Adrian Smith 1 Posted December 26, 2017 Author Share Posted December 26, 2017 Hi Rich, I make my my own leads up and most of it from the Compenent shop. Sry for being tardy but xmas festivities intervenes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian Smith 1 Posted December 30, 2017 Author Share Posted December 30, 2017 In the workshop this afternoon for the final job before the maiden flight. Basically, to fix the battery tray from moving in flight. I glued a dowel pillar on the fuselage floor and drilled out a hole for the sprung hatch pin. I used 30 minute epoxy here. Next the catch was cyanoed into the battery tray. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian Smith 1 Posted December 30, 2017 Author Share Posted December 30, 2017 Lastly, fitted the tray and checked to see if the spring pin was engaging correctly. Well eventually it did! I have ordered a couple more 5000 mAh 6s lipos from Pegasus Models in Norwich which are due here on Tuesday. They will need a couple EC5 connectors soldered on as the batteries come without any connectors. Must admit I am looking forward to some decent weather to go out and flight test the aircraft. More on that when it is done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian Smith 1 Posted January 12, 2018 Author Share Posted January 12, 2018 Well despite early fog today, the weather turned out this morning to be ideal for a maiden flight with hardly any wind and bright sunshine. No time like the present so off to the field for rigging and photos. Helpfully, apart from wing bolts there 4 spring clips the secure the wing in place too. I like belt and braces. Everything slotted in correctly although I am not using a Side Force Generators. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian Smith 1 Posted January 12, 2018 Author Share Posted January 12, 2018 On to the strip ready to go. I am not using a spinner for the moment. May not be pleasing on the eye, but it is functional with out it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian Smith 1 Posted January 12, 2018 Author Share Posted January 12, 2018 After flight reports are mostly positive. More on the negative later. Firstly, the positives. Unusually for me, initial signs were that no trimming was required for first two flights. Very smooth flights ensued. It will need a bit more throw on the rudder as in knife edge it felt as though I could use some more so I have dialled in an extra 10%. CoG is about right and I only needed a tad of forward stick to keep her level inverted. Landing was a doddle and quite benign so all good there. So what are the negatives? Well apart from doing all she should, performance was ..... how shall I say not sparkling. Furthermore, on the first flight I set my timer at 7 minutes which probably was a bit optimistic as I approached the final circuit the motor power faded to nought. The virtue of a separate RX battery paid off as I was able to dead stick in to land. The first flight was using Overlander 6S 5000 mAh in series for 12S setup. The second flight was better using Turnigy 6S 5000 mAh in series for 12S setup. I set the timer to 5 1/2 minutes and rechecked the ESC/Throttle signal. Following the timer strictly and flying the standard aero schedule I landed under full power with no stress. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian Smith 1 Posted January 12, 2018 Author Share Posted January 12, 2018 So to the debrief. I am using a 24X8 E wooden prop, but I think I might be better served by going down to 23x8E which is still in the acceptable range for the recommendations that came with the motor. This if only to assist in duration. The Overlander cell voltages after the first flight were a bit of a eye opener with 3.2 volts -3.1 volts across the board. Not good. I have now balance recharged the Overlander Lipos back to around 3.6-3.7 volts ready for the next flight charging. Now the Turnigy cell voltages after a slightly shorter flight were 3.77-3.78 volts which are where I like to be at the end of a flight. I am sure I will get a lot of suggestions here about marginal performance and duration and improving the same, so I will take it all on board. Given that the manual states the use of 5000 mAh lipos I am not sure I really want to go up to 6000 mAh given the extra weight involved. The other thing I may need to do is pay a bit more for my regular flight batteries for some of a better quality. Now I have an admission to make. I know I should measure the current draw at full chat with my volt meter, but, and I know this will sound stupid, I am not sure of a convenient place to put the probes! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john stones 1 - Moderator Posted January 12, 2018 Share Posted January 12, 2018 I struggle to warm to the short flights with lecky models, I cannot fault the power and way lecky performs, duration's are real downside for me, I would buy bigger packs, moaning aside sounds like a good model Adrian. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian Smith 1 Posted January 12, 2018 Author Share Posted January 12, 2018 Thanks & yes John, she really in a nice model. The amount of duration I can stand without loosing concentration is between 8-9 minutes so 7 minutes on my other leccys is perfectly fine. That said given I am using 4500mAh 6S lipos x 2 on 30cc equivalent motors suggests 5000 mAh x 2 on a 60 cc equivalent ain't going to be enough, so I take your point mate. Still giving it some thought at the mo' though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich too Posted January 14, 2018 Share Posted January 14, 2018 Well done on the maiden Adrian perhaps research batteries and see if you can find some decent lightweight ones? The downside is that they are probably expensive. Back to petrol....... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian Smith 1 Posted January 14, 2018 Author Share Posted January 14, 2018 Thought you might say that, Rich! I am going to try a 22x10E prop first and see what that does as I am only doing standard aerobatics. As you say, more mAh + better quality means more money. Hey Ho ...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian Smith 1 Posted January 14, 2018 Author Share Posted January 14, 2018 Just had a look at the Flying Giants forum, Rich. Really great for info as you say for both big leccys and gassers. Top notch! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Manuel Posted January 14, 2018 Share Posted January 14, 2018 Congratulations on the maiden Adrian. Model looks well and I can see that you've been busy on the field Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian Smith 1 Posted January 14, 2018 Author Share Posted January 14, 2018 Thanks Gary. I have keep the grass short for these electrics which is the only downside! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Manuel Posted January 14, 2018 Share Posted January 14, 2018 Our field is great, but we are at the mercy of the council for cutting the grass. Wheels spats are a no-no. At least you can give yours a quick short back and sides when it needs it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian Smith 1 Posted February 16, 2018 Author Share Posted February 16, 2018 Bit of an update after a few flights which may be of interest. The first observation is that I need to change the rudder servo to provide 20kg + as the one I have which it is a Savox producing around 15kg doesn't cut it. There just isn't enough rudder authority in knife edge flight with what I have got. Secondly, the Corvus is the only aerobatic plane I have had that is so easy to put into a genuine flat spin. A pleasant surprise indeed. Lastly, and this is completely unscientific, I have tested three brands of Lipos in the Corvus. They are Overlander, Turnigy and 4-Max all 6S batteries and all around 30-40C discharge rating. Admittedly they are all new lipos with only about 40 minutes use (in 12S setup), but the Overlander lipos seem to be noticeably more perky for the whole flight and provide good punch until the end of the 6 minute flights. The Turnigy and 4-Max batteries just don't seem have the "sparkle" and appear to sag towards end of the flight. Furthermore, and I found this surprising, it was the Overlander batteries that on the first usage, I accidentally (too optimistic on duration time!) depleted them to 3.2v per cell such that I had an almost dead stick and the RX battery got me down safely. I accept it's all about throttle management, but I think this behaviour was pretty standard amongst all flights tested. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian Smith 1 Posted August 9, 2018 Author Share Posted August 9, 2018 At long last, after now being able to access super fast fibre Broad band, I am able to upload videos. As promised here is a clip of the maiden which took place many moons ago. Not a great video as it was taken using my SunnyCam glasses ( later efforts taken with a GoPro Jobby). Anyway suffice to say she still flies very well and loving every minute of it! . Here you go - **LINK** Edited By Adrian Smith 1 on 09/08/2018 14:38:15 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john stones 1 - Moderator Posted August 9, 2018 Share Posted August 9, 2018 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.