I ordered some small folding props , and one of those was the WLtoys F959 prop .
Really wanted to see if the prop could be turned around from a pusher to a tractor .

Eeeeer - Yeah !
Now , I had to ever so slightly enlarge the hole so I could press fit the prop assembly to a 2mm motor shaft . ( looks to work )
Also the other day my replacement ( new ) tachometer arrived .
Anyways ...

Racestar BR1504 + WLtoys F959 prop assembly ..

3s - 14600 rpm - 2.8A
2s - 11600 rpm - 1.8A

And just to see what the brushed WLtoys F959 does

2s - 13500 rpm - 3.4A

Well , an almost completely useless experiment ( I guess ) , but the plan is to use this motor / prop combo for something .
Maybe a Depron model ? Sub 100 gram , Aileron / elevator bird ?


Hmmm , maybe motorise the R3 - ????????

Yeah ! I graded this a PITA ( Pain In The Abacus )
Well , I am now upgrading the rating to Pain In The Asp !

I did go out to maiden !
And my CG was too far back , but I had no other batteries that would fit .
Also , I did mention the lack of thrust from the factory prop . 0ooooh Yeah Baby ! ( What thrust ? )

So I came home and cut the factory prop off .
Fit a bullet prop adaptor and cut a 5x3 down to 4x3 as the 5x3 was loading the motor too much .

Problems !
I read a few comments where people talk about the motor coming lose .. Yeah , I had that .
Half a flight and the motor mounts came lose .
Tightened them and then gave the screws / mount a dose of cyno . ( Cyno for model airplanes is like Penicillin for humans )

I also went thru my battery collection and found a larger heavier battery that just fits .. ( Just )
It does no effect the CG that much ! Really need a battery that can be pushed further forward in the FUSE ! ( If any one from HK reads this )
Ps / Why bring a model to market ? When no battery fits .

Anyways , now the motor is making some sort of grinding noise around mid throttle .
Seriously , for me the Ezio 800 has just been a box full of problems .. Problems that just wont go away .

So next time I go out , .....
1) Heavier battery
2) A prop that produces thrust
3) I may have to go to 100% Expo for the elevator

Ezio 800 from HobbyKing (1 min 25 sec)

HobbyKing Firstar BNF (5 min 31 sec)

Oh dear ! , the Sun Glare was really bad and it really F'ed with my depth perception !
The tree I hit was literally invisible to me because of the glare ( I don't deal well with glare )

( I swear officer ! The tree came out of no where and hit my plane )

A) The Firstar has plenty of power to ROG ( Rise off ground )
B) My CG is a little rearward
C) First part of the video I am trying to trim for power . It took all the down trim the pot had to offer .
D) The Firstar flies really well , shame about the low sun . Made things harder than they needed to be .
E) Yes , the Firstar could be a very nice first model ( Currently on Sale @ HobbyKing )
F) My CG is just behind the spar , Ail 100% + 20% Expo / Elevator 100% + 60% Expo
G) Battery is a Nanotech 460 2s ( Fits in the fuse real nice )
H) Yes , I hit a tree . The damage was a small dint on the wings LE and a few minor scratches on the wing surface .
I) The sun made things a PITA , but I still had fun .. And thats what it's about .

WLtoys F959 bound to my Taranis Q x7 (5 min 52 sec)

It was a cold / foggy day today !
I think it was just around 10deg Celsius when I was at the park and the breeze was just picking up .

The WLtoys F959 has been around for a long time now .
It has earned a rep for being value for money , but I really hate the factory transmitter .
The one that came with my F959 simply confirmed my right to not like the Factory supplied transmitter .
So I simply bound the F959 to my Taranis Q x7 .
Since the F959 runs the old Flysky protocol , you could use a 9x or other transmitter that supports the protocol .

I had previously trimmed the F959 for glide , and the Q x7 simply makes controlling the F959 so much more rewarding .
So at the park under power the F959 was pulling up . I literally needed almost all the down trim the trim pot offered ( mine is set to fine ) .
But once trim was established , the F959 was so easy to fly . It is almost a hands off plane .
For most of the flight I was running about 30% throttle ? ( watch the video ) .

I have to say , I was flying the F959 a little slowly . It never tried to stall out on me , not even when I tried to lower the throttle even more . The F959 simply started to slowly descend .
I did do one full throttle pass and turn , then cutting the motor going into a glide . ( I lost altitude quickly because the glide trim and power trim are so different ) To glide you really need to gently apply a little up...Continue Reading

I love cheap ! Yes I do !
While some people brag about how much they paid for something , I tend to be the other way around !
And I tend to brag about how little I paid .

Having said that , I thought -- Just how little $$ does it take to get a model in the air ?

