After many passes with some good hits, which were evident by the pieces coming down, we were at a loss. Just as another friend was digging out the automatic pitching machine with the intentions of machine gunning it with baseballs, the owner came out with a ladder and some PVC pipe sections and eventually got it free. No elevator only hastened its trip to the floor. Right in from a good distance, done. Luckily I traced the plane before assembly and will probably make an fff version. If not for that I would definitely buy another one. One of the greatest indoor models. Here is a pic. Joe

At the golf dome in Columbus they retrieve planes from the netting by tying string on two helium baloons and tying a string in between them. They get the string between the baloons wrapped around the plane and pull it down slowly.

Now ya tell me!! Thanks for the tip, I also wondered about the balloons just for a balloon pop competition. Also, for the nay sayers out there that said the landing gear had to go, that is the original gear with the original glue job from last year. One of the few parts that survived. Joe

Glad the gear is holding up.

Oh, a wise guy! Nyuk nyuk nyuk nyuk. I keep thinking about the balloon retrieval. At this dome is it a common occurance and do they come prepared in anticipation of such an event? We got the plane down about midnight and would be hard pressed to find helium balloons at that hour. If I were to wait untill the next day, the golfers would have had a field day with that target hanging there. Just curious. Joe

They always have the baloons ready to go. At the end of the flying session they go out and get any stuck planes.

Shame about your plane. I was out in a 10K wind doing harriers right at my feet today. This is a great flying foamer. I too have my gear on and holding strong. Hope your new one flies as well as your last.

SPUD37 out

flys perfect and this is my first 4 channel can do all 3d tricks already i think this plane makes flying 3d too easy shame on e-flite turning us all into pros overnight
the wings do flap like a bird when pulling out of nose dives but i would buy a yak 54f next because its new or even the shockflyer

damn that was old ok so ive learned a few things have the yak 54f now flown 80 million times finally got to close to ground hit a gust in 10 mph wind and snap! the fuse in half my tribute on the other had never snapped the fuse just the wing but both planes are reinforced now with ca glue and tape and they still fly the same just a touch heavier now ...lol I Really want the mini edge made by E-Flite

Great posts - I just began building up a Tribute. Already added a CF L/E, and am considering the wing struts as I fly exclusively outdoors. Has anyone peeled back the the tape over the original CF wing stiffeners and added CA? Seems like that would help some. I am considering the 400xt w/25 amp Phoneix from my slowstick for this plane anyone ever flown that combo on a Tribute?

thanks
Chuck

was reading this as I bought a tribute last fall.however after seeing hoe the mini pulse works I am going to go back to ny this spring and sell it before its even built.I like not having gears comes with a 450 stock outrunner.for me not having to mess with gears means I can truly enjoy the electric fun.yeahhhh I will build a foamy too.lol why not you can build them so darn cheap and they fly.and I plan to eventually get a mini stick later this spring it is awesome as well.

The Tribute wings seem to flex a lot in flight, so CA might be a good idea. Test it on some scrap foam first. If that isn't enough to keep the winds stiff you could add a larger diameter carbon tube and just tape it on.

Simple packing tape will help fix some of the breaking-ness of the plane. It will be slightly more durable anyways. The stock landing gear is fun until it breaks. Once it breaks just take it off and belly land it.

Added the CF l/e and replaced the rear elev hinge w/ CF and extended it out to within 3/4 of each edge. The forward main spar on the wing was also loose on one side so I peeled the tape back and CA'ed the entire length of the rod. I followed the suggestions (thanks!) and taped the leading edge as well.

I'll add the 3mm Fuze stabiler pieces from the wing to the tail tomorrow night but this has really stiffened the whole bird up quite a bit.

Not sure it'll need anything else except for a bigger motor to haul around the extra grams!

Chuck

[quote]ORIGINAL: flyboulder

Added the CF l/e and replaced the rear elev hinge w/ CF and extended it out to within 3/4 of each edge. The forward main spar on the wing was also loose on one side so I peeled the tape back and CA'ed the entire length of the rod. I followed the suggestions (thanks!) and taped the leading edge as well.

I'll add the 3mm Fuze stabiler pieces from the wing to the tail tomorrow night but this has really stiffened the whole bird up quite a bit.

Not sure it'll need anything else except for a bigger motor to haul around the extra grams!

Chuck



UPdate -
5 flights on the tribute w this set up
Eskay 400 xt
tp 1320 3s
phoenix 18a

Flys great w/ this motor and and the mods allowed me to fly it in 10 mph outdoors with some throttle to spare. Nice rolls and plenty of control to harrier in.

If I had to do all over I would keep the l/e carbon hollow tube, horizontal stab carbon hinge, and the most important was the advice to install the full length foam stiffeners (in yellow). I also added a balsa skid on the nose but that was more becasue I moved the batt and cut the fuze apart, it helped keep everything together and has done it job since the gear is so weak. I tried adding wire to stiffen the gear, still flexes, maybe I will wire it to the motor mount.

Nice plane, worth the few bucks to stiffen it up and retape all the control surfaces for great outdoor flights