aeajr

My Feedback: (2)

Assuming the Orignal Radian is about 28 ounces and the Pro is about 34 ounces that is an extra 6 ounces or about 175 grams. So you will have a bit higher wing loading.

The wing airfoil may be different so we can't say for sure but most likely the glide speed will be faster. It probably won't float to the same degree as the original, but it is still moderately light as 2M gliders go, so it is not going to be a "lead sled" either.

Because you have camber control you can vary that to some degree in ways you can't on the original Radian. It should range out farther and faster than the original. It should have better wind penetration too. With the aid of flaps it should land in a smaller area more easily.

Personally, Ithink it is going to be terriffic. Can't wait to get my hands on one, but I won't be buying one any time soon. I have too many gliders and airplanes right now, I just purchased one and have two more planned. So a Radian Pro really has no place in my fleet rightnow.

aeajr

My Feedback: (2)

Depends on your radio.

My radio would place all servos on individual channels, but I would normally need a 7 channel receiver based on how my Futaba 9C works. I would use an AR7000.

rtn9105

My Feedback: (35)

I've flown a friends Radian a couple times and thought it flew very well but since it was only 3 channels I didn't think it would keep me interested enough to buy one. Now that it's offered with ailerons I'm a little more tempted to get one. I like the idea of learning to soar but would like to be able to do some very basic aerobatics also.
Is the Radian pro able to do rolls and maybe short inverted flight?

aeajr

My Feedback: (2)

Absolutely.

rtn9105

My Feedback: (35)

Does anyone know if the Eflite park 480 outrunner will bolt to the motor mount on this plane?

Frede2

If the motor mount is no stronger than the standard Radian, the Eflite might be too much for the mount. []
I've tried other 480 size motors that twisted their way out of the mount. - Phil

skorman

My Feedback: (3)

I just maidened my new Radian Pro on Saturday and it was great. My first glider so I didn't know what to expect. Got all the programming done (crow, reflex, camber) on my X9503 with an AR7000 receiver. Pretty strong motor carried the glider up quickly. A friend of mine who is experienced with gliders liked it a lot. He said it flew better than his Cularis. The flaps are very effective and crow slowed it down for an easy touch down right in front of me. I'm looking forward to warmer weather so I can really experience its potential.

tlar

I notice everyone ...well almost everyone is buying the bind and fly version. Are Spekt's really that good.Good enough forme to retire my Airtronics 72 MHz 6 channel computer radio oand sell my rather new Airtronics 5 ch 2.4 GHz (that wouldnt break my heart ....or any 2.4 GHz for that matter...just dont trust 2.4 GHz yet)?

I might add I dont fly contests and dont plan too. I am just a lone eagle with no club close enough to join.

aeajr

My Feedback: (2)

Spektrum's radio systems are just fine.

aeajr

My Feedback: (2)

Power system issues with New Radian Pro

There are many reports of weak power systems in the new Pro.   it seems that the new Pros have been coming with a power system that is clearly not the same as the original Radian even though the HH Video and website indicates that it has the same power system.  The new power system is about 65% the power of the original and it is in a plan that is about 30% heavier.  This is not a good combination.

The original Radian has a power system and Prop that pulls about 17 amps giving you a powerful climb.   The Pros have been shipping with a much lower power system that only pulls 12 amps.  In this post you can see what the "weak" power system looks like.  
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showp...&postcount=580

Horizon hobby has a history of excellent support so I am confident they will figure this out, but if you would rather not bother with shipping things back, it might be best to wait.  However people have been getting mixed responses from Horizon Hobby as to a remedy.  Some have gotten new motors.  Some have been told to ship things back to Horizon and some have been told that this power system is within spec, which it is not.

I would suggest you wait till they sort this out.

tlar

When I was a kid in Civil Air Patrol we had a pilot with a Piper Tri Pacer. For kicks he used to accelerate on take off and when really rolling he would drop in 30 degrees or more of flaps. The little airplane would just leap into the air and climb like a homesick angel. Why not try this with the "under-powered" Radian pro. Mine wont be here for a couple of more weeks otherwise I would try it myself and post the results.I would imagine you would need some forward speed before dropping the flaps or at least a good toss.

Your comments on the flap theory especially welcome aejar!


Any resent news on the motor issue?

tlar

on the pro what angle does the flaps make when full flaps are on?
Same question what angle for reflex?

aeajr

My Feedback: (2)

For reflex you want the flaps up about 2-3 mm.  If your radio will provide the mix, have the ailerons come up the same amount, but this is not required.

For flaps, the amount down for landing can vary by user.   You can set them to whatever you like.

