Frank Skilbeck

Eric, when you tried to do a discharge on the rechargables you've fitted in your Spektrum Tx you do realise that Spektrum and JR use the reverse polarity to Futaba. It you were using a futaba Tx charging jack you would need to reverse the plugs on the charger.

Some good slope soaring in the Cotswolds  http://www.scsa.org.uk/ and don't forget the short drive to South Wales and "The Bwlch" http://www.knewt.com/bwlch/thebwlch.htm

Posted by Timbo - Administrator on 12/02/2010 19:29:22: I already suggested the easy glider (leecy version )  to him earlier in the thread - and still think its his best bet considering all his circumstances.Dont know who flies the easy glider in your neck of the woods Frank - but several of the lads up here fly 'em in considerably strionger winds than 10MPH!  Probably, but I have my Mini Blade and Wildthing just for those occassions and really keep my EG as a back up for when there's not enough wind/lift for them.

Easy Glider is Aileron, Elevator and Rudder and makes a very good slope soarer for lighter conditions, say upto 10 mph. I'm surprised nobody has suggested a WILDTHING, easier to launch than a Zagi and takes a huge amount of punishment. http://www.freewebs.com/sasepp/Wildthing%2060.htmEdited By Frank Skilbeck on 12/02/2010 19:07:53

Chrispy, I bought a Mini Blade 2nd hand just over a year ago which looks pretty similar to your Alex Mini, here's my observations/thoughts i) Let it fly, while me Blade will fly slowish, it feels very sluggish, but let it go and it really comes alive. Even if the lift drops off and you are tempted to hold in some up, don't, keep the speed up. The energy retention is great. ii) It really needs the crow brakes for landing, otherwise it never stops.  iii) On my blade I have the Tx set up so I have separate flaps and ailerons in one flight phase and in a 2nd flight phase I've mixed the flaps in with the ailerons for faster roll response. Separate flaps and ailerons for landing (so flaps stay down) and mixed for general flight. Crow is on the throttle stick and the flap lever is set up like a flap trim to give slight negative flap for speed and slight positive flap for thermal. Here's a piccy of my Blade doing what it does best.     

Seems strange that they glitch at 85% and both do it at the same time. What Tx are you using? has it got a monitor screen in the menu so you can see "output" change as you move the throttle stick. There was a recall on a batch of Spektrum DX6i's last year due to faulty Tx pots. Other than that leave the settings as they are and try plugging in a different servo directly into the aileron port if that doesn't glitch then it's definitely the servos or the Y lead. 

I bought one of these,http://www.flyingwings.co.uk/store/product_info.php?cPath=160_131&products_id=735&osCsid=ef8176ca15a54c91e5d889eb5ccf444b but and due to work commitments I've only flown it outdoors at present. I don't have anything to compare it with, but it is good fun. 

The standard e-flite charger fpor these batteries is 300 mAEdited By Frank Skilbeck on 07/02/2010 13:04:29

I haven't flown my IC models for over 12 months now, keep meaning to take them out but I seem to be flying electric and slope mostly these days.

If its new, take it back to the shop. If not send off to Horizon, they are pretty good at customer care.  Is your 6110 faulty as well?

Just tried the openoffice and it opened a MS word file no problem

You could try this http://why.openoffice.org I don't have it as i do have a copy of MS office, but this is meant to be compatible with MS Office. Other than that you can download Office 2010 beta free from Microsoft, but it will stop working unless you pay for it when it's officially released.

Well you've proved the radio is OK, but it seems strange that you have several faulty ESC's and motors. It would be worth going through them again to try "retraining" them.  Failing that maybe you have a faulty lead/connector on the ESC and Motor, it would be worth checking them, I had an AXI stop on me in flight and when I landed I found one of the motor - ESC connectors had become unplugged.

You can go into the monitor function on your Dx6i (Adjust list then setup list and you'll find monitor in there) If you move the throttle stick the marker on the display should move, this will show that the throttle is working on the Tx. Friend of mine had a similar "problem" though, he's dialed in a bit of throttle trim as he didn't like the motor stopping in flight, next time he switched on his Tx and Rx his speed controller didn't arm because it had a built in safety feature which would only arm the ESC once the throttle was fully closed, put the trim back to middle (or below) and the ESC armed and all was well, so try pulling the trim back. Most modern ESC's have this safety feature.   Edited By Timbo - Administrator on 30/01/2010 19:20:39

If you put the switch in between the battery and regulator the battery will be isolated. If you put it between the regulator and ignition unit the battery will continue to power the regulator, only a few mA but if you left it connected for a period of time it would eventually completely flatten the battery. I would also disconnect the battery after a days flying from a safety standpoint, if there was a subsequent short then the Lipo (or any other high power battery) could cause a fire.

Andy, very easy, just switch on the plane wait till it starts blinking and switch on Tx with trainer switch held (puts Tx in Bind mode), wait till LED goes solid and job done. Don't do this in the hall where there are lots of other Tx's on or it might struggle. Once it's bound always switch the Tx on before the plugging in battery in the plane.  The way these small Rx's work is that they look for the Tx if they don't find it they go into bind mode.

