Here is a Vid of the best place to fly that I know of.

When the Bullet hits the Bone (6 min 16 sec)

Originally Posted by botulism

That's awesome, Zor. I would say well worth it for less than 3% additional weight. When you calculated your added weight, did you figure in the weight of the spackling as well?


Greg

Hello Greg,

I did not calculate the weight.
I read it off my little scale.

The left wing is just about finished. Perhaps a bit more wet sanding with 400 grit .

I put the other alum rod sitting on the right wing and added the little eraser for balancing laterally. It is in balance so the little eraser is just about the weight of the spackling and paint.

You can see below the weight at 39.25 oz.
That should be the final weight ready to fly.
The 1300 mAh battery is in .

I would be thrilled to see pictures of the weight from other owners and mention which battery is in use and whether an added rod is between the wings.

Zor

I am happy with the left wing new leading edge.

I will not post pictures of the work on the right wing which of course is only a duplicate.

The manual shows a weight of 34.6 oz (980 gram) on page 3. So I will have 39.25 oz and increase of 4.65 oz. That includes not only the leading edges but also the fuselage tail reinforcement and a bit of paint and plastic trims.

A weight increase of 13.44% will call for a speed increase of 6.5%. I do not believe I can judge that while flying.

Anyone will show the weight of their Radian pro ?

Zor

I ended up crashing my RP a few weeks back, had it up about 75 feet, unpowered, and the wind took it over some houses neighbouring the park I was flying in. Being too much of a noob, I didn’t want to give it any throttle until I had it pointed back toward me. Well, it started circling an evergreen and then it came down. According to the keychain cam footage, it hit the corner of somebody’s roof and then, according to a neighbour eyewitness, hit the ground nose first. Thankfully, my RP didn’t hit anybody!

Since then, I have been spending time practicing on my RealFlight6 sim and making some “improvements” to my RP (based on suggestion made by Paul Naton, and from other people’s mods). Most of the mods have been done and documented by others, but I thought I would add my methods and pictures, in case anybody wants to see ‘em.

Surprisingly, there was minimal damage from the latest crash. There was a very small crack in the nose section of the fuse, a couple of nicks in the canopy, broken wing attachment (where the wing screws in) compression of the nose foam and a couple more dings to the leading edge of the wings. There were no cracks on the firewall, prop adaptor or spinner – just scuffed up a bit. After seeing some online videos of the results of Radian and Radian Pro crashes, I consider myself very fortunate.

You can click on the thumbnails for a larger image.
First off, I repaired the wing connector with some GG.


Wanting an easier method of installing the wings and connecting the flap/aileron servos to the receiver, I installed a couple of strips of Velcro through the fuselage and to the bottom side of the wings. Two strips of Velcro is probably overkill, but at least I don’t have to deal with (or rely on) those wing screws to hold the wings on.

I cut two slots through the fuse to run the Velcro through with an ordinary kitchen knife and used a piece of cardboard taped to one end of the Velcro to help push/pull it through.



Once the Velcro was inserted, I made marks on either side and then peeled back the sticky covering, making sure it was secured to the fuse. I used clear packing tape on the sticky side of the Velcro that is protruding from the fuse. After that, I cut a slot into the fuse to hold some aileron/flap extensions. I taped the connectors together with masking tape before gluing them in place, in case I ever needed to change them out. As somebody before me did, I marked the side if the connector that has the black/brown pin.



Next, I turned my attention to shortening the connectors coming out of the wings.


I’ll probably use a piece of tape to hold the connectors in, when I fly, so there is no chance of the connectors coming unplugged.


Next, I filled in the dings in the leading edge of the wings with GG, and sanded and shaped after it dried. Not liking the yellow color, I tried to spray paint over the GG with some white Kryon Fusion, but the results were not much better - oh, well. After that, I taped up the leading edge of the wings, to (hopefully) give them some reinforcement.


Next up was to address the nose section that was cracked and compressed by the nose dive from the roof. I had to actually force open the crack in the foam a little more in order to get some glue in there.


Because of the compression to the foam (the fuse is probably about a quarter of an inch shorter) both of the canopy magnets would no longer make contact.


