Hobby Newbie Learning Diary; Family Included!

[kilroy07]

i dont have them hooked to anything. i just set them on the desk to make sure they worked and were centered. The only thing i do know is there are digital. i can take pictures of that if it helps

Are they 9 gram servos?
I just received a set of 9G digital servos and they make my servo tester act "weird"....
I haven't taken much time to work that out but I suspect the digital servos are needing a tad more voltage (or amperage, not sure yet... More oomph anyway) they work fine on manual mode, center okay, but when I go to the final setting (cycles back and forth) it seems to draw too much and resets the tester.... I might try fresh batteries on the tester and see if that helps.
I will say I tested them on a reciever with one of my separate BECs and they seemed to work fine...

I have also seen interference FROM digital servos to analog ones (so best not to mix and match...)

 

[sundown57]

i am using a 3 cell 800 . i made a video of what it sounds like but cant figure out how to upload it . says i have the wrong format.

 

[mayan]

Ok so I am at work and have some thing that I need to do for @Hai-Lee. So here is just a quick summary of today's outting to the field. First off all I had a blast, flew two planes that I love so much the TT and the Mini Edge V2 and both planes flew amazing and I was happy with that . I have a few good videos that I uploading as I am typing so hope that I'll by the time I finish they will finish to upload, and i'll be able to share them with you.

I have decided that I am happy with the size of the Mini Edge and the motor I am using on it, so today at some point I'll start making long term plans of the model, for future builds and repairs.

Here are a few pictures from today's first outting to the field.
View attachment 127145
Morning coffee before we fly we need to wake up .

Preparing the TT for flight.

View attachment 127148
Yes, Yes that's a walk of shame .

Coming back from the walk of shame...

Me trying to fix a servo which seemed to have a striped gear. BTW it was heating up, whats the case with that?

Me preparing the Mini Edge V2 for flight.

Here are a few pictures from my second outting to the field today. Yes I went home for repairs and had enough time to go back to the field.

Do you too think that I was to hard on my TT? That's the result of inverted flying with a broken wing ...

 

[mayan]

i am using a 3 cell 800 . i made a video of what it sounds like but cant figure out how to upload it . says i have the wrong format.

Upload to YouTube and then you can post it.

 

[mayan]

The videos finished uploading the moment I hit "post reply" so here they are. I won't post the first video of me flying inverted here because I already posted it on the "Getting Stupid with the Tiny Trainer - The Challenge" thread and don't want to overload with duplicates, but here are the rest of the videos.

 

[mayan]

And here is me flying the Mini Edge V2. As you will see much more controlled of a flight. Like I mentioned to @buzzbomb on an ealier post, I just had to handle it a little more genetly compared to the TT, she is a sensitive bird .

 

[sundown57]

. if i did it right here it is . hard to see in the video but the shaft is not moving at all

 

[mayan]

. if i did it right here it is . hard to see in the video but the shaft is not moving at all

Sounds like a current darw to me. I don't think the servos are bad, but you know the best way to check is connect them into the plane and see if they work properly.

 

[sundown57]

yeah they do. i actually had them in the plane as i was building it . but then when i heard the noise i cut them out and used my old ones even tho one is stipped so. yeah i know they work fine and center fine . they just make that noise

 

[mayan]

yeah they do. i actually had them in the plane as i was building it . but then when i heard the noise i cut them out and used my old ones even tho one is stipped so. yeah i know they work fine and center fine . they just make that noise

Than I wouldn't bother with it, really possibly a high current draw.

 

[sundown57]

ill put them back in then and give it a try . thanks all

 

[whackflyer]

@sundown57, I’m a little late with a answer here, but I’ve read that digital servos are normally noisier than analog, they are just hunting for a centerpoint continuously, and it’s nothing to worry about. And yes I got that screenshot from RCG, although FT Forums are much better. Happy Flying!

 

[mayan]

I apologize in advance for the long post and the overload of qoutes, but I had to share with what I have learned in the last two days .

Yesterday after I posted the videos of me flying the TT and Mini Edge V2 I asked a few forum members on PM to give me their honest and as brutal of a feedback as they could regarding my flying. Being a profectionist I like to master my skills and thus it was important for me to get their feedbacks regarding my flying so that I can continue to improve. Having read their feedbacks twice or more I had to go to the field again, and that's exactly what I did today!

