RE: Zagi HP problem at full speed
Very interesting - I fly an Assassin and a few Swift II's. One Swift I repaired after a significant crasah had a huge problem with diving under power and that was caused by the motor angle - the problem disappeared after I adjusted the motor mount. But that doesn't begin to suggest an answer for your other issue.........here's a couple of (possibly idiotic) suggestions: 1) Is the motor powerful enough to cause the roll due to a torque reaction? 2) Are the servos working asymmetrically so that as you pull up to negate the diving, the left elevon moves up further than the right? 3) Does the wing have a twist in it that tends to roll to the right, and shows up more and more as the speed increases? 4) Is it possible that you have programmed in some odd behavior triggered by full throttle? I once programmed a trainer to push the elevator down as the throttle increased, to counteract its tendency to raise the nose as the speed picked up. It worked OK in the air, but almost prevented the plane from taking off if the mix was inadvertently turned on, as it pushed the nose down on full throttle, preventing flight. Not one of my best ideas. I hope something above helps, but I doubt it. Good luck!!......Chris
Posted on: 1/25/2012 8:01 PM by Author "lejongleur" in the forum "Foamies! - RC Electric Foam Aircraft"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=10928044

RE: Hinge preference
I'm not a huge fan of CA hinges except for small planes. I like the hinges that resemble a door hinge, and I usually use Gorilla to glue them in (VERY sparingly.) After that I like to seal the hinge gap with 3M Blenderm, which is really good. I even do this on combat foam wings, and it makes them a lot harder to destroy. When I've used just hinge tape alone I have found that sooner or later the hinge starts to fail, either at one end of an aileron, or near the pushrod horn if there is any flex in the material (e.g. EPP foam.) Hope this helps...Chris
Posted on: 1/7/2012 10:03 PM by Author "lejongleur" in the forum "Foamies! - RC Electric Foam Aircraft"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=10897288

RE: Nitromodels PREDATOR RQ-1B
You might want to up the power a bit as you suggest - at 40 ounces, 200W is not huge. However, the motor you showed a link to specs a 10x5 prop - Predator ground clearance really only allows for a 9" prop so you might want to consider a 9x6 or similar. Hope this helps...Chris
Posted on: 9/27/2011 3:48 PM by Author "lejongleur" in the forum "Electric Aerobatic & Sport Planes"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=10737241

RE: Need opinions on motor selection for large electric.
Your Rimfire motor is designed for higher voltages than 8S A123 (i.e. 26.4V) - the motor spec says 33-44V. In order to get 2000W (i.e. 200w/pound in a 10-ound plane), you would need 2000/26 = say 75A, which is at the top of your ESC spec and too much for the Rimfire, which will be getting red hot pretty quick during a hover. From the specs, either of the Hacked motors will do the job, but as I said above, you will be looking at fairly high current ratings. If your plane can carry the weight of the larger Hacker without c.g. issues, I would suggest it to allow for adequate thermal capacity. If there is any way you can up the voltage (i.e. more cells), that will help everything too. At these power levels, most people are running 9-12S lipo (say, 36-48V). At those voltages, you could also consider the Rimfire motor. Hope this helps...Chris
Posted on: 9/21/2011 12:24 PM by Author "lejongleur" in the forum "3D Electric Flying!"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=10727662

RE: Parkflyers.com GEE BEE RTF 3D
Hi - Does anyone know where parts (a fuse) or a complete plane might be available? I love this little GeeBee.
Posted on: 8/2/2011 7:52 PM by Author "lejongleur" in the forum "Park Flyers & Backyard Flyers"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=10652404

RE: Servo Question
Can you test it with a servo driver/tester? If you have, and the same tester worked fine with other servos, and you checked/rechecked the connections without success, you must have a bad servo. If you are using a receiver, switch it to another channel which you KNOW is working - if it doesn't work there, bad servo. If it DOES work in another channel, there could be a problem with the receiver. Hope this helps...Chris
Posted on: 7/29/2011 4:49 PM by Author "lejongleur" in the forum "RC Robotics and Autonomous Robots"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=10645655

RE: Newbee Propeller question?
I don't completely agree with Chocks on this one. For the same reason that changing the number of blades affects the power dissipation of a 9x6 prop, the stiffness and overall blade shape will affect the performance of your motor. For example, at my club we fly combat foam wings (Assassins and Swift II's), and a common tweak is to use a 1600kv Turnigy motor on 3S with a HobbyKing 7x6 "APC-like" prop which stresses the motor pretty hard but gives good performance, and over 200 watts. Switching to a TGS 7x6 prop is too much for the same motor, and causes them to overheat pretty quickly - the TGS prop is much sturdier, has thicker blades and scimitar tips. However, in your case I agree with Chocks - I'm sure the manufacturer built-in a good margin of error in the selection of the power system, so you will be fine with any 9x6 prop. If your plane did not originally use a Slow Flyer prop, DON'T put one on, as they are a lot less resilient, and you don't want prop blades coming off at 10,000 rpm, do you? Hope this helps...Chris
Posted on: 7/22/2011 10:52 AM by Author "lejongleur" in the forum "Park Flyers & Backyard Flyers"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=10633632

