Mitchell Howard

Is the charger built into the base or is the base simply a holder with terminations for the drill? I guess I'm asking if you could simply replace an AC-to-DC charger at the wall.

You must have a rating label on either the drill or the adapter - this is the blueprint for the replacement.

That did the trick Kim. There wasn't much strength at the back so it came out with a gentle tug. Looks like an alarmed face in the photo below! Looking forward to seeing how it balances now.

Of course, why didn't I think of that! That'll get me to the back on all four faces, then the back is the only remaining challenge! Like Jeffrey says, shear it off the back by moving to the centre.

To those of you who've modified your Ruckus to remove the noseweights, did yours look like this to start? I'm having to scalpel it out - they must be glued in. My scalpel blade won't go deep enough. Tempted to tap a small file up there. Any technique advice appreciated, it's a pain - I can't simply pull it out. In terms of filling the void, can one buy balsa wood in small amounts from, say, Wickes?

Hi all - resurrecting an old thread, hope that's OK. I'm getting bothered my LiPos are going to be too heavy, but... I'm looking at the weight of that steel, both lumps weighing 128g combined. My 4S 3700s weigh 304g and the recommended 4S 2200 typically weighs 220g. Therefore, 304-(220+128)=44g lighter than manufacturer recommendation - does anybody else use these bigger packs?

Thanks Steve - this video does confirm the self tappers on the u/c, but for the wing, "two long ones for the front and one for the back" doesn't help! Might try to find a manual, sometimes they've got the thread spec shown to help identify the screw in a bag of many.

I'm expecting delivery of a Max Thrust Ruckus foamie during the week - according to the **LINK**, the wing bolts look metallic and metric, but I want to replace with nylon thumb screws for speed of field assembly. Can someone advise the thread spec? I suspect there's also the undercarriage retaining bolts - if they're metallic too, can anyone say if they're self-tapping or also metric? I hear they rip out readily in less than ideal landings and I'd rather have the nylon shear than the fuselage.

I should imagine thrust and current increases occur linearly together anyway, but my throttle linearity understanding is how the ESC responds to the input at the Tx throttle stick. Say you take 10s to move from 0 to 100% WOT. On my Beatles, one of the very first things I noticed when I was a rank beginner was how the tone of the motor was not completely smooth, i.e. the output to the motor is done in bands. For example, perhaps I get 5% revs between 5-10% stick position, 10% revs between 10-15% stick position. Maybe there's 10 speeds between 0-100% stick position. I'm guessing, I've not listened and counted. Fellow club members said this was normal. The Mantis is described as; "The ZTW Mantis series is designed as a performance upgrade for your stock/OEM ESC. Its performance, feature set, and stability make it the perfect enhancement for your RC electric airplane or helicopter. It features compact size, light weight, simplified PCB design, super-smooth start up and throttle linearity, multiple circuit protections, governor, high amp BEC output and more. If you want to boost the performance of your stock ESC, the ZTW Mantis is an ideal choice offering a long list of advanced features and solid, reliable construction." I take this to mean that maybe there's 20-30 speeds for 0-100% stick position. Certainly enough to feel like it's linear. Do I need it? No probably not! Do I want it? Yes! Why? I don't know! Proportional stuff is supposed to be proportional!

My 3700 4S Zeee packs weigh 304g vs the 265g of the Turnigy Turnigy dims 137 x 44 x 22mm Zeee dims 138*48*23mm Looks like they'll be alright - did you have to do any serious chiseling to get the CoG right? Looks like prop down to 10x5" to do a static load test as a starting point.

What capacity 4S are you using Jeffrey?

sorry to reply to an old-ish thread, but I wondered Frank if you knew anything about the ZTW Mantis controllers - I see they're described by ZTW as the step up from entry-level Beatles ones. I gather there's more throttle linearity - have you ever tried one?

I've got nearly all 4S 3700s 60C packs - will they be too heavy? I'm inclined to start buying bigger 3s capacities to parallel them into 6S models. When I was looking at the arrows husky, I was looking at the 6S multiplex funcub XL at the same time but couldn't justify buying a ton of 3S packs. It'd be my first low winger, so I should probably stick with the 3s, get used to it.

The only thing that I find people complaining about with the Arrows is the lack of wing-mounted connector for the wing halves, instead having to route the wires through to receiver upon arrival at the field. Can't say I'm going to be super fussed about that, I probably won't bother with connecting the lamps. There's always 4-Max's maxloc connectors to take away the faff. I also read someone saying it took about 10mins to set up at the field, is that accurate? Husky hasn't had a bad word said, think I'll go for that. About the Acrowot foam, I've seen the Max Thrust Ruckus which looks like a great option to the Acrowot - it's physically bigger, battery bay is larger and says it can do 4S with a prop size down and a bit of ventilation. I get the feeling the Riot and Ruckus are the uglier sisters of the Wot4 and Acrowot in pure performance terms, but I'm not certain and I'm probably just reading across from the Wot4's popularity. There's also a part of me that doesn't want to give Ripmax money after struggling to buy parts from them/their network. I don't understand how they seem to have completely shut down. Acrowot balsa I'm just not going to get the time to build, I want to fly, not build - I think when I first started I would have more time and patience for the build, but I've now got 3 airframes in the house, 1 needing a repair, 1 in kit form and 1 semi-built.

