THREAD PURPOSE/ MISSION STATEMENT

For those who don't know me, I've been heavily involved with EDF flying since 2007, about 17 years at this point. My more specific intrest is in making an EDF jet go as fast as possible. That's why I lean heavily towards the sport jets instead of scale. So, enter the latest sport jet offering from Freewing, the Zeus.

I've been waiting on something like this since the Taft Cobra became unreasonably expensive for us here in the US. So, as soon as I saw it I hit the buy button for an ARF+ and have since then bought a 6s version and most of the foam parts for another airframe.

I decided that if I could get the Zeus to go close to 200mph with reasonable modifications, that I'd do a blog thread to consolidate all of the modifications that I've tried and try to decide how much each helps contribute to speed and durability.

Last weekend I recorded a GPS reading of 208 mph when adjusting for wind, so I'm beginning my thread. A lot of the early posts here will be things I've already posted in the main Zeus thread, but of course they get scattered and buried in a long thread. So, eventhough these mods may not be in any particular order, they will be easier to refer back to and easier for new readers to find.

***Note*** Please feel free to ask or comment on anything related to the topic. However, from time to time, I'll likely go back and clean up the thread by deleting posts that I think have outlived their relevance.
Please don't take it personally. I just like to keep a thread like this as clean and simple to navigate as possible.

I hope you enjoy following along and find the thread positive and useful. Maybe you'll learn a new trick or two. I'm sure that I will based on additions from others.

Thanks, Enjoy, Lee

Here are a few pictures of your fans Bob. Video link will follow in a little while.

I've decided to continue this topic on my blog so that it will stay on track. I welcome input from anyone who understands and follows the purpose of the thread.

Mission Statement........Find readily available, reasonably priced, components and assemble a dependable fan system in the 120mm class, that can deliver at least 20lbs of thrust.

I'll be looking at Dynamax, Ramtech, Jet Fan, and Turbax fans. They will be paired mainly with the 56mm series of inrunners made by Leopard Hobby, mainly due to success in early tests, and the fact that they are readily available and reasonably priced.

I've already seen peak thrust as high as 26lbs from a Dynamax running at approximately 12.5kw. So follow along or join in, but let's stick fairly close to the mission topic. Thanks, Lee

It seems the the established Electrolyte thread is mainly being used for a guide to assembling exact duplicates of Bret's prototype arf. Any questions about using different equipment or increasing performance is being viewed as insulting to the designer/developer, and is either received with silence or actual condemnation from a few.

So, I decided dedicated a blog entry to Electrolyte modifications. The mods will be aimed at increasing performance, reducing equipment costs, or any other changes mild or wild that guys would like to contribute.

Please keep it positive and show respect for others' work and contributions so that I don't have to exercise my god-like power to edit/delete unproductive content.

Thanks, Lee

I have what I think is one of the first few Fox motors built specifically for AMA Slow Rat Race.

You tell me what it is. What I can tell you is1)it was only test run at the factory 2)it is one of the first produced 3)it`s in mint original condition as shown by the photos.

If you are interested in owning it. Let me know what you think it`s worth.

Thanks, Lee

Here are some ideas Yar....Continue Reading

My first EDF was a 70mm Sniper back in the Fall of 2007. Since then I`ve built flown and crashed a bunch of jets. Some were scratch built original designs, a lot of them were ARFs, but most of them had major mods, very few were stock.

As much for myself as anything I decided to take the best pics and put them all in one place, so this is the place. I`ll add some descriptions with the pics and if there was a build thread on the model I`ll supply a link in case someone wants more info.

It will be a work in progress, but it will be pretty extensive in the near future.

Lee

The Holiday season is in full swing! For many old modlers, this means the quiet household is soon to be invaded by enerjetic grandkids. Many times, the weather is so bad that they are trapped indoors for days. Not a good combo.

Here`s a little nerf glider that may provide some relief, by giving them something to do. Maybe even do some competition to keep them busy. Distance, spot landing, ect.

PS, you should make a few for the adults too.

AUW is onli 1.7g and with no hard points or sharp edges it`s totaly safe for indoor use with no age limits

I`ve wondered for a while if you could reverse some of the etract units on the market. I`ve reversed the truion block in some air/air retracts for a custom fit for some situations, and it was no problem. This may seem obvious to some guys, and i always thought it would work, but had never sat down and done it.

So I decided to cut up a medium sized HK etract to see if it would work. Yep, it does. It`s pretty simple. You just have to remove the pivot axle, cut away some plastic and turn the truion block around. Works like a champ.

Most applications, the stock set up works fine. But if you run into a space issue, or a problem with the strut interfering with the etract motor housing, give it a try.

It will be nessesary to add some extra mounting tabs for the mounting plate. Or you could just glue the mounting plate in place and reinforce it some. They are less than $100 a piece so they are disposable.

It seems to me that with just a little effort, this feature could be added to most of the etracts on the market. Why not factory guys?

two pics

I wanted a fun EDF to fly every weekend. Almost RTF

I just got this delivered by UPS. The most unique thing about this trophy is that I flew all electric powered planes in every heat of 2007 to best all pilots, and they were burning old dinosaurs to power their planes. Electric is the future!!

my nomination for best cougar

neu 1515-2y motors

Here are a few shots of my launch Dolly. Still need to hook up a pushrod for the steering and paint it black.

Here are some shots of the batteries.