RE: Sims
Thanks Dave, I actually have a 9CAP, but it is Heli compatible and I have been thuimbing through the manual to check out the CCPM programming and trimming. I also have the Turnigy Accucell-6 and a couple of Zippy 3S 2200 mah 20C batts for a simple stick, so I am halfway there in terms of equipment. If I didn't have the radio and electrical components I would have considered the RTF setups more seriously. Thanks for your feedback, I really appreciate it, Curtis
Posted on: 11/13/2009 10:00 PM by Author "beau0090_99" in the forum "RC Helicopter Beginners Forum"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9252254

RE: Factory settings for an OS 40 FP??
I had to start over on Sunday too, and 2.5 for me was right, but that was with a Pitts muffler. Good luck, C
Posted on: 11/3/2009 8:58 PM by Author "beau0090_99" in the forum "Beginners"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9226345

RE: I am now a nervous flyer?????
That's great to hear. I hope you got out there before the rain moved in. C
Posted on: 11/3/2009 8:51 PM by Author "beau0090_99" in the forum "Beginners"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9226327

RE: does anyone use nylon bolts from grainger?
Jon, I would try it, but do you have an account with Grainger? I tried buying a spanner wrench about 10 years ago from them, because I couldn't find one anywhere else and they hassled me, because I wasn't a corporate customer. Give it a try and report back. Curtis BTW, I just looked up the closest branch to my house and found one half-way between here and Home Depot! Wish I would have known that earlier.
Posted on: 11/3/2009 10:29 AM by Author "beau0090_99" in the forum "Beginners"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9224898

RE: ACE Seamaster
LOL, I don't even see an "EDIT" in the post, what happened?
Posted on: 10/31/2009 11:47 PM by Author "beau0090_99" in the forum "Seaplanes"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9219001

RE: Electric pro?
Stang, That is one pretty bird. I got your PM, but haven't had much time to reflect on it. If you want to pursue doing electrics, the best thing to do right now is to get a wattmeter. If you want to spend some money, skip that but get an eagletree VS with the brushless sensor and the temp sensor. It will really help you figure out what is happening in your power system. I got mine with a $20 of $50 at Tower for about $65, money well spent. My first impression is that you are either hitting your Low Voltage Cutoff on the ESC, or you are maybe hitting a thermal shutdown on the ESC, but I suspect that would not allow you to restart like the LVC issue. The datalogger would better help you determine what is happening. We can get you your speed fix, but it may take a little time. Take a look at the other thread here in the beginner's forum about motor/ESC/Battery selection and I reference a program called DriveCalc. It's freeware and it is powerful. Best Regards, Curtis
Posted on: 10/31/2009 11:46 PM by Author "beau0090_99" in the forum "Beginners"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9218998

RE: Electric pro?
With what you posted and the graph that accompanied it, you are definately pushing your battery. A 13/20 battery is fairly old technology (like a computer, it is about 1.5-2 years old), but they have come a long way and now a 1320 20/30 or 30/40 can be had for about $20. Easiest thing would be to upgrade your battery. On the chart it says that you would be pulling about 23.9 A, which at you size battery is 23.9/1.320 = 18C. For you to hit your speed, assuming you are already doing 110 mph, you would probably have to double your power to the prop or maybe more, which is going to require doubling your current to the motor (That assumes the same efficiency, which is not correct). Knowing this you will have to change the following: Battery, ESC, Motor,Prop. If you just want to fly the same as you have been doing, you should at least change the battery to something that can continuously pull 24A. Being that you have a CC25, you may want to upsize this for some overhead. I don't know what your motor is rated for, but you may want to check those specs too to make sure you are safe. Hope this helps. If you need help finding a combo to get you to 150 mph, PM me and we can talk. Best Regards, Curtis
Posted on: 10/31/2009 9:46 AM by Author "beau0090_99" in the forum "Beginners"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9217272

