Bitrflight Hustle

[Olly P]

So, my Hustle has arrived while in a meeting with the MD. Timing is everything.

I'll start with the packaging and purchasing experiance and then move onto assembly tonight when I get home.

Purchasing experiance was top notch. Bryce answered my questions and help me clear up a couple of points quickly and courteously, even sending an undercarrage despite the model not currently shipping with one. He advised before I ordered that he was awaiting ESC's for the upgrade pack, and would send it on as soon as it gets in, I have an 18amp one at home I can use in the meantime.

Packaging. The outer package is a long cardboard box, nestled within which is another cardboardbox - with plenty of bubblewrap keeping it in place. This small inner box contains a motor, battery, 3 servos and the connectors needed.

Lift another piece of bubblewrap clear and you find a plastic bag with a model in! An unusual way of packing the kit together but effective. No transit damage was visable to any part of the kit, even though one end of the box had become a little creased.

Oh, finally, there is a CD in the package with the instructions on - I've yet to open it up and have a look as I don't want to leave any bits at work, but this seems a grat idea - I'll be able to zoom in on photos/images and if I really want paper instructions I can print them.

If this afternoon is quiet I might fish them out and read them with a brew.....but I doubt I'll get chance.....

[Steve Houghton 1]

I loved my Hustle and intend to get myself some new servo's for it and get it back into the air.

[Olly P]

Well, have stolen 10 minutes from work shhh...don't tell them....

I have had a look at the manual and it is comprehensive, will have a go at assembly tonight between getting home and fat club and then again after fat club.....

might get a maidening tomorrow with luck!

[Steve Houghton 1]

The manual was very good as I remember. I found the longest part of the build was soldering the bullet connectors to all the wires, 6 of them plus the 4 on the battery connector.

[Olly P]

Well, that has been halfed now Steve!

OK so following the manual, I have fitted the motor, which didn'tt take long, then had to stop for Fat Club...

Next stage in the manual is to solder the connectors onto the motor - personnally I'd tend to do this the other way around. It doesn't matter as my motor has the connectors pre-soldered.

Then you are told to glue the motor wires into the top of the firewall, where there is a pre-cut slot for them. This take but moments with a hot glue gun, and is a good way to do it. The next instruction is to fit the ESC - I skipped this step as I am waiting for the ESC from Bryce, as he advised me long before I bought the model. I do have a spare 30Amp ESC bought for another project, which isn;t yet started, so will be fitting this as a temporary measure tonight.

Next is the tailplane and stab. These slot into precut slots and are secured with either UHU por or hot melt. I used the hot melt again, but added a little more than the instructions say, to ensure good security. Then fit the control horns. these have clever ratchet catches on the opposite sides to the horns to hold them in place, but I added a drop of hot melt just to be certain they where fully secured.

Next is the Aileron servo. Mark a line in the wing, draw round the servo and cut out 5-6mm of foam, then glue servo in place. the work of about 5 minutes. The manual then has you bending and fitting the control rods. I set this to one side however and moved onto fitting the 2 other servos in the servo tray. It was late and I didn't want to mess it up.

I screwed in the other 2 servos, tidied up and went to bed.

Total time to this point about 40-45 minutes.

[Olly P]

OK, so an early start for SWMBO saw me out of bed earlier than usual also. So 20 minutes this morning saw the ESC connections soldered on, and the aileron control rods bent and fitted - with the servo centralised! I need to do a little tweaking to the control rods to ensure the neutral positions are correct, but had to stop this morning due to time to go to work! Forgot to mention I fitted the wing fixing rods last night also, my only 'complaint' so far is down to the plastic liner only being drilled for one of these per side! I then had to drill through to get them fitted. not a long task, but not covered in the instructions. I again secured with a blob of hot glue.

Tonights jobs then are to make holes for the rudder and elevator control rods, fit the rods, fit the undercarrage and steerable nose wheel, fit the ESC into the airframe, along with RX and Battery - Lots of velco fitting this evening.

