FT Mini Arrow

[bazsound]

Mini arrow flew great.!!! Must have gotten it close to perfect as i only needed a few clicks up trim. Was surprised at how sensitive it was compared to the previous arrows, roll rate while not lighting is faster than before, feel like i need to add in expo in high rates as it was a bit twitchy.

The wings are still tending to rock, could be a combination of slight slop and also my high rates and no expo. i let the controls go and it banked right on me while flying fairly fast in level flight i countered and a rocking started to happen that could have just be being late on catching it. I was finding that in normal easy flight i was barely touching the sticks until i wanted to turn fast and evn then i probnablyw asnt even reaching half stick.

Being a heli pilot im kind of used to that, the other arrow felt less responsive and was using alot of stick.

Anyway thast it until saturday as have a long drive. will be talking the arrow and its backups with me along with a heavy beatup yak 545 profile foamie

 

[bazsound]

IM wondering if my roll instability is the control rods flexing. as i wanted to keep cost down to a minimal, i used the bbq skewer method for control rods, i thouight tjhey would flex lex than metla but im not sure.... shouild i add the zip ties? just dont want to add more friction, these little servos alreadyu seemto be working hard

 

[bazsound]

Spanwise CG

IM wondering how critical spanwise CG is. And how you check it properly. I

Mine should be heavier on 1 side than the other due to the reciever and excess servo cabling all being in 1 side of the wing so i thought ill balance it, maybe that will stop its tendancyh to drop the right wing randomly and sort of wing wrong during flight.

But i had trouble checking it, sometimes it would show its definatly heavy on that side but measure again and not so much, hen when adding weight it would show balanced but then heavy on the other side. AFter many measuremenst ive settled on a 5p piece taped to the top wing right on the outside.

Edit:

Ok i think it does make a difference. Seems like its not wing rocking like it was before. Flight was great launched with ease and flew for 5 minutes in the 15mph winds. I was just carefull to launch only when the there was a break in the wind.

 

[Hai-Lee]

How long are your pushrods?

On my wings and other aircraft I use straightened paper clips for my pushrods except where they are quite long.

Using paperclips means that I can do rough adjustments on my control surfaces just by bending them between flights if required.

As for lateral balance I normally hold the wing upside down with everything fitted properly. I hold it by the Spinner or prop adapter and a pin pushed in the centre of the nose of the wing. A little imbalance is quite tolerable but not a large imbalance.

Wings dropping suddenly can be caused by wind gusts especially if trying to fly too slowly but otherwise the CG being too far aft is the biggest cause of sudden wing drop on calm, (no wind), days.

Have fun!

 

[bazsound]

How long are your pushrods?

On my wings and other aircraft I use straightened paper clips for my pushrods except where they are quite long.

Using paperclips means that I can do rough adjustments on my control surfaces just by bending them between flights if required.

As for lateral balance I normally hold the wing upside down with everything fitted properly. I hold it by the Spinner or prop adapter and a pin pushed in the centre of the nose of the wing. A little imbalance is quite tolerable but not a large imbalance.

Wings dropping suddenly can be caused by wind gusts especially if trying to fly too slowly but otherwise the CG being too far aft is the biggest cause of sudden wing drop on calm, (no wind), days.

Have fun!

Hi Hai-Lee,

not sure if you seen my edit but it seems much better now that ive added weight to the other side.

Im using BBQ skewers as pushrooms so theres probabbly some flexing in them, no supports yet as im not sure what to use that wont cause too much friction. Ive got carbon rod to replace them with just need to fit them along with the clevices once i figure out how to fix the play that theyh introduce due to the horn hole being bigger than then pin.

The wing dropping was happening even at fast speeds, it was huge maybe 10 degrees enough to need to correct it. And wasnt wind as it even happened on calm days. with the added weight it seems to be gone and only happens in wind

 

[JimCR120]

When it comes to balance I think of it in terms of efficiency. If it goes in the air and I need to trim it to make it fly straight and level then if I can I want to correct that with balance so that my control surfaces can return to neutral and create less drag. I haven't really done much for lateral CG but if I were to do it I would balance the plane along its longitudinal axis. If it's a single engine prop plane the motor shaft would be along this axis and mayb a push pin could support the plan at the other end.

If you try to balance it on the belly it will be extra prone to tipping which might make it difficult to tell what's going on. On the other hand, this sensitivity could help you get in the ball park and if it seems 50/50 which way it falls then you're probably close enough. Like I said I never even check it but if my ailerons (or elevons) were trimmed a lot to one side then that would be the indication that there's something off.

Kids straws for milk at school and juice packs have are a smaller diameter and might fit your pushrods nicely. Then you can glue them where there might be tendencies to flex. Coffee shops often have smaller straws too. I was at the hobby shop yesterday and saw they sell some specialized tubes but straws are much cheaper.

 

[bazsound]

When it comes to balance I think of it in terms of efficiency. If it goes in the air and I need to trim it to make it fly straight and level then if I can I want to correct that with balance so that my control surfaces can return to neutral and create less drag. I haven't really done much for lateral CG but if I were to do it I would balance the plane along its longitudinal axis. If it's a single engine prop plane the motor shaft would be along this axis and mayb a push pin could support the plan at the other end.

If you try to balance it on the belly it will be extra prone to tipping which might make it difficult to tell what's going on. On the other hand, this sensitivity could help you get in the ball park and if it seems 50/50 which way it falls then you're probably close enough. Like I said I never even check it but if my ailerons (or elevons) were trimmed a lot to one side then that would be the indication that there's something off.

