RE: Comp ARF Valiant
 

Terrific thread Stuart in most ways better than a manual. You think and build much like I do.

The battery holder idea is really great. I'd seen references to the idea before, but really didn't have a picture in my mind until your posts.

What glue do you use to attach the wood to the batteries? Just CA?

RE: Comp ARF Valiant
 

Yes just a little thin CA. Glue right to the plastic battery covering. I use pieces of 1/8" end grain balsa fiberglass laminate. Light and holds up.

Feel free to post some of your pictures and weights to add to the thread.

Stuart

RE: Comp ARF Valiant
 

Hello,
any flying report?

RE: Comp ARF Valiant
 

Not really yet. Cold eather and wind have taken over the area. I have only had 1 day out for 3 flights in the wind. I can't report that I took off and flew the Master's pattern without effort :)
The plane needed a few clicks of left and some up elevator. The trim tabs make for their own expo. In other words the ailerons and elevators felt very dead around neutral with my starting 40% expo or so. The rudder on the other hand was extremely sensitive around neutral. I had to reduce my expo settings on the ail and elevator, especially down elevator (very soft in inverted at 40%) and crank up the rudder expo.
The plane did push to the bottom a bit on knife edge so I moved the CG foward by moving tha battery about 1/2" foward on the tray. As predicted by Bryan's trim technique it helped. Unfortunately I can't say much more yet. I have been waiting for a weekday that is flyable that I am also off from work. My field is closed on weekends starting November.

Stuart

RE: Comp ARF Valiant
 

Where do you get the SA quad-wire extensions? Not sure what SA stands for.
Thanks,
Pedro

RE: Comp ARF Valiant
 

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RE: Comp ARF Valiant
 

Shulman Aviation

RE: Comp ARF Valiant
 

:) Thanks Jason.

RE: Comp ARF Valiant
 

Happy New Year !

My Valiant arrived to me. Unfortunately on the left stab, the elevator movement is restricted to downward.
I could observe that an epoxy remnant causes this and it is impossible to clean it without disassemble the stab system.
To do it , I have to make a port on the bottom side of the elevator and grasp the wire axis to push it out.
Is there any idea ?

RE: Comp ARF Valiant
 

Personally, I would ask for another stab half to be sent . .

Otherwise (not having seen one), can you dremel a hole in the end of the elevator to grab the hinge wire with needle point pliers ?? It would be difficult to see that you did it once assembled . .

Cheers, JB

RE: Comp ARF Valiant
 

Thank you.
The other part of stab works very well. The elevator moves to both sides equally.
As seen in the picture, there is a small hole. It is enough to see inside with a
+3.00 telescopic lens under bright transillimunation. Unfortunately there is not any head of wire to hold. It is perfectly aligned with the hinge.
I tried to hit the stab on the side of the hole gently ,expecting the shifting of the wire but noting happened.
Also I drilled a hole other side of the elevator by using transillimunation to push the axe wire with a 1 mm wire. I knew that the probability of to do it was very low. I could not reach to the axe wire but the hinge.
I don't know internal structure of the elevator exactly. Only I can guess it comparing to the rudder. So to make a minimal damage on a very well painted and finished model, I have to chose a correct
place for entrance. Any knowledge is important for me.

RE: Comp ARF Valiant
 

erylidirim, greetings! Just an outside observation on my part, but this particular problem you are having should have been caught by the Quality
Control Inspector prior to shipment to you. That being said, Jeff Boyd 2 gave you, what I believe, to be the best advice to start with. I would want
to avoid any cutting/surgery to the actual flying surface if at all possible. Have you contacted the Company you pruchased the plane from and made them aware of your situation? Whatever you decide to do, give it careful thought and if possible, find an experienced builder in your area for some additonal imput. I build my own planes and am keenly aware of how something like this can easily become a nightmare with unintended
consequences. Best of Luck & Happy New Year__Everette

RE: Comp ARF Valiant
 

Have you tried contacting your Comp Arf rep? They might be able to help you fix it or replace it. I have found them to be pretty responsive.
Stuart

RE: Comp ARF Valiant
 

I drilled a hole in the end of the elevator to see how the internal structure was.
There is not a wire axe like rudder. There are 3 hinges (like Robat 310 hinge) and it is impossible to disassemble elevator-stab system.
Then I bended a 2 mm wire and sharpened its bended tip and reached to the epoxy residues through the hole in the elevator internally and,
through the gab between stab and elevator. I took two days to clean them !
Now elevator can go 25-26 mm downward. I hope it will be enough for snap and spin.
Also I wrote to Comp ARF.

RE: Comp ARF Valiant
 

Hello Eryildirim,

Just to let you know;

My elevator rates are 9 degrees low and 15 degrees high in my Twister and about the same in the Integrals of some other pattern pilots that I know. You will need max. 15-16 degrees of throw for the spins and 10 degrees at most for the snaps. That is all you need for F3A and any set-up or setting using 20 degrees or more elevator will not be correct. Yes, you need 25 degrees of throw at your ailerons for crisp snaps like CPLR.

At this point, I am expecting Bryan to chime in to give you more advise. You may send him an email to speed up the process.

Nedim

RE: Comp ARF Valiant
 

Can Valiant owners confirm the typical weight for the landiing gear? Are they consistently around 130gms as the one at the top of this thread states?

I would like to replace the gear on my Integral and just want to be sure that the Valiant gear is lighter by 30-40gms.

Also, is the gear adequate in other respects...strenth, flexibility etc. And is it basically the same dimensions as the Integral gear?

Thanks for your feedback.

Colin

RE: Comp ARF Valiant
 

The New Valiant gear are direct copies in shape,and size ,
However at my request , they reduced the weight and made them more flexible,

They will bolt right up and save 40-50 grams
Bryan

RE: Comp ARF Valiant
 

Thanks Bryan.