45 degrees will give you a much lowered stall speed allowing you to land more slowly and will provide drag to slow the plane on landing for small area landings.  60 degrees will provide substantial drag to slow the plane in a dive or in landing.   Some people strive for 90 degrees but it really isn't necessary.

RickShane

My Feedback: (1)

Hi all....I'm looking for a glider/trainer for my son, and the Radian was suggested to me by a few people. (Not too sure about the Radian Pro after reading the power problems) It's always to have more power than not enough! I've been flying nitro/gas planes for 20 years, and want to get into park flying. Something to tie me over to summer, and teach my son. I learned to fly with gliders, and know about catching the thermals. (We have one of the best sites in the world 2-3 miles away from me. (Point of the mountain, in Draper, Utah. Google it. Hang gliders come here from all over the world to fly it.) I also want to put the 18g video cam on it, and take some video around my neighborhood.

I have a 72mhz 6102 6 ch JR radio with extra RX's. Would I be able to put a 72mhz RX in the Radian? (I know nothing about ECS's and electric planes) For the ESC do I just plug into my RX throttle like I would on a gas plane? What would be the best Radian kit for me to buy? Does the Radian have ailerons? The video in this link was shot from the Radian, VERY IMPRESSIVE!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4rd_6OpF5fk 

I LOVE the idea of being able to flying close to home, in a field across the street, the park, schools, my son's baseball games, and so on. I have so many places to fly electric planes close to home, and no planes to fly. I have to drive an hour to fly my gas planes, but it's a blast, or should I say an all day event! But I would love to be able to go fly when I get the erge. How would the Radian fit me? Or should I wait for the pro? Love to hear your input. Thanks!
Rick

aeajr

My Feedback: (2)

We know nothing about your son, but I presume he is8 years old or older and can pay attention to the plane.

I would recomend the original Radian rather than the pro as a firstthermal glider. It does not have ailerons. Extremely easy to fly and thermals wonderfully. Will take a little practice to land it in a very small space. This is a thermal glider not an aerobatic airplane but you can do loops, tailstalls and other rudder based stunts.

The Pro is heavier, a bit more aerobatic but still not an aerobatic plane. Because it does have ailerons you can roll it but it is less stable in the air and because it is heavier it needs a bit stronger lift to thermal. With the prop replaced you should get at least a 45 degree climb which is just fine.

The JR 6102 would be fine for either. Just plug the ESC into the throttle channel where you would put the throttle servo.

The power problem on the pro has been isolated to a problem with the prop. If you want the Pro, In addition to the plane order the blades to the original Radian and replace the ones that come on the Pro and you should be fine.

For the Pro or the orignal Radian Plug and play -
http://www.horizonhobby.com/Products...ProdID=PKZ4775
http://www.horizonhobby.com/Products...ProdID=PKZ5475

Needed to Complete


Transmitter and Receiver - Your 6102 is perfect

- 3S 11.1V 1300mAh 15C orhigherLiPo Battery and compatible charger

The RTF Radian comes with Radio, battery and charger
The BNF Pro comes with Everything but the radio - you could replace the receiver with your own

tlar

I have a Radian Pro and an Airtronics 6 ch system 72 MHz . I was able to put my 6 ch rcvr in the pro. I had to remove some foam to get it deep enough but it fits well. There are two leads on the ESC one plugs into the rcvr usually on the throttle but being a glider person following Aeajrs advice put it on the landing gear switch. Its just full on or off. For someone starting out I would suggest the original Radian. Its 3 channel and very stable probably a better sailplane than the Pro. But as far as the Pro goes the jury is still out on the motor. There arepeople that say the motor has issues and an equal number that claim thy are great. You can get a better prop which solves a lot of complaints.
After thinking awhile I think I can get all of the Pros features to work on the Airtronics. I have the flaps assigned to the throttle . This radio has a engine cut off button that would move a throttle servo a few more mm I think that wil give me flaps with reflex. I think I can use the built in "flaperon" mix to give me crow andf camber on the ailerons. I have to buy some servo extensions totry this out. May lose the coupled rudder aileron mix in doing so but we will see. I will report the set up if it works.

