Bonzo Moon

The only other consideration is the ESC is too close to the RX and caused interference? I'll add a ferrite ring on the BEC feed. It's tidy with the ESC inside but I see Andrew Newton has his outside on his Bixler. Better cooling that way too. Maybe I need to do some butchering which is a shame as it's a nice looking model. Just checked I had already put on a ferrite ring!

And I checked the trims after that first off the ground take off that didn't work.

I did notice that too, the fact it appeared to quite suddenly want to climb uncontrollably, hence I gave it a good inspection once on the ground. I always make sure batteries are very secure, so that wasn't the issue. It's velcroed right up front. Elevator servo worked when I tested pre and post flight? I am mystified, but it wasn't doing what it should do that's for sure! I'll see what it's like after my CoG change (which as I say is suggested on other forums) and the tail job I did. Might even get a chance to try is again today!

Will do Ron. Thanks.

Thanks for the replies. Some helpful and some rather rude. I was the one flying it, I know what it was like to fly. These are supposedly easy to fly, and I can fly RC. There are plenty of vids on my YT channel of me flying OK. This was a flying pig. It was not POWER, it was porpoising when I shut the throttle. Anyhow, some of you seem to know better. deliberate demonstration of 'a lack of skill'. Is there really any need for this in a friendly forum? I've read of other people having similar porpoising problems, I suppose they were all incompetent model flyers too then? If you look at the side elevation drawings of the Bixler THE TAIL INCIDENCE IS SHOWN IN THE SAME INCIDENCE AS THE MAIN SPAR. MINE WAS A FEW DEGS OUT. There was something wrong with this model and I suspect a combination tail incidence and CoG and that's what people being helpful have suggested. 15 years of flying RC, as a novice I can do better than this. Steve, you are downright rude. You weren't flying it.

Popular opinion from everyone else (several people on other groups) is that it was tail heavy not nose heavy and those were the symptoms I saw. I DID trim the elevator down as far as I could, it made no difference whatsoever. Even powered right down and diving and as soon as it had speed was climbing like a nutter. I've seen other people of forums saying that had exactly the same problem. Other people on forums have said tail heavy and said the quote CoG is incorrect. Looking at drawings of the Bixler the tail and main wing should be zero zero and mine wasn't. Maybe it bent went I glued the two fusi haves together. It was an ARTF not a RTF. I've been flying RC for maybe 15 years and can usually get some kind of control and get a model back on the ground, even some of my own design scratch builds, but that was a real challenge. You said 'over controlled'? You weren't flying it mate. It wasn't 'over controlled' I had little or no control and I've been flying models for years like I said. You suggest I had control and it was OK? Ha ha, I just about crashed it in! And I usually do a stall and power off to see how a plane behaves. There was no way I could with that. The ones I've seen that flew 'straight out of the box' in YT videos have been RTF and no u/c. Stay tuned. I'll show you soon how this flies with MORE nose weight. NOT tail heavy! ? And with the right incidences! and Ron ... Strange that. My brother has one, no U/C and I fly it with him on buddy lead. CofG as per the book, 2200 3s, flies really well with throws dialled back. It may well be the bad tail incidence was the problem with mine, though as I said above if you Google other people have had issues with Bixlers so I'm not the only one!

Yes. Mine was ARTF so I had to add a motor, plus I added u/c. The RTF has motor installed, maybe it's lighter than the one I used. And with a tailwheel too it will be more tail heavy. I added lead at the nose and it was spot on where they told me to balance it. I have read of other people having issues with these too. When I was trouble shooting this I saw a guy on another forum had to put a heavy padlock up front to get his to fly well! I'll get there in the end.

2200 mA 3s, right up front as far as it will go. With that it needed 30 gms on the nose to get the instructions recommended CoG, which now appears to be wrong according to stuff people are telling me on other groups!

Yes, you are probably right. I was a bit quick to modify the tail, though it's only a couple of degs. I have since that rubbish flight read a few people suggesting the CoG they say to use is wrong and it's more like 25% of chord. I've just added 60 gms of lead at the nose to get that. We'll see how it goes next time. I really assumed that a kit/model that had been around for several years would fly 'out of the box' right! How wrong can you be?

My Bixler finally gets its maiden. I thought being an ARTF it'd fly well, but it didn't. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PuLAQapkPN4&list=PLLdle7NDE_1Y_XC3kjOSIUDJcRxVrhez-&index=1

I find the Antex SX25 25w is ok for most of the stuff I do, as you say circuit boards and say small amp ESC's etc. but the tip is quite small and for heavier gauge wire the tip heat loss is too much. I've got another ancient old iron, still only 25W, but that will do heavier stuff like changing a connector on a lipo etc. or bigger ESC's.

