AP Eazy (Pusher Trainer | FT Power Pack A or F | swappable)

[Gazoo]

Almost done with mine. The power pod for the 6" prop works very nice. I have a question though.

I have a power pod designed for the Super Bee. When installed in the nacelle, the motor is tipped up slightly and will provide some down thrust. I know that the FT Explorer has some down thrust as well because of the pusher design. Do you think that this will benefit the flight characteristics or should I just rebuild the power pod without any thrust angle.

As I understand it, the down thrust on a pusher (Bixler like plane) helps. It would't take too long to just rebuild it though.

Thanks for your input!

 

[AircPirateNinsei]

This could help with a higher thrust. During the test flight we recognized that the Eazy is pressed down at a higher thrust. One of the reasons for the BETA status. Of course you can work with the elevator against it. Since we only need to trim the Mini Power Pod, it is quickly tested on our next Eazy. Since we still have the EDF unit on our first Eazy, we would be very happy about your flight experience with the Eazy and the down thrust.

 

[donalson]

how would this build up with 9g servos? any big issues?

 

[Gazoo]

This could help with a higher thrust. During the test flight we recognized that the Eazy is pressed down at a higher thrust. One of the reasons for the BETA status. Of course you can work with the elevator against it. Since we only need to trim the Mini Power Pod, it is quickly tested on our next Eazy. Since we still have the EDF unit on our first Eazy, we would be very happy about your flight experience with the Eazy and the down thrust.

OK. I will give it a try. Maybe I will try with both and see which works better. I will be using the F-Pack motor.

Still waiting for the snow to go away. We are in second winter here in Green Bay, WI. It just keeps snowing!!!

 

[AircPirateNinsei]

how would this build up with 9g servos? any big issues?

9g servos are no problem. However, you will need more weight in the nose, preferably a larger battery. If you build the Eazy without the rudder, you can also use the recommended battery size.

 

[AircPirateNinsei]

... Still waiting for the snow to go away. We are in second winter here in Green Bay, WI. It just keeps snowing!!!

We also had snow and let the Eazy take off from the snow.
Now the snow is gone and it takes off well from the lawn!

 

[kdobson83]

Maiden of my Eazy went pretty smooth today. Was a tad tail heavy with my 3s 1300 pushed all the way forward but was still able to fly pretty smooth. Using the supplied rate tool gave me way too much elevator. Simple fix, turned down elevator and it flew perfect. Makes a nice howling noise at about 2/3 speed, sounds awesome. Plan to fly on 4s next time I'm out. I did some pretty steep full throttle dives and pulled full up out of them and she Yanks right out of the dive, no flex at all with that arrow shaft in the wing. Excited to see how it'll fly on 4s. No rudder needed to fly, bank and yank works good, but the rudder does have a lot of athority with that prop right in front of it. All and all, I'm pretty happy to have an Eazy in my fleet. Will decorate and post pictures now that the maiden is done. Thanks for the plans!!

 

[Gazoo]

I did some pretty steep full throttle dives and pulled full up out of them and she Yanks right out of the dive, no flex at all with that arrow shaft in the wing.

Ready for the maiden. Waiting for time and good weather.


I added an arrow spar as you advised kdobson83. You can see it in front of the servo and poking out of the edge of the under camber.


I wonder if there are different types of carbon fiber arrows. Mine does have some flex in it. I expected it to be really rigid.

Let's see how it goes.

 

[Gazoo]

Well, the maiden was a success until it wasn't.

Here is the video using my phone stuck in a snow bank. Yes, it takes off from the snow nicely except the down pitch with power wants to hold it down.

It wanted to pitch down with power. I thought that the thrust angle would help. Am I thinking in reverse? Should I use the opposite thrust angle?


And here is the result of a low altitude stall.


It will be an easy fix. Not sure if I'll use the same servos though (at least on the elevator). They grind quite a bit which could have contributed to the pitchyness and the stall.

If I rebuild the airframe, I will not use the rudder servo and keep it bank-and-yank. I barely used the rudder anyway. Maybe I will add gear and make it a tail-dragger with a steerable tailwheel.

 

[kdobson83]

Ouch. Crashes are never fun. Mine was SUPER pitchy as well. I found it had way too much elevator throw from the supplied tool. I turned down my throw in half and that fixed most of it. The planes got such a long elevator it still had a lot of bite. Almost as if it were tail heavy. I didn't have any thrust angle and it had no thrust issues, even wide open throttle only required minimal down pressure to keep the nose down. Don't know if the pitchiness was a balance issue or a rates issue. I'd hate to add dead weight to the nose but I guess I'll have to on my next flight.

