RE: ParkZone Super Decathlon Review
 

Hi,

Thanks for the idea, but the Decathlon does not have fishing line or tension on the servos. In addition I disconnected the servos from the control surfaces and they still jitter so I am pretty sure it is simply a problem in the receiver.

Also, I had my transmitter half way across the yard and they still jitter, so it is not a function of how far the tx is away from the plane.

My cub never jittered at all, just the decathlon.

Gene

RE: ParkZone Super Decathlon Review
 

hey i was thinking a bout the decathalon but i herd about the servo jitter. is it still a good plane for a noob or sholud i stick with the j3 cub instead. And i also don't like the radio that much i have only flown with a 2 stick 2 channel before is it still an ok radio.

RE: ParkZone Super Decathlon Review
 

skaon3,

Neither the J-3 Cub nor the Super Decathlon are recommended for newbies. You need to at lease have mastered a trainer and had some other experience with scale models.

After returning from my travels back to Rochester, the single digit temperatures have kept me from testing out my larger GWS prop. Hopefully, we'll get a break in the weather next week.

RE: ParkZone Super Decathlon Review
 

Yes the Decathalon ESC has some bugs in it. The servos jitter quite a bit. Very lame.

RE: ParkZone Super Decathlon Review
 

My Super Decathlon sits on the frozen tundra of upstate NY waiting for ground clearance from the tower. Well, actually it was -1 degree F at the time and I wasn't about to test fly it with the larger GWS 10x4.7 SF prop.

Fortunately, on Sunday the weather was much better! It was 28 degrees outside with an easterly wind about 8-10mph. I had a relatively clear parking lot at work on the weekend, which was mostly snow free, so I ROG'ed it right from the pavement and easily cleared the 8' snow banks created from plowing earlier in the week.

I finally had a good time with my Super Decathlon! I took off into the wind with authority and I could throttle back for some cruising around. After flying for about 5 minutes, I decided to bring it in early so that I had enough power for a safety pull-out, if needed. I managed to land the plane right in the small parking lot without incident so I took a chance and ROG'd it a second time with no problem. After a few quick circles, I came in for a second near perfect landing. Landings seemed very easy by simply reducing throttle and watching the plane slowly descend into the parking lot area. As the plane approached the ground, I flared the elevator up a bit.

I walked away pleased with the model and will try to take some video this week if the sun decides to shine.

RE: ParkZone Super Decathlon Review
 

Hello Greg,
My brother Bill,also a full scale pilot like some of us has had a passing interest in R/C having grown up the younger brother of an older brother R/C enthusiast that dates back to late 1966-
Any way Bill comes in to the local hobby shop during lunch breaks where he shares experiences with a couple friends who work there nd also fly full scale(My brother finished,owns and flys a Rans KR-2

Okay on to the story Bill bought the Park Zone Decathalon and at this very minute is out back flying his Super Decathalon in the snow..(He too did a power upgrade which he called to tell me about this morning.) I believe his love for full scale is un diminished however he is simply having a time flying that Decathalon and soon the Mini Sportster EP which I'm assembling for him.

It is always nice to experience the enthusiasum one expresses for some thing new to them and OLD to you[&o]

RE: ParkZone Super Decathlon Review
 

Greg, You did not run into any problems with prop to ground clearance??????

I do not think I could run a ten inch prop on my PZ J3 cub without taking the tips off of it from it hitting the ground.

RE: ParkZone Super Decathlon Review
 

The Super Decathlon has a bit more ground clearance than the J3 Cub does. I didn't have any problem with my 10x4.7 prop but the landing gear mains are a bit soft requiring a reasonably soft approach.

Here is a video we took today of me flying the Super Decathlon. It is stock except for the GWS 10x4.7 SF prop. Since the parking lot where I flew yesterday was loaded with cars, I had to hand toss it in the field. The plane has sufficient power now in cold weather to fly and a reasonable flight time. We don't get much sun this time of year so we really enjoyed flying today!

[link=http://www.gregcovey.com/rcu2/SuperDecathlon.wmv]Super Decathlon Video[/link] (5.6meg)

RE: ParkZone Super Decathlon Review
 

Richard,

Perhaps you can share your Brother's power upgrade with us.