RE: Glueing wings together
I LOVE Gorilla for foam - it fills gaps, and seems to enter the cellular structure of the foam very well. You can do surgery later if needed with a scalpel/hobby knife. ONE THING - Gorilla now comes in a version that dries white - it makes your foam gluing look like you are an expert builder, as you can hardly tell where the foam ends and the Gorilla begins. I agree with the previous comments completely, but if some does squeeze out, you can cut it off afterwards easily. Hope this helps...Chris
Posted on: 7/18/2011 8:55 PM by Author "lejongleur" in the forum "Foamies! - RC Electric Foam Aircraft"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=10627916

RE: frenzy 100 electric
I think the AUW is about 8.5 pounds - if you run 6S you will need to set up for relatively high amps, i.e. if you want about 1600+ watts, your current draw will be 1600/(6*4) = 67 amps - or more if the voltage is lower than 4V/cell under load Your 4130-16 is rated for short bursts of 60 amps.
Posted on: 6/15/2011 9:37 AM by Author "lejongleur" in the forum "ARF or RTF"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=10575403

RE: frenzy 100 electric
I am away from the US now so I can't check, but I'm pretty sure I'm running a TGS 19x10, which is the size intended for 8S, although I'm running 9S. I'm thinking of trying it with two 4S nanotech batteries - quite a bit less weight, and capable of high current without strees. Currently nothing seems to get too hot, and I rarely crank it to full throttle for more than 5-10 seconds going vertical (or it would go out of sight!) I don't expect to exceed 60A (=60*8cells*4V i.e. 1900+ watts.)
Posted on: 6/15/2011 7:35 AM by Author "lejongleur" in the forum "ARF or RTF"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=10575194

RE: frenzy 100 electric
[quote]ORIGINAL: AJsToyz Just curious if you ever finished this project and how it worked out? Andy [/quote] Hi Andy - Yes I did finish the project and I like it very much. I ended up using the official triangular motor mount that I got from another modeller, an Eflite Power 110, a Turnigy 100A 12S ESC, and am running it on 9S 3000mah packs from Hobbyking. It has a lot of power, hovers on 2/3 throttle, and would probably do 12+ minutes of fairly spirited flying. I built a shelf in the battery compartment so that the battery on top (I use a 4S and a 5S) will slide in further back, just about over the front edge of the wing. I'm still not sure about the CG, as it seems hard not to make it nose heavy in electric mode, but sometimes I think it flies almost as if it's tail heavy. What CG would you recommend? Regards...Chris
Posted on: 6/14/2011 5:32 PM by Author "lejongleur" in the forum "ARF or RTF"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=10574280

RE: Durable 3D Foamie for Soccer Field
I saw the Bouncer at the WRAM show in Westchester recently, and it looks very good. I would have bought one if I didn't already have a couple of profiles on the go and another 2 in the closet waiting to be assembled. The only drawback for you might be the size of the place you are going to fly in - this is a 40" w/s plane.
Posted on: 4/8/2011 10:55 PM by Author "lejongleur" in the forum "3D Electric Flying!"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=10452255

RE: Any suggestions on where to buy a 3D foamy and what to try next
Here's a picture
Posted on: 3/19/2011 7:43 PM by Author "lejongleur" in the forum "Foamies! - RC Electric Foam Aircraft"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=10410690

RE: Any suggestions on where to buy a 3D foamy and what to try next
DWFoamies make a few nice light Depron 3D planes. I have the Xtra Combat (38") and have just finished it. When I called them up with questions they were extremely helpful. You might want to take a look. http://www.dwfoamies.com/ Hope this helps...Chris
Posted on: 3/19/2011 7:41 PM by Author "lejongleur" in the forum "Foamies! - RC Electric Foam Aircraft"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=10410688

RE: Mini Swift look a like
Looks nice, and very much like a small Swift. Hard to see their claim of 70 mph using what looks like a 1500kv FC2812 and a 6x4 prop. Maybe they are using the 2800kv version? Our club has been flying Assassins and Swift IIs - lots of fun and hard to break beyond a bit of glue.
Posted on: 3/9/2011 2:48 PM by Author "lejongleur" in the forum "Foamies! - RC Electric Foam Aircraft"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=10389516

RE: Crash of the cap 232
I guess you were KIDDING about the rebuild, eh?
Posted on: 2/27/2011 5:13 PM by Author "lejongleur" in the forum "Crash & Rebuild"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=10368326

