Getting started in the hobby! First planes, first impressions

[tudordewolf]

Hmm, I not sure I understand fully what you are doing with the wheel wells, didn't even know they are called that, haha.
On all my planes they came already glued in. Does your P51 have one servo in the middle of the wing which works the retracts? Also your landing gear, is it machined aluminum like FMS planes or a springy wire?
Talking about retracts, I finally finished my Nitro to Electric conversion of Kyosho FW-190 warbird the other day. After two years in the making, I just installed the final part, which was the retracts servo. What I do not like on this model is the springy wire landing gear. I think some later models of this plane came with nice Alu machine ones. I was trying to figure out which FMS landing gear would fit the model, but there's so many out there, that for now I just gave up and decided to see how it behaves on stock first.
This plane will be able to push towards 1300W of power , it should see it fly pretty fast on 6S.
I used the FMS "Predator" 550 KV motor that is stock for their F3A Aerobatic Pattern plane.
The CG balanced out perfect with the battery pushed all the way up against the firewall.
I hope if survives the first flight, the adrenaline is too high when you take off with a plane you just put together or have done some major mods to it.
Now its back on the shelf again, until I obtain some 6S packs. Hopefully soon.

ASP and Magnum are exactly the same engines, from the same factory and manufacturer, name depended on which continent they were destined to I believe.
Seeing those prices on Ali, they are not cheap, I can usually get them for half the price here locally.

Now, about tuning ASP, which you asked me about in particular the LSN which you asked me about a few posts above.
Yesterday I ran the 4 Star 40 for the first time, and I noticed that the engine IDLE increases as the fuel tank empties. I thought OK, LSN is on the lean side, so I richened it, now when I re-fuel, its too rich, idle did go down however. Its nothing major, I could fly it like this, but still it annoyed me a little. I was happy to see the engine dry, after sealing it all up with silicone and plumbers tape (exhaust), there is a small leak still present where the carb slides onto the fuel intake pipe, I am not sure if I am explaining it correctly. There is small O ring in there, if you ever had it apart and saw one. I think I will mod this as well and add another O ring in the upper portion of the carb, as per pic. Here's a brand new 61 engine and you can see how its kind of twisted to the side, causing fuel and possibly air leak. I don't want to go down the rabbit hole and start hunting for mysterious air leaks because its not running perfect at idle. I will attribute this to engine still breaking in. I have read online they take 3 gallons to fully break in, wow, not sure if I will even get to fly this plane that long. Maybe we should just buy second hand engines, at least they will most likely be already broken in, or at least half way there, haha.

View attachment 205264

View attachment 205265

View attachment 205266

View attachment 205268

Machined aluminum landing gear. The wheels wells didn't come glued in, the film wasn't cut out for them from the wing, and the wells themselves were still in vacuum-formed sheets, I neglected to take pictures of all this, but the manual describes it well:

Like my other nitro builds, I'm bumping up the wheels to the absolute max that will fit, 85mm instead of 75mm, to maximize ground handling. It uses a center servo to operate the retracts, i'll be using this low-profile servo rated for 13kg @ 6V and only 3.6A stall current, which I'll still put on a separate BEC just in case so it doesn't brown out the receiver if the gear jams. It even has 180° rotation, perfect for retracts.

Haha, it needs to be bent backwards a little, towards the car. That's the radio antenna the car came with. Go figure!

That's one big R/C!

 

[gandalfnz]

Machined aluminum landing gear. The wheels wells didn't come glued in, the film wasn't cut out for them from the wing, and the wells themselves were still in vacuum-formed sheets, I neglected to take pictures of all this, but the manual describes it well:

View attachment 205278

View attachment 205302

Like my other nitro builds, I'm bumping up the wheels to the absolute max that will fit, 85mm instead of 75mm, to maximize ground handling. It uses a center servo to operate the retracts, i'll be using this low-profile servo rated for 13kg @ 6V and only 3.6A stall current, which I'll still put on a separate BEC just in case so it doesn't brown out the receiver if the gear jams. It even has 180° rotation, perfect for retracts.