I needed a minimal solution for the review, and, since the GWS props fit directly on the drive shaft, it seemed like a good approach once I measured the current and saw that it was fine.

RE: ParkZone Super Decathlon Review
 

I recently purchased a Parkzone Decathlon, mainly cause it looks so good. I haven't owned the Parkzone Cub but have flown a couple of flying buddies cubs and was impressed. The Cub flys well and will fly decently at half throttle. I was really dissappointed with the Decathlon. I too experienced the servo flutter (I also experienced flutter on my Stryker). My plane flys but not as well as the Cub. I think it's the extra weight. Also, the gear looks nice but it's just for looks, even gentle landings bend the gear. I grew weary of constantly bending the gear back to the right shape. I fly mostly on grass so I stopped using the gear. I didn't like the compression fitting for the gear, seems overly designed to me. The Cubs screw on gear seems much better. I modified my plane by adding wing bolts, one at the front and one in the rear(I really hate rubber bands). I just used small blind nuts and small pieces of light ply. I also tried 2 cell lipoly packs(1500 Kokam). Couldn't figure out how to mount the battery at first. After some thought, I decided to just add some stickyback velcro to the top of the stock battery cage. I just stick the Lipoly pack to that. By doing it this way, I saved the stock battery compartment and I can put the lipoly in through the opening under the wing. I switched to a GWS 10/4.7 prop and the plane flys a little better with that set up. I get the same flight times (8 to 10 minutes), but I have a little more thrust. The Parkzone Decathlon is so close to being a very good RTF plane, but it falls short.

RE: ParkZone Super Decathlon Review
 

are you guys using 2 cell kokam 1500 mah?

RE: ParkZone Super Decathlon Review
 

Kenny,

Thanks for the summary.

I'm trying to avoid using Lithium cells for my review and I have not found one that fits in the stock battery compartment anyway so your solution sounds good.

I may try an 8-cell pack next to see if I can get some extra authority for short bursts when needed. I did manage to do a high speed stall the other day while attempting a loop. This plane flies very scale! Fortunitly, I was flying over 2' of snow so the spiral to the ground produced no damage.

RE: ParkZone Super Decathlon Review
 

Hey, did you say 2 feet of snow. I'm currently working on a project in St. Croix, USVI, but I won't rub it in. I'm also thinking about using an 8 cell nimh pack. I tried an 8 cell pack on the Stryker and the slight increase in power wasn't worth the penalty in flying time on that plane. If you use my lipoly battery placement technique, then it helps to move the Receiver/ESC. Mine would not stay in its little slot anyway, kept coming out in flight. Again, I used stickyback Velcro to mount the Receiver/ESC to the side of the fuse. My plane balances pretty good with the 2 cell 1500 Kokam mounted slightly forward on top of the stock battery cage. I know you have snow there but at least you can fly. I couldn't figure out a way to get an airplane on the airplane so I don't have anything to fly here.

RE: ParkZone Super Decathlon Review
 

Greg,

i had problems getting my Decathlon to do a loop also ( would do great stalls but never a loop [:o]) ... ive since changed the motor to the Fireball Micro series 370 from Venom Racing http://www.venom-racing.com ( it fits right in the stock gearbox although the screw holes in the motor don't match the ones in the gearbox so it required some "reengineering" to get the motor mounted in solid ) .. it will do loops with ease now with the "stock prop". im planning on picking up a GWS 1047 next time i get to the LHS and see how it does with that. im running the standard 7 Cell NI-MH 8.4V 600 mAh battery and get 10+ minute flight times. .. although im no longer running the standard PZ Decathlon electronics in the plane since the RX failed in it a few weeks ago...

but i guess my point is .. the plane will do a loop ( very nice ones actually ) but... unfortunately it required a motor change to do it with the standard battery. Hopefully with a LiPo battery it would have enough power with the stock motor to perform a simple loop...

P.S. its a great flying plane ... just needs a bit more power to wake it up ;)

PX

RE: ParkZone Super Decathlon Review
 

PX,

Thanks for the information. I considered a replacement motor but with the combo Rx/ESC box, I wasn't sure just how much current the ESC could handle. My goal was not to create an avalanche effect from changes, if possible.

