What? It's Not a Mini? Simple Scout Build

buzzbomb

I know nothing!
The rain held off today and I made it out to my flying field. It was right on the borderline of being too wet, but I decided to go for it. During my CRAP check, this happened:


I tried recalibrating the ESC several times to no avail. I was still troubleshooting when I noticed the ESC was hot and the motor was too hot to touch. That called it. End of the day for me. I had a sneaky suspicion what was going on. When I mounted the motor I looked to make sure the screws did not touch the windings, but when I got home and put it under a magnifying glass, sure enough, at least one was touching.

I pulled all four screws and would you believe that two of them are a little more than a millimeter longer than the other two? It went completely unnoticed during the build. So I remounted the motor with two screws instead of four, and we'll try again tomorrow.
 

Jimun

Elite member
The rain held off today and I made it out to my flying field. It was right on the borderline of being too wet, but I decided to go for it. During my CRAP check, this happened:


I tried recalibrating the ESC several times to no avail. I was still troubleshooting when I noticed the ESC was hot and the motor was too hot to touch. That called it. End of the day for me. I had a sneaky suspicion what was going on. When I mounted the motor I looked to make sure the screws did not touch the windings, but when I got home and put it under a magnifying glass, sure enough, at least one was touching.

I pulled all four screws and would you believe that two of them are a little more than a millimeter longer than the other two? It went completely unnoticed during the build. So I remounted the motor with two screws instead of four, and we'll try again tomorrow.
Does it work alright now?
When I was building my power pods I noticed one of the firewalls was thicker then the others and when I attached the motor the short screws seemed to short and the medium size screws looked liked if I tightened to far I would be to close to the windings. So I tried the medium size, snug tight. Crushed the power pod and the thicker firewall did not break. I checked the screws and it looks like they were just touching so when I build new power pods I will use the shorter ones and over tighten a tad to get more threads to grab on to the motor, or I could just wait for my new firewalls to get here.
 

buzzbomb

I know nothing!
Does it work alright now?
When I was building my power pods I noticed one of the firewalls was thicker then the others and when I attached the motor the short screws seemed to short and the medium size screws looked liked if I tightened to far I would be to close to the windings. So I tried the medium size, snug tight. Crushed the power pod and the thicker firewall did not break. I checked the screws and it looks like they were just touching so when I build new power pods I will use the shorter ones and over tighten a tad to get more threads to grab on to the motor, or I could just wait for my new firewalls to get here.
My uncle built some firewalls out of plexiglass and sent them to me. I haven't used them yet, since they are mini's and I'm currently flying bigger birds. He says they are nigh indestructible, and honestly I don't doubt that. My next Mini build I intend to find out!
 

mayan

Legendary member
Wow @buzzbomb happy you found that out before you burned everything down :). I never seemed to have a screw mount issue at least not that I know of you :). So you going to fly it today uhhh? Lucky me that I have the night shift and will be able to read about it :).
 

buzzbomb

I know nothing!
So I was talking to my uncle this evening and he finally beat through my head what Kilroy and mayan have been saying. My darn motor was too small, and the plane wouldn't have flown, even had I been able to try. @kilroy07 @mayan Stronger language my brothers! I've got a hard head. What you needed to say was "THAT PLANE WON'T FLY, DUMMY! THE DARN MOTOR IS TOO DARN SMALL!"

So I've put in a bigger motor, learned how to use the collets for the prop (that was a pain) and now I'm getting her balanced again. She was nose heavy before. It's looking like three pennies on either side of the horizontal stabilizer, just before the break for the elevator to balance her out. I'd take a pic, but she's too heavy for the balancing rig I have. I have to hold the barbecue skewers in place with one hand and do the balancing with the other. Time to build a jig that uses pencils, like FT suggests.


I've got errands I have to complete tomorrow. If I'm not too wore out, my son and I are going to the field after he gets home from school. I'll let you know what happens! :)
 

buzzbomb

I know nothing!
Maiden flight today! She took off and flew wonderfully, then she fell out of the sky.


I learned two valuable lessons today. The first is that some propellers have an "R" after the number. That means it won't work on a CCW motor. I broke the prop in the crash, and my spare had the "R." It doesn't matter which way you flip it. Letters out or letters in. That prop won't work and will only push backwards. So that was it for the day.

The second lesson is the most valuable, I think it accounts for at least 80% of my crashes. Then she fell out of the sky? That was the Failsafe kicking in because she lost signal. Why did she lose signal? Because I did not raise the darn antenna! If you are a newb, and your antenna folds at the base? You turn it sideways for storage and travel, but turn it UP for flight.

