First powered FT build ready for maiden!

evranch

Well-known member
The Black Bloody Baron! I love dark wings against my bright prairie skies and so buying black foam was a no-brainer. I did the fuselage in white just to see how it looks. I like the contrast.

The only thing missing is repair tape for the wings as I'm out of my favorite tape and need to make a run to town. That and good weather... the high is -20C tomorrow and that is the kind of weather that cracks servo horns and frostbites fingers.

A couple minor differences from the FT build:
- heavier pushrods, straight runs, no sleeving. I don't really see why I would introduce flex into the rod when I can make a straight shot of it? Maybe this is an exposed rods combat thing?
- battery is mounted internally and secured between BBQ skewers that push through the power pod walls. A belly mounted pack would take serious abrasion damage in the snow.
- I originally was thinking of making something with elevons, so I didn't buy a servo for the rudder. Will add later.

Power systems were as recommended and imported by a local combat group:
- Turnigy D2826/10 1400kV
- 7x6E prop
- 20A ESC
- 1300 3s lipo

As far as I can see this puts out around the wattage that Power Pack C would. 20A ESC is marginal at full throttle but I doubt I will need it. Seems like a lot of pitch, but I've never been good at figuring out props. The local boys claim mad vertical climbs, and eCalc claims a much higher TWR and rate of climb out of this setup than Power Pack C so... we'll see once I get it in the air, I guess!

I suspect this thing is going to be a rocket. First impression while holding it is that it feels heavy and dense, and will have a fairly high stall speed.
 

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mrjdstewart

Legendary member
looks just like mine except i put some white stripes on one side of the wing.

the baron can be a hand full so make sure you got your throws set and plenty of expo for your first few flights. once you get the feel for it, then adjust as needed.

good luck,

me :cool:
 

Merv

Site Moderator
Staff member
Great looking plane. A watt meter is a useful tool when selecting props. Just make sure the motor doesn’t get too hot. Warm is ok, but if you can’t hold it for 30 seconds, it’s too hot. A prop that works in winter may over heat your motor in summer.
 

Paracodespoder

Elite member
looks just like mine except i put some white stripes on one side of the wing.

the baron can be a hand full so make sure you got your throws set and plenty of expo for your first few flights. once you get the feel for it, then adjust as needed.

good luck,

me :cool:
First time I ever flew mine was with a dxe, and I didn’t have any way to program expo or dual rates, and to add to all that, it was my second plane I ever flew with ailerons. (Started on a super cub, and my first plane with ailerons, bushwacker, died on the maiden because the wing folded.) Somehow I didn’t completely destroy it on the maiden, I did crash it though, almost right into a cow! After that I still flew it on the dxe without dual rates and expo.That bloody baron wouldn’t die from all the abuse it received until mid flight the power pod ejected and landed quite literally only an inch from the ponds edge, the airframe landed in the pond. By the way @evranch , that looks great, good luck with the maiden.
 

evranch

Well-known member
Thanks guys, I'm set up mechanically for the full 20 degree throws, with a half rate switch (default half rate). Expo at 50% because I like a whack load of expo anyways! Roll rate looks insane at full rates with those huge ailerons, I will have to fly nice at first and get used to it.

No cows here but I have sheep. They are fun to try to herd by air. I want to get set up with FPV and seriously use a plane to round them up!

For years I flew with a basic TX with no expo and since I got the Taranis, all my planes are suddenly so easy to fly...
 

buzzbomb

I know nothing!
No cows here but I have sheep. They are fun to try to herd by air.
You need a quad. I sort of left them when I got into fixed wing, but they hover with no effort and are loud as heck. Push a stick to the right and the thing just shoots that way. Same for any direction.

I've never had reason to think about using one to herd sheep, but I bet it would work really well.
 

evranch

Well-known member
I've considered quads many times, and flown a few times, but there's one big crappy factor here - wind. On a day when sheep need herding, there's no guarantee there will be low enough wind for quad flying. Often the wind is too high for fixed wing too, of course... but while I can still fly fixed wing in 50kph gusting 80, anything but the biggest quads will be blown away, and even the monsters will be chewing battery. And we'd be talking like $1500+ quads as far as I've seen?

Landing in that kind of wind is really hairy and there's only one plane I will fly, my big heavy Bormatec Maja with the Pixhawk installed in fly by wire mode. It's amazing to watch the ailerons flapping away to keep the wings perfectly level, while I adjust my throttle to nearly hover it down in place with the nose into the wind. I need more flight controllers!

It warmed up today, but I'm sitting here watching that pesky wind blow like mad as I want to maiden my Baron :(
 

Bricks

Master member
I am curious as how well that prop will work 2826/10 1400 KV motor should be running at least 9/5 up to a 11/5 or 12 4/5. Let us know how it goes.
 

evranch

Well-known member
Alright, I got my first flight in! It was still pretty windy. I got smacked by a big gust right away while getting a feel for the throws and took it into the ground for a traditional nose shortening.

However, this airframe is definitely tough. Super tough. Really impressed. There was only a little crinkling of the upper fuselage where the air vent is, no other visible damage at all. Since I hit snow, the prop was even OK! The spinner did get ejected with the prop and damaged a bit, but thanks to the magic of collets it runs true enough to keep flying until I get another.

So I adjusted my elevator mechanical trim as I'd been holding constant up elevator, took it up again and flew until the pack was done. Good handling even at half rate and I think I'll put in a couple more flights before I switch it up to full rate. Definitely needs plenty of expo as it's pretty touchy.

It doesn't really need more power, I launched and flew at about half throttle to get the hang of it and that was more than adequate for a maiden. I opened it up for a couple big climbs and it can pull pretty good vertical with the 7x6. As you say, @Bricks, the motor can probably swing more prop but I doubt the 20A ESC can - maybe that's why they recommended it? Also, these are combat guys and they bought a big lot of these cheap props. Maybe that's what they could get.

The color scheme works great, no need for stripes as you can see the white fuselage against the black wing.

When I brought it in the house though, I realized I'd damaged the most expensive part of the plane in the crash - the lipo... it had broken free of its mounts and slid into the slightly long firewall screws, poking a small hole in the corner of one of the cells. However, I'd flown 10 minutes with the screw sticking into the cell, and there was no smell coming off, so I did something stupid that I wouldn't do with an expensive plane... I cut away the wrapping, hot glued the hole and charged it with a close eye on it. Seems to be OK with no puffing or heating. I'll fly it until it's sick and then convert it to a 2S pack.

Now I have a couple pieces of foamboard stacked up as a bumper in front of the battery location, covering the screws. I would recommend doing so if you plan to run an internal pack on the Baron.
 

Bricks

Master member
Been there done that with Lipo`s too dang firewall screws in the way. I have one pack completely come loose when I had one plane go straight in as tight as it could go and mush roomed the end of the pack and still works. It was kind of funny as I was doing a big loop going as tight as it could go, planed on pulling out about 3-4 feet off the ground as I watched it goes straight in and I never pulled back on the elevator. It looked like someone had put an M80 in a box of foam and blew it up foam every where..
 

evranch

Well-known member
Heh, I did similar to an EPS foamie. Full throttle parked into the wind when something went a little wrong in the airstream. In under a second the airplane had flipped downwind and looped into the ground. Poof! Most of the airframe blew away in little pieces. The lipo shorted out and caught fire. I got my ESC and receiver back, at least.

I probably shouldn't play in the wind as much as I do. At least it's never boring...
 

evranch

Well-known member
Well I had a much better Baron flight this morning in low wind. Trims are all set up to fly nice and level and no surfaces are very far out, looks like a good build. The Lipo appears to have survived, it charged properly and after the flight all cells were balanced. It's actually pretty easy to fly on low rates though I wouldn't call it a trainer. Did some light aerobatics and some full throttle low passes, and I really need to put the rudder on this guy now. Fun to fly! Go vertical with the throttle wide open and it's just a speck in the sky before you know it.
 

Paracodespoder

Elite member
Yup, that’s why it’s one of my top 5 favorites. Mine doesn’t have a rudder either, I just didn’t think it neede it, I might add one on the next baron (if that ever happens, probably will).
 

evranch

Well-known member
Wow, props from SP0NZ himself! Thanks for designing it and all the work you do for this community. It's tons of fun and definitely the toughest plane I've ever flown.

As far as rudder goes, I need the rudder because a plane that climbs like this begs for hammerheads and wingovers, lol. And I cut out the spot to put the servo in during the build already...