JohnRambozo
Posted a thousand or more times
They do press in like the analog sticks on an xbox controller. Doing this to the left stick toggles High/Low rates. I'll try it again in the air and see if I can get it to loop or roll.
Tell Me How to "FliteTest" Review the XK DHC-2 from Gearbest.com
- Thread starter JohnRambozo
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They do press in like the analog sticks on an xbox controller. Doing this to the left stick toggles High/Low rates. I'll try it again in the air and see if I can get it to loop or roll.
JohnRambozo
Posted a thousand or more times
Thanks dgrigor. I'll try it in the air. I think I was expecting the auto stabilization to turn off but maybe it just allows full pitch and roll but continues to try to stabilize when there is no input.
Put landing gear with skis on the top, so you can roll off the pavement for takeoff, and land on the snow for landing
JohnRambozo
Posted a thousand or more times
Thanks for the suggestion, FlyingMonkey. If there is any snow left when I go flying this weekend, I'll be sure to try it.
JohnRambozo
Posted a thousand or more times
I got a chance to put a little more time on this little plane and all I can say is wow, it handles the wind like a champ. It even hovers. I wish I had gotten some video, maybe later today I'll be able to get some footage.
I was in some pretty varied wind conditions. In 6G mode, it was rock solid, banging the sticks really won't get you into trouble at all and with a headwind, it just sat in the sky, motionless with no stick input.
One thing to be aware of, in 6G mode with the limited roll angle I had to use some subtle rudder input to make turns, but as soon as it caught the slightest bit of rudder, it whipped right around. I think that has something to do with how the gyro tries to maintain a heading. When I hold it in my hand, rotating the plane causes the rudder to move, so unless you tell it your intentions to turn with slight rudder input, it tries to keep you on the same path.
I was able to pop into 3D mode this time which allowed a more realistic flight experience. It would loop on a dime and roll nicely and even knife edge. You can also use the 6G mode as a panic switch. I flew up high and pushed it into some random position, hit the 6G button. It righted itself and leveled out instantly.
And one last thing I discovered that I suspect is unusual for a cheap little RTF, Gearbest sells every component of the plane individually if you ever need to replace anything or if you just want to use some of the parts for something new.
http://www.gearbest.com/xk-a600-_gear/
I was in some pretty varied wind conditions. In 6G mode, it was rock solid, banging the sticks really won't get you into trouble at all and with a headwind, it just sat in the sky, motionless with no stick input.
One thing to be aware of, in 6G mode with the limited roll angle I had to use some subtle rudder input to make turns, but as soon as it caught the slightest bit of rudder, it whipped right around. I think that has something to do with how the gyro tries to maintain a heading. When I hold it in my hand, rotating the plane causes the rudder to move, so unless you tell it your intentions to turn with slight rudder input, it tries to keep you on the same path.
I was able to pop into 3D mode this time which allowed a more realistic flight experience. It would loop on a dime and roll nicely and even knife edge. You can also use the 6G mode as a panic switch. I flew up high and pushed it into some random position, hit the 6G button. It righted itself and leveled out instantly.
And one last thing I discovered that I suspect is unusual for a cheap little RTF, Gearbest sells every component of the plane individually if you ever need to replace anything or if you just want to use some of the parts for something new.
http://www.gearbest.com/xk-a600-_gear/
jamboree1
Active member
It's good to see a place like that that offers replacement parts. I'm glad they also realized it's best to over power a plane than to have bare minimal flight power. Now you just need to put that controller in the hands of a total noob and see how they do. problem is.. finding a noob that really wants to try rather than one that will do it just to placate you.
JohnRambozo
Posted a thousand or more times
That's next. I need a total noob that can actually break it. I have failed to do any substantial damage in spite of my efforts. Its so light it just bounces off of everything, including pavement. I haven't even broken a prop yet.
JohnRambozo
Posted a thousand or more times
Here's today's flight session on the Baby Plane (as my daughter called it). Something happened to the audio but all you really heard was her countdown to take off, some excited laughter, and blasting wind.