That's one big R/C!

Looks like quite a bit of work to cut those wheel wells out, and it needs to be perfect I guess.

I like those Alu machined landing gear, they come with suspension too. I spoke today to someone who has been flying for a very long time, and apparently those springy wire oleos are good, and do the job well. To be tested.

I am not sure if that servo will work for retracts? I did try to use a normal low profile servo before without success. They only turn by 90 degrees unless you can modify the servo timing, or something like that.

In the end I purchased a HiTec retracts servo and have just obtained another one in a RC planes parts lot, I purchased. They are a bit pricey, but worth the money. My FW-190 retracts worked first install, no adjustments were needed.

Let me know how experimenting works out.

 

[gandalfnz]

Are you able to get a good reliable idle out of your 4 Stroke ASP engine.

I have been struggling with mine for as long as I have it. No matter the LSN setting, it just sputters after less than 10 seconds wanting to shut down, unless I give it a bit of throttle.

I can't figure it out, apparently I am not the only one. Maybe it needs more break in, or higher nitro content. No idea. I guess I am just going to have to run it a higher idle RPM.

 

[tudordewolf]

Are you able to get a good reliable idle out of your 4 Stroke ASP engine.

I have been struggling with mine for as long as I have it. No matter the LSN setting, it just sputters after less than 10 seconds wanting to shut down, unless I give it a bit of throttle.

I can't figure it out, apparently I am not the only one. Maybe it needs more break in, or higher nitro content. No idea. I guess I am just going to have to run it a higher idle RPM.

I don't have much time on it yet, probably a half-hour breaking in and 40 minutes in the air with about 5 flights, 1 of which ended dead-stick, though that was probably a result of running it too lean.

A big challenge forme has been getting a good temperature reading. The head temperature on a 2-stroke is very responsive to tune, as are the RPM's and overall sound, but I'm finding that a 4-stroke will run pretty consistently at a pretty wide range of throttle settings, both too rich and too lean, and the difference in "symptoms" is much less dramatic than on a 2-stroke.

I know it's not crucial nor recommended to tune by temperature, but at least with a 2-stroke I can go WOT and know within a few seconds if I'm at the sweet spot because the head is holding 250 F steady, on a 4-stroke it's less clear what the "running" temp is. I've also run a dozen 2-strokes at this point and only one four-stroke, so it'll probably reveal its secrets with a little more experience.

 

[gandalfnz]

I don't have much time on it yet, probably a half-hour breaking in and 40 minutes in the air with about 5 flights, 1 of which ended dead-stick, though that was probably a result of running it too lean.

A big challenge forme has been getting a good temperature reading. The head temperature on a 2-stroke is very responsive to tune, as are the RPM's and overall sound, but I'm finding that a 4-stroke will run pretty consistently at a pretty wide range of throttle settings, both too rich and too lean, and the difference in "symptoms" is much less dramatic than on a 2-stroke.

I know it's not crucial nor recommended to tune by temperature, but at least with a 2-stroke I can go WOT and know within a few seconds if I'm at the sweet spot because the head is holding 250 F steady, on a 4-stroke it's less clear what the "running" temp is. I've also run a dozen 2-strokes at this point and only one four-stroke, so it'll probably reveal its secrets with a little more experience.

Yes, having an "ear" to detect when a 4 stroke is tuned high on HSN can be very difficult, which why a tachometer is recommended. I don't bother with it. Keep leaning the HSN until engine RPM start to sag, then richen by one quarter of a turn.
I think what happened in you case is that you tuned the engine well while on the ground, but they tend to offload/lean themselves once in the air. Which is why a quarter turn richer will compensate for that.

Also, I have moved away from tuning by temp long ago from the RC car times. Its such a relief, just adjust the engine till it sings happily and don't worry about the temps. You already know how a well tuned engine sounds. I have never had an overheating due to a lean run since I dropped the Temp Gun.

