Went out for maiden today, esc died on take off, luckily no damage, never made it off runway. Disappointed as I have same esc in my Dynams Pitts Beast and have had no issues at all.
Tim

Hey Steve, that signal amp that you checked on... mine is on the throttle lead. Seems like it should be on the ailerons, is yours on the throttle as well? I`m thinking they may have just plugged it in anywhere to package it. Let us know where it should be for sure.

Thanks,

Have any of you guys replaced the stock motor shaft yet? What shaft did you use and where'd you get it?

I've had a few nose over landings in grass that knocked the plastic motor mounting plate glued to the firewall loose. I replaced that with a plywood firewall with blind nuts and epoxied the heck out of it into place. IT's all rock solid now except for a very slight wobble in the motor shaft that I want to get rid of.

I found an excellent thread here at RCG on motor shafts.
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showt...ght=straighten

My Waco is developing it's own personality. I painted the decals with clear flat acrylic so they match the rest of the paint better, painted the back circular edge of the cowl black to hide the white foam, outlined the black cowl blister markings with a red sharpie pen to mimic the decals and smudged charcoal pencil down the fuse side from the cowl to mimic exhaust/oil staining.

The next thing to receive attention will probably be the wheel axles and pants, They are loose at the end of every flying session so far.

Originally Posted by skylane42

Hey Steve, that signal amp that you checked on... mine is on the throttle lead. Seems like it should be on the ailerons, is yours on the throttle as well? I`m thinking they may have just plugged it in anywhere to package it. Let us know where it should be for sure.

Thanks,

Yes, mine was on the throttle also. It sounds like it is there to help with some of the issues people were having with the ESC not recognizing the throttle being in the down position and people having to run the trim all the way down. I put my receiver in with it in place and everything fired up fine. I still need to do some full throttle tests. I did an initial for only a few seconds. I had to hurry up and shut it down and start a campaign to keep my plane and I from being destroyed. I didn't realize how much thrust it would put out since this is my first plane of this size. I had it on the kitchen table and the wife was working on paperwork across the room. It didn't take long for her papers to start flying around. Next test will be outside.

Steve

Originally Posted by e_gadgetgeek

Yes, mine was on the throttle also. It sounds like it is there to help with some of the issues people were having with the ESC not recognizing the throttle being in the down position and people having to run the trim all the way down. I put my receiver in with it in place and everything fired up fine. I still need to do some full throttle tests. I did an initial for only a few seconds. I had to hurry up and shut it down and start a campaign to keep my plane and I from being destroyed. I didn't realize how much thrust it would put out since this is my first plane of this size. I had it on the kitchen table and the wife was working on paperwork across the room. It didn't take long for her papers to start flying around. Next test will be outside.

Steve

Be sure and do a full throttle run up. Like you I tried a few partial runs in shop and blew parts every where, must clean shop some milenium!
Took it to field (30 miles out) and checked on bench, again partial run up.
Taxied down run way and all looked good until I gave it 1/2 - 3/4 throttle. Motor started surging so I killed it before lift off. Verified this was happening with any current draw over 10 amps. ESC is DOA here, at least not usable as is. I tried all the timing settings, no change. My ESC had the only a toroid in throttle lead wires No amplifier or other device.
Changed out ESC (different brand) and all seems happy now. I have same ESC in Dynams Pitts with no issues in 20 flights, this one has no toroid or circuit board in any of the leads.

Tim
I

Originally Posted by w4yn

Be sure and do a full throttle run up. Like you I tried a few partial runs in shop and blew parts every where, must clean shop some milenium!
Took it to field (30 miles out) and checked on bench, again partial run up.
Taxied down run way and all looked good until I gave it 1/2 - 3/4 throttle. Motor started surging so I killed it before lift off. Verified this was happening with any current draw over 10 amps. ESC is DOA here, at least not usable as is. I tried all the timing settings, no change. My ESC had the only a toroid in throttle lead wires No amplifier or other device.
Changed out ESC (different brand) and all seems happy now. I have same ESC in Dynams Pitts with no issues in 20 flights, this one has no toroid or circuit board in any of the leads.

Tim
I

I plan to stake it down in the yard at home and run through a bunch of test before actually letting it fly. I will go through the motions as if it were in the air with throttle ups and downs and work the control surfaces. I bought a BEC for it but wanted to see how the built-in one worked before installing it. Will be doing this tonight since it is nice weather.

Steve

Originally Posted by e_gadgetgeek

I plan to stake it down in the yard at home and run through a bunch of test before actually letting it fly. I will go through the motions as if it were in the air with throttle ups and downs and work the control surfaces. I bought a BEC for it but wanted to see how the built-in one worked before installing it. Will be doing this tonight since it is nice weather.

