Piper Cub

Thanks for the responses both!

Unfortunately there's always these types who dont know through ignorance or just dont care until they get injured \ property of theirs gets damaged. One year at our local sports day, the fields was roped off as lead weights were flying through the air. I approached one guy and asked him to go round the roped off area as lead weights would be in the air soon. His response was 'I pay my rates, I'll walk where I want'! Not a lot you can do except make sure your insurance is up to date and you take all reasonable precautions.

Got to agree with this. It seems if you want a 600 size heli, you have to pay for all the whizzy bang bits you may not need or want. Sure, these heli's can be set up for docile sport \ scale flying but, you've paid the premium for the 3D that you dont want. Prices for helis are getting stupid even for 600 size machines. I saw someone on another forum say 'if you cant afford it, go lump it!' Well yes, that'll ensure a continual batch of newcomers to the sport, wont it? Hirobo Sceadu's are reasonably priced but have you seen the price of the dedicated hirobo electric conversion kit? You can buy the lepton for not much more so you have to make the right choice first time. There are some 3rd party conversion kits ranging from £50 to about £100 but some of these limit the side of motor or dont look like they'd last too many years.

Hi Greg. How much money have to got!! To be honest, there's quite a bit of choice out there. A lot depends on how much you want to spend, whether you want to go gas, methanol or electric and what size heli you're looking at.. In my experience, not many UK shops sell scale helis probably due to the overall cost. In most cases its buy the mechanics then a scale fuz to suit. The UK seems pretty averse to scale heli and gliders. I find the best places tend to be in Europe which can also push the price up. Vario are well engineered but ridiculously priced in my opinion. I was considering their Bell 230 fuz for my X Treme but they now want £645 for the fuz alone. You wont get much change out of 2 grand for Vario mechanics and fuz then, you have the engine \ motor etc to buy. Electric wise, there are some great helis out there from 600 size and bigger. Scaleflying.de do some very good fuselages and even have some 700 'super scale' mechanics and fuselages for around 1500 euros helicoptermanufaktur.de also do some scale fuselages and mechanics. Although there are some dedicated heli shops such as Midland Helis and Fast Lad, they seem to concentrate on 3D rather than for the scale flyer so its pretty much pick and mix.

Oops! Just to let anyone know, the info is in the build booklet! Need a trip to specsavers

Posted by Steve Dorling on 01/06/2013 06:53:31: Small point - depending on how your mechanical links are set up - you're probably (almost undoubtedly...) flying with expo anyway (before you start with electronic tinkering)! More than likely, only on aileron though.

Eifion, to answer a couple of your points, I see it this way. I appreciate removing tape and re applying may affect the foam but, what's more important, safety or looks? In all honesty, I'd look to change the attachment method to something like velco straps. They are good strong and easily removable causing no damage to foam. My advice is always charge batteries before going flying. I certainly wouldnt go flying on batteries last charged a week ago never mind 6 weeks without a re charge. A 50mah or 100mah Nicad charger wont damage a recently charged pack. Fast charging them is a different matter! If you're that worried, you should discharge the pack (its easy to do with a torch bulb or two!) and re charge overnight. I personally wouldnt charge a lipo pack in the car while driving! I think a fire is more likely rather than smoke of any kind.

Hmmm. I have the XG8. I'd never let the battery fully discharge though. Surely that's the quickest way to kn*cker the li fe battery? Whenever I've got the low battery warning I've switched off and re charged. I think it actually switched off once automatically when I wasnt quick enough at switching off. I hadnt lost model settings after a recharge though so maybe there's a fault with yours? That said, you can save model settings to the sd card which wont lose the settings unless you're really unlucky and it gets corrupted. Incidentally, JR recommend use only of their 'special' branded SD card which costs more than others. They even go so far as to say other cards wont work but, I found a San Disk one works perfectly. Edited By Piper Cub on 30/06/2013 11:11:23 Edited By Piper Cub on 30/06/2013 11:31:34