Hi Rich, if you open it in YouTube the link is there. Amazon. https://amzn.to/3faCU7z £13.54 currently £13.54

95% of my soldering jobs are in connection with my RC plane builds and shock horror, my soldering iron died the other day. ?. Did you know you can get replacement elements? A 20 min job to save yourself £10. That's £30 an hour! Buys a couple of pints ?.Here's how to replace the element.

Ha ha, could be! I had a girlfriend from Yorkshire. She used to say a Yorkshire person is a Scot with the generosity squeezed out. It was certainly true in her case! Someone on another group has suggested it's a good idea for the inside of the box to be blacked as well. Good idea for next time, or anyone thinking of making one.

Want to get into FPV but CHEAP? Please check out my DIY fpv goggles. £25? Plus you can use the screen as a monitor too. Add a little tx for £12 and you'll have it all sorted for £37. Links for monitor and tx are on my video! PS You'll need a bit of foamboard too. ? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5RTUneLMzhI&list=PLLdle7NDE_1Y_XC3kjOSIUDJcRxVrhez-&index=1

I finally bought a Bixler! Great looking budget foamie, but what rubbish construction instructions (if you can find any) . My build tips plus installing the undercarriage and my FPV solution. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sm581LqpUDM&list=PLLdle7NDE_1Y_XC3kjOSIUDJcRxVrhez-&index=1

New site? No video preview thumbnail. No chance to preview the post? OK so posting YouTube vids is easier, but at least there was a preview before. Definitely NOT an improvement.

After my RM1 supersonic fighter flew off into the sunset ? I decided on a one sheet redesign of the foamboard FT Mini-Raptor. I think it worked out well, easy build too. No maiden yet, far too windy, but coming soon! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tuiw6hDFtv4&list=PLLdle7NDE_1Y_XC3kjOSIUDJcRxVrhez-&index=1

Posted by Stuphedd on 31/01/2021 15:13:46: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=r54gEr8r-BI&pbjreload=101 Mako electric delta model plane Bonzo has the right idea , this hobby is about having FUN, and these little light deltas are just the ticket Just hope the above "link" works !! Cheers That looks great, very similar in fact to my lost RM1. I think I might try and lose one of those next My Flight Test Versa wing , with my added nose on it flies really well. It's a heavy motor and the nose helped greatly in achieving the CoG, as the battery sits in there. I added an undercarriage too!

Posted by ron evans on 31/01/2021 13:25:05: Like J D 8 , I have g lot of fun flying at high alpha circuits with this delta, although recovery to normal flight is ok if the power is eased on slowly. On one flight with the model far out, nose up and low down, I went to full power quickly and it went into a sort or hovering spin, I shut the power off and being low it landed without damage. I've since done this at height and kept it under control (sometimes ) producing a sort of climbing spin. If a wing climbs under power and the thrust line is zero, a little dowthrust will help, but the main cause is probably a forward C.G. needing more up elevon for level flight in cruise.Increase speed and the up becomes more effective and the model climbs. I have a wing that climbed under power and I gradually moved the C,G. back until power on or off it would fly level. I had to reduce the throw in pitch, and in that trim there was no up elevon. I did find that trim a bit wearing, the model went where it was pointed,. including straight down with no self recovery, so I moved the C.G. forward a little , and I live with the slight climb under power. Ron   Interesting. Deltas obviously have tricky aerodynamics. Does it help if it's in pusher configuration?  I've built a couple and they fly well.   Edited By Bonzo Moon on 31/01/2021 14:00:17 Edited By Bonzo Moon on 31/01/2021 14:07:10

I have seen and flown a model plane backwards, or appears to fly backwards from my point of view on the ground. I've flown backwards on my paraglider, not a good place to be! Landed going backwards even. Best avoided. If the wind is picking up and you have not a lot of ground speed when flying it's time to get on the ground ASAP. A pool in my garden? I wish. I do cover my little pond though Sod's Law that's where something would end up. Roll on some decent weather and end of lockdown so we can all get out and fly again.

