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Taking the plunge with a SkyWing Edge 540 74"


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On the home straight now. As pure guesswork I set the elevators at 17 deg +/-, ailerons 16 deg +/- and because I like a lot of rudder authority I set at 30 deg +/-.  No expo at the moment because I just want to see how early flights go. The only thing left to do is set the throttle stick calibration, but I do that at the field. All these starting points are up for change, as I am quite cautious to start with hence the modest EPA on the working surfaces.  I did manage to use 2 channels for the elevators and 2 for the ailerons rather than a y-lead and this gives much more flexibility when setting up the working surfaces. The cockpit design is quite attractive and finishes her off well.

 

IMG_0927.thumb.jpg.9d9afa64de4d0cc6842f4d059181c682.jpg

 

So really now waiting for ideal conditions for the maiden .........

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  • 3 weeks later...

Here was I ready this morning to conduct the maiden .......

IMG_0944.thumb.jpg.27dadd37a52defd7d7bdee3ee8a7afb5.jpg

 

IMG_0942.thumb.jpg.2b183bf4af0c5a8914a59b2edd2cca92.jpg

 

 

Didn't happen!! 😦

 

Firstly, a couple of weeks ago I did all my usual checks such as working surfaces in the right sense, servos operational, EPA and that the motor was operational.

Well down at the patch the first thing I noticed was the port aileron was fluttering. Touching it stopped it only for it to return a few minutes later. Oh well! At least I can ESC/throttle  calibrate so all not lost. Wrong!! the motor wouldn't start at all - dead as a DoDo with all sorts of peeps coming from the ESC. Back to the work shop revealed the throttle lead plug into the RX had a loose connection. I changed the extension lead from the RX to the connecting plug from the other lead to the ESC. No good. So the whole front will have to come off including prop and cowl to see what's going on the other end. That will be later. Back to to the workshop to fetch another plane so the morning wasn't wasted. I fear the servo may be faulty, bit only testing will see. I will come back with findings. In the meantime any bright ideas .....?

 

 

 

 

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😳 Bit of an admission to make here I am afraid. The first investigation into why the motor wouldn't work was to look through my Futaba TX menus only to find that the throttle channel wasn't reversed! This being a quirk of Futaba one has to do otherwise the motor won't work.

IMG_0951.thumb.jpg.7d957b05a64c7c9ce5f5d95b56d344d6.jpg

 

Now I thought I had already done that at the testing stage, clearly not. That done the motor was left without a prop and sure enough it worked as it should. 

Right everything back together again adding the prop and outside the workshop for a full test run. Opened the throttle and all went well for 5 seconds then the motor died not to be revived again 😟. Might be a coincidence that on this occasion the prop was putting the motor under load (20x10 wood electric) I did notice the anti-spark connector used to connect the motor felt quite warm after such a short time. That's not right. Anyway off with the prop, cowl etc for another test - still nothing. I decided to reconnect the programming box to see if that still functioned (it did previously). Nothing apart from the odd flickering. I do wonder if the ESC has burnt out internally, but I have no way of telling. In any event I am back to square one. It was a new Opto ESC too, so I am a bit puzzled as the it is rated at 110amps for up to 14s use. Quite adequate for this set up. The two in series lipos (12s) I used to test are in regular use with another aircraft.

 

The second thing to establish is the fluttering port aileron servo appears to be faulty having tried it with just a y-lead and also using two separate channels as the alternative. 

I think I am going to put my hand in my pocket and flash the cash to put both issues right, but I will give it some more thought early next week. 

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12 hours ago, Paul De Tourtoulon said:

And also a quirky problem with JR radios, I had to program the motor end points to -150% / +150% to get my controller to work on

my Brothers radio,I think 'long ago' that was the same sort of problem with Hitec radios,,,

Haven't noticed that with my JR tx Paul.  I have a JR XG11 Tx and you can move the end points if you want but things work fine with my Jeti Spin 99 if you leave it as is.  Sorry, off post!

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  • 2 weeks later...

Well all solved now as per my earlier thread:-

https://forums.modelflying.co.uk/index.php?/topic/50941-completely-flummoxed/&tab=comments#comment-926608

 

In the meantime I swapped out the fluttering aileron servo and the replacement is perfect.

 

As the fault appears to be with the motor, consequently I have fitted this replacement:-

https://www.hobbyplastic.co.uk/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=250_426_427&products_id=12957

 

I have ground tested the power train on the ground using my original Opto ESC and all is as I expect. The motor seems pretty powerful on a 20 x 10 JXF prop and I am sure it will run on 10s as well as my usual 12s setups.

Now I want some decent weather to try the maiden again ........ 🤞

 

 

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  • 4 weeks later...

At last managed to get out for the maiden plus two extra flights today. Bit cooler although there was a bit of a crosswind which made landing and aeros a bit untidy. They will get better with familiarisation. 

The working surfaces were set very benignly at Elevator +/- 18 deg, Rudder +/- 30 deg and Ailerons +/- 16 deg with no Expo at the moment. The first flight was mainly trimming out with 4 clicks right aileron and a surprise for me with 6 clicks of down elevator.  That may say more about the position of the lipos although she doesn't seem to have CoG particularly rearward. Anyway something to investigate. Good to report the motor/prop combo works well and the motor delivers lots of power such that I had to lay off the stick a bit at times. Anyway the video is below which is nothing special, but at least gives a good illustration.

 

https://youtu.be/rl986JqQ-WQ

 

Incidentally, the 12S set up using two 5000 mAh in series also works well. I set the timer conservatively at 5 minutes, but on checking the voltages on landing each cell was around 3.99v which suggests I can increase duration to at least 6 minutes. I think I am going to enjoy flying her.

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