pasoroblesn00b

OK everyone. I was just wondering what everyone uses on there foamies.... whats your favorite servos? recivers? motors? esc's?

What works best for you????

bdavison

My Feedback: (1)

I tend to go with cheap but proven equipment. No frills.

Bluebird servos are definatly the best bang for the buck. Light weight, powerful, reliable, and cheap. What more could you ask for.

GWS or Bluebird recievers

Bluebird ESC's for can motors, or the E-flite ones for brushless. Everybody likes the other ESC's like Castle Creations, but in my opinion, they are just a pain. KISS principle here. Keep it simple.

LiPo's. Im partial to Tanic, E-Tec, and Thunderpower here. Electifly sucks, heavy, low discharge rate, and too many wires hanging all over the place.

GWS can motors, or CD-rom brushless.
Axi, E-flite and Hacker and Himax are nice, but why pay the premium if you can get it to fly on a cd-rom motor. You pretty much pay the premium for a nice package. Anodized, polished etc.


BlueArrow = Junk

blueberry

I like it. Keep it simple less expensive is good too. I will have to look into your recomendations. Where is a good source for the cd-rom motors or do you wind them yourself. Also what kind of thrust can you get out of them.

Thanks,
Pete

exeter_acres

My Feedback: (2)

its not the lightest, but I use a HImaxx 2015-4166 motor w/ 12 x 6 Slowflyer orange prop,
CC25 ESC(Yes it is a pain..unless you use the USB programmer, then it is simple)
HS-55 servos (will probably try bluebird soon)
Hitec 555 Rx ( a little bigger, but it is what I had and it works....)
ThunderPower Lipo

pasoroblesn00b

CC over e-flight???? is there a weight difference or proformance difference??? why CC if its a pain when e-flight isnt?

exeter_acres

My Feedback: (2)

once my CC is setup it is fine...never a problem......

jooNorway

Receivers: Schulse of course if the bird can take the weight. Penta (3,4 gram/5 channels) in the small ones. The reason for Schulse: among the very best, fullrange and can be used in my gliders too. (My big gliders and fuel-planes have only Multiplex receivers on board...)

Servoes: Waypoint all the way (BlueBird in US), mostly W-064. Never ever Hitec again! Stinks... too much failures! Tried Dymond, but disappointed... not smooth enough I think.

ESC: Have a lot of CastleCreation`s (8-9?), and some Jeti for the big amperes... Pleased with both brands.

Motors: Always brushless. My favourite above all in 250gram-birds is with no doubt Nippy! Use some AXI and Mega too, and have of course wound some CD-sets too, fun. For the bigger birds I have tried both AXI and PJS. Both brands works well, but for the small foamies I think the suitable PJS`is to heavy compared to Nippy/Axi. Tried MicroTex, but disappointed because the bearings were to weak to last.

LiPo: Have a lot of E-Tec, never had problems with this brand which is the brand I used for the first year of e-flight! Have some ThunderPower, but blown two packs out of only six... So I have left ThunderPower.... My newest LiPo`s are all FlightPower, love the construction, cooling and carbon-fibre covering. Will stich to FlightPower for a while, buying one brand only as long as there are no others being much better.

KISS it is yes?

F-16WpnsTech

Motors: Axi 2208-34 (10.4 x 7 or 11 x 4.7), Himax 2015-4100 (12 x6)

ESC: Castle Creations Phoenix 25 (USB cable is a must)

Rxr: Berg (never had a glitch. Yes, my foamies are cheap, but they look better in the air than the ground!)

Batteries: E-tech (and every now and then a thunderpower)

Servos: Allerc micro-9s. They're low cost, light, good torque and center well (and, evidently, one of the best kept secrets around).

pasoroblesn00b

ok this is what i purchased. Thank you everyone on the crash course. I purchased a Futaba 7ca with a electron 6 negitive shift both on chan 25, 4 hs-55 servos, e-flight 20 amp BL controler, 370 brushless motor and Celectra 1-3 Cell LiPo Charger . While i wait for the radio gear to get here from Servocity.com im going to pick up a 1300mah 3 cell lipo pack from thunderpower I think i have everything covered as for gear.... what do you all think? anything else i need?

psycho_klown66

BL Motor - Usually Axi. Himax at other times.
ESC - Castle Creations
Servos - Usually Hitec HS-55
Receivers - Hitec Electron 6
Batteries - Usually Thunder Power

exeter_acres

My Feedback: (2)

Forgive me.... if you needed to buy a radio too...is this your first airplane???

Foamies ARE NOT beginner airplanes.....they look easy, but that is after MUCH practice... I have a couple depron planes, but use mostly fan fold ones that I build since I am still learning 3D... so when it breaks up, I have another one ready to go......

if you already have flown quite a bit.....never mind

Zagiflyer576

Here is a good source for them... [link=http://www.gobrushless.com]gobrushless[/link]. They are only like 10 bucks for a kit. it may seem like a pain in the arse to build, but just follow the tutorial on the site. one you build one you will be able to build a million more in the same amount of time

pasoroblesn00b

Yes i am a newbie to air planes. I chose the foamies because the cost to replace the plane and the ease to build it. If i crash it i crash it. If i crash it i will take pix

exeter_acres

My Feedback: (2)

Very well.....but I will leave it at this....
I fly glow and have flown several.... Zagi's, etc. etc. etc.

3D foamies are one of the more dificult planes I have flown... but you are correct, you can rebuild them

That is why I build them out of fan fold foam...and plans from 3dfoamy.com (Thanks Levi for posting GREAT plans!!)