Obviously one can wait for discounts ( oh by the way - the mid year deals have started )
Still , for how little can you fly ?

DSM2 Rx from BG $8.40 Oz Banana's
30A ESC from BG $6.68 Oz Banana's
Motor - Cheap from BG $7.95 Oz Banana's
Servo from BG $3.64 Oz Banana's
Cheapest Model from BG $27.89 Oz Banana's

Total build cost = $58.20 Oz Banana's or / $40.36 USD ( At current exchange rate )



There you go , And obviously that is a variable ..
You could build a wing from a Pizza Box , lowering the build cost or having your pizza and flying it ?
Two bites of the apple maybe ?

Anyhow , you could fly for even less if you wanted .
Just remember , sometimes you get more for less ! ( Fun - more fun )

Motor Link
Prop Driver Link

I do like small motors , really I do !

Testing was with a 30A ESC - 2200 2s and a few props ...

6x3 = I saw between 2 and 2.3 amp with this prop . With the motor on my scales in a pusher configuration I saw between 85 and 90 grams of thrust .
5x4 = I saw between 2 and 2.3 amp with this prop . With the motor on my scales in a pusher configuration I saw between 85 and 90 grams of thrust .
5x3 = I saw between 2 and 2.3 amp with this prop . With the motor on my scales in a pusher configuration I saw between 85 and 90 grams of thrust .

Yes ! , I did copy and paste ! Because between the 6x3 to 5x3 there was little difference on 2s .

On a plane that comes in around 100 grams flying weight , this motor could be just the ticket !

Bullet prop driver !
I ordered some of these COS I need them ..
The EZIO might need one if I remove the factory prop .
The Firstar might need one ,
And the Racestar motor certainly needed one ..
For those motors with 1.8 to 2mm shafts , it pays to have a few of these handy .
Mine is a little chewed as I have been using pliers to tighten the prop nut .

Broken Mini DLG pro @ the Sink Hole ( After repairs ) (2 min 29 sec)

Yes !

HK Mini DLG pro is back in the air !
Ok , it did need a lot of trimming before I was happy , in fact the battery in the action cam gave out just before I found the sweet spot !

The Mini DLG pro was really stalling out when turned into the breeze .
And I found it hard to put that much down elevator into the model to stop it lifting its nose into the breeze .
I will have to check the angle of attack on that wing , it might be too high !
Especially as the model is not overly sensitive to the elevator . ( Rearward CG )

Still , probably the best hang time for a HK DLG so far for me ! ( It was the only really good Chuck for the day ) except for the last two before going home , they were ok as well . ( Just no cam footage )

Hmmm , I have amassed a decent pocket knife collection over quite a few decades .
And the one thing and possibly the only thing that really impresses the heck out of me is blade steel ( How good it is - or not )

We had a pile of cardboard , and it was time to carve it up into small pieces that would not overly fill the rubbish bin .
This was a job for - no not superman ! , but rather a decent pocket knife .
All the boxes were about the same size ( hobby king )

1) Spyderco ? This one came from China .. It was the sharpest tool in the shed , and also the fastest tool to lose it's edge . ( Hey that rhymed ) Unfortunately I would rate it about half a box . It started out so well , but very quickly just lost that edge .
2) Ontario Rat ? Again from China .. Shaving sharp to begin with but started tearing about half a box in . I would rate it one box .
3) Enlan EL-08 , shaving sharp to start , another one box knife .
4) Y-Start D2 , from China . Shaving sharp to start . Carved up the first box like a hot knife thru butter . On that second box it started to lose the edge . I would rate this knife 2 boxes .
5) Enlan EL-06 , China . Not as sharp or easy to sharpen as the other knives . Again went thru the first box easily but lost its edge on the 2nd box . I would rate this knife 2 boxes .
6) Remington R3 ( ?? ) Not a genuine R3 , I don't know where this was made , but sourced from a USA seller over 10 years ago . If it is Remington then it's one of the budget Remingtons . ( Could be a Chinese Made R3 ? ) Anyhow ...
It just kept on cutting .. After 2 boxes it could still ( just ) take hair off my arm .

Seriously ! A budget , unknown origin R3 beats out a bunch of more modern knives , some of which claim decent steel .
The shame off it .

1) My 1.5 meter DLG from China ( Ebay Purchase ) is ready for Chucking
2) The R4 has begun , and the wing is made from 3mm Depron sheet much like the R3 . Only this time the span is around 700mm and there is a carbon ( spar ) , so it can be a true DLG
3) The weather still blows ( it's windy and at times raining ) Blue sky as I look out the window , but another windy day ( Yesterday was gale force )
4) My car stopped working for a week , I thought the fuel pump had died , but the car had simply flooded . And it took over 30 minutes to get it started with roadside assist here with a heavy duty jump starter .
5) I did buy another 1.5 meter DLG which arrived during the week . ( It was a un used kit - not sure how many years old - but the price was right ) Amazing how people want top $$ for old damaged gliders . ( That DLG shortage in Oz )
6) Ordered a kit from GB , they sure have jerked me around with it . Once I get my refund , ill just have to buy the kit from a Ebay seller .