RE: Flying time for T-28 Trojan
3.8Volts/cell is fine - you could go lower. If your charger tells you how many mah it takes to recharge the battery, conventional wisdom has it that using no more than 85% - 90% max of the available energy will be best for your battery's life, and foe the likelihood that your plane will come back when you want it to. As an example to clarify, if you are using a 2200mah battery, experiment with flight times until the recharge requires (2200*0.85) = 1870 mah or so. That would be a safe flight time. Once you know the mah/minute used by your plane, you can calculate flight times for other batteries that may fit, too. If you wait until the ESC (speed controller) starts to limit or shut off the motor, you may have a whole other set of problems (i.e. airframe repairs), to deal with, as well as possibly shortening the life of your batteries. A final note - if your battery is discharged below about 3.1 or 3.2 Volts/cell (and you do not recharge it very soon afterward), its future performance will be significantly affected. Hope this helps...Chris
Posted on: 2/22/2011 6:58 PM by Author "lejongleur" in the forum "Park Flyers & Backyard Flyers"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=10356600

RE: Ultrashort range w/Gravityhobby Wright Flyer?
If you've checked every connection etc., then there is something wrong with the TX or RX. If it's new you should be able to get service or return it.
Posted on: 2/17/2011 10:09 AM by Author "lejongleur" in the forum "Electric Indoor & Micro RC Flight"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=10342993

RE: Super Cub LP wont balance
My guess is that a lot of the awesome modifications have added weight behind the cg. I would particularly look to see where the 2100mah lipo is, and if it crosses the correct cg point, consider using a shorter or smaller battery that will have more of its mass forward of the cg. Just guessing though! Hope this helps...Chris
Posted on: 2/12/2011 9:44 AM by Author "lejongleur" in the forum "Park Flyers & Backyard Flyers"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=10330531

RE: Servo
Dan - these other issues are possible, but your setup really shouldn't exhibit this kind of behavior - and bear in mind its potentially fatal to the plane. Unless you are sure that you find and completely fix some obvious error I would say replace the servo - they are pretty cheap nowadays. Hope this helps...Chris
Posted on: 1/16/2011 6:57 PM by Author "lejongleur" in the forum "Crash & Rebuild"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=10268624

RE: please help trying to set flaps for landing/takeoff
What radio are you using? Some have a variety of flaperon features built in, e.g. the DX7 Spektrum radio lets you specify two levels of flap including corresponding elevator settings, and even has a feature that negates the flaps if you open the throttle past a certain point (I'm dubious about using this). Planes vary in their behavior when flap are applied - usually 50% is a lot, may be too much. You are right - you should mix in the appropriate elevator to counteract the effect of the flaps. Be very careful not to overdo the flaps close to the ground as the plane will not fly very nicely with the added resistance and might stall abruptly if you push your luck. Hope this helps..Chris
Posted on: 1/16/2011 6:51 PM by Author "lejongleur" in the forum "Park Flyers & Backyard Flyers"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=10268614

RE: Hinge Tutorial?
Not too hard. Taoe on the opposite side from the bevel, if there is one. People use packing tape, or 3M Extreme tape for combat wings or other cases requiring extreme duty. If there is room, tape on both sides of hinge, ensuring that the fit is not too tight to allow the range of movement you want. You can also use Blenderm (very good stuff) as hinge tape, or to seal the hinge gap on larger planes to avoid flutter. Hope this helps...Chris
Posted on: 1/15/2011 9:26 PM by Author "lejongleur" in the forum "3D Electric Flying!"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=10266674

RE: aileron flutters
If there is only one servo for the ailerons, changing the servo should fix the problem. If there is a servo for each wing, and they are both fluttering, it's probably some problem with the receiver. My advice is don't screw around if it's a servo - just replace it, don't try and mess around to see if "will get better". Small servos are cheap, and you will not be able to do much if it sticks in an unfortunate position whilst you are flying.
Posted on: 1/13/2011 1:38 PM by Author "lejongleur" in the forum "3D Electric Flying!"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=10260980

RE: Y-Harness
Sorry, you have exceeded my knowledge on the subject! Two of those servos would be a fairly hefty load on an ordinary receiver channel - there are larger receivers designed for huge servos, and also devices that supply power to the servos indirectly. For reference, I have a couple of planes that use 5 servos of the same type of torque as yours or more, but each one is on a separate channel. I would hesitate at putting two of them on each of two channels, often under heavy load, for fear of brownouts or overheating the wiring. (However, your robot is probably not going to fall out of the sky if the receiver shuts down for a couple of seconds!) Regards...Chris
Posted on: 1/5/2011 7:56 PM by Author "lejongleur" in the forum "RC Robotics and Autonomous Robots"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=10242773

