Post your experience with the PCW v2

[wattsup_kz]

I have several flights on mine now, and I like it!
I can now fly over pavement without concern about keel breakage from a nose first crash. The new plastic keel gives a much better grip for launching, and it is deep enough to keep the prop off the ground upon landing.
I did wind up using low temp hot glue for the plastic. The tape kept peeling up and collecting dirt. So far it is holding well.

Brian

[BigShark]

I've heard alot of chatter about the PCW but have no idea the dimesions, weight, propulsion, manufacturer, etc. I'd appreciate any info on your setup.

Thanks,
Rich

[Sabbath]

I've heard alot of chatter about the PCW but have no idea the dimesions, weight, propulsion, manufacturer, etc. I'd appreciate any info on your setup.

Thanks,
Rich

The PCW is made by EdgeRC, and can be found at:
http://edgerc.com/pcw.htm
Justin (the head of EdgeRC) is a great guy to do business with, btw, and several people on this board will vouch for him.

[wattsup_kz]

I am using the stock edp-50 motor with 3x2 prop currently. (3X3 works well also).
Hs-55 servos
GWS 2amp ESC
GWS pico receiver
Etec 2S 1200 battery
Hitec Flash 5X transmitter
AUW 5.5 oz.
20" wingspan
Long flight times. I never fly long enough to run the battery to the cutoff because of the esc having too low of a cutoff, but I have gone 45 minutes with no cutoff.

[BigShark]

20" wing span? I guess at under six oz the wing loading isn't bad but is it a bit of a handful to control at that size?

[LuckyArmpit]

These smaller wings are sort of the rage now. I have a Scram Blur which is also a 20 inch span. Mine flies with a j250 motor and 4x4 prop on 2S 1500 lipos. One thing to remember about these, they sure aint for beginners!!! Heck, even intermediate fliers have some problems at first. This is because these little wings really move out!!!! I swear mine will do 55 mph... :o
Also, the elevon surface is quite large (mine is anyways). I have my contol throws set at just 20%. Balance on these is also critical!!! I added a small landing/throwing skid on mine to help out with the launch. Mine weighs in at about 8 oz. About an ounce heavier than intended but, it doesn't hamper the flights one darn bit. I'm building another since Luke added an extra pair of wings to my original kit. This time, I'm going to use a smaller set of elevons and may even use a j250 motor but with fan. It would be a mini wing jet! :eek:

Dave...

[wattsup_kz]

It is considered a handful, but I had less than one year experience when I started flying mine. I started with a Hitec Laser4 transmitter, and dialed the ATV down, and used the conservative holes for the pushrods. I was able to keep it in the air most of the time without a struggle from the very first flight. Within a few months I had progressed to the agressive settings and upgraded to a Flash 5X where I set up dual rates for the elevator function, but left the aileron at full throws.

As long as the elevator travel is limited, I have no problem controlling it. I crash sometimes, but that is due to aggressive maneuvering, not uncontrollability.

On full aileron throws this plane is wildly fun, and in "tame mode", not beyond the abilities of anyone who is comfortable flying a simple 3 channel trainer.

[LuckyArmpit]

Alot depends on the size of the elevons. The Scram Blur's are very large.
Thus, it don't take much throw to deflect the air.

Dave...

[jimsky]

Funny you should mention it, I just posted my experience with EPA adjustments for my Scram Blur and SuperFly-E. If this was a "real" forum, perhaps a sticky noting the importance of setting elevon control throws might be in order. :D

Jimsky

[BigShark]

Me Too!


wattsup_kz

Why did dual rates on the elevator alone help keep things more controllable? I did the opposite (aileron only) to calm things down on a much bigger 50" wing which worked but I wouldn't say it flys great.

[wattsup_kz]

I can't speak for other wings, because the PCW is the only one I have flown. My impression is that excessive elevator travel can contribute to stalls, with the resulting downward spiral. In addition, the wingspan is much longer than the chord, so pitch is twitcher than roll. With full travel on ailerons, I can still keep things under control. It is much harder with full travel on elevator.

