Originally Posted by Westwood

Attachment 5114166
next trips is going up to Golden ears Porvivcial park trail is 8 hr up & 7 hr down
need to find a way to pack the plane, my new sss just too big to carry :-(

That picture is the Lions. The times for the hike is about right for the Lions if you go in from Cypress Bowl. It is a wonderful spot once you are up there! Golden Ears is way out east of Pit Lake.

If you are ever on top of Mt. Strachan, NE of Cypress Bowl, get your compass out and move around a bit. It will reverse 180 degrees in only 30 or 40 feet on top of that Mountain.

Gord

SSS arrived- started the build with Eckace helping- sure is a lot of angle in the motor- leans to the right several degrees- is this necessary? I wouldn't think with the weight of this plane that torque is a problem..was happy to see a deans plug on the esc from the factory..
got my radio and rx to bind and tested all ectronics- I guess i have to program my flap switch as nothing seems to be assigned to channel 6 on my optic 6 tx- got the airlerons and flaps all linked and the rudder and elev horns in place... also got the deans soldered on my only batt so far(for this plane) a 4000mh 3s.. will balance with a gopro on the nose

this plane is big- sure does dwarf the easystar and Radian- and everything else i fly..
hopefully we can maiden tomorrow night- wed for sure....

Originally Posted by Sculptor

That could work, turn one of them into a pack animal or Maybe fly it to the top.

Don't know much about mountains, I live in South Florida, the only mountains we have or called 'Land fills'.

The only thing flying here right now is the lawn furnature.

DJ

hi guys, just a quick question for those who know a damned sight more about ep than i do...

I have a 3542-1450 Turnigy motor, reckon this would work on 3S on this SSS?

http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/s...ner_Motor.html

not sure on prop, on the shelf I have 9x5x3 GWS or 9x6x2 APC

That motor is about the same size and weight as the stock one. Should install fairly easily. It's rated for a good deal more power and up to 4s. Hobby King tends to go wild with the ratings, however: 48A ???

Just guessing here, it should be measured, but I'd think either of your available props would produce a nice thrust gain over stock and should - should - remain with the design limits of the HK motor. But probably not the supplied ESC.

Has your plane arrived yet, Aussie?

Originally Posted by scottdearinger

SSS arrived- started the build with Eckace helping- sure is a lot of angle in the motor- leans to the right several degrees- is this necessary? I wouldn't think with the weight of this plane that torque is a problem..
hopefully we can maiden tomorrow night- wed for sure....

Good to hear your plane arrived - hopefully with no damage. Its actually pretty well boxed.
I also noticed the rather severe motor offset to the right. It also has a lot of down thrust built in.

Most of these EZ style planes require that; but it's vectoring a lot of thrust off in dirrections that don't help with forward flight. It's just the nature of these planes and part of the price you pay to get the prop out of the way in the front for camera and FPV use - these power systems arent very efficient.

Originally Posted by dbc

That motor is about the same size and weight as the stock one. Should install fairly easily. It's rated for a good deal more power and up to 4s. Hobby King tends to go wild with the ratings, however: 48A ???

Just guessing here, it should be measured, but I'd think either of your available props would produce a nice thrust gain over stock and should - should - remain with the design limits of the HK motor. But probably not the supplied ESC.

Has your plane arrived yet, Aussie?

funny you should ask- guess what turned up yesterday arvo... a giant Bixler!
My bad... a Super Sky Walker
No idea how I could have mistaken this giant for a bixler lol
I placed a Bixler2 wing on one of the SSS wings... oh my freakin gawd this thing really is huge!
i've had a few large birds, just sold my Cularis for this SSS on a bit of a gamble, I was looking for something a little more than just a glider platform, and this is exactly what i had in mind

reasonably packaged, although i am sure they could've been a little more creative with the contents packaging... one main wing tip was bent to the point of snappage, with a short plastic tube punched through it as well, leaving a large hole in the foam to fill... i have no idea what these little tubes are for, but allowing things to fly around loose inside the box is crazy, especially expecting no damage whilst destined to the other side of Planet Earth...
Aside from that, all is right in the SSS world

the stock motor does have a surprising amount of offset I must admit... but the disconcerting thing for me is the wobbling motor mount- it can move around far too much. Not worried as i'll be swapping out for the 3542-1450 in the least (a G32 is almost tempting lol) so i'll wick some CA to the mount, or someway to stiffen it up