Pdwight

I have to agree, I just got my foamy flying this past weekend...my first. AXI 2212/26 with 3C 1500 LiPo and CC Phoenix 25. Weird flying airplane ! will do anything except glide more than a foot...its all motor all the time and nothing else..roll like a wood bit turning...this will take some getting used to. I have a Shrike 40 with a OS 46fX that is easier to fly.....get something slower to fly or at least get some instruction and fly it high so you will have a little time.

Dwight P

danoman

I was wondering, for a new person to start in the foamies, how would the aircraft respond to disabling the ailerons and fly on power, elevator and rudder.
If it were set-up as a trainer to get familiar with the basic flight dynamics and get used to the responses of the commands the aircraft sees, (after reducing the throws of the flight control parts of course)... would the aircraft fly slow enough to give the beginner a way to learn to fly it...? Was thinking, after he got used to the learning the left and right differences, and got good at the 3 channel set-up, he would have the basics needed to add the ailerons. (giving, that the plane lasted long enough, and it wasn't taped back together with duck tape...hehehe

Danoman...

P.S. I'm asking this also because, I haven't flown in a few years... but, I have flown things like gliders, Sig Hummer and things like that. When I was flying the most, I flew for about 7 years worth of flight time. I was going to try something like the Flatana, and getting a combo pack from Tower. Still havent decided on a good compatable radio yet though... any suggestions...? I'm gonna bust it up a little re-learning, but gotta start back somewhere... hehehe

exeter_acres

My Feedback: (2)

They aren't designed to fly like that... Good thought but I HIGHLY doubt it would work....

They are designed to fly with prop wash... lots of throttle management.. and big control surfaces...

But thats just my opinion....

HRLincoln

Dude, do yourself a favor and take 35.00 down to the LHS, get a SloStick and teach yourself to fly. Almost quit flying after crashing a glo trainer a few times. Got a Stick and have had a blast ever since!!

blueberry

Zagiflyer,

Thanks for the reply, Those motors look pretty decent what would you recomend for a foamie that is 12-13 oz AUW. with Li-Po's? I see they have different magnets and bearings.
Any tips you can offer?

Thanks,
Pete

pasoroblesn00b

ok just as an update... I flew my Tribute this weekend with a friend i met at the air field. He set me up with the buddy box and we flew it high and i did lazy circles getting used to the ailons and i seemed to do ok for my first time. It was REALLY windy but i managed to get it going and the guy helping me knows what he is doing. Will have to go a few weekends and get more of a handle on it.

Trogdor the Burninator

This won't work with a typical 3d foamy. No dihedral so no rudder turns. Plus huge control surfaces make for a very sensitive aircraft.

I also think a Slow Stick is a good choice or do a search on a frog. Its a foamy trainer that teaches little kids. pusher so motor won't get busted up and flies real slow from video I've seen.

TAUMULLER

USING HIMX HS 55 SERVOS , JR 6 CHANNEL RADIO AND GWS RECIEVERS,
MOSTLY STOCK GWS MOTORS , AND EFLITE SPEED CONTROLS , STUFF IS VERY RELIABLE.

I SELF TAUGHT MYSELF TO FLY , WRECKED 2 GWS DEHAVILIN BEAVERS IN THE PROCESS.
THE GWS BEAVER IS A GOOD TRAINER , ITS RESPONSIVE ENOUGH TO GET INTO TROUBLE , BUT ON LOWER RATES SOLID ENOUGH FOR A TRAINER. IF YOU UPGRADE TO LIPOS YOU CAN
DOUBLE YOUR FLIGHT TIME , USING A STOCK 350 MOTOR AND C GEAR 1080 PROP .

I LOVE THE ONE I HAVE AND IT HAS OVER 30 FLIGHTS ON IT . OR YOU COULD GET INTO A GWS ESARTER , ITS A FASTER PLANE BUT HAS AERILONS. FLIES BETTER ON BRUSHLESS .

THE NICE THING ABOUT THESE PLANES IS DURABLE , PARTS ARE CHEAP AND YOU CAN BY THEM IN THE SLOPE GLIDER VERSION TO KEEP COST DOWN .

GOOD FLYING

voodoo_chicken1

I like Hitec radio equipment. I use a flash 5 which is a nice entry level digital radio. I use one hitec receiver, HFS-04MG. All my other receivers are GWS Pico, which are super light, inexpensive and I haven't had a single problem yet.

I run GWS Pico servos on all my foamies and MPi MX50-HP servos on my Mini Funtana. The MPi servos are my favorite. Lots of torque and very light and only $18 at my local hobby shop. I gave up on Hitec 55's. Too glitchy and don't have a long liftime. 3 went bad in less than 2 seasons.

Brushless all the way. Himax outrunners are inexpensive and come with more accessories than any other manufacturer. Axi's are on my Mini Funtana and Shockflyer.

Castle ESCs are my pick. Yes, I have the PC link. What a great product.

ThunderPower Lipos are my favorite. Never a bad experience. 10-12C ave discharge is nice. New Kokams are higher but weigh more.

I use the Hobbico MKII field charger. Nothing better than charging 2 batteries at once for only $50. 1 amp max is the only drawback for lipos.

Hands down, my best electric investment is the Astro Flight Super Whatt meter. If you don't have one, get it. Its every bit as important as a screwdriver. I always have mine ready to use.

pasoroblesn00b

Astro Flight Super Whatt meter?

WHY? Whats it do? whats it used for?