[tone]

KZ- all wings exhibit this behaviour and many short coupled planes too. (P51 comes to mind) Too much elevator travel induces stalls and spins. On bigger wings, they'll just roll out at the top (mostly), but the spiral of death awaits all who go too far.

[wattsup_kz]

Well, the hot glue holding the plastic motor mount let go after several nose-ins yesterday, so I am back to using tape. this time I will try clear duct tape. It seems a little stickier than the 3M 373.

[JetskiMark]

I flew my new Pocket Combat Wing V2 for the first time this weekend and I like it a lot.

My setup:

Stock GWS EDP-50 motor with 3x2 and 3x3 props.
GWS Pico+ servos.
GWS R-4P receiver.
Etec 2C 1200 Li-Poly battery.
Castle Creations Pixie 7P ESC.
Deans Micro 2R polarized connectors.
Dubro Mini E/Z connectors.
Chrome MonoKote covered elevons.
MonoKote chrome trim sheet covered leading edge.
Red and black packing tape.
Low temp hot glue and Super 77.
Strapping tape hinges. (Ugly but very durable.)
1992 Futaba 7 UAP transmitter with -100% exponential on channels 1 & 2.
¼ inch elevator travel in each direction.
45 degree aileron travel.
AUW 5.1 oz.

It is ultra responsive and has pretty decent speed with the stock motor. It does tight inside and outside loops. It has a blazing fast roll rate and it flies well inverted. It does really fast spins when you want to and it recovers easily. I got over 70 minutes of full throttle flying out of my first charge and did over two dozen hand catches. It handles 10 MPH wind no problem. It is very easy to launch using the pizza box, discus, underhand and boomerang methods. I even flew for the first time ever in front of my house, dodging trees and streetlights and doing a hand catch in the street.

I did not use the stock launching/landing skid and I saved 4 grams. I buried the servos and control rods for reduced drag and to avoid servo (and finger) damage when hand catching. I used a piece of an R/C car antenna tube to run the control rods through. I also used the spar channel to tuck my wires into. Although it is not that apparent from the picture, all the wires are flush with the top.

I like it so much that I am going to get another one and wind a CD ROM motor for it. This should be good for more speed and vertical performance at the expense of reduced runtime. I am definitely keeping the stock one too for when I want to fly for a long time without charging or swapping batteries. Two friends that saw it fly were impressed and are going to order a couple for themselves. I am looking forward to doing some combat with other PCWs.

Regards,
Mark

http://www.markrants.com/images/pcw_01.jpg

[Flyin Hawaiian]

I maidened my PCW yesterday late afternoon. Had been flying about 5 minutes, just getting the feel for it when the only tree in a 400+ yard area seemingly sucked it in......at the very top. Darkness fell soon, with my brand new plane still up there. Then of course, it rained like a banshee last night (still raining,in fact). Fortuneately, I got it at first light this morning.....soaking wet....but hopefully will work when dry. I dug the 5 minutes I had, though!

[wattsup_kz]

FH - It really stinks to tree a plane, but I can't imagine what it would be like to do it on the maiden. I'm glad you got it down. Be sure to thouroughly dry out the components, because any water left inside can cause big problems down the road.

[Flyin Hawaiian]

Well......after a couple days drying time and a good spraying of CO contact cleaner, EVERYTHING WORKS :D
Now a little re-cover job, hook up a few wires and pushrods, and try her out again tomorrow :cool:
Lono

[wattsup_kz]

After several flights using clear duct tape to hold the motor mount and keel on, everything is still solidly in place. It looks like I will be sticking with that! :cool:

[Air Force One]

This plane is awesome! I had the original but V2 is much more durable. Talk a few of your friends into getting one and fly combat, it's hilarious! I've done combat with Justin and 2 other PCW's in the air and it's very hard to hit someone. :cool: But no for lack of trying. :D

For those of you who don't have a PCW, go over to foamies and check out Justin's build thread.

