juanes1969

Guys, I bought a Ikarus Yak54 with a 3D performance package. It has the AXI 2208-34 motor, APC 10x4.7 prop, thunder (?) 1300mAh lithium battery, a castle creations 35 ESC, three hitec hs-55 servos. My question is, do I need a switch harness to turn on and off the equipment or do I just unplug the ESC from the receiver? does 10onz of weight sound normal for this plane or is it too much?
Thanks
John

cougar347

No need to worry about a switch John. Just plug and unplug your battery from your ESC when you're ready to go. Make sure and turn on your transmitter before plugging in. Also, remember, once that ESC arms itself, it's ready to go. One of my buddies lost his brand new plane when he accidentally hit the throttle while trimming the plane in his basement. It took off and crashed right into the cement wall. I usually unplug my motor from the ESC while setting up my transmitter throws just to avoid any accidents. Good luck.

I'm not sure about your weight, my Yak is still in the box. It seems pretty good. If you want to save some weight, you might want to look at trying some smaller/lighter batteries. I'm also not sure about that CC35 ESC, it seems like it's too big. We use mostly the CC25's for all of our stuff. Maybe the Axi needs that bigger ESC, I don't know.

Vince

perttime

The Ikarus webshop ( http://www.ikarus-modellbau.de/onlin...=265&anid=5828 )
gives these specifications, so you are a bit on the heavy side.

Technical specifications:

Wingspan 800 mm (31.5 in.)
Length 750 mm (29.5 in.)
Weight from 220 g ( 7.8 oz)

More weight forces you to fly faster (and worse). It also makes the plane more vulnerable in a crash.

Your ESC is definitely overkill, and you could make it work with a much smaller battery. The servos are a bit more than you need but you cannot save all that much there. You still need a light receiver.

You have a 2S (2 cell) battery? That would be in line with your choice of motor and prop.

With small electrics people usually do not use switches (unnecessary weight and complication). You just connect the battery pack to the ESC with suitable connectors (The ESC supplies power to the receiver via the "servo" cable).

RC MANIAC119

My Feedback: (14)

Your setup is fine....I agree that the ESC is a little large, but no problem.and those servos a fine...
BUT......you may want to delay using your kit shocky as your first 3d E-bird. Get some blu construction foam..use your kit as a template! It will certainly withstand a lot more abuse..............You can thank me later!!!!

juanes1969

Thanks for the help guys. Vince you are right, The ESC is a CC Phoenix 25, I didn`t remember which one it was.
I ordered everything from aero-works, the kit and the 3D package, I suposed that was everything I would need, so I went with it. But I`m used to gas airplane only, this is my first anything that is not gas, so on the electric part I`m a little concerned on doing things right. I have seen one lipo batt, explode because the guy was soldering the wires and the red and the black one touched each othe without him noticing. It was scary!!!!
I will take that advice on the blue construction foam, sound good.

Now on the wires that come from the battery, can I solder a male futaba connector (with a little wire from the extension) to the batt wires for easier pluging-unpluging-charging, and one female connector with about an inch of heavy duty extension to the ESC for connecting the battery to it? will these heavy duty wire extensions and connectors hold up in these voltages and loads?

Again, thanks for the help guys.
John

perttime

You could use the Yak kit as templates for a home made foamie...

Are you talking about servo connectors for connecting the battery to the ESC? I think you need a bit more even at this power level. I have got into using "bullet" style connectors in the power system but many others do not like them.

RC MANIAC119

My Feedback: (14)

There is a problem with changing your battery connectors.......
1st.... those Futaba connectors aren't big enough to handle the load that is created when you connect, and it is possible for them to come undone while in flight.
2nd...If you really fall in love with electrics, and I know you will, your going to want more batteries, and it seems that most battery manufactures, use a standard "Deans" plug end, so to save yourself not only re-do time, but the possibility of blowing one up like your friend..set up your system (ESC end) to accept the pre-wired plugs.

I hope you have purchased a LIPO charger..very important!!!

Good luck

juanes1969

Thanks guys, I do have a LiPo only charger, I bought it from aeroworks, and it charges very good without heating up the battery. On the connectors, I taking your advice, either deans or bullet connectors. I don´t want to blow that batt up.
Thanks for all the help, I hope to post pictures once I have it built so you guys can look at my setup and give more advice.
John

perttime

Whatever you do with your LiPos, do not short them. When cutting the wires (?), soldering connectors, whatever, do not allow the wires to touch each other.

When putting connectors on my second LiPo, I wanted to shorten the wires a bit. I went and cut both wires in one go. It did not destroy the pack (whew), but I think it was about 1/10 second away...