Originally Posted by aeajr

Good! That means your ESC safety features are working.

I know, it was in response to a earlier no go post.

Originally Posted by MS_in_NY

I think there's some serious over-estimating of full throttle flight times going on here. A 1300mah battery will dump it's full capacity in 6 minutes at a current draw of 13 amps. Most Radians are set up to pull 18-25 amps.

........Mike

Nope not at all, I'm actually using a timer on my transmitter of exactly 9:59 and I really did fly full throttle all the time in one flight. Then I have to charge about 1100mah back in my 1300mah lipo.

I use my trainer switch to start the timer shortly after launch. I probably should video tape my flights then if you don't believe me. I just remember that there was hardly any wind by the way.

Originally Posted by HF_ATL

That was the issue I had at the beginning and that solved the problem.

Make sure your throttle trim is centered.
Set your throttle end points to +/-100%
and if that alone doesn't solve your problems, recalibrate the throttle in your ESC

You should always set throttle trim to the lowest position, but it is indeed required to check the throttle channel before connecting the motor and make sure it's channel is not reversed.

Originally Posted by rcoconut

Nice flying & video Eastcoaster! Too bad no GPS logger, sure would've liked to know how high you were 'cause you were waaaaaaay up there!!

Have to wait 'til I get home to watch your .kmz files Jumpy (on the road with the company computer) And how did you know about "geoid correction"?!?! Thank you again for the help as your -40 meters setting works for me!

Of course I left my .kmz files at home as well. But after being convinced by Jumpy to post my flights here you go:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMqgzEcLUkE

Bear with me as this is my second video/editing as I'm a rookie to the RP as well as Windows Movie Maker.

Looking forward to reading more about your flights/experiences.

Here's my maiden flight:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=37wnaq26PpE

p.s.- Stock prop & batt. Using the Canmore GPS Data Logger & first flight with that was Sunday. Worked GREAT thanks to Jumpy for all his help with configuration and data retrieval. Max speed 30mph and Max altitude just under 500ft but I did catch my 1st thermal!!! I'm dissappointed with the FlyCamone2 camera and liking the cheaper 808 Key Chain Spy Cameras from eBay. I have one version #7, two version #3 spy cams and one version #11 HD spy cam which arrived last week. Looks like the FlyCamone2 will start collecting dust. Happy Flying!!

Nice maiden videos there. Looks like a fairly compact field to fly a maiden from but great to spot your kid in the playground

So, I'm guessing yours must have been one of the super early prototype Radian Pros then. Man, you must have mastered flying her over the last 21 years...

For those who are totally lost with what I'm on about, watch the videos again and look in the very top left corner... Tee hee hee!
Do you live in a household where the VCR is still blinking 00:00? Lol
Dont worry, I'm only yanking your chain. Keep up the great videos, they are what keep this thread interesting since the bickering began.

Hey, I got out after work today and the wind was surprisingly brisk on the hill where I have taken to flying. The flags were flying fully horizontal. Not wanting to be a wuss, up she went. Well, it was a different experience and somewhat unidirectional to say the least! 35 minutes of slope soaring followed by half a dozen lovely landings though. Circuit round downwind with more altitude than first seems necessary then drop in over the top of the hill with full crow and flaps deployed for nice hand catches (all except one slightly nose heavy cock up!). she really can come in steep without picking up any speed with a decent headwind.
It's funny how bold you get with these things once you've realised that wind is not the enemy after all!

Originally Posted by PHMX

Nope not at all, I'm actually using a timer on my transmitter of exactly 9:59 and I really did fly full throttle all the time in one flight. Then I have to charge about 1100mah back in my 1300mah lipo.

I use my trainer switch to start the timer shortly after launch. I probably should video tape my flights then if you don't believe me. I just remember that there was hardly any wind by the way.



You should always set throttle trim to the lowest position, but it is indeed required to check the throttle channel before connecting the motor and make sure it's channel is not reversed.

Really? Full throttle for 9:50 on a 1300 pack? Surprising.

At 13 amps I would expect 6 minutes. This suggests you are running around 9 amps at full throttle.