Before I share the new videos of today's practice session I'd like to share a bit of the feedback that I was given so that you all can also learn from it. I won't be sharing names because it's not relevant but the feedback is defenatly valueable and worth sharing. Also I must mention that the feedback is unedited just trimmed down to relevant points of information.

I did get a sense that the plane was losing speed very quickly in the turns and was dropping rapidly in banked turns. The rapid drop is normally a function of starting your turns in a slightly nose down attitude, being generally heavy or actually being nose heavy. This applied equally to the TT and the Edge.
....
What I usually do and maybe that's why it seemed as if the planes were losing altitude fast thus being heavy is that I usually like to throttle down to around 50% +- to stay airborn but at a cruising speed, makes it easier for me to handle the plane in the air.

If you look at the Edge video for example once I throttled back up the plane had a general climb at around 45 degree without any elevator input. Look at this video at around 1:03 and tell me what you think.
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Motor thrust angle setup 1 0 1! If the plane is flying level at moderate throttle and you give it full throttle the plane should remain in level flight! If it climbs it needs more downthrust and if it dives it needs less downthrust!

If you take off at full throttle and the plane turns left you need more right thrust and if it goes right it needs less right thrust.

In the absence of functional expo lower control throws

There is the matter of stable flight as there was little straight and level flight upon which to judge the overall trim setup of the plane. When you have the plane trimmed and balanced properly it should be able to fly level with little or no stick usage.
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To hone your flying skills I would recommend that you take the time to fly a portion of each flight in level flight with shallow turns trying to maintain height. This would help you understand the handling characteristics of the bird better than flying the roller-coaster!
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Flying level is something that makes flying look easy but flying straight and level is the hallmark of an experienced pilot.
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Mind you getting a plane to fly straight and level can be something difficult to master with some planes!

If I had to place a finger on your issue with the TT, I would say it would be maintaining orientation. Watching the video I can see what the airplane is going to do, and I can "feel" the control input I would use on the sticks, but it doesn't seem like you're making the same inputs.

As for your edge, I think its just a lot of airplane to handle manually. The plane is so fast in a roll that its almost impossible to keep track of. What may be helpful to you would be a stabilized receiver to iron out some of the instability of the airplane and actually let you fly it.

Since you're obviously sticking with this hobby and not giving up any time soon, I wonder if it wouldn't make sense for you to bite the bullet at some point here and invest in a decent transmitter. Having the option to program dual rates and expo makes a huge difference in your ability to fly.

Watching the "crashes" at the end of each flight there is a doubt on my part that you still had radio control. It seemed that once a certain plane attitude was attained the plane would stop varying its control surface movements and just roll and nose into the ground. This behaviour is typical of a loss of signal.
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I couldn't feel if the plane lost signal, is there a way to check that?
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The loss of signal is harder to prove unless you have a Rx that flashes its light when a signal LOS occurs. Does your Rx have such a feature? Another way to detect it is by setting "Failsafe" so that it stops the motor the moment the Rx signal is lost. At least then if you are suffering from LOS then the motor will cut and the damage may be lessened! If you can add the weight one of those lights that work off of a servo port on the Rx could be fitted and have it so that the LEDs come on when the Rx signal is lost, (via failsafe settings).

Can you take a pic of your typical antenna placement so I can see if there may be any obvious issues?
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YEP! Almost guarantee that you suffer from radio LOS.
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In your case I would try to stand the Rx antenna vertical and hold the Tx more vertical so that you can fly level circuits without a LOS, (Hopefully)!

Another question that comes to mind. The Edge is flying with a 9x4.7 prop what would happen if I put on a 10x7 prop?
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Simply put you could turn it into a destroyer of ESCs and motors! If the ESC and motor were to survive it would be a rocket ship BUT would require a lot more arm muscle to launch as its acceleration at slow speed could be reduced whilst at the same the prop drag could cause some roll issues!

I won't be explaining what I've learned from all of this but rather you pick the information that is relevant to you, and I hope it will help you like it did to me. Going out to the field today showed me that a few of things I was told were happening were actually happening. I was for surely having LOS (loss of signal) issues as well as plane orientation problems. Today I tried flying a portion of each flight in level flight with shallow turns trying to maintain height.

Me losing signal with the TT

Me trying to fly the TT nice and leveled with shallow turns while mantaining hieght.

Me not doing a crap check on the Mini Edge V2 before maiden and flying with reversed sticks on the rudder and ailerons.