To resolve this, I removed a bit of the foam at the back of the canopy and moved the rear magnet back about a quarter of an inch. Now both magnets engage.


I received my Graupner 10x8 props (ordered 3, just in case) and took them into work to have a co-worker drill them out. I didn’t trust my Dremel skills. Stock prop on the left, drilled out Graupner in the middle and stock Graupner on the right. The small washer is used as spacing on the leading edge of the prop, so that it folds back without issue.


I wanted to stiffen the fuse, and add some tail weight, so I removed the fibreglass stiffener and cut a channel to hold a CF tube (hollow .210 24”). I didn’t realize that the inside of the fuse was hollow-ish, so I lined the channel with some masking tape.


I glued the rod in with some GG (finally found a bottle of white GG), and laid some of the foam back down.


I taped the length with masking tape to keep the GG in place. After the glue dried, I removed the tape and sanded.


Then I cut a channel in the vertical stab and inserted a length of carbon fibre strip. The strip was about 7 ľ” long, from a piece of .092 x .220 24” material (I think).


Last up, I reinforced the back of the elevator, using a piece of plastic that I cut from an ice cream bucket (leftover from a failed attempt at making my own servo covers). I glued it on and clamped it in place to dry. Once dry, I moved the elevator horn over about half an inch.


As for the current weight: 34.95 oz with a 1350mah battery, and about 38.02 oz with a 2200mah battery


Well... that’s about all for now. Happy flying!

I have broken the nose completely off my first Radian and just CA'ed it back on with some reinforced tape as a backup. I did eventually replaced the whole fuselage when the weight of the tape repairs equaled the weight of the Radian.

One other thing I have done is to put a better fixing on the motor mount/nose cone. I have found the 3 screw "fixings" useless and the whole mount moved so the motor was driving at a weird angle. It took me some time to realise what was happening. I drilled some 3mm holes throiugh the plastic just below the screw fixing either side and epoxied a piece of wood skewer into the plastic and foam behind. I made sure I had a blob of epoxy on the inside of the fuselage where the skewer came through and a blob on the outside. I am not sure if anyone has already recommended this fix. A few too many pages to trawl through to read everything.

Hi there, couldn't help reading your dilemma you got yourself into and must admit I am very impressed how you got her back in shape again. I just got my radian pro yesterday and am pleased with the finish but ( There must always be a but) was reading through the forums that the prop needs to be upgraded for a little more performance in the climbing department which brings me to my question, hope you don't mind me asking,.... where on-line can I get the Graupner 10 x 8 folding prop. Here in Australia the hobby shops here don't stock them.

Originally Posted by redbaron1

Hi there, couldn't help reading your dilemma you got yourself into and must admit I am very impressed how you got her back in shape again. I just got my radian pro yesterday and am pleased with the finish but ( There must always be a but) was reading through the forums that the prop needs to be upgraded for a little more performance in the climbing department which brings me to my question, hope you don't mind me asking,.... where on-line can I get the Graupner 10 x 8 folding prop. Here in Australia the hobby shops here don't stock them.

Got mine here: http://www.espritmodel.com/graupner-...ropellers.aspx

Sonny

Originally Posted by redbaron1

.... where on-line can I get the Graupner 10 x 8 folding prop. Here in Australia the hobby shops here don't stock them.

I ordered my Graupner 10x8 (6mm root) from ICARE, here in Canada.
http://www.icare-rc.com/propellers_f...acement_blades

You might want to search online for a local retailer, or see if an OZ eBay seller is selling them, otherwise you might get raped by the VAT, or whatnot.

Hopefully i can finally start my build.my UPS man showed up today and i was out front mowing the lawn,it was my replacement fuse and my wing,i was surprised the wing showed up since it is still out of stock on there site, as soon as he pulled up he said i dont have to take these and can refuse it,i was like WHAT,he said he was hoping i was not home and could just drop them,so he digs the boxes out and as soon as i saw them they looked like they been dug out of the recycle,the one had big stickers on it FRAGILE LOL,i guess in ups language that has a different meanings,so i told him i will take them and just call HH again and get another one of each,but when i took them on to my amazment there was not a scratch on them ,Un believable after seeing the boxes,so its off to starting this build,hope it gets better as it goes LOL

Ron

Originally Posted by flycracker

Sudden full throttle launch on a RP. Dunno bout that. Perhaps some do.

