https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/show...om&perpage=100

Got this 2 weekends ago courtesy of Aeromicro in Santa Clara. Put in 9 flights in Baylands and 3 in RSA at dusk that weekend...
Thoughts
1. Lots of decals!
2. Vertical to horizontal transitions are magic
3. Acro mode was squirally... need practice and more attention to the CoG no doubt.
4. Hand catching is pretty easy in vertical (MR) mode
5. Need some LEDs for dusk use.
6. DXe TX from the RTF worked fine.

Overall a good value plane. Need to look at an FPV kit or a Mobius Mini.

SO.... my Formosa 2 has been built but unflown for over a year, so with the recent acquisition of some reasonable output batteries (1600 mAh 20C) it was time to take to the air.

The Formosa is pretty stock, but with a D gearing EPS-D twin-brushed motor and HD1280 prop (~ 180W then). Other non-stock adaptations were as follows.
- As usual the battery bay is designed around a NiMH pack (ie flatter, wider) so the bay cover (under the wing) won't fit over a typical 3S LiPo - this then ran "open to air" with some foam to keep the battery in position behind the stock velcro straps.
- the undercarriage wire seems far too flimsy, so I'd attached some thin carbon stiffeners. But I chose poorly and the wire still wasn't stiff enough. 2" narrow foam wheels used.

Flying conditions weren't ideal: the BBC claimed 8mph winds but on the meadow it seemed stronger (and chilling!). The flying site grass seemed short, so a ROG seemed worth trying.

Flight 1: Took off in 6' / 2m, but immediately went into a vertical climb travelling backwards in the wind (too much elevator)... it headed downwind without me gaining control so I chopped throttle and tried to maintain a level attitude... PRANG!. Only visible damage was a wheel popped off as it nosed over. Easily popped back on and the (GWS plastic) retainer held it in... reminder to self to put in some better wheel stops.

Flight 2: Take off next time was much more successful. Climbed well, but didn't make much headway...Continue Reading

Lost all control and plane tipped into a vertical dive, never recovering. Not long up on a new battery, so difficult to pin the blame:
- brown-out on the Spektrum AR6100 RX? Will its the updated firmware version, and range was not far...
- low battery on the DX6i TX? No it was not complaining at all, showing 5-5.5v.
- binding lost? All controls worked fine prior to launch!

Although I killed throttle before it "went in" I don't know if the control was executed on the plane (it didn't particularly "power in", so maybe).

So it was strange that control was lost. My current guess is that the higher rated battery (a 20C 2200 battery) may have overloaded the stock Eflite 25A ESC.

Plane piled in vertically and broke just behind the detachable nose. Damage was:
- motor mount detached; one of the motor leads left its plug in the ESC socket...
- battery ejected
- front part of wing "kangarooed"

This was already a rebuild of the 1st Stryker, so its now been send to styrofoam (Z-foam/whatever) heaven. The guts will go into a foamjet, but with a CC35 ESC and a 2-channel Spektrum RC (AR500 maybe). And I'm going to change the gubbins' power connectors to Deans. Oh well...

Finished the P-51 the other week. This was an old EPS-300C kit, and needed a repair to the fuselage side and non-aileron parts of the wing trailing edge - out-of-the-box - hmmmm... not a good start! Used GWS contact cement for the repairs and they're pretty unnoticable.

Mods were:
- battery compartment carved out for a 3S 1200 LiPo
- motor changed to a Skatty / Eskay 400XT, HD9075 prop, suitable drilled out P-51 spinner (sticky tape tabs keep it attached to the back hub of the prop), and an alu stick mount (Cobra?) that allowed up-down adjustment to locate the prop properly
- mid-fuse carved out to allow the aileron servo to use DuBro ezconnectors - not much room in the wing saddle!
- suitable pilot - Souchong the cat (photo-on-depron)
- no undercarriage for grass use except tailwheel
- DuBro (small) nylon hinges.

Build: only real hassle was my hotwire broke cutting the air intake under the wing. So it now looks messy and I used some velcro on the wing saddle to "hide the gap"...
Added some small depron behind the servos to locate the (Schulze aka Euro-ized Berg) RX. Aerial exits the aft radiator duct.
More small depron adds a ridge to locate a foam plug in the cockpit to keep the battery from moving. ESC located alongside the battery.

AUW was 13.5 oz or thereabouts, with a ~80g 3S 1200 battery.

Power test: about 11A on 3S with the HD9075 prop. This is a bit much for the XT400 but (a) some of the prop is blanked by the large prop spinner (OK, its the inside that doesn't have much effect, but still...) and it won't be much used at full throttle.

Maiden flights: v nice. The 400XT is great, and seems to launch/fly much better than my Spit/EPS400C. Aileron throw is maybe too low vs elevator. Landings were nice flops in from 2-3 ft. No tip stalls. Very nice! Only hassle was the canopy / battery cover popping off on the 3rd test flight, but no damage done and safe landing enacted.