Nicads \ Nimh cells 'fall off a cliff' when they get close to being discharged. By that, I mean your cells may show a nominal 1.2v and a bit and seem as if they have bags of life in then. So you have another flight and bang, the pack is effectively discharged with very little or no warning. If you've ever seen an electric RC car run to discharge, yes you'll see the speed drop off but as the pack gets fully discharge, it'll just stop. There's two ways to check how long the battry pack will last in your model. One is to find out the current draw of all servos, radio and motor and use the resultant figure against battery capacity to calculate time then, allow a 20% margin of error. The second way is to fix the plane to a work bench then power the motor and servos as if in flight and just measure the time to you notice a drop in motor power (this may take a while and do it carefully!). No system is foolproof though because even tethered to a bench, its not a true representation of flight neither can a pure mathematical calculation take into account a host of variables such as any servo binding using more current. If you're really concerned about how long you pack lasts and you want to do more than 4 long flights a day, the simplest answer is to buy a spare pack and swap over every 4th or 5th flight. We spend lots of money on planes, motors and flight packs but sometimes overlook separate receiver packs which may cost, what, 5 or 6 quid?

Thanks for your help, Pete. You did put me on the right track with the Model Select screen. I know what you mean about the manuals. I appreciate users dont want a huge manual to wade through but you'd think the manufacturers could at least use decent English and use a bit of logic! As I'll be using this radio as my main, if I come across any tips (ho, ho!) I'll try and post them here from time to time. The XG 8 is a very good, well balanced radio imo. Some of the functions are intuitive and others, well.....

Aah! Think I may have sussed it! In Model Select, click on the existing model name which displays a second screen. This contains the TRex then blank lines. Click on a blank line. This takes you to Model Select type screen where you can select heli, acro or glider. Selecting Acro takes you to new model name screen, aileron type, flaps etc etc where you can enter relevant details. No deletion message displayed and I can now see two models set up. I still dont understand why the Model Type Select would be used though if it deletes everything! Oh well, just have to bind my 2nd rx now!

Hi Pete. There is a Model Select screen and this currently just lists the TRex. The User Manual shows an example where there's more than one model set up so you just scroll to the one you want and bingo! It goes on to say in translated English, 'In this screen, the establishing of new models and switching between models is carried out'! I can see how switching between models works but creating new ones!?

Are there any XG 8 users here who can answer the following for me please? I have my XG 8 set up for my TRex 600 ESP. It is the only model settings in (on?) the XG 8. I want to add my leccie Piper Cub to the XG 8 but Im a little confused by the User Manual (no surprise because its poorly laid out and not clear!). When I go to the menu option Model Type Select, screen 1 shows Heli, Acro, Glider. I presume this is where I change the radio setting from Heli (TRex) to Acro (Piper Cub) but, when I select Acro, the message 'model data will be initialised. Are you sure?' displays. The User Guide says Caution, all previous data will be erased! Does this mean I lose all the TRex settings I have carefully put into and adjusted in the XG 8? Surely the idea of these radios is you can easily switch between models (it has a 30 model memory) and dont have to enter all the settings afresh for each model? What am I missing? I realise the rx needs to be re bound when changing model types but how do I set up the XG 8 for the Piper Cub without losing all the ones for my TRex?

Sorry, didnt know this was the correct place for this query. I've a 1400mm foamie Piper Cub but the instruction booklet doesnt state a C of G position. Anyone confirm how far back from the leading edge the C of G should be? Thanks Mods, you might want to delete the thread at the URL below. **LINK**

Of course you can use a non sky supplied router on their service. They just wont support any issues you have if you contact them about it. This is why you should retain the sky modem (and BT's \ Virgin's if you're using them) so you can reconnect and get them to fix any service issues.

Just bought a couple of nano turnigy 5000 mah packs. Prompt service, great price and they work. I've just built the Piper Cub foamie I bought from them a little while ago. Great kit.. Bought a HK 6 channel 2.4Ghz radio from them. Nice bit of kit, basic but does the job I bought it for. No complaints from me. No doubt one day I may have a gripe.

Finally got around to building (putting together!?) my 1400mm Piper Cub foamie. Its a lovely little thing, very evocative of all cubs. Instruction booklet not much cop as it doesnt tell you where the C of G should be! So, anyone any ideas for smooth gentle flying with this cub how far back from the leading edge the C of G should be? Was thinking just in front of 25% from the leading edge. TIA

Sorry to 'bump' this. Re the ASW 17 brake function. To check do the following; Position the throttle stick at bottom, switch on TX. Connect ESC to battery. If there is 1 beep, the brake is off, 2 beeps is on. If brake off and wanting brake on, switch off TX and disconnect ESC battery. Position throttle stick at top of range, switch on TX. Connect ESC to battery. Wait 5 seconds and there should be 2 beeps. Move throttle stick to bottom position. To confirm brake is on, disconnect everything and switch off TX, follow the bottom stick instructions.