Hello flycracker,

Some launch their Rp at full thottle.
For some it is the technique of using their Tx sticks as switches.

Full on or full off for the throttle and full on or self centering for the other control surfaces.

It might be the result of self training or if using a buddy box the more experienced flier acted only as a safety pilot and not as a good instructor.

Rate of climb is controlled by the power.
An Rp at full power will climb at a high angle to the ground; something in the order of well over 30 degrees and even more if the prop conversion has been done.

That climb will stabilize at a fairly steady speed.
It means that if using full power the launch would have to be done at the climbing nose attitude and speed. That does not seem practical particularly to give the Rp its initial velocity upward.

Now knowing that the Rp will fly level at less than half throttle it is much more practical to set half power (half power here means the throttle stick about half way to its maximum which is not necessarily half power), point the nose slightly up like about 10 to 15 degrees from level and give the Rp a good forward motion perhaps accompanied by a bit of a running forward with the legs.

As the Rp starts in a gentle climb then power can be increased smoothly and the nose smoothly pointed toward the climb attitude at full power. This usually established in a gentle turn using about 20 to 30 degrees of banked attitude well controlled. Remember the over banking tendency in any turn has to be controlled.

We see this type of launch in many videos in this forum.

Enjoy a well controlled launch and if the Rp climbs high enough (intentional or updrafts) to appear like a mosquito in front of your eyes then it is not possible to know exactly where the mosquito nose is in tems of pitch attitude. It is best to have the Rp well balanced for self gliding.

If it is appearing that small it should be time to bring it down some.
You should know how to do that; coming down the stairs technique.

Enjoy,

Zor

Originally Posted by Zor

Anyone will show the weight of their Radian pro ?

Zor

Zor - Mine weighs 38.5 Oz. with a 1500 mAH LiPo installed. 'Upgrades' include Monokote trim sheet (flourescent) on the bottoms of the wings for visibility, a 3642 1000kV motor and 11x6 folding prop with motor adapter.

But stock except for that.

--
Greg

Originally Posted by Quasi_Mojo

I ended up crashing my RP a few weeks back, had it up about 75 feet, unpowered, and the wind took it over some houses neighbouring the park I was flying in. Being too much of a noob, I didn’t want to give it any throttle until I had it pointed back toward me. Well, it started circling an evergreen and then it came down. According to the keychain cam footage, it hit the corner of somebody’s roof and then, according to a neighbour eyewitness, hit the ground nose first. Thankfully, my RP didn’t hit anybody!

Since then, I have been spending time practicing on my RealFlight6 sim and making some “improvements” to my RP (based on suggestion made by Paul Naton, and from other people’s mods). Most of the mods have been done and documented by others, but I thought I would add my methods and pictures, in case anybody wants to see ‘em.

Surprisingly, there was minimal damage from the latest crash. There was a very small crack in the nose section of the fuse, a couple of nicks in the canopy, broken wing attachment (where the wing screws in) compression of the nose foam and a couple more dings to the leading edge of the wings. There were no cracks on the firewall, prop adaptor or spinner – just scuffed up a bit. After seeing some online videos of the results of Radian and Radian Pro crashes, I consider myself very fortunate.

You can click on the thumbnails for a larger image.
First off, I repaired the wing connector with some GG.


Wanting an easier method of installing the wings and connecting the flap/aileron servos to the receiver, I installed a couple of strips of Velcro through the fuselage and to the bottom side of the wings. Two strips of Velcro is probably overkill, but at least I don’t have to deal with (or rely on) those wing screws to hold the wings on.

I cut two slots through the fuse to run the Velcro through with an ordinary kitchen knife and used a piece of cardboard taped to one end of the Velcro to help push/pull it through.



Once the Velcro was inserted, I made marks on either side and then peeled back the sticky covering, making sure it was secured to the fuse. I used clear packing tape on the sticky side of the Velcro that is protruding from the fuse. After that, I cut a slot into the fuse to hold some aileron/flap extensions. I taped the connectors together with masking tape before gluing them in place, in case I ever needed to change them out. As somebody before me did, I marked the side if the connector that has the black/brown pin.