As you can see, there's a pretty fierce headwind blowing from right to left. The vertical hover as the plane blows out of frame got me laughing. I had to switch into 3D mode to use down elevator and 50%+ power to overcome the wind. In 6G (stability mode) it was very stable but steadily climbing under power against the wind even when attempting down elevator. Reducing throttle had me losing elevation slightly but drifting backwards too fast.
I got in some nice loops in 3D mode. Its very snappy. One quirk about this gryo... It tries to hold your heading, so you have to tell it you want to turn. Ailerons alone won't do it. If you give the rudder a little tap it resets the heading to the position where you release the rudder input. Probably not a bad thing to enforce learning to use rudder.
Let me know what you think and what else you'd like to see. I was very impressed with how it handled in the gusty weather.
Oh, and one of my hard landings blew off the battery cover. No big deal. I'll just slap some tape over it next time.
As you can see, there's a pretty fierce headwind blowing from right to left. The vertical hover as the plane blows out of frame got me laughing. I had to switch into 3D mode to use down elevator and 50%+ power to overcome the wind. In 6G (stability mode) it was very stable but steadily climbing under power against the wind even when attempting down elevator. Reducing throttle had me losing elevation slightly but drifting backwards too fast.
I got in some nice loops in 3D mode. Its very snappy. One quirk about this gryo... It tries to hold your heading, so you have to tell it you want to turn. Ailerons alone won't do it. If you give the rudder a little tap it resets the heading to the position where you release the rudder input. Probably not a bad thing to enforce learning to use rudder.
Let me know what you think and what else you'd like to see. I was very impressed with how it handled in the gusty weather.
Oh, and one of my hard landings blew off the battery cover. No big deal. I'll just slap some tape over it next time.
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JohnRambozo
Posted a thousand or more times
I was just going back through the posts and realized I didn't directly address this. The gyro and the receiver are one circuit board. There is a separate esc so I am going to order a lemon with mini connectors for around $6 (dsm2) which should handle all the connections and bind to my spektrum just fine. I'll lose the stabilization but I'll have the comfort of my spektrum transmitter.
Here's the default innards from top to bottom (ESC, receiver/gryo, Y connector for ailerons, micro servos for rudder and elevator).
JohnRambozo
Posted a thousand or more times
JohnRambozo
Posted a thousand or more times
The first repair was incredibly simple. The tail control surfaces are connected by a very thin bit of foam and reinforced by some very small tape hinges that honestly don't stick that well.
I dropped the plane heading out the door and all but severed the rudder and elevator on impact. Didn't take much. Fortunately, all I had to do was use a couple pieces of clear packing tape and its as good as (better than) new!
I dropped the plane heading out the door and all but severed the rudder and elevator on impact. Didn't take much. Fortunately, all I had to do was use a couple pieces of clear packing tape and its as good as (better than) new!
JohnRambozo
Posted a thousand or more times
Its snowing like crazy now so I'll be able to get your suggestion in this weekend, FlyingMonkey!
JohnRambozo
Posted a thousand or more times
JohnRambozo
Posted a thousand or more times
Lol. I tried flying it in too small of an area and a thin branch cut the h-stab in half.
A little glue and we're back in action... and a fresh pile of snow today, too. I'll try again.
They were supposed to go on the top... so you could roll for a takeoff, and ski for a landing...
JohnRambozo
Posted a thousand or more times
They were supposed to go on the top... so you could roll for a takeoff, and ski for a landing...
Doh! I can never do anything right.
That might actually be fun to try.
JohnRambozo
Posted a thousand or more times
This weekend, flying in very high wind, the Beaver took a few hits. I tried to launch off a picnic table after it had previously jumped off the ground with literally 0 taxi... this time the wind took it straight into a tree at full throttle.
A little glue and we'll be good as new. It still flies fine, it just looks funny.
A little glue and we'll be good as new. It still flies fine, it just looks funny.
JohnRambozo
Posted a thousand or more times
Haha. So true! I still can't break that prop and believe me, I've tried.
