Bixler RTF Help

gurcsik

Junior Member
I am new to all of this and just bought the RTF Bixler. I connected everything together and everything seemed to run fine. I then tried it all again and now everything works except for my motor. I might have mixed up the polarity on the receiver, but I am not completely sure.

What is the chance that I burned out the speed controller or receiver? Since everything else works, I am assuming I did something to the speed controller?


Thanks,
Jay
 

gurcsik

Junior Member
OMG THANK YOU SO MUCH. i just blasted the motor in triumph and scared the bajeebus out of my girlfriend and her mother. haha.
 

earthsciteach

Moderator
Moderator
Ok, here's the score:
+1 for strapping a camera to a rocket.
+2 for each parachute duck placed on the blast shield.
+4 for a cute girlfriend who is willing to participate in this nonsense.
-2 for placing the camera below the cg of the rocket causing it to be unstable. Next time, tape it on closer to the nose.
Total=+5. Well done, sir!
 

ananas1301

Crazy flyer/crasher :D
Ok, here's the score:
+1 for strapping a camera to a rocket.
+2 for each parachute duck placed on the blast shield.
+4 for a cute girlfriend who is willing to participate in this nonsense.
-2 for placing the camera below the cg of the rocket causing it to be unstable. Next time, tape it on closer to the nose.
Total=+5. Well done, sir!

Well calculated and valued :D +1 on that. Makes a total of +1 :D
 

gurcsik

Junior Member
haha well thanks. If you're in Dallastown, you can take the short trip to Delaware County to help out.

On the Rocket COG placement, I just thought it would be logical to put the camera near the bottom. The ducks were originally INSIDE the rocket but they didn't deploy; the parachute deployed but didn't open. Those two factors combined turned the rocket into a missile heading towards us and sticking into the ground by about three inches. You can buy the 12 ducks for $5 here:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004EMR3ZU/ref=oh_o02_s01_i01_details

I haven't had a chance to edit the video footage, but here is a quick sneak peak. Can I also get a points rating for this hilarity?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1JtzYe8U2yg&feature=player_embedded
 

KKArioKA

Epoxi Flyer
wow !! what a nice takeoff !!

By watching your video I can tell that you have aproximately 0,2 hours on the simulator .... you inverted the command and nose dived :D

Tip: never fly towards you at first flights, try to fly to the left - right pattern and project yourself a lil bit toward the direction the airplane is flying.

Always fly twice the altitude you were flying ... makes it easier and more time to correct wrong commands.

I think that broken nose is a easy fix !!! get it up again !!!!
 

gurcsik

Junior Member
Well since my Turnixy 9x is on backorder I was using the Hobby King RX and didnt have the plug for the simulator. I have the simulator but just no way to use it for another week! I was afraid to take it up too high because the higher i flew it, the harder it crashed into the ground.

I did glue it back together. I flew and crashed it 9 or 10 times! Even the carbon spar in the wings snapped and folded my plane mid-flight. I just glued the wings onto the fuselage and I was good to go! It is currently shattered and sitting in my apartment.

But like I said, a hilarious video will be up hopefully by tonight!
 

KKArioKA

Epoxi Flyer
its nice to see that you accept those mishapps with good humor :D patch it a thousand times and put it up again !! when you get more confidence and fly it better, you can order a FOAM REPLACEMENT ( fuselage + wings ) and try to be nice on the landings hehehe


theres a phoenix simulator selling on hobbyking, its cheap !! it works with the radio that comes with the RTF kit

also theres a transmitter made especially to plug into USB so you dont waste ur batteries i think its 15 dollars.

Simulator (works with your transmitter)
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/uh_viewitem.asp?idproduct=14304&aff=583764

Simulator + PC transmitter
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/uh_viewitem.asp?idproduct=20951&aff=583764


I suggest you get this battery to fit into your hobby king transmitter, so you will never have to buy batteries again :p

http://www.hobbyking.com/buddy.asp?code=D5A80D86-E5C5-4FF9-8893-5CB610C23504
 
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SlimDuck

Junior Member
I finally got my bixler

January the 15th - Bit the bullet and ordered a Bixler RTF from Japan (Hobby King) with the recommended glue and (8) batteries for the radio.