RE: Comp ARF Valiant
 

I just weighed my Integral gear...110gms. I guess there no need to mess with them.

Colin.

RE: Comp ARF Valiant
 

Stuart
It's been a couple of months, can you give us some feedback on the Flying characteristics of your Valiant.

Thanks
Dick

RE: Comp ARF Valiant
 

Dick,

I'm not Stuart, but I did get the opportunity to fly Bryan's valiant this past weekend. It was the most neutral, truest airplane I've ever flown. I was doing a one roll rolling loop and the last quarter or so I started releasing the aileron a little bit, as every other airplane I've had has rolled out a bit and you've always got to kind of dance with the aileron to keep the roll rate constant when you're rolling so slow. Well, needless to say the wings just stopped moving and I looked like a bit of a dork, haha. Bryan thought I was trying to judge rudder authority or something, but in reality I just didn't expect the wings to stop moving when I centered the ailerons. A little bit ridiculous if you think about it! What impressed me the most was how fast I was able to become comfortable with the airplane. Bryan's radio set up is drastically different from mine, so I threw some approximate numbers into his radio to get something a little closer to how I fly. I adjusted the down elevator expo once after that and I was completely comfortable with the airplane. The sweet spot for level inverted flight feels so natural, everything comes out on line. I never missed a beat. Every snap and spin exit came out on line, on heading, and with the right number of rotations. The plane just loves to be in every attitude you want to put it in. You have to TELL it to go off line. There are no surprises, nothing to "learn" about the airplane, it just does what you tell it to. No maneuver is especially difficult or tricky. Be sure to use Bryan's CG and thrust numbers and you will absolutely love it.

He had the strake on his and in my opinion, it really solidifies the airplane. I didn't fly a Valiant without it but I did fly a Shinden with and without the strake, and the difference was noticeable. For whatever reason that strake makes everything a little bit more predictable. It just holds it's track a bit better and becomes a little more docile. That was on the Shinden too, I'm told the difference on the Valiant is even greater.

Add on to that the great support you get from the designer of the airplane, which you really don't get anywhere else, and you're going to be very hard pressed to find something better.

RE: Comp ARF Valiant
 

Hey Brett

Thanks for the review. You made me feel pretty good about my decision to buy one. I received the engine today and should have the aircraft by Friday. I hope the strake is available by the time I get it finished. Bryan will guide me thru the build as I plan on doing everything as he has on his. Once completed and flown enough to get the engine broken-in I hope to get together with him for the final tweaks! I toyed with using the YS mount but have decided to go with the Hyde mount for the sake of build time and weight. Even at that I probably won't have it completed for at least a month.

Thanks again for the report and encouragement.

Dick

RE: Comp ARF Valiant
 

Hey Thanks Brett!
I can always tell when your happy during the flight you dance a little LOL
we had a good weekend of flying there was nothing a the field you didn`t fly Even an old Patriot 3d wth retracts ,,


Dick I`m going to look and see if I have any tubing/plumbing install pic`s if not I`ll take some for you
and post it here.

The YS Mount has it`s strong points a sweet tone, and nice idle However ,,without a rail set up it`s hard to get it installed.
Oxai has a backplate machined out of Aluminum that adapts for a firewall mount so you can use the YS mount ,,this is what I use in my Bipe
But I`m not sure you could get one in a time. it is possible to do however.

I know Arch has been usng the LR85 for some time and loves it he turned me on to it M. Hyde made me 6 mounts I tested them all one at a time on the Valiant
they all worked ok But the sweet one was the LR85. so thats the one to use.

The canopy attachment is a little difficult to keep from rattling I`ve tried different system on all three I`ve built the canopy`s are large and light so the best thing to do is run a little clear RTV on the base of the fuse , for the chin and the canopy to help with noise

The chin cowling quick dissconnect setup in a Nishioka system from Japan ,,But in the manual I show how to make and install this out of wood ( if it ever gets uploaded :) I could possibly send pictures to you with the text if you need it it`s a little tricky to do but worth it in the end. ,,,no screw drivers:D

Best of luck I`m glad your excited! good to have you back!
Bryan

RE: Comp ARF Valiant
 

Unfortunately I live in the NE and the weather has not been favorable and our club field is closed from Jan 1 to March 31. I did get get 2 days of nice weather before the field closed. I also flew it in several days of windy weather were any real trimming was difficult.
First impressions: the plane flies differently than my other pattern planes setup with similar settings. The counterbalances on the stab and aileron strongly effect the feel of the plane. Much less expo is required for a normal feel. I will have to check but I I think I have 10 to 15% expo instead of the normal 40%. The rudder on the other hand was very sensitive. I had to crank up the expo. Otherwise even a little rudder input was really obvious. Moving the CG did effect knife edge as Bryan states. Really shows how critcal CG can be. I am not sure if the vertical will be perfect with no mix to KE. May require a little down thrust, or increase in wing incidence (but it is not set to be adjustable.) Still need more time and tweeking to know for sure. Vertical is pretty close with knife edge going straight. I think it may need a little right thrust as it tends to veer a bit to the left at the top of the vertical. Perhaps the electric version requires a bit more than the glow version. Mine has an adverse roll with rudder and is mixed with 6% rt and 7.5% left. Plane lands like a dream :) Unfortunately that is about as much as I can give right now. I will have to wait till spring or move to a warmer climate to give more impressions :)

Stuart

RE: Comp ARF Valiant
 

Dick,

Bryan is correct. Go with the LR85 mount from Hyde and be happy. It works great, and Merle is great to deal with if you ever have questions. I've been running them for a while now and did a lot of initial testing for Merle and have had nothing but positive results,

Arch