I'm pretty new to flying, I have a sig kadet with a glow engine but bought the Crazy max to fly in my front yard ( I have a horse paddock across the road)

I'm having a hard time getting this thing in the air, I have to do a hand lunch because the ground is to rough. My main problem is I climb to about 15 - 20 feet and the plane sem to bank and gather speed. The problem is I can't seem to get it out of the dive and we come in for a very rough landing. I'm back to the drawing board with my epoxy to patch it up gain and try once more. I have zero wind so is this just a classic case of stalling and then things going bad real fast.

The major problem is the is all over in 60 seconds so trim ajustment is the last thing on my mind!!... It feels like the plane is under powered, I was think of getting a 400 speed motor and cutting the fusalage behind the wing and making a foam front section to the plane or does this sound like a bad idea??

I have a mini-max by the same maker, and I can tell you this thing does fly. I imagine the crazy max is a bit heavier, but the one I've seen fly at our golf dome does so with out problem.

Of course, I've seen only taxi take-offs....

What battery pack are you using? I use a 6-cell 720mAh ni-mh pack and get great results with that. My battery pack weighs 3 Oz (or 85 grams)

Roger

Hmm I'm using a 8 cell battery, I wounder if I'm to nose heavy.

I can't seem to pull up when I'm heading for the ground, needless to say the plane is a bit of a mess now.....

Dogz

I flew mine with an 8 cell. Was never underpowered. Have you checked the C.G. per the instructions? I doubt you're THAT nose heavy. Are the throws set per the instructions? Is the prop on backwards? Batteries fully charged?
Start at the beginning and make sure everything is set to specs. This is a great flying plane. You have something out of whack.

I've had a couple of Crazy Maxes. They are great flyers and more bangs for the buck than any model I have flown.

They do have a few quirks that need to be trimmed out in the first flight.

The wing can have too much positive incidence (it's too easy to build in either positive or negative incidence, which sounds like your problem), and a lot of down elevator trim is needed.

The building instructions can lead you to build it with too much negative incidence, so you might take a look at that.

Once trimmed properly it is an amazingly aerobatic aircraft, with the most incredible inverted spin you have ever seen!

Persist with it. It'll reward you in the end.

David C.

I agree with David C. Check and double-check your wing mounting-bracket. I whacked my Max really hard a couple of times, before I realized that the incidence was slightly negative and the wing was just slightly crooked.

Greetings Dogz,

I Have flown a lot of electric planes, but I must agree. The Crazy Max is the most bang for the buck.
There could be another little reason. I use the 8 cell 800 nhm pack from HP, and if it slides back to far it interfers with the rudder and elevator servos.
Some use nicads, but at 8 cells, count on replacing the motor around every 30-40 flight or so.

Now, here is a really nice, and cheap upgrade. Replace the gears with the WattAge 4.25:1 set and mount the WattAge 10x4.7 EP Prop. I also made a new and longer set of landing gear.
I flys a little slower, but she really pulls now.
With the nhm pack, I get around 5 minutes of wild flight.
So thats that.
I hope you get it dialed in, its a great plane.

Jared

I would have to agree with everybody here the crazy max is a load of fun. I ran into the wing incidense problem as well and found that the plastic wing seat will deform after some wear.
I built my own wing seat and made it just a bit larger to admit the battery. Also for those hard landings I bought a modern kite and used the carbon fiber rods to reinforce all three corners on the fuselage.
My crazy max flys with the reccommended servos (cirrus cs21) and a GWS R4P reciever. With 8 2/3A 1000mah NIMH cells. I get up to 9 min of flight and no bad habbits.

lnjfarms

You wouldn't happen to have a picture to post of your modified Max using those cool cells, would ya?

Thanks, Jared

Jared,
I have a lot of pics of the cm inflight but that doesn't show the details. Currently the cm is down for repairs but I will get a pic to you soon as I can.
Warning to all cm flyers. The standard wing for the cm does not have any glue on the top of the center spar. If you buy a new cm before you join the wing halves check the spar and run some glue down along the top or bottom of the center spar. I was doing some extreme 3d and managed to break my wing. After checking to see why I found the missing glue joint. While a replacement wing is only 12$ the bent output shaft if 5$ and if you are real unlucky and new power unit is 21$.
Anyway Jared I'll get some pics of the battery and wing seat and fuselage next post
John

Sounds great.

A new wing for $12, mmmmm. A fuse and tail feathers are quick to build, mmmmm. Like I need another project.

