porty

Hey guys , I know that there hasn't been much activity on this thread. I sure would appreciate If I could get some weights with the 106 3w and the Da 100. Mine looks like it is going to come in wright at 29 pounds with the 106cs. Thanks again Robert.

JohnVH

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oh man, I weighed mine a long time ago, forgot what it was, 26-28 I think... Ken might remember, whatever it is, it flies awesome!

sweetpea01

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Mine isn't done with the 106.......and I typically don't weigh my planes because I don't care what they weigh

JohnVH

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+1,00000000000000000000000

Ken-h

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Mine weighs 28 lbs but has a lighter motor. Sounds like your right in the average range.

Ken

castlebravo

Well.......we maidened the Ultimate out at Dusters this weekend. First flight was a little scary because I think it was a little tail heavy but it could have been a trim thing. I moved the ignition and smoke batteries up front and gave it a smidge of down trim and that seemed to fix it. It was a short flight......I'll do more ringing out when the skies are less grey and my knees stop shaking! More to follow!

JohnVH

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looks great!! congrats on an awesome bird!

Flyfalcons

CB looks like one happy dude with his new bird! I know in this cold, even when I am happy I sure don't show it much!

castlebravo

Oh.....I definitely had a Permagrin on my face although the freezin A.. cold may have had somethin to do with it! I cant wait to bring it to the home field to play with it. Our field has some interesting "challenges" so i think the first few flights at a wide open space is prudent. Dusters is perfect for that..........but I still managed to almost land on that one darned orange cone that covers the irrigation pipe! Put only one obstacle out there........I'll manage to hit it!

Chris Elliott

jkhorvath

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castlebravo;

Very nice looking bird. Congratulations on the Maiden. May I ask what made you initially think that it was flying tail heavy?

Oilsands

castlebravo
What was your measurement for your CG and how did you check it?

castlebravo

At first I thought it was a little tail heavy based on the takeoff where it seemed a little pitch sensitive (my flying style is still geared more toward IMAC Basic....not 3D). In retrospect I think my initial control throws were a little aggressive and the airplane was a little out of trim. I set the CG right in the middle of the range set forth in the manual which if I remember correctly (manual at home) was between 2" and 3" forward of the rear center rib mounting bolt. I drilled a small hole in the rib and hung the fuselage from this hole. It balanced slightly nose down at this point.
After that initial flight, I moved my ignition and smoke batteries (2400mah A123) from under the "pilot" up to the front under the forward hatch. I also knocked the throws down about 25% from where I had them (sorry, dont recall the measurements). This seemed to tame things down quite a bit. My only goal for these initial flights was to get it into the air and then back onto the ground in the same amount of pieces it left with! On the next flight, I'll start flipping it inverted and see how it reacts.....this will give me a good idea of the balance point. On all the flights, the landings were straight forward with no tendacy to drop a wing or snap at low speed so I dont think the balance was too far off.

Chris Elliott
OMAS

JohnVH

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mmmm, ultimates

Flyfalcons

Sounds like a good maiden day, Chris. Always good to get your plane back in one piece after all the work you do on it and crossing your fingers that everything was done right. These planes do take very little elevator on low rates to be comfortable, so hopefully yours was just a case of setting a little too much for initial flights.

martinarcher

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Awesome! I'm glad to hear your maiden went well! I can tell you first hand it is way better to get it back in the same number of pieces it left in! It looks like it turned out well!

Oilsands

Chris,
Let us know how the next flight goes.

castlebravo

Brother........Your video made me ill........I watched it right in the middle of my build...........BIG MISTAKE!. I rate it up there with the awful vids from Iraq.......something you wish you could just delete from your memory bank. Now if I watch it, I just stop it before that last tail touch......then I go have a bowl of cereal and tell myself everything is right in the world.

Hopefully this weekend will be the next test session. I gotta change a couple things first. I bought a power expander last night because I have all "pre-mod" 5955's on my ailerons. They seemed to work fine when plugged into individual channels (FASST 6014) but I'm nervous already so this should settle my stomach.
I also want to look into moving the lower wing mounting screw from the bottom of the wing to the top. I about threw a hissy fit at the field trying to get that screw lined up in the cold and kneeling down in the mud........lots of "F" bombs were dispersed! There has to be a better way. I'm thinking about maybe a #6 self tapper with a bonded washer to keep it from vibrating out.......or maybe I'll just bring "Spray and Wash" to the field for the mud on my jeans!

Quick question......Your KevCord on your rudder...........what do you think the tensile strength is? I ran 130lb test Leader line on mine. I gotta think this is enough.......at 130lb your gonna pull components out of the rudder and break servo parts I would think.

Anyway, I hope to have more better reports this comming up weekend and hopefully some video. Thanks for all the happy thoughts!

Chris

martinarcher

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It made me ill too and still does!! Sorry you watched it during the build. I hope it is a reminder to double and triple check your radio gear! I don't know if anything could have prevented it, but I know my new Ulti will be range checked about a dozen times before it gets to the field. I only range checked the first one twice. I know those last few frames will haunt me until I can replace them with the first landing of my new Ulti. I can't wait for that touchdown!

Your cracking me up about the stopping it before the tail touch and telling yourself everything is right in the world! That's awesome!

I got lucky - my new Ulti has one of the bottom wings with the hard point for the wing tube screw on the top. I was bummed about it until I remembered assembling the old one. I talked to Herve about it and we agreed we are both a little fussy about our planes being perfect, but I think I'll live with the screw head on the wrong side - the easy of assembly with more than make up for the aesthetics loss of a little screw head. I'm just going to leave the screw in the bottom of the one wing, and assemble it by putting the screw in from the top on the other wing.

Not sure on the Kev-Cord strength. Couple of the guys at work took up the challenge to break it by playing tug of war with work gloves and couldn't break it so I know there was well over 150 lbs on it (they are pretty big guys).

Post up some vids I can watch to help forget mine!!! Again - congrats on the new bird. They rock!!

sweetpea01

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Started the recover on mine........got the bottom wings done! (first is the top of the wing and second is the bottom of the wing)

martinarcher

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Sweet! I like the scheme. That should show up well in the air.

JohnVH

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Wow, that looks good man!

sweetpea01

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Thanks......its alot of work but I think its going to look stellar at about 300ft up in the air. (my reference to not being able to 3-D low)

JohnVH

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good thing I have a big zoom :P

sweetpea01

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I'm trying to have this done for the Big Bird.........Not sure I'll make it though as I have to repaint the cowl and wheel pants.

mrspiceman

Wings look great!
Be sure to post the fuse pics and so-on when you get there!

I just maidened mine yesterday, that DA85 pulls it around like crazy.
I'm very excited to fly this thing this season. It's my first biplane, and it's the biggest beast I've ever flown.