Posted by Colin Leighfield on 20/02/2013 23:11:26: I understand that in recent years many of the aircraft sold by Graupner are made in the Far East, as are most others. I'm sure that is a basic question of economics, there is no way that they could produce traditional build kits in Germany and sell them at a price most people are prepared to pay. I never bought any Graupner stuff in the old days and wouldn't argue with anyone who did and praised their quality. I am sure that is true. However I am one lf those whose experience with German engineering, including a period in the 70s selling German precision machine tools, is that the reputation for constistently high standards of quality and reliability is exaggerated. The most disappointing car I ever owned was a BMW 5 series bought new that had persistent defects related to electrics, transmission and high oil consumption throughout my three years of ownership. The failure of the manufacturer to accept responsibility even under warranty made me decide to never touch them with a barge-pole ever again. "The Ultimate Driving Machine"? Ha ha. That's also been our experience through the business, if you don't do high mileages and pose value is important is important, buy a BMW. If you are totally dependent on it for daily high mileage business use, they go wrong a lot and we find that the young managers who have one, don't buy another BMW next time. Mercedes are worse. I've run Jaguars in recent years over very high mileages and there is no German car I'd swap my current XF for. It's sad to see old names go, but if Graupner can't hack it in today's environment, that's their management failure. Tough. Obviously German modellers aren't buying their products in sufficient volume to keep them afloat and that must tell you something. Those are my personal experiences of course, no doubt others are different. As an aside, in the last 15 years I've had five Honda bikes, (currently 2012 VFR1200) and my wife has had three Honda Jazzs. There's never been a problem with anyone of them, totally reliable and not even needing oil between services. Oh here we go! The 'I had one bad experience so they must all be poor!' I've had 3 bimmers and not had a problem with any of them. My workhorse has 174,000 on it and guess what, its still on most of its original equipment so Ha! to your claim. Anyway isnt this supposed to be about graupner!? Its a tough, tough world out there at a time when people have more important things to do with their money like pay their gas and leccie bills. Who knows whether the reason for Graupner's potential demise is over stretching themselves, overpricing, unpopular product lines or a mixture of all 3? Edited By Piper Cub on 21/02/2013 22:15:05 Edited By Piper Cub on 21/02/2013 22:16:14

Been Futaba virtually all my RC life but their fannying around made me go to JR XG8. Oh and those silver Hi Tec running shoes were some of the best around and a really competitive price. Wish i could still get them instead of paying £90 for today's offerings!

Posted by David Ashby - RCME Admin on 27/01/2012 06:42:36: Airbrakes look interesting.  I've seen a couple of youtube vids that claim in flight, the airbrakes dont operate so well due in part to the servo \ mechannism not being strong enough!  BTW, thanks for sorting the BH youtube vid, I couldnt get it to post!

Hangar 9 80" span if you want something pre covered with minimum build time. The OS 90 FS may be a tad over size for it though?    http://www.hangar-9.com/Products/Default.aspx?ProdID=HAN4000

Banana Hobby has a video of this flying. If you can take in Pete's chatter on the model, the flight section is really good. Although there sounds like a full size plane in the background, you can still hear the 4 bladed prop on the A1 and it sounds superb.     Edited By David Ashby - RCME Admin on 15/01/2012 13:22:13 Edited By David Ashby - RCME Admin on 27/01/2012 06:37:23

A very nice model by Hangar 9 but a bit pricey in BNF format imvho. It does look very higly detailed and at 80" span, looks impressive in the air when flown in a scale like manner.

I love Piper Cubs, me, cant think why though! Very nice build resulting in a very nice model.For you motor mount, did you use captive nuts to fix the 4mm threaded rod to the firewall or just ordinary nuts?  My covering skills are not good despite many attempts so I mainly buy ARTF pre covered kits. The hangar 9 1\4 scale is high up my list. Hmmmmm, hubba, hubba.