Hi - I've learnt to fly this year with a balsa high wing trainer, having gained my A cert a couple of months ago. I've got a couple of balsa models in kit form that need building up. I unashamedly admit to having misjudged the placement of a tree a couple of weeks ago and put the trainer out of action until a repair can be done. As a father of one with a busy work life, it's become apparent that my desire to build decent models out of balsa (ARTF or otherwise) is not compatible with the time and energy I have available, so I'm looking at the world of foam models for the first time. I never thought I'd find myself looking for the shortcut, but needs must, and I want to get out flying with several models with the minimum of building, certainly avoiding the gluing and careful positioning of VTP and HTP. Upon looking through the various hobby shops websites, I've come to see they're a bit more developed than I thought, there's good choice, quality is good and they're not really viewed as second class models, especially to the pure electric crowd (me). I want to just put LiPo and receiver in of my own, then light assembly and go. That seems to be the acronym in between ARTF and BNF, the Ready to Fly or RR I've also seen. I've now got my eye on an Arrows Husky 1800mm which seems well priced for what it is. I fancied this because it takes 4S packs, has flaps (my trainer doesn't) and it's big (easy to see). I did consider the Multiplex FunCub XL but more costly and I'm not sure if justifiable. Perhaps someone can help? Does anyone own the Husky or the Funcub XL? I've also got an untouched Acrowot EP/GP balsa ARTF in a box. There's no way this is going to get build in anything like a reasonable timeframe and I wondered if anyone had experience of the foam acrowot vs the balsa or just the foamie in general? I was hoping to find something bigger than 1.25m in the same style, but slim pickings and the acrowots are raved about for being good models. Suggestions welcome!

Diving2426? I did see it was up for sale again. I sent it back, it wasn't worth the faff to me but might be to somebody else. Intrigued to see what you think. As an aside, I was just eBay searching "4250 motor 800" and surprised to see what looks like the very very out of stock Ripmax Quantum motor, but unbranded of course. The similarities were uncanny. Difficult to believe there's any additional quality checks that Ripmax apply Vs the Chinese supplier/manufacturer.

OP has the foam version Andy, sounds like you've got the balsa.

Don't know much about "hairy hot-dogging", but I do worry about my epoxied-in VTP and HTP and how you're supposed to get the replacement parts in - I figure you're just supposed to drill out the existing wood. I've never drilled through epoxy before, wonder if it's one of those materials that just make the drill complain and smell funny

Try PicaSim Graham http://www.rowlhouse.co.uk/PicaSim/ I use it on my Android mobile and find it helps get the muscle memory working even if it doesn't feel like a transmitter. There is a windows version too which I use with a no-name Amazon adapter with my proper transmitter.

Sorry for your loss.

I like that Andy, but I figured it was frowned upon - no real reason, other than not having the + and - of a LiPo physically held apart by a connector. If I was going to do that, I'd use 5mm bullets and probably double-shrink the LiPo females with a third partially unshrunk shroud left to prevent any unintended contact. I like the EC5s I use because I know they're overkill and overkill is safe, but Christ are they a PITA to pull out.

Having found one of these on eBay with only a couple of flights under its belt according to advert, I went for it. It's just arrived. I opened the box to see what was there - all present and correct - didn't strike me as quite that new, with some scratches on it. I'm rotating the outer spinning part (?can? ? ?rotor?), and every 1-2 rotations I find a tight/high spot where instead of just feeling the magnet rippling, I feel the binding of a stationary object (something on the ?stator?) against me spinning the can. It's inside the motor, I can hear the brushing noise as the two features rub. It binds for about 2-3mm (1/16 to 1/8") before freeing up again. Is this normal? I don't think it is.

I have a ZTW Beatles 80A - There's a smooth side with the branding on, and there's a bumpy side with components under the shrinkwrap. Which side would you apply the Velcro to?

I was told in WHS there's a close period at the publisher. I'm not subscribed, but they suggested there wouldn't be a June issue. Does that tally with what you think you're paying for on subscription?

Buying last bits for a Wot 4, the Ripmax ARTF balsa, and noticed people run these on 5S sometimes. I'm also aware my props would be spinning faster than rated and wondered if there was some logic in fitting a larger prop to a slower but larger motor? Standard recommendation is an 800KV 4250, but a 580KV 5055 can handle more amps and power down the line and the requirement to fit a larger prop to make up for the lower KV would reduce prop tip speed. Is this thinking reasonable? What are the drawbacks? Weight presumably.