Hi Skypix,

If you think about it, the engineers at the Air Hogs company probably had to set the engine spacing so an 8 year old wouldn't auger into the ground on every flight. When you move the engines outboard , it becomes more sensitive to turning input. It takes a few flights before you realize that you have to go easy on the "rudder", but after that its all good. I use Cyanocrylate glue that I got from a hobby shop to mount the engines. Its thicker and slower curing than the regular super glue you can get anywhere. Once it bonds, the engines never come off.


Sal

What kind of CA glue Sal foam safe ? Some kinds of foam will melt with CA glue .


" I use Cyanocrylate glue that I got from a hobby shop to mount the engines. Its thicker and slower curing than the regular super glue you can get anywhere. Once it bonds, the engines never come off. "
Sal
[/quote]

The AA I took back really spiraled left and no amount of trimming with tx, rudder or engine positions made it fly as strait as my original AA . I say it was caused by the motors not running the same rpm because when I would throttle down the left motor would stop turning a second before the right motor showing that the right was turning faster . You can compinsate somewhat by motor position but the best thing to do is take it back and get one that has motors that turn at the same rpm . Skypix your AA turning left may have been caused by motor position but some AA's turning sharply left is caused by motors not running at the same rpm .


Skypix said >> I think you're right about the turn left thing. Since I've reattached my engines (after every hard nose in or tree or house beak) I have to retrim...but my strong left has now gone away as I'm better at judging the engine attach angles.

I used "Zap-O " odorless CA glue for styrofoam.

Yep, must be, that's a lot worse than any turning problems I had.

I bought two last night (I'm on a photo mission in DC) at KMart, they had 6 AAs, I bought two for $29.95 each. So we can add that store to the list.

Any good odorless CA should work on EPP, or you can use goop, or good old GWS glue.

The trick with GWS glue, which in fact is a terrific glue if you use it correctly, (I learned this from another thread here on this wonderful RC Universe forum where I'vce learned so much (thank you all!)) is to apply the glue to both parts, do a trial push together, separate the parts, then let the glue dry for five or ten minutes, then push the parts together, tape or whatever, and go away for awhile and let the glue set up hard. It really dries hard and tough once you leave it long enough, and I think the clue seems to be not to stick the parts together right away, so some of the moisture in the glue evaporates out first...though don't quote me on this, I'm just guessing. All I can say is the GWS foamie I'm building right now was glued using this method, and the glue joint is as tenacious as you could expect...this on white GWS foam, so would work just fine for the engines on the AA. As I'll be finding out. I'm taking one of mine, sticking the lower wings up top as reported earlier, and mounting the engines outboard, and also into the wing, with some little fairings, to minimize drag. And gluing the engines, of course...I'm tired of sticking those things back in there.

Then again, I've gotten real good at flying my little guys within 5 feet above my head down to a foot or two off the ground, doing tight figure 8s, in light breezes, just little touches to the sticks to keep things cool, half throttle or less, really really a great beginning teacher for RC. I've already gotten better than I ever did with models that were sluggish, slow to respond, yaw/roll coupled (slow stick) and really just too slow. I should havfe had an aileron ship all along, or a responsive little thing like this simple AA, which has given me plenty of learning opportunities to get the basic RC controlling bugs out of my head, such as flying when the airplane is coming at you, judging obstacles peripherally while watching the aircraft, proper vs. overcontrolling, and more. I think these are great liottle training planes, because your hand eye coordination is given such a good work out and you get immediate response, and that's what learning's about.

Yay A A!

from owning and following XTwin/AA threads for 5 or 6 months now, i've found that just about every plane has had one motor spin longer than the other when you let the throttle off. i'd bet that most turning issue the AAs have are with the main wings, tail section, and motors. you'd be surprised at how little of an angle it takes on the main wings to make a plane turn on its own (same for the tail wings and motors). i've trained myself to give the entire plane a good looking-over - looking directly at the front, sides, and back just to make sure everything is in line.

anywho, i picked up an AA for the first time yesterday, i think i finally killed the RXs from my old trusty X-Twins (a sad day). that throttle return spring is making life difficult, the xtwins TX didnt have that, so i'm not used to it. i keep letting go of the throttle stick, thinking it'll stay there *d'oh* i'll have to take that spring out soon. i managed to "fly" in my house last night...took a few tries, but here's the video: http://www.rcgroups.com/gallery/show...cat=500&page=1 enjoy, i know i did

nick

That was fun! Thanks for posting it. Poor cat! I can here it now, "***?!"


