SpockF4

Well, I made the leap and purchased two panther kits from tufflight. My 13 year old son has been flying for one year now and we thought it would be fun to try a little father-son 1V1 combat. Nothing too structured, just a little competition against each other. I will be using OS 25LA's for power, but as this is my first foray into flying wing world I need some help. Specifically in the electronics area. What receiver, servo, and battery combination would you suggest? I will be using futaba transmitters, a 6xa and a 9c. I think I would like to go with hitec 225MG's for the servos, but am stumped on a receiver and battery. Is the hitec 555 too heavy? Should I go with a smaller single converesion rx? What about a battery? I think I want to go with 6volt to increase the torque. Should i use nicad or nimh...? I don't have the equipment for the lithium polymer and lithium ion batteries. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.
Thanks
Ken

Montague

The hitec 555 is the most popular RX in combat. Small, light, and very tough. It's one of the best choices out there.

Stay away from single conversion RX's. If you do go to a contest later on, some single conversion RX's don't handle the "noisy" envrionment of a contest.

Also, stay away from ultra-light RX's. Combat planes should be kept light, but not at the expense of being fragile or having fragile gear in them. Sooner or later, you're going to run in to each other or the ground (or both). You want an RX that can take a bounce or 3 and keep going.

For batteries, I'd avoid Li just from the durability point of view anyway. I've been switching my flight packs over to 300-350mah NiMH packs. They are small and light, perfect for combat. But I also recharge often from a field charger, after every heat if I can, but I try never to go 3 heats before a recharge. (I also use a meter to double check). For less intensity, and less worry, I'd go with a 600-750 range NiMH pack. It will be lighter than a "standard" nicad pack, but have the same capacity. If you are more comfortable with Nicads, you can go with those. I'd go with something a little lighter than a typical 600mah pack though. I used 270-300mah Nicads for a while (I'm phasing them out in favor of the lighter NiMH).

6v just isn't worth the trouble in a combat plane, IMHO. Remember, 6v means more current draw, so your battery doesn't last as long. And I honestly doubt you'd notice a difference in the air. I experiemented with a 6v pack a while back in one of my combat ships. It wasn't worth it, so I now use 4 cell in everything. Saves the weight of the extra cell too.

The Hitec 225 servos are great servos, and quite easily up to the task of flying a Panther around.

wind junkie

My Feedback: (1)

You Tell em, Kirk.

good advice.

SpockF4

Kirk,
Thanks for the advice. I will stick to the 4.8v and go with the 555rx and the hs225mg's I am anxious to get these planes flying but work has got me tied up till the end of July[:@] Thanks again.
Ken

thojo

I've switched entirely to the Hitec HFS-04MG Receivers. With crystal, their $40 at Servo City. I've been using them since last year. So they've been to Paris and the Georgia NATS and have performed without a glitch in noisy environments...

Montague

Is that a single conversion RX? I don't have any experience with that RX.

Some single conversion RX's will be fine. But some won't. But I've yet to find a modern duel conversion that has troubles, so it's safer to suggest going duel conversion.

fwiw, most JR RX's are actually single conversion, but they have a lot of extra filtering stuff in there, so they work quite well. So it can be done, and has been done. But not all single conversion RX's do it. Especially when there are lots of single conversion "park flyer" RX's out there that are unsuitable for any glow plane, never mind combat.

thojo

HFS-04MG are single conversion. I bought 2 555's over the past 2 years, and both failed pretty quickly. Guess I just got a bad batch of em...

Montague

Yeah, that's odd that you had a couple of 555 fail so quickly. Did you send them in for service? I had one 555 go bad after a very hard mid-air. Sent it in, and got a new one back, no charge (it was new, under warentee. I didn't hide that it was in a crash either, and it was pretty obvious looking at it that something non-normal had happened to it).

At last count, I think I have somewhere around 7-9 555s and 6 FMA Extreme RXs. The Hitec are more durable than the FMA's, but I think the FMA's have slightly better signal processing/interference rejection.

1Jimbo

My Feedback: (2)

I have had 6 HiTec 555's fail.

Lou Melancon

Thojo,
I spoke to Hitec the other day and they have introduced the Electron as the eventual replacement for the 555. Like Kirk I have had good luck after lots of mid-airs and dirtnaps with them. I have three that have been going strong for three seasons and three others that have been in lots of planes. I also have had to send two back to Hitec and got new ones back at no charge. Their service is excellent.

Hitec is releasing a new transmitter named the "Optic", I am going to try one of them.

SpockF4,
If Union is anywhere near Louisville try to hook up with Ron Caravona, [email protected] he flies a lot of combat and is a great friend and helper. I am sure you will get a lot of support and help from him.

SpockF4

Uh oh.. I've got the 555 so I will give it a try, see how it works. Good to hear that the HFS-04mg will work if need be. Thanks again for all the info.
Ken

1Jimbo

My Feedback: (2)

Just make sure it is VERY well insulated from vibration and impacts.