 

[AircPirateNinsei]

Thank you for your feedback, the pictures and the video!

Gazoo, you don't think in reverse, because the thrust angle of the FT Explorer is also in this direction. So you are right! But the FT Explorer thrust angle is a bit bigger than the one of the FT Super Bee. I didn't had time to test the angled Mini Power Pod yet on my Eazy.

kdobson83 my Eazy is not tail heavy. In the pusher version i use a battery with approx 100g in the nose for the perfect center of gravity.

 

[kdobson83]

Well I also added a BBQ skewer in the tail to keep the horizontal stabilizer rigid and to help keep it from bending. Plus, the 1300 3s I used is one of the longer ones which may have had some effect. Plus I had the plans printed and the print shop used a thicker paper than normal for some silly reason. So mine is probably a tad heavier than yours. The elevator does have some serious athority tho, that puppy can pull out of a dive like nobody's business. Lol Trying 4s on it as soon as this windy/stormy spring weather gives me a break.

 

[seth]

Hi there. I am from Turkey. This is my Ap Eazy. Thank you AircPirateNinsei for plan.

Unfortunately I forgot to take a video. But there are short landing videos.

 

[AircPirateNinsei]

Greetings to Turkey and thank you for the pictures and the video.

Please let us know the setup of your "PIRATES BEE" Eazy (servos, motor, battery, all up weight with FPV).
Did you have problems with the parts or was everything... eazy?

 

[seth]

Greetings to Turkey and thank you for the pictures and the video.

Please let us know the setup of your "PIRATES BEE" Eazy (servos, motor, battery, all up weight with FPV).
Did you have problems with the parts or was everything... eazy?

Greetings. Sorry, I forgot to write this information.

Motor: Emax 2205-2300 kv red bottom
Esc: DYS XS20A Blheli-S + 3A Ubec
Prop: 5045x3
Servo: Standart 9 gr
Battery: 1300 Mah 4S 70C
FPV Gear: Eachine 25mw AIO + Ubec + 2S 300 mah battery
AUW is 640 gr.

The writing of the "Pirates bee" was wrong. It was supposed to be a "Pirate bee".

Making the model was "eazy" I did not encounter any problems. I used a 3mm carbon rod to secure the wings. 60 gr extra weight on the nose.
The flight of the model is also very nice, stable and looks acrobatic. This plane may be my favorite fpv aircraft in the future.

 

[kdobson83]

Ok, so the only thing ive noticed with this plane is it likes nose weight, and there is zero cooling for the electronics. Im running a 30 amp esc on a 2205 motor with 5x4x4 prop, only pulls about 20a on 3s, and im having over heating issues with my esc. On 4s, it over heats with in a minute after launch. The only thing i can see to fix this would be to either mount the esc on the outside, which is not an option for me, or cut some cooling vents. The only good spots i see is on the canopy, and on the bottom. I plan to cut out a FT style vent on the canopy and another on the bottom rear before next flight. Hopefully this will help.

 

[AircPirateNinsei]

... Making the model was "eazy" I did not encounter any problems. ... The flight of the model is also very nice, stable and looks acrobatic. This plane may be my favorite fpv aircraft in the future.

Well, I'm glad to hear that!
Your setup should also work on the Mini Mirage - maybe the battery is a little heavy. If you ever want to fly a delta!

 

[AircPirateNinsei]

... and there is zero cooling for the electronics. ... I plan to cut out a FT style vent on the canopy and another on the bottom rear before next flight. Hopefully this will help.

A cooling vent like in the FT Explorer will probably be the solution. I don't like it when the ESC is placed outside either.

 

[daxian]

hi all ...
tried to print out the a4 tiled plans here in the uk, takes 33 pages !!! and only prints on a half sheet of a4 ...that seems an awfull waste of paper!!
am i doing something wrong ??
is there a way to reduce the waste ???
help !!!

 

[revgregg65]

Maidened mine today, i ended up using a 1500 3s, pushed all the way to the front. It flew well , had a funny tendency to turn the wrong way when I used the rudder. DOH, how did I miss a reversed control during my “extensive” preflight check? All in all I’m pretty happy with it, I’ll be putting some Fpv gear in the nose , so that will help with the tail heaviness. Also in hindsight ,I wish I had made ailerons larger, this one is not quick on the roll. She does also have a tendency to tip stall, but still quite manageable. I’m going to enjoy this plane. Thanks for making the plans available!