Steve

Not sure all that is needed, I take off, fly at 1/2 throttle rarely use more then 5/8 throttle smooth and easy even when doing loops but then I fly scale dive for speed and so on.
If you want look for John Morh on youtube he flys a stock Stearman and uses energy management not brute hoursepower to do his show. It is a beautiful thing to see
Oh yes I replaced the ESC with Hobby Wing Plantain 40 on my second flight
Ken Smith
Be safe

Originally Posted by e_gadgetgeek

I ordered mine from Nitro Planes after a friend at work had ordered from them. I had mine in a week and most of that time was with UPS. Not sure what issues people have had with them. I didn't have any.

Steve

Well so far so good... The kit arrived today. Ordered Friday morning, arrived Monday afternoon. Would like to work on it tomorrow but I really need to reorganize my shop first.

Mike

Originally Posted by jwellsy

Have any of you guys replaced the stock motor shaft yet? What shaft did you use and where'd you get it?

I've had a few nose over landings in grass that knocked the plastic motor mounting plate glued to the firewall loose. I replaced that with a plywood firewall with blind nuts and epoxied the heck out of it into place. IT's all rock solid now except for a very slight wobble in the motor shaft that I want to get rid of.

I found an excellent thread here at RCG on motor shafts.
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showt...ght=straighten

My Waco is developing it's own personality. I painted the decals with clear flat acrylic so they match the rest of the paint better, painted the back circular edge of the cowl black to hide the white foam, outlined the black cowl blister markings with a red sharpie pen to mimic the decals and smudged charcoal pencil down the fuse side from the cowl to mimic exhaust/oil staining.

The next thing to receive attention will probably be the wheel axles and pants, They are loose at the end of every flying session so far.

I've knocked the firewall loose many times also! I simply caulked around it using "Titebond" which is a newer siding and window sealant! I'm a siding contractor for 40 years and I know a good sealant when I see it
I added black scallops to the leading edge and then outlined them with red and did the red along ALL the remaining black on the rest of the fuse also! I too outlined the blisters on the cowl!
I can grab the motor shaft and wiggle the motor mount in all directions! It's not my shaft but the sealant joint which is flexible! It's like a vibration dampner!
I'm real close to 50 flights on her now!
Oh, I ripped the gear out last week and just glued a 5/8" thick piece of ply into the fuse and screwed the gear to it with bigger screws! It's pretty tough now
Dan

Dan, I love scallops! I was worried about the old black/yellow transition line being visible. Did you paint over the existing black area to get a good transition with the new scallops? Or, is this one of those things that only the builder ever sees it? Did you scallop the tail feathers too?

BTW, I found exact replacement motor shafts for $3, OEM motors for $25 and OEM dummy engine was ~ $5 at Grayson Hobby.

Update I just received e-mail from Grayson to send defective ESC back. Still looking for top rated replacement.

Anyone had issues with Grayson Hobbies? They seem to be slow in answering my trouble request to replace ESC.
What other ESC's are being used that have given good service??
Maybe there was a few issues with a batch as the same Dynam in the Pitts has been trouble free.
Tim

Originally Posted by w4yn

Be sure and do a full throttle run up. Like you I tried a few partial runs in shop and blew parts every where, must clean shop some milenium!
Took it to field (30 miles out) and checked on bench, again partial run up.
Taxied down run way and all looked good until I gave it 1/2 - 3/4 throttle. Motor started surging so I killed it before lift off. Verified this was happening with any current draw over 10 amps. ESC is DOA here, at least not usable as is. I tried all the timing settings, no change. My ESC had the only a toroid in throttle lead wires No amplifier or other device.
Changed out ESC (different brand) and all seems happy now. I have same ESC in Dynams Pitts with no issues in 20 flights, this one has no toroid or circuit board in any of the leads.

Tim
I

I've been growing more concerned about the motor temps after just half throttle flights being too hot to touch. I had already cut out the spaces between the engine cylinders on the lower cowl to get more air to the esc channel and it worked great, so I decided to finish the job. I just used a black marker to "paint" the firewall and it looks fine. I had 6 flights on the Waco yesterday and am happy to report that the motor comes down waaaaaaaaay cooler (just slightly warm). The cooler temps should extend the motor's life considerably. Well worth the small effort! I know many folks do this on their planes, but for anyone who's wondering what I'm talking about, see the attached pics. Make sure that when you're trimming near the center that you take it all the way down to the center ring. If not, you leave a small lip that almost hits the firewall and restricts the flow to the sides of the motor's can (best I can describe it). Not sure if it was just my imagination, but it seemed to have more power. Really enjoying flying it.

Norm

Subscribing. I just bought mine yesterday. Should arrive in the mail tomorrow. Can't wait to put it together. I was hoping to fly it on 3S with a slightly bigger prop.

Norm,

Another thing I do to some motors to help them cool off is to tape small fins to the motor can that helps circulate some air. Aluminum foil tape works best, but even Scotch tape will do.

Well, I skipped doing any testing last night. Had to take my daughter out to dinner for getting all A's on her report card. I stopped tonight on my way home from work and decided to go for broke. It flew great. No issues. Came home in one piece. The first landing had a couple bounces but that last landing was nice and smooth.

Congrats on another successful maiden. This Waco will gain your confidence quickly.