I predict she will be flight worthy by tomorrow morning, when the rain is due to hit the patch.

Time so far approx 1 hour - including reading of instructions before starting.

[Ben B]

Quick work! I really love my Hustle (in fact it goes most places with me on my rear parcel shelf ). Personally I'm not sure whether I'd bother fitting the U/C. Up to you...

I'm not sure mine even came with one but even if it did I wouldn't have fitted it. Flies nicer without one and belly lands just fine.

[C Norton]

I love my Hustle, only minor gripe was the lack of any provided fastening for the battery door. A small magnet and a bit of bent tinplate has worked fine for me. I didn't fit the undercarriage and use an 8X4 folding prop which gives all the performance I need. I have my rudder and elevator servos in cutouts at the rear with short pushrods and it balances fine with a 1500mAh lipo. You'll enjoy it!

[Steve Houghton 1]

I fitted the undercarriage, which was great as I had a hard surface to take off and land from, and also flew off compacted sand on a beach.

The model I got had a manufacturing mistake regarding the elevator/rudder servo tray, so Bryce recommended cutting an access hatch in the underside of the fus and glueing the servo's to the fuselage walls. This did work ok.

I attached a piece of velcro to the batteries and another to the battery bay and that seemed to keep the battery in place.

Those ratchet type control horns worked a treat I found and I didn't add any glue, but it is peace of mind I guess.

Steve

A470Soaring.blogspot.com

[Olly P]

Ben, it is quite possible you didn't get an UC as Bryce stopped sending them as most fly without them. I asked specifically for one, so I can practice Touch and Go's.

C Norton - I am planning something similar but with 2 rare earth magnets inset into the rear of the hatch and the matching fuselage top.

I have currently got the (not connected up) elevator and rudder servos in the servo mounting plate, but am going to check cg tonight and see if I want to move them back, before cutting control rods etc.

what sort of flight times are you guys getting and on what batts? I have 5 off 1800mAh and 4 off 2200 mAh lipo's to use in it (only the one 1800 mAh that came with the electric pack specifically for this plane!). Oh, and I have a couple of 1450mAh ones too, but might not use them for this.....

[C Norton]

I think the 2200 battery might be a bit bulky to fit easily? I wouldn't have room in the front of mine for a pack of that size mainly due to the ESC position. I get around 15 minutes with 1500 packs though I like to cruise around with gentle aeros more than go flat out!

Chris

[buster prop]

I built one of the early Hustles which had a flat bottommed wing with ply plates for the u/c. It flew with its u/c until I bought a later, symmetrical wing which doesn't have plates so no u/c. I guess the later kits are supplied u/c-less with the symmetrical wing. It does fly better with no u/c but I like doing r.o.g. takeoffs, touch and goes and wheel landings. I've still got my Hustle and fly it on a 1300 3S. Hatch fixing was one of my niggles as well, using a rubber band looks naff so I fitted small patches of velcro to hold the hatch closed. Velcro is also used to hold the battery in place. Nice plane, I may get another one with the upgraded power set.

[Olly P]

The 2200's just fit. Just.

This could be due to the ESC I've put in for now being quite slim, might even leave that one in there if it allows a bigger pack to fit.

I expect to fly at 1/2 throttle most of the time anyway.

Fitting the RX might be fun with the servos in the tray so might end up moving them back purely for that reason.

Olly

[Olly P]

Buster, standard is the flat wing with u/c mount points, upgrade to a symmetrical wing for more wonga!

The plan for me is to fly this one for a while with U/C and buy a second wing for it later.

Might make up an extra battery retention strap to support the velcro, just in case...

[Olly P]

Have reviewed the forecast for tomorrow at my club.

Sunny and bright in the morning - great, wind speed of 12-30mph, accross the strip....not so good for maidening!

Sunday, cloudy, with bright spells, with a 5-7mph wind down the strip - much more like it!

