Exploring the Explorer

[FL_Engineer]

This looks interesting, although he never got it sorted. https://www.flitetest.com/articles/super-bronco-pusher-project

 

[BATTLEAXE]

This looks interesting, although he never got it sorted. https://www.flitetest.com/articles/super-bronco-pusher-project

Did you see the Bronco pusher I had posted earlier in this thread, never had any of the issues this guy experienced. There are a flight vid or two in here as well.

 

[FL_Engineer]

Did you see the Bronco pusher I had posted earlier in this thread, never had any of the issues this guy experienced. There are a flight vid or two in here as well.

I did and that is what inspired me 😉. But I assumed you used your Rimfire which could make a cinder block fly 😅.

 

[daxian]

mine was similar..and flew well with a 2212 1000kv and 8x6 prop...

 

[Sero]

I did and that is what inspired me 😉. But I assumed you used your Rimfire which could make a cinder block fly 😅.

While what you say is true, your 2836 will be fine, if anything it's lighter weight will make balancing the plane easier.

 

[BATTLEAXE]

I did and that is what inspired me 😉. But I assumed you used your Rimfire which could make a cinder block fly 😅.

I actually used the old emax C pack motor and not the Rimfire and it pushed it fine, as you can tell by the vids. I used a 2200 3s all the way up in the front to get balance but that would be the lightest I would go for slow flight, any faster and you would want to either use a larger battery like a 3000 3s or more, or lengthen the nose.

 

[Sero]

Ran 2 packs today. CG was better than the maiden. See how it flys in the video below.

Also ran 2 pack through the Mini Mustang and 2 on the sub 250 Mini Mustang. I videoed those too but haven't posted to YouTube

Next time the video quality will be better, overall exposure was too dark.

 

[BATTLEAXE]

Ran 2 packs today. CG was better than the maiden. See how it flys in the video below.

Also ran 2 pack through the Mini Mustang and 2 on the sub 250 Mini Mustang. I videoed those too but haven't posted to YouTube

Next time the video quality will be better, overall exposure was too dark.

That thing has some serious elevator authority and some decent power. How do you like it for the slow flight for endurance

 

[Sero]

That thing has some serious elevator authority and some decent power. How do you like it for the slow flight for endurance

Ya I have to setup dual rates on it yet, a little too twitchy. I was hoping it would be bit slower. I'm going to try flaperons on it yet, just need to program it as the aileron servos are connected individually.
Half of the weight is electronics so going to smaller motors and ESCs I feel would be a big help but I'm not going to buy anything specifically for this.

 

[BATTLEAXE]

Ya I have to setup dual rates on it yet, a little too twitchy. I was hoping it would be bit slower. I'm going to try flaperons on it yet, just need to program it as the aileron servos are connected individually.
Half of the weight is electronics so going to smaller motors and ESCs I feel would be a big help but I'm not going to buy anything specifically for this.

Looks good otherwise. I like how you got almost 7 minutes on it. How much battery did you have left?

I ran my single prop pusher on a 9x6 with a 2200 and got around 7-8 minutes with the bronco wing

 

[FL_Engineer]

Ya I have to setup dual rates on it yet, a little too twitchy. I was hoping it would be bit slower. I'm going to try flaperons on it yet, just need to program it as the aileron servos are connected individually.
Half of the weight is electronics so going to smaller motors and ESCs I feel would be a big help but I'm not going to buy anything specifically for this.

I'm liking the explorer wing / a-tail setup!

 

[Sero]

Looks good otherwise. I like how you got almost 7 minutes on it. How much battery did you have left?

I ran my single prop pusher on a 9x6 with a 2200 and got around 7-8 minutes with the bronco wing

Battery was pretty much at its minimum limit after 7 minutes. I'm going to try 2 batteries and see how it flys.
Next step is add the GoPro to the plane.

 

[Sero]

I'm liking the explorer wing / a-tail setup!

Thanks, you should give it a try.

 

[BATTLEAXE]

Battery was pretty much at its minimum limit after 7 minutes. I'm going to try 2 batteries and see how it flys.
Next step is add the GoPro to the plane.

The motors being in the back of the plane forced me to mount the 2200 right in line with the front of the battery tray, plus a bolt with a couple nuts taped and glued to the bottom of the tray just to get a level balance on the suggested CG point. I like a little more weight in the nose to move the CG about a half inch forward so it doesn't pitch up as much under throttle. If you mounted a GoPro up front off the nose would that be to much nose weight being your two motors are ahead of CG?

 

[Sero]

The motors being in the back of the plane forced me to mount the 2200 right in line with the front of the battery tray, plus a bolt with a couple nuts taped and glued to the bottom of the tray just to get a level balance on the suggested CG point. I like a little more weight in the nose to move the CG about a half inch forward so it doesn't pitch up as much under throttle. If you mounted a GoPro up front off the nose would that be to much nose weight being your two motors are ahead of CG?

Yes I had a challenge getting the CG right with the Explorer too, I also had to add nose weight.
With my Bronco that isn't a problem, the the 2200 3s is about 3.5" back from the nose, and there's a fair bit more room behind it as well, so lots of wiggle room. I haven't tried yet but I'm sure I won't have a problem balancing the plane regardless of where I put the camera.

 

[BATTLEAXE]

Yes I had a challenge getting the CG right with the Explorer too, I also had to add nose weight.
With my Bronco that isn't a problem, the the 2200 3s is about 3.5" back from the nose, and there's a fair bit more room behind it as well, so lots of wiggle room. I haven't tried yet but I'm sure I won't have a problem balancing the plane regardless of where I put the camera.

Looking forward to the footage, especially in your area with the mountains, primo

 

[Sero]

Got a few flights in with the camera on the back of the fuse today. I'd really like to smooth out the flying a bit, I'm sure FPV would help that out. It's hard to tell if the plane is tracking level when it's way up there. I took it easy and as smooth as I could for the first few minutes then had some fun.

Here's the camera mount.

 

[BATTLEAXE]

Got a few flights in with the camera on the back of the fuse today. I'd really like to smooth out the flying a bit, I'm sure FPV would help that out. It's hard to tell if the plane is tracking level when it's way up there. I took it easy and as smooth as I could for the first few minutes then had some fun.

Here's the camera mount.
View attachment 156755

That's cool! The mount looks solid. Plane did well, got some loops and rolls in there. It's a GoPro yo are using right?

 

[Sero]

That's cool! The mount looks solid. Plane did well, got some loops and rolls in there. It's a GoPro yo are using right?

Thanks.
It's a $50 Amazon GoPro knock off.

 

[The Hangar]

I’m going to be building a night flyer sometime before Flitefest, and I think Something no like @Sero did would really fit the ticket. I’d also like to put FPV on it as well.