I am getting close in getting my 4 Star 40 tuned and ready for its maiden.
Still a bit rich on LSN but at least now it idles or about half a minute before it loads up on fuel.
LSN needle on these is super sensitive, or so it seems, a smallest of increment make a big change in tune.

 

[tudordewolf]

Yes, having an "ear" to detect when a 4 stroke is tuned high on HSN can be very difficult, which why a tachometer is recommended. I don't bother with it. Keep leaning the HSN until engine RPM start to sag, then richen by one quarter of a turn.
I think what happened in you case is that you tuned the engine well while on the ground, but they tend to offload/lean themselves once in the air. Which is why a quarter turn richer will compensate for that.

Also, I have moved away from tuning by temp long ago from the RC car times. Its such a relief, just adjust the engine till it sings happily and don't worry about the temps. You already know how a well tuned engine sounds. I have never had an overheating due to a lean run since I dropped the Temp Gun.

I am getting close in getting my 4 Star 40 tuned and ready for its maiden.
Still a bit rich on LSN but at least now it idles or about half a minute before it loads up on fuel.
LSN needle on these is super sensitive, or so it seems, a smallest of increment make a big change in tune.

I'm pondering the idea of making an onboard glow driver tied to the throttle, so that it provides just a little current at idle to keep the glow plug lit, but doesn't do anything above 20% throttle, maybe with a slight delay so it doesn't bog on throttle up. I'd tie it to a switch on the remote, off/idle/start.

The temp gun isn't really to inform richer / leaner tuning decisions, it's to make sure I'm not overheating, it's easy to chase higher and higher RPMs and then suddenly realize the engine is at 300F.

Something I noticed rebuilding the sonic, the 46 LA had maybe 45 minutes of runtime on it, but it looked completely clean. The blueing in the exhaust port, the interior of the muffler - oily, but pristine. The oil wasn't even off-color, it was still the same shade of red as the fuel. The 46 AX though, which had maybe 2-3 hours of runtime when I pulled it to drop in the 52FS, had a more blackened exhaust port, as I figure is typical.

This is after break in and several flights (and one crash), just under an hour of runtime:

If this was sold to me as "new, never run", I might believe it, but it's been flown and crashed. I figure this means I never ran it too hot or too lean, always cool and rich.

The .46 AX, after probably ~20 flights or so, usually pushing 10+ minutes:

I may have had it a little lean, it didn't seem to be having lean run issues or going over temp... It'll be going in another plane soon:

I've got a theory that the ideal tuning threshold is the point just before some of the oil starts to burn. That is, ideal tune = methanol and nitromethane completely consumed, no oxygen left, oil doesn't burn at all. Too lean = oxygen still left over after the methanol/nitro are consumed, and some of the oil begins to burn. In fact, a little bit of methanol / nitromethane left over probably keeps the exhaust looking clean, instead of depositing soot from the oil burning.

Getting the gear right on the P-51 has been a struggle, lots of little adjustments to straighten everything out. The bigger wheels I wanted wouldn't close and lock correctly, ultimately decided to just stick with the originals. I still had to bend the control rod to fit around the wheel when retracted:

 

[gandalfnz]

I'm pondering the idea of making an onboard glow driver tied to the throttle, so that it provides just a little current at idle to keep the glow plug lit, but doesn't do anything above 20% throttle, maybe with a slight delay so it doesn't bog on throttle up. I'd tie it to a switch on the remote, off/idle/start.

The temp gun isn't really to inform richer / leaner tuning decisions, it's to make sure I'm not overheating, it's easy to chase higher and higher RPMs and then suddenly realize the engine is at 300F.

Something I noticed rebuilding the sonic, the 46 LA had maybe 45 minutes of runtime on it, but it looked completely clean. The blueing in the exhaust port, the interior of the muffler - oily, but pristine. The oil wasn't even off-color, it was still the same shade of red as the fuel. The 46 AX though, which had maybe 2-3 hours of runtime when I pulled it to drop in the 52FS, had a more blackened exhaust port, as I figure is typical.

