Originally Posted by carguy1994ca

You could make some holes with plastic spoons over them so air enters the fuselage and cools the esc.

That's what I do, works like a charm. I actually learnt the hard way. Lost motor power after a MOSFET on my ESC died and I had to deadstick it in. Still had the BEC though, luckily. It overheated due to no ventilation. However, new ESC, plastic spoon method, surprised how well it works. It keeps the ESC almost perfectly cool!

Guys, there was some mention of a CF ribbon that ran from just under the horizontal tail surface to the base that stiffened up the tail.
Anyone have a picture of that, or a diagram that can show me how it goes in, especially on the side that has the servos.

I have my VTX on the tail boom and have had zero issues. I've been as far as 12 miles out. I don't like to have the VTX on the wing because its more wires to plug and unplug every time you go fly and more chance of something coming lose over time. Although I do have my DL antenna on the wing tip but not the DL RX. So I think its personal preference really.

Originally Posted by snelan

Just some questions about that, still a noob myself so not saying you are wrong, just curious:

1) Why is is better to have the VTX on the wing?
2) Why not glue the spar caps on?


And, some comments:

1) I definitely agree with you on the fuse reinforcement. I can't really compare it to anything, but I put a 1' or so rectangular CF rod inside the bottom of my fuse before gluing the two halves together, and it seems extremely rigid. Had some nose first crashes due to loss of control (bad receiver) and there's not a scratch on the plane!

2) I reinforced my vert stab with another rectangular CF rod, seems to help keep wiggle to a minimum.

3) I threw my ESC inside with plastic spoon method vents. It's a Plush 60a so it usually doesn't even work hard. If I had a 40a or so I think it would need to go outside.

Originally Posted by Shadrack

Guys, there was some mention of a CF ribbon that ran from just under the horizontal tail surface to the base that stiffened up the tail.
Anyone have a picture of that, or a diagram that can show me how it goes in, especially on the side that has the servos.

I believe I did what you are talking about.

I used a ~10x3x100mm carbon fiber rod that ran just in front of that little piece of foam that sticks out right behind the elevator servo and runs down the vertical stab. I glued it to the servo side first, then put glue on the other side when I put the two halves together. It's kinda hard to explain this clearly, I'll try to find a pic or diagram of it.

I'm not sure of the area you're flying but my guess is if you're getting 12 miles out it's very low RF. I've tried the VTx antenna in a few locations including the boom pan, on top between canopy and wing and finally on the wingtip and with all else being the same the wingtip gave the best reception (no drop-outs and greatest range)....I am flying in a very high RF area (the city and suburbs of Chicago) where maximizing the signal makes a huge difference even in shorter ranges

Additionally it's a CP antenna which also helped greatly.

Originally Posted by cabster101

I have my VTX on the tail boom and have had zero issues. I've been as far as 12 miles out. I don't like to have the VTX on the wing because its more wires to plug and unplug every time you go fly and more chance of something coming lose over time. Although I do have my DL antenna on the wing tip but not the DL RX. So I think its personal preference really.

I'm sure what frequency you use makes a big difference. I've flown in and around the city of Austin with no issues on 1.3. I've even flown around downtown and the only drop outs I had were when I got behind buildings. I'm using linear antennas. I guess I've just been lucky.

Originally Posted by AdamChicago

I'm not sure of the area you're flying but my guess is if you're getting 12 miles out it's very low RF. I've tried the VTx antenna in a few locations including the boom pan, on top between canopy and wing and finally on the wingtip and with all else being the same the wingtip gave the best reception (no drop-outs and greatest range)....I am flying in a very high RF area (the city and suburbs of Chicago) where maximizing the signal makes a huge difference even in shorter ranges

Additionally it's a CP antenna which also helped greatly.

Shadrack look here Just check the attachment tool, works like a charm to search for pics. Then you can link the post from the pic.

Perfect CG.
That is what I was looking for.
Thanks.
Are you on skype with the guys from the weekend?

Are you on skype with the guys from the weekend?

Hem...hum...well...
I never used skype...

Hey CG, it is easy, and you would love the conversation. Let me know if you need help getting going. Addictive.
Pretty much all of the guys from Montreal are on it.