RE: ESC/motor/prop combos
Wow, I didn't realize they launched their own little wattmeter. The first one you listed was also a servo driver (so you can use the pot to run the ESC). If it were me, I would get the second one. I think it is quite a bit smaller and more portable. What I bought was the Eagletree V3 logger for my planes. I also got a temp probe and Brishless sensor so I can plot speeds and temp with the motors. It's not tremendously expensive, but more than a wattmeter. Before I bought that I actually made my own wattmeter out of a harbor freight DVM. Search out RCGroups.com for the $3 Wattmeter thread by Rich Smith. Did you see in the link to your plane the comments about the stock setup (it comes ready to fly after you add a battery and Rx) "Plane too boring with the stock motor. Only one flight with stock set up. Hooked a turnigy 2632/3400 and a 40A Super simple ESC with 4,1x4,1 prop and 3S 1550 Zippy bat. New motor fits perfect in the stock motor mount and flies pretty fast now. Will try 4,5x4,5 and 4,75x4,75 , I think the motor can handle them. I had to replace the shaft of the motor as it broke during ground testing." You could just use motor and ESC that the user spec'd" I just saw that HobbyCity is posting this plane if you are interested in an EDF. [link=http://hobbyking.com/hobbycity/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=10358]Jetiger Plug and Fly[/link] Best Regards, Curtis
Posted on: 10/31/2009 9:33 AM by Author "beau0090_99" in the forum "Beginners"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9217253

RE: ESC/motor/prop combos
Replying to both posts of your K3 - Yes. For a fun jet or flying wing, the prop can actually limit you more than a trainer plane would. Most funjets are in the 4-6" range, whereas some trainers could fit a 9-14" prop on the front. A lot of people choose to put the largest prop on an electric conversion as possible, but I prefer to use what is "normal" OpJose is right though too, you don't need to start this way, but when you get past the W/lb estimation, there are still a lot of factors to narrow down and I like to choose a prop size and go from there. You can always dither back and forth from your starting prop size to find what you prefer. Going back to the second to the last post you put up, that is a good way of doing it, but like Opjose said, let the numbers show you what ESC size you need. I'm glad you had some motors to pick from, so I could find one that might be in a good range. Like most people will say here even regarding nitro planes, buy a bunch of props and see which one makes the plane fly the way you like it to. It is near impossible to say how the plane will act once in the air, because, depending on the actuall aerodynamic effects of the airframe, it may unload differently in the air than on the ground. Try Try Try and make sure to get yourself some kind of Wattmeter. Regards, Curtis
Posted on: 10/30/2009 2:33 PM by Author "beau0090_99" in the forum "Beginners"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9215374

RE: ESC/motor/prop combos
What is happening is you are loosing that energy you put in to heat. The 3900 kv motor is used for a couple of things:1. A heli motor where it is geared way down before going to the rotor. 2. A motor for use in a ducted fan, where the impeller diameter is very small (maybe 55mm ~ 2 inches) or 3. a plane like you have (a funjet) but using a 2S battery instead of a 3S. The higher kv motor in the same sized motor will generally handle more current, because there are fewer turns of wire, so the wire in the same stator can be of larger guage and handle the increased current. You can think of the number of turns kind of like the gear ratio in a transmission. The more turns, the higher the gear ratio, and the lower the output speed of the motor given the same voltage. Note: this doesn't perfectly equate across product lines, but for the same design motor with the same number of poles, it is generally true. Confused yet? Finding that "perfect" motor is impossible, but I think with a little tinkering you can find one that will work well for you. Curtis P.S. On that first chart you posted, did you see what happened to the current? Try putting your 3900 motor back in there with the 4.75x4.75, but change the number of cells in your battery to 2 (like in bullet #3 above) and see what you get.
Posted on: 10/30/2009 9:20 AM by Author "beau0090_99" in the forum "Beginners"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9214681

RE: ESC/motor/prop combos
No problem at all. Check out the tool and let me know if you have questions. It is pretty powerful, especially if you decide to invest in a Datalogger, or even a wattmeter (every electric pilot's best friend). The datalogger will show you RPM, Current, Voltage and other things like temps and stuff. I have one and have built a few motor databases and it is very useful. Remember that the 4.75x4.75 has a pitch that is about 19% higher than the 6x4, and because the diameter is 1.25 inch smaller, it can use it's power into providing thrust at speed, rather than thrust at stall. This allows the prop to propel the plane at a rate actually higher than 19% greater than the 6x4 prop. It's kind enigmatic if you think about it. Peak efficiency is more of a guesstimate to see if we are applying the motor properly. If the motor's peak was say 90%, but we propped it for 60%, then we are probably misapplying the motor. If it is 78% and we prop for 73%, we are doing pretty well with the given motor. I think you're on to it. Keep playing around with things. I would always recommend a wattmeter or a datalogger so you can see what your actual setup is drawing to keep your ESC, motor, and battery happy. Good luck, C
Posted on: 10/29/2009 10:14 PM by Author "beau0090_99" in the forum "Beginners"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9213846