If you are running one of the props that tested out at 13 amps on the bench, that might actually be possible. If you are running a prop that pulls 16 amps, that seems surprising.

Originally Posted by MS_in_NY

I think there's some serious over-estimating of full throttle flight times going on here. A 1300mah battery will dump it's full capacity in 6 minutes at a current draw of 13 amps. Most Radians are set up to pull 18-25 amps.........Mike

Not sure where you are getting that from.

The original Radian pulls about 17-18 amps on the bench, probably about 14 or 15 in the air. I am quite confident that very few have changed the prop.

The Radian Pro's original batch were pulling about 13 amps, or about 11 amps in the air. With the replacement prop from horizon hobby the reports were up to about 16 amps, which is probably about 13 to 14 in the air.

Are there people who have over propped that motor to over 20 amps? Probably.

Are there people who have replaced that motor? Probably.

But most people who buy RTFs or Receiver Ready packages stay with the stock set-up. That is why they buy them that way. That is why I buy RTFs, BnF and RR packages. I don't want to do anything with them I don't have to. If I wanted to mess with them I would have gotten an ARF or a kit.

Originally Posted by aeajr

Not sure where you are getting that from.

Well ok, I guess that was an assumption made from reading posts about installing new props. I have never flown a Radian with its stock prop. The original 'exploding' prop issue got me in the habit of installing Aeronaut gear right out of the box.

My original Radian pulls right around 18-20 amps with a 10x7. The new Pro I set up with an 11x4. It only pulls 15-17 amps or so.

The point was, as you noted, that 10 minutes of full throttle on 1300mah suggests 9 amps or less and that doesn't seem likely to me. But hey, maybe the stock setup does unload that much in the air.

.........Mike

Originally Posted by MS_in_NY

My original Radian pulls right around 18-20 amps with a 10x7. The new Pro I set up with an 11x4. It only pulls 15-17 amps or so.

The point was, as you noted, that 10 minutes of full throttle on 1300mah suggests 9 amps or less and that doesn't seem likely to me. But hey, maybe the stock setup does unload that much in the air.

.........Mike

I believe mine pulls about 11-12 amps (all stock by the way), but I would have to measure properly to be sure about that.

I'm confident a lot comes down to flight style as well as I wasn't exactly doing loops the whole 10 minutes if you catch my drift.

Originally Posted by rcoconut

Nice flying & video Eastcoaster! Too bad no GPS logger, sure would've liked to know how high you were 'cause you were waaaaaaay up there!!

Have to wait 'til I get home to watch your .kmz files Jumpy (on the road with the company computer) And how did you know about "geoid correction"?!?! Thank you again for the help as your -40 meters setting works for me!

Of course I left my .kmz files at home as well. But after being convinced by Jumpy to post my flights here you go:

SNIP

Bear with me as this is my second video/editing as I'm a rookie to the RP as well as Windows Movie Maker.

Looking forward to reading more about your flights/experiences.

Here's my maiden flight:

SNIP

p.s.- Stock prop & batt. Using the Canmore GPS Data Logger & first flight with that was Sunday. Worked GREAT thanks to Jumpy for all his help with configuration and data retrieval. Max speed 30mph and Max altitude just under 500ft but I did catch my 1st thermal!!! I'm dissappointed with the FlyCamone2 camera and liking the cheaper 808 Key Chain Spy Cameras from eBay. I have one version #7, two version #3 spy cams and one version #11 HD spy cam which arrived last week. Looks like the FlyCamone2 will start collecting dust. Happy Flying!!

Nice videos. Good editing too. The cameramount is sleek looking, nice job. Too bad about the second one though.
One day I'll add some music to my videos.....much better than just listening to the wind for sure.

Some really good flying...and with a brand new plane? That's awesome.

You're welcome on the GPS stuff.
The geoid issue came up when the plots were starting 100 feet underground. Knew that wasn't right so had to look it up. My business involves using GIS mapping data, so I had to learn Autocad & Arcview for making the maps. The geoid issue is a downside of the cheap chinese logger. A full service GPS unit compensates automatically for geoid. The Canmore is bare bones...raw data. Luckily there is plenty of free software around to make the raw data useful.

