New Foamy Wot 4 by Ripmax

[Alan Moore]

Just a quick one, can anyone suggest a suitable primer for carbon fibre please?

 

Alan

[Brian Gough]

Posted by Alan Moore on 29/11/2011 14:16:14:

Just a quick one, can anyone suggest a suitable primer for carbon fibre please?

 

Alan

I've always lightly rubbed down the surface (in the direction of the fibres) with fine emery to get a key and used meths to degrease it.

 

retiredbri

[Dave Rand]

Hi guys, Ive just got a Wot 4 foam-e this is my first plane (I normally fly Heli's) have to say what a superb plane, had 4 flights with it the other day really enjoyed it.

Have a question tho,

Going into wind and on throttle I have to hold a bit of down elevator to keep it level, is this normal? can I rectifie this?

 

Regards Dave

[Keith Simmons]

This is normal as an increased speed will give greater lift and so want to climb and a foamy Wot 4 is not a fast plane.

 

 

Regards Keith

[Steve W-O]

Posted by Keith Simmons on 29/12/2011 21:16:14:

This is normal as an increased speed will give greater lift and so want to climb and a foamy Wot 4 is not a fast plane.

 

 

Regards Keith

 

 

How has the speed increased?

 

Unless he is towing it from the ground.

[Bob Cotsford]

here we go again! The model will appear to climb more quickly into wind as it's covering less ground in a set time period but climbing at the same rate. It's also a natural reaction to try to slow the model with up elevator when it's heading downwind as it appears to fly much faster and climb slower. Try to resist the temptation to pull back on the stick or you may come unstuck

[Dave Rand]

I'm not trying to slow it down, just keep it level, while I don't mind keeping down elevator in, once I'm inverted it's gona cause more effort than I would like.
Just a thought I had to add 20g of lead to the tail to get the COG at 60mm back, if I took it of would that help???
It does seem a lot of down elevator I'm putting in

[graham dewis]

Posted by Dave Rand on 30/12/2011 20:33:46:
I'm not trying to slow it down, just keep it level, while I don't mind keeping down elevator in, once I'm inverted it's gona cause more effort than I would like.
Just a thought I had to add 20g of lead to the tail to get the COG at 60mm back, if I took it of would that help???
It does seem a lot of down elevator I'm putting in

Why did you need 20g of weight in the tail ?. What battery are you using.

 

[JayCee]

Hi all, Happy New Year!

 

Sorry only just picked up on this thread, if the excessive lift into the wind is causing you problems why don't you just trim it out? Then on a calm day three of four clicks and your back to normal..........or have i missed something?

 

JC

[Dave Rand]

I'm using 2200mha Turngys plus a Ar7000 rx with sat which adds a bit more weight

 

I'm gathering this is normal for planes so gona get used to it.

Cheers guys

Edited By Dave Rand on 02/01/2012 16:22:05

[Stephen Grigg]

Check it over regularly Dave Ive seen 2 Wot foamies crash and the fault was with the model,both flown by experts.1st one was the elevator hinge broke,as your aware the hinge is part of the foam consruction and the 2nd one yesterday was the elevator servo failed on the maiden and in tryin to land it control was lost and the fuselage snapped badly.

[Gaz Elliott]

With these foamies I alweays fibre tape over the hinge line for added security. Hind sight is the best!! Thats why i I tape now!!

 

Gaz

[Simon Chambers]

Posted by Stephen Grigg on 02/01/2012 16:26:22:
Check it over regularly Dave Ive seen 2 Wot foamies crash and the fault was with the model,both flown by experts.1st one was the elevator hinge broke,as your aware the hinge is part of the foam consruction and the 2nd one yesterday was the elevator servo failed on the maiden and in tryin to land it control was lost and the fuselage snapped badly.

The elevator hinges giving way was one of the things that killed my second wot4

Other things to watch is the screw that holds the rear tail feathers loosens after 5-10 flights, so either check its tight at the start of every flying session, or thread lock/cyano the bolt in.

 

I should imagine a lot of the servo problems can be found on the ground by checking full and correct movement on the transmitter sticks before flight.

 

Even though it has its faults, its a brilliant plane, especially to learn on and not only cheap enough, but quick enough to rebuild a brand-new one in the event of a large prang when learning.

