Originally Posted by Daedalus66

I just didn't put the hatch on the nacelle yet.

OK. For a minute there I thought you were cutting some type of new hatch!!! Had me worried!

Scott

Here at last is the video.

Sorry it's not great. My usual skilled camera person (wife) was not available and my six-year old helper, visible in the pictures has not yet been trained to manage the camera (he did the retrieving when necessary). So I had to resort to a hatcam and then didn't get it on straight. Will try again over the weekend with a real person holding the camera and zooming so it's more than a dot in the sky. Here's the best extracted from about 7 minutes of flying.

As you'll see from the so-so landings, I haven't quite got the feel for the Ultra yet. Also, I need to adjust the control rates to give a bit more elevator, a lot more rudder and a little less aileron on the normal flight mode. The lack of rudder throw was what got me on that first takeoff attempt, that plus very soft snow that allowed the tip to dig in. Also cross wind.

I think, too, that the CG needs to be slightly further back. It was just ahead of the step and next time I'll get it right on the step, as called for in the Construction Guide.

The handling is very nice. It's definitely Polaris but not your usual Polaris. It's distinctly more solid which goes nicely with the streamlined shape and makes for smooth flying. So far on the one flight I've had, I only managed some touch-and-goes, a couple of loops and some rolls (not visible in the video) and all were easy and smooth. Blame the pilot for any that weren't!

I haven't had a chance to measure current yet, but it's obviously quite moderate with the 3s battery/3 blade 8x6 setup, as I flew for 7 minutes on a 2200 battery and still had about 4 minutes left. I plan to try 4s next time and will get the Eagletree hooked up to measure current. So real data to come.

Quick summary. I love the Ultra for its looks and smooth flying. It won't replace the others in the series for me, but it will have a central spot in the lineup. Now off to learn to fly it properly!

Polaris Ultra Maiden in the Snow (2 min 31 sec)

For all you said about it Daedalus that was I nice video. It looks right at home there in the snow and smooth and solid in the air. Did you balance it laterally and if so how did you do it?

I don't think I'm gona be able to avoid getting one of these. I hope Scott has stock of them come the end of January when the funds have had a little chance to recover after Christmas.

Originally Posted by kingsflyer

OK, so I guess my fat fingers have gotten the best of me. I broke the ply elevator servo mount 3 times fitting my HS-65HB servo and CA'ed it back together 3 times. When I tried to fit it in the nacelle, it rubbed the motor wires and the elevator pushrod looked like a dogs hind leg before I could get it to operate without dragging.

With apologies to Scott, I just did not like that installation. I finally took the servo and mount out of the pocket and mounted the servo through the lower left side of the nacelle. I used hot melt glue to secure the servo. Now I have plenty of room for all the wiring and the elevator pushrod is a straight shot. Servo electronics are all CorrosionX coated and the servo output shaft has a healthy coat of Vaseline to seal it up.

I know one of the most endearing things about the original Polaris was that it was always being modified to fit each individual owners needs. In that vein, I have included some pictures of my elevator servo mod for your consideration.

McD

That approach should work fine and it's under the nacelle, so won't show.

But I can assure you that the elevator installation works exactly as shown in the Guide, though I have to admit that the plywood is a bit fragile. Suggestion to anyone who hasn't done it yet: Reinforce the thin frame of the plywood with some strands of CF or a bit of lightweight glass cloth. Once it's hot glued to the servo everything is solid. (I broke one of mine too and tried CA. It wasn't strong enough.)

The pushrod goes in following the existing slot. I opened up the hole slightly with a rat tail file. Then you insert the servo on its mount and line up the pushrod. It takes a bit of patience to get everything aligned and to Dremel out the necessary space for the arm to rotate, so there's a lot of taking out and putting back. It took me under an hour in total to get everything adjusted to my satisfaction, glued in place and working smoothly.

Adjusting the pushrod is easy as long as you have a suitable 1.5mm Allen wrench.

Hint: I didn't do enough carving out of foam to make room for the motor wire connectors. It all worked OK in the end but would have been easier if I had made more room for them ahead of the servo compartment (see first picture). In the second picture you can just see something of the extra space created with a Dremel to allow the arm to move freely. Note that the servo mount is up against the plywood spine of the Polaris at the rear. I added hot melt glue to the joint.

So take your choice. The "official" way works fine and makes for a very neat job, but the approach Kingsflyer took should be easier.

Originally Posted by Aviefly

For all you said about it Daedalus that was I nice video. It looks right at home there in the snow and smooth and solid in the air. Did you balance it laterally and if so how did you do it?

