RE: first flight today!
 

bought the tower hobbies charger. doesnt have a discharge function but it will serve its purpose for now. i'll just set up a small motor to use as a discharge device.

RE: first flight today!
 

and just how have i got it strung out? it sits exectly like it did when i got it new other then the low voltage beeper that i just now put on. the battery that i ordered is a hobbico battery which was far from the cheapest out there. the charger was the only thing i was looking at that was on the cheap side. i guess no matter what forum you get on there is always some guy who thinks he is so much better than everyone else just because he has been in it for a long time and spends a ton of money.

RE: first flight today!
 

Its not how long you have been in the hobby or how much you spend it is how wisely you spend your time and money.
GOOD LUCK

RE: first flight today!
 

Hi everyone, John I don't really think the TX battery has to be changed out, I used to fly 3 planes RX's dry and still have to leave the TX on for hours after I got home to cycle it down. Are the more modern TX's harder on batteries? I only have 8 or 9 flights on my FASST radio and it seems to have the same characteristics as my old super seven. Just my two cents worth.Calvi.

RE: first flight today!
 

Hey Calvin. I am sure JB will chime in shortly. I don't believe the new transmitters are harder on batteries but are more sophysticated and may draw slightly more current than the old ones. I think the old Super Seven came with 500ma pack and the new Fasst T7C is 600ma.
When the Super Seven was out most all microprocessors used a 5volt supply where now the standard is 3.3 with some less than that.
I don't believe a guy needs to buy a new transmitter battery unless he plans on his transmitter being on for more than 2 hours on that day. I call it a day after mine has been on for an hour or slightly more. Transmitters are low current devices. Servos are what draws higher currents.
Typically you don't get a larger battery for your plane for more flight times but rather for higher loads. i.e. more servos or larger servos. Not talking about electric airplanes with electric motors here, thats a different animal.
Still however with a nicad or nimh in the transmitter it should be charged the night before you go the field.

RE: first flight today!
 

thats what im seeing also. everytime i have had it out the indicators on the tx have always stayed all the way up. now granted im not keeping mine in the air as long as you guys are. each one of my flights only last a few minutes and then i land. want to get as much experiance landing as i can right now.

RE: first flight today!
 

For me, I just use my voltmeter with a resistor on it and call it a day when the voltage gets down to 4.9 under a good load, the think the resister I am using now draws more than 500 ma. I used to call it quites at 5 volts, but with a higher resistance.

And I agree, the most important thing is to cycle TX and RX down, then a full days charge before flying again. I found plans for a battery cycler online and built one, but I should get off my wallet and buy one with some features it would be nice to know how long the battery lasted before it cycled with out having to watch it.

Calvi

RE: first flight today!
 

Pick up one of these so you can test before every flight.

www.hangar-9.com/Products/Default.aspx

RE: first flight today!
 

Nice Drube,

I do test before every flight, the one time I did not(forgot my meter at home) it cost me my scratch built HE 113. I flew the Second flight with the flaps down(huge two panel flaps) but was not quite smart enough to relize I should have the servo "straight arm" the control rod to reduce/eliminate the load on the servo, The third flight was a full throttle slow dive into the dirt while I tried bending the stick back on my radio :( I never did find the elevator servo :)

Calvi

RE: first flight today!
 

Sorry to hear about your HE 113! I learned the hard way myself. Lost my first build (GP Corsair) because I took a chance and thought that my batteries had enough charge. Now I always check.

RE: first flight today!
 

Nice plane, one of my dream builds, how did she fly, did you have use flaps on it, the flaps on the corsair are the same as on the HE 113.

Calvi

RE: first flight today!
 

Talking about transmitter batteries for Futaba and JR has no bearing on Airtronics transmitter batteries; read the reviews on the airtronics. The chief complaint is the short life of the transmitter batteries. The OP has an Airtronics radio, no meter just 4 color leds.

RE: first flight today!
 

yep thats correct. so i shouldnt trust the led's then? the only time i have seen it come down 1 bar was when i was testing the strength of the batteries in the house and had it on for about an hour.

RE: first flight today!
 

I would discharge the batteries down and do a range check for just curiosity and see how far down the leds would go before I loose range. Maybe discharge down one led at a time.

RE: first flight today!
 

well i did this today and i was able to drain the battery clear down to the last led indicator while still controlling the servos. i was about 300 feet away. the receiver battery was still at 5.1 volts after all that. took about 3 hours to get the transmitter drained down. pretty happy with that.

RE: first flight today!
 

well i have had 5 flights now since the new receiver battery and charger. i couldnt be happier. the first time out i did 3 flights and when i checked the receiver battery it was at 5.5 volts. the other 2 times out i kept it in the air longer and the battery was at 5.3 volts. both times the transmitter battery never came off of full charge. starting to do some 180 flips now. after a few more times out might be investing in a 3d plane. thanks for all the advice guys.

RE: first flight today!
 

Congrats on the success with the new equipment. Good job on the range testing. It always feels good when you have confidence in the equipment you are using so you can focus on flying and having fun.

RE: first flight today!
 

yes it does. already having problems with the hobico low voltage alert though. it started beeping like i had lost the plane. it has a 2 year warranty so i wrote them about it. i put 180 flip earlier but i really meant a loop. tried to do a barrel roll but it just isnt responsive enough to spin real quick.

RE: first flight today!
 

Most any trainer type will barrel roll very nicely however just using aileron is not going to do. You also have to add rudder with the roll and don,t forget to add momentarily a touch of down as you approach the inverted postion. Its at this inverted portion of the roll where most panic and stop rolling with the ailerons That's usually not a good idea as the normal result is a panic pull of up and a figure 9 into the ground. keep the pro roll aileron and rudder until the maneuver is completed.

John

RE: first flight today!
 

thanks for the input. def going to give it another try next time out.

RE: first flight today!
 

Another little trick on doing a roll is to put the plane on about a 45 degree up line before you start the roll. That gives you a little more time to think about what you are doing until you get used to it. Another thing to remember is to make sure your plane is STRAIGHT before you start something. If you start crooked, chances are you will end up real crooked, after you do a few you will learn how to keep it straight . ENJOY !!! RED

RE: first flight today!
 

Gonna jump to a 3D plane next? Not sure if that would be a good 2nd plane.

RE: first flight today!
 

It sounds like you were attempting an aileron roll vice a barrel roll. Aileron rolls stay nice and flat in a straight line as the aircraft rolls through. A barrel roll looks way different in that the aircraft looks more like its spiraling the attempt is to keep a 1 g load on the aircraft through the maneuver. Not sure how to measure it in RC but A barrel roll uses all the surfaces to make a more spiral looking roll while the aileron roll uses the surfaces to have the aircraft roll in a nice straight and flat line. I do aileron rolls in precision aerobatics. I do barrel rolls in warbirds.

RE: first flight today!
 

Also known as an axial roll.

RE: first flight today!
 

didnt realize there was a couple diff rolls. the axial roll is what i was trying. from what i have read i need to use elevator along with the ailerons to do that right? the barrel roll uses the rudder with ailerons.