OK, I did the maiden flight yesterday. I LOVE THIS PLANE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The onboard glow worked flawlessly. The engine didn't dead stick. It tracked perfectly on the ground and didn't veer to the left like most planes I have seem to do. In the air, the balance was perfect and it didn't even any trim. It flew absolutely amazing. This is my favorite plane I've assembled yet. Oh, and sounds awesome in the air!

Glad to hear Miss Elaine has maidened!

My build has been put on the back burner, but I am just about to bench run the Saito 72. It's my first glow engine since my Cox .049 control line plane some 37 years ago.
Was your on board glow driver necessary to keep your engine running?

Originally Posted by rabdooley

Glad to hear Miss Elaine has maidened!

My build has been put on the back burner, but I am just about to bench run the Saito 72. It's my first glow engine since my Cox .049 control line plane some 37 years ago.
Was your on board glow driver necessary to keep your engine running?

My glo engine would stay running without the onboard glo but the idle was higher than I'd like. Even with the onboard glo the idle didn't get that much lower but I found that the servo I used for the throttle has some slop in it where the others in the plane have none. I think this is messing with my idle. Anyway, the idle is low enought to land and while on the ground the plane doesn't run away from me, so I'm going to leave it for now.

A major benefit for me of the onboard glo driver is that you don't have to attach the glo lighter stick to start the engine...helpful for planes with cowls.

Here are a couple flight vids from yesterday.

ECOMRC Miss Elaine Magnum 52 Four Stroke (1 min 19 sec)

ECOMRC Miss Elaine Magnum 52 Four Stroke (1 min 7 sec)

Nice vids!

Mine is getting close to completion. I am going to fly it from the ground for now. The floats will be added after I get it balanced and maidened.

Did your plane balance at the recommended 87mm?
Mine is way to nose heavy. I may have to move my servos to the rear to help.
I have it balanced on my balancing stand at 87mm with an empty fuel tank and these adjustments.
1) 3oz of lead on tail.
2) 2650 2s lipo battery mid way down the fuse.


Any thoughts on this much appreciated....

RabDooley

I balanced mine 87mm back from the leading edge and 150mm out from the fuselage. Check out my pics from post 59, that's where I mounted the 2500mah life rx battery and rx. I needed no weight to balance. She had just an ever so slight nose down attitude with an empty tank.

Do you have any pics of your setup?

I tried to take some pics but they came out blurred. Will try again this weekend with another camera.

I just ordered some larger Lifpo4 batteries from Hobby King USA warehouse to try. (2 x 1600mah) and (2 x 200mah) Hopefully they arrive promptly.
I will mounting them on a couple of carbon fiber rods to aid in inserting them to the rear of the plane.

Well I finally got it in the air!
I was a bit nervous, especially since she weighed 2 pounds heavier than the listed flying weight. Flew pretty well. Rudder is definitely needed during turns. I dialed in some flaperons to help slow her down a bit.
Hope to put her back in the air again this weekend!

Originally Posted by rabdooley

Well I finally got it in the air!
I was a bit nervous, especially since she weighed 2 pounds heavier than the listed flying weight. Flew pretty well. Rudder is definitely needed during turns. I dialed in some flaperons to help slow her down a bit.
Hope to put her back in the air again this weekend!

OK, get some pics of her on here!

What did yours end up weighing? I never weighed mine. It feels heavy but if flies great, and you're right, it for sure needs rudder for the turns or that tail will drag.

I ordered the HK 3-axis gyro I'm going to try out in mine. I'm hoping this will help keep the take-offs nice and straight. Even with the little .52 four stroke and the 13x4 prop it really veers to the side during take off (P-factor?). Also when the wind gust are in excess of 10 or 15 mph she really gets knocked around. I hope the gyro will keep things smooth.

It weighed in at 6.6.lbs with a full 12 oz fuel tank and two 90 gram receiver batteries placed 2/3rds of the way in the back of the fuselage. This was needed to balance out the plane. Fuel tank is located below the CG.
Stated weight in the manual was 4.6 lbs.

I too ordered those flight stabilizers to try.

I'm curious as to what mine weighed. I'm going to weigh mine tonight. What engine did you use?

Saito 72

Originally Posted by rabdooley

Saito 72

Did your kit have those oddball aileron control horns? Did you use them?

Yeah, my kit had those behemoths. No I did not.
I had these on hand so I used them instead:
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/s...idProduct=8246