Dave

[Hivoltage]

I noticed on your pic that you mounted all the electronics on the top of the wing??? Does it all work well that way? I did that by mistake and was ready to start all over....unless I have read the directions wrong.

[DangerZone]

Hivoltage - all components go in from the top. They are just buried under the covering of your choice. I have built three this way and knew from talking with Justin that this is proper and correct. You may have thot you made a mistake, but you didn't. Fortune was smiling on you!

[JetskiMark]

I noticed on your pic that you mounted all the electronics on the top of the wing??? Does it all work well that way? I did that by mistake and was ready to start all over....unless I have read the directions wrong.

Hivoltage,

You are doing it right, as DangerZone said. Be sure to read Justin's PCW build thread here:

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=236426

One of my friends, who saw mine fly and just had to have one, is now flying his. He really likes his too. It is all stock except for buried servos and control rods. He is really good at bouncing it off of the ground. No damage though, it just keeps coming back for more. I took some pictures of his flying, here are two pasted together. I hope you have as much fun with yours as we have had with ours.

Regards,
Mark

http://www.markrants.com/images/pcw_02.jpg

[RANSWrench]

Flys great. Beat it in in many times. Prop damage only.

[Cody WIlson]

Those trees will reach out and grab ya!

Mark- nice looking plane.

Brian- glad you like It! I have been eyeing the PCW since they first came out. I am very tempted to try Dave's setup with the 250... Except mine will be a micro 20" Slofly...

Cody

[flyingmonkey350]

i loved the first pcw and flew it till ti was dead thast when i rodered the v2 which was a dissapointment as it appear they are using a differnt type of epp. the epp is more bead like and was horrible to work with. i had to strip the covering and chunks of foam were coming off with it (that never hapend with the old epp whichi is more solid) its as if a bunch of foam bead were melted togther but only enough so they stick to each other. i can pull off bead of foam with the bead totally intact. i wish they still had the old kind of epp it was so nice and paired with the new landing skid and motor mount it would be awsome.

[Kai@UCSB]

I flew mine yesterday but not get the correct CG yet. The plane just climb up.
What is the CG setup of you guys ?

-Kai

[ScYcS]

i loved the first pcw and flew it till ti was dead thast when i rodered the v2 which was a dissapointment as it appear they are using a differnt type of epp. the epp is more bead like and was horrible to work with. i had to strip the covering and chunks of foam were coming off with it (that never hapend with the old epp whichi is more solid) its as if a bunch of foam bead were melted togther but only enough so they stick to each other. i can pull off bead of foam with the bead totally intact. i wish they still had the old kind of epp it was so nice and paired with the new landing skid and motor mount it would be awsome.


I thought i'm crazy. So you realized it as well? The EPP IS different.

[flyingmonkey350]

yea i emailed justin and he said they couldnt get the old kind. justin if you read this you may want to look for it again because the unicorn still has the good stuff. i love your planes but hate the new foam. oh yea if you ever get the old foam back please email me at From_metoo_you@hotmail.com i would really like to get a bop or mini bop. i loved my first pcw so much but the second one i got was retired after a few flights because it got waterlogged from it raining while flying and when i tried to take the tape off it all started falling apart so im just wating for the olf foam to come back so i can buy a new one.

[RANSWrench]

I think I performed the ultimate durability test yesterday. I hit a piece of rebar sticking out of the ground while in a diving full power turn ( Break time pylon race). This was not a glancing blow it hit 1/2" off the nose and stopped the model dead. My only visible damage was a broken prop and a dent in the battery. I havn't pulled the tape off but It still flys great so I'm not going to worry about it.

[kolarshooter]

I really enjoy flying the PCW. I just built and flew a Pocket 250...On MAN!!! It is a rocket...in fact I was so blown away after the maiden flight that I went home and posted a thread...which is here: http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?p=2411148

I also included a few pics at the above posting.

Love those pocket wings!