Originally Posted by sylifis

It sounds like the props fit the shaft of the parkzone 480 perfectly, the stock spinner accommodates the props, but you only had to drill the hole for the retaining pins slightly....is that correct? Have you bench tested the props to see if you are happy with them or better yet flown them? Is this the one you ordered from espirit Graupner CAM 10 x 8 6mm with carbon fibre for $8.00?

Tried the Graupner prop this morning. Bench tested 245w 22a. Stock prop on mine was 190w 16a. Seemed like a much faster climb rate. Quieter and smoother than the stock prop. The correct size drill to use is a #31.

Originally Posted by Gohmer

Tried the Graupner prop this morning. Bench tested 245w 22a. Stock prop on mine was 190w 16a. Seemed like a much faster climb rate. Quieter and smoother than the stock prop. The correct size drill to use is a #31.

That sounds really good, I only just received my new Graupner prop so I haven't flown with it yet...nice to know.

Just remember, the stock battery pack is rated for 19.5 amps continuous. You might want to use a pack with a higher current rating with that prop.

AV8R, right, I am using an Align 2100Mah 5oz lipo that gives me really long flight times.....I was able to fly today with the new carbon Fibre Graupner CAM 10X8 folding props. I used the #31 drill to enlarge the hole, the only negative comment would be the shoulder is not all that big to start with and the hole for the pins reduces that margin. I don't expect it to fail unless it hits the ground spinning or some other immovable object. Wow, the power improvement was evident for a small difference in prop size...interestingly the motor sounds like it is purring as it flew past me, the new prop is definitely a plus. Unfortunately, the wind came up suddenly to about 15mph and at 1/2 throttle the bird was standing still, so having had the benefit of previous crashes I reluctantly brought it back down from about 1000'.

Also, today my Zippy 2500 lipo's for the Futaba 7C xmtr arrived...with the proper connector for the lipo charger and the proper connector for the Futaba 7C already installed. It fits perfectly in the battery compartment of the 7C and after charging for 15 minutes on my LIPO charger it reads 12.5 volts and is good to go. Although I didn't ask for it Hobby City included a really nice 2" Turnigy Neck Strap. So far I have had a very good experience with Hobby City... on time and as represented and I don't think anyone can beat their prices.

Hobby City - hmmm.

I ordered my LiPo tx pack and some other packs from them about 5 days ago. First thing that went wrong was the payment page crashed and wouldn't return, so I had to use the manual payment link on the Hobby City web page. That also failed on the first attempt, but when I tried it again later, it worked. However, the order still did not process. I emailed Hobby City support several times, supplying my order number & payment confirmation number. They responded to my emails eventually but nothing was done. Finally, I tried online support and it was quickly resolved. It's been sitting there saying processing ever since. Then they all responded to my emails saying that it was resolved! I told them I knew that because I got it fixed through online support.

My credit card was charged a small amount more than the total order. I contacted online support again last night and was told it was a payment fee. I ended up paying two different payment fees even though only one of them worked. They told me I had to contact the payment companies to do anything about it. They also told me my order was being packed and would ship later that day. It did not. It still says processing as it has for several days and as I watch the in-stock quantities of my items dwindling.

I know the prices are good, and I didn't expect it to happen quickly but this has been a very frustrating first experience with them.

On a brighter note, I got a chance for a flight today. It was chilly in the 40's, with a variable north wind coming up a gentle slope. At times it would blow stronger than I thought was wise to fly the Radian in, but then it would calm right down. There were lots of big white puffy clouds up there and some hawks circling. I decided this was a good opportunity to see if I could launch into the stronger wind without running the motor and still get it up there.

It launched fine into the wind, but the wind quit too soon and I had to run the motor. I ended up getting underneath a bunch of hawks circling above at two different levels and the Radian went up. I stayed with them for a few minutes and the glider kept climbing. The birds did not seem to mind. When they started heading into the sun I got out of it and landed. It was a fairly short flight because I didn't have a lot of time, but it was a great one. That's exactly what has always made me want a glider: to be able to soar like those hawks. You could almost see the rising column of air because it was full of circling birds, including mine. Very cool!

[QUOTE=av8r]Hobby City - hmmm.

I ordered my LiPo tx pack and some other packs from them about 5 days ago. First thing that went wrong was the payment page crashed and wouldn't return, so I had to use the manual payment link on the Hobby City web page.

Sorry to learn of your bad experience with HC. Well, I also had the same problem with the paypal page not accepting, then I canceled and started over, and that time no problem. Other than that no problems. Sounds like you had a great day, I always like it when I see some Hawks circling in the thermals too.

