electric

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Comment by Dumorian on June 28, 2009 at 5:16pm

to have each servo on a separate channel, you would need 7 channels. You can use a Y-cable for flaps and run it on six. You might need a reversing Y-cable... or reverse the servos... or do internal mods to the servos so they run backwards from one another. It would be best to thoroughly read about the possibilities, or ask someone using the same radio, about what potentials you have. I have one model using 11 channels now, which is why I went to the 14 channel radios. I could start mixing stuff onto one channel... but...

There are so many great radios out now, it is not an easy choice. I haven't even really looked hard at the new Hitec/Multiplex radios. I'm certain they are nice. JR/Spektrum makes a lot of nice equipment. I decided on Futaba personally... about a year ago.

As for the Blizzard. No, it's not a bad subject at all. Really it's just not a subject yet. I did pick up servos for it at Joe Nall, which would be the last of what I need for it besides the super strong reinforced packing tape. I've just been distracted by other models. I got a terrible bug for a water plane while at Joe Nall. Got home... a week or so later a quarter scale clipped wing Cub with floats came up on RCU and it was only about 150 miles away... so I picked that up. Then it's been work on this, work on that. I pulled out the 4M and did some more on that. Then it was mod time for the Cub... then I pulled out my little free Carl Goldberg 76" wing army theme Cub and got that in the air. Then I've had this Extreme Flight Yak 54 74 waiting for me to put together. It's about done now. This leaves me likely moving to the Blizzard next.. unless a brain storm hits and I suddenly hop back onto the 4M. I really am excited about having something that flies really fast. None of my stuff falls into that category.

Comment by Eric on June 28, 2009 at 3:14pm

okay my radio definitely doesn't have sliders. I do have up camber set for landing mixed with a little up elevator if I remember correctly. It does seem to work well. I wonder if that means I can program down camber also?

Do you need a seven channel radio to fly the cularis? don't think I want to make any modifications to my easyglider because I'm pretty happy with its wing loading now that I have removed the motor... but I would like to do something with that brushless 400. might just have to reinstall it in August when the winds are really lame.

how come you aren't saying anything about your blizzard, touchy subject?

Comment by Dumorian on June 28, 2009 at 12:42pm

I use either the Futaba 12Z or 12FG. They are interchangeable for me. Both have all my models in them.

About the only thing I've done with the EG is set up camber... so I can do both ailerons up or down a bit. Up gets you some speed to get you through a downdraft, down slows it down a bit for updrafts.

Also, what seems backwards... up camber will shorten you landings. Basically, it's less lift as well as potential speed. So, some up camber 'combined' with some up elevator will let the model sink while the up elevator slows it down.

Remember, elevator is your speed control... throttle is your elevation control. Sort of backwards from logic until you think about it.

Sliders are on the outer sides of the radio. If you fly with thumbs, they would be right at your index fingers. Basically, they slide up/forward and down/backwards... sort of like stubby sticks or something. Anyway, radios that have sliders normally either have a tone that sounds at the center point or a slightly more defined 'click' at the center. This helps them work really well for camber... center is off or no camber... Up or down becomes a user preference.

Also, up camber when landing with the EG is sort of like washout. Washout is where a wing is designed with a twist. The trailing edge is normally higher out at the tips. What this does is allow air flow to remain higher at the tips, which reduces the potential for tip stalling. Sort of like adding flaps... Flaps down reduce flow at the fuse end of the wing while allowing the same flow across the tips... so... less chance of tip stalling. So, the bottom line... up camber is like washout and you can change the attitude of the model.. more nose up.. slowing down.. so it can sink in for a landing more slowly and easily without a surprise tip stall.

All the radios I know of with camber functions don't change the aileron function. Camber is normally a very small percentage of travel. The EG has a suggested travel for this in the manual. Anyway, even under full camber up or down, the ailerons still function allowing you to keep the model level.

Yes, I almost always set up my models so that I can have full throws, as long as there is not a torque issue with the servos. It's easy to limit the throws with the radio... set up expo... dual rates... whatever. I have learned that there seems to be a 'magic' spot, especially with larger models... somewhere around 37 degrees throw on the elevator. If you go beyond that they can elevator stall. I experienced this when trying to do loops and it would fall out to the side every time. Setting the elevator to 37 degrees up and down throw fixed the issue. This was still a bit above the manufacturers suggested throw... but it worked.

You know Eric... I feared the size of the Cularis when I got it. Something about hand tossing a model like that. But really I'm certain I can fly it better, take off better and land better vs. the EG. Landing better means more of a spot landing in a shorter distance. I can't say this was true with my first flights, but it certainly is now. It did take some time to get the programming as I wanted it... Which happened over quite a few flights. I'm not quite comfortable with doing a lot of programming changes while I'm in flight... however the 12z does have a feature which I haven't studied... but you are supposed to be able to hold any mix in the air and while in this mode have a friend press a button and the mix is created within the radio for that model. One day, I might just have to try that out.

I really think the Cularis can land in the same spot... just need a spot a bit wider for the nearly 3m vs. 2m wingspan. :) The Cularis is bigger and heavier... which equates to more possible damage when things go wrong.

I do know quite a few folks have added flaps to EGs! Another fun option. It's not too hard to cut Elapor! I've found that CA hinges do a great job in the Elapor and it's about as easy as you can get doing this. It's not too hard to cut out a couple of servo holes in the wings. Now that just might be the ticket for staying smaller yet having more control for your smaller LZ. You would need a 7 channel radio to do this, unless you used a Y lead and operated only in flap or no flap mode. I'm not sure about crow with your radio with a Y-cable? Full span ailerons for sure can't be done without individual flap servo channels.