Next, I turned my attention to shortening the connectors coming out of the wings.


I’ll probably use a piece of tape to hold the connectors in, when I fly, so there is no chance of the connectors coming unplugged.


Next, I filled in the dings in the leading edge of the wings with GG, and sanded and shaped after it dried. Not liking the yellow color, I tried to spray paint over the GG with some white Kryon Fusion, but the results were not much better - oh, well. After that, I taped up the leading edge of the wings, to (hopefully) give them some reinforcement.


Next up was to address the nose section that was cracked and compressed by the nose dive from the roof. I had to actually force open the crack in the foam a little more in order to get some glue in there.


Because of the compression to the foam (the fuse is probably about a quarter of an inch shorter) both of the canopy magnets would no longer make contact.


To resolve this, I removed a bit of the foam at the back of the canopy and moved the rear magnet back about a quarter of an inch. Now both magnets engage.


I received my Graupner 10x8 props (ordered 3, just in case) and took them into work to have a co-worker drill them out. I didn’t trust my Dremel skills. Stock prop on the left, drilled out Graupner in the middle and stock Graupner on the right. The small washer is used as spacing on the leading edge of the prop, so that it folds back without issue.


I wanted to stiffen the fuse, and add some tail weight, so I removed the fibreglass stiffener and cut a channel to hold a CF tube (hollow .210 24”). I didn’t realize that the inside of the fuse was hollow-ish, so I lined the channel with some masking tape.


I glued the rod in with some GG (finally found a bottle of white GG), and laid some of the foam back down.


I taped the length with masking tape to keep the GG in place. After the glue dried, I removed the tape and sanded.


Then I cut a channel in the vertical stab and inserted a length of carbon fibre strip. The strip was about 7 ľ” long, from a piece of .092 x .220 24” material (I think).


Last up, I reinforced the back of the elevator, using a piece of plastic that I cut from an ice cream bucket (leftover from a failed attempt at making my own servo covers). I glued it on and clamped it in place to dry. Once dry, I moved the elevator horn over about half an inch.


As for the current weight: 34.95 oz with a 1350mah battery, and about 38.02 oz with a 2200mah battery


Well... that’s about all for now. Happy flying!

Sorry to hear 'bout your crash but WHOA!!! Amazing time/effort getting her airworthy again! Hope your next flight goes better for you! Good luck, happy landings

Gentlepersons,

My prop adapter has come loose and I tried to tighten it with my 1.5 mm hex...and no joy. Too big.

There is a bunch of red locktight all over my adapter. It may be hardened inside the setscrew. Is the setscrew 1.5 mm? I tried a .9 mm key but that was too small...

Thanks in advance,

--Jason

Horizon informs me that the correct size is 1/16th! Lets just all go metric dangit...!

Originally Posted by Jasong911

Gentlepersons,

My prop adapter has come loose and I tried to tighten it with my 1.5 mm hex...and no joy. Too big.

There is a bunch of red locktight all over my adapter. It may be hardened inside the setscrew. Is the setscrew 1.5 mm? I tried a .9 mm key but that was too small...

Thanks in advance,

--Jason

Horizon informs me that the correct size is 1/16th! Lets just all go metric dangit...!

I had a heck of a time getting my stock adapter off. The setscrew came out, but apparently the threads of the adapter had kind of stripped. Or the setscrew had been overtightened and metal was protruding out of the hole. There was metal (or maybe loctite) holding the adaptor onto the shaft. Ended up having to take the whole assembly off the plane and whacking the heck out of it.

Originally Posted by Jasong911

Gentlepersons,

My prop adapter has come loose and I tried to tighten it with my 1.5 mm hex...and no joy. Too big.

There is a bunch of red locktight all over my adapter. It may be hardened inside the setscrew. Is the setscrew 1.5 mm? I tried a .9 mm key but that was too small...

Thanks in advance,

--Jason

Horizon informs me that the correct size is 1/16th! Lets just all go metric dangit...!

To put my BB Aluminum Turbo Spinner on I had to go to my LHS for the guys to remove that set screw, could NOT remove it for the life of me. I know my info doesn't help any but I'm always at ease to know that I'm NOT the only one that is affected by certain situations.