Relatively new guy with tiny trainer issues.

[Aideo]

Firstly, thanks Flitetest and the community for getting back into the hobby properly. My Dad built and flew balsa and fibreglass planes/gliders from scratch as i grew up. A few years back i tried to get in the hobby with a Chris Fosse glider, did ok so soon decided i wanted a Ripmax Spitfire . . . which lets just say doesn't look like a Spitfire anymore. After my woeful flying i lost interest until i stumbled across Flitetest. I've been building and learning to fly for a while now and safe to say i'm getting the hang of it.

I'm currently flying a tiny trainer and have started aileron flying this last week or so. My issue is it just doesn't seem to have much grunt. Everybody else's that i have read about will take off and fly on half throttle. Mine needs to be flat out nearly all the time. Im running the recommended Emaxx MT1806 with a 6x3 prop and a 850mah 11.1v 3s. I read on the tiny trainer build page that 6x3 is the minimum prop, what would be considered a bigger prop? is it bigger diameter or pitch? Its my understanding that i shouldn't increase both numbers as it would strain the motor.

My only other query is is my battery not performing. When i first got the battery like a complete noob i soldered the plug on in the wrong polarity. I didn't notice until i plugged in to the plane and it got extremely hot. I unplugged it immediately and left it a day to check it didn't go bang. When i checked it it all looked ok with no ballooning so i changed the plug over and charged it. It powers the plane and all and re charges fine. All the cells are pretty equally balanced so i'm not sure if i have damaged it or not. Would this cause a weaker battery. How can i test its health? I have a power tech b660 charger/discharger.

I get easily confused by kv, mah, volt draw etc at the moment so simplistic answers are greatly appreciated.

Cheers for your time guys, Happy flying.

 

[mikeporterinmd]

I'm fairly certain I used a 6x4 APC style prop with a 3S on the TT. Mine is currently destroyed, so I can't check for sure.

Mike

 

[Hai-Lee]

Your battery should be OK. It can supply huge currents if shorted and connecting it up backwards to the ESC normally results in the ESC blowing up or even catching fire. Plug it in and see if the ESC etc works and if so then you were lucky.

As for the prop I use a great range of props all selected to suit the motor I use. Look up the details on your motor and find out where it develops max thrust on 3S and use the prop that the manufacturer recommends.

I normally use a 6x4.5 for general flying and fit the largest SF prop I can use, (according to the power output of the motor), and use that for windy days and gliding, (to gain height quickly).

Just what works for me!

Have fun!

 

[rockyboy]

Welcome to the forums!!

The easiest way I've found to look up the motor/prop details like Hai-Lee mentions is Google's image search. Just put in the motor name and number, and then click the "Images' tab in the search results.

https://www.google.com/search?q=Ema...vPLUAhVs7IMKHajbA50Q_AUIDCgD&biw=1367&bih=923

Within the first couple image results will usually be a couple charts looking like this one:



And in here you'll be able to find the recommended prop sizes for each battery size by voltage (mah aka milliamperes is capacity, not current strength so you're only limited by the amount of weight you can carry, not the motor on this).

The 6x4 should give you the maximum recommended performance out of the motor - but as Hai-Lee also points out, you can often push those boundaries a little bit too and run a 6x4.5.

If you get comfortable with that setup and feel the need for even moar power I'd suggest getting a 2204 sized 2300kv motor - you can push things to a 7x4 for a bigger boost. I ran a 2206 1900kv with an 8x4 on my Tiny Trainer, which was fine on a 2 cell battery, but too much for me to handle with a 3 cell battery. :black_eyed:

 

[Aideo]

Apologies for the late reply. Been a bit hectic here. Really grateful for the feedback guys. I appreciate the advice from people in the know. We've not really hit summer here yet (we should have) and its pretty windy all the time so will definitely try that Hai-Lee. Also thanks to Rockyboy.

I have recently found out the cause of my problem after seeing a fellow flyer had similar issues. It wasn't the battery like i suspected. It turned out i had actually bought a 1430kv MT1806 not a 2280kv. I have since bought one of these and have been amazed at the difference. The plane has "grunt" now and lives up to the "little rocket" reviews i had read. Only issue is i have now piled it into the ground harder than ever haha. I guess that's what trainers are for.

Thanks again.

 

[Hai-Lee]

Well you know what they say, Newbies and their planes dig more holes than Gophers!:black_eyed:

The difference between a newbie and an experienced RC Pilot is the size and cost of the holes they dig

Newbies say their plane crashed whereas an experienced pilot talks about lawn darting or turf eating!

have fun!

 

[rockyboy]

The difference between a newbie and an experienced RC Pilot is the size and cost of the holes they dig

I love this quote! :applause:

And I resemble it too.... :black_eyed:

 

[SteveRobey]

Hi all,

The only issue I'm having with my TT is my own skill. I'm working on it but still digging holes and breaking props. I had a question for the OP but I think he answered it in a later post when he mentions realizing he bought the wrong motor for the plane. The motor I am running currently in mine is the one that comes in the PowerPack A and it works out nicely with the 300mAh 3 cell lipo, the larger of the two suggested on the Tiny Trainer page in the store.

I guess this sort of leads me to a question though, what is the largest combination of motor, prop, esc and battery one could put on the TT with little or no modification? Just out of curiosity? Not something I am planning to do but I'm thinking there is probably a hard limit to how much power you want to give this plane before you can expect bad things to happen when it's in the air right?

 

[Hai-Lee]

I regularly use a 2205c 1400Kv with a 12A ESC, 9x5 prop and an 850 3S battery on my TTs but the largest I ever fitted was something I will NEVER do again.

Out of sheer frustration with the tail heavy results I was getting with local FB I fitted a "FunFighter" motor with a 6x5 prop, 25A ESC and an 850 3S 40-65C battery. It actually required a little tail weight but it flew so fast and erratic I actually scared myself and was lucky to get it down in one piece.

The wing was moving around on the fuselage when maneuvering it was very responsive and I was porpoising all over the sky when I opened the throttle, BUT it definitely would climb vertical, (the first thing I tried), and after a quick battle which included the wing joint becoming less than rigid, (about 2 minutes), I decided to land it quick before it chose to land itself.

If you are going for more power or speed just make sure that you securely fix the wing and make sure that you have a dihedral brace in the wings.

Just remembering!

Have fun!