not unlike the Bix2, it is inconvenient to have the fuse halves pre-assembled/glued together... i have a bunch of electronics to go in, life would have been soooo much easier if they'd stop pre-assembling... and the glue join has a LOT of gaps, i'll be filling them
that said, the HUGE (excuse the pun ) convenience is having the main wing halves in one piece- and i must admit i am surprised how stiff they feel with the spars in place, i was silently apprehensive on the integrity of such large wings, but i am very happy with them

i will:
~swap out the motor
~strengthen the motor mount
~replace the esc
~replace all servos
[replacements simply for peace of mind, i dont like cheap gambles on an fpv bird]
~a light application of fibreglass under the nose & tail of the fuse, and the leading edges of the main wings (does an awesome job of protecting the foam from having grass poke out lumps of foam from time to time, and adds stiffness)
~f'glass also the leading edges of the tail feathers, especially stiffen the elevator- far too flimsy for my liking

main wing joining, there'll be a rod glued into one wing root which will slide into a tube in the other wing root, then pinned
tried this in my Bix1 and it worked extremely well, and seeing as there is virtually nothing to join the wings on this SSS (other than a pitiful friction fit), this should be near enough to perfect, not only does it make it impossible for the wings to seperate, and yet very easy to assemble/disassemble, but it also does an immense amount of stiffening the the wing jointing area, somewhat reducing flexing in this area
a mate of mine came up with the idea... and seeing as he was responsible for shooting down my 1900mm cessna, his pennance is to install the joiner into my SSS wings- yay!

then there'll be the challenge to install all my FY gear under the main wing mount

i can see a lot of happiness and joy coming from this monsta!

Originally Posted by dbc

It's just the nature of these planes and part of the price you pay to get the prop out of the way in the front for camera and FPV use - these power systems arent very efficient.

yes, very convenient for fpv with the prop behind... but also a boon to be able to keep the prop well protected... i've flown my bix's in some tight spots that couldnt have been possible with anything other than a mid pusher prop, touch & goes are a hoot fpv!
not sure i'll be throwing this SSS around quite to that extent though lol

Sounds like a kit needs to be released for this, ALL the stock elec's sound bad.
I would be very very interested if a kit was available, and elsewhere then bananahobby. Ill be keeping watch on HK for a giant bixler

I wouldn't say the stock electrical components are "bad". They are of marginal quality. I've flown mine, all stock, 6 times now. You've got to be reasonable here; this is only a $140 plane with a huge wingspan. The components are about what you would expect for the price.

I do think about another $30-40 worth of better components would have been a good idea. I'd rather have paid $179 for it and had a much better plane.

Originally Posted by dbc

I wouldn't say the stock electrical components are "bad". They are of marginal quality. I've flown mine, all stock, 6 times now. You've got to be reasonable here; this is only a $140 plane with a huge wingspan. The components are about what you would expect for the price.

I do think about another $30-40 worth of better components would have been a good idea. I'd rather have paid $179 for it and had a much better plane.

Sorry, I shouldn't word it 'bad', under sized is more appropriate. Servo's im assuming are a bit too weak, and hardware too flimsy.
In kit form, it could be sold for $20-30 cheaper, without the wasted elec's.

Originally Posted by dbc

I wouldn't say the stock electrical components are "bad". They are of marginal quality. I've flown mine, all stock, 6 times now. You've got to be reasonable here; this is only a $140 plane with a huge wingspan. The components are about what you would expect for the price.

I do think about another $30-40 worth of better components would have been a good idea. I'd rather have paid $179 for it and had a much better plane.

i agree whole heartedly
for under $140 you get a fully functional 2400mm () upsized easystar/bixler, with everything other than radio and battery... that, in anybody's language, is extraordinary value. buy a bixler2 and you still have to buy an esc & flap servos, and remove chunks of foam (to fit decent size battery) before you can fly!
not only is this a huge plane, but as these guys have already proven, it CAN be flown bog stock standard, out of the box. respect the cheap components and you will get use out of them
back in the day I paid approx $300 for the cularis KIT only... and than had to buy all the electrics... and it too was just a gloryfied chunk of foam... there's some perspective heh heh

my apologies if my previous post sounded like the components are rubbish- let's say the components are relative to the purchase price... yet it DOES fly out of the box, that has been successfully proven
all you need to do is find a way to secure the main wings a little better (fibre tape would even get you in the air), and you may need more weight than the recommended battery size
other than that, in theory, you're good to fly

the ONLY reason I am doing more prep work is for fpv, otherwise mine would be in the air already

and yes, in all honesty, up the component quality and you could easily justify an increased purchase price... i too am with DBC on this, i would certainly pay more for quality components

my mate took one look at mine last night, and instantly ordered one.
it is that impressive

it has been a long time since i have had a warm fuzzy feeling that i actually received great value for a foamie
i for one, am ever so happy i've bought it

Originally Posted by Gordks

That picture is the Lions. The times for the hike is about right for the Lions if you go in from Cypress Bowl. It is a wonderful spot once you are up there! Golden Ears is way out east of Pit Lake.

