Almost there!
 

Got my Ultrafly Cessna Built...now all I need is an ESC, Servos, Receiver and Battery. Servos and receiver is no problem, but how do I pick an ESC and Batteies? I need like 8 volts and 10A continuous...what does that mean (I am a nitro guy!)

RE: Almost there!
 

Not familiar with your plane but you need a 7 cell battery (8.4 volts) and a 10 amp speed control (can run full throttle at up to 10 amps).
Hope this helps. If you want more specific info let me know.

RE: Almost there!
 

You also want to look into how much weight you are going to allow for the battery. There are packs with 2/3AA, AA, 1/2AAA, C, etc. and you need to figure the weight thing out. Look at Great Planes for your batteries and speed control. I have a C-10 and havn't had one problem with it. Also, I would get a peak charger if I were you. It will save your batteries in the long run and give you the most out of your pack.

RE: Almost there!
 

Actually, weight is a secondary concern. What good are the lightest batteries in the world if they can't deliver enough current to run the motor?

When powering a plane, the first thing you normally do is look at the batteries. In this case, the plane was designed around a specific power system, so you should use that power system.

8 Volts? Probably 8 CELLS. I bet that's what the instructions really say. Batteries go by cells, because the Volts can vary from .08V up to 1.4V from empty to full on a NiMH/NiCd.

The Speed 400 power system is probably one of the most mature successful power systems out there. If you've got a Speed 400, run an 8-cell, 2/3A NiMH battery pack. 2/3A refers to the cell size, of course. Same diameter as an A (little bigger than AA) but only 2/3 the length. In NiMH this size cell has 950-1100mAh of capacity depending on the manufacturer. Some options include the KAN1050, GP1100. For Speed 400, a pack this size is the ONLY way to fly, pardon the pun.

RE: Almost there!
 

For mine I used a great planes 2/3A 8 cell 1100 mah pack, a great planes 20 amp ESC, a hitec feather receiver, 4 hitec hs-55 servos and the stock motor/gearbox/prop. Oh and I was doing it with the begginers wing.

Mine flew fine, for the little bit that I got to fly it that is :( It only got about 10 minutes of total flight time. Just dont try doing loops with the begginers wing and the stock prop, mine just stalled out and did a nose in crash. It broke the wing, broke the firewall, and messed up the gearbox.

I fixed the wing, made a new (much better) firewall, and got a new gearbox. Its now ready to fly again but I cant fly until a get a new receiver crystal (got broke in a inverted crash with a curb while using it in my hyperwing), my crystal wont come in until thursday so its going to be a while before I get to fly again, not too bummed out though because its supposed to rain most of next week so I couldnt fly anyways.

The stock wheels are too small to land/takeoff on grass (they just sunk down in it) so I got some 2 1/2" spoked foam wheels from aircraft-world, seems like it rolls on grass fine now.

If you want to save a little weight you can leave off the landing gear and just do hand launches and belly lands. Im not a fan of hand launching so I used the gear on mine.

RE: Almost there!
 

Alright...I bought the following:

E-Flight 30 Amp ESC
4 Hitec hs-55 Servos
1 Lipoly 11.1v 1320mah battery
1 hitec feather 4 ch receiver

All i need now is a 3 - cell lipoly charger

ok.....
 

Picked up an Electrifly Triton tonight and made a PC Power Supply into a 12V Converter for the Triton per instructions found here. Charged up my GWS Dragonfly..what a difference a charger makes! Charging the Lipoly now for the Ultrafly so I can get the servos setup....hope to be done with the build before the end of the week!!!!

RE: Almost there!
 

Man I have been wanting a Triton charger for a LONG time. They just cost so mush. How do you like yours? Do you think it is worth the price for someone who has Ni-MH batteries but is looking into getting Li-pol?

RE: Almost there!
 

I don't know how...but the same 7.2v pack I had been charging with my old MRC Superbrain 959 seems to really be putting down the power now. I was struggling with a hover on the heli before...but now its cake....really weird! I look at the charger as an investment...I have to have a charger afterall to charge my R/C Nitro packs, now I am into electrics, and who knows...maybe one day I will be into large nitro Aircraft and need a charger for the retracts and stuff!

RE: Almost there!
 

The Triton is a great charger. Glad you got it.

RE: Almost there!
 

I just got a triton yesterday, guess we need a club [8D] .

I flew my cessna again today, it was quite windy so it wasnt too enjoyable constantly having the plane whipped around.

It flew pretty good except for the wind whipping it around. It did however get get damaged due to loss of controll in a wind gust, the wind blew it hard and I had to crash land in some very tall grass. It just broke the gearbox mounting stick. I just drilled out the whole stick and glued in a dowel, seems to be pretty sturdy but im going to replace the stick whenever I find one or get around to making one.

Tommorow if it doesnt rain and isnt windy im going to fly it again, hopefully it wont get any damages this time.

Oh by the way, just so you know the wind was blowing pretty steady at around 5-7 mph and the gusts were around 10-12+ mph.

RE: Almost there!
 

I flew it again today, had a very good flight, probobly the best ive had on this plane.

My mounting stick held up and didnt break again, I guess the dowel stick fixed it up pretty good.

I really need to find a bigger feild to fly this plane in though, the one im using now has two large building on either side, a fence and more buildings on the back side, and the other end is open. I am always scared my plane will crash ontop of a building [X(] . In fact today I got so close to the one building the wingtip grazed it.

RE: Almost there!
 

Might need to take a ladder with you.

RE: Almost there!
 

Well...congrats on the flights! I am waiting for a receiver crystal then I am all set. Funny thing....I was washing my car yesterday and heard this high pitched whirrrrrr......looked up and saw a foam biplane putting on a show in my neighborhood....I ran inside and grabbed my wife and hauled her outside to show her what I wanted for Christmas!!!!!

RE: Almost there!
 

Yes, the E-Flite Ultimate or Tribute for that matter are great flying.
My brother has both.
I built the Foamy Factory 3DX and Ultimate and they are great too.
Just too much fun.

RE: Almost there!
 

Funny you mentioned that, my cessnas battery had been peaking out at about 11 volts with my old charger and with the triton it goes up to almost 13 volts (about 12.5).

OH, I flew my cessna again today, twice. Flew it for about 15 minutes (not solid flying) in the lot next door and for about 30 minutes (not solid flying) in the feild I usually fly in.

It flew very good today, I ran the battery down to the auto-cutoff voltage and the moitor cut off, it resulted in a crash, guess I need to get an extra battery pack for it now.

I think I might try a 3s lipo pack on it, with the higher voltage and less weight combined I bet the performance would increase quite a bit.