This is after break in and several flights (and one crash), just under an hour of runtime:
View attachment 205626 If this was sold to me as "new, never run", I might believe it, but it's been flown and crashed. I figure this means I never ran it too hot or too lean, always cool and rich.

The .46 AX, after probably ~20 flights or so, usually pushing 10+ minutes:

View attachment 205628

I may have had it a little lean, it didn't seem to be having lean run issues or going over temp... It'll be going in another plane soon:

View attachment 205629

I've got a theory that the ideal tuning threshold is the point just before some of the oil starts to burn. That is, ideal tune = methanol and nitromethane completely consumed, no oxygen left, oil doesn't burn at all. Too lean = oxygen still left over after the methanol/nitro are consumed, and some of the oil begins to burn. In fact, a little bit of methanol / nitromethane left over probably keeps the exhaust looking clean, instead of depositing soot from the oil burning.

Getting the gear right on the P-51 has been a struggle, lots of little adjustments to straighten everything out. The bigger wheels I wanted wouldn't close and lock correctly, ultimately decided to just stick with the originals. I still had to bend the control rod to fit around the wheel when retracted:

View attachment 205625

Please let me know how you plan to design the on board glow to apply up to 20% throttle, it sounds very interesting.

I am not sure about your theory the LA vs AX burnt oil residue wise, is it possible that you had the LA running too rich, hence why it still looks like new, which is not necessary a good thing, as heat is needed and a lot of it, for the piston and sleeve to make a good fit? Running engine too cool is not good.

I figured you still like to use temp gun to check temps, but as I said for me its a thing of the past. If the engine sounds good and not lean, it isn't going to overheat. Especially on a plane where there's plenty of cooling provided by the prop, unlike the RC cars which have the engine covered with the RC body.

Which engine do you plan on dropping into that new Sport plane? Looks speedy.

The landing gear looked like a bit of a challenge to me from the start. The fact that you had to make cuts yourself for the wheel wells and then align everything to be retracting well, well its an experience, lets call it that.

I am on the hunt for plane kits, the old style, where you had to put the plane together from scratch.
Scored a SIG Kadet Mk32 for $50 in box, never assembled.

On the other hand, no idea when I will be able to even look at these, kids keeping me busy. I am lucky to even have any times for planes atm. Need to retire early.

 

[tudordewolf]

Please let me know how you plan to design the on board glow to apply up to 20% throttle, it sounds very interesting.

I am not sure about your theory the LA vs AX burnt oil residue wise, is it possible that you had the LA running too rich, hence why it still looks like new, which is not necessary a good thing, as heat is needed and a lot of it, for the piston and sleeve to make a good fit? Running engine too cool is not good.

I figured you still like to use temp gun to check temps, but as I said for me its a thing of the past. If the engine sounds good and not lean, it isn't going to overheat. Especially on a plane where there's plenty of cooling provided by the prop, unlike the RC cars which have the engine covered with the RC body.

Which engine do you plan on dropping into that new Sport plane? Looks speedy.

The landing gear looked like a bit of a challenge to me from the start. The fact that you had to make cuts yourself for the wheel wells and then align everything to be retracting well, well its an experience, lets call it that.

I am on the hunt for plane kits, the old style, where you had to put the plane together from scratch.
Scored a SIG Kadet Mk32 for $50 in box, never assembled.

View attachment 205663

On the other hand, no idea when I will be able to even look at these, kids keeping me busy. I am lucky to even have any times for planes atm. Need to retire early.

I'm thinking of using an arduino to read the throttle channel and an aux channel, and then having it to control 2x DC-DC converters, one set to 1.3 volts for ignition, and one at 0.8 volts for idle support, about 40% of ignition power accounting for Joule's law. I don't even want it to provide enough current to make the plug glow by itself, just supplement its heat so it doesn't go out during idle. The Aux channel would be on a 3-position switch, so it would be off-idle-start. Off would do nothing, start would enable the 1.3v converter, and idle would only use the 0.8v converter while the throttle is below a set point, say, 20%. The converters I'm thinking of have an "enable" pin that allows them to be controlled with a digital signal, so the arduino could just turn them on and off. The other way to do it would be to have a single converter and a digital potentiometer (digipot) controlling its output voltage, but I think 2x converters is simpler to implement. The whole arrangement wouldn't be any larger/heavier than a receiver, the converter is less than an inch long, but rated for 3A, perfect for this use:

There's existing onboard glow drivers out there, but they don't offer that level of control.

