Im looking at two airplanes at thw moment.

I have not flown 3d but i just bought a 3d buddy. The buddy is made of balsa so im considering getting a cheaper 3d foad airplane that i can practice with before i hit the good stuff.

I have had flight experience and currently fly my tiny sig wonder. This is a pain in the neck to fly, gets the heart rate up every time. Goes a healthy 120 mph and to top it off was covered with the same colors top and bottomn so it is hell to fly. But i figure if i can fly that i can go electric 3d.

So my question is about the E-flight ultimate or tensor 4d. Which would be a better outdoor airplane. I understand they are light and should be flown when little wind is out but i really would like a biplane and 3d practice machine.
So please tip me off on weather to get the Tensor or ultimate.
Also please list a good setup. I plan on getting that e-flight brushless motor for 50 bucks. Sounds like a good deal to me. But what Esc shoud go with it, prop, and lipo size. I would like to use a 3 cell battery pack. I currently have 1500 packs but if they are too large please tell me.
Any info or pics would be helpfull. Thanks.
- Jeff

The E-flite Ultimate is a better outdoor plane than the Tensor.
The Tensor is a better manuverer, but more affected by winds.
I've flown my Tribute in wind when others wouldn't fly at all.
I use the E-flite 5400kv motor, 2s1200 or 2s720 cells, Castle Creations Phoenix-10 ESC, 10x4.7 GWS prop.
2 HItce HS-55 servos, 2 Cirrus 09 servos.AUW 14 oz.
It has more potential than I have flying ability.
Note with the Castle ESCs, you MUST set the Low Voltage Cutoff to the battery type are using. And it pays to go thru the entire laborious set-up routine to eliminate the "hard stop". This cuts off ALL the voltage, both to the motor and the receiver. Not a good thing to encounter while flying.
There's another thread here which shows the wing bracing needed to stop the Depron flex...
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i agree, if you are choosing between them 2 go for the ultimate. Its a better outdoor plane. my brother has one and says it flys good but not great. there are other planes out there other than them 2!

I have flown both and the Ultimate would be better for outdoors, and is easier to fly for a first 3d. In fact it flies great. The Tensor is great too but flies completely different from other 3d planes. If you get the Tensor get good with rudder turns because that's the only way it will turn.
Personally I'd start 3d with the Tribute or a fanfold plane, or a shock flyer. They are a little tougher and easier to fix after a crash.
Unless you think you'd need the toughness of EPP, which it doesn't sound like you would, my first choice would the a 3DX or Mini 3DX from foamyfactory.com. You have to come up with the foam and cut them out yourself but that's very easy. They are cheap and fly just great, really great.
Anyway, the E-Flite brushless motor would be great, a Castle Creations esc would be great. Do like Tall Paul said for the cutoff. 1500 batteries would be okay for all these planes, a little heavy for the small ones, but for the Ultimate would be fine. Get the 1080 motor for 3 cell packs. 10-4.7 prop.
If you are looking for max power consider the 4100 geared motor.

I have the Eflite Ultimate. It is a good plane. It will do 3D fairly well, but normal flight is just okay. Course it’s a foamy so I don’t expect it to fly my larger balsa planes. Anyway it will fly nicely outdoors. The less wind the better, but up to 15 mph winds it can be flown, just not as much fun over about 5-6 mph. It is fairly durable as well. I have a direct drive outrunner motor on mine, I don’t care for gearboxes, the HiMax 2812/0650, 11x4.7 APC SF prop CC 10 ESC, TP 3S 1320 mah li-po, 4 GWS servos and a JR610UL Rx. This setup gives me good power, hovers at 2/3 throttle, and flight times that exceed 20 minutes. The 11x7 prop I had on it had more power, but flight times were only about 15 minutes and I wanted MORE time.

The Ultimate hovers easily with no wind, and upright harriers are a breeze to do for as long as you like. The landing gear is a bit weak, unless you do a perfect harrier landing the gear will bend back just a bit.

Having said that I am planning to get the Advantage Bipe from 3dfoamy.com for my next plane.

I would like somthing that looks nice, and different. I dont have a biplane yet so this would be a great addition to my fleet. I will be getting it with the brushless motor from e-flight. 1500 mah lipo batteries 3 cells. 3 Micro servos and a micro electron reciver. About the esc. Would it be benifical to get a larger esc. Or would it not make a difference. I see the CC esc is 60 dollars while a 25 amp esc is 69 Would it be better to get the 25 or just stick with the 10?

