I have not searched this thread for servo problems but just from reading the last few pages I can see there are some problems. You can add me to one of the people with servo problems. Checked and balanced everything before my maiden, and all was well. During the maiden the rudder suddenly stopped working. Landed it and tried a fresh battery, same problem only I could hear a small motor running within. Took it apart and found that the small gear on the servo motor for rudder was gone. I'm not happy!

Originally Posted by DonJuan

I have not searched this thread for servo problems but just from reading the last few pages I can see there are some problems. You can add me to one of the people with servo problems. Checked and balanced everything before my maiden, and all was well. During the maiden the rudder suddenly stopped working. Landed it and tried a fresh battery, same problem only I could hear a small motor running within. Took it apart and found that the small gear on the servo motor for rudder was gone. I'm not happy!

If you have another micro linear servo you can replace the gear and test it out. You can glue the gear that works back on so that wouldn't happen again.

Here's a video of my V1 Beast flying off the Oregon coast on vacation. I've had the Beast for well over a year and never had much fun with it so it sat on the shelf. I have to say it's now one of my favorites after getting to spend some dedicated time with it on this vacation. I had time to balance and trim it to my liking and now I like!

A seagull objected to my use of his/her beach around the midpoint of the video.

E-flite Beast at the Beach (4 min 22 sec)

Nice video NW! I sometimes like flying in the wind if only because it makes it a lot more "interesting" at times

DonJuan, the reason the pinion stripped away is because the gear has a bur on one of it's teeth. During flight that bur seized the gear/pinion. The motor, being stronger for the AS3X, slips as it keeps trying to move the servo to the correct spot. This heats up the pinion and melts it and it flies off into the model.

If you replace the pinion - and that's a pig of a job without removing the board, you will have to use an exacto knife to clean off the bur and get the gear meshing smoothly with pinion.

Finally maidened my Beast last night. It flies pretty good, but seems sluggish. Does the gyro system cause it to react slowly when u try to fly it? It might be my fault too though. Are you guys running expo? Me being a fairly new pilot I usually set it up a little until I get use to the plane I'm flying, but I'm not sure its really needed on this one. I didnt get to fly it real long due to it getting dark so hopefully I can experiment with it more one evening this week.

Also what kind of flight time are you guys getting out of a 180 mah 2s pack?

Originally Posted by JoshB

Finally maidened my Beast last night. It flies pretty good, but seems sluggish. Does the gyro system cause it to react slowly when u try to fly it? It might be my fault too though. Are you guys running expo? Me being a fairly new pilot I usually set it up a little until I get use to the plane I'm flying, but I'm not sure its really needed on this one. I didnt get to fly it real long due to it getting dark so hopefully I can experiment with it more one evening this week.

Also what kind of flight time are you guys getting out of a 180 mah 2s pack?

The instructions don't specify any expo at all and I like it best that way. It's hard to tell what flight time one would get out of "a" pack. It depends on what brand. Chuck all your E-flight packs and get almost anything else. Even Turnigy is better and actually a decent performer. But Hyperions are probably the best followed closely by Minivation. With decent packs I set my timer for 6 minutes.

Originally Posted by Lwsroc240

Got another hour or so on the beast tonight. I am really impressed with this plane. Such a joy to fly. Tonight was one of those rare nights with absolutely no wind. My UM T -28 was smooth as butter in the sky. I wish I could clone this weather and bring it back every weekend. What a great hobby loads of fun. I could have flown all night if it didn't get dark.

Quick question from a new flier. I am going back and forth between efite 180 packs and Hyperion 240 packs. The 240 packs are a bit of a tight fit but they work. I am trying to get the right cg with the 240 packs which has proven a bit tricky. Should the heavier 240's be pushed farther forward or backward. Also is it normal to have to trim the elevator with different packs or is this a sign that the cg is wrong. The cg with the 180 packs seems perfect when the fromt of the battery is even with the back opening of the battery compartment. Thanks for the help in advance.

Lwsroc,

For a given CG, the heavier 240 mAh packs need to be further aft. Anytime the CG changes, elevator trim will also change. When the CG is at the 'sweet spot' (neutral handling point) for precision aerobatics, you should be able to trim for level flight at 75% throttle, roll inverted, and the plane should fly level with just a hint of down-elevator, if any. If the plane wants to dive when rolled inverted, it's nose-heavy. If wants to climb, it's tail-heavy. Also, there should be no pitch-coupling in KE fight. If the plane pulls toward the canopy during a KE pass, it's nose-heavy. If it tucks toward the belly, it's tail-heavy.

