Cyclic Hardover

My Feedback: (3)

http://www.hobby-lobby.com/f5e.htm

Anybody flying this thing? Been flying glow propjets a while. Have some electric helicopters and was curious as if this thing is as good as it looks. Appears to be much more scale then most Arf propjets. Can't seem to find what the fuselage is made from. I'm really not much of an "electric" fan of anythng but if more stuff like this shows up. "the force may be able to turn me."

tIANci

Its made of EPS foam ... seen a couple of its videos, I think its nice but I noticed in 2 videos the nose gear would not retract. Hmmmm ...

[link=http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=867737]Link 1[/link]
[link=http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=828646]Link 2[/link]
[link=http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=859291]Video here[/link]

dennisp_sg

It is a very nice foam model and excellent value for money, the ones here in Singapore fly well but as advised by tIANci they do have some problems with the servo operated mechnical retracts.

tIANci

Cyclic ... I got mine yesterday, the shipment came. I could not sleep last night so I started to build. Well it was not much of a build as I left my tool box in the car. So I glued on the tail feathers and the wings.

For the wings you have to be careful as the tabs do no hold it as precisely as a MPX plane but its not that bad. Just be careful of the incidence. I used 5 min epoxy. I like the plane, she is nice. Hope to get the retacts in, elevators hooked up by later tonight then fly her on Sat morning when my gang goes to a nearby sleepy hollow for a fun fly. I shall post some pics later tonight.

The wings seem a little flimsy if you hold the plane up on the wing tips but then when she flies the whole wing is lifting. I may get some CF strips to insert into the wing to give it some rigidity. Other than that she looks might nice.

Oh yes ... all that gluing took like 45 mins max! I shall pray to the RC Gods that my nose wheel works fine!!!

Dennis ... any idea what is causing it not to close? Servo or linkage?

dennisp_sg

Qte: Dennis ... any idea what is causing it not to close? Servo or linkage? End Qte:

I have to say I messed around for more time with the gear than the entire build, mainly moving the landing gear on the 4 screw mounts to get them open and close with a lock at both ways. The NLG was a different animal lock down but not lock up in a solid fashion (well to my standards anyway), there seemed to be little more I could do and the nose wheel does protrude below the fuselage by about 1/4 to 3/8"

You may want to visit the other build thread which has a lot more information on modifications etc.

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=867737
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=828646
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=859291
and gear modifications at
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/show...3&postcount=168
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showt...16#post9856258

This lot should answer all your queries...

Cyclic Hardover

My Feedback: (3)

5 min epoxy? You were in a hurry eh? I've beenfollowing that "other thread." Actually I wrote down quite a bit of advice and ideas from them which I'll stick here to look out for or suggestions. Pretty much did a cut/paste thing to use as notes when mine comes in.


BEFORE YOU FLY THE F-5E - MAKE SURE THE BATTERY BOX IS SECURELY GLUED IN!!!!!!!!!

Camo version is upgraded to twin elevator servos - good idea.

trouble on my F5 on the nosegear with the actuating arm being too soft

Make a vent for Lipo battery

The elevator is quite stiff and wont centre properly

HET 2W-20 in a Wemotec Fan on 4s 3300's would be getting 700 Watts

The retracts of the HL F-5E's about the same size as
great planes .10 retracts but not as strong.

Fan size is 70mm, looks like the AP 70mm fan. I replaced
it with the late Minifan 480 for Christ's sake.

what about the
very popular Mega EDF/HET 2W20 + Minifan/HET-6904 fan + CC 60
Hard to say exactly, all depends on your set up like
your ESC set up, your pack condition.. etc.
But in general, with a good 3300 V2 pack, it
is reasonable to expect 700-750 watts.
And if you do good throttle control, 5-6 minutes flying
is also reasonable

Taxi testing the front wheel and strut popped off, and I wasn't even at takeoff speed. The elevator surfaces were very stiff and they wouldn't recenter after deflection (you could hear the servo buzz).

I replaced the stock elevator servo with an HS81MG

I replaced every single gear servo (3) with HS55's.

If you want more speed, drop in a HET fan and 2w motor. Double the watts, get a lot more speed. Just my opinion.....


Just a precautionary note here: Check and double check all the servos before you glue anything together. I was installing the tail tonight and had just let the epoxy setup when I plugged the tail servo into the reciever and it started to spaze and then swung to max throw and burnt up. The voltage regulator got really hot and the servo puffed out the tell tail white smoke and melted the case before I coult unplug the battery. Removed it, and it was toast......Had to dig it out of the tail, luckly with very little damage to the tail section. I am going to install a HS-55 and a HS-81 for the elevator before I paint it up.

changed out the servos for HS-55'

If you replace the gear, I would add a little bit if reinforcement at the gear plates.

I had already epoxied 1/8" aircraft plywood strips to the underside of the wing for the retracts to mount to.

I opted to install dual HS-65s to control the two elevator surfaces.

Then there was more dremmeling to channel the elevator servo wires to the center of the fuselage

tIANci

Thanks Dennis ... my nose gear sits in the well properly.

