i was a local rc clubs swapmeet/auction last night. missed out on a couple of kyosho minimums but managed to pick up a very interesting kit in the shape of a DJ Aerotech Roadkill - A6M2 Zero. roadkill zero

it's a great looking kit with some nice laser cut parts. only problem is that one of the wings has been built and it's been damaged. it's repairable but i would like to get a new wing and replace it. just about to email DJ Aerotech but not sure they are even in business anymore? anyone know?

does anyone know if these have been converted to use the ar6400 brick? the kits advise some gwa pico micro servos but not sure they are really needed and they would really up the weight.

the kit comes with it's own geared motor. i was thinking about using this and running it via the 6400 esc and throttle. the motor looks to be geared. can anyone see any issues wih this?

i was also going to run a 1s lipo rather than the nimh it came with.on the site they recomend a 2cell 200mah battery but i think this might be a bit overkill. even more so if i can drop the weight down by using the brick.

any other usefull advice on this? ta

Originally Posted by paul_mccaughey

i was a local rc clubs swapmeet/auction last night. missed out on a couple of kyosho minimums but managed to pick up a very interesting kit in the shape of a DJ Aerotech Roadkill - A6M2 Zero. roadkill zero

it's a great looking kit with some nice laser cut parts. only problem is that one of the wings has been built and it's been damaged. it's repairable but i would like to get a new wing and replace it. just about to email DJ Aerotech but not sure they are even in business anymore? anyone know?

does anyone know if these have been converted to use the ar6400 brick? the kits advise some gwa pico micro servos but not sure they are really needed and they would really up the weight.

the kit comes with it's own geared motor. i was thinking about using this and running it via the 6400 esc and throttle. the motor looks to be geared. can anyone see any issues wih this?

i was also going to run a 1s lipo rather than the nimh it came with.on the site they recomend a 2cell 200mah battery but i think this might be a bit overkill. even more so if i can drop the weight down by using the brick.

any other usefull advice on this? ta

That motor is going to want more than 3.7V... 1S would only have about 1/3 the thrust of 2S.

The best thing to do is use a cheap 2S, Lipo compatible brushed ESC with the AR6400:

thanks for that diagram, makes things nice and clear.
will any of these esc's do the job? micron esc's

what battery size should i go for? they recommend 250 and 300mah.

i assume i'll need to source one of those diodes to fit inline with the + wire? would this be the sort of thing i need or do i need somethin else? 1n400x diode on ebay

thanks in advance for the answers.

Originally Posted by paul_mccaughey

thanks for that diagram, makes things nice and clear.
will any of these esc's do the job? micron esc's

what battery size should i go for? they recommend 250 and 300mah.

i assume i'll need to source one of those diodes to fit inline with the + wire? would this be the sort of thing i need or do i need somethin else? 1n400x diode on ebay

thanks in advance for the answers.

A 250 battery is plenty & will likely fly it for 8 minutes+ .

You are going to want at least a 5A ESC, and it needs to be Lipo compatible.

Someone may have an old GWS "Li" series brushed ESC like a 100Li or 300Li

Those diodes would be perfect.

First of all, yes, we are still in business. However, our website hasn't been updated since our webmaster departed to serve in Afghanistan quite a while back. We hope to have that situation resolved soon.

All of our Chrysalis series kits are available, but we haven't been shipping Roadkill Series kits since we started having problems getting motors and ESC's for them. We make the geared power units and package everything, but the little can motors that go in them are hard to find, and the available alternatives require some re-engineering of the parts that integrate with them in the kit and some re-writing of the instructions. We were looking at switching to a brushless setup instead, but have not found one that fits in all respects, and that doesn't cost too much.

What we have found that works extremely well is to cannibalize the power unit, battery and radio out of one of the Parkzone/E-Flite bind-n-fly models, such as their Sukhoi Su-27, or their Cub. You can also go with one that has the bigger motor in it, like the system used in the 4-Site. Switching to that radio and motor setup takes your Roadkill model from a 3 ounce airplane to a 1 ounce airplane. We have tested this (in fact the first one we tested it in was the A6M2 Zero) and it flies fantastic! However, making it "official' involves a complete re-write of the instructions, which is something Joe and I simply don't have time for at the moment. Maybe someday soon, we'll just have to wait and see.

As far as parts, e-mail me with what you need, and I will see what we can do.

