Hey all!

quick question...my dad has recently bought a t-hawk and we are now having some major technical difficulties.When he first tried the plane out, it flew far superior to my 2-channel FireBird Scout. on a particularly windy day, we went out the the field and flew it to test its wind capability. It flew fine as long as it flew with the wind... my dad managed to chop a turn to bring it home and the wind showed no mercy. he lost control and this thing ate the dirt really hard. it hasn't flown the same since. when the battery's hooked in and the transmitter's off, the plane just spazzes out. it involuntaryily will jerk the elevator and rudder (thank god not the prop) until the transmitter is switched on again. Then it's fine. another thing... when you've got nice and high into the air and glide it around a bit with no throttle or other input, it will randomly flick the throttle on its own. i'm thinking it's the plane's receiver but i need a second opinion. help!

Mine has done the exact same thing since the day I got it. I think it is random interference on the 27Mhz band. It is annoying sometimes, but I have never had it interfere with my flying.

PigBoat, most likely something inside the plane is touching something it shouldn't. Check all your wiring and servo cables as well as antenna and make sure they are where they belong, also look at the motor wires and make sure all the connections are good. If it's glitching before you turn on the TX then something is not right in there. I have had planes that glitch after in the air and it will and has caused crashes, think about it like this your dropping in for a low fly by or even a landing and then it starts glitching and kicking your rudder or even elevon, now your risking a stall, fortunatly the T-Hawk is so easy to fly so control is probably possible, but I would try to find and fix it
Good luck with it

well, almost any plane or truck is going to spaz out when you turn on the plane, but not the transmitter. thats why they say"the transmitter is the first thing on, the last thing off." thats normal. as for the involentary throttle while up high, thats common with a 27 MHZ radio system. also a AM will do that. a 27MHZ band will not go as far as you want it to.

ya okay well another thing...when we first bought the thing, we checked it out and noticed that the positive connector from the engine wasn't plugged in to anything. it has a female connector but it worked fine even with it plugged in. then, after the crash, the engine wouldn't work. the rudder and elevator was just fine, though. then we plugged the wire in and it worked just fine! i really am thinking that the plane's receiver is jacked beacuse on our most recent flight the plane kind of had a mind of it's own and the only thing we could control was the throttle. the plane just flipped really radically and tasted the dirt really hard.

PB_2

im thinking that the whole radio system might be done for. you can pick up a good beginners 4 channel FM 72 mHz radio for about 100 bux. the JR sport and JR quattros are pretty good for the money. if you are planning on bigger planes, go with the XF421EX. great 5 channel computer radio for pretty cheap.

Check to make sure your receiver crystal is plugged in tightly. It might've come loose when you planted it.

How the plane behaves when the transmitter is off doesn't mean anything. It is a bad habit, to plug in the battery before turning on the transmitter. That means any stray frequencies in the 27 MHz band could control your plane. Bad news.

Go over all the internal connections, especially the battery connection. The Tamiya plugs that come stock with the plane really suck. They seem OK, but they don't make a good constant connection. Buy some Deans and replace them. (or HAVE them replaced, if you don't know how to solder)

If none of this works, you might've busted up the receiver crystal when you planted it. That would be the perfect opportunity to replace that receiver and T-Hawk radio system with a proper, hobby grade one. It will exceed the cost of the plane if you buy new. The original servos, you will still be able to use; same with the electronic speed control. If you look on ebay, you can score a Futaba Conquest 4 channel radio for about $8. Find a decent FM receiver from Futaba, and you're all set to go again.

I know this is probably not what a buyer of an RTF plane wants to hear, but it is the truth.

I've pounded my poor T-Hawk into the ground a few times myself, and was lucky not to bust anything up too badly. I'm on my second wing, second set of tail feathers and third propeller, but I'm a pretty good flyer now.

I've got 5 other planes in the works. Some day, I will probably come back to the T-Hawk and put a proper receiver in it. I bet it will fly 100% better. It will certainly have more throttle resolution, hehehe.

Jeremy

ty smaug...yeah, my dad isn't the richest guy on the planet and I'm thinking that he won't have the $ to hop this thing up that much. I've been looking at that Slo-V and from the videos, it looks like a good plane for the same price.

PB_2

Before you give up try new batteries in the tx. It is cheap and may help.

hey smaug i have another question...the futaba conquest you're talking about...any specific kind/model?


PB_2

Oh, the cruel irony! you say tamiya sucks, yet futaba is made by them!!!

Just wanted to drop a post and wish everyone a very merry Christmas!


PB_2

merry christmas to you too, Pigboat_2! and everyone else!

just wanted to drop a post to any people looking for another method of landing gear for the t-hawk since the stock wheels are so tiny. remove those plastic wheels and attach (by way of glue or tape) a plastic spoon. file/sand the sides of the bowl part down to make it more aerodynamic and you could even take off the handle if you like. I have found that spoons work fantastically well for any type of landing on any type of surface such as pavement, gravel, grass, and snow. the other way to get by the small whell problem is to log on to www.readytoflyfun.com and purchase the larger wheels they have there for $10-$15.


PB_2

My dad has bought a new receiver for the t-hawk and we will try to fly on Friday...any tips before we trash this bird *again*?


PB_2

Over here in the UK, the T-hawk is called the Electrafun. i have flown one for about a year, and mine works perfectly apart when its on low battery.
I had a crash once and something came out inside the plane, it took two seconds to repair but without it repaired it would not have flown properly. Have you checked all the inside connections in together, something might have come lose.


Al

A T-Hawk has been an integral part of my fleet for about 3 years now. Actually, two of them, the first being absolutely stock, then modified slightly for better performance. The second T-Hawk benefits from all the experience and tricks obtained via T-Hawk #1, but then is modified in many different ways, to include:

- Mega 16/15/5 Brushless Motor
- Phonenix 25 ESC
- FMA Extreme 5 Rcvr
- HS55 servos
- Larger rudder and elevator
- Strengthened firewall mount
- External relocation of antenna wire
- 2100 3S1P TP ProLite LiPoly
- C/F reinforcement of wing
- C/F wind hold-down tubes

Needless to say, it goes like stink, snap rolls when you want it (I installed turbulators to gain some stall control at the wing tips), and effectively chases most of the electrics out of the area. Very pleased with the T-Hawk #2 upgrade project. It's flown minus any landing gear, which I prefer, hand launches very easily, and flights of 15-18 minutes under 85% throttle are the norm. There's a thread on RCG that has all the photos on the upgrade. Great plane, almost 200 flights between T-Hawks #1 and #2.

RD