Not sure if you tried yet, but once you open your processed GPS plots in Google Earth, go to the menu under "Edit" "Show Elevation Profile" and up pops a chart of your flight with specs on max altitude, slope, speed, etc. Running your mouse over the chart displays more info about individual data points or a range of data points within the plot if you hold the left mouse button and drag it across the elevation profile. Makes it easier to get a precise time from motor cut off to landing. There is also a playback feature where a little arrow flies the path in real time so you can "refly" your flights.

I've done quite a few flights now(40+). Best mod is ditching the wimpy 102 gram park 480 motor for a 3536 outrunner from headsuprc, also 102 grams. I made my own motor mount out of ply and glued it to the original trimmed plastic mount. I fly it on a rather windy slope, 10-30mph depending on the day. I use a 2200 3s battery. Without battery, it now weighs 900 grams...tape, glue, extra carbon/fiber rod in the tail boom.

This setup now allows me to comfortably penetrate the lower turbulent(rotor?) air on my less than ideal flying site, and enter the good lift zone for motor off soaring. I know this is not what the plane was designed for, but it works well and has been a great learning tool. I am now piecing one together that will have an aluminum motor mount from sotog(sold at headsuprc) and hopefully lighter reinforcments with less glue, tape and paint. thanks

jz

I just maidened my new Radian Pro. This is a great forum, and I've read it from posting #1 thru the latest. Obviously, there are +'s and -'s to the plane, but here is my perspective as a person moving from a 3-channel, heavy, underpowered electric sailplane to the Radian Pro.

WOW!

I am using a DX8 and the Horizon Hobby Radian Pro program available at the Spektrum Community site. I haven't made any modifications to the HH program at this point. I have each aileron servo on its on channel.

The wind was gusting 5 - 7 mph at ground level and was very turbulent. From about 50 feet on up, the wind was at least 10 - 15 mph. One step forward and a medium toss parallel to the ground, and it was easily airborne (my previous plane required me to run several steps and then to toss the plane as hard as I could). The plane easily and quickly climbed out at 30 - 40 degrees. I don't have an altimeter yet, but I am quite confident I could reach the magical 200 meters in 30 seconds.

The plane required no trimming. It was very easy to control in the wind. It screamed past me when going down-wind and then penetrated slowly up-wind, but penetrate it did.

Landing was fun! The wind was at right angles to our club landing strip, so I didn't have a lot of room to play with on my landing approaches. The plane was very controllable in the gusting wind, and the flaps allowed me to land in a very short distance (last week flying my other plane in similar winds, I got down to about 4 feet at the start of the landing strip and stayed that height for the entire length of the strip. My flight ended in a small pine tree at the end of the strip!). I tried the Crow function on one landing. With flaps and Crow, I am confident that I can gently land the plane pretty well where ever I want to.

The only con I have seen so far is threading the wing servo wires into the plane. Per a suggestion somewhere into this forum, I used the unused aileron servo y-lead as an extension to the wing leads when threading them into the plane. I'm not comfortable with constantly plugging and unplugging the aileron servos into the receiver, so I will get a couple of 3 inch servo extensions to permanently attach to the receiver and then plug the aileron leads into them.

I did several launches and multiple climb-outs and am anxious to see how many mAh I will need to put back into the battery.

Again, I'm sure there are +'s and -'s to the plane, but it is definitely a HUGE move up for me. Now for a relatively calm day to see if I can find a thermal.

Ray

Originally Posted by Siggy101

Nice maiden videos there. Looks like a fairly compact field to fly a maiden from but great to spot your kid in the playground

So, I'm guessing yours must have been one of the super early prototype Radian Pros then. Man, you must have mastered flying her over the last 21 years...

For those who are totally lost with what I'm on about, watch the videos again and look in the very top left corner... Tee hee hee!
Do you live in a household where the VCR is still blinking 00:00? Lol
Dont worry, I'm only yanking your chain. Keep up the great videos, they are what keep this thread interesting since the bickering began.

Thanks Siggy, that is a small park that I fly from every once in awhile so that flap & crow set up is useful for me.