Bob, no reason why you can't use your NimH batteries with a brushless motor, that way you'll only need the motor and ESC and can use your standard Rx and NImh charger. Bear in mind you should be looking at around 60-80 watts per pound for a glider, you could get away with less but the climb out wouldn't be very good.

In Norway it is a legal requirement that you fit snow tyres after a certain date. In some other countries snow tyres are pretty common but people still apparently get caught out when it first gets a bit cold. On Sakhalin Island (Russian Far East) and much of Siberia most of the heavy transports are done in winter when the roads are solid, it's when it thaws and they turn to mush that everything stops. PS I was on the TGV last week, and it was late leaving, because............... they had no driver, so it's not just us then.

Adam you will probably need to buy the Rx crystal, just specify the same channel number you like to use on your Tx. Note this Rx comes with the non-standard servo plugs (lighter weight) which is fine if thats what you need, otherwise you could look at one of these  http://robotbirds.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=2024  I have a MPX Cockpit Rx and use lots of different 35 mhz Rx's with it, just have to buy the Rx crystal to suit frequency I use. I have one of these http://www.giantcod.co.uk/corona-rd620ii-dual-conversion-receiver-35mhz-p-318.html in a 6 Channel glider and it has been very good.

Richard if your ESC doesn't have a BEC then it doesn't have any circrity on board to provide the supply power to the control chip etc it gets this from the Rx via the red wire. If the ESC had a BEC then it would provide it's own and the Rx's power but if it doesn't have the BEC then it needs the +5 to 6 v from the Rx to allow it to work. It's only if you have an ESC with BEC and you don't want this to power the Rx do you isolate the red wire.  I have a similar setup on one of my planes with a 4s lipo setup and didn't do anything to the ESC. Its this  one and you will note that although it has no BEC it does have 3 wires back to the Rx, I use this  UBEC with it.

Mode 2 Gloucestershire/HerefordshireSurrey Club Instructor/Friend

Phil Horizon are pretty good that way, I've had a couple of trims break and they have been happy to send me new trims so I can replace them myself. Would be worth a call, their number is on the web page. Parts they have sent me have been FOC and usually arrive within a a couple of days.

Can you measure the current being pulled by each motor, that will be a good indication of the power being cosummed, if one one is a higher Kv then on the same size prop it will draw more amps. If the amps are the same then the Kv will be about the same. Also on a twin like a mossie if the motors are turning in the same direction there will be quite a torque reaction pulling the model to one side. I had read somewhere that on the full size it was common practise to open up one throttle more than the other just to correct the swing until the airspeed had built up sufficiently over the fin to provide the stability. This is what you might have seen on launch rather than mismatched thrust from the motors.  The other thing you could try is putting a mixer in the throttles to mix throttle with rudder to use the rudder to give differential throttle.

Posted by renegade on 01/01/2010 19:01:26: I am so hooked and i havent even flown it yet... i am planning to build a spitfire from plans already .....as am or was a joiner by trade.... cant wait!!   If i were to opt for a entry level radio that will take a bit of progression what would be your choice as my money is burning a big hole in my pocket and cant wait to go fly!!   Would the DX6I be a good choice? .... as have read good things about this... Dx6i is a good entry level programmable set (I have one) and would be great for your Renegade, but if you are serious about moving into scale models with retracts and flaps etc while you could make it work other more powerful sets would give you more flexibility, but thats also true of the Futaba 6 channel set.  On the Dx6i for your Spit with retracts and flaps you'd have to either have a single servo driving the flaps or use a Y lead, these will work but aren't quite as elegant, at the same time the aileron would only be driven off one channel on the Rx, again not a problem but you can't then program in differential etc.  Difficult decisions, but for now I would buy a basic 6 channel progamable Tx (Dx6i or Futaba 6EXA) but bear in mind when you get to the Spitfire stage you might need something a bit more powerful. I'd go for the Spektrum set just so you can then use the E Flite and Parkzone bind n fly models with them.

Simon, you have to remember Power = Volts x Amps, so 660 w on a 3s battery, say 10v under load and you are looking at 60 amps. Flying time = battery capacity/amps drawn so you will need a fairly large capacity battery (e.g. 5,000 mah) to get a decent flight time, also although batteries might be rated at 20 or 30c at very high currents the volts drop off considerably ( less power) and the battery gets hotter (shorter life span etc.) A 4s option might be a better solution, I'm using 3200 mah 4s in a plane with a 500w motor and get over 10 mins flight time and the batteries hardly get warm. 660 w on a 4s is 660/14 = 47amps which is around 15c on a 3200 mah battery.  Giantcod and Hobbyking do some good prices on 3200 mah 4s batteries and also 600w motors suitable for 4s, I'm currently using these.  http://www.giantcod.co.uk/loong-tipple-3000-4s1p-lipo-battery-p-404428.html http://www.hobbycity.com/hobbycity/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=2099&pb=1 Or an alternative battery   http://www.hobbycity.com/hobbycity/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=9464