E flite dimante 25 E
 

I was just on the horizon web site and noticed they have a new pattern plane looks pretty coll. They recommend the eflite 32 for extreme aerobatic power.

RE: E flite dimante 25 E
 

I don't know how to show the web site but, I did misspell it diamante 25e . Sorry.

RE: E flite dimante 25 E
 

It was a nice surprise when I stumbled onto this plane myself. I currently have a BRIO and would like something slightly larger. My only concern is the battery it calls for. If the instructions are correct the battery cost for a 4s2p 4200 would be $160.00
I don't see how it would take that much battery. The Extreme Flight Yak 47" which is approx. the same size airplane calls for a 4s1p 2150. That would be on the large end power wise and that battery is only $85.00

Keep this thread going. It could be exciting.

Mike

RE: E flite dimante 25 E
 

http://www.e-fliterc.com/ProdInfo/Ga...L4050-GAL1.jpg

http://www.e-fliterc.com/ProdInfo/Ga...L4050-GAL3.jpg

http://www.e-fliterc.com/ProdInfo/Ga...L4050-GAL4.jpg


Web page:

http://www.e-fliterc.com/Products/Pr...ProdID=EFL4050

assembly manual:

http://www.e-fliterc.com/ProdInfo/Fi...Res_Manual.pdf

RE: E flite dimante 25 E
 

Believe me, it will. I'm flying an Ultra Stick 25E with a Power 32 and the 3 cell 4200 pack. If I run it hard I get about 12 minutes. Performance is really good, but as soon as I get ahead a few dollars, I'm, going with the 4 cell packs so it will have brutal power. The Daimante is a little heavier than the Ultra Stick 25E, so if you want the thing to perform, I think the 3 cell pack is going to be necesary. If you want run time, you're going to need at least 4200 capacity.

When you get this large in electric airplanes, it starts to get stupid with the battery costs. I'm puitting together a Pulse XT with a Power 46 electric motor, and the batteries are going to be $300 each!

RE: E flite dimante 25 E
 

I guess I'll stay with the Brio.
$$$
Mike

RE: E flite dimante 25 E
 

I tell you guys I have a ultra stick 25e also and at first I was concerned about the cost of batteries. Then I found out about perfect balance from skysharkrc.com I am currently using the 3s1p4000 10c and it is doing great. I have the 25 with a 12 x 6e apc 60amp speed. I also have been looking at the diamante , I first bought the 32 for my stick then found better performance with the 25 on a three cell. Therefore I also believe it would need the four cell with the 32 like they call for. Hope this info will help you out. They have now come out with some 15c batteries that would work in the pulsext. Happy flying

RE: E flite dimante 25 E
 

A 4S1P is the way to go on this plane. 2500 to 3700ma cells like polyquest or hyperion lvx 9/11 minute flights.
620 to 750 watts on 4s
here is a link to a hyp 3700 pack that would work well http://www.allerc.com/product_info.p...oducts_id=2064

$168.00

at this point a TP 4s2p4200 pack is old school

TP extremes would be good too

RE: E flite dimante 25 E
 

Anyone have any flight time on this plane, Looking for the snaps and spins.. The SD8020 is a sailplane wing for slope work and usually hard to stall.. great looking plane saw it at the LHS.

Thanks

Scott Anderson
Team Castle Creations
Team Tanicpacks.com

RE: E flite dimante 25 E
 

I've got 6 flights on one. I'm using a Power 25 on 4S 4200 TP packs. DS-3124SA servos. The power is great and the flying characteristics are very good. BTW, it snaps and spins beautifully. I think the throws recommended are a little high, but the balance points seem good. This is a much better plane then the Brio 10 for pattern flying.

RE: E flite dimante 25 E
 

Mine arrived yesterday and jumped to the head of the line of models to be assembled. I'm thinking of using a AXI that I have on hand, a 2814. I do have a 2820 in an Utlra Stik 25E but the weather hasn't been good enough to go flying.

