reincarnate

Hey Ron!

No I didn't go with Kelvins exhaust. At our new field, we are trying to keep the peace a little, so the neighbors don't tire of us too early! The Saito has a nice throaty growl in the air, and really sound nice and mean. Not to loud, but definitely authoritative.

Good luck with your continued flights. I sent off a note to HH about the gear, so we'll see what kind of response I get. In the meantime, Frankie will sit idle until a local Big Bird event later this month. Plenty to fly in the meantime!

cwharper

Ahh, yes, the faulty weld does it again. I've had the weld come off two of my struts and a third was waiting to happen as I caught it just in time, there was a crack in the weld. This problem has resulted in two nose overs for me on landing. You were lucky that it held enough until you stopped or else a nose over would have happened to you. I'm afraid replacements from HH won't help because the replacements will likely have the same problem. If you can weld that good then it's really the only solution come short of using robarts or spring air retracts. Personally, I grounded my P51D and yanked out those stock retracts and am waiting on some Spring Air 404 with offset struts to come in and fit in there. I'm hoping this will finally let me enjoy this airplane. It flies so good, just my landings are less than perfect.

kahloq

Captianron.....I've not herard of over-revving either except in the case of having a motor too lean. Those "old-timers" probably are not used to the keleo exhaust note. You seeing a smoke trail at all? Using an 18x8, I doubt your over-revving. The motor is rated to 10,000 rpm's(and thats conservative from Horizon). Rips 220 is turing it at 8600 on the ground using an 18x8, so about 9200 in the air.
I've run an 18x12 on my 220 and its not near as broken in as Rip's is and Im getting about 7500, but I richened it down to about 7200. I've got some other props Im planning on testing as well..including an 18x10 MAS, 16x14 APC, 17x10 APC, and some 16x12's(APC and Menzjlik). I'd like to see the rpm's back in the 8300+ range and right now, my motor isnt turning the 18x12 fast enough for my comfort, but I dont want a lower pitch then 10, would prefer 12 or better.

BTW..Im also running 15% and Rip is running 20

frisconick

Cap'nRon,

The only way to know for sure is with a tach. I'm still sticking with the 16x12 APC at about 30 flights now. Just bought three more gallons of 20/20 fuel because of the pending shortage. We usually get two or three warbirds up at the same time, make high downwind legs, then dive down to the deck for those high speed passes 10 feet off the runway, then repeat. We usually don't get off full throttle unless we want to "form up" for a pass. I've gone through a bunch of props looking for the right combo. I have no plans of trying others now.

Also, I just received my scale exhaust from Tony Howard. Frankie is naked now (exhaust-less), so this is going to be SWEET. The parts and quality seem first class. I'll post some pics as I get it built and detailed.

Nick

GSK

Quote:-like to see the rpm's back in the 8300+ range and right now, my motor isn't turning the 18x12 fast enough for my comfort, but I dont want a lower pitch then 10, would prefer 12 or better.

Hi
running that prop at those revs should give you a good speed considering it unloads as the speed goes up .I would be surprised If going from what mine did that you would get it to go much faster .

How many vertical rolls does it do with that prop on ? mine did at least two with the 18*12 ,so with the extra torque of the 4 stroke I would expect you would be able to do more .

Regards .G

Rip n Bank

I think you hit the nail on the head, Kahloq.

Frankly (I love using that word in this thread!), the old-timers have probably NEVER heard a 4-stroke as large as the Saito 220 with an exhaust note as "interesting" as the Keleo single-pipe Pitts. It's truly a unique sound! And, I've also not had anyone at either of our club's airfields suggest the Saito is over-revving, and I doubt it is. No way my 220 is going from 8600 static to over 10,000 when it unloads in the air! I think your 9200 is a good estimate.

OK, now, who makes an on-board device that can record at least a couple of minutes of RPM data from an optical pickup attached to cowl of Frankie, then, once back on the ground, allows you to download the data to a PC over a USB link?

It is no big deal in the high-powered rocketry hobby field to have an on-board device (~$60) that measures local altitude when armed on the launch pad (and just prior to launch), senses/records altitude 10 times per second on the ascent, and, when the ambient atmospheric pressure detected begins to increase (ie, rocket has arced past it's apogee and has begun to descend), it sets off an electronic event that will eject a drogue chute just past apogee, say, 15K feet AGL, then wait during it's rather rapid descent (minimizes downwind drift) until the rocket is 1200' above it's initial launch altitude, and then set off a second electronic event that blows out the main recovery parachute for a soft landing. Oh, and did I mention it will beep out (or download over USB) the maximum altitude obtained during the flight? Pardon the pun, but this stuff is no longer "rocket science!"

I think on-board telemetry is a golden opportunity in this hobby...

Rip

kahloq

The numbers should indicate good speed, but it didnt seem to be running that fast once airborne. I doubt it unloaded much....maybe due to the extreme light weight of the prop itself. I wasnt comfortable enough with how it was flying and how the engine was sounding to try any vertical rolls. Now my friends electric with the 18x12 apc could do 4 or more rolls vertically and still keep climbing

Rip n Bank

Hi Nick,

I'm switching to my already-owned 18x10 MAS this weekend, but, based upon your recommendation, I'm going to order a 16x12 at my first opportunity.

LOL! You're less paranoid than I am! I just bought SIX gallons of 20/20 fuel, fearing the worst with regard to the nitro shortage.

May I be proven wrong!

