New to RC in upstate NY

[RMDC]

I've never really done RC before, but after months of research, I'm excited to get engaged in the hobby.

I came to the interest a little backwards. I follow Corridor Digital on YouTube. I'm sure plenty of people here are familiar with their work with DJI quads, as well as their collaboration with Rotor Riot for their "Drone Star Wars" video. I'm neither a videographer nor a pilot, but the intersection of the two fields caught my interest, so I've kept up on the technology. A few months ago, my ex-wife bought me a Cheerwing CW4 - a toy-grade autolevel quad with a small 720p camera. After having a ton of fun with it, I went back to that Star Wars video and watched the behind-the-scenes footage. Acro quads hooked me hard, and I watched the entire Rotor Riot backlog, which led to me watching individual FPV pilots' channels and listening to quad podcasts.

The expense of FPV acro quads, however, was a sticking point. When I realized that I'd spent a solid week tweaking a spreadsheet with different build configurations to try to find a way to get into the hobby for less than a month's pay up front, I decided I couldn't possibly justify it. But by then the flight bug had bitten hard. Couple that with my ex-wife's decision to start the process to get her PPL (in fact, I just got off the phone with her after her first lesson) - flight was going to be in my future one way or another. I needed to find a better way to access the air.

That led me to Flite Test. I'd watched a few FT videos in the past, mostly through Facebook shares, but I always associated fixed wing RC planes with grognards who had too much time and money on their hands. My perception of the field as an arcane and insular community kept me from looking at it closely. But watching Wren of Corridor Digital experience Flite Fest showed me I was 180 degrees off target. Getting into the air is cheap and quick, and the community is amazing. Now my ex-wife is interested in RC flying as well, and we're both excited that it's something we can do with our kids.

I'm putting a little aside for a Taranis Q X7. (After all those quad videos, I think I'm convinced that Taranis beats Spektrum for me.) The Simple Cub looks like a good first plane to build and fly. I have a feeling that after that I'll branch out into scratch builds; it appeals to the paper modeler in me. And maybe after that, who knows, I might take the Gremlin route into quadcopters after all.

 

[rockyboy]

Welcome to the forums!

You're on the right path for sure with the QX7 and an FT Simple Cub - there are also some TinyWhoop sized quads hitting the market that bind directly to FrSky radios too so that might be another good entry point to quads.

Don't be shy about hitting us up with questions - we're a friendly bunch and happy to help out

 

[Ricci]

Welcome to the Forum. Taranis and Cup is a good choice.

 

[JimCR120]

RMDC,
On radios, assuming you've looked into them, Taranis is a forum favorite for sure. The technical support from the company might not be as strong as Spektrum (my radio) but the vast number of Taranis users on the forum might prove adequate nevertheless. Taranis users often claim there is a bit of a learning curve but add the versatility is unsurpassed once you learn it.

I am curious about a couple things. What's a grognard? What does RMDC mean?

Welcome to the forum.
—Jim

 

[RMDC]

Finally back after having purchased a Q X7 from the Flite Test store! (And after I'd made the purchase, I saw the coupon code for free shipping over $99. Oh, well. Next time. ) It's arriving tomorrow. I even went on Amazon to get 90-degree USB adapters so I can hit the sims without the cord pointing straight into my chest.

It's going to be winter soon enough, so I don't think I'll be flying until March. That'll give me time to save up for the batteries, balance charger, receiver, and Simple Cub package. I'm beginning to realize that the only thing that's truly cheap about this hobby is the foamboard. >.>

I am curious about a couple things. What's a grognard? What does RMDC mean?

I never turned on notifications, so I didn't realize I'd gotten a reply that asked a direct question! Forgive me for taking a month to respond. "Grognard" used to mean old soldiers who had been in foreign wars, taken from the French for "grumble". In the latter half of the 20th century, it was appropriated by first- and second-generation computer engineers, and it came to more broadly refer to an older generation of gatekeepers in a technical field or hobby.

As for RMDC, it's just my name.

 

[PsyBorg]

Sounds like you have made a plan to start getting into the hobby.

Yes there is a big up front cash output to get properly set up with gear that will last more then two or three crashes. BUT.. There is nothing in the rule books that says it has to be done all at once. I buy my stuff a piece or few pieces each month till I have all I need for what I had planned. Just come up with a solid design and then schedule your purchases in sections and be flexible so you can rearrange them should a sale on certain items come up out of the order.

Just don't get like me where you forgo some groceries to buy parts here and there. I don't have anyone to feed but myself. You have family that may frown upon you if you do that. The hobby IS that addictive.

 

[JimCR120]

Thanks RMDC and consider yourself forgiven of course. Congrats on your purchase and good call on the 90º. Connectors already take quite a beating as it is, the ones that stick out unnecessarily seem to be just asking to be broken. I've often wondered if the designers of such things have had to operate or do much maintenance on the equipment they design. Even in the Navy I've often scratched my head on some designs, wanting to curse the designer, wishing they would come and have to spend time as an operator or maintener on their equipment.

Now you got me wound up.

Ok, I'm better.

It doens't have to be a costly hobby. This community is proof of it. Once you have some of the basics you can be all set for a good long time.

 

[RMDC]

A month and a half later, and I've managed to purchase everything except the dang plane. Every time I want to buy a Simple Cub kit, the Power Pack B is sold out. I managed to get it in the cart once, but something interrupted me and I had to wait until the next day to check out - and bam, pack B gone again. On the one hand, congratulations to Flite Test on generating enough demand to make their products scarce! On the other hand, I'm getting impatient - this winter has been mild, and I'd like to get into the air in December rather than March.

