Hi Chris, Got my airbrakes set up on a slider so i can gradually increase as needed. Regarding launching do you launch from a flat field or slope. What kinda power have you got on tap when you hand launch by your self as i feel nervous to launch with less then two thirds throttle and then i can not hold her. Was going to check with my watt meter how many watts it is pulling when i can hold it okay for launching.

Hi

I have launched from both flat and slope. Unfortunately I no longer know how much power I have there - it's lost in the mists of time (well, that's my excuse and etc. etc. ). I know it isn't a huge amount, probably under 1kw. I can climb at about 45 - 55 degrees max., nothing spectacular.

Chris

I have done some tests this morning and i reckon i can safely hold and launch the Volcano at half throttle and using my watt meter this was giving me around 600 watts of power which i reckon is enough to safely launch.

Cool !

Finally managed to pluck up courage and launch the Volcano by myself and yes what not too difficult. Had a couple of flights before the rain came but still needed a lot of up elev trim to fly level even though i moved the batt pack further back by a quarter of a inch. Any more thoughts on this Chris as it seems that you are the only one to help.

Latest update on the Volcano, After the recent bad weather finally managed to get a couple of flights in this weekend and the more i fly it the more i like this model. Moved the batt pack a little further back and now no more up trim to fly level. Got two 10mins plus flights out of one 5000mah pack and really could have stretched it further if i worked at it but was pleased with the performance regarding energy retention and can not wait for the summer to arrive as i feel the volcano will thermal quite well. Will increase the airleron throws as the roll rate is somewhat slow but the airbrakes are quite affective when coming in to land. Really pleased with the Volcano

Greetings Volcano'ers. After having it sitting idle in the box about a year I'm finally making progress putting my volcano together. One question, however: I'm installing an inrunner motor (Scorpion S-5025-16) direct-drive with a 50mm spinner. Preparing to cut the nose off, however, I've made a jig and notice that the nose section is not very circular. Where it's 50mm tall, it's about 45mm wide. Has anyone else encountered this? Is it more round with a smaller spinner? Does anyone else worry about the cosmetic effect of having a poor match between the spinner and the fuselage?

As an alternative I'm considering leaving the nose intact and fitting power as a pod-mounted aveox motor and 3-bladed propeller. That way I can still fly as a pure glider and compete in aero-tow events, at least.

Hi, My volcano came with with the electric version and i used a 42mm spinner and fits the nose okay but looking at mine the further you cut back the worse it gets regarding fitting flush with the fus. Can you not cut further forward to suit a 42mm spinner or does this not give you enough room for the motor wires as i presume the scorpion is a out runner. I looked at the scorpion motors but for this reason regarding wires i went for the hyperion motor with the tapered nose which fits perfect . You would not regret this set up as the volcano launches on 2/3rds power and on one flight pack i get 3 x 20 min flights as the energy retention is really good. Regarding thermalling i cannot say as it was late last summer i maidened the Volcano and the weather was not the best so iam waiting for the summer to arrive to try out the thermal capabilities of the Volcano.

Originally Posted by glenbees

I looked at the scorpion motors but for this reason regarding wires i went for the hyperion motor with the tapered nose which fits perfect .

Hi glenbees. You're right about the Scorpion - the front of the bell is 42mm, but if I used a 42mm spinner routing the wires would be near impossible without spacing the motor back from the nose a bit. Possible, but tough. The Scorpion motors have a large collet with a set-screw at the front that spaces the spinner about 5mm from the end bell anyhow.

I'm considering a variety of options at the moment. Some ideas I'm bouncing around include:
* Pod-mounted motor. This same motor with a 3-bladed 14x13 prop should have lots of power.
* Fairing out the disjoint between the fuse and the motor mount with auto-body filler or similar.
* A smaller spinner, smaller motor, like you suggest.
* Smaller spinner, same motor with a spacer in the motor mount.
* Cutting off the nose, making a round motor mount and, with the help of a heat gun, distorting the fuse to round. This is commonly done with helicopter canopies which get distorted with time or due to manufacturing defects.

What hyperion motor combo are you using? What's its max power?

Hi, Personally i think by considering either of your options you could easily make a mess of your fus unless you know what you are doing with these options. As i stated i nearly went for the scorpion motor but for this reason i went with the Hyperion GS3032-08 with the tapered nose nose which then goes past the motor and i allso used a back plate you can get with these motors that takes the weight of the motor but allso has a hole where the motor wires pass through helping with keeping the motors secure and away from the spinning case. Regarding power the hyperion chart states around 1300 watts but i get a little less but believe me this is plenty of power as on full throttle you can not hold it back but i launch on just over 1/2 throttle which is more than enough. The hyperion motor and esc does not come cheap but well worth it. Looking forward to some warmer days to see how well the Volcano thermals. Saying that with a 4s 5000mah pack through the winter months with no thermals about i was getting 2x 15min flights so it shows you how well the energy retention his. Hope this helps in your decision with the Volcano.

Just i thought, If you go with the power pod i think this will create a lot of drag and reduce energy retention but if you decide to bring the motor wires out through the fus then back in could you not get some of these plastic table spoons cut the end of and this gives you like a blister so you could cyano to the fus over the wires if you keep them as small as possible .

Have you thought about taking advantage of this oblong and making scoops to bring air in for cooling?

Originally Posted by b5ff

I've made a jig and notice that the nose section is not very circular. Where it's 50mm tall, it's about 45mm wide. Has anyone else encountered this? Is it more round with a smaller spinner? Does anyone else worry about the cosmetic effect of having a poor match between the spinner and the fuselage?

I did some careful measurement, made a few jigs and have found that I can fit the 50mm motor in the nose with a 42mm spinner, as long as I make the motor mount thick enough. As glenbees pointed out, the fuse is much more round at 42mm, but I can make it even more round, I'm hoping, by clamping a round motor mount into the nose.

Now I have to decide on the thrust angle before I cut the nose. What is everyone else using for thrust angle? Incidentally, does anyone know of a good article on how to decide the optimal thrust angle? A bit down, a bit to the right is the usual recommendation.

Also, how do you like your thrust angle? Does it pitch up or down under thrust?

Originally Posted by kilwein

Have you thought about taking advantage of this oblong and making scoops to bring air in for cooling?

I suspect you rarely need cooling ventilation in a glider. That's for EDFs, 3D planes, helis and the like. Unless your glider is climbing hard for a long time (which generally it is not), there's practically nothing generating heat inside the fuse. You can think of the amount of power in your battery and how fast it's "dissipated". For example, in my Magellan-E I have a 4S 2200, which is about 30Wh. The motor is running about 80% efficiency, so the motor calculation says, and my flight times are usually about 45 minutes. This means the motor is dissipating heat at about .13W, averaged over its maximum run. Add in another tiny amount of heat for the BEC, autopilot etc, maybe another .10W for the ESC and you can see that you really don't need ventilation. The sun would have a far more profound impact on the internal temperature.

I'm sure other on rcgroups have done more rigorous calculations and measurements than I, and I'd like to read them one day. Something I would like to measure, however, is the temperature inside the fuse when flying at higher altitude in the winter, something I do occasionally do. At these times I suspect you want to make sure there's no ventilation to make sure your electronics don't get dangerously cold.