Kids straws for milk at school and juice packs have are a smaller diameter and might fit your pushrods nicely. Then you can glue them where there might be tendencies to flex. Coffee shops often have smaller straws too. I was at the hobby shop yesterday and saw they sell some specialized tubes but straws are much cheaper.

Ill be revisiting the control rods soon, the BBQ skeweres were just what i had lying around. Ive got 2mm carbon fibre rod jus tneed to get them to fit my clevis's.

I think i may have gotten a quick fix for those that break these in most crashes. I crashed mine on launching as didnt get on the controls properly quick enough, smashed nose first at speed. Knocked 1 of the stabilisers off. I removerd the other stabilser and it flew straight away, there was no other damage.

I got filament tape from hobbyking and ran a strip on each wings leading edge, then also along the square section at the back . Do it like the leading edge so it folds over the edge and sticks onto the bottom.

I also ran a strip of tape across the bottom.

NOw to stop the wing folding in a crash as i found out that if you biounc it hard on its belly a seem will go on 1 side. Cut a piece of tape long enough to run across just infront of where the battery tray folds and around to the underside of the wing on both sides. Stick down the middle first then do each side making sure to get the tape under tensions.

Do the same at the back except your only going to stick onto the top of the wing. The tap will form a strap and stick down the tape (again under tension) making sure to have a good length of tape sticking down onto the wing. The glue on the tape is pretty strong, once its been stuck down for a while its hard to ge toff.

 

[jpot1]

Just finished the majority of the build and trying to figure out how to fit all my electronics.

Emax rs2205
30A esc
Turnigy 3S 800mah with xt60

No way this is all going inside without breaking wires or hatch not closing. Looking for pics as to how others with larger electronics have gotten them to fit. At the moment I’m thinking esc on top of the pod.

 

[Benbravis]

Just finished the majority of the build and trying to figure out how to fit all my electronics.

Emax rs2205
30A esc
Turnigy 3S 800mah with xt60

No way this is all going inside without breaking wires or hatch not closing. Looking for pics as to how others with larger electronics have gotten them to fit. At the moment I’m thinking esc on top of the pod.

I just finished my plane. There's very little room inside but it does fit I just did it with everything you're saying except that I used a 2204 HobbyKing motor

 

[Benbravis]

I just finished my plane. There's very little room inside but it does fit I just did it with everything you're saying except that I used a 2204 HobbyKing motor

I forgot to mention I did it with an 8 channel receiver

 

[jpot1]

Thanks Benbravis but I guess I’m nervous about breaking either the motor or esc wires by jamming them in. I’ve ended up putting the esc next to the center pod so only the battery and rx are inside. Plenty of room that way.

 

[Pr488]

FT Arrow w/ 3d printed fuselage

Hello everyone. This is my 3rd RC Plane build, it's becoming an addictive hobby. I had trouble getting to the proper CG. I ended up added weight to the front. My Arrow is 3x the weight of build plan weight. But it actually flew well, with A bit extra take off throttle.

 

[chanhoacompany]

I revised my "blunt nose" Arrow tonight. Now instead of a GoPro style camera and small camera for FPV, I have the battery and RunCamHD up front.

It will work out much better with the full center section revised, this mod only involved the forward section. I need a longer door to get the battery into the wing this way, so I had to cut that door a little longer in this version.

But all closed up it looks fine, IMO

Hopefully I can get it in the air soon to try out the concept. I will likely build another to get the build quality better.

Photo is not display

 

[Ibanous]

My latest build of the Arrow.

I've managed to build in an FC and GPS. I've added a carbon spar and designed a custom 3d printed motor mount as well as using 3d winglets I found on thingiverse.

Flies well so far I'm going to rebuild it with the battery turned 90 degrees so it will sit deeper in the airframe (currently limited by running into the camera) while still hitting CG with minimal lead added.

 

[bazsound]

Hello everyone. This is my 3rd RC Plane build, it's becoming an addictive hobby. I had trouble getting to the proper CG. I ended up added weight to the front. My Arrow is 3x the weight of build plan weight. But it actually flew well, with A bit extra take off throttle.

Are you using heavier foamboard? same issue when i used the heavy stuff, still flew fine though. I rebuilt using HK foam and packing tape hit the target wieght and im actually nose heavy with the battery as far back as i can go!

 

[mrjdstewart]

not done yet but pretty happy so far. scratch built out of $1 tree foam. other side is bright green.

will finish tomorrow and can't wait to fly on saturday.



laters,

jason

 

[hbc865]

Mini Arrow w Turnigy D2826 2200kv ?

It was a small weed eater engine called a Turnigy D2826 2200kv fitted with, I think, a 6.25x5.5 prop and an old, no name 40A ESC. Most of the noise was wake interaction with the wing t/e.

It was cool though. Right up until someone said 'Go on, fly through the soccer goalposts and catch the net!'.

Has anyone used a 2826 motor on a mini arrow ? I retired my versa several years ago want to build a new wing with this motor If not I will used one of the motors from my Vortex quad I think that the right size motor

 

[hbc865]

D2826 2200kv motor



341g w/ battery and motor only

Has anybody tired this motor going to use a 30amp esc and nano-tech 1300 3s

 

[hbc865]

Ready for Maiden

 

[Yayat]

what rate and expo are you guys running?