EDIT: And within a couple hours of making this post, I get a notification email that the packs are back in stock. I clicked so fast I think I broke the sound barrier. I even remembered the free shipping code this time.

 

[RMDC]

Six days later, and I have a box from Flite Test in my hands. My batteries and charger got delivered today as well - I'm not happy with my lipos sitting in temperatures in the teens outside my back door waiting for me to get home from work, but shikata ga nai - and tomorrow I'll go out to pick up a power supply.

 

[foamtest]

You better make some skis for your cub now lol, I just got back from visiting my dad's new cabin in NY, and there was a solid 2-3ft of snow there. It's also on the other side of the state by lake chautauqua so you might be okay. Also chevy trailblazers are great at getting through unpaved drives with a 2+ft of snow. Although by the time you're up the drive the bumper acts more like a snowplow than... well... a bumper.

 

[PsyBorg]

Oh yeah Foamtest. That area has been getting hammered with the Lake effect and will for the next week it seems. Where I am I get lucky most times as the three hills that surround me are pretty high and the snows get pushed around us. When they do manage to get over them then we get dumped on as the storms cross the basin don't clear the far side and come back over us like in a skate board park and keep dumping til they burn out.

You were probably a little more then an hour away from where I live.

I do agree on the ski's for RMDC's plane though as it seems this will be a real winter in NY this year unlike the past three years with minimal snows and warm temps. If I manage to get to the SE 5 again I will probably put skis on that and try to fly fixed wing again.

 

[RMDC]

Yeah, skis will be good. My area hasn't gotten dumped with snow, but it's about ankle-high, and that's plenty. For certain there won't be any (relatively) warm days in the next two weeks; this stuff is here to stay. Well, that'll give me an opportunity to enjoy the solstice with the family and take my time assembling and painting.

 

[foamtest]

Or you could get a seaplane for the snow and paint it bright orange so its easy to find in a crash. Maybe look for some good 3ch beginner models.

 

[RMDC]

Took it out for a maiden today. Not much success, but I had fun nonetheless.

It skis fine on the snow with the floats (though it doesn't always want to respond to rudder input well). Putting it up in the air is another story. It torques to the left and noses down hard. There's a number of possible problems I thought of:

• The CG. It was so dang cold that the adhesive for the velcro strip to hold the battery in place came loose from the power pod. I'll have to go scuff up the surface beneath it, maybe hot glue the strip in place. Battery may have been shifting in the air. Also, as shown in the video below, the first couple crashes packed some snow in the nose.
• The wing. I'm not sure it's built to the best tolerance, and it's awfully hard to get it centered and keep it that way with just a couple of rubber bands. Any tricks? Maybe a thin ring of foam rubber around the cavity opening beneath the wing to help hold it firmly?
• The floats... though, as shown in the video below, my final attempt was without gear at all and it still rolled and nosed in (at least I managed a rough belly landing that time). Still, I'm not sure the floats are stable.
• The control surfaces. I mean, they seem fine to me, but again, it doesn't respond well to the rudder on the ground, which may be an artifact of the floats grinding in the snow as much as anything else. I was able to use the elevator to keep it from lawn darting on the last launch.

Is it just motor torque tossing the plane around? It's cranking to the left, which is how the motor would torque it, if I'm not mistaken. I'm using a stock Power Pack B and a 3S, 1500 mAh Zippy Compact battery, which doesn't seem like a recipe for wrenching the plane around like that to me.

Any help would be dearly appreciated.

 

[PsyBorg]

I watched part of the video and got to :57 seconds. It LOOKS to me that you have your power pod in upside down as the prop angle should be down and to the right not to the left (cant see from that angle if it points up at all but would be willing to bet it does if this is a speed build kit) This would add to the natural tendencies from motor torque to pull harder left which is what the right handed prop angle compensates for.

 

[RMDC]

Man, I hope not. I don't think the power pod is upside down. The open area and the four tabs face up. so it slides out to show the cavity like a drawer; on the firewall, the hole for the motor wires is at the bottom right. I followed the build video pretty closely, though of course this is my first build and I'm trying to figure it all out. Does that sound like the correct orientation?

Upper surface:


Firewall and lower surface:

 

[PsyBorg]

Hard to tell from the angle of your pics mate. Just look straight down from the top and see what way the firewall is tilted. The motor should be leaning down and to the right when viewed from the top. If it is too small to see by eye grab a square and make sure.

 

[RMDC]

I may just increase the angle a bit manually. I can't tell whether there's a tilt even when using an angle guide. Looks perfectly flat to me. I admit that confused me a bit when I first started the build, since I know that the pod is supposed to impart at least some thrust angle to counter the motor.

 

[PsyBorg]

Hrrrrmmm.. Just watched the build video. I don't see any thrust angle in that either so I looked at my FT3d which is the same power pod. I am now wondering if they over looked this or because the size is larger then other builds and it is not necessary. So I will venture to say that none of the full size power pods have thrust angle built in.

Someone more from the fixed wing community should clear this up for us if possible.

 

[Tench745]

The Full sized power pods have a flat firewall, no downthrust or sidethrust.
Some designs did add downthrust by shimming the front of the pod down. I believe the FT Speedster had this, but the Simple Cub does not.

Watching your video, I'd say you need more throttle and a slightly harder throw on your hand launches. You had enough speed to generate lift and fly, but not enough airflow over the rudder to counteract the torque roll you were getting.

Also, whereabouts do you fly? I'm in the Syracuse, NY area.