Panther F-9F Starmax v Lander

[Craig Carr]

Hi Tony,

 

Its a couple of years since I put the Watt Meter on the set up (ie when I first got it).

 

I seem to have 800Watts in my head from memory which tallys with your findings.  I will check it out again and let you know. 

 

From memory when I purchased the gear I seem to recall you had to select either the specific 3s or 4s version of the fan unit.  Im almost positive the motor in mine is 3900 KV so should be fine.

 

Craig 

 

 

Edited By Craig Carr on 05/10/2010 10:13:11

[TonyS]

As I'm going to maiden the Lander tomorrow - weather permitting - I thought I'd better post a pic ... just in case....

 

This is it in its custom livery with the wings fuse etc glassed with Poly-C....

 

Never got a pic of the underside ... but it's silver for contrast 

[Tim Mackey]

Looks nice Tony...best of luck with the maiden.

[TonyS]

Thanks Tim. I don't think i'll sleep tonight (like a kid before Christmas LOL) 

[ken anderson.]

no sweat tony--you'll be amazed how docile it is....on landing approach-it'll float forever....you've made a nice job of the model as well....as for the hand launch-it just need's a straight and level 'shove'.......

 

 ken anderson...ne..1..

[Craig Carr]

Looks great Tony,

 

Good luck with it tomorrow, but It will be fine.

 

Have a look at the posts 22/10/09 (crumbs a year nearly already ) on this thread re the bizzare tendancy both mine and Stephens models had of raising the nose sharply on landing.

 

Check yours out at height before making your landing.  If it does the same as ours it its easily caught by carefully squeezing a bit down elevator but on mine I programmed  a mix so the TX apllied it as I brought the throttle back to "off" 

 

Let us know how you got on

 

Craig

Edited By Craig Carr on 09/10/2010 12:55:45

[Alan B]

Hi Tony

 

Well I joined the Panther club!.  I think they all look great. I have kept mine standard - went for the Blue and yellow below. Took these last Friday after its maiden. There was a 10 knot wind but it handled it fine. It flew it again on Sunday, wind approx  the same but sunny.  I had repositioned the battery further forward after the first flight but it still wasn't enough as it still wanted to climb.  should sort it on the next sorty when I get the chance.

 

As Ken and Craig have commented - it flies well - no vices - bags of power in that Lander fan!   Have you flown yours yet?  The U/c is naff but so far it has held up but with a little epoxy added to strategic points.

 

PS  I had a real problem (is it just me!) trying to take off the top canopy cover. In the end I glued two small clear plastic tabs on it either side -  just by the forward ejection seat stickers. Lifting it off is so much easier now!

 

Al

Edited By Alan B on 12/10/2010 00:27:31

[Craig Carr]

Posted by Alan B on 12/10/2010 00:12:16:

Hi Tony

 

 

PS  I had a real problem (is it just me!) trying to take off the top canopy cover. In the end I glued two small clear plastic tabs on it either side -  just by the forward ejection seat stickers. Lifting it off is so much easier now!

 

Al

Edited By Alan B on 12/10/2010 00:27:31

No Alan, not just you. .....  I solved mine I think in a similar manner as you.

I appropriated a bit of ribbon from my better half's sewing box and expoxied some of it under the canopy and just a little bit left showing at the front as you shut the canopy,  after the flight pull the "ribbon tag" and "Bobs your uncle".

 

 

Tony how did your Maiden go???

Edited By Craig Carr on 12/10/2010 10:39:17

[TonyS]

Maidened the Panther today at the club - someone to help launch and a proper grass strip to land.. sadly no video. Maybe next time.

Winds were a real pain being exactly 90 degrees to the runway and around 10 knots with occasionally stronger gusts.

The Lander behaved beautifully and as everyone suggested, a fairly gentle launch with flaps on and it leapt into the sky with no drama. The only problem I had was a strong tendency to nose-up all the time - by the time I'd done a few circuits I had maxed out on down trim on the elevator and it was still a little nose up.

I didn't need to trim out anything else and at full chat it really did shift, so much so that I was happy tootling around between half and three-quarter throttle most of the time.

Vertical was unlimited which did surprise me but I have heard good things of the 4S Lander alloy fans.

The glassing was a great idea offering full protection on landing. I do however need to consider some kind of protection for the cheater hole - they's just cut the grass on the landing strip and you can imagine what grass the plane picked up - thankfully it landed with the fan off completely!

The plane has plenty of presence in the air and the colour scheme really helped with orientation (particularly in a blue sky - the silver underside did start to get difficult to see against steel grey clouds).

I have had a bit of a moan about the general quality but in the air it really is a great plane. I would recommend one but you do need to spend a bit of time on it to make it robust.

T