I use a combination of insignia yellow, international orange, white, and chrome yellow.

I usually start with insignia, and a dab of orange, then chrome yellow and just a tiny dab of white to lighten it. I can get very close with approx ~7:2:3:0.5 insignia : orange : chrome : white.
If the mix looks to salmon, just add more insignia.

I use these colors to touch up other planes (esp. white), so I had some of these on hand. I also have an 1/8 Champ, and this matches close for that too.

I agree that having a small micro look nearly perfect is a bit overkill, but it's better touching it up when needed than flying a gouged out hunk of foam with wings all dented.

SkyCadet.

interesting user name

Originally Posted by RAPER

I just got an 5043 prop and I'm thinking of picking up some better lipo's for the champ.

Hyperion 160mAh batteries are awesome in my Champ even though they're pretty ragged out from hard duty in my mSR. I bought new ones for the mSR and "donated" these down to the Champ. I easily get 8 minutes (timer setting) per charge and I'm not light on the throttle, either.

Speaking of 5043 props... I bought 3 of these along with the GWS one piece spinner/prop shaft adapters. How do you put the prop on so it doesn't vibrate like crazy? I tried all 3 props and all four spinner/adapters I received. I carefully threaded each and every one on several times. Not a one of them will run smoothly. No, my gearbox prop shaft isn't bent, either.

Originally Posted by SkyCadet

I agree that having a small micro look nearly perfect is a bit overkill, but it's better touching it up when needed than flying a gouged out hunk of foam with wings all dented.

SkyCadet.

I agree. As long as it flies fine and it's not gouged down to stark white showing and touched up with something sort of yellowy/orangish...I'm good...

Originally Posted by apothecarion

interesting user name

Uh.. thanks! (I think...)

Darren (aka: SkyCadet - took this cause SkyCaptain was already taken...)

Originally Posted by mhunter

Speaking of 5043 props... I bought 3 of these along with the GWS one piece spinner/prop shaft adapters. How do you put the prop on so it doesn't vibrate like crazy? I tried all 3 props and all four spinner/adapters I received. I carefully threaded each and every one on several times. Not a one of them will run smoothly. No, my gearbox prop shaft isn't bent, either.

I see that BPHobbies has the GWS adapters (out of stock the past week). How are they? I'm interested because the Eflite adapter I ordered uses a screw at the end of the shaft instead of a nut or spinner. I have some doubts about it but I have other eflite parts and the quality is quite good.

If you think the GWS adapter is crappy I'll stop at that.

SB

The GWS prop spinner/adapter one piece unit is fine, BUT... I haven't flown with it yet. I was getting some serious vibrations and just thought it wasn't threading on true or something. Turns out I really do need to balance those tiny plastic props. After I did that, I ran the 5043 prop and spinner/adapter up in my hands with a spare gearbox and it's very smooth at WOT. I was very surprised what a little shred of tape could do as I've never needed to balance any other small plastic props before. I'll post flight reports with this prop combo and UM P-51 motor once I get my replacement from Horizon. Didn't last 3 minutes out of the box before it got HOT and basically ground to a halt. Won't even start now unless I "flip start" it.

Originally Posted by mhunter

Turns out I really do need to balance those tiny plastic props.

Imagine that...

Just as a bit of general info some folks may not be aware of...

"Bench Testing" any electric airplane motor with the prop on is quite hard on the motor. The reason is that the load is increased compared to a plane moving through the air. The plane's forward motion "unloads" the motor somewhat as compared to the motor being held still and run at a similar speed. Brief runs dont matter much, but running statically for any considerable length of time is bad for motors in general.

I got a year of use out of my first stock motor, and am approaching 100+ flights on my second stock motor (all with 5043 prop and wooden adapter). I've had one of rcbabbel's SX motors on the shelf for months because I havent needed it yet.
Maybe it's just dumb luck, I dunno. I tend to think my low and slow scale like flying style is the biggest reason. I never hit full throttle unless it's to bail me out of being too low, and too slow. That's just my experience.

