Originally Posted by Dereck

Hi Tim
THough its a while since I got oily playing with toy airplanes, I remember the 'short nose syndrome' all too well. My Focker DVIII parasol and Ford Flivver were probably my personal pinnacles here, but they had excuses

Idle thoughts? A bigger NiMh battery as far up front as you can get it. The larger capacity can't hurt and its useful weight, not just lead. My Flivver had the battery under the engine, but the designer knew enough to build that in from the off

Spinner weights? Yuck, no way. Nothing to stop you looking around for a heavier spinner, but adding weight is sure enough to make any imbalance deadly.

How's about sawing off/removing whatever passes for a cowling, duplicating the firewall in two layers of 1/4" ply and epoxying them to the original firewall, fuel-proof, then replace engine mount and cowling?

Someone should slap the designer around the head until he/she promises to learn how to do it better.

If I suggested sawing the nose off and replacing it with one two inches longer, I'd probably be accused of trolling by suggesting that ready-mades are less than perfect In the meantime, thanks for all the posts - every so often, I have an urge to splurge and this sort of thread brings me back to reality

D

Hmmm, I have been toying around fitting the RX pack under the engine, I just don't have a proper cowl yet so the pack is a bit exposed to a hard landing and my instructor has more of them than I.

The firewall reinforcing sounds like a cunning stunt and I may just try that. I am loath to have to add lead.

so options:
1) Move Rx Battery under engine (there should be enough space)
2) reinforce fire wall
3) Fill the rudder and elevator with helium... (good for a laugh)


I am also thinking of reducing the Rx battery weight by opting for an A123 pack. Looking at some specs It looks like I can almost halve the weight of the battery for a small loss of capacity (2000mAH NiMH vs 1650 LiFePo4 A123). The A123 miantains higher voltage for longer which should even out realworld Rx Run time?

I can also take some weight off the tail by removing the wheel collects for the tail wheel and glueing a washer either side of it with a dab of epoxy.
Maybe some aluminium sheet metal screws - anyone know of a source?


But I certainly agree that the designer needs a slap on the back of the head.
the one design flaw that irks me the most is the lack of duel control horns for the elevator and an elevator splitter. Now I First have to balance the aircraft before I can even consider such a mod

Just about finished mine. Using electric -- Axi 2826/10 turning an apc 10x7, with the Hobby King BECless SS-60/70 ESC, Thuderpower 3300mah 4s lipo and a 1250 mah nimh RX pack.

Charged the lipos yesterday and just got in from running some continuous WOT testing.
32 amps, 420 watts for 3:40 and got a total draw of 1800 mah. Looks to be a 5-minute WOT flight time. Motor was about as warm as a new-made mug of coffee (good and warm but wouldn't want to ahng unto it for long periods.)

Next step is balancing but I d know that I'm going to have to add a soupspoon scoop on the bottom of the fuleage to increase airflow around the lipo.

I built one and it's maiden flight was this morning. Great ARF. I installed an OS Max 46AX. Very fast and a snappy aerobatic performer.
I'm thrilled...

Sly

Originally Posted by TimBle

On the subject of balance. I've fitted the OS Max .46 AX wit 3070 muffler and my Escapade comes in very tail heavy.
I know the .46 AX is lighter compared to previous O.S. .46 engines but I'm looking at needing around 150-170gram or 6ounces of balast!!d

...and I do believe i have fitted everything needed. Theres no spare parts left over in the box

Thinking of fitting the battery on top of the fuel tank or immediately behind it.
Been advised against spinner weights. any other ideas? Maybe bolting some weight under the engine? good or bad?

I built my Escapade with the same motor and had to add 3 oz of lead weights to the nose. Easy to peel and stick the weights, also a Great Planes item, to the firewall beneath the engine and to the inside of the "cheeks". After sticking them, and acheiving correct CG, I removed them and put down a thin layer of 6 minute epoxy. Restuck them to the epoxy and they held great. Checked the balanced again at the specified marks holding the plane upside down and it flew terrific today. Your 46 AX is plenty of motor. You will be very happy with it!!

Instead of lead, you could just install 4-stroke like this Saito 72.

McD

Neat powerplant, bet she will really move smartly.
According to http://www.horizonhobby.com/Products...ProdID=SAIE072 that motor weighs 17.6 ounces.

