I took the RP to the club field today, despite the 9-17 MPH wind. I've been wanting to test the advanced wing functions & get things tuned-in, but the wx just hasn't been cooperating. Today was about as good as it will be for awhile, so I decided to go for it. I'm running proportional camber & reflex, proportional flaps, and single-position crow on my 10CHP. I've got the elevator mix & delay set up so that there is no pitch change when crow is engaged or when adding camber.

I was messing around with adding camber & gliding backwards across the runway, switching to reflex and moving forward again, and then coming around on approach & engaging crow for a spot-landing in the wind. I think I've got things dialed-in fairly well as a starting point. Now I just need a day with some lift.

Joel

Tweaking my flaps today I discovered two interesting things.

1) The servo control arms are brittle, I snapped one with the servo movement when I had my reflex set to high (due to moving the horn hole used). The good news is that the HXT900 9gr hobby king arms fit securely, and I have a ton of them from my foamies.

2) The other thing I learned is the flap pushrods are very brittle. I tried to shorten one with a 90 degree bend and it snapped almost immediately I was able to shorten it and silver solder a brass sleeve on it. The net result of this mod is that I now have a full 90 degree flap deployment in crow mode. it's going to come down at a nice steep angle like I'm used to and since I have it set up with a switch on the throttle stick, I can modulate it when I'm using it. I also changed my replacement (40 amp Plush) ESC to brake on and slow start up. I noticed my prop was windmilling at times after I swapped the ESCs the other day and with the soft start I can go from full crow to full throttle by flipping the switch if I get in trouble (the flaps will have time to retract before the motor comes on full)

Off to the flying field very shortly!

Good deal on the Crow/Flap adjustment. I had to dial in 40% down elevator to compensate but I got a nice transition to about a 40 degree down slope at a very reasonable speed and good rudder/elevator authority for aiming and flaring. Time to get the silicone caulk to resecure the servos.

Not happy with the slow start on the motor. Too slow/annoying on the launch.
Got some good flights. managed a 25 minute flight with there being 3.75v per cell when I came down. no hat sucking thermals but definitely some non-sink

I don't have time right not to fully search this. I can't tell from what I have read so far. Would an 1800 2s battery be ok in the Pro or do I need a 3 cell?
thanks,
John

Hi, John.

You could probably use a 2 cell battery if you also went to a much bigger prop but, with the stock prop, it would be marginal at best.

Originally Posted by John63

I don't have time right not to fully search this. I can't tell from what I have read so far. Would an 1800 2s battery be ok in the Pro or do I need a 3 cell?
thanks,
John

I would not use a 2S! But no harm in trying if you have them on hand!

Originally Posted by Eastcoast78

I would not use a 2S! But no harm in trying if you have them on hand!

Careful, the ESC's BEC *may* not provide stable regulated output as a 2S discharges.

Forecast says 2-10 MPH winds & 65 F for today, and 5-9 MPH & 70 F for tomorrow. Finally, I will be able to get in some serious stick-time on this bird! Looking forward to exploring the lift conditions around the club field. I plan to shoot some on-board video.

Joel

Originally Posted by turboparker

Forecast says 2-10 MPH winds & 65 F for today, and 5-9 MPH & 70 F for tomorrow. Finally, I will be able to get in some serious stick-time on this bird! Looking forward to exploring the lift conditions around the club field. I plan to shoot some on-board video.

Joel

That gets here on wednesday and I'm looking forward to more time also

Originally Posted by coreman

Those are sizes in the assortment I purchased and I will report my results as well. I got 10x8, 11x6, 11x8 and 12x6.5

Folks over in the Radian thread are also looking forward to your report.

Alan

Originally Posted by Radio.Active

Folks over in the Radian thread are also looking forward to your report.

Alan

Prop order left Hong Kong today so maybe by next weekend I can play around. First will be to compare the stock blades with the aluminum "wider separation" spinner. I wish I had an altitude logger so I could give real accurate results from say, 30 second runs.

