Jeff Hendricks

My Feedback: (3)

Should be test flying mine with a DA 50 this weekend. Still trying to resolve the Exhaust Can Issue. It just doesn't fit good.

schroedm

My Feedback: (1)

Nudge, nudge Doug??!

Doug Cronkhite

My Feedback: (34)

Sorry.. I've been in bed since Sunday with a nasty flu bug. Still not over it either. I'll get back to work on it as soon as I can.

schroedm

My Feedback: (1)

In that case, sorry Hope you get over it asap.

Rgds,
Mark

mithrandir

My Feedback: (2)

Is there no canopy/Pilot rerquirement for IMAC or SCAT?

bluenote

Hi,


Roto is not ZDZ . A Roto engines are manufactured in Cita Manufactoring, http://www.rotomotor.cz/en/enframe.html .



Take Care
bluenote

Doug Cronkhite

My Feedback: (34)

OK.. so after what seemed like a month in bed.. I'm FINALLY back to work on the beast. Today I installed the rudder servo and cables, setup the elevator servos and linkages, and mounted the speed control in the nose. Pictures to follow shortly.

Rainman-ACRF

Doug,

How much travel did you manage to get on your elevators?

Regards,

Phil

Doug Cronkhite

My Feedback: (34)

Not much.. MAYBE 25-30 degrees down travel. Up travel is not an issue. I actually have to limit my down elevator travel to about 25 degrees or I hit my rudder cables. With the way these stabs are made, I don't see how you could get 45 degrees down elevator without some serious binding and current draw from stalling the servo.

Rainman-ACRF

This seems to be a gripe of quite a few folks, not being able to get the throws claimed by the manual. For me it's not an issue as I'm not likely to be needing 3D rates anytime soon - I'm more of a pattern flyer.

Hopefully I should be ready to do a maiden flight this weekend, powered by a Model Motors AXI 5330/18 and a 20"x11" prop. However, we've had a bit of a cold snap arrive here in the UK yesterday and it started snowing - the forecast is that this is going to hang around for a couple of weeks.[&o]

Phil

Rainman-ACRF

We finally managed to maiden my 2x2 this Sunday. It was very cold and it probably only got to around 4c or 5c all day with a light to moderate wind which made it feel even colder. Quite frankly, I shivered my butt off and couldn't get the enthusiasm up to get on with the task as I couldn't feel the ends of my fingers if they were out of my gloves for anything more than 3 minutes at a time. Time to call on the ever-so reliable and enthusiatic services of Dave Wilshere. No better person to put it through it's paces and if anyone could hi-lite any short-comings in my building of this model then Dave would.

C of G looked to come out about 10mm aft of the suggest range so some expo was dialled into the elevator. I'd reconstructed the two TP6000 5S3P packs to shorten the overall length and get the battery mass as far forward as possible. The 1400mAh receiver battery was positioned just in front of the undercarriage. I'll probably go for a 1900mAh pack and move it behind one of the bulk-heads over the next week.

Dave proceeded to take off and corrected the elevator with a fist-full of down trim. We suspect that the incidence of the horizontal stabs may be out slightly so I'm going to recheck this. At the time of building it was noted that the moulded indentations in the fuse for the antirotation pins were not in lateral alignment with the holes in the root rib of the stab halves so I might have got this slightly out when drilling the holes in the correct position. This should be easily corrected.

Anyway, once trimmed out and without even a circuit being completed Dave put the 2x2 through it paces. He then set about a 6-7 minute routine loosely based around a number of IMAC and 3D manoeuvres. Knife edge was very precise with no noticable elevator coupling, nice big rolling loops, reversals, waterfalls and plenty of prop-hanging. Excellent vertical performance and less than half throttle required to keep it in a hover. It drew quite a bit of attention. The Axi 5330/18 was extremely quiet and able to move the airframe with authority. That wonderful whistling noise from the ailerons was able to drown out the motor. Big smiles all round.

On landing the pack temperature was barely warm to touch, as was motor and speed controller. Recharging the packs later that day revealed them to still be reading their nominal voltage and requiring just about 3000mAh each to get them back to full charge. Should be good for a spirited 12 minute routine. I had considered that the cold weather might have negated some of the punch from the Lipos but I recon it was pulling an average of 25-30 amps with the 20x11 prop. I will get a meter on it and take some solid readings on static thrust with WO throttle in the coming days.

Dave thanked me for letting him play with my new toy and I was left with a very large grin - so everyone was happy. No doubt in my mind that this is going to be my main FW prop model for some time to come. A very pleasing result indeed.