Edited By Simon Chambers on 02/01/2012 19:52:33

[ken anderson.]

i'd save my hard earned and buy a C/Foss Wot 4..ARTB.....i've had one with a 91 4/st in.......nice to say the least.......would be ideal for a shredder for all the broken foam one's..

 

ken anderson ne..1 shredding dept.

[Steve W-O]

Simon, yes it is a brilliant idea, but very poor quality, and I can't agree it is cheap!

 

The windings on my motor had very different readings, so I replaced it (this may in fact be the problem for frequent ESC burnouts)

 

Several people had had ESCs fail so I replaced it.

 

On of my servos had so much slop in it, it looked like the output shaft was very lose in the housing. Other people had had servo failures, so I replaced them.

 

My elevator and rudder hinges were split out of the box, so I reinforced them.

 

The wing tips had been damaged and glued in the factory, and were bent, so I reinforced them with carbon.

 

 

All this was before I even flew it! Not so cheap any more.

 

It is fun to fly, very tame, and different to other foam planes.

 

When someone comes out with a clone, a slight bit bigger, and acceptable quality, it will be worth something.

 

 

If it was £65 without motor, ESC and servos, similar price to the Funcub, and good build quality, it would be fair value.

[Simon Chambers]

Posted by Steve W-O on 02/01/2012 20:03:44:

Simon, yes it is a brilliant idea, but very poor quality, and I can't agree it is cheap!

 

The windings on my motor had very different readings, so I replaced it (this may in fact be the problem for frequent ESC burnouts)

 

Several people had had ESCs fail so I replaced it.

 

On of my servos had so much slop in it, it looked like the output shaft was very lose in the housing. Other people had had servo failures, so I replaced them.

 

My elevator and rudder hinges were split out of the box, so I reinforced them.

 

The wing tips had been damaged and glued in the factory, and were bent, so I reinforced them with carbon.

 

 

All this was before I even flew it! Not so cheap any more.

 

It is fun to fly, very tame, and different to other foam planes.

 

When someone comes out with a clone, a slight bit bigger, and acceptable quality, it will be worth something.

 

 

If it was £65 without motor, ESC and servos, similar price to the Funcub, and good build quality, it would be fair value.

I'm not trying to be rude or anything, but if there was this many faults just out of the box, why didn't you take it back for a refund/replacement?

 

I agree that the quality should be better, however I still think its good value for what it is - even with its known faults. 

 

Even though I love Multiplex products and they are superb quality, as you just said that's £65 without motor+esc+servos. So if the wot4 foam-e was £65, that would leave £35 left to kit it out (at £99 RRP). So costed out on the cheap for a similar spec setup:

Servo (x4) - Towerpro 9g or similar - £2.75 x4 = £11

Motor - XYH 35-36 = £11

ESC 30A - Cheap Giantcod job = £8

11 x 7 prop - Giantcod TGS = £1.70

Spinner = £2

Prop Adapter = £1.70

-> Total £35.40

That's costing it from GiantCod - buying it all from LMS would be far more. Also when starting, its almost impossible to know what speed controller/prop/motor/etc should be bought for a model - especially as everyone has differing opinions on how things should be powered.

 

Also don't forget the cost of time. When learning, I wanted to spend as much time in the air as possible, so sitting down on a Saturday and Sunday morning and afternoon re-gluing my wooden trainer back together after a hard landing/prang wasn't as appealing as throwing another £99-£110 at my LMS to buy a new one and a half hour screwing together. Infact I did just that after my first one I broke! I crashed it on the Friday, bought another Saturday morning first thing, spent 2 hours putting together (those darn stickers take ages...) and back flying on the Saturday afternoon. Even though I love the Multiplex stuff, the ready to run stuff (effectively what the foam-e is), is a good twice the price, often more, of the standard kit version.

 

That way of thinking might not appeal to those that enjoy building, but for me, I don't enjoy building that much. I rather fly than trying to remove stuck bits of balsa from my fingers!

Edited By Simon Chambers on 02/01/2012 21:16:14

[Steve W-O]

Not rude at all, but on the other hand if you had read the thread, you would know that I tried, and Ripmax and Pegasus models were not interested.

 

I agree about flying time and suitable trainers, I have stated the same thing as you many times.

 

As for the cost of time, I had to redo it anyway, so where's the savings?

 

I would much rather have the bare model and choose my own servos/ESC/motor.

 

What value is there in the ones I've chucked in the bin? I could never use them and feel safe, so file 13 was the only place for them.

