Originally Posted by GTstrudl

AJ,

Is this a personal perference thing, hand launch vs SAGATO?

Originally Posted by Little-Acorn

The SSS seems to be a sturdy bird. Coming in over the fence this morning with the flaps down, I managed to hook a wing on a street light pole that I thought I'd passed. Plane spun in, quite flat like a maple seed, and landed on its belly wheel with a thump. Aside from a slight impression in the leading edge of the left wing about 18" from the tip, and the fuselage seam in front of the canopy slightly split open (top only), no damage! After a thorough checkout, it was flying again ten minutes later, split seam and all. I'll CA that tonight.

I don't recommend this as a short-field landing technique, other than for emergencies.

P.S. What's SAGATO? Same thing we used to call ROG (Rise off ground) fifty years ago?

Originally Posted by Gordks

I know it generally means ROG take off, but SAGATO? Wazzat?

Gord

Actually, it is SOGATO (not sAgato) - Slide On Ground And Take Off
AJ

well i got mine in the mail today, unboxed it and immediately put the spars in. lol...I just wanted to see what it looked like fully dressed. Photos dont do justice but i must say it is pretty big. The Spars went in like a breeze. Nice and stiff so that's a relief. Now i just have to find the time to Build it....

Originally Posted by rhampton

... Now i just have to find the time to Build it....

MAKE the time!

Originally Posted by rhampton

well i got mine in the mail today, unboxed it and immediately put the spars in. lol...I just wanted to see what it looked like fully dressed. Photos dont do justice but i must say it is pretty big. The Spars went in like a breeze.

Jeez, why do you rate? Mine needed a jackhammer. I never did get the main spar in without sanding the out of it. I now have the 2nd smaller-size replacement CF tube on the way by mail.

Also VERY cool that yours arrived without decals applied. Personally I love the pure white finish. YMMV.

Good luck, you're off to a great start. Now don't you feel the flu coming on? Or cramps? Something that will unfortunately keep you away from work and at home tomorrow, and maybe the next day.....??

Originally Posted by fastfwd

That is my thinking also ! I am going to go ahead and order ALL new metal gear servos, i do not want this baby in pieces on the ground due to a POS servo ! But there are cheaper metal gear servos other than Hitec ( which i think are excellent servos) . And did you know your HS-81 are all nylon gears ? i have a few of these on hand, have two in my sbach and two in my sonic 185,they seem to work fine http://epbuddy.com/index.php?main_pa...roducts_id=254

Yep, I know there all nylon gears, I'm ok with that as I don't think that alone will present any problems. they are good servos at a good price that were imediately available. I would have ordered some from Hobby King, or Hobby Partz, but didn't want to wait for them......However, I may still do so. I just don't know how comfortable I am about the rest of the servos?

On a side thought, assuming all of the servos on the plane are the exact same servo, and assuming it was the elevator servo that caused the crashes, how would it be posible that all of the failures were only the elevator servo

I needed a jackhammer too. But just about 30mins ago, my hollow cf spar came in.....super lite

i didnt realize how heavy this glider is. i have sort of a bad back. i now have to Wonder is my back going to go out trying to hand launch this thing once i put my 4s and everything is ready to go?

You don't have to kill yourself launching this plane. A nice easy throw at about 3/4 - full throttle and she should launch fine. And replace the the spar with a carbon fiber tube. That alone sheds a lot of weight.

Originally Posted by rhampton

i didnt realize how heavy this glider is. i have sort of a bad back. i now have to Wonder is my back going to go out trying to hand launch this thing once i put my 4s and everything is ready to go?

Does take a pretty good heave. All three of my launches today (with 4s battery) almost became landings before I applied sudden up-elevator, something I don't generally like to do at low speeds. First time that's happened to me in a dozen flights. Mine is slightly noseheavy (CG is 93mm behind the leading edge, manual calls for 100mm), that may have something to do with it. "Floating" hand-launches were far more common when the plane was slightly tailheavy (104mm), though it was harder to control. Where is your CG?