I don't think I'm gona be able to avoid getting one of these. I hope Scott has stock of them come the end of January when the funds have had a little chance to recover after Christmas.

Thanks. Today was a big rush to get in the air while the weather was favorable, and I skipped things like lateral balancing, the hatch over the elevator servo and the motor cowl. Before my next flights, I'll go over everything, neaten up the receiver installation, and so on. I'll also go equipped to measure current and try a couple of different battery and prop setups.

I'll report further.

Thanks for posting the video Nigel. That looked like perfect snow to fly off of!!

Regarding the elevator servo installation, it is a tight fit but entirely workable. But as Kingsflyer said, part of the fun is doing things your own way and if that works for you then great. It certainly frees up space inside the nacelle!

I have built two kits with the servo inside per the instructions. Perhaps on the next one I'll try mounting it externally.

Scott

www.ModelAero.com

Nice video....Seems to look like a very friendly flyin Bird....

Looks to be another outta the Park production!!!!!!...and Good Lookin also!

Billy

Nice video Nigel, what happened on the first run?

Hey whats that white stuff on the ground, is that what you guys lay on the ground for maiden flights for a soft landing. ... looks very nice though

Thanks for sharing mate, great flight

Lockey

Originally Posted by Lockey

Nice video Nigel, what happened on the first run?

Hey whats that white stuff on the ground, is that what you guys lay on the ground for maiden flights for a soft landing. ... looks very nice though

Thanks for sharing mate, great flight

Lockey

What happened took me by surprise. I let it swing left a bit, the wind was from the right, the left float dug in and I wasn't quick enough on the rudder (which was set to a very low rate). I left in in the video for general amusement!

As for the white stuff, you people have to go up mountains to find it (how far from you to the nearest ski hill?), whereas it comes to us with no effort at all.

It's the next best thing to water for a Polaris. Conversely, Polaris is the best snow plane going. Models with skis are constantly tripping in footprints Polaris doesn't even notice.

From Perth to the snowy mountains in NSW is about 3,750 km, (2,330 miles) bit far to go for a fly

http://www.journeymart.com/de/austra...-to-visit.aspx

Lockey

Originally Posted by Lockey

From Perth to the snowy mountains in NSW is about 3,750 km, (2,330 miles) bit far to go for a fly.
Lockey

If you're ever in Ottawa in winter, I've got a few models you can try on the snow. Quicker than driving to NSW.

Originally Posted by Daedalus66

If you're ever in Ottawa in winter, I've got a few models you can try on the snow. Quicker than driving to NSW.

Thanks Nigel, maybe one day I will take you up on that ...

Lockey

I didn't think I'd get any more flying with the Polaris Ultra in 2012, as the forecast was for cold and breezy conditions. But it turned out quite nice -- -7C and snow but no wind.

So I got to make flights 2 and 3. And this time my usual camera person came along. It was a great session!

The Ultra is wonderful to fly. I had increased the throw on elevator and rudder since flight 1 and also moved the CG back to the step. It was just right. Ultra lifted off easily, flew very smoothly and had all the elevator needed for any kind of landing for skimming in at speed to slowing right down to "plop" onto the snow.

Aerobatics were very good with rolls axial and needing only a small amount of down when inverted. Likewise, inverted flight was easy and smooth with only moderate down needed to maintain height. Loops were easy and round.

The model handled beautifully in the circuit, with no excessive nose dropping in turns or twitchiness on aileron. The landings were as easy as any I've done. And with increased rudder throw Ultra turned easily in the snow (unlike the first flight, when it didn't have enough throw).

The video shows all of this. What it doesn't show is the slow flight phase. I wasn't sure how Ultra would do at high alpha, as it has somewhat higher wing loading than the regular Polaris. The answer is that it's great at low speed. I flew around for a minute or so while holding full up and it was perfectly controllable and well behaved. There wasn't even the usual wing rock. And the transition back to normal flight was very easy, with no altitude loss.

I was flying with the standard motor (Suppo 2810-9) with 8x6 three blade prop by Master Airscrew. The battery was 3s 2200 30C. While I will be trying it with 4s, my sense now is that a decent 3s battery is more than enough for normal flying (unless you insist on true vertical climbs).

I could hardly be happier with the way Ultra flies. Rating five out of five.

Polaris Ultra - New Year's Eve 2012 - Flights 2 and 3 (4 min 12 sec)

I received mine in the mail today. It's almost too pretty to build.....almost. Looks like it'll take me a couple of days to get it together but I'm really looking forward to flying it from the snow we just received.

D66, based on your flight reports on the Ultra, 2013 will indeed be a very Happy New Year!
Be well.