Me trying to fly the Mini Edge V2 nice and leveled with shallow turns while mantaining hieght.

Please let me know if you think I did any better than in yesterday's videos....

 

[Hai-Lee]

I apologize in advance for the long post and the overload of qoutes, but I had to share with what I have learned in the last two days .

Yesterday after I posted the videos of me flying the TT and Mini Edge V2 I asked a few forum members on PM to give me their honest and as brutal of a feedback as they could regarding my flying. Being a profectionist I like to master my skills and thus it was important for me to get their feedbacks regarding my flying so that I can continue to improve. Having read their feedbacks twice or more I had to go to the field again, and that's exactly what I did today!

Before I share the new videos of today's practice session I'd like to share a bit of the feedback that I was given so that you all can also learn from it. I won't be sharing names because it's not relevant but the feedback is defenatly valueable and worth sharing. Also I must mention that the feedback is unedited just trimmed down to relevant points of information.

















I won't be explaining what I've learned from all of this but rather you pick the information that is relevant to you, and I hope it will help you like it did to me. Going out to the field today showed me that a few of things I was told were happening were actually happening. I was for surely having LOS (loss of signal) issues as well as plane orientation problems. Today I tried flying a portion of each flight in level flight with shallow turns trying to maintain height.

Me losing signal with the TT

Me trying to fly the TT nice and leveled with shallow turns while mantaining hieght.

Me not doing a crap check on the Mini Edge V2 before maiden and flying with reversed sticks on the rudder and ailerons.

Me trying to fly the Mini Edge V2 nice and leveled with shallow turns while mantaining hieght.

Please let me know if you think I did any better than in yesterday's videos....

I would have to say definitely yes! As for the end of the TTs flight it appeared that it ran out of signal and ended the flight in the manner it had done many times previously.

The V2's flight was much better and I am sure that you also felt it. The keeping it level showed the difficulty of flying such a performance design without expo but otherwise you showed that you had more control over it than at any time in previous flights.

Just one thing to consider when suffering from reoccurring LOS issues and that is to keep the height and distance from you and the transmitter from getting too great as both reduce the available signal level and in the case of height make the hole in the ground that much deeper!

What I said previously about how a decent radio system will transform your flying is even more true now than before!

Well done! You just need to get rid of the LOS and lack of Expo problems and you will be able to fly almost anything without crashing! At my local club you would be on the verge of "Competency".

Have fun!

 

[mayan]

@Hai-Lee appreciate your so honest and true feedback.

 

[Arcfyre]

I'm not the only one who thinks you need a decent radio. @Hai-Lee has apparently given you the same advice.

Check this one out. Personally I have never used it, but if memory serves, @FDS recommends it. It should work with your current receivers as well as lemonRX units, should you choose to go that route:

https://hobbyking.com/en_us/jumper-...cBqe_brHBp7XQ_w7yXrDmsGj2sJaxh6RoC44UQAvD_BwE

 

[mayan]

Thanks @Arcfyre for the link. Had a hard shift at work so I am off to sleep after a huge re-enforced mug of gin and tonic so I’ll have to check it tomorrow once I am a little more focused.

 

[mayan]

@Hai-Lee FYI

I’ll do the same on the new TTs that I will build see if it helps LOS on them too.

BTW I had an unusual visit at the field today for all you ex-millatry out there.

Don’t worry the weapons were fake they were filming a movie.

PS- @Arcfyre werent you going to fly today? Were are the videos?

 

[Arcfyre]

PS- @Arcfyre werent you going to fly today? Were are the videos?

Yeah that's kind of a sore topic. I flew quite a bit, but for the life of me I can't find my camera. It's called a "keychain camera" because it's the size of the key fob to your car. It's already easy to lose track of, and then on top of that I have a 3 and a half year old who likes to hide things. I'll post some video when the flippin' camera shows up again.

 

[mayan]

Yeah that's kind of a sore topic. I flew quite a bit, but for the life of me I can't find my camera. It's called a "keychain camera" because it's the size of the key fob to your car. It's already easy to lose track of, and then on top of that I have a 3 and a half year old who likes to hide things. I'll post some video when the flippin' camera shows up again.

Wow you can’t even imagine how I can connect to kids hiding stuff. Recently though mine are starting to find all my lost servo arms, screws and other stuff that I seem to misplace and return them to me.