Originally Posted by fg1972

I've had approx 50 successful flights with fixed wheels and another 100 without wheels. Last weekend I fumbled my hand launch for the 1st time and drove it nose 1st into the ground. I've glued it together again but am going to buy another one to build up slowly and install retracts this time.
I know a few guys on here have installed retracts, if anyone has any detailed pics of the nose wheel configuration, could they please post them up or direct me to the link?
Thanks.

I just finished installing retracts this past weekend and maidened it Saturday. I really enjoyed it and glad I invested the time. I used the shock absorbing strut set from Hobby King along with Dynam retracts...one steering and the other two trailing. I bought the retracts when I bought the plane both from Grayson.

There are a couple of ways to do it...for the trailing retracts you can remove the standard metal strut from the plastic mount, hollow out the mount the same shape as the retract and drop it in with a shim. Or, as I did, remove the plastic mount which is glued in deep to the wing, make small wooden pedestal mounts and epoxy them in (I will post pictures later this week). Thats the trailing gear...for the steering, I removed the steering assembly completely by unscrewing it from the bottom of the plane. I then opened up the foam with a dremel so the retract would fit...the opening is too narrow. I then cut a piece of thick balsa and test fit it so it would sit way down inside. I then mocked everything up, checked clearance for the strut, plane height, angle of attack etc. When all that was accounted for, I epoxied the balsa mount to the floor, screwed in the retract with struts and used a 9gm server for steering which was also mounted to the same balsa mount for the retract.

The plane just doesn't have a lot of foam so you do have to be careful.

I will try and post pics or a video later this week.

Link to struts- http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/s...dProduct=11300

Main gear retracts- http://www.graysonhobby.com/catalog/...ct-p-1409.html

Steering retracts- http://www.graysonhobby.com/catalog/...ct-p-1410.html

Thanks mray,
I have a set of those struts & some hobby king electric retracts with the 3 mm pin.
Looking forward to your photos.

Im considering gettinga meteor. I plan on flying it on 5s. Is it a must to balance the fan? I dont know howto do that.

Greetings all. New to the Meteor, got one of the dying few left from HK eBay. Great deal, they accepted $100.01 offer....has arrived in reasonable shape, a few small dents, and a somewhat dented canopy. I noticed the motor already has factory 'run in' scrapes, is this normal, or should I be contacting them for a replacement? Did the elevator mod with a dremel and am getting close to 15mm each way at the fuse side of the elevator. Tried removing the rear elevator servo but appears stuck in as someone mentioned earlier - any tips to extricate? Cheers

You SHOULD balance the fan.... but otherwise you can take the lucky dip chance!! LOL. Of it working and lasting.... or not.

They put them together and just run them to scrape the blades to "fit"!! LOL
This occurs because they don't centre the motor properly, thus the fan is closer to one side of the housing. When an EDF runs high RPM the blades stretch and then will hit the shroud at that closest point.
So at least pull it apart and centre the motor.....

It is too long winded to explain 'proper' balancing.... but you can at least balance it on a prop balancer at worst. The side that fall lowest is heavier of course... so scrunch up some tape bits and place them into the rear of the hub on the light side. Wedge them into the 'framework' and they will stick enough to stay there. G-force also keep them in place too. Then re-test teh balance and do it again.....

Not being balanced means wasting power, and also wearing bearings faster. And, at the high end of RPM, more chance to 'explode' the fan.
Which is also a problem of not centering the motor - blades stretch, gap to the housing runs out, blades jam... kaboom.

Thanks Peter, will do

Originally Posted by fg1972

Thanks mray,
I have a set of those struts & some hobby king electric retracts with the 3 mm pin.
Looking forward to your photos.

Here you go....let me know if you need more.

Good little setup there. Good steering setup. But the balsa mounts (all) would be a bit of a worry (really want 4mm plywood).

That is a long nose leg! I have mine just the length of that oleo onto the steering arm. It looks like you would have a pretty steep rake/AoA - nose high.

Thanks to advice from Peter via PM I was able to balance the fan. First up froze the assembly for 15mins to help loosen the nut. Then I used a Dubro balancer and did a static balance. I put around 6 small pieces of tape in the lighter side of the hub, spread over 2 different slots. The motor wasn't centred as Peter suggested earlier, and so used a Dremel with a tapered bit to enlarge the holes allowing me to nudge it away from the scrape mark. Seems to have worked reasonably well. Now will try the dynamic Design of Experiments orienting the blade wrt the motor and see what vibes the least. I reckon I have to be ahead of the game already. Dynam should lift their game in this regard...Cheers

All the PNF manufacturers are very slack with their EDF builds. Some Asian WOMAN, in the assembly line, just does up the screws willy nilly and spins it a bit.... "Hmmm, slight touching - it passes". "Hmmm, won't turn.... redo the screws.... now slight touching... passes" !! LOL
Further down the line, when it is in the plane and wired up, another woman 'tests' it....
"Only 90dB scraping noise.... passes".....
Next....
"Only 50dB 'air' noise" !! The factory stops... everyone in amazement!!
"Hmm, never heard that sound before!!". They adjust it back to be scraping....

You pretty well have to re-assemble, and preferably balance, EVERY PNF EDF !! hehe

Originally Posted by PeterVRC

Good little setup there. Good steering setup. But the balsa mounts (all) would be a bit of a worry (really want 4mm plywood).

That is a long nose leg! I have mine just the length of that oleo onto the steering arm. It looks like you would have a pretty steep rake/AoA - nose high.

Oddly, the plane is level. I hear you about the ply...but so far, no issues with the balsa.

Originally Posted by PeterVRC

All the PNF manufacturers are very slack with their EDF builds. Some Asian WOMAN, in the assembly line, just does up the screws willy nilly and spins it a bit.... "Hmmm, slight touching - it passes". "Hmmm, won't turn.... redo the screws.... now slight touching... passes" !! LOL
Further down the line, when it is in the plane and wired up, another woman 'tests' it....
"Only 90dB scraping noise.... passes".....
Next....
"Only 50dB 'air' noise" !! The factory stops... everyone in amazement!!
"Hmm, never heard that sound before!!". They adjust it back to be scraping....

You pretty well have to re-assemble, and preferably balance, EVERY PNF EDF !! hehe

Both of mine have come this way from the factory. Almost identical scrapes. I don't think what you say is far from the truth

Thanks mray for those pics.

Took my Leopard/minifan for another flight yesterday, and i am telling you, that this has to be the most efficient setup out there, it flew for a tad over 6min and i still had about 1200 Mah in my 3700 6s Compact packs, to be fair the packs did come out mildly warm, but nothing compared to my HET 2w25 in the CS fan. Those were hot to hold. and those packs were 40C...............

These leopards are fantastic motors and i spoke to the sales department at leopard and they seem to be making a lot of new motors for 70/90mm edf for HK.

so exciting times ahead for the edf guys. Great Plane the meteor is, capable of housing so many different power setups. a super test bed for sure.

where can i buy a leopard motor from in the us?