Artto Ilmanen

Wednesday at 19:04

Thanks Dave,

I upgraded the firmware to V9.0. Many here have been very helpful offering assistance in case I feel the need to downgrade to v4.0. Let’s see, at least things to be fine for now.

April 22

gents, how do you take backup files on the current firmware before carrying out an upgrade?

January 8

On 06/01/2024 at 20:53, Ron Gray said:

It was my Giant Super Sportster powered by a 200 in-line. The problem wasn’t cooling air it was air turbulence around the carbs which meant that it wasn’t running as cleanly as it could. I could have redesigned the baffles to prevent it happening but decided the extend the air intakes with silicone tubing into the fuselage, this fixed the problem and also made the engine even quieter!

Oh I see. Now that you mention it I can remember it. Anyways, I'm proceeding with the help of your & Jon's kind advice. I just bought some 9kg lead in a scrapyard so now I should be good for about 10-30 models what comes to lead needed to balance the models. 🤣

January 6

Thanks Ron and Jon,

All clear. I will also remove the tail wheel servo and I change the batteries to lighter ones. Let’s see if I can get to nearer 15,5lbs to start with

January 6

49 minutes ago, Ron Gray said:

That’s a very similar setup to my Laser 80 powered LA-7 and it hasn’t been a problem in that.

Yes, I thought it wouldn't be an issue as there should be plenty of airflow by the carb to cool things out. I do remember with some of your models (one of the inlines? the mustang / Inline 160?) you had to do some modification to get cool air to the carbs. I don't recall the cause, though.

Also, I had planned to mount the lead in the fuse centerline below the engine and therefore I was thinking I can't rotate the silencer towards the centerline. However, with respect to the lateral balance I realized that it might be a good idea to mount the lead on the opposite side of the centerline to counterbalance the side mounted engine cylinder weight.

January 6

15 minutes ago, Jon - Laser Engines said:

I do not think you will be wheezing round and unable to loop. As Chris says its mostly an energy management sort of deal and it will loop for sure. Plenty of people have flown the 70 inch ESM warbirds using our 150/155 and they are normally around the 15lb mark. My pica p40 was this span and weight too, it was fine.

You could use the 240v, then fit a bigger prop to tame it a little. But the 240's i have in service currently are delivering great performance in models of up to 23lbs so at 16, it would be speedy!

As spoken earlier with you, I aim to put the 240V in another model, such as Hurricane. So I will start with the 150 in Focke and then if needed fit a FT200. I don't like overpowered models very much and thus, if I'm not mistaken, the FT200 is a better choice than a 240V.

Jon: How about the silencer position when the engine is side mounted? Is it ok if it's pointing down or will the hot silencer being pretty closed to the carburetor cause trouble with respect to the carb getting cold air? This is the best orientation with respect to the cowling. I could, of course, rotate the silencer to point more towards the center but that's not as good looking plus I aim to install a secondary engine mount for the lead which is somewhat preventing me to rotate the silencer to point to the center / bottom of the cowl. (by the way, I actually asked this in email to you but maybe this is something that others like to know, too)

January 6

38 minutes ago, Frank Skilbeck said:

Don't feel too bad my friends 28% scale 30kg 190 has 2.5 kg moulded into the front of the cowl, and that has a Moki 215cc radial.😁

oh boy! 🤣

January 5

Hi Chris,

Very true, the weight required on the nose is what it is. It's just that my other models are aerobatic or semi-scale civilian airplanes with longer nose so I have been able to get the CG in correct place without much lead needed. So I'm good now - I just felt puzzled at first by the amount of extra ballast needed. I do happen to have a heavier engine (a Laser 240V ) without a model so I could use that and be good with dead ballast. However, I feel the 240V may be too big an engine (I'm not into the American style where you put a crazy engine and race through the sky no matter what the model is) so I think I will try the Laser 150 first. Jon says that even at 15lbs I should be good - I may be a half lbs heavier so we'll see.

