Rocky V.

My Feedback: (25)

cstevec,
Did you do any baffeling in the cowl ? Just wondering, they say the 110 is very heat sensitive. I was gonna use a 3W75 for this plane, but the BME is a pound and a half lighter and looks like it fits well in the cowl. This would be my first twin so I don't want to burn it up...

cstevec

My Feedback: (1)

Rocky, Yes, I baffled the cowl. I placed 1/8th inch balsa across the front of the cowl under the opening and again across the top of the cowl behind the engine. causes the air to be directed through the cylinders before it can escape out the bottom. When I get the chance tonight I will post a couple of pictures of how it was done. Even with the baffling, the engine runs hotter then a single does with its head sticking out in the wind. Since the engine is new, I let it cool off between flights for about 30 minutes. I don't want to cook it! The big thing is to make sure your exit hole is big enough. Otherwise the air will just dam up in the cowl & all the baffling in the world won't help. Looks are one thing but a cooked engine is expensive. If you do a lot of hovering/high alpha flight, the engine will generate a LOT of heat.

Scoubidou

My Feedback: (17)

Hello CStevec
PLease post your baffles pics when you can! I am looking for ideas to put baffles on my set-up.

cstevec

My Feedback: (1)

I'll try & do that tonight. I was amiss the other night & forgot. Sunday was probably the best day for flying we have had all summer so you can guess what I did. Ran the batteries down on the 260 twice! All together I burned 2 & 1/2 gallons of fuel in her yesterday.

One thing about the BME twins I have noticed. They do seem to run hotter then say a DA100 or a ZDZ. I checked mine with a temp gun after a particularily vigorus flight and the cylinders read 180 deg. (right) & 190 deg. (left) They should read no more then 150 degrees ideally so I am going to open up the bottom a little more tonight. The baffling Is sufficient so all I can assume is the air outlet is not quite large enough. Then too, the plane had been on the ground for a minute or so before we took the readings. Once you shut them off, the temp goes up pretty quick so I may be worrying about nothing but no sense in taking any chances.

By the way, if you don't want to wait for my pictures, The Brison engines web site gives a couple of pretty good examples. If you open up the page on their big twin it has a link to baffling. Not great, but it is a pretty good start.

cstevec

My Feedback: (1)

Question for those of you flying the 260. Can any of you get a good elevator out of this plane? Mine does all the other stuff, flat spins knife edge spins, snaps, torque rolls & the like, it'll hang on the prop all day, but I cannot get a decent elevator out of it to save my life. The plane just doesn't want to fall out of the sky. I have my cg back at 4" from the LE at the wingtips now & just can't seem to get it right. I also have a problem with good high alpha harrier flight but I think that may be the dweeb on the sticks.

By the way, I ordered the CF wing tube from Tom the other day. Lightened up the plane about 5 more oz. & fits like a glove. Yesterday I was flying at the Sod farm I fly at & ran into a clump of sod left on the ground in the area I was landing. Bent the gear pretty good, I had just landed & didn't see it. The plane bounced about a foot in the air when it hit the clump of sod/dirt & it bent the gear back about 6 inches. I walked out to check on the plane figuring I had trashed the gear plate (never expected the gear was bent) & was amazed to see no damage to the plane at all, just the gear. I guess it was tougher then I thought. I ordered a new gear from Tom as soon as I got the plane back to the trailer. Ain't cell phones wonderful?

The more I fly this plane the more I like it. I am going to start playing with props after the holidays trying for the best performance out of the BME. I like the Biela but I think it is loading the engine more then it should. I don't seem to get the RPMs I think I should. The plane will go up forever & it pulls up out of a hover OK but as light as it is I expect it should pull out stronger. Maybe a Meyzlick will be better.

jongurley

My Feedback: (29)

If you could do anything different with the plane or engine, what would it be,,

cstevec

My Feedback: (1)

I would have ordered 2! Seriously though. I got the blue one & it is beautiful. On a overcast day, & late in the evening, I think the red one shows up against the sky. Since I can only afford one though, I still prefer the blue one. There are three things I would have done differently. 1st I would have put a 110 in it instead of the 100, I think my 100 is pulling about like the ZDZ 80 & I was expecting a little more. I will probably fix that this summer by buying a 110. I'm waiting for just the right Yak or Edge to come out & then I will need a new 100cc twin. I want one just a tad lighet then the 260 so I can fix both planes without spending to much. 2nd, I would have tried the Fromeco Imac setup for batteries. Wouldn't have saved any weight but if what people say is true, I would have more flight time. 3rd, I would have put 5925s on all the horizontal surfaces instead of the 5945s. The 5925s are a lot faster and more then strong enough. ( I already made that change.) After changing the servos, snaps are much cleaner & the plane is easier to torque roll.

Columbo

My Feedback: (9)

Hey cstevec,

What does the plane do when you try to harrier? e.g. is there a lot of wing rock? What is the behavior?

Greg

cstevec

My Feedback: (1)

I just cant get it to lock in. Can't find the sweet spot. It seems to either want to fall off to one side or the other or else it starts to fly out. Like I said, might just be the dweeb on the sticks. I can hang it on the prop all day & torque roll it but can't seem to ge the harrier thing figured out on this plane.