I have the replacement 9.5mm CF wing rod coming as well as a CF square tube to use for the tailboom reinforcement (I feel using the square tube will install easier). I'll be doing most of Paul Naton's modifications eventually. Just moving the CG back (2 quarters taped to the base of the fin) to 80mm with no decalage change flattened out the power on climb

Jim

Originally Posted by turboparker

Forecast says 2-10 MPH winds & 65 F for today, and 5-9 MPH & 70 F for tomorrow. Finally, I will be able to get in some serious stick-time on this bird! Looking forward to exploring the lift conditions around the club field. I plan to shoot some on-board video.

Joel

How did the flight go Joel? It's been a couple weeks since I had the RP out but I must say that this plane has opened up a whole new world for me. The last flight I had it out I was at the club on a relatively CALM day (very light winds if any) and caught a DANDY thermal over the swampy land just north of our runway. Went from just under 300 feet to over 740 feet in a few minutes of circling with the camber on! AMAZING! It sure was getting small up there.

Stunts, loops, and some ZOOMING then back to the thermal for a climb. Had to pack it in after 30 or 40 minutes as my neck was getting sore from staring UP! LOL

Sure is a different style of flying, very relaxing and very rewarding when you catch that thermal. The telemetry unit with Baro Altimiter was a GREAT add on as well, you can see right away when you get a thermal.

Take care,

Marlin

Originally Posted by coreman

Prop order left Hong Kong today so maybe by next weekend I can play around. First will be to compare the stock blades with the aluminum "wider separation" spinner. I wish I had an altitude logger so I could give real accurate results from say, 30 second runs.

I have the replacement 9.5mm CF wing rod coming as well as a CF square tube to use for the tailboom reinforcement (I feel using the square tube will install easier). I'll be doing most of Paul Naton's modifications eventually. Just moving the CG back (2 quarters taped to the base of the fin) to 80mm with no decalage change flattened out the power on climb

Jim

I ordered a GPS Logger today so I will be able to get actual climb numbers from the prop changes. it won't be in before next week so I will plan a day to go out and do my prop testing then. I also have an RPM frob I can plug into the motor so I can see the RPM and amps at WOT with each. I'll try to do a few climbs with each and do up a spreadsheet

Originally Posted by Fish99

How did the flight go Joel? It's been a couple weeks since I had the RP out but I must say that this plane has opened up a whole new world for me. The last flight I had it out I was at the club on a relatively CALM day (very light winds if any) and caught a DANDY thermal over the swampy land just north of our runway. Went from just under 300 feet to over 740 feet in a few minutes of circling with the camber on! AMAZING! It sure was getting small up there.

Stunts, loops, and some ZOOMING then back to the thermal for a climb. Had to pack it in after 30 or 40 minutes as my neck was getting sore from staring UP! LOL

Sure is a different style of flying, very relaxing and very rewarding when you catch that thermal. The telemetry unit with Baro Altimiter was a GREAT add on as well, you can see right away when you get a thermal.

Take care,

Marlin

Hi Marlin! We meet again! Didn't know that you had a sailplane!

The RP is my first purpose-built sailplane & I am having a blast! I just love surfing the currents, staying up there for ages without even using the motor. As you noted - it is so relaxing, and catching some lift is very rewarding. Yesterday was a great flying day in general, but there wasn't much lift at the field. I managed to catch a couple of weak thermals, but I had trouble staying in them. I mainly worked on fine-tuning my camber, reflex, and crow mixes. I've got crow & reflex working the way I want them to, but I'm still getting a bit of porpoising when I use the camber mix. Not sure if I need a bit more down-elevator, or if I'm just using too much camber.

Today it's supposed to be partly cloudy & 70 F, with 6-9 MPH winds. I'll be spending most of the day at the club field. I plan to shoot some more on-board video. If I get anything worth watching, I'll post a clip. BTW - that baro unit sounds very interesting. I'll have to check it out.

Take care, and may there always be lift under your wings!

Joel

Originally Posted by Fish99

Stunts, loops, and some ZOOMING then back to the thermal for a climb. Had to pack it in after 30 or 40 minutes as my neck was getting sore from staring UP! LOL

I will only fly gliders while seated in lawn chair.

I love those long lasting and strong thermals, like an elevator to the sky!