glad it was a success. I think i am addicted to the feeling of the maiden flight. it's always an adrenalin rush! Great landing.

At on point my plane had a tendency to roll to one side and it turned out to be the elevator wasn't quite even. plus with a motor of low kv and high torque you'll want to make sure you have the motor mounted with enough down and over angle to compensate for the torque roll.

Originally Posted by coinworker

glad it was a success. I think i am addicted to the feeling of the maiden flight. it's always an adrenalin rush! Great landing.

At on point my plane had a tendency to roll to one side and it turned out to be the elevator wasn't quite even. plus with a motor of low kv and high torque you'll want to make sure you have the motor mounted with enough down and over angle to compensate for the torque roll.

Thanks Coinworker! I think the motor might be contributing a bit, but as I was landing with no power, the plane did not roll to the right (from what I can remember - but I can be too sure)... I am sure something is not straight. I did inspect the wing closely, as I was messing up with the trailing edges - but they look pretty straight. Anyway, there is something not even, and I will find it.

Adrenaline of the first flight... I had that for sure! My hands were shaking at one point where I was struggling to keep the plane from banking and stalling while I was trying desperately to trim it off

I'll give it another try soon, with two bladed APC 11X5.5 prop.

I don't like the way the motor sounds - it has some rattling noise. Probably cheap ball bearings. You can hear it on the video - "clunk clunk"

Afterwards for relaxing I was flying my friend's Apprentice with a high definition camera.. what a view! I will Utube it later. Is it OK if I post that video here too?

Our foamies

You can see the camera under Apprentice.

Originally Posted by Visor

Is it OK if I post that video here too?

I say post away, we can never have too many onboard videos!


Congrats on the maiden flight!!


You landed it with no power on? Why? Just curious as I've flown this one several times now and find it lands much nicer (as most planes do) with a little power on all the way till touchdown...

Originally Posted by Sammy70

I say post away, we can never have too many onboard videos!


Congrats on the maiden flight!!


You landed it with no power on? Why? Just curious as I've flown this one several times now and find it lands much nicer (as most planes do) with a little power on all the way till touchdown...

Thank you!

The reason I turn the motor off because I was too anxious to land, and had some extra altitude to get rid off. My approach was steep enough to maintain good speed with no power Just at the end I tried to level it off, but there was plenty of speed left to give me a "bubble", and after that the speed bled off and it settled nicely.

Just a few minutes ago I thought of a possible reason of banking too much on left side. This stock prop was badly unbalanced... so I balanced it with some CA glue, and silly me I applied glue to the inside of blades (for better looks). So that makes me think that glue blobs at the tips create a good bit of turbulence instead of a "clean" cut through the air. That may cause a lot of opposite torque on the plane.

Next time I will fly with just a different prop and nothing else. This way I will know for sure if I am on the right track

This is what two tips look like

Originally Posted by Sammy70

I say post away, we can never have too many onboard videos!

Ok, I will post it then. This one is a good one! At the end you can see another plane is trying to follow me, he got in the camera view for more than just a few seconds!

Sweet vid. He used a servo for the rocket ignighter on that jet?

Originally Posted by Melnic

Sweet vid. He used a servo for the rocket ignighter on that jet?

Yes, it was a mechanical switch activated by servo.

Now I have a modified servo that can do 4 things in sequence. I have yet to try it in action. I do have a good plan for that

Here is that HD video. You can skip coasting towards the ground, but at the end starting at 7:36 you will see a chase plane!

Dan's Apprentice Goes Above The Clouds (8 min 56 sec)

cool vid visor, what camera did you say you have?
Chase plane? more like attack plane. I felt like I was a Ball Turret gunner on a B17.

Originally Posted by Melnic

cool vid visor, what camera did you say you have?
Chase plane? more like attack plane.

Attack plane LOL. When I fly a plane I don't mind to crash - that what we do a lot... not actually attacking each other, but do have extremely close encounters - landing on top of each other, or trimming some feathers during the flight

This camera is called GoPro Hero HD.

I felt like I was a Ball Turret gunner on a B17

Right now the weather turned sour, but we will definitely do more of crazy stuff in future and possibly some close encounters captured in HD!

I am waiting to give another try to my Cessna 400. I will be using two bladed APC 11X5.5 this time. Current meter shows 35 amps, I like it

Visor,

I've been using the cheapo keychain cams till now.
cool deal, I actually have a Go Pro on order. If you get the chance, post how you mounted to the bottom. Thx.

Originally Posted by Melnic

Visor,

I've been using the cheapo keychain cams till now.
cool deal, I actually have a Go Pro on order. If you get the chance, post how you mounted to the bottom. Thx.

You made a good decision

I am sure there are few ways to mount it. This is how I did it:

A piece of 1/8 ABS plastic, cut to the size of the battery. Then cut and bend a piece around the CG for mounting the camera. To bend ABS you need to heat the place of bending with a small lighter/torch. Drill a hole in it. If you need exact dimensions, let me know.



The camera is pointed slightly down.



The camera itself comes with a few mounting gizmos, you may find a way to use them in your application. I had to make my own bracket to gain some ground clearance. It is best to be gentle on landing. But not to worry too much - the camera sits in a protective case. I don't think you can hurt it even if you do have a rough landing... Though it is better not test it

P.S.

Though the camera is mounted "upside down", you can correct this situation through the camera settings menu

Originally Posted by Melnic

I've been using the cheapo keychain cams till now.
cool deal, I actually have a Go Pro on order. If you get the chance, post how you mounted to the bottom. Thx.

Don't forget: this one is heavy (100+ grams, without the polycarbonate case), compared to the keychain cams. You need a sturdy plane with substantial lifting capacity and stabile flight characteristics to be able to use GoPro reassuringly.
Mine will be test-flewn tomorrow, though not with the Cessna 400