The .46LA was definitely running above 200F, I don't think it was running too cold.

I've always wanted to build an old-school kit from scratch, ever since I found one in my grandparent's basement, with so many pieces of balsa and tissue. I built the balsa frame for a mini-stick, that I'm thinking of putting a little Cox engine into, that's probably intense enough for me. Some of the guys at my club still build planes with tissue & dope, but I'll probably stick to iron-on film. Just building the wood frame is a very zen activity.

 

[tudordewolf]

To add to the above, there is this onboard glow driver that does almost everything I describe, but it doesn't tie in to throttle, it would just provide 0.8v constantly. It could be controlled with a 3-position switch to do 0v/0.8v/1.4v, but without the added nuance of throttle setting disabling it above a certain point, and I feel like that would throw off the tune.

There might be a way to program the remote so it creates the control logic I'm looking for, but that would be its own mess of internal logic & channel mixing...

Edit: looks like it won't be that complicated, I just need to mix in throttle so that when in the center position, it goes from "idle" to off when I throttle up.

 

[gandalfnz]

To add to the above, there is this onboard glow driver that does almost everything I describe, but it doesn't tie in to throttle, it would just provide 0.8v constantly. It could be controlled with a 3-position switch to do 0v/0.8v/1.4v, but without the added nuance of throttle setting disabling it above a certain point, and I feel like that would throw off the tune.

There might be a way to program the remote so it creates the control logic I'm looking for, but that would be its own mess of internal logic & channel mixing...

Edit: looks like it won't be that complicated, I just need to mix in throttle so that when in the center position, it goes from "idle" to off when I throttle up.

A very interesting idea, I must say. I neve knew these even existed.
Why is this of interest to you? Are you going to do an inverted install on you P51, as these are mostly utilized on those?

I think Arduino setup could be overcomplicate as there are already smart on board glow drivers out there, or at at least there were such as this one at hobby king, its out of stock.

https://hobbyking.com/en_us/hobbyking-on-board-smart-glow-driver.html?

Would the one from Ali be the same as the one from HK?

This one has all the features one could wish for, witch a programmable Throttle Stick position, set it where you want the glow to kick in. Its a bit pricey though.
https://www.justengines.co.uk/product-category/ignition-systems/on-board-glow/?v=8e3eb2c69a18

https://www.justengines.co.uk/wp-co...-with-high-voltage-rx-2015.pdf?v=8e3eb2c69a18



Thanks

 

[tudordewolf]

A very interesting idea, I must say. I neve knew these even existed.
Why is this of interest to you? Are you going to do an inverted install on you P51, as these are mostly utilized on those?

I think Arduino setup could be overcomplicate as there are already smart on board glow drivers out there, or at at least there were such as this one at hobby king, its out of stock.

https://hobbyking.com/en_us/hobbyking-on-board-smart-glow-driver.html?

Would the one from Ali be the same as the one from HK?

This one has all the features one could wish for, witch a programmable Throttle Stick position, set it where you want the glow to kick in. Its a bit pricey though.
https://www.justengines.co.uk/product-category/ignition-systems/on-board-glow/?v=8e3eb2c69a18

https://www.justengines.co.uk/wp-co...-with-high-voltage-rx-2015.pdf?v=8e3eb2c69a18



Thanks

I am indeed going inverted with the P-51, it's the only way it'll fit in the cowling.

I'll try the cheap ali driver first, looks like it doesn't have as many features as the one you linked.

