Tip Of The Spear

BATTLEAXE

Legendary member
I maidened the Combat Arrow this morning, and what a ride it was. I am impressed with the performance so far. It was fast and maneuverable once I got it leveled out. Off the first toss I gave it about 70-75% throttle and it took right off, then dropped the throttle to about 50-55% to level it off. Even though the elevator was set to dead center there was a lot of back pressure to keep it straight on the pitch. The more speed I put to it the more it wanted to pitch up, so it is pitch sensitive. The roll axis was just a bit of right trim and it was good.

I didn't have to constantly work the sticks, it would fly on it's own neutral position. I installed the 8x6 prop and it had plenty of power, endless vertical. Switched to high rates and the handling was sensitive as well, even at 30% expo. Rolls were insane, to the point where you lose sight of which way was up. Made for some interesting maneuvers.

I flew just the one pack, it was raining outside and this is the only plane since the P-40 that I haven't minwaxed. The landing was nice and easy, slowed down nice and lofty.

Improvements I would make to it as is, larger elevator surface. Right now it is 8 1/2"x 2", i would extend that out to 3", mostly for pitch stability on level flight. To compensate for the ballooning at faster speeds I may take the fuse pod off the bottom and place the thrust center line up over the wing center of drag. For this I will place the pod in between the wings like in the original Arrow design but again make it more of a fuse instead of just a wing.

Conclusion it does have a solid construction... I did lawn dart it once and busted up the nose a bit, but dusted it off and threw it back up again and it flew great, so as a combat plane or just something to take my abuse it worked out well that way too. Thanks for reading
 

BATTLEAXE

Legendary member
I got the Combat Arrow out today for the 2nd flight after the mod to the elevator. Check it out:

I put a second pack in and had an LOS and crashed it. Stood up well to the crash but I found a bunch more stuff I want to change. Most of which was mentioned in the previous post. Stay tuned(y)
 
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The Hangar

Fly harder!
Mentor
Can you help me out here, I'm having a hard time figuring out what this is trying to say.

Gotta say though, that combat arrow is a neat lookin' plane.
On the second battery pack he put through it he had a los of signal which caused a crash.
 

Tench745

Master member
Ahhhh.... there's my confusion. I'm used to LOS referring to Line Of Sight, to differentiate from FPV.
Loss of signal makes way more sense.
 

The Hangar

Fly harder!
Mentor
I damaged the antenna on my orangerx receiver and it made me lose signal and nose dive my scout several times (painful to watch!) and then I got genuine Spektrum receivers. I’ve had no real issues since. I do have one orange rx for my spitfire that hasn’t given me any trouble though, so I think it was just the damaged antenna. I would buy more orange rx receivers in the future. My transmitter arrived from Spektrum so tomorrow I will maiden my ft-3D and then fly the bravo. If I have time and batteries, I’ll take up the spitfire😁. It’s been too long since I’ve flown some exciting 4 channel!
 

BATTLEAXE

Legendary member
Got a new Spear up and ready to go, just got to add the Minwax and maiden. Check it out:
20191105_163920.jpg

Wing purists will say I am cheating but I did go with the AET style like I did on the Combat Arrow, proved to be a way more stable and responsive design then using elevons. Don't get me wrong, I really like the elevons on the FT-22 and A-22, but the wing for what I want out of it, this will be a better option.

On this one I reduced the plans down to 80% to make it more manageable on the hands and in the car. The nose at 80% has been lengthened by an inch to help with balance and make room for batteries. The servos are all 9g and can run up to a 9" prop, same as the original size. It has the monster 1200Kv on there just like what the Sportster uses and comes in at just under 33" wingspan.

Just need some batteries for the Tx and we are off to the races... till then (y)
 

BATTLEAXE

Legendary member
Awesome!! What do you mean smaller motor? I know you have a c pack, and that is enough power. I flew it for the first time on a 10x4.7 prop and I could tell a difference from the 9x5 I was previously using. Better clime rate and punch.
My C pack motor is FUBARed, the dog incident on the first Spear did that in. Down to one motor now
 

moret

Well-known member
Thanx man appreciate it.

Side note, I am looking at the FT-3D, you inspired me, wish I had a smaller motor though

If I hear you say FT-3D and wish it had a smaller motor in the same sentence again I will send the RCMP after you.:mad:

If you build it, use "white glue" on the wood wing spar. It seams like the hot glue does not get down the length of the spar. I would use a lot. The build video says they had crash it many time and not broke the wings. They don't fly like me, I have took the wings off more then once.
I am on #3. C pack 2215/10 with the C pack 30 amp ESC and 4S 2200 and a 9 X 4.5 prop. The problems with the FT-3d.. if you got it, you got to push it. Lets just say it is best to fly it in the spring. The ground is softer.
 

BATTLEAXE

Legendary member
If I hear you say FT-3D and wish it had a smaller motor in the same sentence again I will send the RCMP after you.:mad:

If you build it, use "white glue" on the wood wing spar. It seams like the hot glue does not get down the length of the spar. I would use a lot. The build video says they had crash it many time and not broke the wings. They don't fly like me, I have took the wings off more then once.
I am on #3. C pack 2215/10 with the C pack 30 amp ESC and 4S 2200 and a 9 X 4.5 prop. The problems with the FT-3d.. if you got it, you got to push it. Lets just say it is best to fly it in the spring. The ground is softer.
I wish I had a smaller motor, The C pack is fine for the plane. The motor I have is just to big for that style I am sure. It's heavier and substantially more powerful. I just want to play around in a close area. The motor I have is good if it was the Edge but that's a lot of build time in to just crash repeatedly. And once I do have it I will push it and myself.

RCMP huh, you from Quebec?
 

buzzbomb

I know nothing!
Got a new Spear up and ready to go, just got to add the Minwax and maiden. Check it out:
View attachment 147283
Wing purists will say I am cheating but I did go with the AET style like I did on the Combat Arrow, proved to be a way more stable and responsive design then using elevons. Don't get me wrong, I really like the elevons on the FT-22 and A-22, but the wing for what I want out of it, this will be a better option.

On this one I reduced the plans down to 80% to make it more manageable on the hands and in the car. The nose at 80% has been lengthened by an inch to help with balance and make room for batteries. The servos are all 9g and can run up to a 9" prop, same as the original size. It has the monster 1200Kv on there just like what the Sportster uses and comes in at just under 33" wingspan.

Just need some batteries for the Tx and we are off to the races... till then (y)
She looks so shiny and new! That's a good looking bird, battleaxe. Good luck on the maiden!
 

BATTLEAXE

Legendary member
She looks so shiny and new! That's a good looking bird, battleaxe. Good luck on the maiden!
Thanks man. Gonna pick up some fresh batt's for the Tx tomorrow and have it painted by the end of the day. Maiden maybe on Thursday, weather depending, haven't checked on that yet.
Ahh, shoot! I don’t know how you do it man - I have two b packs, two c packs, two a packs, and an f pack. But of course that’s NOTHING compared to @Headbang... 😂
If I had your inventory I would have a lot more planes to play with. At on point in time I had 2 motors and eight planes on the shelf, changing the motors around isn't a big deal. Sure it's not a grab and go operation but I get to mess around with each one before I take it out, helps with seeing improvements that could be made and dealt with.

Did you fly the Bravo the same day you flew the Spit? Any video?