Mitchell Howard

I have a Seagull Boomerang v2 trainer. Can anyone advise a supplier for the following spares? The plate that opens up to replace the LiPo uses a small Nylon screw with a nice easy to grip flat head on it. I've lost this screw! The nose gear wire - I've bent this and the springy part is nigh-on impossible to bend back. I'm going to remove it and bend it back off-model. I've found one but it's for the arising star and I wondered if they were the same.

Hi Dwain - a lot of these small models use combined ESC+receivers to keep weight down - are you planning on using your RadioLink gear? Micro receivers are available but never seen one with combined ESC.

Hi - can any recommend a sub-1m wingspan model? I want to build myself, but from laser cut pieces rather than cutting out myself. I was thinking about the Vintage Model Co cub or super cub, but the wingspan is making me think twice. I particularly want it to fly very slowly and be a little discreet as there's a small piece of wasteland near home that I can practice on. I'm learning at a club on a bigger trainer but need to get some more time in the real world not on a simulator. Whilst the bigger the wing the better it handles the wind, I'm thinking something around the 700-800mm would be a compromise.

Are you still using PicaSim John? How do you find it? I'm using it for practice as a novice but wonder whether I'm learning something that isn't even remotely close to real.

Does anyone charge their LiPos the night before flying and leave them until use the following day, or just charge them before setting off?

These Zeee packs came yesterday and the cells match very closely. Worst case delta was 0.003V on one pack and 0.007V on the other. Time will tell over how they charge. They've got EC5s on which I wanted to move to anyway, so got to get a charge lead made up and get the ESC converted.

Thanks for all the suggestions. I think I'm going to leave the pack, not worth messing around with it and would rather not use it for any secondary functions either. So many other chemistries available that don't require anywhere near as much thought over their care.

Thanks Alan - they're a little steep and have had a telling off shipping in normal post so charge £11 to ship. Maybe another time!

Hi there, good shout, I've gone for 2 of these https://hobbyking.com/en_us/turnigy-battery-3300mah-4s-30c-lipo-pack-xt-60.html?queryID=c5a6a36b255e5047f1508bb4248687d3&objectID=69381&indexName=hbk_live_magento_en_us_products

Have you been able to cast any judgement on them yet?

This is my backup option if HK doesn't reach me in time. UK warehouse shipment and parcelforce 24 (hopefully that's hours not days) should get me sorted.

Hi - I've made another post about an incident with my trainer's only LiPo. As a result I wondered could anyone recommend a good quality/cost balance pack? I've seen Amazon UK Youme brand but not sure whether I'm asking for trouble at that price. Looks easy to spend silly money on it too. Hoping to get a couple of packs in time for Thursday 1st this coming week.

I've got a single Radient Superpa 3200 pack for a trainer I've not yet flown. Last time I was tinkering (apart from today) was a couple of weeks ago - it was the first time I'd run the motor set the radio up, so I had the LiPo voltage reporting module plugged in. All was well. When I packed up, I left the balance lead plugged in to the PRM01 module that just sends the voltage value to the receiver to pass back to the Tx. Deans connector was disconnected. Fast forward 2 weeks and I've found the battery in what I believe is a sorry state. The charger, an external LiPo checker (little black box with mono screen) and the ESC LVC all seem to disagree with it. I'm confused because I thought these LiPos burst into smoke/flames at much less than ~3V/cell. Why would only the first two cells be shot? I don't think the balance lead is broken. I also noticed that when running the throttle a little, the reported receiver voltage was sagging under load, reinforcing that the balance lead is probably intact (because the receiver is powered and reports voltage using power straight from the ESC which gets it straight from the Deans connector). My current theory is the PRM01 consumes power in order to feed back voltage to the R12DS receiver. Over 2 weeks, enough has drained to kill the cells it needed to operate, even though the signal could go nowhere.

Just had a google, very cool! how do you plan on adding control surfaces?