Got some more flights on the 4-stroke, got the idle stable and low enough that you could barely hear it in the air. I'm surprised by its fuel consumption, it doesn't seem any less thirsty than the .46 AX, a 10-minute flight is burning ~200ml of fuel. Maybe it's still breaking in and running a bit rich. I've also been running it with one of the brodak filters, no issues.

I flew the tailpiped plane today, no loss in performance, nor increase in engine temps. I also committed to the idea and ran it all the way to the back of the plane. Not a drop of oil anywhere on it!

 

[Hobbydude2]

I am indeed going inverted with the P-51, it's the only way it'll fit in the cowling.

I'll try the cheap ali driver first, looks like it doesn't have as many features as the one you linked.

Got some more flights on the 4-stroke, got the idle stable and low enough that you could barely hear it in the air. I'm surprised by its fuel consumption, it doesn't seem any less thirsty than the .46 AX, a 10-minute flight is burning ~200ml of fuel. Maybe it's still breaking in and running a bit rich. I've also been running it with one of the brodak filters, no issues.

I flew the tailpiped plane today, no loss in performance, nor increase in engine temps. I also committed to the idea and ran it all the way to the back of the plane. Not a drop of oil anywhere on it!

View attachment 205937

Those larger wheels give you more areas to land in. Its hard to find pavment to fly these birds now a days. your bird looks pretty cool.

 

[tudordewolf]

Those larger wheels give you more areas to land in. Its hard to find pavment to fly these birds now a days. your bird looks pretty cool.

Thanks! Definitely useful to have "rough-field" capabilities, the big wheels also cushion rough landings more, not that I frequently have those or anything...

Finally finished both wings' separate parts, just have to connect them now. Here's the bend it took to make the landing gear work, on both sides:

And retracted:

 

[Hobbydude2]

Thanks! Definitely useful to have "rough-field" capabilities, the big wheels also cushion rough landings more, not that I frequently have those or anything...

Finally finished both wings' separate parts, just have to connect them now. Here's the bend it took to make the landing gear work, on both sides:
View attachment 206177
And retracted:
View attachment 206178

I had to do that with my funky FW 190d. It was a belly lander and I decided to make it a tail dragger. Love to see the finished product. Looking good.

 

[gandalfnz]

I am indeed going inverted with the P-51, it's the only way it'll fit in the cowling.

I'll try the cheap ali driver first, looks like it doesn't have as many features as the one you linked.

Got some more flights on the 4-stroke, got the idle stable and low enough that you could barely hear it in the air. I'm surprised by its fuel consumption, it doesn't seem any less thirsty than the .46 AX, a 10-minute flight is burning ~200ml of fuel. Maybe it's still breaking in and running a bit rich. I've also been running it with one of the brodak filters, no issues.

I flew the tailpiped plane today, no loss in performance, nor increase in engine temps. I also committed to the idea and ran it all the way to the back of the plane. Not a drop of oil anywhere on it!

View attachment 205937

I am very surprised to hear that there was not impact on performance with that long exhaust extension.
I also own an ASP 91 4Stroke which I think guzzles fuel, but that could me be just me running it too rich.
Realized that I am not that good at tuning a 4Stroke yet, as the ASP 61 idling issue I was having was due to running it too rich, there was another half a turn to go on the main needle and then it started ticking over without dying after 10 secs or so.

Had a go with my Nitro Slash yesterday, and had blast, after not using nitro cars for such a long time.
The 11k carb I could not tune well yesterday, I just want that TRX 3.3 to idle low, but I realized it can't be done with that engine, just doesn't like it, keeps shutting down if idle is below certain point.

 

[tudordewolf]

I am very surprised to hear that there was not impact on performance with that long exhaust extension.
I also own an ASP 91 4Stroke which I think guzzles fuel, but that could me be just me running it too rich.
Realized that I am not that good at tuning a 4Stroke yet, as the ASP 61 idling issue I was having was due to running it too rich, there was another half a turn to go on the main needle and then it started ticking over without dying after 10 secs or so.

Had a go with my Nitro Slash yesterday, and had blast, after not using nitro cars for such a long time.
The 11k carb I could not tune well yesterday, I just want that TRX 3.3 to idle low, but I realized it can't be done with that engine, just doesn't like it, keeps shutting down if idle is below certain point.