So new plan, do as much as possible tonight - probably finish it, spend tomorrow morning setting up radio, spend tomorrow pm and evening at the boardgame club. Maiden Sunday then drive over to Dave's place to work on the ST330....

I Love it when a plan comes together!

[Steve Houghton 1]

Sounds like a plan Olly, and I'll look forward to reading a full report on the maiden.

Steve

A470Soaring.blogspot.com

[IanR]

Interesting thread, Olly. I'm looking at the Hustle myself and, like you, have a number of 2200 3S lipos. I'm looking forward to hearing about your maiden flights with the 2200 lipos and what you think their additional weight does to the plane's flight characteristics.

Regards, Ian

[Olly P]

Ian,

I will report back after the maiden, but might be late Sunday!

I need to do some more work tonight, as stated above, but am hopeful to get her flight ready!

I have got the upgrade flight pack, and that may have an impact on the use of the 2200's and the handling....

right, 3 and a bit hours before its poets time.... I'd rather be building a hustle!

[Trevor Crook]

I think there could be c of g issues with 2200s. Mine needed the servos near the tail and the 1300 LiPo as far back as I could get it. It flies very well on the 1300, with 10min + duration, as it doesn't need much power most of the time. Mine's got the flat bottom wing and U/C - I even connected the steering nosewheel, and all works well.

[Steve Houghton 1]

I experienced the same as Trevor. I used a 1300 LiPo and had to move it right back onto the wing, and my servo's were behind the wing also. Flight times again about 10 mins and I'd set the timer for 9 minutes. Mine too was the flat bottomed wing with U?C and steerable nose wheel.

I enjoyed flying it with the U/C attached as I was able to take off and land, but it does have small wheels which in anything longer than a bowling green lawn isn't going to work, so you'd be best hand launching and belly landing.

[Olly P]

I have got a few 1800's and a couple of 1450's, so will have to see what works - I can see a series of lines being drawn on the fus sides!

[Ben B]

I do worry you won't get the CoG right. Admittidly I've got a A2826-10 from RCMDirect on the front of mine (1400kv, 18A on a 8*6 on 3s) which is a little bit heavier than the stock 2822 motor but even with only a 1300 3s up front I have to have a bit of weight on the tail.

If you stick a 1800mAh or 2200mAH in (particularly if you've used the standard servo mount positions and you've got the U/C fitted) I think you'll end up sticking half a church on the rear.

ps the 2826-10 is a good upgrade. RCM rate it at around 14A but the AXI one is rated at 19A. Mine runs at 18A flat out and it comes down cool as a cucumber. And it's certainly fast with it fitted.

[Olly P]

I've got the upgrade kit from Britflight on mine, and while the servos are in, I can easilly move them as they are only screwed in at present, apart from the aileron one!

Given the responses here I may move the servos right back, and the battery also. I am planning on fitting the u/c and ESC first then checking CG with servos and batteries in various positions.

The 1800mAh battery is the one provided with the electric kit, I just happen to have a few more of them lying around!

I might have a look at fully tail mounting the servos and fitting a seperate (spare) 9g servo for the nosewheel, slaving a channel to rudder at the tx to control it.

[C Norton]

I still feel 2200 may be not ideal. Don't forget you still need to allow room around the ESC for cooling air to flow, and using it at half throttle will heat it up more than at full! The wing loading will be higher, performance will suffer and do you really want to fly for more than 10/15 minutes at a time anyway with a small and fairly fast plane?

Just my idle thoughts.....

[Olly P]

As I say, I have a few 1800's, and 2200's and 1450's. I am tempted to try each. The size difference between the 1800's (like the one which came with the kit) and the 2200 is not in the direction bringing them closer to the ESC, but in the vertical direction!

I will experiment later, and make a decision based on that, was really just throwing out an idea for discussion, so thanks guys.

The 2200's can always be used to power the ST-330 non-motorised glider I'll be rigging this weekend with Dave G, which will keep it flying for a LONG time....