Out today. I've stopped timing my flights. The only way to get the Radian out of the sky is loops.
I ran it up to low-ish highstart hight, and really started looking for lift. It didn't take long to find it.
It went from high to WOW! in about 10 minutes, and from WOW! to UH-OH! in about 30 seconds.
I pointed the nose in until it was screaming and then looped it a few times to bring it down, but it didn't look much bigger than a speck with wings. I repeated the loops until it was comfortably high, then took the elevator back up.
I messed around for about 45 minutes and finally brought it down with 3 clicks of down trim.
Amazing plane.

could you folks make a picture of how to position the antenna wiskhers in the fuselage? I am guessing the long one down the tailboom and the short one 90 degrees from this into the wing? or is it the long antenna down the wing?

also on the tx, must it be flown with the antenna bent 90 degrees to the base?

Originally Posted by rcko

could you folks make a picture of how to position the antenna wiskhers in the fuselage? I am guessing the long one down the tailboom and the short one 90 degrees from this into the wing? or is it the long antenna down the wing?

also on the tx, must it be flown with the antenna bent 90 degrees to the base?

At post #465 I posted a pic of what I did...I believe it improved my xmtr connection by eliminating any interference with the bat. and other parts. I ran the long ant. out and thru the hatch and taped it in place with a 90deg. bend at the end, the short one I just pointed in the opposite direction in a straight line. The main thing is to keep them as far apart as feasible for diversity. The xmtr needs to have its antenna pointing straight up or perpendicular (never straight out). Be sure to do a range check before flying the first time.

Lordy, thermal time is here right now, gads out at noon and thought I would do a 20 minute flight for fun, as some winds didn't expect much but suddenly nosing into the wind things kept going up and up, gads losing visual so brought near overhead but slightly upwind, and see it fine now, but nope, up and up, look out, forgot my binocs and with the brutal sun as always right where the lift is, so concerned did some tight cirling helped for awhile then up and up, ok lets get this one down, some downstick and and from angle lost visual suddenly there she was screaming down, easy up and now only over hundred feet, she still stayed level and didn't lose altitude at all infact gained some again, ran out of time for the flight as to go out and eat with friends, so dang let her come down.....have no idea why mentions of larger batteries for this dude, never found this an issue unless you attempting sport flying etc, find any more lift and I may have to convert to a couple AA'S, hi hi..what fun, THERMAL TIME ...WOW..BEST ..<>..

Pssst, any ideas on downsizing the battery for summer lift ??? hmmmmm..<>..

Originally Posted by wnppmy

... Pssst, any ideas on downsizing the battery for summer lift ??? hmmmmm..<>..

Yes "fish in a barrel days" as we call them are common with the Radian. We'ver resorted to challenges based on limited run times on the initial launch (launch hieght)

So if you speck out after 20 second, get on down and do a 15 second run, then try 10, get's interesting but you learn a lot!

TP1320 3S Pro Lites will save you some weight - they set the standard in power-to-weight density.

-Hilgert

Originally Posted by hilgert

TP1320 3S Pro Lites will save you some weight - they set the standard in power-to-weight density.

-Hilgert

That's what I've been using in mine. I have two of them and they are 1 year and 9 months old and have been flying the crap out of a 3D plane during that time, at very close to their continuous current rating. I put 85 flights on that plane in the first month and a half at which time I quit keeping a log of my flights, and haven't slowed down much on it since. I fly it all the time because it can be flown almost anywhere in almost any conditions.

I have used several different sizes of TP PLs and have been pretty happy with them. Had a couple clinkers for whatever reason, but I've never been able to find a different pack that was of comparable power output that wasn't considerably heavier.

I have to admit that I did order a Zippy 3S 1000 25C to try in the Radian and the 3D plane, if it ever gets here. It's supposed to be the same weight as the TP 1320, but I had to drop down 320mAH to get that. I'm hoping that since it's rated for more current it will perform well. We'll see.

Had a very interesting flight this morning. There was a light to moderate wind coming up the hill in my backyard. I found some lift and stayed up there pretty good, but it was turbulent and gusty. It got knocked around a little bit at altitude sometimes, but was not a problem. When I tried to land is when it got real interesting. I knew it would be since my landing approach into the wind would be downhill, over an old cornfield, across the width of my tiny "runway", then into a cut hayfield. There are wires and buildings nearby on the right hand side on this approach path. This is one ungainly bird trying to land in those conditions. It took me many attempts to get it down where and how I wanted to. It just would not quit flying. It's a good thing I'm an experienced flyer. It would not have been fun for a beginner.

Several times I was able to touch down on my runway but couldn't keep it down. One time it touched down twice and still kept flying. Since it was going downhill and had to drop in over the cornfield, it was hard to get it slowed down, and I wanted to land it gently, not fast and hard. I tried to slow it by flying big s-turns back and forth, inches above those nasty cornstalks, but the wind would get under it and pick it right up and away we'd go again. Finally, I got it to touch down on the runway in a slightly calmer moment and was able to hold it on the ground and it slid into the hayfield. Didn't hurt anything.

I sure learned a lot about flying the Radian in difficult situations.

But it was fun. Challenging fun, but still fun. Hey, it was my first touch-and-goes with a glider!