Originally Posted by idletime

@turbodriven

Nice job.....I'd like to see some more info on how you did the detachable tail.

See attached drawing. It doesn't photograph well since everything is buried in the tail. My V2 had a hole in the fuse already for this so I assumed someone planned for this mod from the beginning. Vertical is glued in place and the horizontal slides out the back when the bolt is removed.

Pretty nice setup, interesting location for the RX, but considering how you have your electronics it looks like it would provide good balance, though also a lot of wires to run a ways but it looks good . I do like the detachable pan/tilt idea, I am thinking of the same thing as it is a pain to pull out a plug from an RX that is FULL :P.

I was trying to get the RX as far away from everything else as I could without having to put stuff in the wings. After everything else was said and done the only place left was the nose.

I'm still thinking about making the detachable pod into one plug instead of four. Either by gluing them all together or resoldering them into some kind of solid plug that can accommodate all 12 wires.

Is the battery mounted permanently? It looks like you have to split the fuse to get it out. This may not be an issue as I can get 55 minutes out of my 3000mAh battery pack, though that's set up for LOS flying only... light and not trying to get anywhere very fast. So... you just charge it in place?

No if fits in and out (just barely mind you). All my electronics are on the left side of the fuse, so the battery actually sits vertical and velcros to the right fuse wall. I originally installed it flat on the bottom like you see but found that my left wing was heavy that way. With it up on the right wall it balances better left to right (less aileron trim needed hopefully).

Originally Posted by flyandi

How is that landing gear working out for you? Do you feel the drag?

Actually I think it helps a lot with stabilization as it makes the plane level out pretty well. I have noticed no ill effect with exception of slightly higher stall speed, and slightly slower WOT, however I don't often push it higher then 3/4 throttle so :P

Nice .. where did you buy the LG?

Here are my original blog entries on it:

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1577756
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1578302

That's a good looking plane. Hope it stays that way. Most don't.

Originally Posted by Maddmax

That's a good looking plane. Hope it stays that way. Most don't.

Max

If you remove the number of your crashes from the total the the percentage of crashes to owner drops from 60% to 5%.

Just kidding. I know you have had some bad luck with your planes. But at least you can say you have fun pushing the envelope as opposed to those that just do a tip stall.

Hope all are doing ok. Except maybe the one with the green soda bottle nose.

Funny Vince!!! They are all good and still flying. I have 2 more SS ready to build as the blue plane has just about had it. The bottle nose made that plane very fast with a 3000kv motor on it. I crashed it twice last week but still haven't figured out why. When I went to do a left turn, it just wanted to spin out and into a nose dive. Structurally it can still fly but it's getting pretty weak. On my other planes I have incorportated a 2 liter Seagrams bottle for added protection from the nose all the way back to behind the cockpit. The cockpit remains open for easy access for battery swaps. The FPV SS plane is rebuilt and am waiting for new cameras to come in. I also picked up a 1900mm Skywalker but have not started building that one yet.

What's new on your end? Are you getting out and flying much??

Bah, this 1 watt booster walking all over my 1.3 video SUCKS, I couldn't even get out more then 200 meters today without my video getting all messed up... I think the reason most don't see this issue is because they use a directional patch antenna... but at either rate there MUST be something, maybe a low pass filter on the vRX?

Vince, I enlisted the help of a new pilot for my fast plane. He flies exactly like I do!!! Full throttle and all out aerobatics!!! I'll try to get this bird on video. The flex in these wings at full speed in a loop is unbelievable. Plane has a Himax 3000kv motor, 35a esc and 6x4 prop.

Originally Posted by flyandi

SkySurfer just arrived from ToySonics.com and its V4 ... grab it for $49 until they out of stock!

No, it's not the V4 - what I received is J-Power V2.

Originally Posted by flybabo

No, it's not the V4 - what I received is J-Power V2.

Same here. Just got mine a week or so ago from them. V2 for sure (or V3?). But no wing bolts like a V4 should have.

Originally Posted by Maddmax

Vince, I enlisted the help of a new pilot for my fast plane. He flies exactly like I do!!! Full throttle and all out aerobatics!!! I'll try to get this bird on video. The flex in these wings at full speed in a loop is unbelievable. Plane has a Himax 3000kv motor, 35a esc and 6x4 prop.

Better be careful using one of those angry birds to fly your plane. They have a tendency to want to smash through things to get to the pigs.

I have not flown as much as I could have. I did a short flight Tuesday with my SS at a new field about 45 min from my house. It was very windy that day and every time I went higher than the tree line my plane nosed up and went left with the wind. I almost took out a boundry fence but missed it and landed without any damage.

The rest of my RC time has been building my ZII. Waiting on some weight to get the CG correct. Also working with another RC flyer on a bungee launcher. Hopefully will maiden it within a week or so.

Originally Posted by flybabo

No, it's not the V4 - what I received is J-Power V2.

That is the version I have. The J-Power electronics are pretty reliable. You should have fun flying it.

I just made a new personal record :P About 1.43km out, I will know for sure once video is done processing. This time I put my vRX on the other side of my car then the side I was on with the TX :P Worked out OK but once I got out about 1.2Km it really started to show itself... I think I need to go with a patch antenna or something to make it directional.

I also had to make an emergency landing, my motor would not respond for some reason and I had to land in a field about 200 meters out... the walk through the marshy like field was not fun! (We just got 12 inches of rain in the last 6 weeks) But luckily my landing spot was nice tall grass, and about 2 feet from a barbed wire fence! Interestingly enough I had fantastic video even on the ground 200 meters out! Interestingly enough though the motor was working fine when I got to the plane.

Video coming soon

Either the motor / esc was too hot and stopped. Or the esc cut the motor due to low voltage ...