1.) Hire the local high school quarterback?
2.) The plane CAN do a normal takeoff, especially with 4s, either from pavement or from short grass. Skids that stick down from near each wingtip may be a good idea, or even little wheels just in case.
3.) Bungee launch from the top of your (parked) car?

well i guess it wont hurt to try.....
well already i have my 1st question. how in the world do i change out the ESC...the wiring is all the way up the fuse. Do i actually have to unscrew the motor and take out just to change the esc?
i'm almost tempted to try that stock esc with a 4s 3000mah. How many amps do you think i will put using a 4s on that stock 45a esc...

Originally Posted by rhampton

well i guess it wont hurt to try.....
well already i have my 1st question. how in the world do i change out the ESC...the wiring is all the way up the fuse. Do i actually have to unscrew the motor and take out just to change the esc?

Pretty much, yes. But it's not at all difficult, just takes a #1 Phillips screwdriver and about two minutes to take it out. Three minutes to put it back in, since it takes a little patience to get the screws seated back into the firewall nuts.

Technically you can take out the old ESC just by giving the wires a good yank to unplug the 3.5mm bullet connectors, one at a time... though that might break something in the motor. But anyway the only way you can reconnect them again, is by taking the motor out and feeding the wires all the way into the motor pod and through, into the open air where you can grasp them.

I even took the wires all the way out, and fed in new ones (with 4mm connectors). Stood the plane on its tail and fed the wires down the long passageway, one at a time, guiding them with a steel wire poked into the air intake ahead of the motor pod. Again it takes patience, especially the third one, but it wasn't as hard as I expected.

i'm almost tempted to try that stock esc with a 4s 3000mah. How many amps do you think i will put using a 4s on that stock 45a esc...

Banana Hobby literature says the stock ESC is 40A continuous, 55A burst. If you believe Banana Hobby literature.

I'm using a 60A ESC with switching BEC, and the stock motor with a 4s battery. I put an APC two-blade 9x4.5 E prop on it, and it drew 27.5A at full throttle on the bench. With an EMP three-blade 8x6, it drew 35A. That might be too much propeller for this motor.

It's anybody's guess how much it would draw with an 8x6 two-blade like the stock propeller, with a 4s battery. Maybe around 28-30 Amps? Just a guess.

Thanks for the advice. well,,,,,based on your experiment test i see that your 4s is only pulling no more than 30 amps even with the 8x6 prop. im wondering now if i can get away with using the stock 40a esc with a 4s 3000mah and just use the 9x4 APC E prop. Doesnt seem like it would be a threat to the stock 40a esc at all...that way i can just leave everything the way it is....what do you think on this

Originally Posted by rhampton

Doesnt seem like it would be a threat to the stock 40a esc at all...that way i can just leave everything the way it is....what do you think on this

Check the manual that came with the plane, last page. It might be a loose sheet, not part of the manual. Describes various ESCs. Again, if you believe Banana Hobby literature.
I'm flying a non-stock Hobbywing 60A ESC, rated to a 4s LiPo battery, with 4A switching BEC.

Originally Posted by Little-Acorn

Does take a pretty good heave. All three of my launches today (with 4s battery) almost became landings before I applied sudden up-elevator, something I don't generally like to do at low speeds. First time that's happened to me in a dozen flights. Mine is slightly noseheavy (CG is 93mm behind the leading edge, manual calls for 100mm), that may have something to do with it. "Floating" hand-launches were far more common when the plane was slightly tailheavy (104mm), though it was harder to control. Where is your CG?

1.) Hire the local high school quarterback?
2.) The plane CAN do a normal takeoff, especially with 4s, either from pavement or from short grass. Skids that stick down from near each wingtip may be a good idea, or even little wheels just in case.
3.) Bungee launch from the top of your (parked) car?

hmmm i barley had to throw it,got friends bad servo replaced to day and he flew it.sweet as can be but it is simple to hand launch about 3/4 throttle and just a touch of up elevator and she floats off and up. two 3s batteries in parallel one 3600 and one 2200 balances fine

Originally Posted by rhampton

well i guess it wont hurt to try.....
well already i have my 1st question. how in the world do i change out the ESC...the wiring is all the way up the fuse. Do i actually have to unscrew the motor and take out just to change the esc?
i'm almost tempted to try that stock esc with a 4s 3000mah. How many amps do you think i will put using a 4s on that stock 45a esc...

i just spliced new esc into motor wires in the battery compartment.