Max Thrust Riot XL

[Geoff S]

My 'go to' model for any conditions is my Riot. I've had it over 3 years and flown it 100s of times - probably more than any other model I own. So I'm quite interested in the new big Riot, the so-called XL. Has anyone bought/seen/flown one?

With the dearth of model shops locally there's nowhere I can go to look at one and I haven't seen a review. I'm a bit reluctant to shell out over £200 for a model unseen.

Geoff

[Former Member]

[This posting has been removed]

[Paul C.]

Not seen one yet but I think it's a job for 4s power, don't think you can use 3s from the smaller one. It's Christmas so why not go for it

[Geoff S]

Don't celebrate Christmas, PC I just try to let all the nonsense wash over me unnoticed. I still fancy the Riot XL though ... or the Wots Wot Foamie. The Riot's probably better value though ... perhaps.

Geoff

[IanR]

Geoff, you must mean the Techonehobby Air Titan. I hadn't heard or seen anything about the Riot XL before reading your post but look what I googled:- **LINK**

It seems that both the Riot, and now the Riot XL, have been badge engineered.

Ian

[Bob Cotsford]

No, Google shows that Geoff really does mean a MaxThrust Riot XL

[IanR]

As I said, badge engineering, though who knows which company engineered the model and which engineered the badge.

Ian

[Bob Cotsford]

or with what we know of Chinese sub-contracted manufacturing has it reached the stage where the factories are offering off the shelf designs to be branded by distributors? Or different brands for different continents as per ASP/Magnum/SC? As you say Ian, who knows?

More importantly, would a 3700 4S pack fit? I've got a couple of those I bought for the HK DH110

[Eagle 899]

Bob, CenturyUK says that the battery compartment measures 148 x 45 x 53mm

I had a Riot and might well go for one of these after Crimbo, Shep

[Geoff S]

They both look to be the same aeroplane but badge engineering isn't unknown in the ARTF world. That video was certainly helpful but didn't say an awful lot for all its length.

The nearest physical stockist to me is Gliders in Newark - about an 80 mile round trip. It's almost next door to Brownhills and I cycled over there to pick up our first campervan 15 years ago when I was a strippling of 60

Inwoods is the cheapest I've seen until you add the postage. I bought my Riot from them at a show. Others are more expensive but offer free postage.

Geoff

[Bob Cotsford]

Posted by Eagle 899 on 23/12/2015 14:57:26:

Bob, CenturyUK says that the battery compartment measures 148 x 45 x 53mm

I had a Riot and might well go for one of these after Crimbo, Shep

So a Zippy Compact 3700 will fit easily. I wonder if the price will drop after Christmas?

[IanR]

Quote from Max-Thrust's website -

"...Max-Thrust products are a collaboration of leading model companies’ products and our own designs, specified and manufactured to a much higher standard. We work incredibly closely with our manufactures to bring you a product that works, as it should!..."

So perhaps Max-Thrust are the badge engineers.

I would also be interested in getting one of these XL jobs but I am afraid that I must wait to hear what others have to say about build quality, first. My standard Riot came with a fuselage bent as a banana, the rudder and elevator pushrods were extremely stiff and the rudder and elevator hinges were terribly off-centre and would not self-centre. Having said that, I did pass my club's solo (almost up to BMFA "A" standard) test with it.

Ian

[Geoff S]

My original Riot's elevator hinge was off centre on one side, too but as it had no apparent effect on flying performance I didn't bother getting it replaced. I was offered a new tailplane/elevator when I phoned them but, as I was enjoying the models so much and I was asked to return the faulty part I didn't bother. Everything else was OK except the paint was coming off the motor cowl. The cowl on the XL looks not to be foam. Perhaps the worst feature of my Riot was the foam and wooden spinner, now replaced after a few windy landings on tarmac.

I think the Riot is quite capable of doing the 'B' schedule in the right hands. I can do all the manoeuvres but not very well.

You can see my early experiences here

Geoff

[Bob Cotsford]

Damn you Geoff! Resistance was futile and I've just ordered one from Inwoods on E-bay, £209.95 delivered.

Well I did need a new winter hack suitable for when the field is too muddy to drive on. Model, pocket full of batteries, transmitter and wellies - perfect. I don't know what size wheels it comes with but if need be they will be upgraded to something suitable for long grass - 4 or 5" maybe?

Edited By Bob Cotsford on 29/12/2015 14:34:31

[Geoff S]

OH, goodie. I have a tame reviewer I was wondering if I should make the 80 mile round trip to Gliders in Newark so I could see before buying but if your report is good I may not bother. IIRC their price is similar to Inwoods, also posted. I have planning permission from the management so that's a plus

On the small Riot I replaced the soft axles with high tensile 3mm cap head bolts because, despite my thistle down light landing technique, they were bending. No trouble since. Perhaps might be worth a look, especially if you're thinking of fitting bigger wheels.

Don't keep us in the dark.

Geoff

[Bob Cotsford]

Delivery estimate was 31st onwards. Thanks for the axle tip, I'm sure I've got some 4 and 5mmm HT bolts in stock should they be needed.

[Bob Cotsford]

First photos - sorry about the quality, but they were taken on my phone.

First impressions:

The model was blooded as a result of injuries sustained preparing the cardboard box for recycling. It's sturdy enough that I don't think a courier could do much to this kit even without the two layers of cardboard that Inwoods had wrapped it in.

The U/C is a sturdy unit, retained by 4mm bolts into the ply inner frame, the wheels are 3 1/4" on 4mm HT bolts/axles.

