Shaun Walsh

How about a Slow Poke? Slow Poke Cheap as chips, big wheels scale like appearance. Add a Spektrum AS3X receiver and you're away. It's low wing but pretty easy to fly.

A fellow club member has a Draco, it looks nice and is well made but expensive, especially after you have added a couple of 6s batteries. STOL performance is pretty good and it would probably make a good glider tug but otherwise I would say the performance is lacklustre; take off, fly it around a bit, do a few basic aerobatics and land, there are much cheaper ways to do this. On the positive side it is pretty robust, it's been in 3 trees with only relatively minor damage.

Hi Jeff Thanks for the heads-up regarding the hinges, had the same issue on a Slow Poke. Wheel spats aren't an issue, secured them by gluing the spats to the plastic shrouds that go on the undercarriage wires, seems to work ok. Grass length isn't an issue either as I fly at a cricket club which has a model flying section, only restrictions are silent flight only and don't land in the wicket area! The tail wheel is a bit too long and yes the result is a longer than expected take off run but it does mean it unsticks smoothly so you look like you know what you are doing ? At the moment it has a standard receiver and I have only flown it in low winds, I have a couple of spare Lemon stabilised receivers so may try one of those in windier weather. Prop is an APC-E 10x6 drawing 23 amps static WOT which is rated maximum for the motor. Very surprised to get 6-7 minutes on a 3s 1400 battery, I use the same battery in a Hummer and 5 minutes is the absolute max even though it weighs less, although it does have the aerodynamics of brick, its probably the drag that suck the amps. Shaun

Instructions for dismantling outrunner motor. Dismantling

This may be what you are looking for: Bearings But cheaper here Cheaper

I would try a drop of cyano on an inconspicuous part and see what happens. I have repaired my old Radian fuselage with aliphatic glue which seemed to work OK and other club members have used Gorilla glue. The join towards the tail end of the fuselage appears to be glued together with something like No More Nails. You can still get replacement fuselages for about £35 if the damage is too bad.

A quick update. Have been flying this for a couple of weeks now with higher throws and it's great fun. Very forgiving in a stall, easy to land and flies like it's on rails. Seriously considering an FMS Explorer or Olympus as a next step, something bigger would be easier on the old eyes. Currently getting 5 minutes with 50% battery reserve on a 1400 3S.

Just tried it and it's working for me. Sorely in need of an update though.

A quick "thumbs up" for that post!???

I just plug the wattmeter in between the battery and the ESC. If the number of amps drawn at WOT is less than the rating of the ESC and the motor with a margin for safety then I'm good to go.

Wattmeter Just solder on the correct connectors

A wattmeter is your best friend, enables you to check that you're not overstressing the power train and enables you to compare the power requirements of different diameter/pitch props. Lastly you can estimate how long you can fly for on a given battery capacity.

Looks like the ESC wire insulation melted due to the high current draw resulting in a short which caused the battery to fail (that's the polite way to put it!). The connectors look like XT60s, which would indicate that the power system is seriously underspecced.

He expected two pretty large EDF units to run off a single 4Ah battery, looks like a 4s too. Asking for trouble, they must have been pulling around 50 amps each at WOT no wonder the battery and wiring had a meltdown, Two batteries, two ESCs and a separate receiver battery would have been more appropriate. Must have taken weeks to print all the components.

I agree, err on the side of excess power, you can always throttle down, you never know when you might need a quick burst of power. My Riot flies in a spirited manner on 140 W/lb, my hummer is great fun on 212 W/lb. If in doubt give George Worley a call at 4-Max, purveyor of high quality brushless motors.

Use Esso super unleaded no ethanol added unless you live in the South West of England (don't ask me why).

If that prop/spinner is old I would probably bin it, you've spent £200+ on a model I wouldn't risk the plastic yoke or the blade root breaking up and the subsequent vibration wreaking havoc with the front end of the model. I would replace the lot with a assembly using an aluminium yoke and backplate.

If you already have 4S batteries go the 10x6 option, if not the 3S and 11x7 option is more economical as 3S batteries are somewhat cheaper (you may know this already?)

OK, there's an error on the page, the 3S prop should be 11x7, the 4S should be a 10x6. I have run the numbers through eCalc and I reckon that a 4S battery with an 11x7 will pull between 40 and 45 amps which is beyond the max for the motor. Run it on a 3S and it should draw around 30 amps which would be OK, drop it to 10x6 with a 4S and it should draw between 30 and 35 amps which would be fine too. The 4S option gives a thrust:weight ratio of around 1.2:1, the 3S around 1:1. These figures are at WOT of course. Hope this helps.

What battery do you propose to use, 2S, 3S or 4S?

Also, what diameter spinner do you have (or need)?

Depends upon the design of the spinner, how it is attached to the backplate and how long the threaded portion needs to be to be able to take the prop yoke and nut. If the spinner is attached to the backplate with 2 screws, one on each side it's easier to find a driver: Prop drivers If it is attached to the backplate with a single screw through the centre its a bit more difficult. You may have to bite the bullet and go for a new spinner prop driver and yoke: Spinners etc What motor have you ordered?

If you look at the full specification for each motor, the more expensive one is rated at 125 watts, the cheaper one is rated at 115 watts, so the dearer one is slightly more powerful. The kV figure simply tells you how many rpm the unloaded motor will rotate at for each volt applied to to it by the battery.

Only if it's flat?

Sig engine mount How about these?