What Did You Fly Today

[BATTLEAXE]

As I get further into this hobby it looks like I purchased all the wrong stuff to begin with, if I just spent a little more here, a little more there. What I needed was an idea of what I was looking for instead of some LHS clerk telling me this stuff was good enough. Just seems like a waste of money to begin with if I have already purchased all this gear. only to need to re-purchase everything to do the same job but better

 

[BATTLEAXE]

It should plug into your batteries balance port.

Yea that's what I figured but I am not getting any reading on the digits. Maybe it was broken, I found it in a kit

 

[Grifflyer]

As I get further into this hobby it looks like I purchased all the wrong stuff to begin with, if I just spent a little more here, a little more there. What I needed was an idea of what I was looking for instead of some LHS clerk telling me this stuff was good enough. Just seems like a waste of money to begin with if I have already purchased all this gear. only to need to re-purchase everything to do the same job but better

You're not the only one

 

[Grifflyer]

Yea that's what I figured but I am not getting any reading on the digits. Maybe it was broken, I found it in a kit

Is there a sticker that shows which wires go where? On my Voltage checker the back is labeled with how the balance connector should be oriented.

 

[Wildthing]

Well I did do some flying today. Took out my Sturmovik IL2-M3, Parkflyers International PAK FA T50 and my 60" twin pusher A10 I designed.
A10 didn't fair so well even though it flew good. I hadn't flown it for about 2 years now, it use to have retracts and every landing I was always breaking something so I designed some 3D printed mounts and wire legs to allow for some spring. Well never got to test it, all was going decent (other then the verticals fluttering in a straight line, turning they were solid) , then I decided to open the taps and see what it can do , that's when the right wing broke off midair.

The PAK FA T50 is just a blast , wish it had even more HP. Poor little camera has a hard time keeping it in focus.

 

[BATTLEAXE]

Ok I got it to work. On the Gen Ace I have readings of
1. 4.13
2. 4.05
3. 4.17
All 12.4

Maybe my voltage tester is off, this is giving me more reasonable readings

 

[Wildthing]

How do I plug this in? I tried a few different ways and nothing

Top or bottom of it should show you where the negative terminal is, your negative terminal on you battery balance plug goes there.

 

[Wildthing]

Ok I got it to work. On the Gen Ace I have readings of
1. 4.13
2. 4.05
3. 4.17
All 12.4

Maybe my voltage tester is off, this is giving me more reasonable readings

That looks more reasonable, cell 2 is low.

If this is the battery that is useless with the battery in the plane and the tester still connected to the balance plug throttle up the motor and see what each cell does. Watch for one cell dropping much quicker then the other 2.

 

[Baker57]

Took out my UMX Warthog, FT Alpha, Mini Apprentice, FT Mini Corsair, and FT Mini P47 today. The Warthog will probably never fly again, broke into five pieces as it dove into the ground. Hand launched the Corsair, it went straight up into a loop and plowed straight into the asphalt, pushing the motor and mount into the middle of the plane, which is about an inch shorter now. The P47 must have too much weight in the front and won’t get off the ground. The Alpha flew good, still have issues with it porpoising. The apprentice flew great with no issue. I can’t seem to get the balance right on the flight test planes at all and it’s very frustrating.

 

[BATTLEAXE]

Well I did do some flying today. Took out my Sturmovik IL2-M3, Parkflyers International PAK FA T50 and my 60" twin pusher A10 I designed.
A10 didn't fair so well even though it flew good. I hadn't flown it for about 2 years now, it use to have retracts and every landing I was always breaking something so I designed some 3D printed mounts and wire legs to allow for some spring. Well never got to test it, all was going decent (other then the verticals fluttering in a straight line, turning they were solid) , then I decided to open the taps and see what it can do , that's when the right wing broke off midair.

The PAK FA T50 is just a blast , wish it had even more HP. Poor little camera has a hard time keeping it in focus.

Did you build that PAK FA or was it a store buy?

 

[BATTLEAXE]

That looks more reasonable, cell 2 is low.

If this is the battery that is useless with the battery in the plane and the tester still connected to the balance plug throttle up the motor and see what each cell does. Watch for one cell dropping much quicker then the other 2.

I did the run up test with the voltage checker and cell 2 dropped to 1.88 volts under load where every other cell stayed around 3.8-4 volts. found the issue there.

Now would that cause the squeal from the ESC?

 

[BATTLEAXE]

Being a calm day, pulled out my "UFO"(ugly flying object) which is made up of a flat piece of blue foam, put some elevons on it and used a flight control unit that has programming and gyros. If you notice, there are no vertical stabs and yaw is controlled by differential thrust of the motors by the gyro.
Proof that a flat board can fly.

Well your not wrong, it is ugly!

 

[buzzbomb]

Took out my UMX Warthog, FT Alpha, Mini Apprentice, FT Mini Corsair, and FT Mini P47 today. The Warthog will probably never fly again, broke into five pieces as it dove into the ground. Hand launched the Corsair, it went straight up into a loop and plowed straight into the asphalt, pushing the motor and mount into the middle of the plane, which is about an inch shorter now. The P47 must have too much weight in the front and won’t get off the ground. The Alpha flew good, still have issues with it porpoising. The apprentice flew great with no issue. I can’t seem to get the balance right on the flight test planes at all and it’s very frustrating.

Don't get discouraged. It's just the growing pains that we all go through. We need more information to be able help, though. What you need is a thread for each plane, and video so we can help diagnose the problem.

Your Corsair for instance. Straight into a loop? I always think tail heavy, but I've no way of knowing. An issue with the elevator would also cause that. So would pilot error. We really need to see what happened.

We want to help you be successful! Thousands of us fly the FT birds. They not only fly well, they fly great! Heck, to date all I've flown is FT designs and my own based upon FT designs. Get us some video, so we can help!

 

[buzzbomb]

Being a calm day, pulled out my "UFO"(ugly flying object) which is made up of a flat piece of blue foam, put some elevons on it and used a flight control unit that has programming and gyros. If you notice, there are no vertical stabs and yaw is controlled by differential thrust of the motors by the gyro.
Proof that a flat board can fly.

That's pretty cool. It looks like a flying carpet going sideways. Aladdin would be proud!

 

[bracesport]

@Wildthing - that T50 really flies - I can't imagine what the beast hanging by its Bungie hook is going to fly like!

RIP A10

 

[Wildthing]

I did the run up test with the voltage checker and cell 2 dropped to 1.88 volts under load where every other cell stayed around 3.8-4 volts. found the issue there.

Now would that cause the squeal from the ESC?

I don't know how it would cause the squeal but maybe the esc is having grief and is confused with the massive voltage fluctuation. Battery is junk

 

[Wildthing]

@Wildthing - that T50 really flies - I can't imagine what the beast hanging by its Bungie hook is going to fly like!

RIP A10

I like the T50 for a prop slot, one of my favs, mild little 4S setup in it

A10 now fits into my truck with ease.

 

[Wildthing]

Did you build that PAK FA or was it a store buy?

Scratch build This design is through Parkflyers International , I can only take partial credit on it , I am a co designer with them.

http://www.parkflyersinternational.com/

 

[Wildthing]

@Wildthing - that T50 really flies - I can't imagine what the beast hanging by its Bungie hook is going to fly like!

RIP A10

Forgot how much hardware was in the A10

 

[Grifflyer]

Just go back from flying my L-39 (finally got enough footage) the Shrubsmacker, and the White Diamond.