I've just finished the conversion of my SENSEI (AKA Discovery) to a tail-dragger, complete with steerable tail wheel.

We will fly it this weekend, and will pos a brief report with photos.

A great weekend to all and to those affected by the storm, I hope it all gets sorted out soonest.

Brgds,

Danny

Finally figured out an aileron roll, and for those that are want to see the max speed on a stock setup here is a pic of my GPS I sent along for the ride. Starting elevation was 135 feet.

Hi All,
It worked far better than expected
Taxiing, take off and landing rolls are soooo much easier now.

It also flies noticeably well with the drag of the nose wheel reduced.

one can actually fly it like a scale model (which is always my preference)

I had to cut off some foam in the space between the bomb bay and batt compartment, and build a kind of box mad of thin ply and balsa so that the ply board on which I screwed the main gear is supported well and the landing bumps are absorbed by a large area so that even a hard landing does not cause damage, but it was an easy job.

I'll post some photos and I strongly recommend this. if you need more details let me know and I'll assist.

Brgds,

Danny

Originally Posted by Danny_l

Hi All,
It worked far better than expected
Taxiing, take off and landing rolls are soooo much easier now.

It also flies noticeably well with the drag of the nose wheel reduced.

one can actually fly it like a scale model (which is always my preference)

I had to cut off some foam in the space between the bomb bay and batt compartment, and build a kind of box mad of thin ply and balsa so that the ply board on which I screwed the main gear is supported well and the landing bumps are absorbed by a large area so that even a hard landing does not cause damage, but it was an easy job.

I'll post some photos and I strongly recommend this. if you need more details let me know and I'll assist.

Brgds,

Danny

Please Danny, I am waiting photos impatiently.
Thank you

Hi,
here are the photos as promissed.
If anyone is interested I can explain and make a rough diagram of how I made the box onto which the mai gear is screwed on.

The tail wheel is a DUBRO kit but you'll need to make the strut from a piece of piano-wire as the one in the kit is too short. it is driven by the rudder.
I bent it so that the piano wire fits directly under the rudder and it sits in a small piece of tube which is glued to the bottom of the rudder and to be on the safe side I also put some re-inforced tape.


I put a fairly long ply board onto which the tail-wheel is screwed on because the back end of the fuselage is a rather weak part and I wanted to allow for a large area to absorb the bump on touchdown . (my son has learnt to fly on this plane, it has well over 200 flights and it shows, but it still flies great.

The cowl is held in place with a few magnets, the motor is an Eflite PArk 480 1020 Kv, with a 11x5.5 propeller.

It flies great with a 2200Mah battery, 8 minutes from take off we start to bring it down. with this setup one seldom needs more than 75% throttle. (for aerobatics we have many other planes that are more capable, but that's another story)

The idea of converting to tail-dragger is not mine, another person posted photos of his converted Sensei, which prompted me to follow suit.

The dayglo orange patches allow for easy orientation even when flown at a fair disitance.

feel free to ask anything you need or if you want more photos I can email them to you.

Brgds,
Danny

Did my first time fly on my eight month old Sesei. Flie very stable, first landing was bit bouncy but made a T&G. Can't wait the ext flight.......

Well Done Scratchgoose, this is a great trainer! Enjoy it...

I finally got my Sensei in the air yesterday with a Firepower 450 Sport (2836-11) motor. I had replaced the original OEM motor with a Firepower 10 Sport (3536-10) but was unhappy with the short flight times on the 2200 mah batteries (4 maybe 5 minutes) so I decided to downsize.

With an APC 10X4.7SF prop the plane comes off the ground nice and climbs with sufficient authority. The second flight was 5 minutes and consumed 41% of the battery capacity.

I have not checked the power with a watt meter yet but the battery was not even slightly warm so I think I am in specs except for the burst of takeoff power. I was crusing nicely at about 1/3 throttle so I think this motor will fit my flying style just fine with longer flight times.

So if you are wanting to replace the original motor this one will bolt right up to the mounting bracket without any modification. You might want to use a 40 amp ESC though. Just wanted to report another motor option.

Good flying days to all!

Roger

Things have slowly winded down enough to get some R/C time in, but it was just too windy in my local area. (New Orleans) and not worth it for me to drive 30 min to fly maybe one battery pack.

Maybe next weekend...???

Finally managed to get some stick time in this evening. Ran thru two battery paks and while I was putting the plane back into my car I couldn't help but notice how much wear on the tires in just a few months.







Obviously....this plane gets alot of use.

And on another note, this thread is all but silent now.

I like the forward gear mod. I think I need a change with mine cuz I get bored. I'm ready to either UP the power , UP the flight time by doubling batteries , OR just sell it. I didn't do very well selling my extras here on RCG.

Hmm, I've NEVER used the drop box and I can stuff 2 packs into it easily with no mods. I've been wanting to try a more forward CG anyways to do some testing.

ps. I just bought a foam flyzone beaver and a Hobbico nexstar EP. I don't know why , I need more aerobatic planes , not more trainers.

Originally Posted by mds47588

Finally managed to get some stick time in this evening. Ran thru two battery paks and while I was putting the plane back into my car I couldn't help but notice how much wear on the tires in just a few months.

Attachment 5310513

Attachment 5310514

Attachment 5310515

Obviously....this plane gets alot of use.

And on another note, this thread is all but silent now.

I would never suspect the tires on an RC plane would show wear. I suspect you are flying from a hard surface. I fly of of grass so all I get is a little dirt.

Don't think we have to worry about blow outs though.

Your right the thread has really slowed down. We should probably be sharing more of our flying experiences more but I have not flown much in the last two months. (Wind and Rain)

Good flying to you.

Originally Posted by gulio

I like the forward gear mod. I think I need a change with mine cuz I get bored. I'm ready to either UP the power , UP the flight time by doubling batteries , OR just sell it. I didn't do very well selling my extras here on RCG.

Hmm, I've NEVER used the drop box and I can stuff 2 packs into it easily with no mods. I've been wanting to try a more forward CG anyways to do some testing.

ps. I just bought a foam flyzone beaver and a Hobbico nexstar EP. I don't know why , I need more aerobatic planes , not more trainers.

Hi gulio,

I had went to a 10 size motor (3536-10) but was disappointed in 4 minute flight times that took as much as 92% of the battery capacity - not good for the batteries either. So I downsized to a 450 size (2836-11) which is about the size of the original motor. So far I have had a couple of 5 minute flights that used about 41% of capacity so I think I could extend to 7 minutes with the 2200 mah batteries.

I don't fly aggressively so the 450 motor is fine with me. I did consider flying with two 1800 mah batteries that fit nicely in the compartment. Actually you could get two 2200 mah batteries in the compartment with minor mods.

That keeps your drop box open in case you want to use it. (My grand kids liked it last summer)

I like the planes you bought, especially the Beaver - be nice flying off the snow this winter.

Enjoy the new planes.

Originally Posted by gulio

ps. I just bought a foam flyzone beaver and a Hobbico nexstar EP. I don't know why , I need more aerobatic planes , not more trainers.

dunno what other planes you have or are looking for - have you tried the pz t28? it may meld your desires.

That's been on my "wishlist" for a very long time. In fact there's a while fleet of (horizon) planes I wanted along with a TX. I thought perhaps I'd find a collection of a dozen or so horizon planes with a spektrum TX that someone was selling. ALL my planes are "hobbico" I think. Flyzone,GP,Hobbico,Tower,ect. EVERYONE seems to like that pz T-28.

I do have a mini-contender in the box as soon as I get some time to assemble it.