So, about that Axi 5330/18? - what a performer! At the price you can't beat it. With an ESC it costs less than any nitro or gas IC setup for this model - of course batteries aside. If compared to a DA50 it's still in the ball park even with cells, admittedly it's not going to have the same punch. I guess the point I'm trying to make is that at this end of the FW aeromodelling scale electric is more viable than ever. I have to admit to have bought this motor tempered with a large degree of sceptisism, but it was such a bargain I wouldn't have felt too bad if it had under-performed and I'd ended up shelling out for "purple power". It's safe to say that this motor has earned it's place in my 2x2 for the time being and I'll be pocketing the not-so-insubstantial difference between the AXI and a suitable Hacker.

Regards,

Phil

Rainman-ACRF

Just had a quick weigh-up. With the AXI 5330/18 and 10S3P ThunderPower 6000 cells and a seperate 4cell 1400 NiCad RX pack it has an AUW of 6.167Kg (about 13.5 pounds).

Phil

Erik Johansson

I would be interested in how much current you are drawing with the AXI With the 20x11 prop (is it an APC-E?). So far I´ve seen no reliable real world data on the 5330/18. Voltage/current/RPM would be of interest so that the data could be compared with others.

/Erik

schroedm

My Feedback: (1)

Doug, have you had a chance to maiden her yet? My prototype scheme version comes next week - hope to have her ready in 2-3 weeks.

Rgds,
Mark

pbrantuas

My Feedback: (3)

Does anyone have good numbers for seting the incidence?

schroedm

My Feedback: (1)

I am not sure what you mean?

The holes are essentially cut for you at the factory - you only have to pop through the last 1/16" of the fuselage skin with a drill. If you go with these you'll find everything will be OK and you won't need to mess around setting incidences.

Rgds,
Mark

Doug Cronkhite

My Feedback: (34)

Unfortunately.. I had a mishap the day of the 1st flight and it never flew. A relatively new guy flying a trainer on his own crashed into the pits and hit the Extra. The only thing usable is the rudder and the right stab. I was waiting to see if he was going to replace the airplane (his offer, I asked for nothing) but he hasn't as yet.

RTK

My Feedback: (1)

Ouch, that hurts. I hope he has the manhood to offer to pay, and you are a gentlman for not asking.

schroedm

My Feedback: (1)

Doug that sucks!

Let's hope the guy steps up to the plate and restores our faith in human nature by doing the right thing!!!

Rgds,
Mark

flynm

My Feedback: (24)

Doug, did the trainer guy replace the plane???

Doug Cronkhite

My Feedback: (34)

Nope.. haven't heard a thing from him since it happened. Emails are going unanswered and I'm sure he's screening calls from me now.

rmh

Poor people have poor ways -
Those of us who have a few years experience with these models -know that the risk is 100%
Some guys try it on a very limited budget or forthought-with no idea that they could ever be expected to pay for damages they may incurr.
The under capable flyer with the trainer is classic example.
So tho he may "wish" to pay - he likely can't -any more than he likely had enough skill or judgement to fly the trainer .
So what to do ?
sue?
sure , go ahead.
Or maybe go to small claims court -if one exists .
This is the least expensive , LEGAL method of of attempting to get costs recovered.
Still the pro tem judge may side with the defendant -suggesting the risk is simply part of the hobby.
To clarify - no intent to harm=no money.
It really is an honorable thing to settle up[ for ones own doings but in todays' legal world and the common lack af civility,
likely you will get little satisfaction-unless it is voluntary.
It is against the law to harm them -

Doug Cronkhite

My Feedback: (34)

Truthfully Dick I'm not losing any sleep over it. I wrote it off the minute it happened. It sucks losing the airplane.. but things happen sometimes. As it is, I'm putting the power system into a Hangar 9 Extra 260 now anyway..

BTerry

My Feedback: (8)

My dad lost his Hangar 9 Sukhoi last weekend after being shot down by another flier. The radio and DA 100 seem to be OK. The guy was very apologetic and offered to pay, but this is going to be a lot of money and things are not yet settled. I think we extracted our verbal pound of flesh and I think the guy will make good on his promise. We will see how it all turns out.

Sometimes in this situation homeowners insurance may help cover the damages, either yours or his. In some states, however, making a claim against homeowners insurance is enough justification for the company to drop coverage. Perhaps you could make a claim against his insurance? Hopefully he has it (probably not).

I am always worried about a situation like yours, Doug. I get so nervous sometimes that I don't enjoy flying. Especially when there are 4 or more .40-size ARFS flitting around in unexpected fashion. I just land and wait for a break. It is especially sad that you lost the plane in the pits.

Of course, it is much better to have lost your plane than to have a person get injured. We all have heard the stories of .40 size sport planes punching through car windshields, imagine what would happen to a person.

Good luck, and keep us posted!