Jump to content

Trevor Crook

Members
  • Posts

    1,285
  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    2

Everything posted by Trevor Crook

  1. Nick You're bound to get some strong opinions, some above already. I've gradually switched from glow to electric over the years, so I'm biased, but here goes! I don't really get the noise argument - no glow or petrol engine is going to sound anything like a Merlin or Griffon, so the hum/whistle of electric power is no less appropriate. I don't understand why Ian thinks fitting an electric power train will make it change speed and direction like a 3D model - the weight is likely to be similar no matter what the power plant, therefore so will the inertia. The Spit looks truly awful with bits of silencer and/or cylinder head poking out, so you'd have to engineer the installation carefully. Finally, the cost. I confess I use low cost motors, esc's and batteries, and have had good results. However, for larger models, glow or petrol is probably the cheaper solution. As others have said already, go with what you prefer, or are equipped for - you don't say whether you already have anything electric.
  2. My son Robert snapped up one of the first Vampires from Hobbyking UK. Assembly was a breeze, and it had its first flight last week. It flies beautifully, lifting off ok from short/medium grass, and giving around 5-minute flights on a Gens-Ace 2250 4S. Plenty of power - we measured 47A, over 700W at WOT. Has now completed half a dozen or so flights with no issues so far. If my "Hangar" wasn't full I'd have ordered one, too. We'll just have to use my Starmax Panther for our "Vintage Pair" sessions!   Edited By Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator on 29/07/2012 23:21:29 Edited By David Ashby - RCME on 30/07/2012 09:40:49
  3. Tony, I built one of these last year and it flies great on about 400W of electrickery. Haven't weighed it, though. Putting servos near the tail is a good move, it tends to come out nose heavy (I used to have a glow one). It's probably worth making provision for the Rx pack behind the wing, too. I remember on my present one that the block supplied for the tips was pretty solid - if yours is the same, it may be worth replacing. Having said that, you carve and sand most of it away! Good luck with it - they are a great flier, I must weigh mine as it will be an interesting comparison with its electric setup.
  4. Excellent model, well flown. Can't wait to see it with a paint job! The tropical filter detracts a bit from the Spit's natural beauty, but it makes it less common and you mentioned the practical benefits. I don't agree with the earlier comments about the noise - at least not for a Spitfire type model. Whilst a 4-stroke powered Moth or SE5 sounds appropriate, a WW2 fighter sounds completely dfifferent, and electric is no further from being "right". The other benefit of the leccy power is no unsightly hunks of aluminium sticking out of the nose! Your strip looks beautifully manicured, but I bet it gets interesting in a crosswind!
  5. The Vampire flies! Our HK Vampire that this thread started with has, this morning, completed 3 test flights. It took off from smooth, but quite long grass, and flew for about 5 minutes on a Gens Ace 2250 4s. There would be space for a slightly higher capacity pack - 3000 say. The handling was very smooth, with enough power for decent size loops. Rolls are reasonably. axial, and the "sit" in the air is just right. She slows up nicely for the landing, in fact Rob took 3 attempts on the first flight as it tends to float with that big wing. The most striking feature is the noise - it's the most jet-like EDF I've heard, not too noisy either. For anyone thinking about trying a small EDF, your £90 could not be better spent. Well done HK, now can we have a Seahawk, or Jet Provost, or even a Meteor? I'll post some photos when we've sorted them out.
  6. I have noticed recently that ARTF reviews only include photos taken at the flying field. Although these are of excellent quality, a couple of pictures of "how it comes" would be nice. Also, the reviewer often finds faults or shortcomings with the model, and describes how they got around them. Photos would be nice.
  7. Glyn, that's useful feedback - looks so good in the picture, too. Can you elaborate on "fell out of the sky"? - Do you think it was a tip-stall problem?
  8. I said on another thread I'd give some feedback on my son's purchase of an EDF Vampire from Hobbyking UK, but that thread was closed as it had descended into a tax avoidance debate, so here it is: Order placed last Monday, took 2 days to process then arrived via Parcelforce 48 hour delivery on Thursday. The model was well packaged, in perfect condition, and even has reasonable instructions in English. A positive experience, then. Two days to ship it is a little slow, but no real problem, and anyway they're probably still flat out setting everything up as well as getting stuff out of the door. It's certainly shifting - there were 10 Vampires when ordered, now they are out of stock! Edited By David Ashby - RCME on 16/07/2012 08:15:06