If my son wanted to learn I would buy the original Radian BNF since it has a radio included supposed to fly out of the box. The plug in play does not include radio, charger or battery basically for the price of a battery and charger you have paid for the BNF version.. . Read Aejr's postings both on this sight an the rcgroups.com sight. The guy is brilliant!

tlar

Aeajr:

Can you think of any reason the motor on my pro (new) won't run on either flap switch or gear switch. Seems to work most of the time on the throttle channel provided I get the servo limits to +125%. Airtronics radio. Spare servo works on both of those channels. I really want to set it on one of the switches since the rudder is on the same stick as the throttle and I prefer to not have to worry about the motor turning on when I move the rudder (flaps moving wont bother me).
Also is one of the aileron servos mounted backward from the other so the ailerons move on opposit directions? I get the stangest movements when I tried the flaperon mix..thinking I could get crow and/or camber out of it. Neither aileron act as ailerons when flaps are selected..they become pure flaps. With that switch off only one aileron moves at a time the other stops at neutral (neither move up both move down but not at same time.
Gues iNeed to just plug servos in seperate from the airplane Since it is to cumbersome to play with with the wings installed.

Thanks
Mike

CustomPC

It sounds like your ESC is not arming.

Try reversing the channel and/or increasing the endpoint until it arms.

aeajr

My Feedback: (2)

Ihave to agree. The ESC MUSTsee zero on the channel or it will not arm. That means that the switch MUST be in the off position when you power up the plane ANDit must be at its extreme end point or the ESC will read this a throttle not off. This is a safety feature.

Set our end points on that switched channel to theirextremes.

As to your radio, you have yet to tell us what radio you have, but I know nothing about setting up Airtronics radios and would not want this thread turned into a study in a specific radio. You may benefit from seeing how Spektrum has suggested set up their Spektrum radios for the Pro.

DX6i setup
http://www.horizonhobby.com/ProdInfo...DX6i_setup.pdf

DX7 set-up
http://www.horizonhobby.com/ProdInfo..._DX7_setup.pdf

tlar

I must have changed the endpoints as The motor worked once on the flap switch. Looks like the radios mentioined in your link are have more programming opt5ions than mine. But info was helpful.
Thanbks

RickShane

My Feedback: (1)

Aeajr - My son is 11 yrs old, and can fly great on the G3.5 sim. All the planes I have are sport planesand aTop Flight F4U 60 size Corsair fully loaded, and don't want him to learn on these. I want a plane the both of us can fly at the park. I have plenty of room for landing, so that's not an issue. I kinda would like to have something with ailerons. But... How well does the Radian turn with just rudder? When I first started flying,I was flying gliders off a huge mountain slope (No motor)and it had justjust rudder but that was 20 years ago, and I don't remember how they handle with just rudder. (Seemed to be fine)Can you put the plane right where you want it to go with rudder only? Or does is actit sluggish? What would be better with a camers on it, one with ailerone or just rudder?

Another thing, With the JR 6102 FMradio I have that would work great, but here's what I'm thinking. Icalled my hobby shop today, and they have all versions of the Radian. If I buy the PNP Istill need to buy a battery, and charger. (I'd like to have 2 batterys) And that would cost about $90 bucks with tax. Add that on to the $159 for the plane and it's $249.00.$10.00 bucks cheaperthan theRTF versionat $259 WITH the 5chradio. It looks like no matter what way Igo, I'm going to be into it about the same amount of money give or take 20 bucks. If I buy the RTF versionthat might do me well in the future,then all Ineed to buy arethe BNFpark flyers. What do you think? How good is the radio that comes with theRTF Radian?I would love to hear your input, and anyone else that wants to comment on this. Last thing... is the verdict out on the Radianpro yet?
Thanks, and Happy 2011!!

aeajr

My Feedback: (2)

I have the Radian RTF and I LOVE it! I also have 2 Futaba 9C Super radios, one that has been converted to Spektrum 2.4 Ghz. But the Radian I fly wih the included 5 channel radio. Works just fine.

I don't fly cameras but I would think a R/E highly stable platform would be best.

turns just fine. Not great at inverted flight and you really can't roll it very well, but who cares? It is a thermal duration glider. It is made to ride thermals. When I have to work a small, narrow thermal I can roll it up on about a 60 degree bank to stay tight into that thermal.

Turns just fine on the rudder alone because of the high diheral wings.

Buy the RTF. If you don't have the required lipo pack and charger the RTF is the way to go. Try it! You'll like it!

eastcoast

....................................

RickShane

My Feedback: (1)

Besides gliding & thermal flying, and since the Radian has a motor, how well can you fly it around like a normal plane? Low flybys, and some low circling, etc?

Thanks!

aeajr

My Feedback: (2)

You can do anything you want but the plane does tend to want to climb under strong throttle. At low throttle settings it flies fine as a plane. If you wnat to fly around at high throttle settings you can mix in elevator to throttle and get more uniform level flight behavior across the full throttle range.