There is no single CG setting. If it's windy or gusty, move it forward a few millimeters for better wind penetration & to increase stall-speed. Move it aft a few millimeters from the sweet spot for better 3D maneuvers - such as high-alpha, torque-rolls, hovering, etc. See my blog thread on flight-trimming aerobatic planes for details, along with a downloadable flight-trimming guide, courtesy of the NSRCA (National Society of Radio Controlled Aerobatics): http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showp...51&postcount=1

There is some variability with these airframes, so the pack location for a given CG may vary a bit between samples. For a reference, here's where my 14.5 gram homebrew Hyp 240 packs end up for a neutral CG:



Joel

Thanks NitroC. And you're right, it is a pig of a job even after removing the board. Fortunately I have some experience with tiny stuff. However, this gets even worse. I figured I would just replace the servo, so I look it up in the back of the manual and I find SPM6832 find it at my local hobby shop take it home and guess what? It's not the same servo! You can see from the pics that the "replacement part" has a smaller motor and a shorter linear screw. So I did exactly what you said check the gear for burrs and pull the pinion from the "new" servo and put it on the old one. Put a tiny drop of glue on the top of the axle/gears/pinions. Everything appears to be operating properly now. What if this had been the elevator servo? I'd be looking at a little pile of foam pieces.

The horse and the stick are eyeing each other warily..............

Trolololol!

Mendo

Originally Posted by turboparker

Lwsroc,

For a given CG, the heavier 240 mAh packs need to be further aft. Anytime the CG changes, elevator trim will also change. When the CG is at the 'sweet spot' (neutral handling point) for precision aerobatics, you should be able to trim for level flight at 75% throttle, roll inverted, and the plane should fly level with just a hint of down-elevator, if any. If the plane wants to dive when rolled inverted, it's nose-heavy. If wants to climb, it's tail-heavy. Also, there should be no pitch-coupling in KE fight. If the plane pulls toward the canopy during a KE pass, it's nose-heavy. If it tucks toward the belly, it's tail-heavy.

There is no single CG setting. If it's windy or gusty, move it forward a few millimeters for better wind penetration & to increase stall-speed. Move it aft a few millimeters from the sweet spot for better 3D maneuvers - such as high-alpha, torque-rolls, hovering, etc. See my blog thread on flight-trimming aerobatic planes for details, along with a downloadable flight-trimming guide, courtesy of the NSRCA (National Society of Radio Controlled Aerobatics): http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showp...51&postcount=1

There is some variability with these airframes, so the pack location for a given CG may vary a bit between samples. For a reference, here's where my 12.6 gram homebrew Hyp 240 packs end up for a neutral CG:



Joel

Joel,

That was tremdously helpful for a new pilot like me, I think I was definitely flying the plane nose heavy. I will check out your blog and put your advise to good use. Thanks again.

I use stock Hyperion 2s 240mah 25c packs and they go a lot deeper in than that.
In fact, I had to attached little tape handles so I could pull them back out.
I'd say almost an inch in from the edge of the opening.

Originally Posted by turboparker

Lwsroc,

For a given CG, the heavier 240 mAh packs need to be further aft. Anytime the CG changes, elevator trim will also change. When the CG is at the 'sweet spot' (neutral handling point) for precision aerobatics, you should be able to trim for level flight at 75% throttle, roll inverted, and the plane should fly level with just a hint of down-elevator, if any. If the plane wants to dive when rolled inverted, it's nose-heavy. If wants to climb, it's tail-heavy. Also, there should be no pitch-coupling in KE fight. If the plane pulls toward the canopy during a KE pass, it's nose-heavy. If it tucks toward the belly, it's tail-heavy.

There is no single CG setting. If it's windy or gusty, move it forward a few millimeters for better wind penetration & to increase stall-speed. Move it aft a few millimeters from the sweet spot for better 3D maneuvers - such as high-alpha, torque-rolls, hovering, etc. See my blog thread on flight-trimming aerobatic planes for details, along with a downloadable flight-trimming guide, courtesy of the NSRCA (National Society of Radio Controlled Aerobatics): http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showp...51&postcount=1

There is some variability with these airframes, so the pack location for a given CG may vary a bit between samples. For a reference, here's where my 12.6 gram homebrew Hyp 240 packs end up for a neutral CG:



Joel

Originally Posted by Mendo

The horse and the stick are eyeing each other warily..............

Trolololol!

Mendo

Mendo... I don't see it. This guy's having genuine problems and sharing valuable experience. Or, are you talking about someone way back? It would help if you quoted.

It was a joke, I have been known to comment on the linears from time to time and figgured a few might share a laugh. I did notice that is was a genuine issue and meant no disrespect and wrote this after his issue was solved with excellent information given by others. Was wondering if the villagers and their lit torches might ambush me on my way to the soapbox....

Mendo

Originally Posted by erkq

The instructions don't specify any expo at all and I like it best that way. It's hard to tell what flight time one would get out of "a" pack. It depends on what brand. Chuck all your E-flight packs and get almost anything else. Even Turnigy is better and actually a decent performer. But Hyperions are probably the best followed closely by Minivation. With decent packs I set my timer for 6 minutes.

Sorry should of put Turnigy. I was figuring around 6 but wasn't sure. I will take the expo out and try it again this week hopefully.