Originally Posted by kingsflyer

Instead of lead, you could just install 4-stroke like this Saito 72.

McD

Ah, but I fly electric. Flight time may be reduced (8 minutes per flight) but I don't have to worry about cleaning the model after flying, debugging a balky throttle setting due to changing weather conditions, handling fuel, lugging along a tool box. Just load the plane, my car-based charger and the radio into the plane and roll. Plug and play at its easiest.

Please don't take this personally, and I don't intend to start a flame war over electics versus IC.

Same model, different motivators, same enjoyment.

Just waiting for my second cup of tea, then it's time to load up and head for the field. Can't fly before 9AM (landlord rules) so might as well have that second cup and check the forums....

Have fun and keep the red side up when landing!

Byrocat.
I fly electric also but I still love the smell of burning nito, LOL.

Originally Posted by donjiskra

Byrocat.
I fly electric also but I still love the smell of burning nito, LOL.

Agreed, as long as I don't have to clean up the oily residue.....

Diesel's fun too but it has a few really nasty quirks if you aren't careful (eg, some idiot flips the prop to check how tight the engine is when the compression is still on).

Would serve the bugger right to flip it and get a start, rule number one in aviation is don't move the prop unless you know the ignition is off and even then turn it backwards. Letting someone flip a diesel with out warning them, well we know how that goes

True, but sometimes the silly flippers sneak up on you. I've known two diesel-heads in my hobby -- one was with the Mississauga Ontario club and made fuels commercially when things were slow with his No-Dip Furniture Stripping business, and the other was Jim Davis of Davis Diesel Conversions fame.

I met him as I was doing pick-up duties with a local hobby show back in the 1980's, and he'd come in to sell his new heads for the big-block IC engines that were out back then (non-Quadra). He had the engine mounted on a test stand and was showing it off and demonstrating how to set up a diesel engine to the crowd, including a couple seconds of run time.

You got it, he got momentarily distracted and a silly flipper was in the front of the crowd. Jim literally grabbed the flipper's arm and informed him of the dangers he was about to inflict on himself, quite forecefully too. Well, the silly idiot went to the show management to complain. Another mistake because the show manager told him off for being so stupid as to handle an unknown engine type without knowing how to operate it. (Show manager had used diesel in his earlier days, too!)

One reason why I put my hands in my pockets at hobby shows and then ask politely of the booth people if I can handle something that I'm interested in. Even been asked why I'm so courteous, repeat this story, and they laugh and shake their heads. "Deserves him (silly flipper) right! Did he get kicked out of the show?" is the usual response to the story.

Anyway, better get back to the purpose of the thread -- experiences with the Escapade......

Going to try to get out to the field tonight but I'm looking at the list of honey-dos and may spend the evening sorting paint cans and seeing if we need more trim paint (baseboards on three levels plus five glass-panel doors and six doorframes) and the bedroom paint (marks from new furniture going in.)

Anyway, everyone in the US of A: enjoy your Memorial Day weekend and don't forget to shake hands with at least one vet and thank them! Whether you agree with the politics of their masters, they're the ones who put their lives on the line and deserve respect if only for that. BTW, our main highway through Toronto is called "The Highway of Heroes". Check youtube to see what that means.

Just ran an Astro Watt mweter test with my setup:
Turnigy Motor 42-40B 900KV, Cermark KMP 12x8 prop, HXT 80 ESC, one 4s2200 mah Zippy Li-Po battery produced:
640 Watts & 46 Amps

That seems like a small lipo to be using. Were you just using it for testing?

Thanks for posting your numbers.

My error in posting the battery size. Yes I did state a 3s2200mah but I actually I used a 4s2200mah.
I've edited the posting accordingly. Thanks for catching it.
The cruising time is 6 minutes, which is fine for these first flights.
I'll switch over to more mah later for longer flight times.

BTW, the Watts per pound = 116, which is a good performance number.

Escapade #3 is on order.

Words of Wisdom follow: "Don't use imitation Deans Connectors for high current battery connections. They will intermittently disconnect at the worst possible time."

RIP #1

More Words of Wisdom: "Don't take your eyes off your plane when you are full bore, banking, and only 2' off the ground."

RIP #2.

McD