I think it helps that the engine in particular is an LA-46, with a fairly small exhaust port, such that the downstream effects of the muffler aren't as significant. I figure it didn't add *too* much resistance, and it's got a cross section larger than the tip of the stinger, so with the baffle removed, it probably was more or less equal to what it was before. It did change the tuning characteristics a bit, I had to richen up the low-end by closing the air bleed screw a little.

I haven't driven any of my cars in over a year, I really need to, particularly my own TRX 3.3. I don't have as good a tarmac space for my onroads, my speed-run goals will have to be translated to my planes - I'm kind of hoping the P-51 does 100mph.

 

[gandalfnz]

I think it helps that the engine in particular is an LA-46, with a fairly small exhaust port, such that the downstream effects of the muffler aren't as significant. I figure it didn't add *too* much resistance, and it's got a cross section larger than the tip of the stinger, so with the baffle removed, it probably was more or less equal to what it was before. It did change the tuning characteristics a bit, I had to richen up the low-end by closing the air bleed screw a little.

I haven't driven any of my cars in over a year, I really need to, particularly my own TRX 3.3. I don't have as good a tarmac space for my onroads, my speed-run goals will have to be translated to my planes - I'm kind of hoping the P-51 does 100mph.

Which engine is going to P51, sorry if I asked this already?

I am having hell of a fun with my Nitro cars atm, Slash in particular. So much, that I just purchased a mint condition Tmaxx 3.3. Now I just need to order OS 11K for it. Its been crazy windy here for the last month, so it was the right moment to get into cars again. That HSP 2 speed tranny is making me real angry though, I ordered two brand news one from Ali, only to find out the little clutch (claw) was installed the wrong way around, the metal engagement pin was nor there in the 2nd speed. Once I got it all sorted, I then realized that claw does not expand far enough to hit the pin right, it was going to go just under it. I then modified it slightly so the claw does extend a bit more but now it doesn't engage the 2nd speed at all. Loosing my patience with this one a bit. My traxxas cars never give me issues. I say it again, Traxxas Slash is one of the best RC nitro cars out there. Such a light chassis, the 3.3 provides so much power to it, and yet it doesn't do annoying wheelies all the time, stays well on the ground because of its low CG. The guy selling the Tmaxx has a Nitro slash for sale too, might grab that one as well if the deal is right.

EDIT: Got the Slash as well!

Sorry to introduce the cars into the plane thread.

 

[tudordewolf]

Which engine is going to P51, sorry if I asked this already?

I am having hell of a fun with my Nitro cars atm, Slash in particular. So much, that I just purchased a mint condition Tmaxx 3.3. Now I just need to order OS 11K for it. Its been crazy windy here for the last month, so it was the right moment to get into cars again. That HSP 2 speed tranny is making me real angry though, I ordered two brand news one from Ali, only to find out the little clutch (claw) was installed the wrong way around, the metal engagement pin was nor there in the 2nd speed. Once I got it all sorted, I then realized that claw does not expand far enough to hit the pin right, it was going to go just under it. I then modified it slightly so the claw does extend a bit more but now it doesn't engage the 2nd speed at all. Loosing my patience with this one a bit. My traxxas cars never give me issues. I say it again, Traxxas Slash is one of the best RC nitro cars out there. Such a light chassis, the 3.3 provides so much power to it, and yet it doesn't do annoying wheelies all the time, stays well on the ground because of its low CG. The guy selling the Tmaxx has a Nitro slash for sale too, might grab that one as well if the deal is right.

EDIT: Got the Slash as well!

Sorry to introduce the cars into the plane thread.

I'm putting an OS FS-62V in it, or at least planning to... It's such a gorgeous engine I almost don't want to hide it in a cowl, maybe save it for a build where it would be upright and visible. I entertained the idea of putting a Saito .62 or .82 in it, but can't justify the purchase when I already have the OS engine. would rather use it than keep it sequestered in its box because it's too nice to run. I found a Thunder Tiger .54 four-stroke, but I think that's for a future build. Maybe my next warbird gets the TT, and the one after gets a Saito. I'm eying a Spitfire or a Dauntless, seems like everybody has a Corsair.

