Fopster's EasyJet in 6mm depron

[DuncanM23]

Everything sorted, it didn't need a battery plate because I had to shove the battery (4s 2200) as far back as possible.
Weight 720g including battery. Full throttle nose on scale weight was just over 1450, so it's about 1-1 static thrust ratio. I didn't check the amp draw, but the ESC is a 60A one, so that should be fine. Might get to fly it tomorrow...

 

[bisco]

looks great! all the best with the maiden

 

[The Fopster]

Good luck!

 

[DuncanM23]

No maiden today - wet ground and significant cross wind.

 

[DuncanM23]

Minor improvements - I taped the whole of the bottom surface with clear tape (to protect the depron from scratches). And I added magnetic canopy latching:

Sunday is looking sunny, so I need to check the throws and cross my fingers!

 

[DuncanM23]

Maiden today.
My mate flew the first one, and had to chase it all around the sky before calming it down and sorting out the trim!
He finished it on the second flight and then it was my go.
I flew it around a little, and then a microlight flew around our patch so I had to stay low and out the way. I was going pretty slow, maybe half throttle, and then as the microlight cleared and I opened up the throttle in a turn, poof - no throttle at all! I still have control, so after a brief moment of plummeting, I straightened everything out and glided it to a safe landing in the next field over. No damage to the plane, but a significant smell of charred ECU! It was a 60A 4-max one, I guess it needs more! Didn't get a chance to try the bungee, but next time...
3 minutes of full throttle flying took me down to 10% on my 2200 4s. Hand launching worked pretty well because it has a decent amount of power.

 

[DuncanM23]

PS I added red patches on the wing tips - it made a huge difference against the white cloud!

 

[Flying Cherokee]

Looks good!

 

[The Fopster]

Maiden today.
My mate flew the first one, and had to chase it all around the sky before calming it down and sorting out the trim!
He finished it on the second flight and then it was my go.
I flew it around a little, and then a microlight flew around our patch so I had to stay low and out the way. I was going pretty slow, maybe half throttle, and then as the microlight cleared and I opened up the throttle in a turn, poof - no throttle at all! I still have control, so after a brief moment of plummeting, I straightened everything out and glided it to a safe landing in the next field over. No damage to the plane, but a significant smell of charred ECU! It was a 60A 4-max one, I guess it needs more! Didn't get a chance to try the bungee, but next time...
3 minutes of full throttle flying took me down to 10% on my 2200 4s. Hand launching worked pretty well because it has a decent amount of power.

Great news - congratulations on a successful maiden, and well done for the save after the ESC burn-out! If you can borrow a wattmeter from someone to check the current draw that would be worth-while - that way you will know you're OK with your new ESC. Hope you enjoy getting used to it - I found it a really user friendly jet, and it can fly quite slowly if you want it to. Thanks for sharing your build - it's very exciting seeing something I designed being built and flown by someone else, so I really appreciate being able to follow along.

 

[DuncanM23]

Damnit. I soldered up a new esc, dug the old one out of the inside of the model, and decided to check it before I installed everything. And the fan judders like with the old esc. I guess it's the fan that's screwed. Gonna have to chop the bottom back half of the fuse off now. 😢

 

[DuncanM23]

The only good news is that I have a Dr Mad Thrust metal housing 64mm fan waiting for my next project. That works (I checked it). The old one is toast.

I need to print a new thrust tube as well as I destroyed the existing one getting it out.

 

[DuncanM23]

I rebuilt this plane, and yesterday I took it to the field, but the ESC (70A Red Brick) needs programming, so it kept killing the power after about half throttle (thankfully before I chucked it).
Here's my pictures of the rebuild

The EDF is quite a lot heavier, so the battery needed to move all the way out of the cutout to keep it balanced. Hopefully I can sort out the programming tomorrow and remaiden on Sunday...

 

[DuncanM23]

Remaiden today, qualified success.
The first flight, the power cut as my friend backed the throttle down after getting lots of the trimming done. He landed it nice and flat on top of the cut stalks in the field, so no harm done.
We re-bound it, and then tried again, and the power died if you brought the throttle below about 35%, so we just deceided to fly above that (and to give it some if it cut the power). That approach worked, and we were able to get another 2 flights in on it, with me chucking it and my mate getting it up into the sky before handing me the TX. I found it surprisingly forgiving to fly, and I landed it nicely both times, so I'll take the sticks from the start next time. I still need to understand what the deal is with the ESC (it's a HobbyKing RedBrick, and it has this programming mode where you have to count the beeps and move the throttle when you want to set things).
Two things I have to say I love -
1. It's so easy to launch - thanks to the thrust you can just guide it without a large amount of effort, more like launching a really big paper plane.
2. If you set it up nicely for approach and kill the throttle it glides in to land beautifully.

 

[Tench745]

Remaiden today, qualified success.
The first flight, the power cut as my friend backed the throttle down after getting lots of the trimming done. He landed it nice and flat on top of the cut stalks in the field, so no harm done.
We re-bound it, and then tried again, and the power died if you brought the throttle below about 35%, so we just deceided to fly above that (and to give it some if it cut the power). That approach worked, and we were able to get another 2 flights in on it, with me chucking it and my mate getting it up into the sky before handing me the TX. I found it surprisingly forgiving to fly, and I landed it nicely both times, so I'll take the sticks from the start next time. I still need to understand what the deal is with the ESC (it's a HobbyKing RedBrick, and it has this programming mode where you have to count the beeps and move the throttle when you want to set things).
Two things I have to say I love -
1. It's so easy to launch - thanks to the thrust you can just guide it without a large amount of effort, more like launching a really big paper plane.
2. If you set it up nicely for approach and kill the throttle it glides in to land beautifully.

Start by calibrating the esc. It might be seeing 30% ish as 0 throttle.
So glad that it's flying well for you otherwise.

 

[DuncanM23]

Start by calibrating the esc. It might be seeing 30% ish as 0 throttle.
So glad that it's flying well for you otherwise.

I tried to calibrate the throttle on Saturday. It's not simple like some of my other planes, there are 5 different elements you can program, and it's all via beeps and moving the throttle stick. I guess I will have to have another go before I fly again...

 

[Tench745]

I tried to calibrate the throttle on Saturday. It's not simple like some of my other planes, there are 5 different elements you can program, and it's all via beeps and moving the throttle stick. I guess I will have to have another go before I fly again...

Hmm. Throttle calibration is usually just: power on esc with throttle stick at high, wait for beeps, lower throttle to zero, listen for arming beeps... Usually you only have to go into all the extra beeping for features like timing, brake, cut off voltage, and things like that.
Red Bricks might just be different? I'm looking at the "manuals" but they're almost useless...

 

[Mr Man]

I'm looking at the "manuals" but they're almost useless...

They usually are.😂

 

[Mr Man]

But yeah, I only have ever had to do what Tench745 said.🧐

 

[DuncanM23]

This is the instructions that came with it

 

[Mr Man]

I’ve never seen a manual like that before.