The 25 won't hurt, it's just a tiny bit heavier. It will work just as good as the 10. In fact if you might use it in a bigger heavier plane in the future you would be ahead. The 10 is fine though for your setup, assuming you won't be flying full throttle all the time.

Well i was thinking for a while and i found a deal from a guy who has a 25 esc a tribute and the brushless motor. All i need is servos battery and reciver. He wants 120 for it which i think is a fair deal. I think i will go ahead and get it and then upgrade to a ultimate later and just pop in all the servos esc and stuff into the ultimate. If anyone wants to tell me somthing about the tribute now would be a great time. Thanks.
- Jeff

Flown the Tribute. Very nice 3D plane. The wings flex a lot but not a problem.
The way the motor attaches to the carbon tube is a weak spot. In a crash the tube often breaks.
Could be reinforced with a couple tubes down the sides behind the motor or something to make it stronger.
I think you will like the plane. I found it a lot of fun to fly. Sounds like a good deal if the plane is in good shape.

The airplane, the motor and the esc are all new. I cant wait to fly!

Do you know of any video clips of the airplane, i could nt find any. Thanks

Could i later put this set up into a shock flyer??

I looked but couldn't find a video.
Yes you could fly this stuff in a shock flyer.
They really fly best light and although it would fly good they fly best with lighter stuff.
The battery is particularly heavy for a shocky.

But will it fly?? Would the brushless e-flight motor fit in a shocky? 3 servos correct? And the pheonex 10 amp is enough to take this torture. I plan to fly outisde so the 3cell weight might just be my friend. What prop should i use. Is shocky any good outside?? How long will it take a noob builder to assemble?

Is the motor an outrunner or gear drive? Either can be made to fit in a shocky. The outrunner can be mounted on a cricle of plywood glued to the front, the gear motor can be mounted to a stick. I can try to get pics of these mounting methods if you want.
3 servos and Phoenix 10 would work fine.
Prop depends on which motor. For the outrunner 10-4.7, if geared 6.6:1 then 12-6 or 11-4.7, GWS slowfly props.
Yes it will fly good and have enough power to hover. Would be better off with a smaller lighter battery though.

im using a brushless on mine and the mount cannot hold the motor still from the torque. It pretty much ripped the carbon rod out of the foam. What can i do to reinforce it from torqueing.

I would reinforce the nose with flat pieces of foam on either side, covering the mount.
Or could run some carbon rods/tubes from the front back to the wing or farther.

i ended up CAing 2 pieces of balsa on either side. Now it doesnt move =)

I got my buddy 3d today. Its an excellent looking airplane. I want to fly it so bad, but tis very windy and cold right now. Mabey in a week it will be better.
- Jeff

Hi everyone,

Just need some help for my setup and you guys info. I am getting the e flite ultimate. I will be using the park 370 brushless motor 5400kv, with the pheonix 10, hs-50's and one hs-55 and a micro 4 ch receiver from hitec. All though I am having problems for the choice of my batterie pack. I want a hover and that it can pull right out of the hover with authority. I am thinking of the kokam 3s-1500 mah. At what throttle do you guys think i ll need to hover and how long would my flight be if I would be hovering for the whole flight.

Any inputs will help

Thanks

LeBlanc

I think with the 5400 you want to use a 2 cell pack.
I would look at Thunder Power 1320 or Etec 1200.
I believe with this setup hovering would occur somewhere around half throttle and could hover around 10 minutes, more if flying too.
I don't own this setup so I'm relying on stuff I've read.

My Tribute does everything it should with the 5400 kv E-Flite bru$le$$ motor, and 2x720 or 2x1500 Kokams.
Using this motor on 3 cells lets all the smoke out.
The 4100 kv motor is for 3 cells.

I have the Park 370 5400 and was thinking about the 3 cell but let me clarify. Are you saying it is not recommended with this motor?

Chuck

Not recommended for the 5400. The rpm's with 3s 5400 will be higher than the motor is rated for due to the winding.
The winding on the 4100 produces lower rpm so 3 cells are best, although it can be run on 2.

Thanks, what prop would be best, I was thinking the 10x4.7?

Chuck

9-4.7 to 12-6 depending on application and what amp draw the batteries can handle. For a 3D foamy type plane 11-4.7 or 12-6 would work well, but experiment and see which size you like best.