By the way, I have watched your youtube videos on the FT200 / Eurobat many times - thank you! The FT200 seems to be a great engine, among the other V- twins.

January 5

I'm pretty sure the Vanessa rig works - it's just that I'm not used to it. That's why I wanted to check things in accordance with Jon's method. Anyways, time will tell if I need a larger engine or if the 150 has the power to perform loops, etc that the real thing could do. I initially thought I could easily achieve the 15lbs total weight but now I'm at around 16lbs with the almost 2lbs lead on the nose and if I'm lucky I can achieve the 15lbs as I get used to the model and can put it on a diet. If needed, then a Laser FT200 or a 200V. By the way, is the power output about the same with a 200V and a FT200? Or is the latter more powerful?

Jon, I will test the free caster tailwheel to save max weight on the nose, thanks for the hint!

January 5

Ok thanks for all valuable comments

Upon rechecking the CG as Jon suggested It tuns out I need 835g lead on the nose to start with. This means about 7300g or 16lbs total weight excluding fuel. Once I'm done with the first flights I can probably take off some lead on the nose: I tested already that if I remove the small tail wheel servo (22g) and replace it with a pushroad I can save a 100g on the nose. I can also change the batteries to lighter ones and save another 100g. So total weight of 15,5lbs give or take should be easily achieved. And maybe another 200-250g of lead can be removed from the nose when more experience on how the model behaves.

Anyways, I think no more guesswork is needed with this initial CG adjustment. But a funny learning experience on the warbards and how much weight they sometimes need on the nose (due to our models mimicing their full size counterparts with very heavy engines, of course)

Ron: the your Bearcat is about 10cm shorter than the Focke explaining somewhat why I seem to need more lead on the nose.

January 4

Thanks Jon and Ron,

I can do what you suggest as a benchmark to my Vanessa Rig arrangement. I must confess that this is the first time I'm using it. I wonder what I'm doing wrong?

Anyways, my retract wheel wells to not allow mounting a small screw on the c/g point just behind each retract unit as you suggest - but I could install a small screw eye hook ( if this is what you mean) and lift the model with a loop of rope. Or I could just add small marks with a parking pen on top of the wing just beside the fuselage at C/G point and lift the model with fingers. Please see pictures

January 4

Chris and Ron

Thanks! So the very front of the wing so the way I measured it should be correct. Unfortunately.

Ron: the tail is a bit down in one of the pictures. But the model was level with the 1150g simulated weight on the nose. I needed that much weight to reach the COG at 140mm. For comparison, I checked your Bearcat Laser 240V thread and it seems you didn’t need much extra weight. So I’m a confused now. I expected something like 500-700g be needed but 1150g is much!

January 4

On 02/01/2024 at 13:32, Andy Stephenson said:

Arrto,

I have the V4 update files, I could email them to you, PM me.

Andy,

Thank you so much! Let me think - I will PM you, then!

January 4

Gents,

I'm finishing a build of an ESM Focke Wulf 71" with a Laser 150 on the nose.

As this is my first ESM warbird I'm struggling with how to measure the center of gravity in a correct way. The manual says 140mm but where am I supposed to measure it? (See picture)

If I measure the COG at the centerline of the fuse where the wing meets the fuse I need to add 1150g of ballast 😳😳 inside the cowling to balance the model at the 140mm COG!! This with 2 x 150g RX batteries mounted as far in the front of the fuse as possible, just behind the firewall. I can't help but think that something is is not right, even though the Laser 150 is not a very heavy engine.

Hence, I wonder if the way I measure and mark the 140mm on the fuse is not quite right? I appreciate any comments

January 2

Thanks Andy

Ok, I sent email to JPerkins on where to download the firmware updates. It may be difficult to find past releases, such as V4.0, though: Futaba USA lists only the V9.0 - so let's see. Ripmax used to list all firmware update versions but the links work no more.

January 1

Thanks Andy.

