E-Flight Tribute
 

I am thinking on getting the E-Flight Tribute to try indoor flying with and was wondering how it performs with the stock motor or should I just upgrade to the E-Flight brushless motor? I plan on using HS55 servos a Li Po battery pack with this plane also. Not sure on the receiver and speed control yet. Leaning towards Castle Creations 25 amp speed control. I think Any comments on those would be appreciated also. I plan on doing 3D with this plane also. Thanks for any input. Chuck

RE: E-Flight Tribute
 

I just had a e-flite tribute. if you are going to use the stock motor you dont need a 25 amp speed control. go brushless trust me. the e-flite park 370 or the 400 motors are better. then use the 25 amp brushless speed controller.
Another thing replace the balsa elevator joiner with a graphite pushrod. the stock will break with the stress of flying. You have to brace the rear fuse a little. The whole tail section will flutter just in front of the horiz. stab. And that caused a horrific crash. Other than that nice flying plane. Just a bit on the flimsey side.

RE: E-Flight Tribute
 

If you are considering the Tribute here is my honest experience.

The wings flex way too much even in level flight, the gear will not hold up, the elevator joiner will break and the fuselage flex is also unacceptable. In my opinion it does not fly well because of the excessive flex in both the wing and fuselage. I think the design is great but the foam is weak and the wing tubes and elevator joiner are not strong enough.

It looks great but is not very good quality. I think you could basically pick any other foam profile on the market and come out better off.

RE: E-Flight Tribute
 

I agree. I'm really enjoying my Tribute but with all of the flex and the weak foam, I know it won't last very long. I don't even know why they give you that landing gear. Waaaaaaaay too weak.

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Gosh my fuse section right infront of the stab just bursted in little foam bits after a couple of flights.

RE: E-Flight Tribute
 

Stock it was a great flying plane. Crashes well to! Over priced 'cause some famous dood put his name on it. Just wasn't worth the $60 I paid for it.

It uses a 370 motor with a cloned GWS 350D gear box (1:6.60 if I remember right). The tail is very week. I had to re-enforce it with small pieces of triangle stock. I was getting ready to re-enforce the wing, but it blew up when I stalled 3 feet off the deck and hit the ground.

I'm checking out a 3dfoamy.com plane. For $30 you can't go wrong.

RE: E-Flight Tribute
 

I am backing up tucaver, as I to am replacing my $53 Tribute with the $30 3DFoamy. I could have spent $50 at 3DFoamy and got carbon landing gear, I guess you live and learn.

RE: E-Flight Tribute
 

Been flying the Tribute using 3 cell Lipo 2100mah Brushless Eflight 400 and quite a few build improvements for a few weeks. Very easy to do 3-D but have had the tail flutter, fuse flex and wing bend. Currently the tail section and prop area are very far from correctly aligned. The strange thing is it flys perfectly straight and appears to have zero impact on 3-D. The only improvement I am having trouble with is finding a good way to secure the two aileron servos I using under the wings. I've tried industrial strength double stick tape velcro the works, any suggestions out there to help?

RE: E-Flight Tribute
 

Hot glue on the aileron servos maybe?
My brother has the Tribute and has flown the heck out of it. It flies great.
It's needed some regluing and repair but he's really getting his money's worth out of it.

RE: E-Flight Tribute
 

I USE 3M EXTERIOR MOUNTING TAPE IT GRAY W/RED BACKING FOR MY ULTIMATE AILERON SERVOS & RAPTOR

RE: E-Flight Tribute
 

Ok dudes, nothing is wrong with this plane. Brace the wings with wing struts with 2 pieces of carbon, I mean come on, how hard it that? THe tail flutters due to a bad hinge. Replace that hinge and the problem with go away.

IF you are pying $60 for a Tribute you are plain stupid. I won a hobby shop and sell them for $45. I mean you cant beat that for a gear box and all hardware in the box.

RE: E-Flight Tribute
 

I dont know what you guys are talking about, the tribute is extremely stable...ive crashed it 4 times today pretty hard and the foam is holding up great. Once inverted under my deck and i thought it was over but i just picked it up and flew again

RE: E-Flight Tribute
 

Let me tell you they are pretty tough.

RE: E-Flight Tribute
 

on mine i can't get enough aileron throw

RE: E-Flight Tribute
 

How much do you have? Should have around 45 degrees.
Are you putting the rods into the outer holes of the servo arms and into the inner holes of the control horns? This will give max throw. If you still don't have enough all you can do is use new longer servo arms or find a way to make them longer.

RE: E-Flight Tribute
 

The early posts in this thread had me questioning my purchase, but now I feel a little better. Sounds to me like the experienced guys like it, and those that ding and dork planes all the time are having issues with it holding together (imagine that).

Thanks for the tips. I picked up the Park 370 brushless and some Hitec 55 servos. Sounds like I'm on the right track.

RE: E-Flight Tribute
 

You will love the way the Tribute flies I'm sure. And your motor and servos are perfect.

