Well, knowing that the wind will be blowing everyday for the rest of the week (at least according to the weather forecast) I decided to test fly PAM this morning. It's overcast and foggy, but dead calm. I wanted to see how the GoPro would handle the conditions anyway, so it was a win/win... With the pan/tilt mounted on the CG, I can fly with or without the camera mounted, so I left it off for the first flight.

I took off, gave it about 4 clicks of left trim, and it was good! A few clicks above half throttle seems to be the sweet spot for cruising. Man it sure is a smooth plane! I cut the rates back to low and just cruised around for a little while. I then started playing around with high rates, and slow speeds, etc. High rates made it quicker to respond, but the roll rate is by no means enough for me to attempt an aileron roll and be comfortable doing it... I expected that though. It doesn't glide as good as I'd hoped though. Cut the throttle and it comes down pretty quick. I guess all that draggy gear has a lot to do with it! This wing on the glider fuse would glide forever! Landing was a piece of cake, came in real nice and smooth, flared to a soft touch down and short roll out. Perfect!

So, I strapped on the GoPro and a fresh battery, and took off again. This time I hand launched it so no water sprayed onto the lens while taking off. (The grass was wet with dew.) I flew it around for about 10 minutes then landed. It's really a nice plane to fly! Nice and smooth, just sit back and enjoy the view.

The angles are not just right though, there's a bit of change in the pitch trim with power on and off. No change in roll, so that's good. Trim it for cruising and all is well. Power up some more and it climbs, but not too fast, kinda what you'd expect. Cut power back though, and the nose starts dropping quick. This is with the elevator flat, so I don't want to just trim it with the elevator then put some down thrust on the motor. I'd rather see if I can take it out with the wing incidence. It's not real hurry though, it flys great as is, just not quite perfect.

Video will have to wait though, I'm dead tired. Pulled an all nighter, now it's time for a nap...

Glad to hear it went well, Keith! I like "PAM" aka Non-Stick.
It's a real pleasure when one of your own ideas or creations comes to life... and actually works!

Here's the video as promised!

FPV Slow Stick with a new wing... (10 min 2 sec)

pam flies great!

Originally Posted by KeithLuneau

Here's the video as promised!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wOlCgjUWS4

Looks great Keith!
Seems very stable.
Is that a wood prop! Cool
What's the little blue blinky light? Low batt?
Enjoyed the fly-bys.

Man I *wish* I had a farm or acerage to fly at.
Looks like a great place to do some range tests.

Yep, wood prop, a Turnigy beechwood prop. Not the best, but it took a little load off the motor which I needed, and is balanced great, so it stayed. I am thinking about swapping motors with my Easy Star though. It's got a nice outrunner from Grayson Hobby on it, and it's overkill for the EZ*. That one cruises at about 1/4 throttle and goes ballistic at full! I think it might work better on this one, so the motor doesn't come down so hot! Not in a big hurry though, I'd have to redo the motor mount and all that.

The blue LED is on the low battery warning thing. Solid blue is full charge, blinking blue is mid range, solid red is low, flashing red and beeping means land NOW! They're about $2-$3 at Hobbyking, or a couple dollars more at US retailers.

Smooth Keith, would love to be able to just wake up and fly in my own backyard, i'm jealous haha.

Do you have Links to the build?, also, did you fly the Willi "B" that's in your blog?.



Cheers, Kev.


Edit: Whoops, that blog was from 08.

Yeah, that was back in '08 when I was working on the Willi B. I've flown it a number of times now, it's a great little sport plane! I've got some videos up on Youtube... Here's the last one:

http://www.rcflighttest.com/home/201...biplane-video/

(linked to my blog page so it doesn't embed here, getting off topic... lol)

What camera are you using... I noticed the prop isn't showing up on the vid. Nice touch!

It's a GoPro Hero HD. I'm guessing the prop isn't showing up because of the slow shutter speed in the less than favorable lighting. It was kinda early and foggy that morning.

Great setup. Very smooth. Looks like you can go forever in your area. Nice cheap way of seeing your battery level without needing OSD too. Thanks.

Originally Posted by KeithLuneau

It's a GoPro Hero HD. I'm guessing the prop isn't showing up because of the slow shutter speed in the less than favorable lighting. It was kinda early and foggy that morning.

What setting are you using on your GoPro? I have one as well, but I get the prop squiggles in the video.

Mine is whatever the defaults are with the updated firmware, using R3 (720 60fps). The prop does show up and do the "mini blind" thing in bright light though.

teflon...errr....Pam flies nice! I like it!

where are the moderators to make this thread a stick????