January the 19th - After looking at tons of info for 4 days, I decided to get a Fly Sky radio (after receiving it I realized it was a Turnigy 9X with a different name) and a cheap simulator (E Sky). I bought them from NitroPlanes.com to compare shipping times and customer service.

February 10th - Finally received the plane (felt like forever). First thing I noticed was that the battery charger was not AC, so charging the battery up was not really an option without a 12v battery. Kind of a bummer having to wait to charge the battery.

The plane did go together pretty easily concidering that I had never put one together before. One of my concerns was that the control horns just popped off the plane very easily without much handling. I would have figured that they would be mounted pretty securely. I just glued them on with the glue they recommended. I wasn't sure how well they were gonna hold even with the glue but after they dried, I had no more doubts that they would hold.

The only other issue I came across in the build was that one of the tiny little screws that attached the horns to the push rod had some bad threads. So I had connected the elevator and did not connect the flaps until I could replace the screw.

The Hobby shop was closed by this time, so I made a list of things I needed/wanted from my vast scouring of forums and videos that I had been soaking in for the past month. Saturday morning shopping spree permeated my dreams that night.

After going to the local R/C store, I came back with a 12v sealed battery ($25) and an AC charger for that ($12.99), Extreme Tape, Clear Packing Tape (Duck Tape of course), Foam for cushioning the nose, (2) 3mm carbon fiber rods, rubber bands, and 3M (Control) hooks. Of course I forgot to put the little scew for the control horn on my list (DOHH). I was going to get a 2200 Mah battery but found out that the connects on the HK batteries (known as HT60 connectors) were exclusively used by HK (Thought for a second about getting the battery anyway and getting a bunch of Deans Plugs and changing everything to those, but passed on that idea for a while).

So I got home and started charging the LiPo with the 12v (was happy that the LiPo charger actually worked), layed one of the carbon fiber rods into the groove on the bottom of the fuselage and extreme taped it to try and protect the bottom of the plame from rough landings. Taped the nose, leading wing edges and seams with clear tape to toughen up the plane from my wrath and inexperience. By the time I finished taping and the sort, the battery was charged, WOOHOO, I was ready. Or so I thought. My fly sky radio worked well except for one thing, the throttle was not working (I just figured out what the problem was when I read some of the post right before this one). Lucky for me, I also had the radio that came with the plane, so I switched out receiver in the plane and that did the trick. Cranked up the throttle to make sure it was on correctly and wind was flowing in the right direction from the props. WOOHOO (again).

35 degrees was not gonna stop me from checking this thing out. BUT, inexperience did not stop me from a dumb mistake. WIND, HARD WIND. I threw the plane into the wind like I was supposed to, but forgot all about the sun, lost the plane in the sun for a second and the wind took it straight into a tree. I was very thankful that I had taken the time to do all that taping. The plane survived the tree (or so i thought). I went to inspect it and it received a little character but looked just fine. I decided to try again (my enthusiasm far outweighed my experience and patience), so this time I threw into the wind trying to be mindful of the sun but that is when it happened, both of the wings folded upand came off the plane. Apparently the first crash broke the cheap rod that came with the plane that goes in the middle of both the wings. I'm guessing that is what happened. I'm sure the huge gust of wind didn't help either. The wings are fine, but the rod is bent in two, and the nose took a wallup and is somewhat out of shape now.

I'm a little distgusted that I didn't wait, but also that the rod was soo cheap. Guess I'll be going to get a good rod, and maybe some more carbon fiber to try an get the nose back in shape.

Til then,
One Gounded Duck:(
 
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earthsciteach

Moderator
Moderator
gurcsik-make a drive out to york county this coming weekend. I'll be glad to give you some help! I'm off Friday through Monday.

Advice based on the video you posted - find a larger field to fly. Also, GET MORE ALTITUDE! Get that thing up at least 2 tree top heights to give yourself time to recover.

Hilarious video! +2
 

colorex

Rotor Riot!
Mentor
SlimDuck:

What probably happened with your wings was that you pulled too much G's in a turn. I have almost done this, but when I see the wings flex more than usual when pulling up elevator, I realize I have to let go a bit and take it slower. So far I have had a nice experience, because of the simulator and because of everyone in the forum.

So get that CF rod, put your wings back in, make sure they stay where they are, so that you can get out to fly again. And don't fly in winds more than 7 - 10 mph.