RE: ESC/motor/prop combos
Unfortunately all I could find for you was the HXT motor in the database. It is pretty large, but there are a ton of motors out there to choose from, so it is tough. Anyway, here are the two charts that I produced with two of the several props that you had. The two props are kind of at the opposite ends of their respective ranges, so one is speed and the other is thrust. Take a look... As you can see in the first picture, the prop is a 4.74x4.75 and it will pull about 13.7 Amps at 10.69 volts pulling in 146Watts. It will make about 328 g thrust, and do about 112 km/h which is clicking along pretty well (actually very good for a flying wing or funjet). The next chart shows the 6x4 prop pulling in about 16.3A at 10.61v and 173 Watts. It will make about 640g and do about 85k/h which is significantly slower and might not be very fun. Both props are running about 70-74% efficient which isn't great for an inrunner, but considering peak eff for this one is about 78, you aren't too bad off. At this point I would say try all props and see what you like. Make sure you have an ESC that can handle 16A * 120% or about 20A and you should have some great fun. I wish I could check out the other motors for you, but I don't have any data. If you dig it up yourself (motor electrical data, no load Current, kv, etc.) you can make your own motor file in DriveCalc and estimate them. The charts we see were generated using data obtained from actually running the motor with various props, battery sizes and using a data logger, so the data is actually very accurate. I hope this helps again. Best regards, Curtis
Posted on: 10/29/2009 8:32 PM by Author "beau0090_99" in the forum "Beginners"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9213536

RE: ESC/motor/prop combos
Hey K3nv, Sorry, I was out all day and am just getting back to it. The site you showed is very similar to DriveCalc, which is found at DriveCalc.de (I think). DC is very similar to MotoCalc which a paid for program. What these programs will tell you is what your combo will do. It is hard to imagine what values your airplane will need, and there are just so many factors in designing for them, that we just need to start somehwere. Like you saw, when you increase the kv the speed goes down. Weird huh? Well, it may be that you are loading up the motor more and it is getting "bogged" down. That is why we shoot for the %80 efficiency where most motors run best. Seriously, if you give me the exact Turnigy or Hobbymate or Icecold motors I could give you a few screenshots and combos real quick like. Just pick a few motors to try to get the hang of it. The important numbers that the programs will give back are the speed and the thrust. Generally we want to fly at 3x the stall speed. Trainers fly slow (maybe stall at 15-25 mph), where a jet might stall at 50-75 mph. So if you want to cruise then pic the appropriate number. One of the funny things you will see is that as your stall speed increases, generally your thrust to weight ratio drops. On a slow stall trainer or even a 3D machine, the thrust is high, where a jet might just have the thrust to make speed(but not accelerate very fast). Hope this helps. Feel free to send me a PM or post here and we can continue the discussion. Real numbers will help a lot. Curtis
Posted on: 10/29/2009 5:45 PM by Author "beau0090_99" in the forum "Beginners"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9213089

RE: ESC/motor/prop combos
Thanks CG, By all means, feel free to share. I've learned a lot of things from this site and RCGroups.com as well and hopefully I can give back something. Curtis
Posted on: 10/29/2009 5:37 PM by Author "beau0090_99" in the forum "Beginners"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9213070

RE: ESC/motor/prop combos
If you can tell me what model the motors are, I could give you a good ballpark for what the 3S battery will do with various props using Drivecalc (assuming their data is in the database). BTW, yeah, that is typically how I would do it. I wouldn't necessarily pick the largest prop, but one of nominal size. You wouldn't put a 4-6 inch prop on a 40 sized trainer, and you wouldn't put a 12 inch prop on your funjet. I figure this is the easiest way to start looking at combos. Curtis
Posted on: 10/29/2009 8:04 AM by Author "beau0090_99" in the forum "Beginners"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9211756