RE: park model battery size
Can't tell you about the charger, but in terms of the voltage to the servos - The ESC will power your receiver (and hence servos) via the throttle connection. The ESC regulates (down) the voltage to the servos - usually there is a jumper which selects either 4.8V or 6V going to the receiver, so you should set it to 4.8V, and you will be all set. Hope this helps...Chris
Posted on: 1/5/2011 7:38 PM by Author "lejongleur" in the forum "Park Flyers & Backyard Flyers"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=10242730

RE: Whats a realy good editing software
Adobe Premiere CS4 is good but fairly complex to learn to do sophisticated things - earlier versions of it are simpler to use. Pinnacle is a good deal, and does a reasonable job. On the Mac platform, Final Cut Pro is considered to be very good. What can't you do on Movie Maker that you want to do? Hope this helps...Chris
Posted on: 1/5/2011 7:32 PM by Author "lejongleur" in the forum "Digital Video (DV) & Video Editing Software"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=10242710

RE: cant hover piaget 3d with a rimfire 300
From the motor spec it looks like your prop is too small for 2S. If you either go to a 8x4.5 or 10x4.5 prop, OR move up to 3S and use your current prop, you should see a lot more power/thrust. Hope this helps...Chris
Posted on: 1/5/2011 9:53 AM by Author "lejongleur" in the forum "3D Electric Flying!"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=10241322

RE: Help Me Size a Motor, Battery and BEC
[quote]ORIGINAL: heavydriver OK, -Sounds like a plan. Just a question and I'm totally eflight clueless here, but you recommended an APC 7x6 and I noticed that the motor specs showed an 8x5 or 8x4 APC. Was the smaller diameter you spec'd, to allow the motor to spin up?-Just learning here.[;)] [/quote] My suggestions were just an option - you could run a lower pitch 8" prop - might actually be better, as the larger prop will blow more air over the wings at a slower speed, facilitating 3D. On the same thinking, Towerpro and Turnigy both make similar motors with a Kv of 1000 or 1200 - slightly less powerful, but more than adequate. With those motors, you might use a prop of 9x6 or 9x7 or 10x4.7. You can experiment to see what works best for you, but if possible check every setup with a watt meter, to avoid a melt-down and to see what power you are getting. If you use too much prop you will see a significant reduction in flight times, and if you use too little you will be at full throttle all the time. I used to have a Parkflyers GeeBee which I rebuilt (a few times) and I ran it with a 1000 kv TowerPro bell motor and a 10x4.7 slow flyer prop. It pulled 212 watts and with an all up weight of 14 ounces the performance was amusingly absurd. I am very sorry to say it got out of range and took a dip in the swamp, and they don't seem to make them anymore except as a total package with a radio etc. I still look at the wreckage hanging up in my garage and try to persuade myself to rebuild a lot of small pieces of foam into another GeeBee, but my skills and patience are not up for it. Good luck with your project!...Chris
Posted on: 1/4/2011 7:56 PM by Author "lejongleur" in the forum "Park Flyers & Backyard Flyers"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=10240270

RE: Y-Harness
Unless you are using something that requires servos in excess of 100 ounce-inches, I do not think you will be able to tell the difference when you use an ordinary Y-adapter. I don't think you are planning to split the signal more than once - presumably the four servos will be two pairs on two separate channels, in which case I would just use ordinary adapters. And yes, the current going out of the receiver to the servos will double when you put two on a Y-adapter - however, you will be using smaller servos. p.s. the links you sent to servocity show fairly high pricing - you can have 5 of them for $3.99 from Hobbycity, plus nominal shipping, (which could include a few other items too without increasing.) http://www.hobbycity.com/hobbycity/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=9908 Hope this helps...Chris
Posted on: 1/4/2011 5:50 PM by Author "lejongleur" in the forum "RC Robotics and Autonomous Robots"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=10239950

RE: Help Me Size a Motor, Battery and BEC
Given the weight of your plane, I recommend the following for a bargain priced setup: - this Towerpro outrunner http://www.hobbycity.com/hobbycity/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idproduct=2046 - this lipo 3S nanotech battery: http://www.hobbycity.com/hobbycity/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idproduct=11903 - and a small 30A ESC like this one: http://www.hobbycity.com/hobbycity/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=6460 - using this particular motor on 3S, you need a prop around 7x6 like this one: http://www.hobbycity.com/hobbycity/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idproduct=5436 This setup with two of the batteries and two props would cost $42 plus $10 shipping. It will give you over 200 watts, and flight times of 10+ minutes if you don't go crazy. There are alos similar motors available with lower kv (say 1000 or 1200), which might be cheaper and a bit less powerful. They would probably be suited to a 9x5 or 9x6 prop. Hope this helps...Chris
Posted on: 1/1/2011 6:10 PM by Author "lejongleur" in the forum "Park Flyers & Backyard Flyers"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=10232892