Any idea how much current you are drawing now? If you still get 10 minute flights with the stock 7-cell pack then my assumption is a very reasonable current draw.

The stock prop is better looking than my larger orange GWS prop. Wattage makes a black version of the 10x4.7 prop that they used on the Live Wire at one time. (shown [link=http://www.hobbypeople.net/gallery/131385.asp]here[/link])

Would this be your [link=http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXHUM8&P=]Venom VMG Fireball Micro 370P Motor[/link]?

If this motor can replace only the original motor and still use the stock prop and battery pack then it is indeed an exciting hop-up!

RE: ParkZone Super Decathlon Review
 

The PKZ Decathlon ESC is rated for about 15 amps continuous as long as it gets some ventilation.

D Ribbe

RE: ParkZone Super Decathlon Review
 

Greg,

Yes that is the motor "Venom VMG Fireball Micro 370P Motor" as far as amp draw ive not checked it im assuming its not much more than the stock motor
i got this idea from the guys that work at the LHS here. they have had several people convert there PZ J3 Cubs over to this motor with great success ( with the standard PZ RX/ESC ) so im assuming its not exceeding the 10 amps that the stock ESC can handle ive also seen a few people on here talking about using this motor on there J3 Cubs also. and since the Decathlon uses the same motor/gearbox as the J3 Cub i figured it would be a safe upgrade and the Decath needs the extra power it would give.

im using a ElectriFly C10 Micro ESC w/BEC model# GPMM2010, it can handle 12A Max so its not much more than the standard PZ unit
im using my HiTec 555 Micro RX and HiTec HS-55 servos. i have a HiTec Feather RX here that im going to put in it so i can put the 555 in my next project... im just waiting on a Crystal for the feather atm

the biggest issue with the Fireball motor is the mounting screw holes they use the smaller screw than the PZ motor and the holes are set closer together so you have to redrill/elongate the holes in the gearbox housing and find smaller metal screws.. or do like i did and get creative with some fine gauge safety wire and shrink tubing ;) some people also just glue the motor into the housing but i like to have the option to remove the motor if needed...

now as to how the plane flys... with great authority! just from watching the plane fly i'd say its about 1/3 faster than it was before the motor change... somwhere around 25MPH in level flight at full throttle with a fresh battery. ive paced tha cars on the road next to my flying field and i can easily keep up with them ( speed limits 25 on that road ) and its climb rate is impressive .. aound 400FPM maybe a bit more i can easily get it to 200 feet in 30 seconds with no elevator input just full throttle

In a dive its almost too fast .. it picks up speed extremely quick. on a side note i took the extra weight out of the noze that PZ installs from the factory ( the 5/16th nut ) its much better in the dive test now .. with the nut in it was way to noze heavy and would pull out of a motor off dive much too quickly for my liking..
im much more confident with the plane now. ive done a few stalls with it and it will regain control from a tumble or spin in a 30 to 40 foot drop of altitude and will return right back to level flight with no stick input ( or very little )

ive also added larger wheels Du-Bro superlite 2" Dia. since i land in a farm field no real runway.. i had to loose the wheel pants though[:o] the wheels were just to big for them plus ive added reinforcement struts to the landing gear ( made from carbon fibre ) it help keep the landing gear from folding on a rough landing.. its starting to look more like an Alaskan Bush Plane now though:D

hope this is helpful info .. i tend to ramble on at times [&o]

PX

RE: ParkZone Super Decathlon Review
 

I just got in from flying the Decathlon.. it is truely a wonderful flying plane..
i had about a 5mph breeze at ground level ( about 10mph at 100+ feet ) the new motor makes it so much more stable in the wind
i was flying at 2/3 throttle at roughly 150 feet .. i would just point it into the wind and take my thumb off the stick and let it get upwind about 800 to 1000 feet ( Until it was almost to hard to make out its shape ) then tap the stick and put it into a gentle turn downwind then let it go until it got back to me then tap it again and turn it back into the wind and it never lost or gained more than 10 feet of altitude.. even though the downwind leg was speedy to say the least it never once became unstable or tried to "go off on its own". i never really had to touch the stick once i got it on the heading i wanted..

i also got to horsing around and did a very pretty axle roll.. not sure how i did it .. but unfortunately i was the only one there to see it... i can never seem to do things like that when theres any witnesses[&:].. although i can crash pretty well if someones watching[:@]


PX

RE: ParkZone Super Decathlon Review
 

D Ribbe,

Thanks for the ESC information. It is higher than I expected so this is good news.