RE: ESC/motor/prop combos
You're kinda working backwards. Here is a breakdown of how I size a motor/esc/prop combo (doing a glow conversion mostly) Look at the size prop you can put on the plane and choose one (let's say it is a .46 conversion). 12x6 prop (just a swag) Look at the weight of the plane and the type of flying. 75W/lb for trainers up to about 150-200W/lb for 3D. A decent outrunner motor should be limited to about 3 watts per gram of weight of the motor. Let's use a 7 pound trainer now as an example. 7lbs at 75W/lb is 525W. At 3 grams per watt we're looking at a motor of at least 175 grams. Ok, this will get us in the ballpark. Now, this is where the iterative process starts. Looking into the different motors available (I shop Hobbycity.com a lot) You kinda have to fit the motor to the prop and back and forth. It helps to have a good database to start with too. I use Drivecalc, which is freeware and is powerful. Here is what I do: knowing that I have a 12x6 prop and I want to get about 525 watts of power into the prop I need to know how fast that prop will need to spin. I have a program that has the prop constants in it called ThrustHP. Using this and knowing I have the 12x6 and 525 watts, I can convert for HP and get about .6962 HP. Knowing this I can play with the RPM number to get the same power. I see that 9250 RPM will give me about the power I want. OK, now that I know that I need about 9250 RPM at load, I can find out what my no load speed should be. At about 75-80% of no-load most brushless outrunners make the most efficiency, so if I take 9250/.8 I get about 11,500 RPM. I would use this information and the motors that I typically shop to find out what the range of Kv is for the motor s in the 175-200g size range. Knowing that I shop HC, most of these motors are between 900 and 1100 kv (looking at the Turnigy SK35-48). So if I use one (1100 kv) and take 11,500/1100 I get 10.45 Volts, and if I take 11500/900 I get 12.7V. So a good nominal battery might be a 3S lipo. and because it is nominally 11.1 v, I would want to choose the 1100kv motor so I can get at least 11,500 RPM nominally on the prop. OK, now we have a prop, motor, and battery type, what size do we need? Well, at %80 efficiency getting 525 Watts out of the motor, we would be putting about 650 Watts into the motor. If we have a battery that is 11.1v, then we would be pulling about 60 amps peak. This tells us that we need a battery that at peak can provide 60A, and also an ESC that can handle 60A peak. How big of a battery do I need? Well, common ratings are 20C continuous and 30C peak, so if you had a 2200 mah battery (which is very common), then at continuous it should be able to supply 20 * 2200 or 44A cont. and 66A peak. I always urge you to add about 15-20 percent overhead. 2600 mah batteries and 3300 mah batteries are getting more common and they will allow for higher current drains and will give you better battery life if you are running that high of current. This is a pretty comprehensive overview, but these are the things I run through when doing an electric conversion. If you want help on your specific project, feel free to PM me. Best Regards, Curtis
Posted on: 10/28/2009 11:17 PM by Author "beau0090_99" in the forum "Beginners"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9211172

RE: Hinge Pins
The issue with the pins is that you are relying on the cross grain of the wood in the toothpick. When you combine this with the fact that the hinge material and trailing edge or surface material is sandwiched, then you are actually using the shear strength of the cross grain in the wood, rather than the bending strength. Actually if you used a smaller diameter piece of steel pin, rather than the larger diameter of wood, you might end up ripping the hinge material(using the metal) with less force than it would take with the wood dowl. Pinning these with bamboo skewers or round toothpicks adds a ton of strength. Curtis
Posted on: 10/27/2009 5:51 PM by Author "beau0090_99" in the forum "Beginners"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9206971

RE: Which Charger?
Jack, How do you supply 12v to your Accucell-8? I got a used PC power supply from a techie friend and tapped the 12v line. Curtis
Posted on: 10/26/2009 9:56 PM by Author "beau0090_99" in the forum "Beginners"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9204647

RE: Which Charger?
As Joe said, I love my Accucell-6 but will probably move up to the 8 simply because I want to charge my 6 cells faster. 50W is good, but 150 is a whole lot better. It's a great charger and for the money, you really can't beat it. C
Posted on: 10/22/2009 8:42 PM by Author "beau0090_99" in the forum "Beginners"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9194579

RE: Which Charger?
There are numerous people here including myself that would attest to the quality and ability of this charger: [link=http://Turnigy Accucell-6]http://www.hobbycity.com/hobbycity/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=7028&Product_Name=Turnigy_Accucel-6_50W_5A_Balancer/Charger[/link] Curtis
Posted on: 10/22/2009 6:22 PM by Author "beau0090_99" in the forum "Beginners"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9194251