I really like the idea of running the 8x1100 nhms.

I just busted the drive gears and HP is out of 4.25:1 sets. But I will throw on the stock set.

My CM up for quick drive train swaping by adding a micro deans between the motor and the ESC.

A two minute change out, kinda like an Indy pit.

Looking forward to the pics

Now if I can only get my pics to less than 80K to post.

If you ever crash to break the triangular fuselage, build a boxt fuse from the trailing edge forward -- it makes for more room and a square motor mount.

I got a new crazy max, stock motor, homemade battery(8-650ma AAA) 3 hs 81 servo's and a 30amp speed control with bec and brake. It came out to be 15 oz just a little above the 14.8 oz advertised weight. 1st flight from ground went great 10min flight with very little trim addjustment and even did inverted flight and loops. I landed before the bec kicked in. 2nd flight from ground I really wanted to stretch it out a bit, 5 min into flight I put it in a flat spin and broke one of the (2) rubber bands. It flitted to the ground an broke the prop, bent the prop shaft and cracked the fuse around the battery. Fuse was an easy fix, ordered new prop and shaft. Upon inspection the box under the wing cut into the rubber band. I will and would suggest using more than two rubberbands. I also put a piece of plastic tape over the edge of the box that holds the top wing. OVERALL I REALLY HAD A BLAST- I wanted something that I could fly off my drive that had alerions and although the flying time was short I could tell that it was very well behavied in the air and am very pleased with it.

Brandon

jcstalls


I finally got around to getting a good pic of the cm with the improvement I made
JrMc

Brandon: If I'm not mistaken, the manual says to use 4 rubber bands... I alway do anyway, I learned the same way, only on a MiniMax.

Also, You will see a drastic performance increase with the recommended 8x800 battery. I was flying 8x720 AAA's until the right pack came in, and couldn't believe the difference.

My manual says use the two included rubber bands. Must have been something they have changed. I am running 8c 650ma packs and flew 4 times yesterday. I got 7min out of one pack and 8min out of the another one. This is at full throtle the entire flight. Will the higher ma give me more power or just longer flying time? I moved the cq back a little and it really does fly great.
I my buy another one if they go back on sale for 39.99

Looks good.

I particularly like the block of white concrete you have cemented to the underside of the fuselage. Ballast I presume?

-DC

protects the landing gear

jrmc

Ah! I see.

Shouldn't there be a block nailed to the top as well, for those inverted landings?

-DC

As you can see my building aera is a bit small but I did get a present from a fellow modeler. It is a stand to work on the plane with the wing on it if desired. The Crazy Max is so small it doesn't fit well in the stand so the styro blocks keep the little beast from moving around on the bench.
I build a lot of styro wing cores and planes so have sever scraps around for that purpose. The one on the bottom of the cm is acutally cut to fit the wattage crazy 8.
Here is a pic of the stand with an electric powered modeltech magic setting on it
JRMc

Bishop Power Products has 8.4 volt 2040mah lithium poly pack from Kokam that will give you much more flight time. I learned about these from electric heli message boards. Plus, these packs weigh less than an 8-cell NiMH. Currently the pre-made packs are selling for around $50.

www.b-p-p.com

lnjfarms,
Which do you enjoy flying the most, the Crazy Max or Crazy 8?

Wade

lnjfarms,
I see you have an electric Magic 3D. It was just last night that I was thinking about making an electric Magic. Can you tell me what equipment you used, the flying weight, and the performance? Sure would appreciate it.

Thanks,
Wade

Wade,
so far the crazy max has been the most fun for the money,
I got the crazy 8 for xmass and have not been able to keep it in the air for very long. For a high dollar plane it doesn't seem to fly all that well. Looks like the cg is not forward far enough in the instructions. I just finished repairing it the fusalage is weak over the wing seat and since no one has replacement parts I had to fiberglass the orginal.

I am using a turbo 10 and superbox with a 6:1 from MEC on the magic. Flying 10 3000 nimh cells . Have had one flight on the magic and did not really have a chance to shake it out yet. I did not have any e props the right size so used an APC 12/8 . I will let you know how it works out

JrMc

dogz,
Have you figured it out yet? You are the only negative post I have seen about this plane. I expect it is a simple (yet significant) building oversight. My Max is a perfect flyer. Initially had a tendancy to climb when I applied throttle. Easily fixed by adding a throttle elevator mix. Now I fly inverted or upright straight and level at all throttle inputs. This is my favorite plane by far. Keep with it and I'm sure you will find the same.

Scott