Originally Posted by .quietguy

Whatever works best ... I was simply trying to be helpful.

I know you're being helpful, my post wasn't meant to be critical, I'm just relaying our experience with belly landing our Firebird Stratos in tall grass with the wings skids installed. Under those conditions the wing skids were not helpful, in fact they made matters much worse, but in shorter grass, dirt, or sand they probably help.

thanks lennie,

the stratos is an impressive bird,i like the VI stuff on it,makes it easier and safer for pilots like me starting back in it.less expensive long term.

like your video too,shows the area in great detail,impressive looking location.

no flying vids??

Originally Posted by flightpunch34

thanks lennie,

the stratos is an impressive bird,i like the VI stuff on it,makes it easier and safer for pilots like me starting back in it.less expensive long term.

like your video too,shows the area in great detail,impressive looking location.

no flying vids??

Only one... a friend shot it - about my third time with the Stratos, after a 30 year absence from the hobby:

Firebird Stratos, Sunday Flight (4 min 51 sec)

nice video and good flying,it's a real nice plane to fly,it's onboard saftey features make it a very relaxed flyer.
looks like you are enjoying the flying too.

A friend of mine drove 50 miles one-way a couple days ago to come up and go flying with me. He's never flown any planes but does have some rudimentary understanding of flight and aerodynamics from his long ago rocketry days.

Got him some stick time on my Stratos and he enjoyed flying it very much. So much so in fact, that he's talking about getting his own Stratos to learn to fly with.

And just about the time we were ready to leave, my flying buddy showed up with his Stratos for a couple of quick flights. His plane had problems with control, so I helped him diagnose the issue... it was the typical loose control rod problem and so we all just called it a night.

My friend sent me an email when he got home with a link to a place that had the Stratos "on sale" from $179 down to $139. I replied with the link to Horizon Hobby and their still lower price. Told him about the great service there too.

Maybe he'll buy one. Maybe.

Always a thrill to help excite another potential RC'er, BigIron... way to go.

Originally Posted by flightpunch34

nice video and good flying,it's a real nice plane to fly,it's onboard saftey features make it a very relaxed flyer.
looks like you are enjoying the flying too.

Thanks f'punch... my friends video equipment is pretty old but I at least got some of my clumsy flying antics on record ...

Doing high speed loops and turns, I lost my hatch cover and battery in mid-flight and ended up spiraling into a nearby creek. Pretty much everything got wet, but nothing broken. Now when I turn on the TX I do not get the familiar servo "binding" sound but instead the rudder servo just runs and runs (gears spinning), and the rudder is way out of alignment (tried realigning but no effect on how the servo behaves). Also, one motor keeps running even when the throttle is cut all the way. Do I need to replace the electronics? Any tips on this procedure from Stratos owners who may have had a similar experience will be appreciated.

Tom

tom,

firstly i'm no expert about electrics and the after effects of water,the first thing i would reccomend and i suppose the most logical thing would be to dry out the complete plane with a blow/hair dryer,turn it off and don't let it connected after injesting so much water,all that is happening is minor short circuits and bad connections,you might be lucky you could end up drying everything out.

the next step is a good circuit board spray/cleaner,you know the electric board cleaners? i would make enquiries here and see if you can get a safe product to spray over everything and seal things up and drive out the moisture.

before spraying a good contact cleaner over everything i would first after the hairdryer goingover i would plug it in and see what it's doing.
maybe you could be lucky.

as for the rear tail of the plane,it's very easy to bend and re-shape the foam,you could cut it if needs be and reglue it...to retain the shape,but be carefull with where the servo rods connects (clevis) as they are easy to break,it will just make life more awkward if you do....you can reglue them too though in the event of an incident.


i personally never fly over rivers or ponds,the worst thing is sealed servos can take a lot of damage by water if they are not fully waterproff,you might be able to dry the stratos ones cause they are not sealed,but corrosion is the enemy of water incidents.


last resort if all above fails is a new fueslage and elecs included,not cheap though i think around 80euros here as far as i know.


hope this helps.

f/punch

Originally Posted by flightpunch34

tom,

firstly i'm no expert about electrics and the after effects of water,the first thing i would reccomend and i suppose the most logical thing would be to dry out the complete plane with a blow/hair dryer,turn it off and don't let it connected after injesting so much water,all that is happening is minor short circuits and bad connections,you might be lucky you could end up drying everything out.

the next step is a good circuit board spray/cleaner,you know the electric board cleaners? i would make enquiries here and see if you can get a safe product to spray over everything and seal things up and drive out the moisture.

before spraying a good contact cleaner over everything i would first after the hairdryer goingover i would plug it in and see what it's doing.
maybe you could be lucky.

as for the rear tail of the plane,it's very easy to bend and re-shape the foam,you could cut it if needs be and reglue it...to retain the shape,but be carefull with where the servo rods connects (clevis) as they are easy to break,it will just make life more awkward if you do....you can reglue them too though in the event of an incident.


i personally never fly over rivers or ponds,the worst thing is sealed servos can take a lot of damage by water if they are not fully waterproff,you might be able to dry the stratos ones cause they are not sealed,but corrosion is the enemy of water incidents.


last resort if all above fails is a new fueslage and elecs included,not cheap though i think around 80euros here as far as i know.


hope this helps.

f/punch

Lot of PCB solder paste is cleaned with denatured alcohol and/or distilled water. Wipe and dry. Does not seem natural to use water, but is used.

Hi!

I am all new to this site. And have a problem with my Stratos Firebird. I have two, and really love them...but I think something is messed up with my power controll.

It has happend sometimes...on the ground. For ex. when I change battery...that I get NO power to my engines. The rudder and all that works...but the props dosent spinn at all. Any ideas?

Originally Posted by Corran

Hi!

I am all new to this site. And have a problem with my Stratos Firebird. I have two, and really love them...but I think something is messed up with my power controll.

It has happend sometimes...on the ground. For ex. when I change battery...that I get NO power to my engines. The rudder and all that works...but the props dosent spinn at all. Any ideas?

this is a problem with either the ESC /BEC (electronic speed controller / battery eliminator circuit) OR your battery is not fully charged.
since the same battery is used both to power the motor AND power the servos,
when ESC /BEC senses that the battery is nearly used up, the esc/bec shuts down power to the motor while still providing power to the servos. (this way you've still got control of the airplane to land)

Originally Posted by Jim Buzzeo

this is a problem with either the ESC /BEC (electronic speed controller / battery eliminator circuit) OR your battery is not fully charged.
since the same battery is used both to power the motor AND power the servos,
when ESC /BEC senses that the battery is nearly used up, the esc/bec shuts down power to the motor while still providing power to the servos. (this way you've still got control of the airplane to land)

Hi!

Thx for the answer! It acts just like that...but my battery is charged. Itīs a pitty to have this problems...cause I really love to fly the plane.

Here is a little vid of me taking it to the skies

Firebird Stratos GoPro (2 min 7 sec)

Originally Posted by Corran

Hi!

Thx for the answer! It acts just like that...but my battery is charged. Itīs a pitty to have this problems...cause I really love to fly the plane.

check the wires from the ESC to the motor ... assuming they are OK then you either have a:
burned out / bad motor
OR
Burned out / Bad ESC.

since it happened to BOTH motors at the same time, it's likely the ESC

Good flying there, Corran. Dunno where you are but man, it looks COLD.