RE: E flite dimante 25 E
 

I just got mine today. Th sig eforce 3d is taking the back seat I've got the aielorns attached right now hitec 81's all around. I've been waiting for this plane since i first seen it on the web site. The covering is great E flite 32 for power I will have diamante done by the sunday I hope. I'm so excited about this plane E flite hasn't dissapointed me yet. Just to bad it's gonna snow in colorado this weekend moving on toward the fuselage.

RE: E flite dimante 25 E
 

I went to the WRAMS Show today with a group of friends. Got a great deal on HS-85BB servos which are going into this plane. I hope to start it this weekend.

RE: E flite dimante 25 E
 

I flew mine yesterday once it flew really good. It has great power with e-flite 32. The control throws were a bit much for me I'll get some expo in it this weekend. The plane flies way better than my brio 10.

RE: E flite dimante 25 E
 

I have an Ultra Stick 25e powered AXI 2820/12, 12 X 6 prop Flightpower 3S 3700ma pack, I easily achieve 15 mins of aerobatic flight, even able to maintain an easy hover during the first 12 mins of flight.

RE: E flite dimante 25 E
 

I'm lusting after this airplane as kind of my transition into larger e-powered machines. [8D]

RE: E flite dimante 25 E
 

Would two 3s1p TP 2100mAh packs run the E-flite 32 convincingly? I would rather run 2 packs in parallel than drop the cash on a new charger and 4s1p 4200mAh.

Thanks,
Crasher

RE: E flite dimante 25 E
 

Yes you can run two 2100's in parallel and enjoy the performance.

Sounds like guys are begining to enjoy the Diamante. It is a smaller model of one of Peter Goldsmiths designs from years past. We thought a newer breed of patternish type electric model was needed for the market.

If Tony F is happy with the basic overall performance, you can bet it is a pretty nice plane. He is hands down one of the best when it comes to flying pattern. The throws we set in the manual are based ona few of the 3D guy's fells on the sticks. If we can get him to chime in with his control throws here, I am sure it would be a killer addition to this model.

RE: E flite dimante 25 E
 

Hi John,

I'm just about to maiden this new ship tomorrow or this coming week-end. Here's my config:

-Xpert battery and switch for safety;
-Hitec Electron 6 /JR compatible receiver. I put Hitec receivers in most of my electric planes because the JR Sport models have issues with cold weather;
-AXI 2820-12 motor;
-Castle Creation 60 AMP ESC;
-MN48 servos all around;
-TD 4200 MHA 11.1V pack.

With the above material CG was right on at 135 mm. The lipo pack is up front (will post pics later).

As mentioned on another thread a few things to improve:

-Wheel Pants pre-drilled holes were not set correctly
-Canopy trimming was a bit long to adjust the hatch
-Accessories list at the beginning of the manual: need to add 12'' servo extensions (2) + Long arms (2 packages).


Will report on the maiden later.

RE: E flite dimante 25 E
 

Maiden done today! Plane is awsome:D! Lots of power with the Axi motor and the Lipo pack. Very precise, crisp and responsive. Many witnesses made positive comments. It was gaining altitude very quickly!

Unfortunately I made a quick landing on rough terrain and ripped the landing gear balsa structure off[:o].

For a plane of this size and weight I found the bottom structure very weak. Decided to put strong plywood piece and spread 30 min epoxy all aroung. Used new covering so the plane looks perfect!

In fact I'm glad that I had to reinforce the structure since I will be using this terrain again.

RE: E flite dimante 25 E
 

My current set-up in the Diamante is as follows,

Servos - All JR DS3421SA's
Radio - Spektrum DX-7 w/AR-7000 RX
Motor - E-Flite Power 32
Batteries - TP 4S 4200's
Prop - APC 13 x 6.5
ESC - Castle Phoenix 60 using the BEC

I redid the aileron linkage, putting longer control horns on the ailerons. I'll have to go measure the throws but as I remember it the ailerons are 11 degrees of up and 10 degrees down. Elevator is 9 degrees up and 11 down. Rudder is 35 to 40 degrees each way. Next time I can I'll measure them and get it accurately.

I had to add 1/16" of right thrust installed between the motor mount and the firewall. It also needed some rudder to aileron mix to counter some adverse roll, and a bit of rudder to pitch to straighten the knife-edge. I run slightly different throws for the snaps and spins. I'll measure them when I can.