RE: balancing a mid wing plane ?
Crossman's right. I built myself a Vanessa rig in about 15 minutes and it's one of the best tools int he shop now. Seriously underrated. C
Posted on: 10/22/2009 6:05 PM by Author "beau0090_99" in the forum "Beginners"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9194224

RE: Accu-Cycle charger problem
Deep cycling refers to dscharging a battery too low. I generally assume this to be 0.9 volts per cell on the pack for both NiCD and NiMH packs. So a 4 cell pack should stop discharging at 3.6v and a 5 cell would be 4.5v. C
Posted on: 10/22/2009 12:21 PM by Author "beau0090_99" in the forum "Beginners"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9193502

RE: Any good sea plane kits
Mike, You might want to take a look at the Sig Sealane. I have one and it is actually a pretty nice flier. There is a bit of dihedral in the wing, so it doesn't roll as easy as an Extra, but it is a fun plane to fly off water or snow and the kit is superb (laser cut and a lot of tab and lock construction). Regards, Curtis
Posted on: 10/22/2009 11:58 AM by Author "beau0090_99" in the forum "Seaplanes"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9193465

RE: gas eng looking
I believe the displacement of a 30CC gasser is equivalent to about a 1.8 cubic inch motor, but you need to cut that by about 1.5 for the equiv power. Meaning 1.8 CI down to 1.2 CI 2 Stroke Glow. Of course, this is different than 4stroke. Hope that helps, Curtis
Posted on: 10/21/2009 5:01 PM by Author "beau0090_99" in the forum "Questions and Answers"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9191466

RE: I am now a nervous flyer?????
You know Jon the weather is starting to get colder, are you sure that you are dressing appropriately. I can understand what you mean. I had a real hard time when I built my Sealane and had put so much time and energy into it. I was always afraid of a bad dead stick or dumb thumbs, but now I have enough time on it and enough alternate planes that I worry less when I fly it. It certainly is no fun if you are giving yourself and ulcer just trying to have fun. I would second Mike's advice, get the trainer out and beat on it a little and it should go away. Curtis P.S. I saw Jeep last weekend, and it looks like he is doing great. He got his solo I think, but managed to break the front out of his plane on a bad bounce. Too bad, but I can tell he is severely hooked.
Posted on: 10/21/2009 3:58 PM by Author "beau0090_99" in the forum "Beginners"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9191341

RE: advise wanted!
Honestly, I would say that you would want a larger engine if you want a 4S. I would choose at least a 91 4S engine. The plane weighs 7.5 pounds and calls for at least a .61 2S engine. Also, what elevation is Durango? If it is above 2000 feet above Sea level, the extra engine may help you out more. Good Luck, Curtis
Posted on: 10/21/2009 3:23 PM by Author "beau0090_99" in the forum "Beginners"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9191257

RE: elevator setup
Neutral and neutrally balanced. You won't be sorry with this setup. Curtis
Posted on: 10/20/2009 8:58 PM by Author "beau0090_99" in the forum "Beginners"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9189386

RE: Dual Output Charger?
His may be 4 cell in a 2S2P configuration. But yeah, generally we say they are 2cell if they are 7.4V. Splitting hairs. C
Posted on: 10/19/2009 8:49 PM by Author "beau0090_99" in the forum "Beginners"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9186512

RE: Dual Output Charger?
If you buy the $35 Hong Kong stocked charger, they have about 500 in stock and the shipping won't bee too bad (about the difference between buying them stateside and shipping from Hong Kong). Curtis [link=http://www.hobbycity.com/hobbycity/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=7028&Product_Name=Turnigy_Accucel-6_50W_5A_Balancer/Charger]Accuell-6[/link]
Posted on: 10/19/2009 11:56 AM by Author "beau0090_99" in the forum "Beginners"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9185206

RE: Ok time for suggestions
I just ran out of memory on my 6EXAS and decided to buy a 9CAP off ebay as well. Reason I went this way was: price (72 Mhz with 3 crystals shipped for $140), Expandability (room for the CAMPac module to increase to 14 models or 8 +6 models per CAMPac), and (Modular Transmission in the back), and Features (I think 9 channels will be enough for me). Curtis
Posted on: 10/16/2009 4:08 PM by Author "beau0090_99" in the forum "Beginners"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9178484