Tom

Hey guys my friend just got a AA. its a red channel b and he just cant get it to fly. it always goes straight for 2 seconds and dives down. he cant get it airborne for no longer than 5 seconds at full throttle. he was wondering if any 1 had any ideas.

[8D]

I'd like to use a spare rechargeable 8 cell tx pack i have with the AA tx. Anyone know the easiest way to do this? Pics would be great!

It may need to be slightly timmed. Have him try trimming the rear flaps. Read the directions on trimming. Also, have him throw it from above his head or at least head level too. Straight and level.

Tom

We've tried trimming and adding wait to the nose but that didnt do anything.
[8D]

I just got a AA from a toys r us in Raleigh. Cool little plane! did the lower wing removal and it did speed it up quite a bit. Just have few questions maybee someone knows: can I modify the rx and plane so that I can use the right control turn the plane while left control is power off? Also gliding with a slight nose down angle would be good. it seems like I do a lot of gliding with this thing just to get it back down and it would be nice to have a slight nose down with a controlable power off glide. Almost lost it today in about a 5mph breeze becuase when i tried to steer it i had to do it with power and it seemed to just go higher.

Next I will tape the lower wing fragments to the uppers and wait for real calm day!

Thanks again for posts i am reading them a 2nd time. BT

[&o] ONe technique I use for when little thermals take it so high that I'm afraid it will go out of range is to make sure is has a slight turn when power off, and I of course keep it upwind so it doesn't drift into the trees. when power is off, it does a gentle descending turn, then I just goose it with a little power when I want to change heading, power off agian, when it's back close to the ground, just enough throttle to regain control and stay within 10 feet or so of ground and fly the bejeezus out of it all over the place.

If it's got a really flat glide, put a little nose-down trim in the tail feathers, it'll still climb well I would guess from the way you describe it.

The other one, that won't fly for more than a couple seconds, sounds like it's defective, I'd just take it back. Every one I have (4 now) flew great out of the box, just needed some tailfeather trimming here and there.

I also just gooped the motors onto my red B channel, as they kept popping off, the sticky stuff wasn't very strong. My C channel orange one has never had the problem, though they've both had similar doinks into things.

I just tested my AA that has always flown good and the motors quit at the same time . It may not be the reason it flys so well but the one I took back that spiraled left the right motor spun significantly longer than the left when throttle was cut and using the trim pot didn't help . It is very simple to take the spring return off of the throttle . Remove 7 screws peel back the FCC label pry open the throttle side just enough to get a small screw driver inside and pry the spring off the return side . You don't need to remove the spring from the tx just pry it off the tension side . Enjoy .

just something I thought if trying and dont know if it really makes any diff. (i dont have access to a wind tunnel) I took a really sharp razor and shaved the little bumps off the leading edge and top of the wings. I cant see how this can hurt but im sure it must help a little. Maybee a real small amount. So do at your own descretion.

interesting that both your motors stop at the same time. the AA i just bought has one motor stop before the other, but flys fine with no turning tendancies. those little 6mm motors dont have much consistency between one and the next, some just work better than others.

anyway, i dont remember if NitroCharged posted his "turn without throttle" mod here, but here's another one that works well. like Nitros mod, this one requires some decent soldering skills to accomplish, or at least knowing someone with some good soldering skills.

1: ok, go to RadioShack and buy their little package of 1N4148 diodes. if they dont have those, 1N914 or 1N4001 should work.
2: remove the antenna and batteries from the TX and unscrew the screws and remove the cover of the TX.
3: by the right stick, you'll see some solder pads, labled R10, R12, and P11 (see pictures attatched).
4: solder the anodes of the diodes to pads R10 and R12 (see pictures)
5: solder the cathode of the diode to P11 (see picture)
6: double check solder connections, make sure nothing is touching something it isnt supposed to be.
7: reinstall batteries and antenna, power up TX, then the plane. push the right stick left and right, the motors should start up without having to add any throttle.

thats it! it took me about 5 minutes to do and it should make things a lot easier when flying. if you're not familiar with diodes, just solder them up like the picture (with the black band on the diode towards the bottom, it wont work if they're backwards).

nick

WIll this allow turning without using throttle stick? In other words can I steer my plane while gliding using only rght stick? This would be big. If this is true I will buy that last one they had at tru closing sale that had 1 busted prop! (just want spare electronics in case my soldering iron is in a bad mood)

BT

yep, no throttle required to turn with this mod. and actually, you can cruise around pretty nicely with just steering left and right. i was able to stay about 2 feet off the ground just by cutting back and forth, not once using the throttle, untill i wanted to climb out. i dont know why Silverlit didnt make the TX this way to begin with.

with this mod, and the fact that they've made it so the motors cut out if there's a loss of signal, this plane is now perfect!

nick

*i cant take claim of this mod, i didnt think of it, one of the electronic-savy guys did at a differant forum. THANKS!

