I just wanted a simple 40 sized plane for everyday flying soI decided to go with the SS40 as its something that I really enjoyed when I was flying glow.

Set up

Motor: DualSky XM 4620-5 680 KV
ESC: DualSky XC 6018 BA
Batt: Flight Power EVO20 5S1P 4,900 mAh
Prop: APC 12x10E & APC 12x6E
Servos: HS81 ele/rud mounted at the back, 3001 for aileron, GWS Mini MG for steering

Build

This plane's quality is really 'bad', its not as good as it used to be. It must be said that WM's quality control for this plane really sucks. The wing halves do not join properly. There was a gap at the top of the wing at the root rib, I had to fill that up with 90 min epoxy and it took a lot of epoxy to do the job.

There was not much modification for this plane, its pretty straight forward to convert to EP.

Push rods for the elevator and rudder have a lot of binding, too much in fact. So what I did was to install the servos at the tail, its so much smoother now.

A hatch was cut in front of the canopy for battery access. The ESC is placed in the tank area and the battery is also mounted here, about half in the compartment and the other half behind. Battery access for my big packs were easy.

I removed the cup shaped fibreglass recess for the UC, this allows for more air flow. Unfortunately, with my big pack air flow is restricted. The FP EVO20 5S1P 4,900 packs are almost as large as the tank supplied.

I think I will use Flight Power's EVO25 3S1P 3,700 for this plane. It will help with the CG and allows for more air flow.

Motor

I decided to try the DualSky motor as it was a 680 KV motor and would be most suitable for a 5S set up. I have to say that their motors are cheap and they run well.

I fabricated a radial mount for this plane, I discovered that the original mounting screws on the plane are the same as the outer holes on an AXI 41XX series. So the radial mount I made had it's outer holes like AXI 41XX and it's inner holes that of the DualSky motor.

ESC

I first tested the ESC at home and everything worked well. When I got her ot the flying field it would not arm. Later I realise that it would not work with a 4.8V battery but will with a 6V battery. Then I saw the small prints on the ESC ... its got a built in switching UBEC ... 5.5V @ 3A! It always pays to read the manual.

Performance

Power: 1,000+W
Amp draw: 50+A
Tach: APC 12x10 @ 9,750 RPM and APC 12x6 @ 10,500 RPM
Motor temp: circa 60*C
ESC temp: circa 75*C max (its lacking ventilation)
Flight duration: 12 mins easy flying, 10 mins mixed flying and 7 mins hard flying
Top speed: about 65-70 mph max

Flight report

I got in like 10 flights on the SS40 ... The plane is still nose heavy because I am running on the big batt packs. Power wise, its got more than your average 46 2C motor. This plane is able to give very good up lines. Verticals are almost unlimited.

Acceleration is so much better than a 46 2C for sure. Punch the throttle and you will see the plane jump forward. I love coming in low then pull a nice big loop. I got to tweak the plane a bit more as I need more down thrust on this baby. Overall I will say she is just right. Perfect for everyday flying.

The APC 12x10E is much better than the APC 12x6E. The 12x6E gives good performance but the speed is much lesser and acceleration is slower. I think the best would be an APC 12x8E as the 12x10 prop is giving a pitch speed of just over 90 mph and this plane is only good for like 70 mph.

Hence, a 12x8 would be a better match for this plane, the pitch speed would be better matched for the plane and it will lower my amp draw, keeping things cooler and extending flight times.