I also had a LG mount rip out pretty easily. When I repaired it I made a doubler out of 1/8" G10 glass that the gear mount screws threaded into. This should keep the gear on the plane.

Mine is flying pretty well. I've been doing mostly helicopter flying lately, but I break the Diamante out just to stay up with pattern flying. I may go to the Riverside contest in a couple of weeks and enter masters with it. Should be fun!

RE: E flite dimante 25 E
 

I have one ofthese models - --sticking in the 32 Eflight - a 75 amp Aligh heli controller and a little 5.5 v Dimension BEC .
the batts ? 4, A123 cells (10.8 ounces)
th servos are th 48 size JR sport -same thing as old 30331 -I can swap gears n cases -so -same thing.
I will toss the rigid landing gear for good ol wire - you can't beat it for forgiving characteristics.
and lighter than ANY other stuff.
Been flying th XRAY --really good little model
Rojecki was here yesterday - we flew the XRay and my 400 " flat foamie (16 0z all up w/2100 ma pack) copy of IKARUS acrostar-Guy made it for me. I am also doing a ZDZF3A powered home brew thing the engine is extremely smooth and is presently in a ABBra which is just too "tinny" for my tastes - allcarbon fibre really resonates.

RE: E flite dimante 25 E
 

I just completed and maidened my Diamante 25e. But before I flew, I read various threads about the landing gear tearing away and causing damage to the undercarriage, so I decided to install nylon bolts (with round thumb tighten heads) instead of the metal ones.

My first flight went very well, good trim right out of the shop. However, even using dual rates, I found the plane to have way too much aileron and elevator for my current comfort level.

I set up for my first landing as early as the terrain at my field permitted and like my mini Pulse XT, this thing likes to glide forever! I ended up going around after overshooting my preferred landing spot. Next round I put it down long but with no other problem.

Second flight went much better after adding more dual rate. Upon landing on my short dry grass field, the plan hit a small clump of crabgrass once it was down and tore the landing gear off by breaking the nylon bolt heads. No damage to the undercarriage whatsoever.

Now, I am concerned. This was a normal, gentle landing at a speed not much over where I feel the wings would stall. This field is smooth, even the crabgrass is low. How can I strengthen the undercarriage / landing gear without tearing apart the front lower section of the undercarriage? I am afraid to use the metal bolts for fear of tearing out the bottom of the plane. Do they expect you to fly this plane only from concrete runways?

The design, rake and placement of the gear seem to beg for trouble on such a fast heavy plane.

Any ideas would be appreciated.

My setup…
- eFlight Power 32
- 4 cell 5000 mhA battery
- Castle Creations 60 amp esc
- Voltage regulator
- eFlight 800 mhA Lipo for receiver
- Berg 4 channel receiver
- MN48 servos all around

RE: E flite dimante 25 E
 

Hi,

I'm no engineer but I can't help but notice how strong and heavy are the landing gear brackets and how big the wheels are compared to such a small, weak plywood structure underneath.

At my opinion, unless you make a perfect landing on pavement, you will rip off the bottom.

In my case I removed all the bottom surface using my Dremel tool, cut a thick plywood piece and install plywood parts on all 4 sides of the piece for added strength. Used 30 min. epoxy all around. Of course I had to drill holes and reinstall the 4 blind nuts. Used same yellow covering that I had for my J3 Cub 25.

Pictures of the receiver setup and the new bottom. Inside the yellow circles you can see the side plywood pieces that also hold the bottom to the balsa structure on the side.

The result is rock solid. I don't expect any other trouble. Of course the weight has changed but hey! Now I can land on grass and rough terrain.

RE: E flite dimante 25 E
 

why not make the gear take up the shock?
this is not a novel idea -it is as old as aircraft .
this model cries out for a good, light , wire gear.
this hobby has become like custom kars where appearance is everything and practical approaches are not considered.
aluminum and carbon gear do not take up fore/aft shock loads - they can be made to take up some other loads tho.

