BATTLEAXE
Legendary member
So I finally got to maiden the TT today. The good. The bad, and the ugly.
The Good
The Rx worked way better with it being located away from all the other components in the bottom of the plane in an open compartment w/o a hatch. There was no loss of signal whatsoever, all controls I fed into the Tx were directly correlated by the plane. Success
Here you can see how the Rx is more accessible and out in the open to receive the signal clearly. This is something that I have done to all 7 of the planes in the fleet. The Rx is an AR620 which isn't designed with an external antennae so hiding it in the fuse isn't feasible. Which is fine for me because every plane I have usually has it's own difficulties to fit the electronics into, this helps with the consistancies of setting up each plane as long as I keep the designs roughly the same. Thx to Hai-Lee for his insight into the LOS issue I was having.
The Bad
Set up as far as the control surfaces moving in the right direction and checked the CG to which it was overly nose heavy but flew it anyway. And... it reacted nose heavy, pitching down with only full back stick to correct to level. More or less throttle didn't help. Not that I thought less throttle would help, but it's a process of elimination. Back trim on the elevator did help the flight characteristics but doesn't solve the CG issue. Just a band aid fix.
Moved the tail feathers to the top of the fuse for clearance just in case I do land on the belly and not nose first. And replaced the internal 9g servos with 5g external servos placed aft on the tail. Makes for shorter control rods and ease of access. saves weight and helps to balance out the CG. And in turn...
… opens up the internal battery box area for room to play around with battery replacement. Actually moving the servos and Rx opened up enough space to swing a cat in there, no wires interfering with the servos, nothing is cramped in and is way easier to set the plane up for flight. No more separating the front fuse from the rear just to replace the battery, SO HAPPY!
This is where I found I also had some trouble with the elastic bands tearing apart the FB at the skewers which hold the wing on. So I extended the rear of the front fuse for durability. This doesn't have the landing gear anymore to save on nose weight plus after the first couple of hits I took the other day the landing gear leveraged the gear off ripping the bottom plate off anyway. NO landing gear until I get the landing thing down. And the ESC sits nicely between the PP and the LE skewer without fear of the battery smashing into it, and it still gets air flow from under the PP.
The Ugly
I did push the plane to make things happen and it took some decent hits. So a rebuild is in order. Mods will include moving the servos to an external location in the tail to not only help with the CG, but to increase the amount of room in the fuse for the other components. The tail feathers will be moved to the top of the fuse as well. And there will be a dedicated battery box built in to keep it from sliding forward.
All said and done the CG is so much closer to balance and I have more confidence that all the electronics are safe from each other in the event of a crash... not IF but WHEN. I really appreciate having everybody to lean on in times of need to keep me going in the hobby, Hai-Lee, buzzbomb, jport, and everyone else who have kept the creativity flowing. Thank you.
A real work in progress but there is no giving up. Keep on truckin man. Keep it shiny side up. Thx for watchin
The Good
The Rx worked way better with it being located away from all the other components in the bottom of the plane in an open compartment w/o a hatch. There was no loss of signal whatsoever, all controls I fed into the Tx were directly correlated by the plane. Success
Here you can see how the Rx is more accessible and out in the open to receive the signal clearly. This is something that I have done to all 7 of the planes in the fleet. The Rx is an AR620 which isn't designed with an external antennae so hiding it in the fuse isn't feasible. Which is fine for me because every plane I have usually has it's own difficulties to fit the electronics into, this helps with the consistancies of setting up each plane as long as I keep the designs roughly the same. Thx to Hai-Lee for his insight into the LOS issue I was having.
The Bad
Set up as far as the control surfaces moving in the right direction and checked the CG to which it was overly nose heavy but flew it anyway. And... it reacted nose heavy, pitching down with only full back stick to correct to level. More or less throttle didn't help. Not that I thought less throttle would help, but it's a process of elimination. Back trim on the elevator did help the flight characteristics but doesn't solve the CG issue. Just a band aid fix.
Moved the tail feathers to the top of the fuse for clearance just in case I do land on the belly and not nose first. And replaced the internal 9g servos with 5g external servos placed aft on the tail. Makes for shorter control rods and ease of access. saves weight and helps to balance out the CG. And in turn...
… opens up the internal battery box area for room to play around with battery replacement. Actually moving the servos and Rx opened up enough space to swing a cat in there, no wires interfering with the servos, nothing is cramped in and is way easier to set the plane up for flight. No more separating the front fuse from the rear just to replace the battery, SO HAPPY!
This is where I found I also had some trouble with the elastic bands tearing apart the FB at the skewers which hold the wing on. So I extended the rear of the front fuse for durability. This doesn't have the landing gear anymore to save on nose weight plus after the first couple of hits I took the other day the landing gear leveraged the gear off ripping the bottom plate off anyway. NO landing gear until I get the landing thing down. And the ESC sits nicely between the PP and the LE skewer without fear of the battery smashing into it, and it still gets air flow from under the PP.
The Ugly
I did push the plane to make things happen and it took some decent hits. So a rebuild is in order. Mods will include moving the servos to an external location in the tail to not only help with the CG, but to increase the amount of room in the fuse for the other components. The tail feathers will be moved to the top of the fuse as well. And there will be a dedicated battery box built in to keep it from sliding forward.
All said and done the CG is so much closer to balance and I have more confidence that all the electronics are safe from each other in the event of a crash... not IF but WHEN. I really appreciate having everybody to lean on in times of need to keep me going in the hobby, Hai-Lee, buzzbomb, jport, and everyone else who have kept the creativity flowing. Thank you.
A real work in progress but there is no giving up. Keep on truckin man. Keep it shiny side up. Thx for watchin
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