Cyclic ... I hate you ... now I think I shall not be going to maiden my F5E until I have gone through your clecklist!!! :P

dennisp_sg

Excellent Cyclic, you have managed to get all the fixes and modifications in one list. One of the F-5E's here in Singapore now has air retracts I will find out the make and model of same and advise, seems to require minimum modifications and really works well.

Fully agree the elevator modification seems to be very important, centering is a real problem with the single servo solution and that connecting wire between the elevators and those nylon elevator control blocks.

Cyclic Hardover

My Feedback: (3)

Your welcome, I read that whole thing and pulled out what seemed to be problems everyone had that I will use when mine shows up. I ordered the Robart gear and will more than likely do some servo switching.

I would be interested to know what kind of retract servo is in it not porportional is it? From what I've read, would be wise to change out most servos??

dennisp_sg

The three retract servo's seem to be just ordinary servo's, the cases seems very slightly larger than the others supplied. If I can find out the brand of the air ones that have been used here this will be good news as it reduces the servo count by 1 allowing for the additional one for the elevator.

I would agree about a servo swap out too, although this does offset the price advantage of the model as complete ARTF, I have had bad experiences with cheap servo's, noisey, poor centering, gears stripping so I now only use HITEC, Futaba and JR brands.

dennisp_sg

The biggest problem with the mechancial servo's in addition to their weakness is getting the push rod alignment correct, there is a small amount of adjustment you can perform when you fit the retract into the wings. Try to keep the servo push rod as parallel as possible to retract operating lever, the straighter the better with less chance of the retract operating lever bending or bowing, this also true for the Robart 1/2A mechincal retracts. Needless to say the push in of the retract push lever is the critical one as this is when you will get a bowing of the plastic arm with a potential no lock up of the gear.

Cyclic Hardover

My Feedback: (3)

I have several planes with mechanicals and one with air. I use 4-40 rod on them with really limits the bowing over 2-56. I'll have to see what I get to deal with these. Thing is regular servos on retracts can be a real PITA. I have never done it but seen guys who did and could never get them to work right

tIANci

I flew mine! NLG problem is because of the nylon push rod, it tends to bend. She flies ok, I would rate her as a good RC toy. Now to sort out my CG as with the stock battery she is pretty nose heavy. Also after a 4 min flight the battery temp was good, just warm only.

dennisp_sg

Congratulations and well done tIANci

tIANci

TQ Dennis ... the NLG was a slight disappointment ...

dennisp_sg

Yes I agree it even looks fragile if you know what I mean....

tIANci

Here are some pic of the maiden:

dennisp_sg

Thanks for sharing tIANci, sure looks good in the skies of Malaysia.

tIANci

Dennis ... come for a visit then!

dennisp_sg

Will do once my new house is ready in Malaysia....

mustang.1

My Feedback: (23)

I just got one of these hobby lobby F-5 the stock retracts are not that greatdid you replace yours with robart and if so witch ones??? thanks

The Great Squintini

ANYBODY HAVE A GOOD CG POINT?????? IT SEEMS TO BE HARD TO FIND THE SWEET SPOT.. WHEN ITS GOOD WITH GEAR DOWN, ITS NOSE HEAVY WITH GEAR UP.

lucygee

F5E in Tiger Painting looks nicer. eh?it is more fun? yes! check it out:

Silver182

My Feedback: (2)

I added an extention to the two main gear servo arms..and now they lock fully up & down. Be carefull not to over drive or under drive because they lock good just at the peak of the lock point..too far and they fold, and not far enough and they fold. The nose gear servo arm needed adjustment slightly for proper locking. After the slight adjustments and servo arm lengthening all is well.

The biggest problem I found... and it crashed mine today..completly totalling it... was the main Dean's power plug between the supplied battery and the speed controller...it seems to have a cold sodier joint. After my first trim flight I charged up the battery... and went for the second flight. At full speed after about 1 1/2 minutes it just quit..yep everything just quit..Receiver and motor! Went out and picked up the wreakage it went in like a lawn dart. When we got it back to the pits a few of us started to check it out to see why?? A friend wiggled the main power plug and it came to life...everything working!! ****...wiggle it again and it quits.

Needless to say I am returning it to Hobby Lobby..they can test it themselves it fails and comes back very consistantly. I believe they have no choice but to replace it for me. The over all workmanship was great. Assembly time was about two hours...plus drying time. Gear adjustment another hour..but now my beautiful little F5-E is totaled( Mine was the cameo version...it landed great and I am up hear at 5,400 ft. MSL. I can hardly wait to get a new one it seemed like it was going to be a great flyer. I'll keep my custom servo arms for the mains.

If Hobby Lobby comes through the way they should.. I'll begain to build a squadran of these little buggers. It was fast and grovey..even in the gusty wind we had this morning. Are any of the others equiped with retract gear??
Lee

ddavis60

My Feedback: (6)

My biggest problem with the F-5 is keeping the jet straight on the runway for takeoff. The front gear has a small amount of "play" in it and just will not remain straight. I have taken the "travel" out of the radio to no avail. One friend removed the servo that steers the nose gear and just glued it in the straight position. Does anyone else have any suggestions?