I am having trouble finding a dealer name that sells the excelleron in the us Please someone advise where i can get the best deal. Thanks Bruce

try Hobby People

i had heard that the E90 is no longer in production and that there may be a replacement in the pipeline. It's a shame that you cannot buy them anymore... no-one here in Aus has them at all.

Ok thanks for the info

For those flying with the Excelleron 90 with a Saito 125, which prop do you like best for pattern flying?

APC 15-8

I've had my Excelleron 90 since before Christmas (bought the very last one on the Internet!) but couldn't find time to assemble it. A paid a fellow club member to assemble it for me and just got it back. Here's my setup:

- Saito 125 w/ stock muffler
- APC 15x8 prop
- HS-5625MG (Ailerons + Elevator)
- HS-6985HB (Rudder)
- HS-5475HB (Throttle)
- 2-3/4 Dubro wheels (largest that would fit in the pants)
- Stock LG, but added a piece of strong ply under the flimsy mount.

Maiden was terrific! The wind was supposed to be 6mph max, but ended up with gusts from 11 to 15 (courtesy of my new $35 anemometer [8D]). I was told not to worry, that it would cut the wind, and it did so very well. This is my first pattern plane and I'm already spoiled! To take off, all I had to do was "think" up elevator and it rose off the ground beautifully. It took a few clicks of aileron and a fair amount of up elevator (CG is pretty far forward right now), but other than that, it flew great! This is the first plane I've had that really does exactly what I tell it to do - a far cry from my Ultra-Stick 60! The first landing was picture perfect - let's not talk about the second one when the wind really gusted []. I have to admit that I was surprised it did so well with the 2-3/4 wheels and wheel pants on grass. I thought I was going to have to buy taller/bigger LG, but so far, so good. Now I'll slowly move the CG back and continue with trimming - on a much calmer day.

Thanks for all the help and advice on set up, mods, etc. The time you spent posting all your results really helped!

Allen
that's a great maiden report. Iknew you were gonna love that plane.
When you get the CG moved you'll like it even more.

If it drops the nose in flat rudder only turns (no aileron input) then I might suggest is some elevator to rudder mix. About 4 or 5 % up elevator on each side of rudder. It'll help your stall turns and your rolls.

Have fun
Eddie

Thanks Eddie. I'll try that once I get the CG just right. By the way, about how much aileron differential should I expect to need? That'll give me a good starting point for testing.

Having fun!

Alan

Alan
I honestly don't remember how much differential I ended up with. I do know I started out without any and it wasn't bad, but I'll check my Tx settings after work this afternoon and try to reply back.

Eddie

Alan
I did not have any aileron differential in mine. It probably does need it
Eddie

Thanks Eddie. I haven't gotten to that point yet, but I'll let you know what I find out. I did find, however, determine that the wings do indeed need to be shimmed as Dean Pappas and others suggested. I'll experiment with how much on Saturday.

Alan
You are correct on the wings. Talk with Richard about how much they shimmed his Dad's. I was too lazy and just added the rudder elevator mix I referred to earlier
Eddie

Mine finally flew today in the capable hands of Mike Hester since I was a bit under the weather and didn't feel up to a maiden. After two clicks of up trim on the first flight Mike started flying the FAI schedule ( not sure if it was P or F) and was doing a pretty dang good job of it until the thing ran out of fuel.

Would sure like to know what Mike Thought of it?

Mike R

He seemed pretty impressed, and said that I have a " weapon " now for sportsman. He did mention that the wind can give an Excelleron fits though. Also, he placed second I believe in Advanced at a contest last year with a borrowed one. Long story. I need to tone down the roll rate a bit though, which I'll take care of before heading out to the field tommorrow. Don't know if he's following this thread but if you PM him he might chime in. Mike's pretty busy with the Black Magic VF3 right now. I got a close look at it yesterday too. Awesome somehow seems inadequate.

Thanks for those comments, I know he is busy with the V3. I've been closely watching all if the black magic related threads. I wish I had half the energy that mike puts out.

As for the wind and the EX90, I tell you I had my G2300 stick wide open on me a couple weeks ago in 25 MPH gusty winds. The plane was all over the place, but even though it took a beating, it survived with out a hitch.

Mike R

Mike's a great guy and that energy and enthusiasm contagious. You can't be around him long without catching a bit of it.

I'll fly the Ex for the first time tommorrow. After all I've heard I'm pretty excited about it.

I did have a bit of a problem with the fuel system yesterday. After a blown line and a bunch of head scratching one of the pros at the field traced it to a 90 deg fitting. Seems I had somehow clogged it with epoxy during the build.

I had an Excelleron year before last and flw it in Sportsman. Arch Stafford gave me a hand getting it dialed in. We put a lot of expo on the rudder and elevator to smooth them out. I had a YS 1.20FZ in mine and 16X6 prop and itdid alright in the wind after we smoothed out the rudder....it is quite an effective control surface.

If you run into Arch ask him to give you a hand, after he helped me out that plane flew much better. I watched him to run my Excelleron through the Masters sequence

Actually Arch was at the field Sunday and did help me out. Arch was the one who supplied me with a spare elbow for the fuel system after Ken Thompson found the problem. He was at Ga. Jets to pick up the Black Magic V3F.

Just kinda found this by accident. LOL Yeah, I have my hands FULL with this VF3 right now.

About the Excelleron: Dave made some changes to his to get some of the built in goofiness out of it. First thing he did was remove the counterbalances from the elevator. MUCH better. The throws are tamed way down and need to be tamed even further. Remember the Excelleron is/was sold as a "3d/pattern" plane which means it will sorta do both but won't do either one really well if you do it like they want.

If I were building one, I'd also take about 4-6" of the inboard aileron and make them solid as well. The rudder sorta is what it is.

How good is the plane? Fantastic. Assuming less than 10 mph winds, you're not giving up too much except presentation. Yes, I won second in advanced with one at Huntsville last year. I also managed to win 2 rounds from Erik "Dragonslayer" Newsolme with it! (Erik is GOOD). But I was still close to my Nats form, which means very very well practiced. As soon as the wind started gusting, it went nuts and I couldn't hold those lines to save my life. But that had to be some of the most FUN I have ever had at a pattern contest.

I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this plane, just remove those counterbalances and tame those throws, and use some expo. It will fly the "P" sequence fairly well, although we never made it to the integrated rolling 8....yet

Sunday was a blast.....hey now you have no excuses Dave, burn some fuel!!!!

And thanks guys, yeah I do kinda love this stuff....

-Mike

Thank you for the input Mike

Mike R

See, I told ya Mike H was a great guy.

I went out Tuesdday to fly the Ex. Nice when I left home but by the time I got to the field the winds were kinda nasty. I watched the display in the clubhouse for a while and they were going from 5-21mph and SW to NE. Considering what I was told about the Ex in the wind I packed up and went to the LHS instead.


Mike H, I plan on being out Saturday, Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday burning fuel before Andersonville. Also, I'm putting new servo arms on the Ex's ailerons to tone 'em down a bit. Couldn't drill out the other arms again. The elevator, well, considering what a PITA it's gonna be, I'll just have to wait and see.

Dave

The elevator is fine just like it is, don't touch it.

I'll see you Saturday!

-Mike

Gotcha.

I'll be there around 2:00pm or so.