From the flight times seen using the Venom VMG Fireball Micro 370P Motor, I expect that normal flight uses only 5-6amps tops but the power level can be bursted up to 10amps for maneuvers. This is likely the limit of the 600mAh NiMH cell anyway so it looks like a safe upgrade for the ESC.

I'll order one of those motors from Tower Hobbies and measure the current using the stock prop.

RE: ParkZone Super Decathlon Review
 

If you hate the color of the GWS props (and I do, with an ORANGE passion), you can buy black props from E-flite. I've noticed that my local hobby shop (Fliteline Hobbies, Summerville S.C.) carries E-flite slow fly props and I'm using an E-flite 10/4.7 on my Decathlon. By the way, I decided to try the stock PZ prop (an 8/4 I think) on my homebuilt foamie with an AXI 2808/34 and it worked pretty darn good. Had to limit throttle travel a little to keep the amp draw at or below 8 amps. I'm still out of the country temporarily and can't fly until I get home in a couple of weeks. I'm looking forward to getting back and trying some of the tricks suggested in this forum.

RE: ParkZone Super Decathlon Review
 

Kennydee,

does the E-Flite Prop use the same type of mounting as the stock PZ prop? ive tried a few APC props but i had to buy and extra gearbox shaft and cut the length of the shaft down and use a colette type prop mount to get them to work. i'd like something that can just use the standard PZ nut and washer mount. the Colette mount makes me nervous .. its never came off .. but there always that "first" time [&:] ( hence the reason i went back to the stock prop and mount )

the stock PZ prop is slightly longer than 8" ( 8 3/8" actually ) and as for the pitch... could be anywhere between 4 and 6 .. since PZ doesn't seem to want to list that kind of info anywhere that ive seen its any bodies guess..

RE: ParkZone Super Decathlon Review
 

The stock prop is basically an 8x4. If you want more performance, most agree that an 8x6 slow flyer prop offers a bit more power (and a bit less flight time) with no ill effects.

D Ribbe

RE: ParkZone Super Decathlon Review
 

dribbe,

i happen to have an APC 8x6 Slow flyer prop here .. i'll throw it on and see how it does...

RE: ParkZone Super Decathlon Review
 

ok .. went and tried the 8x6 APC Prop .. hard to tell, since there was a 10mph breeze blowing, but it didn't have any problems flying into the wind thats for sure .. and it was climbing like a rocket ( i think the wind had more to do with this though) seemed to hold its own at lower throttle settings also .. i need to test it on a calm day though .. pretty hard to get any useful ideas about it in a wind storm :D

got the amp meter out and did some testing tonight

(this is with the Fireball 370P motor with standard 8.4V 600mAh NI-MH battery)

amp draw for the stock 8x4 prop is 6.2 Amps

the APC 8x6 slow flyer prop. the amp draw was 6.8 Amps

the GWS EP-0947 prop pulls 5.8 Amps

and the APC 9x4.5 prop pulls 6.2 Amps

i was suprized that the GWS 9x4.7 pulled the less amps than the stock prop
i wish i had a gws 1047 to test

so my conclusion is that any of theses props are well with in the limits of the stock ESC and won't have a significant effect on flight times.
even though the amp draw isn't significantly higher than the stock motor the "seat of the pants" feel is very noticeable when flying the plane

PX

RE: ParkZone Super Decathlon Review
 

The E-flite props easily mount on the PZ Cub and Decathlon. They are essentially the same mount as the GWS prop. The E-flite props seem to be a little stronger than the GWS props. Hey, anyone with GWS listening(or reading), please offer your props in gray or black!!