Hopefully today , I will find the time and inclination to sand the R4 wing , then glass the middle ( join ) and iron on some 10 thou laminating film . Once the wing is completed I can start on the tail / boom / fuse . ( Yeah , that's sort of the order I do on a new build )

https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/show...g#post42069021 = R4 wing in more detail !

Hmmmm , Sales !

It has taken a while ! But at last some thin cyno arrived today !
This meant I could repair the Mini DLG pro's carbon boom .

I was a little liberal with the thin cyno , and after the application I gave the boom some cure time .
Using a bit of muscle , I could not detect any issues ( bending / twisting )
I also wrapped the boom with some cotton thread which was also cyno'ed , just for a little extra load bearing .

Then I epoxied the pod to the boom . Once the epoxy cured , I started the assembly process .

Well , it's back together .
Just went out to my CG test area and Chucked the Mini DLG pro for CG and trimming .
I will give the epoxy more time to cure and then go out and DLG ...

Really hasn't been a great week , that's for sure . We are right in the middle of a cold / rainy front that has lasted a little too long .
Today was no exception , overcast and a little overly windy .

Still . I had an itch to get the CG tests over and done with + a little trimming !

I had all my control surfaces set to minimum throws ( furthest hole on the control horn )

I was using the Nanotech 460 2s battery .

First Chuck showed me that for such slow gliding I did not have enough elevator , so I went for the shortest hole on the control horn for maximum throw .
This was better . So I tried a very gentle powered glide ( maybe 10% throttle ) and this showed the elevator to be a little touchy now . I gave the elevator some 50% expo and this really smoothed things out .

The CG looks to be about right for me and I have not adjusted anything else ( Ruder / ailerons ) , only the elevator .
The wind did not really help at all . But it looks like the Firstar will fly on minimum power .
I can really see this model crawling along in calm conditions at maybe 20% throttle or possibly less . And there really is enough power to ROG ( Rise off ground ) .. I tried , but the ground was too rough where I was . On a smooth surface , it should not be an issue .

Wow , 3 new models to play with .. Really looking forward to a spell of decent weather .

With a budget 450mAh 2s battery , using rubber bands to hold it in place .

a) The CG is a little rearward . Both Ele and Ailerons were touchy ..
b) Ele was already @ 50% rates as anything higher would cause binding
c) Ailerons were 100%

I added 40% Expo to the elevator and it smoothed things out really nicely .
The Ailerons were set to 60% rates and 40% Expo and ended up being a little soft . ( I might try 70-30 before I maiden )

Glides - Oh does the Ezio glide ? Yes it does . I was actually quite impressed by it's glide qualities .
Even with a bit of a rearward CG once you got a glide angle there was no need for corrections and the Ezio just did it on it's own a little like a FF model .
Whilst the Ezio was a PITA out of the box , it looks like it it will fly just fine ( Looks like from the CG glide tests )

Still dont like the prop , 7A and so little thrust ...
Speaking off 7A ..
Read a lot of complaints about the 6A ESC and when I looked at mine ..
Looks like there has been a upgrade to a 8A ESC with 10A burst ...

Plan was to CG all 3 new planes starting with the F959 .

Unfortunately just after I was done with the F959 , there is a rain front moving in .

F959

I was expecting all sorts of nasty things , but to my surprise the F959 flies like a bird .
There is one thing it wont do = Turn !
At the very slow chucking speed for CG testing , the rudder and elevator were super soft to non existent .
I did apply just the smallest amount of throttle , maybe 10% .
And the F959 actually flew in a straight line with so little power and maintained altitude . But that soft elevator rudder !
Obviously to get more authority , more speed is needed .
Now , how slow was I flying ? A fast human could easily outrun the F959 .. ( So slow )

Obviously with the F959 so soft on the controls I had to move the battery further back ..
To cut a long story short , I moved the battery almost all the way out from the space where it is supposed to go ..
And it was still soft on the controls , exhibiting no instability what so ever .

I dont know that I have ever come across a model with such a wide CG range .
But it did turn better for moving the battery at such slow speed .
I am going to have to velcro the battery so I can move it further back ..

Hmmmm , at 111 grams flying weight .. And the CG being able to be moved back ..
I wonder if I can pull 12 grams out of the nose ? and make the 959 a true sub 100 gram model !

I really wanted to CG the Ezio and Firstar today as well .. But I dont want to be caught in the rain .. So another time !