Originally Posted by Gohmer

axi 2212/20

wow.. thats not a cheap motor.. how does it compare to standard and was it worth the money..?

Originally Posted by Kickstart

wow.. thats not a cheap motor.. how does it compare to standard and was it worth the money..?

The same question is on my mind. It is obvious that the Parkzone 480BL is not a state of the art motor. If it was, it would not come as the stock motor on so many of their planes, and be the same as it was a few years ago. A good comparison is the EFlite Power 10 motor, which I have used on the Mustang and Corsair. Those planes come with the same motor as the Radian, and the Power 10 is a direct bolt-in replacement. It is a little heavier and a little more expensive but it has TONNNNNS more power.

From that experience, I am sure there must be a motor out there that is lighter than the stock Radian motor but with equivalent power, or a motor that is the same weight with more power, or both.

I'm after same power but less weight.. I've just fitted an easyglider spinner and it's 25g heavier (from memory) and i'm looking to gain some of that back..

Originally Posted by Kickstart

I'm after same power but less weight.. I've just fitted an easyglider spinner and it's 25g heavier (from memory) and i'm looking to gain some of that back..

Here are 2 ways to get rid of the extra weight. 1-get rid of the stock canopy which weighs 25 grams......2-cut and solder the wires from the esc to the motor...11 grams gained without the connectors and the excessive wire length.

It was only last week that I had the canopy fall off in mid flight. People use rubber bands to hold it on and maybe that is the best option, although I have never tried it. There were 2 things that amazed me during this experience. One was how long it took to fall. It seemed like forever for that thing to flutter down to the ground and I kept my eye on it and the plane at the same time. Eventually it hit the ground and I ended up finding it.

The other amazing thing was how well the Radian flew without it. I don't know if it was the increased drag or the lack of almost an oz of weight off the nose, but it floated like a butterfly on helium. After seeing the canopy hit the ground, I was able to concentrate on the flight of the plane, and it was impressive.

My next mod is to do what Radio.Active has already done, and replace that canopy with something lighter. 25 grams off the nose of this plane is nothing to be sneezed at.

As I prepare my third Stubby Radian 3.0 I finally documented the replacement HStab here:

https://skydrive.live.com/?cid=DBDE7...5DDCB92%211521

It adds about 8g to the tail but that is no big deal as I'm trying to get the CG back to 3.5" anyway. Probably could reduce weight by being careful how much varathan I brush on to seal the balsa as it soaks it up real good and I should have just used the spray urethane instead. Also could cut/punch lots of holes in the balsa to remove weight.

But what the heck, I go and add a couple of 808 cams with larger external batteries @ 33g each and it still floats great.

Nice job on the balsa stabilizer! A little extra weight on the tail never hurts. I was looking at your pix of the Stubby and was wondering...where do you put the receiver and esc? Also, are you getting enough throw with the short arms on the servos?

Today I am in the process of putting some paint on mine. As you know, white planes kind of get lost in the snow and gray of the frozen north. I wonder if buddy will ever come up with some decent pix of his 10 foot Radian?

Originally Posted by Jovanx

Nice job on the balsa stabilizer! A little extra weight on the tail never hurts. I was looking at your pix of the Stubby and was wondering...where do you put the receiver and esc? Also, are you getting enough throw with the short arms on the servos?

Today I am in the process of putting some paint on mine. As you know, white planes kind of get lost in the snow and gray of the frozen north. I wonder if buddy will ever come up with some decent pix of his 10 foot Radian?

Hi Jov... the RX is usually in the servo bay. I use either a Futaba 617FS or the Orange HK 8 CH replacement but both are usually removed from their case and put in clear shrink wrap. Lately I have tie-wrapped them to the servo bay door. Ya gotta look close but the 617FS is shown here https://skydrive.live.com/?cid=DBDE7...5DDCB92%211420 the Orange is nicer in that it has the pins pointing out the end and also has 8CH failsafe ( reference to the RP thread and current discussion ).

The short throws doing 90 degress is more than enough as I shorten the throw using inner holes at the control surface AND always use 100% EXPO so the movement around centre is very small. I don't do aerobatics with these guys

Something doesn't seem right with Mr 10' I've done that with an Easy Star and Radian and Radian Pro Wings. It is an increase of about the same ratio - 60% increase in wing. They fit nicely in the EZ. BUT the short coupling of the tail to the large wing makes it super twitchy and hard to control - small control surface on the HStab relative to the wing AND short distance to the center of lift. It few under power like a galloping ghost and when soaring the ELE function was always to erratic. Like over steering on a car Maybe a HK Orange 3 axis gyro would help just for RUD and ELE. I bought a couple of them but never have used them except on the bench to testing them. Here is a 11' sailplane on the F/S thread for comparison and notice the size of stab/wing ratio and the distance of the stab from the wing. http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1777392 and here's my 100" V-Tail

https://skydrive.live.com/?cid=DBDE7...5DDCB92%211331

BTW, the Futaba and Orange RX are larger than the stock Spektrum not including a satellite RX for the second antenna. I use a Turnigy 40A Super Brain which is physically larger than the Eflite 30A and it sits right behind the motor. See the Stubby 2.0 for pics https://skydrive.live.com/?cid=DBDE7...5DDCB92%211425

The 2 antennas on the Futaba and Orange run up the sides of the fuselage out of the servo bay up to the bottom of the wing saddle with each 90 degrees to each other. One leaning forward 45 degrees and the other leaning back 45 degrees.