Do you work for Spinmaster!? thats amazing info. So do you still recommend sdjusting the rudder for a no power spiral? It sounds like this is not needed. This little thing can almost act like it has rudder control then!!

i only wish i worked for spinmasters. i'd buy a crate of AAs to last me a life time!

techincally, you dont need to adjust the rudder to make it spiral with no throttle. but, it may be a good idea to do it anyway, cause if the RX loses signal, and the motors just stop running, the wind still may just take it away.

you can actually make the rudder function like a normal planes rudder to provide steering. all it takes is an actuator wired to the RX. i've done it before, but not with the AA itself, it was on a differant plane with the AAs electronics. only slight drawback with doing that is the actuator is getting power at all times, so if the actuator is low in Ohms, it may suck up more juice than you'd want. easy cure for that would just be a high ohm coil with a stronger magnet.

i attatched a picture of what happens when i dig out my box of spare parts. i found the body and wings from my X-Twins and slapped one on top of the AAs wing. since they're identicle bodies, it was a perfect fit, it weighs it down a little too much though, not to mention it has an absurd amount of lift. i have the lower wings too, but i think i'd have to swap out those little 6mm motors for some 7mm SS motors, bigger props and a bigger lipo. it would be intesting though, thats for sure.


nick

This looks like a fun and easy mod with the diodes I might give it a try . My true love of the hobby is glow planes but this is a nice distraction while waiting for spring . I have a .40 kit and a .60 arf waiting for me in my hobby room but I am much more into flying even kids toys rather than building . Flying the AA in my spare time has kept me from getting busy building and repairing my glow planes . I am sure I will get more motivated when it gets closer to spring . I just hope flying a 2 channel plane so much dosn't screw me up when I go back to flying a 4 channel plane .

hey I'm going to try this mod with my ace as soon as i can!!!

but in micro_builders post it was said that there is a nitro mod?

wat is this and how do you do it? is sounds very intresting

Hobie, i envy you. i'd like to get into glow, but i'm kinda reluctant due mostly to the cost and mess. but, i do love the smell of nitromethane fuel in the morning i'm anticipating spring/summer as well, i've been eyeballing the new Stryker F-27B since it came out, and since i crashed my original stryker for its last time. lipo's dont perform so well when its 20 degrees outside though. i dont think you'll have a problem going back to 4 channel, its like riding a bike...a bike with high altitude!

sal37, its not a mod, its a guy, NitroCharged, a rather nice fellow. he's the one who figured out the original "turn w/o throttle" modification that used a physical connection on the sticks to give steering without throttle applied. i havent tried that one yet, but from those who have, it sounded like it worked just fine. there's just more steps involved.

nick

this is my first rc plane. so anything here with the AA is fun.
I did have some electronics training in military so I wil try and do the diode mod. I still dont understand why the extreme throttle delay at startup. (about two secs)

thx micro_builder for electronics info.

BT

Howdy Nick how are ya. This was just my first year in RC and i have had a ball. I started just less than a year ago with a T-Hawk then a Space Scooter and then went to glow . I got into glow cheap when my friends Gramp passed away who was a memeber of my club and was into nothing but glow . I got a balsa trainer with flight box and tx with buddy box for only $150 . I learned to fly glow which I think is harder than electric . I then got a Duraplane trainer used for $25 with out engine or electronics I still have and fly better than the balsa trainer . I then got a computer radio which helped me fly much better because you can set rates lower . Anyway Nick you can spend every bit as much if not more on electric if you get into it with the brushless, lipos, and chargers and the electric is way more complicated . One of the big differences is when you crash with glow you do way more damage to the plane due to much faster speed and weight . That is why I got a Duraplane (flying gutter) I destroyed 2 fueselages cut another no problem and finally 2 months ago destroyed my original balsa trainer . I now have a Duraplane Aerobat kit waiting to be built (another indistructable plane) and after I have flown awhile this season I will put together and fly my first nice looking plane a 4* .60 ARF . I don't mind the mess and I also love the smell of nitro in the morning . Which ever way you go in this hobby it is a blast and addicting . Like I said even though I have flown glow at high speed with inverts, loops ,rolls and rolling take offs and landings I still just love even flying these little AA.