The tailplane assembly uses two 4mm bolts up through the fuselage into the base of the fin.

The wire pushrods for elevator and rudder would have been better if they were 5mm longer.

I can't see any banana-ing on the fuselage, the only warping looks to be a slight twist on one aileron.

The supplied 50A esc comes with a Deans T plug. Luckily I have the choice of adaptors or I have XT60 sockets I can fit. The esc is held up just by the velcro battery strap which means that when you invert the model to access the battery the weight of the esc pulls the strap through the battery mounting plate. A job for the hot glue gun?

The prop looks to be a clone of an APC 14*7E, and the supplied motor hiding in the cowl is a 3520 iirc 648kVm. The prop adaptor looks to be 6mm. A plastic spinner is supplied, similar to the ones supplied with Ripmax ARTFs. I guess it should be ok with electric, though the one on my Wot 4 XL exploded when testing the engine so if I can find a metal spinner in my spares then that's what will go on.

There are a few omissions in the instructions - no suggested control movements, no details on the LED voltage needed. The wing LEDs are connected through to a two wire connector simply marked 'switch'. The CG is quoted as 85-95mm back from the LE.

The only real issue I've found is that there's nowhere convenient to mount a D8R size receiver without obscuring the wing servo connectors.

 

Edited By Bob Cotsford on 31/12/2015 14:10:07

[Geoff S]

Thanks for that, Bob.

Is the undercarriage in one piece? So many seem to be in two, probably to make packaging easier.

Is the cowl foam or is it plastic/grp? The foam one on the small Riot isn't its best feature.

Are the flap servos mirror images or are they able to be joined with a Y lead? The Phoenix 2k is fine in that regard but my Mux Fun Cub needs a channel per flap which is a pain.

I knew I'd have to change the battery connector anyway because I use 4mm bullets with the male on the battery positive. Which seems to be unique! I'm seriously thinking of converting to XT60s but it's a lot of soldering on batteries and esc on several planes.

Surely there must be somewhere to fit a receiver! It's a big model. I'll probably use an X8R. I think I have a little 4 channel one in the small Riot.

Hope a test flight is in the offing. The wind's howling here.

thanks again

Geoff

PS I have NEVER connected the LEDs on my Riot.  The connector's too fiddly and I don't see the point in a sports model flown in daylight

Edited By Geoff Sleath on 31/12/2015 14:37:35

[Bob Cotsford]

ok Geoff, from the top:

The undercarriage is a single piece of 4mm or so alloy painted white to match the model.

The cowl is foam, with ply lugs to take two self tappers attaching it to the fuselage.

The flap servos are 'Y'ed in the wiring adaptor so there's just one flylead to the receiver. Both move in the same direction.

I bit the bullet and converted to XT60s earlier this year, and yes it is a lot of soldering!

There's a stack of room in the nose but the flyleads don't reach that far. I'm trying to avoid adding any weight in front of the wing so I'll add a platform above the two servos for the receiver.

For now I've plugged the LEDs into ch8, I think I've got an electronic switch somewhere so maybe they'll end up switched.

[Geoff S]

That looks quite neat. I like the connectors for the wing servos (I assume that's what the 'balance' connectors are for). There's been some discussion today about 'servo lead manifolds' which seems to be exactly what I see here.

It's looking good. I feel this, like my small Riot is something to fly when conditions (ie wind) are just too much for anything classy or precious in time or money spent.

Thanks for that

Geoff

[Bob Cotsford]

It's a lot neater now Geoff. I made a ply tongue to support the receiver, slotted into the foam at the front and trapped under the junction board at the back. I also rerouted the leads from the junction board and coated the leads with UHU-Por to support the soldered joints. Two strips of liteply support the junction board so that it doesn't bend over the receiver mount plate.

The wings are joined with a square incidence peg and a 1"ish carbon tube, then they are linked on top with two plastic bolt support plates. I just tacked the plates on using UHU-Por again so that I should be able to split the wing if I need to. There's no reason why it shouldn't be left as two piece, I just know that I'll lose the linking plates if I don't glue them to something.

Next I hacked out about 1/2" of foam at the rear of the battery compartment to give more room for the 3.85AHr NanoTech cells that I have. Now remember that the recommended size is 2.6AHr? With the bigger cells my Riot balances at the rearmost recommended CG of 95mm from the LE. Perfect.

The wing link plates:

[Geoff S]

Those link plates are very similar to the smaller Riot. I just keep them on the fuselage with the bolts loosely screwed in and keep the wing in one piece held by the joiner. It was handy to have the wing separable when I take it with us in our camper, as there's limited space for toys, especially if we have the tandem in there too

I'll almost certainly get one. Although with the consistently awful weather over the last couple of months it hardly seems worth it right now. I have a few building projects to keep me occupied but it's nice to get a day actually flying now and then.

Geoff

[Bob Cotsford]

I aught to make it a new year resolution - stop looking at weather forecasts and if I can stand upright, my glasses don't get washed away and I can see the back fence - go flying! It's the only way I'll get out to the field as we're forecast 30+ winds with light rain later.

Maybe next week for the maiden?

[Simon Wright]

on special...

http://www.inwoodmodels.com/index.php?id_product=6767&controller=product

[Bob Cotsford]

Bums. What's the postage? I'd guess it comes under the £15 rate - £199 all in. Only a tenner less than I paid then. I see they don't have a current ad on ebay now.

This morning I spun the prop and watched the distortion and wobble in the supplied spinner, luckily I'd got a red 52mm Irvine spinner so that's gone on. At least the tip doesnt wobble when I spin the motor.