mups53

My Feedback: (41)

It's an unbelievable plane. Plus it's so well made. No seams in the fuse and a less thant half the price of the really expensive ones. Mike

Jason Arnold

Gee Arch, you make it sound like a company car... Either that or Chris's business is booming and he has his own Lear Jet! lol

Cheers,
Jason.

mups53

My Feedback: (41)

Unfortunatly Chris is not doing any flying so he's loaning out the "Company" planes.. He is still recovering from pretty significant back surgery. I'd ask that everyone be a tad patient with him right now. He's getting a lot of things straightened out and it'll be back to normal soon.
The new planes are here and things are starting to proceed. I only wish I was there to help him right now. He's put his heart and soul into making F3AUnlimited a good place to deal with. Mike

rcpattern

My Feedback: (45)

Completely agree. Chris is slowly moving around, but it will take him some time to get back on his feet. I have been intrigued by the Nuance since I first flew it last fall, but I didn't really like the setup. After talking with him, he offered to let me put my radio in and see what I thought. I really like the plane. It took a few flights to get comfortable with the differences between it and my Winds, but I am very happy. I will definitely be looking to get my own now. I am very fortunate to be close enough to Chris to get to fly a lot of the different things he has available.

Arch

shannah

My Feedback: (5)

It also took me a few flights to get into the rhythm with the Nuance. I moved from my Visa to the Nuance and I had to alter my style. The Visa is a bit more of a hot rod in comparison and it flies very well but I found that the way the Nuance locks in on lines and the presentation were really superior. I knew from the first flight that it was a good flying plane and I just had to dial my brain into its optimal flight envelope. Once I adapted then I have been really happy with it.

rcpattern

My Feedback: (45)

I'm very happy with this one. I think the CG is too far back as it hunts on lines a little bit, but trying to sneak up on it rather than make big changes.

Arch

shannah

My Feedback: (5)

TonyF also made a comment about hunting a little as well when I let him try it, but he was flying it faster than I do. Watch your speed and how you come up on the power. I notice that when I fly it faster that the plane gets a bit "nervous" feeling.

I'll check my CG point again, it's been a while. I ended up slightly forward from design recommendation but only about 5 - 10mm or so.

mups53

My Feedback: (41)

Ok I've got enough flights on this plane to report this.
#1 Setting the CG at 265 to 270 from the trailing edge is the sweet spot. It's takes time to learn but it's worth it.
#2 This plane has no mixing besides the 2% down elevator to low throttle.
#3 It rolls so easy that the only thing that makes it look bad is the pilot. It's effortless.
#4 Stall turns are fantastic
#5 It snaps very easily and is not hard to make it exit online.
#6 Spin entries are amazing. It never drops a wing till you initiate controls.

I can not fault the plane in any area's. It far excede's my hope and expectation.
It does like to fly slightly slower. Still I fly it best on my oldest packs. The Plettenberg Advance is so far and away the best motor I've ever ran that it makes everything easy.
Ok one fault. I think the landing gear is too far back for grass.
I'm very picky about the planes I fly. For 4 years I've tried many and all left me unsatisfied. Finally I found one that works the way I need it. I'm hoping it all shows up the the standings. I was starting to lose confidence in myself till I flew this plane. Mike Mueller

Dave Harmon

I hope the Nuance works for me as well as it does for you Mike.....because mine was delivered last Friday.
I haven't had a chance to do anything on it yet...and I dont have a motor for it either.
I have an EVO but I wanted to get an Advance....Chris is still showing out of stock....hopefully I can get one before the season is over.

What motor mount did you use and what about the short shaft on the motor?....sounds like it might be a problem...

mups53

My Feedback: (41)

Dave a shippment of Pletty Advancesis coming soon. I'm sure most are reserveed but get yourself on the list because it'll be soon! Mike

patternflyer1

My Feedback: (11)

Dave,

Glad to hear yours arrived.. Hopefully our chat lets you know that I was honest about it as Mike says the same thing here.. It really is a good plane with very little mixing. With the rear cg, sure, it likes to fly slower. But it will liven up a bit with a more forward cg. A 20x15 is pretty good for going faster also and still has plenty up upline and over the top pull as the plane is very light. I run that and a 21x14 Falcon.

If you need any pics of how anything is done, message me and I'll send em to ya. As far as the Advance, it is worth waiting for. But at this weight, your current Pletty would be fine! Hopefully you can get the Advance soon. It's that good!

Chris

Dave Harmon

Hi Chris......
One thing I do appreciate and like are honest evaluations of the matter at hand.....and of course your chat comments were exactly that.....and what I expected....as well as chat comments by Steve and Mike.
Based on some observed comments....recently I moved the c/g to the rear considerably on the Gaudius with improved handling on certain manouvers...this is such a learning experience...I'm really having fun!
I've flown 35 flights since Friday and I'm going again today....the most I had recently flown was 100 flights in 30 days....so I'm gittin it...
Props....I have been using a Falcon 20.5x14.5 on the Gaudius after using the 109g 20.5x14 that buzzed so much that the hatch latch walked half open from the high frequency vibration....so I tossed that and put on the Falcon.
Then...last week I got the new 125g APC 20.5x14.5 and 130g 21x14....man....what an improvement! The new version of these props are really a lot stiffer and quieter.
The 21x14 is really good.
The Advance.....I got on the backorder list and it looks like there will be plenty of these motors for all....get your orders in to F3A/U ASAP.
Your comment about the Pletty EVO having more than enough power is right on as well....but I always like to duplicate the mfgrs setup...so the Nuance will not have a firewall.
This project is going to be a lot of fun!

nonstoprc

My Feedback: (90)

Somebody mentioned (on a different rcu thread) that the Advance can reach 6200rpm with 21x14.

