I finished my Push-E Cat last night so I decided to head to the local field today & see if anyone was there to help me balance it out. I was concerned about it being nose heavy as I had to load 24 pennies into the nose to get it to balance in the location specified by the plans. Turns out I really needed to add a few to the tail. First flight was actually the best even though I needed almost full deflection on the elevator to keep it level. The winds were gusting from 10 to 18 MPH but mostly around 10-15. I actually made head way against those winds. I was amazed at that. First landing was uneventful as I was trying to maintain alt w/o power going with the wind & had full up elv to try and keep it up. Actually my best landing of the day. Second landing was a bit more rough but only busted 2 rubber bands. Launched again and got the hesitancies. I was gliding it with the wind & turned back into the wind. I wasn't sure if I wanted to land or not. Plane was about 10' up at that time. For some reason I decided to do a power climb/Immelman without power. When it stalled (aka hammer head) :-) I applied full power & tried to pull out. It wasn't completely vertical when it hit but it was darn close. Battery cover busted some but a fellow there had some Ca and we glued it & taped it back up. Also glued one of the dowel's for the wing mount. Was about to put it back together when I noticed that a wire was loose from the ESC. I guess with the wires going through the wing & then routed through the fuselage to the receiver bay in the belly of the aircraft the wires stopped before the wing did. I think I'll route the wires a little differently next time. All in all a good fist days flight I think. Considering it was my first time to fly an RC plane & the winds as strong & gusty as they were. I'm sure glad it's made out of EPP foam and not wood & tissue. First landing would've done it in if that were the case. :-) Now it's off to the hobby store to buy another ESC and see if I can get some more stick time in today. :-)

Steve-S



[This message has been edited by Steve-S (edited 06-05-2001).]

that sounds like a great 1st day out!... Imagine how well you would have done if it were a calm day

Are you the guy I met out at the ARCA field a few weeks ago?
Glad to see the Push-E-Cat survived. That foam is the best, isn't it? Like I said, let me know if I can help you. I joined the club, so I am a member now.

Shawn
Eflightpower.com

Congrats Steve!! The PEC is an excellent plane, mine has gotten a lot of abuse.... and keeps on flying!
Later,
Don

Shawn,
Yes that's me. There wasn't anyone there to take my money before I brought my wounded bird home so I'm not a member yet but I figure I'll have better luck tomorrow & can find someone out there in the evening. Had some bad fish last night so didn't go back today. Got the ESC fixed though. Re soldered the lead on & cut the wires to get them out of the fuselage & soldered them back together. If you own a PEC I'd advise routing the ESC along the side of the fuselage to the trailing edge. I taped the wires & ESC on the back side of the "cabin" & placed the power lead & switch under the rubber bands. This way if, er when, the wing comes off again it won't take any part of the ESC with it. Hopefully. :-) Now I need to justify getting another battery so I can fly while charging. :-) I tell you it's rough keeping it level against the winds as strong as they were, especially with all that extra nose weight on the first flight. :-). You know after I counted all the pennies I had put in the nose to balance it I realized I could've just used a quarter. :-)

Steve-S

Glad to hear that another PEC is in the world. Warms my heart to know that my work is appreciated.

Just wanted to make one important point for all the folks working on their Push-E's right now: Learn from Steve's mistake.

It is very important that you follow the directions and install APP connectors and use a non-locking radio connection between the wing and the fuselage. If you hard wire the connections to the fuselage, you will damage your ESC by ripping the wires out of it when the wing goes its separate way from the fuselage on impact.

When I talk about the underwing connector bay in the instructions, that's the whole reason-TO HOLD THE BREAK AWAY CONNECTORS!!!

I know that folks will do their own thing, innovate, and generally (but not always) ignore the instructions. However, in the case of the Push-E Cat, doing so can be a risk to your equipment. There are certain things that are in the instructions that really should be followed carefully. So I encourage everyone to read them thoroughly before beginning construction, and if you have a question, give me a call! I'll be glad to help.

Enjoy!

[This message has been edited by Darwin (edited 06-05-2001).]

My boys have flown our PEC about 10 times now and the first day out was a bit rough like Steve's. When my oldest boy drilled it into the ground, we were amazed when we picked up all of the pieces, the only damage was a cracked piece of tri-stock making the motor v-mount. Pretty tough plane. We rubber banded it all back together and flew several more times. We have since moved from a small park to our club's flying field and it allows them LOTS of room to fly. Darwin's comments about the connectors is true. We use Deans and I put some velcro on top of the wing to attach the ESC. During that first mishap, EVERYTHING came apart but cleanly.

I'm a little surprized at the tail-heavy condition. Do you fly 1400 mah packs? We actually put the 1400 pack in the center of the battery bay (about 1/4" of 'air' in the front) to balance it. No added weight at all to balance. We also went with velco on the battery to keep it in place.

The plane flies nicely, I've even enjoyed flying it a couple of times. My boys are attempting landings already, I think it was months of flying my balsa trainer before I even attempted one.

Nice kit Darwin!

Kevin

Darwin,
The instructions do mention to use two jumper wires there. Looking back I was basing my interpretation of the instructions on what was included in the "finishing kit" that I purchsed with the airplane and my assumption that it included everything I would need to complete the kit. When I saw the diagram of where to moung the ESC & how to mount it I should have known that I'd missinterpreted something as I could barely get the ESC to pass through the wing w/o an extension wire. The clues and information were all there. That was my mistake and one that I have learned from. My appologies for suggesting that your instructions did not address this issue as they obviously have. Perhaps adding a small notice that two (2) sets of extension wires will be needed, one of two wires for power from the battery compartment & one of three wires for the ESC from the receiver compartment, might be of assistance to those of us who are instructionally challenged. :-) Thanks again for a great plane design I'm amazed at how easily it can be righted from the most extreme angles. Very user friendly.

Steve-S