And of course..... the time stamp!!! Took me FOREVER to change it!! Apparently there's 17 ways to change the time stamp on those key chain cams and it figures that all three of my cameras took 17 tries!! So no more hot tub spa time warp on my videos!

Originally Posted by JumpySticks

Nice videos. Good editing too. The cameramount is sleek looking, nice job.

The geoid issue came up when the plots were starting 100 feet underground. Knew that wasn't right so had to look it up. My business involves using GIS mapping data, so I had to learn Autocad & Arcview for making the maps. The geoid issue is a downside of the cheap chinese logger. A full service GPS unit compensates automatically for geoid. The Canmore is bare bones...raw data. Luckily there is plenty of free software around to make the raw data useful.

Not sure if you tried yet, but once you open your processed GPS plots in Google Earth, go to the menu under "Edit" "Show Elevation Profile" and up pops a chart of your flight with specs on max altitude, slope, speed, etc. Running your mouse over the chart displays more info about individual data points or a range of data points within the plot if you hold the left mouse button and drag it across the elevation profile. Makes it easier to get a precise time from motor cut off to landing. There is also a playback feature where a little arrow flies the path in real time so you can "refly" your flights.

Thanks Jumpy! I think I've had a lot of practice flying at that park with my ParkZone/HobbyZone aircraft both parkflyers and ultra micros.

Thanks for the tip as far as "Show Elevation Profile". A few posts back I was wondering how you had all that slope and ascent/descent data. I'll mess with that next!! Does your business deal with aircraft avionics or Flight Management Computers? Just curious

Originally Posted by RayPB

I just maidened my new Radian Pro. This is a great forum, and I've read it from posting #1 thru the latest.

The plane required no trimming.

The only con I have seen so far is threading the wing servo wires into the plane. Per a suggestion somewhere into this forum, I used the unused aileron servo y-lead as an extension to the wing leads when threading them into the plane. I'm not comfortable with constantly plugging and unplugging the aileron servos into the receiver, so I will get a couple of 3 inch servo extensions to permanently attach to the receiver and then plug the aileron leads into them.

CONGRATULATIONS with that first flight and welcome! I had the same experience on my 1st flight. I'm on my 5th and counting down the days 'til my next flight!

I too did the servo extensions versus plugging and unplugging the servos out of the receiver. But I did have to take it a step further and not only mark the flap and aileron male and female connectors but I had to make sure to match up the correct aileron connectors. During pre-flight before my 3rd flight I did the usual control check. All control surfaces moved as usual. Flaps deployed but when I selected crow my ailerons moved down instead of up. Hmmm??? I'm using the DX6i and I did NOT configure camber? Turns out I had the ailerons reversed. I noticed that the flap connectors can plug into either one but you have to have the ailerons plugged in accordingly other wise the crow configuration will not work, at least that's how mine is.

Originally Posted by rcoconut

Thanks Jumpy! I think I've had a lot of practice flying at that park with my ParkZone/HobbyZone aircraft both parkflyers and ultra micros.

Thanks for the tip as far as "Show Elevation Profile". A few posts back I was wondering how you had all that slope and ascent/descent data. I'll mess with that next!! Does your business deal with aircraft avionics or Flight Management Computers? Just curious

You're welcome.

No, aviation is a hobby.

I deal with GIS mapping, so have some experience with locating things using GPS coordinates. Also lots of other computer experience with many different software packages combined to prepare reports & graphs.

I had lots of trouble remembering to stop the timer at the end of a flight, so I was not getting an accurate record of flight duration. When I did get a time, I would forget to write it down. The GPS logger has solved that problem.

On my blog page I'm assembling images to catalog some of the lesser known gps features of Google Earth. It's an amazing tool.

Originally Posted by RayPB

I just maidened my new Radian Pro.

--SNIP--

WOW!

--SNIP--

Again, I'm sure there are +'s and -'s to the plane, but it is definitely a HUGE move up for me. Now for a relatively calm day to see if I can find a thermal.

Ray

Welcome to the RP threads!
Yes, lots to like about this plane.