Phils E-Pioneer assembly

[Phil Winks]

Finally she's more or less ready for the of. Just one or 2 minor details to finish, velcro in the bty bay, and a securing strap on the servo lead joints at the tail. and of course setting the throws up when I install the rx

She has balanced out spot on with a 3300Mah bty at the back of the bty bay so fears of the heavier servo's were unfounded in fact when she gets a 4s bty I may find myself adding tail weights. That said her power test shows 508W (static) with an 11x8.5 two blade E prop and the 3s bty and AUW has come out at 4.7lb so as a trainer her power is spot on

Now some pics

I swapped the spinner because the supplied one was way way out of balance and not even true

4 neatly labeled servo plugs await the RX

I have to agree with whoever said it earlier the tail servos do look a tad untidy but I can see why they did it this way and even on a below mid sized plane like this removing the tail feathers will avoid a fair amount of hanger rash

Finally packed up ready for transport/storage

that should see it capable of going on any back seat or in any car boot especially if you split the nose off, and remove the U/C

Been fun so far putting this together and now, obviously, I'm looking for good weather and free time to coincide to allow the maiden.

In the mean time I've got lots to write up in the PDF file I linked to at the begining so still plenty to do

I just hope this adds to what Martin has done and helps ease a few more newbies into the sport

Link to my Assembly guide. please note this is still a work in progress at the min

Phil

[Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator]

Nice one Phil. Very smart job.

Looking forward to hearing how the maiden goes.

BEB

[Phil Winks]

Me too Dave not looking to promising for this weekend though, bank hols and I'm either working or sleeping lol

Though if I do things right I may get mon of for good behaviour

and a quick look on the met office site suggests good maiden weather 6mph winds straight down the runway

Phil

[Phil Winks]

Mondays planned maiden will not be happening took the opportunity to install the radio gear last night and here's a lesson for us all. check your servo's as soon as you get them for centering and travel. all went well till I fired up and the rudder servo was hunting for centre fluttering the rudder 3 or 4 degrees either side of neutral like a butterflies wing and no spare servos dang it is pretty much what I said

Still half an hour on Hobby Kings live chat help page and I have a new one on its way and a spare for my trouble.

in the end all I had to do was provide them with video evidence of the problem and they sorted it at 11:15 at night thats pretty good customer service I think

Phil

[Phil Winks]

apart from the maiden report I guess this is the last of the assembly reports and pictures. as I'd opted to try a 3 axis gyro in this plane I've had to fit it securely and accurately lined up with the length of the fuselage and as close to the COG as possible. All very easy in the roomy radio bay on this bird.

to ease the fitting of all the leads I secured the gyro and RX to a 2mm plastic plate fitted the leads and then screwed the plate to the radio bay floor

So now just waiting for the replacement rudder servo and she's ready for her maiden and not before time too

Phil

[Stephen Grigg]

Takes me nostalgically back to mine Phil, and Ive come along way since then

[Phil Winks]

Thats what they're for stephen to be fair this is my second trainer the 1st being the arising star and hopefully this one is as much fun to fly if a little quieter. the servo issue was annoying still at least they were quick at sorting it.

Just noticed your from Basingstoke. I actually grew up in Tadley from being 7 to 19 and cut my flying teeth with single channel slopers off white hill outside Newury happy days

Phil

[Stephen Grigg]

How interesting Phil ,,ill ask some of my club mates if they flew from there

[Phil Winks]

time is trotting on and weather, as usuall, work ,as always, and other comitments, are still keeping me of the flying field.

However things are looking good for this or next weekend, weather permitting, for the maiden, and then to find out how the gyro helps, in blustery conditions, to stabilize her.

So fingers crossed and pray for dry, though not to calm conditions.

There have been some amendments/additions to the PDF file (link in post 1) and so it also progresses, albeit slowly, towards completion too.

 

Edited By Phil Winks on 12/09/2013 20:43:37

[Phil Winks]

some major updates due the maiden was uneventfull, Just as it should be, the flight stabiliser worked well and was little trouble to get set right.

since then I've started an upgrade to the radio system installing the Orange rx DSM2 compatilble system and a wireless buddy system, this works by allowing 2 seperate rx's to talk to the servo's/ESC the master tx uses one of its switched aux channels as a trainer switch to switch between instructor and student rx. being DSM2 its a breeze to bind a different TX in if you swop instructors for any reason and the instructor and student can fly on differing modes and in fact differing systems if you want to swap one of the rx's, all in all very flexible.

I've mounted the system on a removable radio tray to facilitate any tx swaps etc, the loose ext lead is to make it easy to get to the master rx bind port

this fits fairly easily with the flight stabiliser end screwed to the original radio tray, you just gotta love the amount of space in this model

[Phil Winks]

Here's a bit of an update as its over a year since I posted in this thread. She has flown superbly on 3s and got me comfortably through my A test last august, a long over due event, since then I've tried, with disappointing results, a 4s set up, performance was not up at all, mostly due, I feel to to big a battery, so a lighter bty will be tried soon. As soon as I put the E-Pioneer II together, yes I hit the deck to hard when I screwed a roll up while coming out of a stall turn way to close to terra firma for comfort. To be honest the only real damage was the main fuselage, the nose section and tail feathers un damaged, and only one tiny hole in one wing and a bent wing tube, no damage whatsoever to the hardware Rx etc (even the prop seems good), thats all tested and performs fine.

So a new kit purchased and delivered 3 days after the mishap from George at 4-Max with a 1250 kv motor as a possible upgrade from the 100kv one fitted once I've done my usual power and thrust tests on it.

Edited By Phil Winks on 20/08/2015 19:08:35

[Dave Hopkin]

I run a Turnigy D3526/1250Kv rated at 500W in mine with a 12x6 prop, on a 3S 4000 I can easily get 8 mins out if it

Flies a treat

[kc]

Did you mean 3526 Dave? or did you mean 3536? This one?