Originally Posted by flipout

Is there any advice from the forum on how to proceed as a future sky surfer and help to keep from making newbie mistake? Looks like my plane will be here on Wed.

Other than rereading the entire thread?

First decide if you want the wings removable and look into the various ways to do it (posts 2 and 3). I choose magnets but velcro works too. Really your choice.

Reinforce the stock spar. Mandatory. Several ways to do that too.

Add some tape to reinforce vulnerable areas. There again it depends on what you want and how proficient you are at flying. I did the wing LE and the area under the fuse where it lands only to keep it light.

Carbon rod under the fuselage. Not immediately needed. You could always wait until you break the tail off to add it

Remove the nose weights. Better to carry a bigger battery than dead weight.

Various motor choices and mounting options. It pays to give some thought to how you would swap out the motor and ESC if you need to someday. Again various strategies in the thread.

Don't sweat it too much. As you can see from the size and breadth of this thread, there are several ways to do every mod and they all work. It's a fairly robust and forgiving airframe. And when all else fails, you can buy the kit version inexpensively and rebuild a new one using everything you learned on the first one.

Take a look at my latest video. I'll post details after we get some comments.

Plane had Dragonlink and Replay XD1080 camera on-board.

Hudson River Crash RC Plane Crash (3 min 39 sec)

Originally Posted by Maddmax

Take a look at my latest video. I'll post details after we get some comments.

Plane had Dragonlink and Replay XD1080 camera on-board.

Sorry for anything that was damaged, but that was one cool video.
The uncontrolled loops were great...getting closer and closer to the drink.
Sounds like your throttle got stuck a bit..

Originally Posted by 2500GENE

Sorry for anything that was damaged, but that was one cool video.
The uncontrolled loops were great...getting closer and closer to the drink.
Sounds like your throttle got stuck a bit..

Good catch on the throttle. I had the sound down so I missed where it throttled up and stayed there until it got wet.

I would hope that if he still had throttle control he would have shut it down and let it level out. I think he has "stabilization" on board but if that failed or caused bad control the plane was doomed.

Originally Posted by Eagle202

Good catch on the throttle. I had the sound down so I missed where it throttled up and stayed there until it got wet.

I would hope that if he still had throttle control he would have shut it down and let it level out. I think he has "stabilization" on board but if that failed or caused bad control the plane was doomed.

LOL....I thought he was just trying to 'power' out of it.

Reamers - I use a standard tapered reamer without any steps and work slowly cutting and check fitting as I go. A drill can go off centre where as the reamer cuts a centred hole due to its multitude of cutting blades.

The hole will now be tapered but as long as it isn't too big (no slop), the propeller with sit flat on the hub and drive nut as they have reasonably large surfaces. If the propeller is too thin a washer might be needed. I was given a grey APC 6 x 4 and it worked well until I tried an inverted landing... Now using a black HK 6 x 4 - not sure if it gives quite as much performance but it seems to be a little quieter. 6 x 5 props with the next HK order (here soon).

Wing spar replacement - 3 months of vicious flying plus the inevitable crash and it is still as good as new. Can't see any reason to change it. Servos are original too. Major change (I do keep harping on about it) nylon hinges on everything that moves.

Originally Posted by idletime

LOL....I thought he was just trying to 'power' out of it.

Yeah. If he still had control that is what it sounded like.

I have tried that before and lost to the ground every time.

The best steps to take is to throttle down and let go of the sticks. If it is high enough it should level right out. Then take control back with just enough power to keep the nose up.

I did try and power out of it. I lost sight of it banking right behind a try. No stabilization. I gave it throtlle and up elevator hoping it would come back above the tree line. By the time I got to the trees, I just saw the big splash!!!. Good news is the camera still works and the Dragonlink is sitting in a bowl of rice for a few days.

Originally Posted by Maddmax

I did try and power out of it. I lost sight of it banking right behind a try. No stabilization. I gave it throtlle and up elevator hoping it would come back above the tree line. By the time I got to the trees, I just saw the big splash!!!. Good news is the camera still works and the Dragonlink is sitting in a bowl of rice for a few days.

Uncle Ben's or Rice-a-Roni?

Originally Posted by Maddmax

I did try and power out of it. I lost sight of it banking right behind a try. No stabilization. I gave it throtlle and up elevator hoping it would come back above the tree line. By the time I got to the trees, I just saw the big splash!!!. Good news is the camera still works and the Dragonlink is sitting in a bowl of rice for a few days.

I'm glad you were able to recover the camera and electronics.

The plane looked unstable from the beginning. Was it wind or something else?

Oh. Did you jump in and swim to it or did you use a boat?

Originally Posted by 2500GENE

Uncle Ben's or Rice-a-Roni?

Does it matter as long as he didn't have to wait 5 weeks to import it from China?

well at least you got it back...mine has been gone for three weeks now..

Originally Posted by Maddmax

Take a look at my latest video. I'll post details after we get some comments.

Plane had Dragonlink and Replay XD1080 camera on-board.

Awesome video! Loved how the camera kept recording when it went in. Nice to know how well it floats (on water that is).

Tip 1. I've found it gets squirrelly at high speed and doesn't self correct. Better to power down until you regain control.

Tip 2. Less aileron, more rudder for turning=smoother video.

Tip 3. Soak circuit boards (Rec, ESC, etc) in "Corrosion-X" to waterproof them.

Thanks for posting the video, pretty cool!

Originally Posted by IFlyRCs

I use that HF reamer also. Works well but
I also have another solution that has worked very well.

Use these bits and hand drill your props. Start with the first size that won't go through and keep going up 1 size until your prop fits.

http://www.harborfreight.com/13-piec...bits-1800.html

I use this handle for the bits:
http://www.harborfreight.com/7-in-1-...set-94955.html

Never use the bits for anything else and never sharpen them.
The lengths are how you judge bit sizes the easiest.

As you drill a prop you will see 2 tiny strips of plastic peeling up the bit.
That's a good sign that you're drilling straight and center.
Take your time and the drill will simply pull itself through.

Try it, you'll like it.

That s what a step reamer is for.

Originally Posted by pmullen503

Other than rereading the entire thread?

First decide if you want the wings removable and look into the various ways to do it (posts 2 and 3). I choose magnets but velcro works too. Really your choice.

Reinforce the stock spar. Mandatory. Several ways to do that too.

Add some tape to reinforce vulnerable areas. There again it depends on what you want and how proficient you are at flying. I did the wing LE and the area under the fuse where it lands only to keep it light.

Carbon rod under the fuselage. Not immediately needed. You could always wait until you break the tail off to add it

Remove the nose weights. Better to carry a bigger battery than dead weight.

Various motor choices and mounting options. It pays to give some thought to how you would swap out the motor and ESC if you need to someday. Again various strategies in the thread.

Don't sweat it too much. As you can see from the size and breadth of this thread, there are several ways to do every mod and they all work. It's a fairly robust and forgiving airframe. And when all else fails, you can buy the kit version inexpensively and rebuild a new one using everything you learned on the first one.

And also if your car/truck/ van is big enough, just glue them.
Plus what he said
And plus,plus, he's right, learn on the first, then build to fly with the second,{not build to crash}