Rip

kahloq

Rip...maybe dont order a 16x12 yet. I have several of them on hand so we can try them at the field. Once you determine whether or not you like it, then spend your money.

I have:
3 x 16x12's APC
1 x 16x12 Menjzlik carbon-fiber
2 x 16x14's APC
2 x 17x10's APC
1 x 18x6 Zinger wood
1 x 18x10 MAS nylon/glass
1 x 18x12 menjzlik carbon-fiber(already flown......no problems taxing either...didnt want to race down the runway just trying to taxi)

GSK

Quote :-
The numbers should indicate good speed, but it didnt seem to be running that fast once airborne. I doubt it unloaded much....maybe due to the extreme light weight of the prop itself. I wasnt comfortable enough with how it was flying and how the engine was sounding to try any vertical rolls. Now my friends electric with the 18x12 apc could do 4 or more rolls vertically and still keep climbing


Don,t you just hate that , I love the verticals , but you have It all over him with the sound, wait until you see that long stream of smoke coming out of it when the Controller fries itself
(hope that it does,nt ) but I have had that happen with a couple of electric aircraft I was test flying for a mate , Looks great but the result was not good , managed to get them back onto the ground O:K but he had to put the fire out Inside very quickly .
I have seen several batteries go up in smoke

Rip n Bank

Thanks!

If we get good flying weather on Saturday PM or Sunday AM, let's try out one or two.

I'll swap out to my MAS 18x10 before the weekend, try it, then I'd like to try one of your 16x12 APC's.

It's too late, and I'm too lazy to re-read your earlier posts on this; have you tried the 16x14 or 17x10 APC's?

Rip

kahloq

I have not tested the 16x14 or the 17x10 yet, althouhg I do have a 16x14 mounted on the plane now. Im gonna test run the motor tomorrow here at the house with that prop on it see what I get.

BTW....here's a couple flyby dirty passes from the last flight a week ago.

reincarnate

Try [link=http://www.wingedshadow.com/products.html]here[/link] Rip. I've always wanted to try a couple of these gizmos, but a different "need" always seems to show up. Let me know if you get one. I'd like to know how they work.

frisconick

Anxious to here the results of the 16x14. It's the only one I haven't tried yet. Don't forget to reset the high speed mix with each prop change. Let us know how it goes.

Thanks,
Nick

Rip n Bank

Cool stuff, Rein. Thanks for the URL tip.

They don't appear to make an on-board RPM recorder, but I pinged them with an email inquiring about any plans for such a product.

Cheers!

Rip

ampeater

My Feedback: (1)

You can try the eLogger:

http://www.eagletreesystems.com/MicroPower/micro.htm

It's made for eflite, but you can get sensors for rpm, alt, airspeed, throttle setting, gps, etc and you should be able to use it on fuel planes without any trouble.

kiosk

My Feedback: (14)

hey guys, putting together Frankie (second one) dont recall where this part belongs, dont seem to find in manual...what is it?

reincarnate

It's the "scale" radio antennae. Leave it off, or break it off the first time you load it in the trailer!

captainron

THANKS FOR THE INPUT GUYS!

Ordered an 18x8 black Zoar to try at our Warbirds in August. I not as adventerous as some of you. I just want to make sure I'm not over revving her and taking a chance on seeing the piston floating down while I'm nogotiation a dead stick.

NICE PIX RANDY, SHE LOOKS GREAT IN THE AIR ON THOSE FLY BY'S. Too bad RIP N BANK hasn't got a good camera man. Still never seen his in the air. HAS IT REALLY BEEN AIRBORNE? ROTFL!!!!!! I know I'll get to see it fly right beside mine at Warbirds over Pueblo. ROCK AND ROLL BABY!!!!



DANG! I LOVE THIS HOBBY............................................. .........................CAPTAIN RON.

kahloq

Ive taken pics of Rips in flight and posted them on this thread.

kahloq

Ok...so...I test flew the plane with a 16x14 APC on it. Its not performing as Id hoped. I got no better then 7200 rpm's out of it. Thats the same basic rpm level I got with the 18x12. And honestly, the plane didnt seem to fly very well on the 16x14. To my eyes, it seemed to kinda wallow around. It never got into the peak rpm range so speed just never seemed to be there at all. I was so uncomfortable with how it was flying that I landed after only the 2nd pass. Im sure it would have flow ok for the full tank, but it just seemed like it was struggling to maintain decent flying speed. I think once in the air, the high pitch might be overloading the motor(obviously not over-revving sicne its only getting 7200 on the ground, just too much pitch for the motor).
I will try a 16x12 later today hopefully. I will also bring along the 17x10 and try that if need be as well as bring along an 18x6 Zinger that was on the motor in a different plane.

And yes, I have been taching it after each prop change and adjusting the high speed needle.

kahloq

Captainron, here's Rips P-51 flying. I think I posted these on page 58 or something

Rip n Bank

LOL!

Yeah, when I was building Frankie, I picked up that "antenna" out of the box, flexed it, and said "Oh, yeah, right." and tossed it in the trash bin!

Ironically, I eventually resolved my range test issues with Frankie by incorporating a functional Dean's mast antenna in the same place as the scale antenna location.

Rip

Tisoy909

My Feedback: (21)

kahloq, so do you normally do landings with half flaps then, i noticed on your set of pics, which was on landing i believe. If it gives me better performance and stability on landing i will try to make this a habit, had one tip stall on landing and dont need it to happen again heh.
Thanks.
Loiue

Rip n Bank

Capt. Ron,

See there!

Neener, neener...

Rip