If you are ever on top of Mt. Strachan, NE of Cypress Bowl, get your compass out and move around a bit. It will reverse 180 degrees in only 30 or 40 feet on top of that Mountain.

Gord

is a bit too late to do it this year as a same day trips, day is getting shorter :-(

Golden Ears Trail: West Canyon parking lot to summit of North Ear. Hiking trail only (12 kilometres; suggested time: 7 hours; elevation change: 1,500 metres). Follow the West Canyon Trail from the parking lot to Alder Flats. Beyond Alder Flats the trail switchbacks upward on an old logging road then heads steeply uphill to Panorama Ridge. Most of the elevation gain is made in this stretch. Listen for the nasal squeak of pikas in the rock slides. Impressive view of Pitt Lake to the west and mountains to the east and north are possible from Panorama Ridge. The ascent of the North Ear is made from the left (east) side across a permanent snowfield. Extreme caution is advised and proper equipment is recommended. Drinking water may be scarce in dry weather between Alder Flats and the snowfield. The round trip to Golden Ears is an overnight expedition for all but the fittest hikers. Overnight camping areas are located at Alder Flats and on Panorama Ridge around the mountain shelter which, itself, can accommodate up to 8 people. Expect snow on Panorama Ridge into July. This trail is long and strenuous and should only be attempted by experienced, well-equipped backcountry travellers. No open fires are permitted in the backcountry.

Can't wait to see your Super Sky Surfer, flight vid, Scott!

Good point, sammyc. It could have been sold for $30 less as good kit or $30 more than current price, as a good ARF. Instead, it's really neither.

Besides the component quality, my beef with the plane is the short tail moment. Just take a look at the picture of the small and large SS's in post #164.

The small one has a boom length to wingspan ratio of about 26%, about the same as the Bixler and FMS planes. The SSS ratio is about 21%. It's tail is too close to the wings. It will fly ok like this, but would have flown much smoother and more stable with a longer boom. It would take about an additonal 4" of boom to get the plane in the same proportion as the smaller one and most other EZ planes.

Now you would think that 4" of foam doesn't cost that much. Why not do it? I'm pretty sure this could be a big part of the reason:

Relatively inexpensive foam planes have a high proportion of cost in the shipping. The shorter fuse is just about the same length as the wing halves and; therefore, can be packaged in the smallest possible box. 4 inches additional boom and the required 1.5 inch of nose would mean a good bit longer box or a two piece fuse. We've got to keep the cost down!

Do you think this could be the reason?

Holy Jebbus this thing is frickin BIIIIIIIIIIG

The wing...so large and thick and wingy. It came with a RX too! Gotta take some time to digest this. The motor does look kinda small for this, but looks easy enough to pull out.

I'll fly it stock first, then tinker as needed. Decals are the first thing comin off.

ok video of maiden in edit room- will post tonight

totally stock- was getting late and growing dark so i dismissed the flap programming and taped them in place

rolled off the ground in 45-50 feet- loved it

this thing looks like a slow flyer- but when you consider the size- it is actually moving quite fast- but it does niot climb like a radian or Easystar.. will prop up and try again tonight- wonder if it can handle a stiff breeze(can it push itself upwind?) was calm last night

i did not have to add any weight anywhere to balance - i used a 4000mh 3s batt andd pushed it as far forward as i could- actyaully had to remove a little foam to get it to fit..i PUT A GORO on the wing near the root- and an HK cam way out on the nose- and it balanced at 4 and 1/4 inches- 110mm is 4.33 inches- so i am close

it floated with little loss of altitude with power off- this thing wants to float- doesn't like being on the ground at all-

Ailerons worked great and turning was easy -even when barely moving- didn't notice any stall tendencies.. does lose some altitude in a tighter turn-as expected

landing were a breeze- but this in not your sport plane- this is a camera platform and glider

all in all i like it...