You could also perhaps do a mod where you used one servo in the fuse controlling both flaps. This might be pretty hard to do while maintaining the battery space and the take down ability. I really haven't thought about that.

Comment by Eric on June 28, 2009 at 11:42am

what radio are you using now? what are sliders? I wonder if you have any tricks for the easyglider set up? i use a spektrum dx6i. I did recently change the holes on the control horns to give me more rudder and elevator throw.

a couple weeks ago I took the motor out of my EG after ruining another pinion gear and now use the left stick as a "throttle" for the elevator by mixing it on. I've really enjoyed learning to fly with three axes. At first, I used a rudder / aileron mix but now I prefer to do it manually. the cularis sounds really fun, would love to play with all those features but, I suspect that the easyglider is just the right size for my slopes and landing areas. on the other hand, with that crow feature, maybe it could land in the same spaces as the easyglider.

Comment by Dumorian on June 28, 2009 at 9:09am

Yes it does. Looks a bit tough to land though. Looks like it needs to keep up pretty good speed so as not to tip stall. Nicely aerobatic though.

Me, I'm still loving my Cularis. But really thinking about it, it's the radio as much as the model. It was a dog to land until I got everything all setup and tuned. It just wouldn't slow down... float forever.

I first got a Hitec Eclipse... which I have for sale. It's a favorite of glider pilots with lots of great functions. The one thing that I didn't like about it was that for electric flight, butterfly/crow was on the throttle stick and power was an on/off switch. I never really figured out if I could set up two power switches or dual rates, so I had either full throttle or no throttle. For a better pilot I guess this would be fine, but for me, I was just figuring out how to fly this model and often times I'd need to do a partial power up to do a fly around for another attempt.

Later, I figured out that the butterfly/crow is extremely effective and to this day surprises folks when I do a very steep dive down to the end of the runway and then set her down gently, under full control in a very short distance. They're like... 'this ain't gonna happen', but then it does.

So really it was the abilities of the radio to control the ailerons and flaps which make it so much fun. I run full span ailerons, so under normal flight the flaps are moving with the ailerons, at about 50% of the travel rate. Makes the model much more aerobatic. I keep thinking I need to set up like high rates on this model, where they move equally. It should be able to roll pretty quickly whereas now it is still a bit of a lazy roll.

I have a mix setup so that the elevator offsets the up tendencies when crow is applied and an elevator to throttle mix to help offset the up tendencies of powered flight. There is very little elevator input under either situation now. Again, the radio.

I've set up crow on the left slider... down is slow... up is fast just like throttle. I have camber set up on the right slider.. middle is none, up is fast, down is slow.. (seemed logical). So I really have at my disposal pretty much all of the features available to a full house glider.

I did buy a 12Z and a 12FG as a backup. The FG was such a deal just before Christmas, that it pretty much equalled the price of a transmitter module which is interchangeable with the 12Z and the 6014 module that came with it. So, pretty much a free radio. The 12Z is a much more friendly radio... forget needing the manual... feels better, has LiIon bats (awesome for not worrying about batteries), and just a few more functions. The FG actually has more 3 position switches... but the Z is very sweet. That's where I went after the Eclipse and haven't looked back. They both have smart cards, however the Z uses CF and the FG uses SD, but my card reader reads both and Futaba has a little program available so that you can copy models between radios. Very nice for keeping them co-ordinated. Way the heck better than trying to program the models twice on each radio... and very nice for making sure tweaks on one radio make it to the other.

Comment by Eric on June 28, 2009 at 7:15am

this looks like a fun kit!

Comment by Dumorian on April 14, 2009 at 8:39am

LOL! Yeah! Nothing like having a plane that feels bad and then add the distraction of people. With most trainers, this doesn't matter as much. With a glider, finding that sweet spot is awesome.

On mine, I have a pile of electrics stuffed in the back of the battery bay. Lighting VR and switch along with a bit of wiring, so I couldn't get my battery back as far as I wanted. I wound up adding weight to the back. I hate to add weight! But, after the second 7gm lead stickon, it started flying pretty good. I might play around with one more yet.

One person said the CoG should be 42% of the chord. This is actually behind the recommended area. At this point it starts to act a bit tail heavy, but the soaring actually improves. It seems that going as far back as you can stand, just at that point where it feels a little tail heavy but is still not uncomfortable seems to work pretty good for me.

Nice pics. The closeup of your glider is particularly nice.

Comment by Eric on April 14, 2009 at 7:03am

My brother asked me to fly in front of the mountain taking pictures would be more interesting - during the whole session, my CG was too far forward. I had changed propeller hub from plastic to metal and thought it would not make much difference but I could not have been more wrong. I kept moving the battery back but never got near to what I need. Ended up putting a nail in tail at home finally. Flying out of trim is uncomfortable especially with people all around the park!

Comment by Eric on April 14, 2009 at 6:57am

my brother got some good pictures with professional camera and video gear on Saturday - I wish he lived nearby!

Comment by FreeFlight107 on September 26, 2008 at 9:25pm

This is the S200 Racing Clas started in San Diego by SEFSD in 2007. Looked good, but has handling probs so none are being raced now. I built it while I was in Iraq as a contractor for General Atomics.
This is my first post, hope it comes out OK.