Again, same as the Stubby 2.0 https://skydrive.live.com/?cid=DBDE7...5DDCB92%211413

Alan

Originally Posted by Jovanx

From that experience, I am sure there must be a motor out there that is lighter than the stock Radian motor but with equivalent power, or a motor that is the same weight with more power, or both.

I have a Himax HC3510-1100. It has a 25mm x 25mm pattern (same as stock), 4mm shaft (same as stock), and is smaller, lighter, and more powerful than the stock motor. Not cheap, but a good drop-in replacement.

Thank you for that info, chickenwing. I knew there had to be something better than the stock motor, and that one sounds perfect. Do the wire connectors fit the stock Eflite esc?

Originally Posted by Jovanx

Thank you for that info, chickenwing. I knew there had to be something better than the stock motor, and that one sounds perfect. Do the wire connectors fit the stock Eflite esc?

Yes, it's a direct drop-in replacement, no mods necessary.

I also reset the incidence and CG
Then I added spoilers, very effective.
This Radian can't take a hard landing without doing damage to the fuse forward of the wing, that is why the canopy won't fit after a hard spot landing.
Other mods include 11X7 cam prop, 1300 ma 45-90 C battery
The climb to 200m is under 25 seconds with this combination
See attached pictures.....

Allan M.

Originally Posted by Ace45

This Radian can't take a hard landing without doing damage to the fuse forward of the wing, that is why the canopy won't fit after a hard spot landing.

One time I clipped a goal post with the wing, and the plane spun around and nose-dived straight in from about 15 feet. The nose was compressed and I removed the hardware and soaked it in hot water. That almost did the trick but the canopy was still about 1/16" too long to fit properly. I took a sanding block and sanded 1/16" off the front of the canopy and now it fits perfectly.

Originally Posted by Ace45

I also reset the incidence and CG
Then I added spoilers, very effective.
This Radian can't take a hard landing without doing damage to the fuse forward of the wing, that is why the canopy won't fit after a hard spot landing.
Other mods include 11X7 cam prop, 1300 ma 45-90 C battery
The climb to 200m is under 25 seconds with this combination
See attached pictures.....

Allan M.

Nice spoiler mod. Please let us know more on the connectors for these and would like to know what spinner and hub you are using?

Hi Guys,
I am putting together a Radian and have a question regarding the decalage mod and aft CG . I would like to cure the pitch up under full power tendency. Will the decalage mod do this or do you need to shift the CG aft as well? I installed a NTM 3530 1100 kv motor, 50 mm aluminum spinner and a 12/6 prop. I also installed the servos in the side of the fuselage right where the pushrods tubes enter the fuselage. This allowed me to move the receiver to where the battery usually goes and now I can put my 2200 mah battery in the belly where the receiver and servos normally go. Not sure how much more this motor/spinner combo is than the stock one but with no stab installed it balances about the stock position. I will finish the balsa stab and elevator this weekend and see where the CG ends up. I don't do much thermaling , mostly like to fly low altitude graceful aerobatics and slope soaring.
Shane

Originally Posted by Av8rshane

Hi Guys,
I am putting together a Radian and have a question regarding the decalage mod and aft CG . I would like to cure the pitch up under full power tendency. Will the decalage mod do this or do you need to shift the CG aft as well? Shane

For a plane to be statically stable in pitch during power-off glide, the COMBINATION of the elevator and stab needs to be pushing the tail down slightly. When you apply power, the plane speeds up and the downward force provided by the tail feathers increases. Thus, pitch up is inherent as power is applied. Changing the stab incidence alone (what some call a change in decalage) doesn't alter this basic effect.

That having been said, moving the CG back will reduce the tendency to pitch up. As the CG is moved back closer to the neutral point, the tail feathers need to provide less downward force when in the glide mode. Therefore, when power is applied, there is less of a tendency to pitch up.

Many pilots apply less than full power during launch and then apply some down elevator as power is increased to avoid the pitch up. There is another approach. With my computer radio, I have the elevator slaved to the throttle so that more down elevator is applied as the power is increased. The slave percentage is adjusted to provide a nice nearly constant slope of the climb at full power.