A good landing is just a controlled crash

I've now fitted the brushless upgrade - 9gm Pole+Stator Motor 3800Kv http://robotbirds.com/catalog/produc...oducts_id=2195 with 10amp esc and GWS 5x3 Direct Drive Prop. I used a laminated wooden mount CA'ed to the foam having first cut out the original brushed unit. Had a brief flight and certainly lots more oomph but had problems with it stuttering and refusing to take more than 70% throttle.
Back to base and tried out all three motor timings available on the Hobbywing esc, the same for a plush esc and even tried a 20 amp and a old 6amp esc. All gave the same stuttering and high throttle problems. I even swapped out the RX and tried a larger lipo. Still no joy so I have to conclude that the motor is damaged, probably a dodgy wire. Ordered an alternative unit from Giant Shark for £4.07 so worth a punt http://www.giantshark.co.uk/m202025-...-p-407726.html
Here are some pictures on the mount

I found that some downthrust is needed to get the trim right with BL.
Not enough downthrust & it nosedives to much under power.
Looks like you may have a good angle on the motor, how was the trim on power compared to off power ??

Seemed neutral to me but the on/off and stuttering issues made it hard to tell for sure. Should get the new motor in a few days so will have more to report later this week
Andy

I didn't notice any downthrust on full power after conversion. My installation was pretty much just straight left/right and up/down from what I can see and it handles well. Under full power it will climb requiring a little down elevator to maintain level flight. That may be how I've got it trimmed out, but if I recall correctly my elevator trim has always been pretty neutral.

Hey Headless, how are you going mate. Long time no chat. Hope alls good on the other side of the pond . Mate I have one of these which I FPV and its a great little unit. Doesn't like a lot of wind but flys comfortably. Just using it stock with a different prop on it and made the rudder full. Great upgrade you have done there. My first thought was the timing also but you have covered that. Mmmmmmmm....thinking cap on I see you have put ailerons on it also. Does it fly better.

Bx

High Box and a very good day/night to you. All good with me and gradually building up the fleet again following May's lipo fire.
I do prefer the control afforded by the ailerons. I didn't like the need to input opposite commands every time I wanted to turn. She will actually roll now and is much more responsive to control inputs. The 3.7g servos didn't hurt performance much and once I've sorted out a replacement motor I expect the roll rate to improve. Will then give her a shot taking my #16 HD keycam for a spin for some aerial vids
Andy

Mate sorry to here about the lipo fire. Not good at all. Have thought about ailerons Mmmmmmmight have to give them a try. I'll put up a couple of Piccys of mine soon. By the way Chicka and Camilla ( Royals ) are here at the moment for our greatest horse race The Melbourne Cup. There giving out the Trophy's. I suppose they gotta do something while there here .

Bx

Hey guys! Maidened my Atom this morning in slightly blustery conditions and I gotta say im pretty pleased as it flew brilliantly, I was half expecting the worst as ive been following this thread for a while and read about alot of bad starts. I did however receive mine with not one but two very binded pushrods, tho not a terribly difficult fix, is rather anoying and shouldn't be nessesary. I also wedged and hotglued a small tab of basla underneath two pushrod sleves to help prevent the slop and changed from the stock battery to a zippy 500mah. Most of slight changes made are thanks to all the info I found here from you guys and, from that gave me a fantastic mornings flight so a big thanks lads, cant wait to get her in the air again tommorow but sadly its now windy and raining

Originally Posted by Pret101

Hey guys! Maidened my Atom this morning in slightly blustery conditions and I gotta say im pretty pleased as it flew brilliantly,

Replace the crappy OEM prop for a noticeable performance gain

The Atom has been out of stock for a while now. Are HK going to just stop selling it ?? I hope not, I allways get some flights on the Atom, even though I have better planes in the fleet.
Ive seen them have products on backorder for months & never re-stock them (eg Kinetic) .

Ive just bought a HK Pearl , almost finished the build. I hope to do a comparison to the Atom next week . They are similar size & weight, Pearl has a wider wing & ailerons. A possible alternative to the Atom if HK stop selling it??

They're at -4 for stock right now. Hopefully they would stop taking back-orders for it if they planned on discontinuing it.

This kit would be nearer the Atom in configuration
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/s...40mm_ARTF.html
or ARTF pusher http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/s..._EPO_PNF_.html
or ARTF puller and pusher http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/s..._EPO_PNF_.html
Andy

I got my Atom from Hobby King UK last week, maidened yesterday.
I'd already read this thread, so checked for all the known issues, and it seemed fine.
Found it pulled very strongly to the right, so much that even full left rudder and full throttle had a hard time pulling it round.
The wings look fine, no signs of warping or twist, the motor looks a little off to the side, but pushing left not right.
Looks like it might take sine more investigating too find the reason for the pull, it was there with or without power.

Otherwise seemed fine, lots of clockwise circuits, but stable and easy to land. Felt like it had enough power for me, it was my first flight of a 'real' rc plane.

Originally Posted by headlessagain

This kit would be nearer the Atom in configuration
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/s...40mm_ARTF.html
or ARTF pusher http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/s..._EPO_PNF_.html
or ARTF puller and pusher http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/s..._EPO_PNF_.html
Andy

Here's the link to the Mini Skywalker forum.

I purchaed one a few weeks back but haven't started building it yet. Quality of the kit looks very decent other than the horrible stickers they put on it. Good thing they peel off easily. A lot of people use it as a platform for FPV flying, although that's not what I got it for. I figured for $20 USD plus electronics I couldn't go wrong! It would be different than my son's Atom and less expensive than the Bixler, and would use some of the extra parts I have on-hand.

The guys who have it seem to really enjoy it. I'll probably start building mine soon, but may not maiden it until spring. Although it should easily be able to handle some snow landings...