RE: E flite dimante 25 E
 

While I don't have a Diamonte, I do have a Vanquish. For batteries, I'm using Hexatronic 2200 4S packs. They are 20-30C and claim that they are good for 35C. I got them from United Hobbies in China for $38.95! They are well made packs with a balancer tap that fits the Hyperion Balancer. The shipping was $11.55 for 2 packs. I have since ordered 2 more. The down side is that they take a month to get them if they are in stock. Suggest the courier service if you need them faster.

Wow, hello Dick Hanson! I sure did enjoy your columns in Model Builder! In fact, I have a set of plans for the "Runaround" that I believe would make an excellent electric pattern airplane. Your preaching about building light sure has come to pass, hasn't it?
Frank

RE: E flite dimante 25 E
 

Dick,

make absolute sense to me!

Any pics or how-to instructions? I'd be interested to modify it.

RE: E flite dimante 25 E
 

Frank -- I have not looked into those cells - yet -let me know how they pan out.
The wire gear -- this is an old art form and likely someone you know has a wire bender ( ask a granpa)
The best setup simply duplicates the setup on old trainer mains such as the Sig kits used. across the bottom of the fuselage --then up the inside . in a channel made from two ply wood or spruce sticks .
the screws on the bottom now simply attach nylon straps - to hold wire in position----all available in any hobby store.
two pieces of wire are used -- 1/8" dia is right for this model and even smaller if you have a really smooth field
also FOX made some wire gear wheel pant attachment devices which slide on and align as you like by tightening a set screw clamp .
It isn't hard to do and it all is faaaaaar more forgiving than rigid al or carbon fibre gear .
oh yeh -light too but don' tell --

RE: E flite dimante 25 E
 

Thanks lthibault for your reply. I was inquiring out of curiousity but now out of necessity. I took the plane up on my first windless day for a couple of flights. The first landing from a
shallow dive went well even though it was faster than normal due to no headwind. - No problem. On the second landing I decided to make my approach flat and from further out. Problem was that from that range out I could not easily judge my speed and ended up stalling the plane from about 15 feet above the ground. I recovered and set the plane down on the right gear first. I rolled along for less than a couple seconds before the gear tore free followed by the left gear a few feet later... No a particulary hard landing, just not balanced. No other damage was suffered outside of ripping the gear support out of the paper thin balsa buttom.

Question, did you construct a top and bottom in addition to the four sides that you mentioned above? I have already begun construction / repair on my plane.

After only six flights and two LG failures, I can say this... The plane is fun to "fly" and frightining to land while worrying about the egg shell bottom.

I let the techs know at e-Flight, the tech said that this was the first he as heard of the problem with this plane... I told him to check around on the fourms.

Second, have you noticed any wired medium to slow speed handeling characteristics with his plane? With only six short flights to date, I can't put my finger on it but the plane (while balanced to specs at 5.5", it seems a bit nose heavy). Ofcourse, balance will soon change anyway.

Thanks again for your time!

RE: E flite dimante 25 E
 

Concerning the new bottom I didn't put anything on top, just four 1/2'' by 1'' pieces on each side of the plywood used to replace the bottom.

Unfortunately the weather is been a little hectic here (very windy + snow[:@]) so I'll need to make more flights before I can comment. From what I can remember I have the same observations: the plane is fun to fly, it won't slow down very easily but I think it's a matter of getting use to it and practice stalls at high altitude.

RE: E flite dimante 25 E
 

Be sure to check out unitedhobbies.com batteries, they are incredibly cheap!

RE: E flite dimante 25 E
 

Now that I've solved the landing gear issue I was able to make a few flights today.

All I can say is thumbs up, the plane flies very well, crisp and responsive. I had to use a lot of exponential to reduce the throws, they were too much for me.

I'm currently studying her flying patterns, just practicing take-off and landings, basic acrobatics.

At this point I would only make one recommendation: don't cut power and let her float while landing, keep some throttle and be ready to increase power if necessary as she might fall very quickly depending on the altitude and the wind.