I hardly use any more sophisticated features beyond some simple mixing such as flap> elevator mix, etc. So from my perspective as long as I have a reliable radio link between th TX and RX I'm pretty much all set. The only exception for what I just said is I'm interested in telemetry and the associated voice announcements. Such as low RX battery alarm etc.

I guess I might be just good with the V4.0 to get the voice announcements.

As a side note, in case you use the voice announcement feature how is your set-up? earphones with wire or have you custom made a speaker set-up on the radio?

January 1

Thanks Andy,

Ok I see..

Have you by any chance came accross with any review or analysis on benefits and disadvantages in upgrading the T14SG firmware?

I start feeling a bit puzzled wether do the upgrade or not. Mine is V3.0 and so far I have actually been using my T8FG Super TX. Hence, it would be nice to have a better understanding on pros and cons of different firmware versions as it seems the newest firmware may also cause some troubles as you pointed out.

January 1

2 minutes ago, Paul De Tourtoulon said:

Maybe too old ?.

http://147.135.224.192/telechargement.php?menu=8

Well, the firmware seems to be v9.0 which is, as far as I know, the latest. On From what I can see, the telemetry language package is the French version. Neither French nor English is my first language but I happen to speak French so I could maybe take this route. On the other hand, then, I should take the French firmware version as well. Which means it’s hard to get support from any of my flying buddies should there be need for that. So, wrapping up I think I will stick with the English software package, for convenience reasons.

In anyways, thanks Paul

January 1

Good to know - I happen to have also a T8FG Super which I could use for testing, as you suggest.

As a side note, I’m not sure wether the firmware update is mandatory. I just feel that maybe I’m running risks in terms of reliable radio link between the TX and the RX if I do not carry out the update. The current firmware is V3.0 and the latest version is V9.0. For some reason I haven’t seen much discussion on the matter.

January 1

21 hours ago, Andy Stephenson said:

Artto,

You should be aware if you are upgrading your 14SG later than V4 then any early receiver clones may have trouble with the LBT protocol. If you only have pukka Futaba receivers, then you shouldn't have any issues.

Andy, thanks for the hint

I believe I only have one Frysky clone receiver so I'm not running high risks. Al other receivers genuine Futaba. My current T14Sg firmware is V3.0 and the latest is V9.0 so I feel it is advisable to uopdate the firmware, just to minimize any risks in reliable performance of the TX.

January 1

22 hours ago, Frank Skilbeck said:

Perkins are now the UK Futaba importer/distributor so you could ask them. I did have look on their website but couldn't see any links to Futaba downloads, but as they have only recently taken over they may not have got those on their website yet.

Thanks Frank,

Very good, I'll contact them

December 30, 2023

Gents,

I want to upgrade the firmware of my 14Sg to the newest (9.0) version:

This is what I found on Futaba USA:

https://futabausa.com/product-suppor...are-downloads/

Links on Ripmax site do not work:

http://www.ripmax.com/Futaba_Upgrade.aspx?UGID=T14SG

How can I be assured I download a correct version (European?) Can I download it on Futaba USA?

thanks,

Artto

December 23, 2023

Did you think of mounting the engine upright?

My initial measuring shows the engine (Laser 300V) might fit quite nicely if upright due to the cowling being wider on the top than on the bottom.

I'm thinking to use, maybe, a 300V, to have good performance but I would not like to harm the beautiful distinctive round shape of the Spitfire cowling if this could be avoided somehow. (like mounting the engine upright?). Maybe the engine could be better concealed inside the cowling vs. mounting the engine inverted?

see pictures - most likely some modification of the top section of the fuselage would be needed (a removable section?) would be needed to help with the installation and maintenance of the engine.

November 22, 2023

I can confirm that I have recently got 3 different engines serviced by Jon & Laser engines (2 x 150s and 1 x 300V)

I don't know what this chap on facebook is talking about. Nor do I understand the intention to despise Laser Engines or the great service Laser engines is known about.

November 21, 2023

Great news, Jon

You do not mention about the email - is it now working, again?

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