Has anyone ever heard of this manufacturer? Link. I've been looking for a cheaper smaller model to have a go at building something as a first foray out of ARTF models. These look up my alley and they're made in the UK by the looks of things. They don't seem to have any real online presence that's up-to-date and I wondered if anyone had any idea what the quality was like or if the instructions were any good. I'm not affiliated with the company.

Hi all - I have a trainer I'm setting up with a Beatles 60A ESC in it with Ripmax Quantum motor. Using a Radiolink AT10ii which seems to functioning happily in all other ways. I ran the throttle up over the weekend and it starts smoothly, increasing in RPM as I move the stick forward, but it seems to stop increasing as I near full stick forward position. I didn't check where exactly, but it felt like ~80%. My first thought was the ESC hasn't registered the full stick forward position set during calibration, but I'm convinced it's right. I plan to re-do it anyway now. I'm also happy the radio is sending a fully proportional signal between the stick bottom point and top point, hitting -100 and +100 travel, the radio lets me see that dynamically on screen. Can anyone think of anything else that would cause this? I was toying with one of the Beatles programming cards, but I don't think it's going to add anything helpful.

Having never flown this trainer before, I'd be bothered any form of lipo location fixing/limiting will cause problems for me when it comes to CofG setting. The wife's just found a hot glue gun in her stash!

Non slip matting just arrived! I have some uhu por which I might use to keep it in place, epoxy seems like overkill, especially if the matting is being compressed.

I'm using Radiolink equipment with a new trainer - I'm aware the ends of the antenna ought to be pointed at right angles to one another to ensure there are two 'planes' of reception available for better signal strength. I'm vaguely familiar with this principle in that I'm aware WiFi and mobiles work marginally better when stood upright to make them co-planar with the transmitter. The positioning I've settled on for the two antennae sees one laying down on the bottom of the balsa undercarriage in the same direction as the wings. The other is at 90deg to the wings, pointing downward. I wouldn't be writing this post if it weren't for my concern that pointing it downward might be inferior to pointing straight up to the sky. Is it wise/OK/good to leave it pointing to the ground, i.e. projecting onto the plane of the ground?

They changed the design since the manual was produced, my actual ones are extra sharp and pointy! should be able to dremel it off.

Just putting finishing touches to my first trainer a Seagull Boomerang 40 built for electric. I've velcro'd the ESC onto the side wall as pictured and threaded the velcro though the balsa base, but I see nothing stopping the LiPo from sliding back and forth. I'm tempted to put a small piece of balsa epoxied onto the same face as the LiPo currently is to stop it pulling back upon climbing. I don't think the velcro will hold tight enough, unless maybe I put some self-adhesive rubber dots on the LiPo outer to prevent it travelling out of the straps.

Thanks Gary - there's a small radius on the silver ?hub? attached to the motor can - it prevents the spinner backplate (and currently the washer) from sitting flush up against it - there's only a smidge of daylight through the gap, but didn't seem right to me. Any idea?

Having some fun getting a clear answer on this, but don't remember asking here; what order are these bits supposed to go onto the motor shaft? I've opted for; metal washer with rough face away from motor > spinner backplate > prop (with bore adjusting bush inside) > metal domed nut > spinner cone/cover. Should the washer be somewhere else? The rest is obvious. How important is it?

Posted by kc on 21/01/2021 13:39:07: Raymond - you asked for a link to a shop with stock- a Google search gave this one says it has stock and gives a phone number ( says the hours and certain days ) But I know nothing about that shop and my advice would be only to invest money on a Tx system with known record of stocking additional Rx and spares. I think the TX16S' multiprotocol capabilities make that stocking of Rxs less important. Spares and support being from China would bother me. The pricepoint and prevalence of Chinese manufacturers making multiprotocol radios does suggest that rather than repairing a faulty Tx (of this origin) it might make more sense to replace. I'm not keen on the buy cheap and throw away frequently schtick, but...

Posted by John Lee on 19/12/2020 09:34:35: My 'Western' Spektrum Dx9: Must remember that 'made in China' from a recognisable brand really means Made to western drawings and materials and component specs Made with help from the manufacturer to get started and set expectations Made to western quality and inspection standards