RE: E-Flight Tribute
 

I have flown mine for a year now with a 370 brushless and a 2 cell lipo. Have had it torque roll on me a few time while hangine it on the prop....my fault....but the only thing I have found is the prop shaft bends if you breathe on it. They are about $1.20 a piece so I buy them 2 at a time. This is a tough plane. Just throw the stock motor in the trash unless you have an Estarter or something you want to put it on, get a 2 or 3 cell lipo battery, a 10 or 20 amp ESC (whichever applies) and ask the good Lord to make the wind stop blowing for just an hour a day when your off work. Man, my only problem is catching a "no wind" day. Other than that, this is a tough plane...just fly within your skill level and you'll have a ball. Also, if you mount your servos with that stock glue (no one uses) they will hold great and you can peel it off if you mess up and need to move them or something.

FLy often, fly late, fly safe, but just fly.

RE: E-Flight Tribute
 

My first flight with my Tribute after the first (and last) flight with the kit motor, using an E-Flite 540 kv bru$hle$$, Phoenix 10 ESC, and 2x1500 lipos was in a wind when no one else would fly.. not a problem.
It can't do anything other than fly around with the kit stuff, but with the bru$hle$$ it's a winner... capable of doing more than I can.
The landing gear is awful, needs bracing, the wing bends amusingly/alarmingly without bracing.
With the Phoenix ESCs, you MUST program the low voltage cutoff to suit the number of cells you're using.. 6.0v for 2 cells, 9.0 v for three.. otherwise the battery will dump totally in flight, which is a drag..
Wire bracing the landing gear and adding CF rods to the bottom of the wing and fishline to the top of the wing stops the flexing..

RE: E-Flight Tribute
 

Very interesting Paul with the fishing line. Did you glue the line to the wings and then the fuselage to act as wing struts? also, what do yo have on the leading edge of your wings? I agree on the landing gear, it is very flimsy, but Ijust always make it a point land easy. I apply about 1/4 throttle when about 2' off the ground and it sits down nicely.


Happy flying.

RE: E-Flight Tribute
 

The fishing line on the top after the epoxy dried at the tip connections was stretched tight on to the canopy.
The CF rod on the bottom did a fair job of removing most of the wing flex, but not in negative g manuvers.
CF is probably overkill for that job.
The leading edge is 1/8"x3/16" balsa, to give a rounded leading edge. Not a fan of square l.e.s :)
On my E-flite Ultimate biplane I intend to do the same l.e. treatment.

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has anyone put an outrunner on their tribute? i have one but im not too sure how to mount it since its a flat fuse. should i just mount it like an X but glue just the top/bottom?

RE: E-Flight Tribute
 

I put an AXI on a tribute. Just took a piece of lite ply and cut out a square in it so it would attach to the hard wood block that
comes with the kit and then drilled 3 holes in it one for the motor shaft and two for top and bottom screws( you don't need 4) .
epoxied the ply to the hardwood and then screwed the motor to it and mount it on the CF shaft just like any other motor.

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How did it fly?????

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Here is a Tribute with fuse stiffeners. The wing is on upside down, as it flexes more in only one direction. It flexes away from the carbon rods for some reason. The servos and radio gear are mounted, clustered on or near the CG with pull/pull on elv. and rud. useing fishing line. There is a Himax 2808 outrunner up front, spinning an 11/3.8 APC SF. This is my favorite piece of dome foam to date. I don't think you could do better with 'any other foamy out there' as someone mentioned earlier. Check the specs on all the kits. None offer 374.6 sq. in. of wing area right out of the box. They are mostly 260 to 307 sq. in. All that wing area makes this a real floater which is what you want indoors. With the mods, flight characteristics are great. It loops tighter than most without snapping or falling out. Last night it showed just how easily it could do a beautiful climbing flat spin. Snap rolls and shoulder rolls are tight and precise enough for a confined flying area. You can get real comfortable with this plane as it is so predictable. @ $45.00 its well worth it, if you don't mind adding two extra pieces of foam. The landing gear is fine. Come on, if you can't float in a 14 oz. piece of foam without damage, whats that tell ya? If I didn't trace the first one, I would buy another one. Check it out. Joe

RE: E-Flight Tribute
 

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.

RE: E-Flight Tribute
 

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

RE: E-Flight Tribute
 

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

RE: E-Flight Tribute
 

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

RE: E-Flight Tribute
 

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

RE: E-Flight Tribute
 

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

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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.

RE: E-Flight Tribute
 

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.

RE: E-Flight Tribute
 

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

RE: E-Flight Tribute
 

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.

RE: E-Flight Tribute
 

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

RE: E-Flight Tribute
 

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.

RE: E-Flight Tribute
 

Now ya tell me!!:D 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

RE: E-Flight Tribute
 

Glad the gear is holding up.

RE: E-Flight Tribute
 

Oh, a wise guy! Nyuk nyuk nyuk nyuk.:D 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