I Love My Champ!!!

Originally Posted by olthump

I got a year of use out of my first stock motor, and am approaching 100+ flights on my second stock motor (all with 5043 prop and wooden adapter). I've had one of rcbabbel's SX motors on the shelf for months because I havent needed it yet.
Maybe it's just dumb luck, I dunno. I tend to think my low and slow scale like flying style is the biggest reason. I never hit full throttle unless it's to bail me out of being too low, and too slow. That's just my experience.

I Love My Champ!!!

I try to fly it low and slow like scale 80% of the time. But since my other micros are a beast and a T-28, sometimes when flying my champ I get the ITCH and turn it in to a warbird for a good minute :P Or when the small kids at the park start watching it and want more, suddenly it's a loop machine

I did install a T-28/P-51 stock motor in it when my original champ motor died so it really has a lot of speed or lift when I want it to.

Originally Posted by olthump

Imagine that...

Hey, I never had to balance any before, so keep your "rolleyes" attitude to yourself.

"Bench Testing" any electric airplane motor with the prop on is quite hard on the motor.

Checking/running the motor at WOT "on the bench" for 30 secs or so to check for vibes isn't going to hurt a darned thing.

Checking/running the motor at WOT "on the bench" for 30 secs or so to check for vibes isn't going to hurt a darned thing.

....unless you drop the $%$# motor while it is at WOT! Don't ask how I know that. :duh:

I check my motors/esc/battery discharge rate using an Astro wattmeter, but run the motor at WOT just long enough to get a reading. I believe this static test will provide that max load the power system will experience, as it is true the prop "unloads" to a certain extent when the plane is in motion. Then again, I had a folding prop explode, during a WOT bench test, with one of the blades just missing my head and embedding in the wall!

FWIW

RD

Originally Posted by SkyCadet

Uh.. thanks! (I think...)

Darren (aka: SkyCadet - took this cause SkyCaptain was already taken...)

I think he was directing that towards 'RAPER'


Dave

Originally Posted by CNY_Dave

I think he was directing that towards 'RAPER'


Dave

PMSL ... hope that wasn't an online confession !

My son and I fly a lot on a grassy school field, where the baseball diamond is our best takeoff/landing surface. But even so, dirt and pea-gravel can grab at those tiny stock wheels (like boulders in scale), which can make taxiing and some landings "less than excellent."

So I got larger wheels. Found some really light ones a half inch taller than the 0.75" originals. They're also narrower, so I stripped probably 1/8" of rubber insulation off a piece of wire to use as a spacer inboard of each wheel to keep the stance wide for stability.

Makes a huge difference for taxiing, landings, touch-and-goes, roll-and-goes. I'm guessing they weigh a bit more than the originals (1.1 gram each), but they're close to front/rear CG so I detect no difference in flight. On deck the nose sits a tad higher, which might help lift-off and reduce the likelihood of some prop-grinding.

I went through a couple batteries this morning just practicing my "interaction with the ground." Coming and going, it's just a lot more fun. Nary a problem. Okay there was one. If you fly and land in tight quarters just remember that your landing rollout will be a LOT longer with a plane that actually rolls! I bounced off the dugout fence once.

Any variety of lightweight wheels will probably work fine. Mine are Du-Bro 1.23" Micro Sport Wheels Cat. No. 123MS. They cost $2.25 from the back room of a little hobby store (where they might have been labeled 10 years ago.) If I lost them and some new ones cost $10 or more, I'd still jump on them.

I love my Dubro Sport 1.23" wheels as well. They work wonders and even 1.5" grass so long as you can flare well, you can roll and land!

You may even consider the Dubro 3/8" [DUB38MTW] micro tail wheels - they roll as well, and fit perfectly onto the rear tail wire in lieu of those goofy tail wheels. Then, you can even taxi onto a field!

SkyCadet