Some interesting 'ideas' here that I feel I should respond to.   Model planes can be small and model planes can be large. There is no such things as 'wind' to a plane in the air but there are gusts. As a qualified ocean yachtmaster with 70,000 miles and a paraglider pilot, paramotor pilot who has studied meteorology I can assure there is such a thing as 'wind' and it will affect an aircraft, whether a jumbo jet or a 300 gms model. Try taking off 'down wind'? I agree the plane doesn't know or feel how strong the wind is, or feel it unless it's turbulent, but it affects its progress over the terrain. Ground speed. Even an airliner in the jetstream will make a faster Atlantic crossing on a good day with a good tail wind. Every time this model climbed higher the 'wind speed' was increasing because of 'wind gradient' and it was being carried away faster and faster from me downwind. The WIND, whether laminar or gusting,(ie occasionally blowing at higher speed than the average wind strength) , was carrying it away. Sorry, but a few definitions 1 wind,  the perceptible natural movement of the air, especially in the form of a current of air blowing from a particular direction. 2. wind speed, the rate at which air is moving in a particular area 3 wind gradient,  the rate of increase of wind strength with unit increase in height above ground level. 4. Ground speed.  Ground speed is the horizontal speed of an aircraft relative to the Earth’s surface.   and finally ... This made me chuckle a bit Low, slow, turning, a far too high angle of bank for those conditions so it sideslips into the ground. I bet he used the ailerons to turn, not the rudder as he should have. That would have greatly reduced the angle of bank while still causing the turn, I'm definitely not the best RC pilot on the planet (not that you know what my flying skills are like?) but ... you're dead right Roger, I didn't use rudder, it didn't have one, this model has elevons   A good list  Rich, Definitely.   4. Right model for right conditions.   ....  Just seen this.  Very interesting, and quite similar. Thanks. Problem came when you wanted to return to normal flight. Full down elevator would result in only a small reduction of the angle of flight and carry on it would slowly loosing height. There was only two ways to escape, just carry on with a little less power until down at ground level and cut the power and flop down. Or if you had plenty of altitude at least 50 feet, cut the power and it would go into a tail slide and then flip into a nose down attitude. Then power up to gain speed and pull out. The end came when one day I failed to do this in time.   The never ending thread!  Stay safe out there and have a good day.       Edited By Bonzo Moon on 31/01/2021 12:08:52 Edited By Bonzo Moon on 31/01/2021 12:13:02 Edited By Bonzo Moon on 31/01/2021 12:16:02 Edited By Bonzo Moon on 31/01/2021 12:19:51 Edited By Bonzo Moon on 31/01/2021 12:20:22

Yes, no doubt true. Every time it dived I tried to fly it back with just a little throttle, and I think I had the orientation OK, but it just did it's own thing! It did appear that the throttle was doing it's own thing too, hence the crazy climbing. Anxiety does come into it too though, and eventually I knew I'd reached a point (and said it) where it was gone! Lessons learned. I was quite pleased with that even model even if it was just a cheap build foamie. I'd put a lot of thought into the build too. Only a couple of days. I guess at least it wasn't something I'd spent weeks building in the traditional way in balsa with lovely covering etc. That would have been really gutting. I've seen videos from a guy on YouTube who builds beautiful jet airliners, and one of his crashed and burned in it's maiden.

Posted by ken anderson. on 30/01/2021 14:00:25: bonzo,i reckon that the fact that you had the wind to contend with your very light model and ended up downwind....that you wouldn't have much of a chance to get back to where you wanted it...and as you ended up further away and disorientated...that would be the end of any control over the flight as such...hope you do find it...   ken anderson...find bonzo's model dept.     Thanks Ken et al, A lot of good explanations there guys, thanks. I've looked at the video loads of times to try and figure what was going wrong and I've had tests where things have flown badly but I've away managed to get control and fly back or land. I'd given the model red stripes underside and it was easy to see initially which way up it was. Problem was it didn't appear to be responding to my inputs when I tried to fly back towards me. Plus, although wind wasn't really strong at ground level the higher it got the stronger it was and the faster it disappeared off downwind. I've been an looked a good few times, I can see clearly on the video that it didn't go beyond the tree line but the area below has such big deep patches of brambles it probably dived in and is impossible to see. As has been pointed out, it was a very light model. The designer said he waited till it was calm late evening before testing. I didn't really pick up on that! My silly mistake. Plus after that first day test I should have reduced the throws A LOT!  It had loads of expo but you can see in the first test that it was very twitchy and responsive to inputs. Might build another? I've got more foamboard at home, another motor and servos, but need another RX and ESC! Edited By Bonzo Moon on 30/01/2021 14:39:11

Posted by Piers Bowlan on 30/01/2021 12:20:28: With a wing loading of 2.91 Oz per squ ft (as per the build article you linked to), not flying on a windy day is sage advice indeed! The author used a 2S 500mAh setup and a 12g motor, all low power stuff. I think if using a higher thrust setup some down thrust is required because of the elevon reflex. I don't think the C of G was an issue either because the glide was good. Yes, he said his model weight was 6 or 7 ounces. Mine was a little bit more. The motor he used wasn't easy to find and it was expensive, but I used a small one. BR2304 1850 kv. But a few grams here and a few grams there mount up! It wasn't very windy, just a few stronger gusts, I should have known better. I won't be doing it again that's for sure!