So back to the skywalker.
I am reading up to the end of this forum and am in the 600's right now. One thing that strikes me is that people can't listen.
You have people like Daemon who have great videos, give the best advice, and end up repeating themselves over and over.
I would go crazy.
I followed his advice on most things, the CG location at 30mm behind the servo wires. Set the trim with a little down, and set a dual rate that had about 5mm of up and down.
I have the version that is the latest, only got it a month ago. In that time frame, I have had some interesting incidents.
I have an FY31 to give me stabilization, and rtl.
I had some flights before heading to the event in Montreal. I shipped my SW UPS to the hotel, and of course had to fix a tail with CA.
At the event, second flight of the day, I lost elevator and aileron. In the air, with goggles on. I saw the crazy stuff going on in the camera. I could hear the witnesses. A friend took over from 700 meters and brought it in LOS. Before that though my skywalker showed me tight loops, rolls, and other stuff I wasn't trying to do.
No wings folded. In mine I left the wings seperate so I could ship it. There is one CF rod that slides into the cut holes in the wing. There is another rod in the wing that stengthens the end. I taped one strip from the end along the rod, and one one along the servo line, that actually runs under the CF rod that inserts in.
I will cut the video up of the crazy stuff my plane did when I didn't have control. I have a feeling the FY31 messed up somehow. Maybe sitting in the canopy waiting to fly and getting hot. Never happened since. If someone has run the latest firmware on the FY, let me know as I haven' upgraded since it was working fine.
So after coming back from Montreal, I brought the oversized box back on the plane and paid the exrtra 20 dollars.
When I first mounted the motor, I was stupid. I hot glued the plate, with the motor screwed on, to the foam.
Well a few trips, and a bad launch loosened it enough so that the moment I got off the throttle, it decided to leave and hang by the motor wires.
I watched the plane go into a dive (still LOS, hadn't put goggles on yet) and I kept off the motor and right after it went behind some trees, I pulled back and thought I saw the wings fold.
We jump in the truck and drive to where it went down. I saw the tail sticking up, in a field of wheat that was blown to the side and waiting to be harvested. Like a bed of hay. No damage. Motor off in the wheat under the plane. Chunk out of the foam in one wing. Small cut along the boom.
Go pro still on the canopy, velcroed in. Recording. Have the footage of that I will cut up. Wings fine.
If there is a wing problem, then it isn't with this version. If you tear these wings up then you haven't done the basics.
I didn't do the CF ribbon in the top of the wing as it is strong enough. The clear strong duct tape with the fibers, bonds well and takes paint great.
I weigh in at 2KG with a 5100 and about 2.1 with a 6000. Cruise at around 6 amps. Trimmed pretty much like others have said. 30mm back, maybe a little more. My battery is almost under the CG with a Gopro and 600 line wdr cam with pan and tilt servos.
Tonight I had a flight that was perfect. Windy night but flew well, went out pretty far and landed with goggles on for the first time. What a rush. Even the stabilizer made a noticable difference and made adjustments for the wind.

What a great plane. Not one I would worry about as a new fpv flyer. Build it right, use thick ca and activator when needed, use an lc filter and some torroids, and you have a great platform that is very forgiving.

ignore

Has anyone got experience of the level of interference from their HD cameras on their UHF gear? On the Horyzon HD thread there's been a heck of a noise over interference. A lot of you are flying with go pros - can you detect any interference? Something to worry about? I'm ready to order a RangeLink and a Horyzon HD.

If you do a search for GoPro and UHF you'll find there quite a few
threads talking about it, but the short answer is yes. The GoPro Hero HD
can be quite UHF noisy (some units more than others) and
the Hero2 much less so, but still a little bit. Practically speaking
you should try to put some distance between your GoPro and UHF
Rx and its antennas. GoPro also tends to radiate more to
the front and back, so placing UHF antennas out on the wing can help.

The best way to evaluate it, is simply to do a proper micro-power
(if the UHF system has it) or attenuated (put a terminator on the UHF Tx)
range test with only the UHF Tx/Rx powered, and then repeat
with the rest of the FPV gear in the plane powered up, then repeat
once more with the GoPro powered up (and recording). If you
see a significant range reduction, then start moving stuff around
until you can get the range reduction down to less than about 20%.

ian

Originally Posted by Daemon

..The best way to evaluate it, is simply to do a proper micro-power (if the UHF system has it) or attenuated (put a terminator on the UHF Tx) range test with only the UHF Tx/Rx powered, and then repeat with the rest of the FPV gear in the plane powered up, then repeat once more with the GoPro powered up (and recording). If you see a significant range reduction, then start moving stuff around until you can get the range reduction down to less than about 20%.

ian

Thanks Ian, I was not sure how significant the effect is. The RangeLink claims to reduce the interference, and the Horyzon HD has a metal shield, so here's hoping, but I'll definitely do the micropower test first.

[Quote:
Originally Posted by mauromassari
I will remove when I get my 3 that I order a 15 days ago for my quad..... at least I will try for sure.

Mauro

Can you tell me how it went and maybe post some pictures? I'm not really worried about 50 grams on a skywalker since I could probably put 3 more of them in my plane and still fly, its such a tank Would be nice to have a softer battery in case of crashing though[/QUOTE]

Hey, got my batteries today, took of the hard case and guess what, it won't worth it. The entire case weights 38grams and a shrink tube to replace the hard case weights 18grams, so you only going to save 20grams and is not protected as with the case and 1/2 of the price.
I weight my Turnigy 25-30c http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/s...dProduct=14843 and is 545 grams this one http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/s...dProduct=15521 weights even less 525grams, so I will have a better protected battery with less weight.
If you want to do it go ahead, but I won't.
Hope it helps.

Mauro

P.S.: As soon as I do some test I will get some more to me