Exploring the Explorer

BATTLEAXE

Legendary member
hi battleaxe....one of the reasons i did not use the plans, was the explorer was so tail heavy using uk foam, that i would have to use a 5200 3s AND some lead to get it to balance,so i built a new core ...which left me with the original core to build this around ...
so far it is balancing ok with a 2200 3s ...still need to put some colour and possibly laminate for strength ....whether it will perform as well as yours did ,remains to be seen ...but fingers crossed !!
I looks like a clean build, the tail feathers are super simple in design. I likey! What motor pack are you using? When is the maiden?
 

Steve Fox

Active member
hi battleaxe....one of the reasons i did not use the plans, was the explorer was so tail heavy using uk foam, that i would have to use a 5200 3s AND some lead to get it to balance,so i built a new core ...which left me with the original core to build this around ...
so far it is balancing ok with a 2200 3s ...still need to put some colour and possibly laminate for strength ....whether it will perform as well as yours did ,remains to be seen ...but fingers crossed !!

my Explorer built with our stronger UK foamboard balanced on a 4000 3s, it's really simple, just make an extended nose section (just the outer nose and not the tray) and you can put the battery further Forward.

Mine has a tonne of electronics behind the cg point too, the GPS, flight controller, esc, osd, arduino nano, Bluetooth module, rx and vtx are all behind the cg point on mine!

It's all change for mine though as it's being converted to a puller and I'm going to have to shift things further back to balance it with the motor all the way in the nose.
 
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Steve Fox

Active member
speaking of converting the explorer, its taken longer than expected as i suddenly realised that id peeled the paper off the inside to curve the foam and ive had to carefully bond new paper back on to give the foam the strength to support a hinge but i now have a battery hatch in the puller nose ive made :)
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BATTLEAXE

Legendary member
speaking of converting the explorer, its taken longer than expected as i suddenly realised that id peeled the paper off the inside to curve the foam and ive had to carefully bond new paper back on to give the foam the strength to support a hinge but i now have a battery hatch in the puller nose ive made :) View attachment 141830 View attachment 141831 View attachment 141832 View attachment 141833
That's right it was you who told me about using the hinges with FB! How did you install it and would it work for control surfaces?
 

daxian

Elite member
I looks like a clean build, the tail feathers are super simple in design. I likey! What motor pack are you using? When is the maiden?
not sure on the maiden ...few others to maiden before this one ,not had the weather or the inclination to maiden recently .
power will be either a 2212 1000kv racestar or a sunnysky "c" pack ...will depend on the all up weight !!
 

Steve Fox

Active member
That's right it was you who told me about using the hinges with FB! How did you install it and would it work for control surfaces?

They are meant for control surfaces :)
if you look at this repair on one of my cubs you can see i used hinges on it, they allow the surface to move much more freely but ive been lazy lately and just make hot glue hinges but that caught up with me a week or so ago when my hot glue rudder hinge failed and i might go back to putting the hinges in, they are very cheap on the likes of banggood.
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BATTLEAXE

Legendary member
not sure on the maiden ...few others to maiden before this one ,not had the weather or the inclination to maiden recently .
power will be either a 2212 1000kv racestar or a sunnysky "c" pack ...will depend on the all up weight !!
I have the c pack on mine and it's plenty strong for the weight, running a 9x6 prop gives it so many possibilities. Once trimmed right you can run anywhere from 1/3rd to full throttle depending on conditions
 

BATTLEAXE

Legendary member
oh, to fit them , i slice into the center of the FB with a blade, put glue in the slit and then push the hinge in.
Yea i have a bunch left over from one of my earliest builds and I was thinking of using them on the control surfaces of FB planes but I never seen anyone do it. You just confirmed it. I have a hinge slot cutter I might try with some scrap pieces. So you would prefer to use those as opposed to the paper/glue hinge we all use on the FB planes for strength then?
 

Steve Fox

Active member
Yea i have a bunch left over from one of my earliest builds and I was thinking of using them on the control surfaces of FB planes but I never seen anyone do it. You just confirmed it. I have a hinge slot cutter I might try with some scrap pieces. So you would prefer to use those as opposed to the paper/glue hinge we all use on the FB planes for strength then?

There is nothing wrong with the paper and hot glue hinges and they last a very long time but when you put as many hours on a plane as i have the hot glue start to give up on you, the rudder had been suffering from a half dead servo for months which was making my rudder constantly flutter and the occasional full deflection.
i couldn't be arsed to change the servo and flew like that for months and i think that and a combination of dragging the base of the rudder on harsh ground on landings pushed it over the edge.

My aileron hot glue hinges have always just about lasted till the wing was beyond bothering to patch and ive built a new one for the plane.

on a plane which i was expecting to last a very long time without needing a new tail or wing, a plane that wont be used for risky low level flying say the explorer if i was building it now, i think i would install proper hinges.
its something that can be done after building though, the bevel is on the control surface, you can just cut it off and make a new surface and fix it on with hinges, i would paint it before fitting it to the plane.
 

BATTLEAXE

Legendary member
There is nothing wrong with the paper and hot glue hinges and they last a very long time but when you put as many hours on a plane as i have the hot glue start to give up on you, the rudder had been suffering from a half dead servo for months which was making my rudder constantly flutter and the occasional full deflection.
i couldn't be arsed to change the servo and flew like that for months and i think that and a combination of dragging the base of the rudder on harsh ground on landings pushed it over the edge.

My aileron hot glue hinges have always just about lasted till the wing was beyond bothering to patch and ive built a new one for the plane.

on a plane which i was expecting to last a very long time without needing a new tail or wing, a plane that wont be used for risky low level flying say the explorer if i was building it now, i think i would install proper hinges.
its something that can be done after building though, the bevel is on the control surface, you can just cut it off and make a new surface and fix it on with hinges, i would paint it before fitting it to the plane.
Good point, my planes are lucky to last more then 2 weeks flying everyday right now so maybe i will revisit in the future. Thx

You flying today?
 

Steve Fox

Active member
Good point, my planes are lucky to last more then 2 weeks flying everyday right now so maybe i will revisit in the future. Thx

You flying today?

I can put an hour or more a day on the cub and when the weather permits try to fly every day, it's pretty much only rain that stops me if I want to fly and will go out in winds others won't even consider lol.

I did want to fly today but I need to get my bathroom finished it's been 95% done for over a year and I really want to fit my shower so after exercising I got some more tiles done and are nearly ready to grout it now.

I should really put a few days in on that and get it done, I'm sick of baths and sick of it being a building site!
 

Steve Fox

Active member
You flying today?

Decided to try and fit in tiling and flying, I've had a major mishap, I've half killed the cub :/

Don't know if I have footage yet, the camera wasn't recording when I got to it. I'm sat in the car about to drive home with a very poorly cub lol.
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BATTLEAXE

Legendary member
Decided to try and fit in tiling and flying, I've had a major mishap, I've half killed the cub :/

Don't know if I have footage yet, the camera wasn't recording when I got to it. I'm sat in the car about to drive home with a very poorly cub lol. View attachment 141931 View attachment 141932
Gives you the opportunity to build a new one. I would say its fortuitous. Some times when I get tired of a plane and want to build a new one, I will fly the crap out of it with speed or maneuvers till it crashes beyond repairs. Now I know you are the king of repairs but for me that would be a new plane operation, just a testament as to how much I like building lol
 

Steve Fox

Active member
Gives you the opportunity to build a new one. I would say its fortuitous. Some times when I get tired of a plane and want to build a new one, I will fly the crap out of it with speed or maneuvers till it crashes beyond repairs. Now I know you are the king of repairs but for me that would be a new plane operation, just a testament as to how much I like building lol

I clipped a power line, not a low level one, the top wire on a steel pylon and it took the wing off and i spiralled 180ft onto a concrete carpark behind one of the warehouses i fly near.

The impact was so hard against the concrete that it copped though two of the motor leads, ive not checked if the motor itself has been deformed yet, if its ok ill re use it but i always keep spares of everything and can replace it without having to order one.

No footage, looks like the camera dropped the file when it crashed, the camera itself (firefly micro) also appears to have died in the impact which is annoying but i do have a spare one if i cant revive this one.

im seriously thinking considering repair of the cub, it will be faster than a full rebuild and ill start on a new one soon after, i also like beating the most brutal of crashes and getting it airborne again ha ha

ive also trashed the storch wing, its in really bad shape with a 1"x 2" slice in it on the leading edge and the wing tip on the other end of the wing is split from leading to trailing edge, i can bodge it but it wont take another crash.
 

BATTLEAXE

Legendary member
Isn't crashing fun, keeps you busy that's for sure. I hate losing electronics though. Drives me nuts. I don't have spares of inventory to choose from so it is a gamble every time. Keeps the adrenaline flowing (y)
 

Steve Fox

Active member
Isn't crashing fun, keeps you busy that's for sure. I hate losing electronics though. Drives me nuts. I don't have spares of inventory to choose from so it is a gamble every time. Keeps the adrenaline flowing (y)

Looks like the cam is totally dead, the shock took leds off the circuit board, im guessing that something else failed in the impact too, it wont charge, power up or connect to my pc :(

its not the first firefly micro ive killed, this is why i dont buy expensive cameras, i know ill break them sooner or later ha ha.
 

daxian

Elite member
managed to maiden the bronco-ish, flew well ,did video it but the file got corrupted and wont play ...
ran it on the racestar 2212 1000 kv with a 8x6 prop and a 2200 3s ...more than enough power ,at 2/3 throttle it screamed.
throws were a little too much at that speed and needs a little downthrust to fly level ....loops no problem ...did not try the roll rate ....the glide off power is perfect !! will get a new sd card and do a remaiden !!
grass was really wet ...but the covering held up and she came home in one piece ...which is a good maiden for me ! P9170001.JPG
 

BATTLEAXE

Legendary member
managed to maiden the bronco-ish, flew well ,did video it but the file got corrupted and wont play ...
ran it on the racestar 2212 1000 kv with a 8x6 prop and a 2200 3s ...more than enough power ,at 2/3 throttle it screamed.
throws were a little too much at that speed and needs a little downthrust to fly level ....loops no problem ...did not try the roll rate ....the glide off power is perfect !! will get a new sd card and do a remaiden !!
grass was really wet ...but the covering held up and she came home in one piece ...which is a good maiden for me ! View attachment 142847
Looks good, I am glad you like how it flies. I found it to be a stable airframe, easy to control. Can't wait for the video.