Andy Harris

Dave I've found key differences between flying alone and flying at a club. I'll put more effort and try more things at a club than I do flying in an empty field.  I'm less worried about crashing on the club field.  Not that I've crashed yet, but I've seen the way people rally round for recovery, analysis and even repair. You can also get a good feel of what can be done.  Because I'd flown alone before joining a club I was flying very close in, I hadn't realised you could use up so much space.  Its a 56 mile round trip for me.  I have two fields close to me, both walking distance, these I've used for 'stick-time' and trying things like bigger batteries.  I take only what I can carry and pocket.  On a glorious day that'll be three flights. Solo flights seem to use up more adrenalin, I put this down to the fields being tree lined and that turbulance that you sometimes get. The disadvantage of a club is waiting for a slot time, especially since I fly electric and virtually all the regulars are IC.  At the w/e this is not a problem where you can get 6 or more flights a day.  Evening sessions can be a bit frustrating with only 14mins air time for a 56 mile drive. The club local to me has a waiting list, I'm on it! Andy 

High Alpha Knife Edge down to 5m   (also useful in small fields and no wind) This way you avoid the stall, you can keep visual separation till the last moment. If the model is losing height all the way its easier to KE, if you're worried about inverting on a model with dihedral then use a 45deg version of a knife edge. If you have a high wing trainer style model then elevator and angle of attack wll create drag.  I think this is more difficult that the KE or side slip mainly due to judging the stall point. You could try out the two strategies on a sim to see which suits your style. Andy  PS has your CG changed with the patching ? 

Woodsprings so windy that from 14:00 not much happened. Enjoyed the Panic Team earlier in the day.  I feel sad for the organisers, 5th July, you'd expect the weather to be kind.  xcweather doesn't paint a good picture for tomorrow. Interesting trade stands.  Andy 

Electric Shock (from Als Hobbies) Small and light for the park. Docile on low rates, lively minx on full.  Needs hand launch unless you get the UC option. On the receiver side I'm recently had bad experience with a string of cheapies, none of which I considered safe to fly on.  A good RX can get passed from airframe to airframe, as Eric says, either from moving on, trying to fly in too much wind. Regards Andy

Yet another weeks wait for the final parts  Andy

Oh yes please !

 Thread: Now I've had a chance to recharge the batteries, I realise that 1800mAh was used on one, and 2100mAh on the first. This is probably taking a liitle too much from the batteries, on the first flight the BEC started a regular pulsing of the motor. Therefore 2100mAh/20mins gives an average consumption of  75.6 Watts (about 6.3A by a nominal 12V). Think I'll set a 15min timer on my son's TX. I've even taken an iron to that 'machete' applied film. Andy 

Update Mini Pulse had its maiden flight tonight.  Before going up it we set up a buddy box transmitter.  Our club instructor did some checks and away it went into 8-9 mph winds. It was up for all of 90 seconds before it was declared fit for purpose, at which point it started its trainer role.  My son got a full 20 minutes out of the Electrolite 2200mAH 3S Lipo. Second flight of the evening was pretty much the same, straight up, 20 mins training and back down. My son declared it to be much easier than the Spree Sport and easier than the highwing club trainer, the instructor got an aching thumb from holding the trainer button for ages.   So that'll be a sucess then. Andy 

Alex  This is about right. 3/8 near enough 10mm, and 20mm max deflection.  Regards Andy 

Alex Some kits come with a measuring jig (Precision Aerobatics) and some quote as deflection in millimetres. I guess from your post that yours says 30 degrees or similar. On a trainer you don't have massive control surfaces, this gives rise to two things:      a) Lots of control input is required to give an effect in flight      b) You can't do any tight manuveurs The layout of the surfaces and servos will mean that the throws will naturally drop out right. To double check you can use simple maths. if the throw is 30 degs then deflection is:    def = sin(30) x ControlSurfaceWidth     so for a 20mm Aileron 0.5x20 = 10mm  -- just measure with a rule.  Here's some online tables: http://www.industrialpress.com/en/tabid/63/default.aspx In practice you can tell what the max throws are by the physical movement available, set full rates to be a little less than this to avoid stress, then make low rates about half of this.  The centres are set on the push rods and the throw ratio is set by the horn hole chosen, closer to the surface the more throw you get.  Back in March I was asking the same questions ...  Regards Andy  PS remember the EXPO and apparently JR and Futaba have different numbering schemes, 

