Ya know..... I just gotta crow here a little bit. I am one lucky guy. Most of you have had the Calypso flying at least enough times to know what needs to be done (through trial and error [crashes?] ). I just got mine. It's still in the box. I probably won't even maiden it till spring some time. By that time, I should know exactly how it is going to react and exactly what mods I will want to do and not do.

Kudos, you guys! Thanks for all the work!

Huh? It's a foam glider. Go fly it!

Will someone post a picture of the tail incidence modification. My Calypso flies level with almost full up trim, so I think I need to shim the rear of the elevator.

ory69, you are overthinking this. Build it and go fly it.

-Bill

Hi, Bill.

I don't have a picture but it's pretty simple to shim the tail. We used folded aluminum foil to make a shim that fits in the pocket where the tail is mounted. We will probably have to add a bit more as the foam gets compressed but it's still a simple fix. Wood would work too or one could even use Gorilla Glue to build it up and then sand it to fit. We will probably use the glue when we are more certain of exactly how much shim is needed but we just haven't had enough flying time to find the exact amount of change we want in the incidence.

Originally Posted by peterlngh

... but we just haven't had enough flying time to find the exact amount of change we want in the incidence.

Indirectly answers my earlier question so, tell ya what. I'll prep a couple of shims of 1 & 2 popsicle-stick's height & try them next session so's I can get a head-to-head comparison. Or, I have some wooden shim stock (wedges) around here somewhere -- might make equivalent thickness couple out of that if I can find it.
(Now, where'd I leave my workshop )

Originally Posted by StarHopper44

Indirectly answers my earlier question so, tell ya what. I'll prep a couple of shims of 1 & 2 popsicle-stick's height & try them next session so's I can get a head-to-head comparison. Or, I have some wooden shim stock (wedges) around here somewhere -- might make equivalent thickness couple out of that if I can find it.
(Now, where'd I leave my workshop )

I won't speak for anyone but I believe 1/8" shim was mentioned earlier in this thread and is probably a good starting point. I'm thinking the solution may lie with horizontal stab incidence and CG being moved aft, some combination of both. It was also mentioned a few posts up that the shim will depress the foam which I clearly see on mine after my 1/8" balsa shim put a nice shallow imprint where it touches the fuselage. I've added a plastic "base" to the fuselage which probably gets me back to 1/8" total, maybe a little over.

This seems to be the only frustration with this airplane and there are probably several ways to address it. Like I said, I just want a normal sink rate so my son has a snowball's chance of taking the sticks. Next purchase is a buddy box. Figures though, I loved this stuff and my parents had horses. I now HAVE this stuff and my son loves, that's right, horses.

Any ideas? Had maidened CASO yesterday-flew great! Then 3 more flights and picked it up and the motor fell out and hung by the esc. wires! Looked at the mount and it was broken in several pieces .To be kind,it was a concern when I was mounting the stock motor---crappy plastic!K R Proton-Hobbico Rep. please note! Any ideas on how to fix the mount or replace it-narrow work space- Thanks in advance. Rivanna

Originally Posted by rivanna

Any ideas? ...

I wouldn't be waiting to hear from them.
(Hint, hint)

Originally Posted by rivanna

Any ideas? Had maidened CASO yesterday-flew great! Then 3 more flights and picked it up and the motor fell out and hung by the esc. wires! Looked at the mount and it was broken in several pieces .To be kind,it was a concern when I was mounting the stock motor---crappy plastic!K R Proton-Hobbico Rep. please note! Any ideas on how to fix the mount or replace it-narrow work space- Thanks in advance. Rivanna

Happened to me a week ago. My mount is ok. But had to put a screw with a bigger head in it. Its fine and waiting for a good opportunity to get out again.

Originally Posted by rivanna

...To be kind,it was a concern when I was mounting the stock motor---crappy plastic! ...

As an afterthought - how'd you come to be 'mounting the stock motor'? I thought all versions of the plane come with motors already installed.

Something else I learned the hard way. Make checking motor mount screws a part of your routine - especially when you aren't the one who installed them. To make sure they're tight, I'm talkin'. My Minimoa's weren't - and it was a recognized problem with that model. I just plain forgot to check when I finally received it - with bad results. It's especially susceptible on planes where you've got 'Brake' enabled -- the torque of instant-ons & hard-stops slams that motor back & forth and will work screws aloose! After they're loose a bit, their threads start 'sawing' at the surrounding material, & before long, you've got problems.
Here's what I found in my 'Moa:

It appears partially melted - that happened after the loose motor finally 'bound up'. There were tiny little red 'sawdust' particles all over the insides of the motor compartment - it was literally almost coated with 'em. I could've kicked myself for not checking. Kinda thing that happens when you learn of the problem, & don't get hands on until a month later.

And speaking of motors and mounts.......... I got my Calypso out of the box and spent the better part of the day assembling her (I'm a stickler for perfection). One problem I had was getting the stab bolt to engage in the nut plate. It seemed to take forever with several "mount and remove" episodes to finally get it seated in the threads and lock down.

The other thing I noticed is that to my limited knowledge it appears that this motor - ESC combination has a brake set up. When I finally got my ESC to recognize my Futaba 6 channel (by doing something that the instructions didn't mention) I noted that when I reduced throttle, even slowly, the motor locks up tight at full off, resulting in an annoying kick. I don't like motor brakes. Does anyone know if this is actually a motor brake I am experiencing, and if so, how to set it so that it has no brake??? I suppose Hobbico customer support may be able to help, but I thought I'd ask the experts here first.

Thanks

http://manuals.hobbico.com/flz/flza3000-tech.pdf

Thanks, Star!

I guess I should have found that myself, given that it mentions something about the ESC info location in the instructions.

Thanks again

You are on to something! Closer examination indicated some melting of the mount where the motor screws were! How the-h--- do I deal with that? thanks,Rivanna

Negative perspiration. That's what we here for.