  9. Just spoke to my son - he's ordered the Vampire I mentioned above. Came to about £91 with postage (parcelforce, 48 hrs), seems great value. I'll give feedback on the buying experience when it arrives.
  10. I think it's a bit harsh to say they've got no stock worth mentioning. Most of the aircraft they list aren't available anywhere else in the UK, and some of them are really interesting. I've seen the EDF Vampire fly, it goes really well and sounds fantastic. For £83-ish plus UK postage it's a bargain. Let's give them a chance to stock up properly - if we're needing motors, escs etc quickly there's always Giant Shark et al.
  11. I've flown a MPX Cargo with geared 400s on a 3s LiPo, without problems. Mind you, it was only on full power for take-off, but I'm sure the Twinstar would fly on reduced power most of the time. Things to be careful of are the c of g, as even a big LiPo will be lighter than Nickel cells, and probable lack of LiPo compatibility on the ESCs low voltage cut-off. This isn't a problem if you set up your flight times carefully, though. The original Twinstar was a real breakthough model, with decent performance and duration using those old motors and cells. Good luck!
  12. I've also used Towerpro 5010's - well 4 of them anyway. They're in a 60" Seagull PT19 which has had 20 or 30 flights without a problem. As Graham says, GS are out of stock - don't know if they're available anywhere else.
  13. The E-Flite UMX Extra 3D is aerobatic, but capable of flying very slowly. Of course, it's really intended for indoor flying, but I've flown mine outside on calm evenings. Unfortunately, anything that will fly slowly in a small space will be very light and be blown away by a light breeze.
  14. My son's had one of these for a few years. It flies well on a pair of brushed 480's with gearboxes, these are as fitted to the old E-flite P-47, with opposite rotation props that came with the (also discontinued) E-flite P-38. Pulls about 20A from a 3s 2200 LiPo, so a 200-300W brushless setup should work well. He's currently looking at fitting Hobbyking electric retracts. They've arrived and there's plenty of room, but they've been diverted to another project. I've fitted a trike set of the HK retracts to my E-flite P-38, also with the power setup above, and it goes well.
  15. I think there could be c of g issues with 2200s. Mine needed the servos near the tail and the 1300 LiPo as far back as I could get it. It flies very well on the 1300, with 10min + duration, as it doesn't need much power most of the time. Mine's got the flat bottom wing and U/C - I even connected the steering nosewheel, and all works well.
  16. Has anyone a friend whose hobby is watching their football team play each week? Makes my modelling expenses seem dirt cheap, and I'm participating in something rather than watching a bunch of outrageously overpaid prima-donnas kicking a bag of wind around and falling over in "agony". Oh dear, I seem to have got on a soap box - I'll get back off it now.
  17. Oh, and back on topic, my experience and opinions on cheap brushless motors in my aircraft exactly matches Chris's above. I'd settled into using E-Max from GC, but he doesn't seem to stock many any more, which backs up the point that Chris made about them coming and going. Have to choose something else for the next project, but I'm not too worried as whatever I choose will probably be fine.
  18. Cyclicscooby I use a relatively cheap brushless setup in my RC touring car. It's a 13 turn sensorless motor, which I got with ESC and programming box from Giant Cod a year or so ago. I paid around £65 for the lot. It's branded EZRun, and has performed faultlessly. Don't know if it's still available, but GC certainly stocks some car set-ups. I don't find any problems with it being sensorless, but I believe the BRCA insist on a sensored set-up for their competitions (who knows why?). Since I race casually in a local club, I'm not bothered.
  19. Steve Re. the SE5A - it also had a fuselage mounted Vickers gun that did use the interruptor gear. The Lewis fired above the prop arc from a remote trigger, but could also be pulled back and aimed upwards for sneaky attacks from below. Changing the ammo drum could also be performed, although this would have been challenging to say the least in a 100mph breeze! Apologies if you knew all this already.
  20. Alternatively, if you're a happy Futaba user their newer sets use a new system that makes the Rx's cheaper than FASST. I think their designation is T6J and T8J for 6 or 8 channels. OK, they aren't compatible with your present gear but the other makes aren't, either. I'm a Spektrum user myself, and it offers a couple of advantages such as model match, and a vast array of bind and fly models, if that appeals. Really, though, all the makes you mention are good - weigh up what you personal requirements are and go for it!
×
×
  • Create New...