The signal goes out like a blade along the length of those antennas. So long as the antenna is pointed at the sky you've got a wide swath of vertical signal and you just need to be pointed in the general direction of the plane. If however, the antenna is still sideways, horizontal to the ground, that blade-shaped signal will only reach the plane if the trans is pointed at it. Point the trans towards the sky or down towards the ground, and the signal misses the plane, the failsafe kicks in, and it falls out of the sky. I keep forgetting to point the darn antenna up! Therefore my birds keep falling out of the sky.

Two wonderful lessons learned at the cost of a prop. Damage was pretty minimal. I'm working on repairs, now. Tomorrow hopefully, I go back out with my son and more spare props, and he's going to go first.

I could not believe how easily that thing took off, and she was an absolute joy to fly. I never got above 50% throttle, and we've got no expo or anything and she IS 4ch. I think she is going to be a BLAST when we get the hang of her! :D
 

Hai-Lee

Old and Bold RC PILOT
I learned two valuable lessons today. The first is that some propellers have an "R" after the number. That means it won't work on a CCW motor. I broke the prop in the crash, and my spare had the "R." It doesn't matter which way you flip it. Letters out or letters in. That prop won't work and will only push backwards. So that was it for the day.
Just a heads up on the "R" propellers. If your only spare is an "R" you can use it by doing 2 things.
First swap 2 wires on the ESC to motor connections to reverse the motor.
Second. (If the plane is a mini), Refit the mini powerpod upside down so that the right thrust becomes left thrust.
(If not a mini) refit powerpod and alter the thrust angle if any to be the same degree but to the left.

Do both of those and you are in the air again in minutes and you will not notice the difference!

Works for me!

Have fun!
 
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buzzbomb

I know nothing!
Repairs complete. She's ready for my son's turn to fly her, later today. :)

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The little wooden A-10? My mother made that for me a few days ago. Just because. How cool is that?! :D
 

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mayan

Legendary member
I could not believe how easily that thing took off, and she was an absolute joy to fly.
We told you that it will be that way :). Happy that you got it to fly, sorry though that you had only such a short flight with her before the fail safe kicked in. I personally think that we all learned some important lessons today. @buzzbomb taught us a bit about fail safe and how to avoid it from kicking in. And @Hai-Lee taught us how to use a CW prop on a CCW motor setup. Thank you both for the lesson.
 

buzzbomb

I know nothing!
Just a heads up on the "R" propellers. If your only spare is an "R" you can use it by doing 2 things.
First swap 2 wires on the ESC to motor connections to reverse the motor.
Second. (If the plane is a mini), Refit the mini powerpod upside down so that the right thrust becomes left thrust.
(If not a mini) refit powerpod and alter the thrust angle if any to be the same degree but to the left.

Do both of those and you are in the air again in minutes and you will not notice the difference!

Works for me!

Have fun!
I'm thinking about building some "R" powerpods so I don't have to make more skewer holes than necessary in the pod. (They seem to multiply like rabbits sometimes. ) It seems like if one were to simply flip the plan over and build the pod from that side, the right thrust-angle becomes a left thrust-angle and everything else remains the same. One would simply have to make sure the motor was rotating clockwise. Mark the pod with an "R" and the collection of spare propellers just doubled.
 

mayan

Legendary member
I'm thinking about building some "R" powerpods so I don't have to make more skewer holes than necessary in the pod. (They seem to multiply like rabbits sometimes. ) It seems like if one were to simply flip the plan over and build the pod from that side, the right thrust-angle becomes a left thrust-angle and everything else remains the same. One would simply have to make sure the motor was rotating clockwise. Mark the pod with an "R" and the collection of spare propellers just doubled.
I like that idea. Recently I bought a lot of CCW APC props which were more expensive but had only CCW props. I will change that by building some CW pods and use the CW props on them. I will also go back to buying the cheaper props knowing now how to make them work for me :).
 

kilroy07

Legendary member
Some props just come that way (2 to a pack)... And while I see your point... When it's less than a dollar a prop;
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/20X...412.html?spm=2114.13010708.0.0.3a994c4dsB2DEQ
Is it worth all the trouble?....
:unsure:
Maybe so... That is honestly why I started looking at twin designs..... But, I don't know...

I usually leave my pods alone (semi permanent builds) if you do plan on swapping I HIGHLY recommend you reinforce the mounting holes.
You might find some small circles or squares of plywood with a hole punched in them or use spent gift cards/plastic to protect from wear.
(Although, that might be a design "feature" of FT designs to provide a "crumple zone" to protect the motor...)
Eh, everything is a trade-off...