Colin Bernard Posted August 18, 2013 Share Posted August 18, 2013 Didn't touch the fan at all - just added some 3mm carbon strip to the booms - however I am curious and still have the fan from the previous one, so I will have a look and see just how far out it is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Read 2 Posted August 19, 2013 Share Posted August 19, 2013 Hi Piers, Like you I thought the dome should be ok but the HK chap was adamant that it is a prime cause of vibration. I don't have a spare receiver to power mine up yet so will have to wait a bit before I see what happens when the electrons hit it. Did you balance yours by adding tape to the inside of the hub? Colin, I would be interested to know what you find out on your old fan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Read Posted August 19, 2013 Share Posted August 19, 2013 I know it makes no difference to how the plane flies, but I just could not stomach the thought of using 'lofty' the supplied pilot in the office, so I painted up this chap: Better? Much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daithi O Buitigh Posted August 19, 2013 Share Posted August 19, 2013 Definitely better - bonedomes didn't come along until the Vampire had been phased out of operational service (and it didn't have an ejector seat either) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Read Posted August 19, 2013 Share Posted August 19, 2013 Yes, I painted his helmet to look a bit like a Type G cloth flying helmet. In hind sight I should have sanded the ear cups down a bit though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Piers Bowlan Posted August 20, 2013 Share Posted August 20, 2013 Tony, I just gingerly sanded the back of the heavier blades until I got it to balance, probably not very precise but better and it wasn't far out to start with. I can't see the fan on this model being 'way out of balance' or enough to affect the performance significantly. Plenty of power on a 4s 3000mAh LiPo. If you get any reliability problems just ditch the supplied ESC is my 2p worth. I didn't mind 'Lofty' too much but I did give him a cushion to sit on as he couldn't see where he was going! Nice bit of painting, where did you get him from? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Read 2 Posted August 20, 2013 Share Posted August 20, 2013 The little chap is one from the range of Petes Pilots here You can paint him to represent post war flying kit as well as WW2. This is good reference material: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martyn Johnston Posted August 27, 2013 Share Posted August 27, 2013 I completely lost orientation of my EDF Vampire yesterday. I throttled back to try to sort it out and it headed vertically downwards. If it had been a balsa plane I think it would have been matchsticks. But this foam can take a good hard knock can't it. I'm now the owner of a 'Snub Nosed Vampire'. Somebody said to soak the bent bits with boiling water and they might come back to shape again. Some people might throw it away at this stage, but I'm sure it'll be fixable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Marsh Posted August 27, 2013 Share Posted August 27, 2013 I bought one last weekend. Really wanted the silver one, same as the original gate guardian at the original Macclesfield College, which went inside into the Aeronautics dept. Got the camouflage version, and about to put it together. Not sure about the "no spar" bit, might put a short length of c/f just because I'll won't be just cruising around... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martyn Johnston Posted August 27, 2013 Share Posted August 27, 2013 I worried about adding a spar, but didn't bother and have never seen any suggestion in flight that it needs one; I wouldn't bother. Adding a length of cf down the length of the booms is recommended though. I think I just cut a slot with a blade and a straight edge and pushed a piece of 8 * .5mm in, and glued it with CA. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Marsh Posted August 27, 2013 Share Posted August 27, 2013 Failed! Get it together and fan was waaaay out! Tried to remove it, and broke two blades. An d still stuck tight. Emailed Rapid RC, and will need a new impeller, as it was so wrong, even at minimum throttle, the airframe shook. How do I remove the edf module without smashing the plan?e - all glued in and tight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Marsh Posted August 27, 2013 Share Posted August 27, 2013 The trader whom I got it from, Rapid Models said it might be out of balance. I emailed them, and said they'll send me a replacement in the post. They were quite helpful when I made the purchase, and reduced the price of the batteries and other bits I put in. Hopefully, this might be better, but phoned Tony Hill models, and they've got a Wemotec fan, which probably would be higher quality and balanced. Am I right this is £39 for the fan? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Piers Bowlan Posted August 27, 2013 Share Posted August 27, 2013 Paul, the fan unit of my (silver) kit version Vampire was not glued in but held in place with bolts through plastic mouldings. Perhaps HK have reduced their QC on this product line? The Wemotec mini fan pro from Puffin models is priced at £35.95 on their Website. Just make sure you specify the right adaptor for your motor shaft, 2.3mm, 3.2mm or 4mm. I didn't have any problems with my fan unit, perhaps I was just lucky. I wouldn't bother to add a wing spar as the wing is thick with lots of glueing area, it;s as tough as old boots- I have tested it! . Do reinforce the booms though as Martyn said. Two strips in each boom, one along the underside and the other at 90 degrees on the inside, along the length of each boom terminating mid-chord of the wing. Just make sure the carbon strips are correctly inserted into the slots and you haven't accidently introduced some bend in the booms before you run cyano into the slots. One last point, make sure the servo wires cannot get sucked into the fan! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Marsh Posted August 28, 2013 Share Posted August 28, 2013 Got it together. Did some weathering and painted the wheel wells, as one was white and the control horns needed hiding, as well. Luckily the paints I had are very close to the colours they used - which is good! Pics: Edited By Paul Marsh on 28/08/2013 11:24:57 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martyn Johnston Posted August 28, 2013 Share Posted August 28, 2013 As mine's currently in the repair-shop (shed) I've taken the opportunity to remove the undercarriage. I remember being quite pleased to buy my first model with retracting undercarriage, but in use it' snot really worth it, unless you have a tarmac runway or VERY smooth grass. I'll have to find some foam to fill the holes but it'll save a bit of weight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Read 2 Posted August 28, 2013 Share Posted August 28, 2013 Paul, did you get the old fan out ok? Mine is glued in like yours. I have read that some have bolted a bit of scrap ali bar or similar bent to a 'L' at the end and screwed to the fan casing to get more leverage in order to twist the unit and break the glue bond. Have not tried this myself (yet!). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ausferret Posted August 28, 2013 Share Posted August 28, 2013 Posted by Martyn Johnston on 27/08/2013 08:50 Somebody said to soak the bent bits with boiling water and they might come back to shape again. That certainly works a treat but don't use boiling water just hot. I repaired a mates foamy he ploughed in (HK AXN) it went from snub nosed and twisted to straight and flyable. Although the foam didn't completely return to its pre-crash state it was very close. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Marsh Posted August 28, 2013 Share Posted August 28, 2013 I broke it, trying to get it out. In the light of it, it was so out-of-balance, I don't think one could recify that. If you take too much off, you get more gap with the fan tip and casing, losing efficiency. The one coming should be better, failing that, I'll the get Wemitec unit, which is reputibly the Rolls-Royce of fan blades. (pardun the pun!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Piers Bowlan Posted August 29, 2013 Share Posted August 29, 2013 Martyn, when you remove the landing gear don't forget the nose gear is responsible for quite a bit of nose weight, so removing it will move the c of g aft. You will need more weight in the nose as the LiPo won't move any further forward. I used a 3300mAh 4s Lipo which did the trick as well as giving longer flight times. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Marsh Posted September 1, 2013 Share Posted September 1, 2013 I flew mine yesterday. Went without any trim adjustment. Plenty of power from the motor/battery. Noticed at full power, there is a pitch change, probably due to the extra airflow(low pressure) on the bottom of the horizontal stabilser. Not much, but added a little down trim at full power. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Kelly Posted March 25, 2015 Share Posted March 25, 2015 Hi all, I have recently purchased one of the PNF versions of this and wondered if anyone had found it tail heavy?? I have got a 2200 4S LiPo up front and every time i try to balance it (using the 290mm recommendation instead of the 310mm in the manual) it seems very tail heavy. has anyone else come across this?? i will be either cutting out some of the foam in the nose to push the battery more forward or just add some weight to the nose. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Kelly Posted March 25, 2015 Share Posted March 25, 2015 Hi all, I have recently purchased one of the PNF versions of this and wondered if anyone had found it tail heavy?? I have got a 2200 4S LiPo up front and every time i try to balance it (using the 290mm recommendation instead of the 310mm in the manual) it seems very tail heavy. has anyone else come across this?? i will be either cutting out some of the foam in the nose to push the battery more forward or just add some weight to the nose. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Bernard Posted March 25, 2015 Share Posted March 25, 2015 Hi Ben I have had two of these and neither have been tail heavy - in fact my LiPos have about 1-2 cm clearance in front of them, depending on the LiPo. (Balancing just in front of the booms). Have you put some CF in the booms? Recommend this very strongly. Lost my first one when it refused to pull out of a diving turn when about to do a low pass. The only explanation we could come up with was that the up elevator I applied not only worked on the plane as a whole, but it also forced the booms to bend down in giving an overall negative AoA for the tailplane - effectively down elevator! After reading the various forums I have put CF into each boom and never had the problem again - it's a great flyer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Kelly Posted March 25, 2015 Share Posted March 25, 2015 Hi Colin, Thanks for your reply. That is something else i need to do before hopefully flying this weekend. I also get baffled at how people make all their wires so neat. Cable management has never been my strong point. What lipos are you using? These are the ones i bought **LINK** Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Bernard Posted March 25, 2015 Share Posted March 25, 2015 Initially I used these Zippys - which meant that I had to chop away foam from the cockpit floor to fit them. But now I am using Dynamic batteries from Inwoods here which I find superb. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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