So far: very impressed! )

Retirees from the fleet:

2x GWS Slowstick learner planes. Use 7 and 8 cell NiMH 1100 cells and stock EPS300 while at RSA, CA USA. Also for SlowStick twin experiment. Lost in trees at RSA and removed without permission

1x GWS Estarter aileron learner plane. Installed RZ400 brushless geared motor for ++ performance, and replaced the stock wing struts with wire struts (and they were needed with the brushless performance!). Scrapped when fleet moved to the UK.

1x Wattage CrazyMax. Crazily weak foam fuselage, used for motor trials (the original Wattage GB broke in a maiden flight). Wing kept for Slow Stick use.

1x Birdworks Bud. Never got it to fly. Kept the wing for future projects...

1x DIY SPAD. Short wingspan + heavy = not a flier. Will probably try again at some point.

1x Stryker C (re-fuselaged once, from a RTF version) - 31Oct09

Got this for AP experiments. Built well, except I didn't like the wing-build for the spar. Very robust plane, flies well. My rig though has the following issues:

1. I built this with a Himax 2025 in an EPS300 GB. Runs a 1280 prop. The general sequence of events is that the propshaft nut can't resist the prop when the brake is applied, and disconnects in flight, losing the prop nut. The fix in the field causes the spur to strip... time for an outrunner or EPS400 GB (and maybe no brake on the speed control).

2. GWS Be-Found plane-saver. This beeps continuously rather than just when power is lost. Bizarre.

3. The camera mount failed once (must have been dodgy glue joint). Tie the camera on as well!

So this is awaiting maintenance / new GB or motor. Probably I'll just change the GB as I'm using an old CC Phoenix 25 on this, and that will probably self-distruct with an outrunner...

Great plane with the simple recommended mods (lose the upper horizontal tailplane surface, lose the prop guards). Not the easiest to fly (and flies on the power, not the wing!). But its neat, it is shaped in a car-trunk/boot-friendly way, and it works.

This is my 1st Multiplex plane, and it is a very simple build (except the battery compartment needed extending for my 3S LiPos, the rear balance ball bearing was a mistake, and the aileron covers were too proud of the wing underside).

The plane is pretty much stock (ie stock GB and 400 motor). I used a separate BEC as this plane uses 4 servos. One very nice touch is that the original box can be used for storage (with the tail sticking out the end).

Flying requires a somewhat different style vs other aileron planes, with a requirement to use rudder for good turns. The maiden was wrong because I did not pay too much attention to CoG (and no it won't fly with the stock ball bearing and LiPos way back in the battery comparment). More fool me. De-balled and balanced, it went very nicely on the 2nd maiden, except maybe it was a tad too windy for comfortable flight. But at least that meant a 2 feet landing run!

Thread(s):
https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=556040
Review:
http://www.plawner.net/4/easyglider/

First warbird: used an EPS 400 motor to help with reported balance issues. Uses a 3S LiPo and no landing gear. Flies nice: I should fly it more often as its not bad for moderate windy weather.

This was my first completed balsa kit. OK, I started the MM Smoothie before this, but used this to expand my balsa-experience (and more importantly covering experience).

Nice plane; went well, except its not really suitable for general outside UK life: wet balsa warps, and most of the UK is wet for most of the year (ie the grass you land on). So currently semi-retired.

Useful threads:
https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=202688
https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/show...hreadid=199168

Kit page:
http://www.stevensaero.com/shop/prod...cat=256&page=1

This is the new beater / anywhere plane, although it can be a challenge to fly as probably the CoG is not where I think it is

The original flew spectacularly well on its original wing, 350 motor and 3S LiPo although of course the motor didn't last forever. The wing is a bit fragile on these, even when tape-reinforced. I actually did a thread on this:
https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=163143
but never got round to doing the rudder.

With its SPAD wing its heavier (probably too much for the wire landing gear) and requires an EPS400 to balance. But it survives bad "landings" well, and is fast enough to stress the 9070 SF prop (so it will be replaced with a 9075HD). Good first SPAD IMHO...

Other Easybug (and brethren) threads:
https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=211996
https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=282606

Flies well enough on the EPS400 + 3S LiPo to not really need brushless power. But probably I should set the timing on the 400 motor correctly for this (geared) application, 'cos GWS didn't when they built it...

OK, this is/was a "beater plane". I never got to dial out the "high speed tuck" that can sometimes afflict this canard (even though it was running stock power albeit on a 3S LiPo).

Reference threads:
https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=217499
https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=58612

This is now a non-canard project awaiting some TLC. Adapted to have micro servos in the wing. Thinking about using some J250s on this (2? 3? 4?)

Useful reference on canard-free canards:
https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=495938

GWS Slow Stick with:
- Wattage Crazy Max wing
- MiniAC brushless motor + gearbox
- reinforced tail + steering tailwheel

Flown: rarely