Originally Posted by dugmar

I have this plane, lots of fun.

One flaw is the fuselage is split, glued together down the middle lengthwise, so if you put the nose into the ground hard enough, the battery slides forward, causing it to split the nose in two. The battery will not only split it, it can deform the foam enough so it makes it nearly impossible for the magnets to line up on the canopy, even after applying CA glue. You can see it in the photos on post #1 in the review, this must have happened to this plane too. I now have to secure the canopy with a rubber band or it will fly off.

Now that you mention it, I can see the split in the last few review pictures where he discusses the COG and battery placement. The reviewer did not mention this as a concern, but as someone who is considering this plane, I would like to hear his input on it.

Greg

If I may chime in...

The nose on my example is slightly split, but it took some rather hard hits to make it happen due to the wind, CG and control throw issues. My canopy is managing to stay in place, thank goodness. If you can get the CG and control throws set properly, it's easy to fly and ridiculously easy to land, so a split nose may never be an issue for most pilots. I'm toying with the idea of replacing the fuselage and tail, but it's $30 to do so.

I felt bad about hastily assuming the plane was unflyable when it simply needs some TLC and a calm day before it's flown. It really is a lot of fun for only a hundred bucks. I'll keep an eye on this thread and offer up some advice as necessary.

Originally Posted by dugmar

I have this plane, lots of fun.

One flaw is the fuselage is split, glued together down the middle lengthwise, so if you put the nose into the ground hard enough, the battery slides forward, causing it to split the nose in two. The battery will not only split it, it can deform the foam enough so it makes it nearly impossible for the magnets to line up on the canopy, even after applying CA glue. You can see it in the photos on post #1 in the review, this must have happened to this plane too. I now have to secure the canopy with a rubber band or it will fly off.

You can use hot water to reform the foam. Probably better that the fuse absorbs the impact rather than the battery given that beginners with no knowledge of lipo technology will be flying it.

I agree dugmar, the nose will split. I hit pretty hard, but it was grass, not concrete.

Originally Posted by 78dave

I agree dugmar, the nose will split. I hit pretty hard, but it was grass, not concrete.

Yeah, but isn't it better to split the nose rather than the battery? All that energy has to dissipate somewhere. Foam is easy to fix while a damaged lipo is a fire risk and needs to be replaced. So, personally, I don't see this as a design flaw.

I agree with Gerry. Not a flaw so much as battery protection. Search around for the recipe on EPO soup and you can learn how EPO can be re-formed with a little hot water or hot wash cloths. The key thing is that it still flies.

I'm having a glitch in the rudder...any ideas?

Originally Posted by Roadawg27

I'm having a glitch in the rudder...any ideas?

what kind of glitch? what is it doing?

When I connect the battery the rudder shakes like the linkage is binding up but It isn't...it also seems like the "servo" isn't getting enough throw

Got my sky cruiser today.Have questions
1. What is the little round plastic thing on the left side in the battery compartment for?
2. What is the other compartment in the tx for?
3. Will the wings come back out after installed? I want to box it up in the winter.
4. How do you get the clevises off? It shows him using a screw driver.
5. When i move the control sticks, i get a sort of high pitch noise. servos aren't moving. About 2 seconds and then it stops. Is this normal?
6. Dave 78. I couldn't find the batteries you told me about.
Measured and weighted stock battery. 15.3 grams. 38.2x21.5x10.9. could you give me more info on the batteries you found?
Charging battery now. going to put it together, check CG and fly it.

Thanks,
Earl

Set my CG marks at 35 mm. Moving battery just a little either way throughs it off. It won't balance.

Earl

I called hobbico about CG. The tech's response. Don't know, because its such a small plane CG doesn't matter that much. I noticed in the battery picture the wires are crossed on the battery, jst plug is in the nose. I put the jst and balance plug in the nose. I'm going to put clear packing tape accross the nose and leading edge and tips of the wings. Winds are calming, going to try and fly it. My champ sure wasn't this much trouble.

Originally Posted by ccowboyearl

I called hobbico about CG. The tech's response. Don't know, because its such a small plane CG doesn't matter that much. I noticed in the battery picture the wires are crossed on the battery, jst plug is in the nose. I put the jst and balance plug in the nose. I'm going to put clear packing tape accross the nose and leading edge and tips of the wings. Winds are calming, going to try and fly it. My champ sure wasn't this much trouble.

CG doesn't matter?!?! I think they need a new tech...

Originally Posted by Roadawg27

When I connect the battery the rudder shakes like the linkage is binding up but It isn't...it also seems like the "servo" isn't getting enough throw

There's surprisingly little throw on the low rates and the chatter seems to be a normal part of the operation.

I relocated the clevises to the outsides of the rudder and elevator. In the case of the Sky Ranger, the pushrod was binding where it exited the fuselage. It had so little throw that it wouldn't steer at all.

Originally Posted by DismayingObservation

There's surprisingly little throw on the low rates and the chatter seems to be a normal part of the operation.

I relocated the clevises to the outsides of the rudder and elevator. In the case of the Sky Ranger, the pushrod was binding where it exited the fuselage. It had so little throw that it wouldn't steer at all.

actually in my brief experience, servo chatter could lead to potential servo failure down the road.

when i first got the plane, there seems to be almost no servo chatter after control stick return to center.

after awhile, the rudder servo develop chatter, to the point where chatter doesn't stop even after control stick return to neutral position.

after this, the crashes started due to losing rudder control. What happened was that after couple min of rudder movement, the servo will slow down until it's stuck. at this point, the pcb is burning hot.

if i wait until the pcb cools down, then i get another couple min of rudder control until the servo seized up again.

i cut couple of holes on the canopy cover plastic in attempt to cool the pcb better during flight. this doesn't seem to have any effect.

after this, i replaced the pcb.

i guess the quality of the electronic is suspect. cox's 90 days warranty only apply to out of the box defects.