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Maiden flight looming


oO Chris Oo
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Hi all, I'm new to the hobby and brought myself a dx7s, Phoenix flight simulator for Christmas my girlfriend also brought me the e-flits sbach 342

I hope someone could help me ? The dx7s came with a rechargeable battery. I had it plugged in on charge for around 13 hours and it wasn't fully charged according to the L.E.D however in the booklet it says do not charge for over 12 hours ? how long is it safe to charge the battery for. ?

Also after 10 hours practicing on Phoenix flight simulator I think I'm going out 2moro on my maiden flight weather permitting !

Does anyone have any tips ?

Thanks
Chris (the noob)
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Hi Chris and welcome to the forum and the hobby.
 
It's difficult to know about the battery because it depends on the battery capacity in mAh and the charge rate of the supplied charger. As a rule of thumb it is safe to leave the battery on charge as long as it isn't getting warm. So you could leave it on longer if you can be checking it every now and again.
 
As for the sbach 342, you are very brave having that as a first model.
How are you doing on the simulator with a similar model selected?
What I would suggest if at all possible would be to make contact with your nearest club and have an experienced pilot at least check it out and make sure it's trimmed.
 
Conventional wisdom is that almost everyone learns faster and has less costly crashes if they learn with a trainer model, and with an instructing pilot. This will almost certainly reduce costly crashes etc.
 
Clubs can be found in the lists on the BMFA website.
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Hi Chris thanks for the fast reply !

I'll keep and eye out on the tranny then and just keep checking the temp from what I've read the NiMH batteries are safer than the lipo's anyway... The battery in the transmitter is a 2000mAh 4.8V NiMH if that means any think !

Yer im not to sure if it was the best buy as my first plane I've watched a few video and it looks quite nippy. !!!

On the simulator I've been using the koyosho edge 540 I know the size isn't the same but I guessed it may be the closest to practice with power and agility wise.

I was looking actually on the BMFA site when I was pricing up insurance, I no there is a club in fradley which I may contact.

I'm going to take the wheels off and attempt just to glide the plane onto some long grass instead of trying to land at first !!!
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Thanks Chris, I hope to get back to flying that this summer. I've had very little flying for many moths so wouldn't dare at the moment until I have some air time with more forgiving models.
 
Take care with the 342 and if it is harder than you expected, there are plenty here who will help with advice.
 
Have a good read of the beginners threads, lots of good advice in those.
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Hi Chris, you have purchased an aerobatic slippery model, which you will not be able to handle if you have never flown before.Without being a spoilsport, I suggest the same as the last poster, join a club.If you cannot wait, please have an experienced flier to check over all control surfaces. power unit etc., and if he is willing, ask him to maiden it for you. This is quite a common practice in clubs,even if the pilot has being flying for years. Please treat the prop with extreme caution at all times. Cheers and good luck.
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Thanks both of you,

I've set up the dual rates and expo to what the book reads ! Which is apparently tamed down...but yer I may be best speaking to someone at a flying club first and enquire about buddy leading it for the first flight...

After been on the sim I just want to get up in the sky !!!
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Sorry fly boy I'll leave the blasphemy for the field when I crash then !!! Yes it's all ready to go it came as a bind and fly ! However the tail was slightly to the right so I had to manually trim that up, I've bound the plane and gave the motor a little run and it does seem quite powerful for the size.

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Posted by Chris Bott on 30/12/2011 20:14:43:
Thanks Chris, I hope to get back to flying that this summer. I've had very little flying for many moths so wouldn't dare at the moment until I have some air time with more forgiving models.
 
Take care with the 342 and if it is harder than you expected, there are plenty here who will help with advice.
 
Have a good read of the beginners threads, lots of good advice in those.
 
And just how well do those moths fly eh - especially considering the airframe design.
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Dont do it on your own Chris it doesnt work anywhere near as easily as joining a club.Even though Im coming up to 4 years flying I still get a club expert to fly my models first make sure ther are no problems .i also get them to take off and land a couple of times paying attention to how the model behaves.I fly in between getting a feel of the model before I start taking off and landing Good Luck with it all
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This is slightly of topic but I've been doing my research and maybe a wot 4 would be ok for myself ? I can fly inverted and land and take off fine on the simulator, maybe the sbach was a step to far ! Well it defiantly was from all of your responses.

Its just I've spoken to someone that had a park zone cub and he said he grew out of it very quickly only using it a handful of times before he wanted to upgrade and the wot 4 seems like a good trainer but fun aswell !!!
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Posted by oO Chris Oo on 30/12/2011 19:59:00:
Hi Chris thanks for the fast reply !

I'll keep and eye out on the tranny then and just keep checking the temp from what I've read the NiMH batteries are safer than the lipo's anyway... The battery in the transmitter is a 2000mAh 4.8V NiMH if that means any think !


 
 
 
To me it means you have the wrong battery, but I am probably wrong as nobody else has commented. (I don't know the transmitter)
 
I would have expected to see a 2000mAh 9V6 battery, ie it will have 8 cells making it up.
 
NiMh do improve after a few cycles, but not by a lot.

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The DX7s is designed to run on the supplied 2000mAh 4.8v but you can fit a 2S Li-Po as an alternative, like the DX8. That is why the charge indicator does not show a full state when the NiMH battery is installed.
 
It is fully charged and will last ages - don't worry about it, it's fine!
 
Pete
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Posted by Pete B on 31/12/2011 08:36:18:
The DX7s is designed to run on the supplied 2000mAh 4.8v but you can fit a 2S Li-Po as an alternative, like the DX8. That is why the charge indicator does not show a full state when the NiMH battery is installed.
 
It is fully charged and will last ages - don't worry about it, it's fine!
 
Pete
 
 
 
Thanks, I thought I must have been wrong, very interesting to know.
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All the Spektrum sets run off 4 x AA cells as standard, the low power of 2.4 means they don't need as much power as the 35 mhz sets. I use 1500 mah AA cells in my Dx6i and they last for ages.
 
Chris I've flown an electric Wot 4 and they are very nice to fly, but are quite responsive and don't have any self righting capability.
 
I fired up my Pheonix simulator last night and while its fun to use the planes are very stable compared to the real thing, get a slight breeze with the 342 or Wot 4 and they will get buffeted around quite significantly. While a trainer type plane might seem a bit boring, trust me they aren't and there's a good reason we don't all learn on hot shot aerobatic models

Edited By Frank Skilbeck on 31/12/2011 09:25:08

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just found this thread.....and i'm prob too late...but i would join a club and get the gear/model checked over---- or it may end in .. ...... when i decided to defy gravity all them years ago/go alone...and thought there was nothing to it....i'm afraid it was more of a set back instead of progress...hope your next post is a one of joy instead of ...
 
 
ken anderson ne....1... go it alone/not dept.
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Yep join a club, there are thousands of people and hundreds of years of experience and knowledge.....tap into it and eventually add to it.
I went the tried and tested route, trainer then converted into a tail dragger, Seagull Spacewalker 62", venus 40, Fliton 330 Extra, Biplane,Twin....you get the point. All with the help of club mates and now I'm passing on stuff and training to become a BMFA Reg. club instructor. Thats how our hobby survives, by transfering knowledge and experience and passion.

Edited By Peter Smedley on 31/12/2011 11:07:40

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