I'd like to enter ! BRC seem such a nice bunch .. Andy 

I'll be fancying one of those !! Andy 

Eric   Sim's mentioned on page 1 of this thread.  I think they are really useful.  I still use mine.    Just at the moment I'm trying to get a properly slow horizontal axial roll.  I could practice this in the real world but it would take many batteries and evenings of repairing ground rash.   I know the inputs required, my thumbs need to know the amount and get the sequence progression right.  I'm monitoring this thread to see how Alex Hasell gets on, I reckon if he had 100 hrs of sim time logged it the bin liner could stay rolled up!  Regards .... Andy

Bill   The received wisdom is to discharge the pack first then the bucket of salt water. (unless damaged)    The salt water wouldn't create a dead short, but electrolysis will occur if any charge is left.    There's shouldn't be any need to take the pack apart.  Actually, most of this stuff is in the small print of the batteries operating notes: Here for example: http://manuals.hobbico.com/gpm/gpmp0800-0831-manual-v1_2.pdf and here http://www.rctoys.com/pr/2007/07/06/safely-dispose-of-lithium-polymer-lipo-lipoly-battery-packs/ I note these are saying two weeks fo the bucket!  Regards  Andy

I *think* the principles are:       a) Work out how long 2/3 of the battery will last and set your timer for that. (Longevity)       b) Monitor the recharging, if the cell taking 100% capacity and you took 65% out its time to consider the overnight bucket of salt water and the bin. (Worn Out)       c) Any angry looking dents in the battery, time to dispose. (Safety)  Regards Andy.

Makes you wonder if the people from E-Flite read the forums ...  seem we're mostly finding the same things (well at least they are consistent). Had the Pulse apart again this afternoon - decided that the Hitec RX had to go.  Couldn't get a range check to work across the kitchen!  Replaced with posh JR RX, range check 100m with the aerial down. Nasty turn when testing the failsafe, maiden flight was nearly from the kitchen to the dining room! Read some as yet unturned pages of the JR manual, found some cool stuff on SPCM, even happier about the RX change. Andy 

Rob Thanks for that, I have a bunch of 1800mAh packs for a PA Addiction, so a couple more would make a versatile set for a days flying (the 1250 was for the Spree, which would do 2 flights of 10 mins on single charge). I'll be paying particular attention to your advice regarding disappearing quickly.  Like your choice, we intend to be able to fly in winds where the Spree would get knocked about. Ours will be flown on a buddy lead for the time being.  I concur with the aileron servos, I'm not getting the recommended 13mm throw, I'm getting 9mm at best, looks like not enough gap between the aileron and wing.  I've left all the bits in the Spree, despite the wing fold the damage was not as much as might be expected.  I have a length of 5mm hollow CF tube that might make a solid bond between the wings.  Cheers Andy 

Louis   a) check rear circlip - this would allow movement along the shaft.   b) check prop balance   c) check the motor hasn't become loose on the mount   d) check the mount hasn't become loose on the airframe  I flew my PA electic shock as much as feasibly possible for a couple of months and noticed it was getting noisy, found the epoxy was solid on the CF motor mount, but the whole mount/epoxy has started to slide up and down the airframe on the bottom mount. Regards Andy 

Steven I completed an e-flite Mini Pulse this evening.  It uses a 200W brushless that pulls 212W on a 9x4.5 prop. Its an attractive looking plane and its major fault is the covering which should really be better for the price.  In particular the film at the very front peeled off with just the draft from a little motor testing. I had to 'ease' the wing spigots to get them in.  The CG turned out just right with a 1250 3SLiPo. Weather here put a hold on a test flight.  Will sit-rep as soon as. The Pulse is due to see service as a low wing trainer for my 11yo son. It replaces a Kyosho Spree Sport.  In comparision the Spree is a precision bit of kit to build, it may well get repaired and strengthened - it was running an over powered motor and the wings folded after some over enthusiastic elevator and a bit to much wind..  Regards Andy PS I have trepidation over the Hitec receiver I'm using, range testing in the kitchen wasn't brilliant, the control surfaces buzz and jitter the further the TX gets from the RX - something to ponder. 

Its clear to me that should an airline recognise a LiPo they wouldn't let it on a plane! I go diving for my holidays so I fully aware of just how fussy airport security is.  I've been called from many a departure lounge to explain that tanks are empty and that regulators are not grenades. Hanger Rash seems to be a major contribution to model maintenance --- Travel Rash could be far worse, unless you have some serious flight cases.  Regards Andy 

David (et Al) Here are the pictures: You can see the difference in the shutlines here. Here's the motor protruding, don't think there's enough resolution for you to see the cowl mods. Regards Andy