SpockF4

Do you guys generally remove the plastic case from the receiver and just pack with padding or do you leave the receiver in the case and take the slight weight penalty? I would think that you would get better receiver protection by leaving the guts in the case.....any opinion's/experiences?
Ken

wind junkie

My Feedback: (1)

Ken,

I never take the case off combat planes. I have had trouble with RX's that have exposed pins, in that sometimes the pins get bent in a crash. For this reason, I also stay away from the shrink wrapped RX's : FMA extremem M5, and fortress micro, for ex.

If you leave the case on, it gives support to all the servo connectors, and they won't get bent if the wires get yanked in a hard crash.

rrh

I always leave the case on, pad heavily and have had the case shatter and bend the pins. I always leave the case on but it might not matter, all depends on if you feel lucky...

rh

Montague

Be sure to leave the case on, and put some padding on it. (Jimbo, you said you've had several fail, do you have them padded? I've seen some guys with 555's ziptied directly to an airframe with no padding or protection at all).

I have a mixture of FMA Extreme 5 (no case) and Extreme 4 (has a case) receivers (in addition to my 555's). The RX's with the case have been holding up much better than the caseless ones. At least with the FMA RX's, it's possible to get a stress crack in the board from it flexing, maybe due to the pins getting pulled sideways. At least that's what I think goes on, I've had a few get flaky for no aparent reason. When an Extreme 5 goes flaky on me, I send it back in, and ask them to convert it to an Extreme 4 with case.

1Jimbo

My Feedback: (2)

I never take the cases off and I always wrap them well with dense Rx foam. HiTec has always been GREAT about repairing or replacing them but I just got tired of having to send them back. I have heard of many other guys having bad luck with the 555's. I started using the Hitec Super Slim Supreme over a year ago and I've never had another problem.
I guess it's like the HS81 servos, some people say they are junk(me) and others swear by them. I like the HS85 much better.

thojo

I could also buy 3 of the single conversion RX's for the price of 2 555's, which seems like a pretty good deal to me.....

1980webrasped91

Hello
Does the standard servos and battery pack work good on the panther or Predator?
I have a futaba 9 cap and I will be getting a flight pack. Also how much money are we talking about covering the wing?
Is it easy to cover?
So far this plane looks like the one I need to start combat.
I would appreciate any replys.
Thanks
Don

wind junkie

My Feedback: (1)

The plane will certainly fly fine with the gear you mention.

I've found through the years that the metal geared servos (ie, HS 225 MG's) are best for the elevons, and an HS 85 MG for the throttle last a long time even after many mid-air collisions or crashes into the ground. Plastic geared servos eventually strip out.

You don't absolutely need the Icarex to cover the wing, but it is the most resistant to prop strikes by virtue of the ripstop polyester. For serious competition, I wouldn't do it any other way. If you're just starting, ultracote will look better, be easier to apply and cost less. You can patch either with tape at the field. Icarex makes the hinges near bullet proof which tends to be a weak spot when you get hit from behind.

Also for competition, a 270 mAH pack is the lighest, and will give you enough juice for 3 to 5 rounds. Anymore is dead weight.

1980webrasped91

I sure appreciate the information. Is it easy to put the lcarex tape on when covering the wing?
Thanks Don

1980webrasped91

I sure appreciate the information. Is it easy to put the lcarex tape on when covering the wing?
Thanks Don

Montague

Btw, I don't know if you mean a 270mah Nicad pack. If you do, then try a 300-350mah Nimh pack. I've been using them in all my combat planes, about half the weight of the 270Nicads.

However, the small packs need to be recharged at the field. If you want to charge at home and fly a contest, then look at the 720-750mah Nimh packs.

Standard servos vs good micro servos, you only give up about 1.5oz, which isn't much. The weight difference between a typical 7channel RX and a small 4-5 channel RX is also pretty small. I prefer the smaller RX's partly because they fit in to small combat planes easier, and weight savings is good, plus they cost less. If if you have it, then you can fly it, no problem.

The battery, 4AA nicads cells weigh a ton. Going with AAA (the 720Nimh) or 2/3AAA (350Nimh) cells will be huge.

The total weight savings from 2-3 servos, RX, and esp the battery could eaily 4-5oz, and that's a lot of weight. Enough to notice in the turns.

wind junkie

My Feedback: (1)

Icarex isn't a tape. It goes on with 3M77 like covering, and it does shrink a little but not as much as ultracote.

If you use the stuff recommended on the TufFlight web site, you'll need to cover it twice like the instructions say. It does go on easy, but it takes more work cause you do it twice and the second time it's on a bias.

combatpigg

My Feedback: (3)

A local pylon racer just told me that he has been taking RX cases apart and injecting silicone RTV between the 2 circuit cards to help stabilize them. A common failure point is at the solder connections where the 2 cards are joined. I'm going to try it.