I just received my new ICON A5 from China. It has an 1800mm wingspan, mechanical retracts, flaps, etc. This will be the biggest aircraft I have flown so far since all mine are parkflyers in the 27" to 55" wingspan. Its powered off a 22 volt LiPo. I hope to assemble it this weekend. Check out the manufactures site at: http://www.dzhobby.com/products_deta...ist01-202.html

Keep us posted, I saw your post on another thread, but I am really interested in this plane. 70" wing sounds nice and big. I want lots of pics, weight, etc. Also, what motor / prop you used.

If it's still possible, I would be really interested in the weight of the retracts, I would build mine strictly wet, and would be interested in how much weight I could save. Maybe install an FPV camera.

where did you get it from ? It looks right and very interesting !

Originally Posted by rcmonster99

where did you get it from ? It looks right and very interesting !

I purchased it from nfdhobby.com (china). I had to wire money to them (no Paypal). They were very nice and always responded to my emails.

Originally Posted by lupy

Keep us posted, I saw your post on another thread, but I am really interested in this plane. 70" wing sounds nice and big. I want lots of pics, weight, etc. Also, what motor / prop you used.

If it's still possible, I would be really interested in the weight of the retracts, I would build mine strictly wet, and would be interested in how much weight I could save. Maybe install an FPV camera.

Still working on it. I just have to assemble the rudder and landing gear servo's and then attach the wing and stab. Motor and ESC are ready to go.Here are some pics so far.

Just to let you know, we saw our first snow yesterday. Lakes won't be open for much longer. Anyway, the bird looks nice (and huge), I am still curious how the landing gear works and keeps everything dry? Also to the wings glue on or can you take them apart?
Dak

Originally Posted by Dakrat

Just to let you know, we saw our first snow yesterday. Lakes won't be open for much longer. Anyway, the bird looks nice (and huge), I am still curious how the landing gear works and keeps everything dry? Also to the wings glue on or can you take them apart?
Dak

Wow! Its getting that cold up there already huh? Well, here in the Northeast winter is still a few months away!

The landing gear is in its own compartment with only the pushrod tubes going thru to the main cockpit. I could see there might be slight leakage, but I'll try to seal up the pushrod tubes with some vaseline or similar.

The wings screw in place and can be removed easily.

Thanks for the reply, are you going to paint it or does it come with decals? I take it flys on 6s, but how large?

Yeah, it won't be long now, sad thing was I never got my float planes on the water this year.

Originally Posted by Dakrat

Thanks for the reply, are you going to paint it or does it come with decals? I take it flys on 6s, but how large?

Yeah, it won't be long now, sad thing was I never got my float planes on the water this year.

No, I won't bother to paint. It does come with a full set of decals with the Icon logo and name. It does take a 6S battery in the 2800 to 3200 range.

Do you fly any of your planes with skis on them in the winter?

Yup, when the temp's are in the twenty's I love it but less then that, it get's a little painful. https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/show...87#post8938232
but it is "pain" with one of these - https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=802360.

That's a pretty big battery, what motor it that? I see Turnigy, but the numbers are turned away.

The mit looks nice. I do some flying when it's cold, but never in those temperatures. Of course it's a lot dryer there than in the Northwest. I went to school in Pulman (eastern Wa) and was amazed how a dry 25 was warmer than a wet 38. I am a weather whimp now, I used to have a house in Montana, but the -45 nights were just no fun.

How is the progress going?

Originally Posted by Dakrat

How is the progress going?

At last, I had the maiden flight on Monday. All went ok. A couple of problems, rudder servo malfunctioned, so I replaced it with a new one. The plane didn't handle the way I thought it would. I am thinking the COG is off. What stinks is I didn't get a manual with it so I am guessing on where the COG is. I set it at about 2" from the leading tip of the wing. Any ideas on where it should be?

I added a little weight to the nose and she seemed to fly much better. I did notice that there was some "tail wag" though. What would that indicate?

Other than the above, all else went quite well. Even with the retracts into the hull there was no leakage of water into the main compartment.
My main complaint is the lack of a manual and they provided no motor mount. It was simple enough to make one though.

I plan to fly it again today and will write up more later.
Bill

BTW - See the "waterplanes" thread for a brief description.

https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/show....php?t=1246722

great to see you got it in the air. In my experiance, rearward cg can cause tail wag, but it is more complex than that. How wide is the main wing?? If you have the cg 2" back, it depends on the width of the wing if that's too far or not. As far as cg, usually, if it's too far back, it will have pitch problems. If you are flying along, and nose over a little, will it tend to self correct? Generally, the fruther forward the CG, the more a plane will tend to fly hands off, the more rearward, the more responsive, untill it becomes uncontrollable.

The A5 has a huge pod in the front, so that may also be causing some stability problems. If you think of your normal CG as determined by the horizontal surfaces of the plane, the problem you are experiancing is determined by the vertical surfaces. When I converted a twinstar into a seaplane, I had to go with a bigger tail, as the increase in frontal surface area decreased the tracking stability. Lots of real planes that flew fine with wheels need a sub fin with floats.

Do you need to use rudder to make nice turns? Or does it tend to drop the tail in a turn?? That is a clasic indication that the tail is too small for the size of the nose. Moving the CG forward will help, but it will be a compromise with what is proper with the wing. I know that the full sized Icon is a seaplane, but especially since this is a new Chinese designed model, they may not have done enough testing and went into production with a too small tail. It wouldn't be the first time a production plane had problems.

Please take a big side shot, and one from the top, and post big versions on your Blog. Also, I want a wing width, and length for each side. Also I would like to know if the box lists a wing area.

Thanks!
Ken
Thanks

Please keep us informed as you progress,