 

Multiplex at least offer an option, basic kit plus their power set up, or your own.

 

Yes the stickers do take ages, I binned my unused wot4foame stickers yesterday just as it happens, having a clear out.

 

 

We all have our own tastes and preferences , and although it is a good plane, the quality is poor, which could be overcome if the retailers and distributors were interested in customer service and stood by their products. Lots of people have commented on the plane flying, but none have bought one after hearing the story, so I am not alone in my opinions

[Edge]

Have been very pleased with mine - everything worked out of the box, no hinge/esc/motor/servo issues. It flies well, is very good value for money and is my model of choice to stick in the car and fly when the weather isn't perfect.

 

It is the nature of forums that they gather info about problems - and this is a great resource for help and research. However, I wonder how many people are just happy flying their models and we never get to hear about those that just, well, work??

[Allan Bowker]

As an avid WOT fan and an owner of both the ARTB & Foam-e, I agree with Ken on this.

Anyone with the time to read this entire thread (currently at 19 pages will know why), I don't need to repeat myself entirely.

 

It took 4 Foam-e kits to get airborne and lasted a few months, all due to poor manufacturing and poor quality of servo's and ESC, in contrast to my ARTB WOT-4 Mk1 that's around 20 years old.

 

As for the airframe, I love it, just too costly to buy in order to replace all the electrics.

I'd happily part with £45 just for the foam.

 

I think the short threads in this forum are where models have been positively received, the longer threads are where problems have cropped up.

[JayCee]

Wow...19 pages! must be heading for the 'Guinness Book of Records' in posts for a Foam-e 'Park Flyer'

 

Is there anything left to be said about this iconic plane....you love it....or you hate it!

 

Me, I love it, yes the build quality could be better, but then again I would never fly a cheap Foam-e straight from the box without taping the hinges.

 

In spite of reading the early threads relating to ESC, Servos, and motor I never changed them, and I had well over 100 flights before changing Elevator and Rudder servos that were getting a bit iffy, the original motor and ESC are still working! I have lost count of the flights and hours in the air.

 

In my opinion if there are 19 pages of posts on this plane it has to be a bit special!

 

JC

 

 

 

 

[ken anderson.]

i've said it before..the foam Wot will be remembered for the wrong reason's ...

 

 

ken anderson ne..1....reasons dept....

[Chris P]

I'm really pleased with my Wot4, I have had lots of flights now and no undercarriage problems since my mod it's a very practicle model for rough fields.

Edited By Chris P on 15/01/2012 20:31:59

[JayCee]

Hi all, just thought I would add to the never ending 'New Foam-e Wot 4' thread

Well, after well over 100 flights I had my first major failure. yep you guessed it the ESC caught fire

Prior to that the only part that wasn't original was the Rudder servo. Again I was lucky managed to complete the flight with smoke pouring from the cowl, very minimal damage.

Have replaced the ESC with a Hobbywing 30amp unit, toyed with replacing it with a 40amp that I purchased for another project but as its only drawing 28amps WOT (wide open throttle) 330 watts I hoping that the 30 amp will be adequate.

However, I have cut an 'Air Flow' hole in the bottom of the cowl, the lack of ventilation has always been a bit of a worry.....maybe I#ll get another 100 flights!!!

JC

[Allan Bowker]

Thanks for the update JayCee, your ESC must have read your posting on 3rd January
I guess it's a word of warning to those who are still using their original ESC, even after many successful flights.

Glad that the damage isn't too bad.

[ian ludwell]

Hello gents,pleased to be part of this forum.

Seems like we have all had the same problem or similar with the foamie Wot4.

My first falure last year signal loss close to ground.

rebuilt ok.

Next one was smoke appearing from fuz,power off,too late,into floor.

Reason--toasted ESC.

Fuz rebuilt along with XYH 3536 1050 Kv from GC and new ESC

But a lot of down on thrust,flew ok tho.

So decided to purchase new Wot4.

Sevos not working properly in wing so use old wings and new fuz

Once again piled into soft earth

Front end off,fuz in2,tail feathers in quite a mess.

Checked at home noticed elevator still in palce,rudder off.

Little bolt holding elevator in place missing!!!!!!!!.

was this the culprit?

so now want to replace servos in new wings,motor from recent crah along with ESC just fine no damage.

Sorry to prattle on but info very helpfull regarding wing servo replacement.

Happy flying,fab plane when it's not falling out of the sky....