RE: E flite dimante 25 E
 

Thanks again lthibault for your suggestions. I have completed my modifications and now have several days of flying and landing under my belt.

http://img477.imageshack.us/img477/8...icationme5.jpg

The plane flies great even with the additional 47 grams that were added to the nose. I was able to rebalance the plane by moving the the 5000mhA battery to the backmost position.

For the fun of it and extra cooling for the speed control while flying on hot Arizona days, I cut and screened in a NACA duct in the lower cowl.
http://img477.imageshack.us/img477/9441/nacaductul4.jpg

Because of the short approach and short LZ at my favorite grass field, I still wanted to slow the plane's landing speed so I replaced the aleron Y cable with two direct aleron cables (plugged into Ch2 and Ch6 on the Rx) and programmed my JR9303 TX to drop both alerons (now flaperons) about a 1/4 in. while automatically adding about 1/8 in. of down elevator at the same time. I have timmed the deployment to take two seconds once the flap switch is hit...

Flaperons on this plane work great slowing the plane on final 5~7mph while still tracking straight and level. I do need to "fly" it to the ground because in really wants to float once it enters ground effects. Also, I deploy falperons at a medium speed... I tried it at a high speed and the plane wanted to climb.

For any interested parties, the Power 32 with CC60 Esc, 13x6.5 APC prop and fully charged 4S 5000mhA battery bench test on Eagle Systems Micro Logger at the following rates...
Instant Max Throttle: 62 amp burst (lasting less than a second)
1/4 Throttle: 1.74 amps sustained
1/2 Throttle: 6.36 amps sustained
3/4 Throttle: 21.84 amps sustained
95% Throttle: 46 amps sustained
100% Throttle 56 amps sustained

http://img353.imageshack.us/img353/1...nchtestoq3.jpg

The Diamante is now as fun to land as it is to fly!

RE: E flite dimante 25 E
 

Great information. I might program flaps as well to slow it down.

RE: E flite dimante 25 E
 

Nice kitchen by the way;)

RE: E flite dimante 25 E
 

How about some video?

RE: E flite dimante 25 E
 

Unfortunately I don't have the necessary equipment to capture and edit videos on my pc.

Performed a few flights yesterday, weather was absolutely wonderful, very stable air and just a little bit of wind (the right kind, parallel with the runway!).

I'm starting to really enjoy the Diamante, I didn't need the flaps however as I'm beginning to feel the stalling point and slow the plane before the runway so I just perform a 3 points kind of touch down with enough power to keep her light.

RE: E flite dimante 25 E
 

I'm putting together one- my son has taken an acute interest.

Three minute wheel pant mounting. See pictures for detail.

Three steps in three minutes. Push the blind nut up against the top of the cutout, use pliers to push it in, and then put 3 or 4 drops of thick CA to secure it in place. The blind nut matches perfectly with the landing gear 4/40 screw hole and wheels have ample clearance around the wheels wells when mounted.

Don

RE: E flite dimante 25 E
 

Nice! There's not much stress on the pants so it should be OK. Let us know after a few landings if they hold well.

Just a personal choice but I would have use Epoxy instead of CA.

RE: E flite dimante 25 E
 

I have 4 flights on my Diamante. Power is e-flight 32 fueled by flightpower 3s1p 3700 turning a 13 x 8 prop, this combo draws 39 amps at full throttle on the ground, power is adequate for pattern flying,I do believe the 32 needs a 4s pack to realy hoof it. My original intention was to power it with an Axi 2820/12 on 3s, I need to make up some stand-offs to position the Axi further forward.

Only hiccup during assembly was the wheel / spat mounting. if you use the standard mounting set-up the wheels foul the spats, i.e. the spats sit too low over wheels and contact the outer diameter, one solution is to reduce the depth of the axle slots in the spats with a plywood or similar insert, a less than ideal solution would be to go for smaller wheels.

The Diamante flies well and is a more stable platform than the Brio. The wing flies snaps well, the spins I tried where somewhat tame, sort of midway between a spiral dive and a fully developed spin, I'm currently flying with the cg at the rearmost recomended position, some experimenation may aid the spin behavior. It flies pretty awsome sideslips, this comes in handy considering the Diamante's slipery airframe.