I have started a build thread for it.

At least 2 of nitros I put away needs their transmissions overhauled... it makes me enjoy bashing the single-speed truck more, the "HSP-3.3-Maxx", and that can do wheelie after wheelie without breaking something.

I do appreciate the simplicity of the planes in that regard, the most complicated linkages are probably in the landing gear, but that's nothing compared to the front end of a nitro RC car with a differential, steering, suspension, and ~10 bearings just in the front to make it all move.

On the other hand, just the first 3 planes I've built have as many servos as all 10 my surface nitros combined.

 

[gandalfnz]

I'm putting an OS FS-62V in it, or at least planning to... It's such a gorgeous engine I almost don't want to hide it in a cowl, maybe save it for a build where it would be upright and visible. I entertained the idea of putting a Saito .62 or .82 in it, but can't justify the purchase when I already have the OS engine. would rather use it than keep it sequestered in its box because it's too nice to run. I found a Thunder Tiger .54 four-stroke, but I think that's for a future build. Maybe my next warbird gets the TT, and the one after gets a Saito. I'm eying a Spitfire or a Dauntless, seems like everybody has a Corsair.

I have started a build thread for it.

At least 2 of nitros I put away needs their transmissions overhauled... it makes me enjoy bashing the single-speed truck more, the "HSP-3.3-Maxx", and that can do wheelie after wheelie without breaking something.

I do appreciate the simplicity of the planes in that regard, the most complicated linkages are probably in the landing gear, but that's nothing compared to the front end of a nitro RC car with a differential, steering, suspension, and ~10 bearings just in the front to make it all move.

On the other hand, just the first 3 planes I've built have as many servos as all 10 my surface nitros combined.

Ah yes, I remember now, I think I already mentioned this too, but even though perfectly flyable, the .62 engine will not give you much room in terms of wanted performance. I think you might find it underpowered and lacking grunt, such as vertical climbs....etc.
IMHO Its always a good idea to go all out on a as big engine as you can fit on that plane and have that power on demand.

Magnum 91FS would probably work well on that plane and balance it with a bit of nose heavy too, which is perfect.

I am still fiddling with that HSP tranny. This is where Traxxas shines, never had a tranny prob with any of my traxxas RC's.

 

[tudordewolf]

Ah yes, I remember now, I think I already mentioned this too, but even though perfectly flyable, the .62 engine will not give you much room in terms of wanted performance. I think you might find it underpowered and lacking grunt, such as vertical climbs....etc.
IMHO Its always a good idea to go all out on a as big engine as you can fit on that plane and have that power on demand.

Magnum 91FS would probably work well on that plane and balance it with a bit of nose heavy too, which is perfect.

I am still fiddling with that HSP tranny. This is where Traxxas shines, never had a tranny prob with any of my traxxas RC's.

I have an Asp FS.80 on hand that I picked up based on that earlier discussion and it just seems a bit too big / heavy.

The .62V is pretty modern, OS rates it as having the same power as the Surpass .70, 1.1hp at 11k RPM, so I'm optimistic. I'm going to give it a 4-blade 12x6 wooden prop, black with yellow tips. $25 from Ali.

The Ali glow driver arrived, I was able to set it up to work exactly how I'd wanted - on, off, and idle support that turns off above 20% (or any set point) throttle. It only turns the ignition on at "max" signal, and turns off entirely below the default "center", so with a little trim and mixing it wasn't too hard to get it to work as intended, at least in bench tests. It even functions as a continuity check for the glow plug coil with an indicator LED.

I'm tempted to put it on the Avistar to test it, but I'm pretty happy with how that .52 FS is running, so I'll probably leave it for now. Weather has gotten prohibitive for flying recently, I'll be lucky to get any more flying days in before next spring.