Just wonder if 6200 is the pretty much the top limit for 21x14 or 20.5x14.

rcpattern

My Feedback: (45)

I have been flying the "company" plane now for a couple of weeks and am really liking it. So much so that I picked up my own on Friday. I'm very happy with the plane, and will be putting a Neu motor in the nose. The Pletty is nice, but once you have flown a Neu, it is hard to change. There is a "feel" on the bottom end that just isn't there with anything else. I've played with the throttle curves and such and have the Pletty close, but its just quite the same. I think the Pletty would be awesome, if you hadn't owned a Neu before. I really like the presentation of the plane. It definitely flies slower than my Winds, which isn't a bad thing. So far, I'm very pleased with it and I'm getting more and more comfortable every day.

Arch

DaveL322

Summertime temps w/ TP G6 5000 25C.....6700 is about right on the Neu for 20.5x14, 21x14, 20.5x14.5. Static RPM from the Castle ICE data logging, which in my experience is very accurate for RPM.

Regards,

nonstoprc

My Feedback: (90)

Hi Arch and Dave,

Appreciate your comments.

My Neu hits 6700 with APC 20.5X13 and 6600 with APC 20.5X14, measured by a tachometer.

cmoulder

Dave H, if Chris at F3A Unlimited doesn't receive an adequate supply for all who are on the list, I suggest you also check with Icare in Canada. I got on their list back in February and finally received mine recently. Original estimate was 6 weeks but it was about twice that, and then some.

mups53

My Feedback: (41)

Interesting observation Arch. That's exactly what Dave Snow reports. Having never ran a Neu motor I'm ignorant as to the difference.
I would however point to an inordinate amount of breakdowns and issues with maintainence on the Neu motors. They have a lot of them around here and I've seen a lot of failures. I've also seen a lot of guys puff packs using Neu motors. Based on that I'm reluctant to try one. Mike

Jason Arnold

[/quote]

Interesting observation Arch. That's exactly what Dave Snow reports. Having never ran a Neu motor I'm ignorant as to the difference.
I would however point to an inordinate amount of breakdowns and issues with maintainence on the Neu motors. They have a lot of them around here and I've seen a lot of failures. I've also seen a lot of guys puff packs using Neu motors. Based on that I'm reluctant to try one. Mike

[/quote]

All the Neu F3A motors down here in Australia have had issues of some kind. There is no doubt they produce the power but at YS reliability. The Hacker inrunner on the other hand seems to be very reliable. One thing I have noticed with the inrunners is lack of smooth throttle management. The outrunner is superior in this respect.

Regards,
Jason.

rcpattern

My Feedback: (45)

I have been fortunate with mine apparently. I have had issues with the fan coming loose, but with the new style case, its an easy one time fix yourself. Other than that, mine have been bullet proof. Greasing them is not very difficult and only takes about 20 minutes. 10 of that is spent getting Marquette spinners off...lol. I have followed Dave Lockhart's recommendations with greasing and have been very happy with the results. I will agree on puffing packs. They do not like the cheaper packs apparently, but I haven't had any issues with either Thunder Power of Flight Power packs.

Arch

mups53

My Feedback: (41)

I agree with that assesment Arch. I think a lot of new guys to E around here jumped onto the Neu motors. They take more care and thought than your typical outrunner or a new generation non geared Inrunner like the Advance. Until guys actually puff a few packs and break things due to abuse or lack of understanding they don't understand the need to be careful. There's a learning curve. I see guys regularly flying 9 minute flights and wondering why there lipo's are going bad. Duhhhh!!!!!

Jason Arnold

Puffing packs is not limited to the Neu... Out-runners are more demanding on the batteries and can have higher peak currents. I think puffing is more likely to be caused by leaving the packs fully charged between flying sessions i.e. from week to week or month. The other cause is over discharge. The later is probably more likely IMHO as not many people time their flights with electrics. This is especially the case when trimming a new model like the Nuance. Trimming an electric model can take longer due to the run time limitation. You just have to make more flights to do it... :-)

Cheers,
Jason.

OhD

Heat is the enemy of LiPo packs. Anything that gets them hot can cause puffing including sitting in the sun on your dash. On the other hand, I've had packs that puffed early that keep going for over 50 flights and maintained relatively low IRs.

Jim O

Jason Arnold

Actually, warming the packs before use in cold weather is good for them. You can actually damage the packs under high discharge in cold weather. By warming them you will also notice a 20-30% power increase in cold weather.

Regards,
Jason.

nonstoprc

My Feedback: (90)

My reading on the topic is that tiny water drops in the gel evaloperate under the heat. They can not escape the wraps so the wraps have to expand.

No harm is done, unless the pack is way-over discharged.

My packs start to puff after 50-70 flights with Neu. The packs still perform.