Ruston

Another option for the fan unit are these alloy 12 blade fans that Hobbyking have just started stocking **LINK**. They are EPF Hobby fans that can be bought elsewhere but are cheaper from Hobbyking. I managed to order a 8s version before they ran out is stock, within 6 hours of them going live on the site! There is also a 6s version. Not quite as efficient as the Jepe fans looking at the numbers, but they sound amazing: **LINK**

I'm wondering if 6s might be an option on this plane. The new version of the 6s Jepe fan gives 3kgf at 1500Watts **LINK** I reckon an all up weight of around 3.6kg to 3.8 kg (circa 8lbs) could be achieved: Bare airframe 1.5kg Covering, detailing, finishing etc 300g 4000mAh 40C 6s 720g Jepe 6s fan unit and motor 330g 110A ESC 90g Seperate 5A SBEC 30g 6 full size servos 270g Reciever 15g Eflite 46 size retracts 260g Struts and Wheels 200g Perhaps I'm being optimistic with some of these weight estimates but circa 200Watts per lbs and 80% thrust to weight should be enough for a scale like performance? What do you guys think? Edited By Ruston on 09/06/2012 15:25:37

Agreed, definitely full throttle gives the best results on launch.

You're welcome. When flying, the air should be pushing the back of the canopy closed but there's no harm in a couple of extra magnets for security. I forgot about the top cover, mine needed easing over the fan too. I flew mine yesterday in what must have been 20 mph wind, it was a little twitchy in the gusts and could be made to hover into the wind. I wouldn't recommend a maiden in that much wind though! The rudders allow me to knife edge and neaten up the roll. Still to experiment with much else. I must have built in a slight twist in my vertical fins as mine had a tendency to drop its nose in right hand turns, the rudders have allowed me to trim that out. I used a couple of PowerHD 6.5g digital servos that I had spare, the rudders are small and only need a few mm of deflection so no need for anything bigger really. Landing is really easy, ignore the manual, you certainly don't need half throttle, it'll never come down at that speed! I tend to cut the throttle in the final turn and just glide in. It glides really well and will slow right down without stalling. Mine is all setup as per the manual. I have 20% expo on low rates and 30% on high which seems to work well. Good luck for the maiden! Edited By Ruston on 04/06/2012 07:38:44

Hi Eddie Just a quick question, do you know the bare airframe weight (less electrics and fan unit)? I am hoping to get away with a 9s setup which, using one of these fan units, should give about 2500W **LINK** Otherwise I'll need to get a load of new batteries . Thanks, John

Here's how the canopy retainer fits, you can see the balsa spacer that I have added. You can slide the front of the canopy in place first and then push down on the back of the canopy until the lug at the back pops into place. It all seems secure enough, I haven't had any problems with it coming loose in flight.

It's quick on 3s with the timing turned down on the esc so on 4s it'll be ballistic. Not sure how fast though. I have always got a friend to hand launch as it is a bit twitchy until it gets some flying speed up. Launching high and level with a good push gives the best results. I use about 3mm of reflex on the elerons which I can switch out after about 2 to 3 seconds from launch. I have now fitted the rudder servos which allow a few more manoeuvres and are worth the trouble. I'll post a photo shortly to show how the wood parts under the hatch fit. I needed to add a spacer from a small piece of balsa to get it to fit correctly. It caused me a bit of confusion too!

Great news Eddie, I'm sure it'll have been be worth the wait. Best wishes, John

Hi all I recently picked up a Thunder Tiger Concept X 75mm ducted fan kit from Al's Hobbies who were selling them for £85 at Blackbushe Model Airshow. http://thundertiger-europe.com/4369_concept_x.html Being a relatively new model there is little information around so I thought I would share my experiences. The kit went together quickly and easily using ordinary thin CA to glue the majority of components and 30minute epoxy on the wings. In retrospect, UHU POR may have been a better option for all joints as the CA can be rather brittle if the plane suffers a heavy landing. I used HS65MG servos for the elerons, I chose to omit the rudder which is an option. The HS65s fit well in the servo opening but are a little too wide meaning that the supplied servo covers don't fit without a bit of modification. The kit is supplied with Thunder Tiger's own 75mm fan, motor and speed controller. I put these on the Watt meter using an Overlander 2200 3s and got a whopping 580 Watts at 55 Amps! This was over limits for both the motor and speed controller so I dropped the esc timing to low which still resulted in 420 Watts and at 40 Amps, which should be ample for a 620g (22oz) model. With control throws and C of G set as per the manual, I went for a maiden. The first three attempts ended with the model not getting away, instead diving hard for the ground. After a bit of remedial surgery, I moved the C of G back by about 3mm, dialed in a bit of aileron trim to counteract a tendency to roll right and programmed in about 3mm of up elevator that I could switch out once up to speed. The fourth attempt saw her away and after a bit more trimming, flying very nicely. With all that power on tap, the model is extremely quick and great fun. It flys very nicely and will slow up very well for a nice glide to belly land. Roll and pitch are nice and controllable on low rates, a little more lively on high rates but by no means excessive. I can safely get 4 minutes flights from a 2200 3s using high throttle most of the time. It will cruise around at 1/4 throttle for ages if so inclined but that is not really the point of a model like this! Without rudders, the aerobatic options are limited, I plan on fitting rudder servos next and give that a try. Edited By Ruston on 31/05/2012 08:29:33

Posted by Paul Thompson 1 on 27/04/2012 18:07:25: Ruston, have you tried Tx on a sim? Trying to get mine to work on Phoenix sim but won't work; normally connecting USB lead into trainer jack automatically switches Tx on, but can't get DX10 to come on. Have tried enabling trainer functions etc but to no avail. Yes, have got mine working with Aerofly 5. The Tx needs to be in slave trainer mode, then plug in the lead to the trainer jack with the Tx off. If that doesn't work then it sounds like you have a fault. I needed a different interface lead with Aerofly 5 compared with what I was using with the DX6, but I don't think that is an option with Phoenix. I sold my copy of Phoenix when I replaced my pc with a Mac so can't try it. How are you getting on with the Tx otherwise? I'm finding my heli flying (I'm a beginner with helis) has come on considerably since getting the DX10, mainly due to the better feel around centre stick.

Hi Paul I must have just got used to the sloping forward position as it feels fine to me now. I'm not sure how comfortable the shoulder harness will be, I see Horizon do sell a strap for the purpose: http://www.wheelspinmodels.co.uk/i/111144/. The gent in the photo you linked to does appear to have the advantage of his own in-built ledge (beer belly) to rest the tx on! I think the Allen key is used to change the switch modules? I am really liking the DX10 and find I feel a lot more in control than I did with the DX6, you may find the jump is not so noticeable from a DX8.

Hi there Paul I have tried it out on both fixed wing and helicopters, it is a great transmitter. It feels much more natural to use than my previous DX6 and fine control around centre position is superb. One great feature is the auto trim function. The buttons on the sticks can be used to centre the trim at the position at which the stick is held. Take off with an out of trim model - briefly hold it straight and level on the sticks - press the auto trim button - hey presto, one trimmed model. It could well be a model saver, it certainly takes some of the nerves away from the maiden flight! I expect you will not be able to copy across memories from the DX8. I found copying the settings value by value from my DX6 gave a good starting point but still had to do some tweaking.

And a couple of photos: