FLITE TEST CREW CHALLENGE: Simple Delta Ray Upgrade

[mike.chuanshi]

It seems this challenge/request has been lingering around for a while in various parts of the Internet:

How can a relative newbie to the hobby upgrade the Delta Ray so that it has more power and a longer flight time, without giving up SAFE or doing some complex overhaul?

This has been something which has been requested again and again, but for which there is still no good answer.

I personally live in a place where 10-15 mph winds blow virtually all the time. While the Delta Ray can fly in these conditions, making any headway while flying into the wind is tough. When the wind manages to overpower the plane, it usually means the plane ends up in a tree or someplace else that is very difficult to access. Not to mention it means throttling the plane to the max and draining the little 2S battery in a hurry.

The SAFE feature, however, is a tremendous asset when flying in the wind - especially when the pilot is just starting out. If the plane could have just a bit more power to take on the wind, a tad more battery to keep flying in challenging conditions, and still keep SAFE, it would be the perfect beginner plane for a wide variety of environments.

 

[KRAR]

The safe feature has nothing to with the plane but rather the electronics, so you can take that receiver and put it into any other plane you want and it should work in the same manner, assuming you setup everything correctly.

buy some motors and esc's from hobby king, however you might be better off taking the "safe" reciever out and either parting it, or putting a different cheaper reciever in it now that you can fly it and only fly it on nice days.


So if it were me, I would take the receiver out and consider putting it in one of these planes...

parkzone Trojan T28 PNP
Multiplex fun jet


Another fun idea would be to take the receiver out of the Delta Ray and buy the FT viggen and power pack.... you will get a much larger flight envelope and still have the safe technology. it has a 4s 3000 mah battery, I get about 10 mins of light flying and has similiar flight ebvelope that of the delta ray but way more power.

Hope that helps.

 

[mike.chuanshi]

Thanks for your suggestion, KRAR.
The SAFE board is an ESC and receiver together.
I'm concerned that simply putting it into another plane with bigger engines will fry the ESC.
Or am I mistaken?

 

[Ron B]

The D-Ray uses only a 2s battery any thing more will fry it now the apprentice uses a 3s battery on it's safe system and it MAY work in a D-Ray with some work on tx mixes and the operative word is may.
The D-Ray esc is for brushed motors and the apprentice esc is for brushless motors

 

[Capt_Beavis]

The big problem with the apprentice board would be getting differential thrust. I saw something on a HH micro board with built in ESC that said it would also drive a brushless ESC. I have no idea how it works but I book-marked it.

I would love to see some upgrades done by someone with the skills.

 

[KRAR]

Differential thrust with the board from the apprentice would be easy.. Just plug the second ESC into the rudder port and program mixes in the remote accordingly. For this though I believe you would need a dx6 or something that can accept mixing channels.

I did not realize the unit was a 2 in 1, I would not even try to bother with that. You might be better off just getting the Apprentice plane with SAFE technology. or this guy http://www.horizonhobby.com/product...per-cub-s-rtf-with-safe-technology-p-hbz8100b... I know lots of guys who have beefed up this plane with no problems other than the cowling doesnt fit bc the motor is too big.

 

[mike.chuanshi]

Well, I still haven't been able to find info on a simple DR upgrade on these forums, so I've decided to give it a go myself:
http://forum.flitetest.com/showthread.php?18879-Delta-Ray-Upgrade-Xtreme-Pro-180-Brushed