Don,
thanks very much for the reply. it would be great to see some photos of the zero you converted to use the spektrum brick.thats good to hear it can be made that light. i was thinking about fitting some micro retracts and it sounds like weight won't be that much of an issue.

i will send you a pm with details of the parts i need.

had a bit of a discussion with Don via email. he has converted one of these kits to run on 4site gear and recommends this over the std kit parts. so i think the best option will be to go for the 4site gearbox and motor. i can then keep it 1s and use the brick esc saving more weight.

just waiting to find out if there are wing parts available or if i will need to repair the damage to the existing wing.

been looking into servos to work with the 6400 brick so i can operate ailerons and landing gear. has anyone used or seen the SPMSH2026Lservos? i think they are helicopter servos and seem to be fairly new to the market. i can get 2 for £21.

they are cheaper than the SPMAS2000 servos in the UK. the cheapest i can get the 2000's is £13 each which is the equivalent of $21! these are not in retail packing which means it's likely to be stripped out of a damaged/non-working plane from a retailer. you can buy them in the states for $13.50 direct from spektrum. bloody annoying!

was also wondering if long throw would be better to give more movement on ailerons and to correctly lock the retracts. any thoughts on this?

Originally Posted by paul_mccaughey

had a bit of a discussion with Don via email. he has converted one of these kits to run on 4site gear and recommends this over the std kit parts. so i think the best option will be to go for the 4site gearbox and motor. i can then keep it 1s and use the brick esc saving more weight.

just waiting to find out if there are wing parts available or if i will need to repair the damage to the existing wing.

been looking into servos to work with the 6400 brick so i can operate ailerons and landing gear. has anyone used or seen the SPMSH2026Lservos? i think they are helicopter servos and seem to be fairly new to the market. i can get 2 for £21.

they are cheaper than the SPMAS2000 servos in the UK. the cheapest i can get the 2000's is £13 each which is the equivalent of $21! these are not in retail packing which means it's likely to be stripped out of a damaged/non-working plane from a retailer. you can buy them in the states for $13.50 direct from spektrum. bloody annoying!

was also wondering if long throw would be better to give more movement on ailerons and to correctly lock the retracts. any thoughts on this?

the AS2030L is a better servo than the 2026 and should also be around $13. The 2030 motor is 2X the size of the motor on the other servos.

A better option for this plane for ailerons would be a single Hobbyking 2g servo. Compared to the HH linears, these servos are silent.

For a plug, you can buy a $2 "AS2000 reversing harness" from your LHS and solder the plug onto the HK servo lead. I use .8mm heat shrink from deal extreme, which works great on servo wires and to make Carbon fibre/wire pushrods.

Be careful about trying to make this airplane into something it isn't. It's supposed to be light and simple. Retracts and other fancy complications will end up adding weight and complexity that takes away from what this airplane is supposed to be good at.

The kit is designed so that you can loosen one screw on each main gear and remove them for "retracted mode" flying from a hand launch. No need for retracts.

Don,
appreciate what you are saying and will be checking all the weights before i commit to the build. i would like to fit the micro retracts as i think this plane would be perfect for them. not sure if you have seen them but they only weight 0.9g each!

have you had word from Joe on the availability of parts yet?

I have the parts here at the farm, although I need to package them (all the Roadkill kits were packed by me, but then taken over to Joe's for shipping). Joe says shipping to the UK for them should be around $15.

I've cleared another couple of things off the desk and took a look at this in more detail last night. i noticed that the rudder is coupled to the ailerons. is it worthwhile keeping this method or should i go for individual control?

depending on the response i might go with my dt rx and separate servos instead of the ar6400.

Back when the Roadkill Series was first developed (including the short-wing A6M5 Zero) the lightest servos were the Hitec HS-50 and the various clones of the GWS "Pico". The batteries we had were relatively heavy and weak NiMH packs with varying levels of quality and current capability. The weight had to be kept as minimal as possible. By using coupled aileron and rudder, we eliminated one entire servo, a huge improvement in that situation.

Today we have Li-poly batteries that weigh a fraction of what the old NiMH batteries did, and radio gear available today lets you have a full-house airplane for considerably less weight than one or two channels worth of servos did back then. While major pieces of equipment (such as retractable landing gear) are still not advisable, a third servo for separate aileron and rudder is not a problem.

thanks for the reply Don, i wasn't sure if there was a flying 'characteristics' reason for it or not.

I'll stick with the 6400 brick and use one of the hobbyking servos for ailerons. if there's any need to have some rudder in turns i can look to program some in via the tx. i have the 4site motor and gearbox on it's way so can hopefully get started on it soon.

You WILL want to use coordinated rudder and aileron. However, it's best for your flying skills and for overall performance if you learn to do it manually, not by programming it into the transmitter.