XK A430 flies level (3 min 35 sec)

From last flight , one turn on the clevis down elevator .

It flies level ..

35% Rates and 60% Expo on the ailerons = Still very sensitive ! ( 3D ) Rolls nice .
I have Jacked the expo to 75% and left the rates alone .
Elevator - from 30% expo to 50% expo .

Those ailerons in 3D are just so sensitive .

Flies really nice in 6G , and if you get into 3D trouble , just flick the switch for 6G safety .

XK A430 6am flight (5 min 36 sec)

Put it simply , rather than giving the clevis one turn of up , I gave two turns !
Now the XK A430 was climbing ..

I have gone back one turn , + the battery was @ 60% after almost five and a half minutes . ( I was flying slow )

3D Mode

Did I mention the ailerons were a little sensitive ? They are !
For this morning I had 50/50 ( Rates/Expo ) on the ailerons . Touchy as ...
Seriously , I only needed a few mm of gimbal movement to use the ailerons .
@ 100% rates , I suspect even Superman would have problems . ( Might explain the 7 seconds in 3D - first flight )
I have backed off to 35% rates and was it 60% expo for the next flight .
Oh and if you fly too slow , it does tip stall . ( Maybe those Ailerons ? )

6G Mode
It can fly so slow - And the gyro stops the model from stalling out on you .
Once trimmed out , this might be a really fun little plane .

I was up early , cos we have had lots of wind with more wind predicted !

XK A430 is almost there (6 min 14 sec)

I am giving the clevis another twist off up ! After this flight . ( Done )
Now I can think about setting up 3D ..
I will work with the 2 position switch that is used to switch from 6G to 3D ..
I only got 7 seconds of 3D before braking the Xk A430's neck .

But I will start @ 50% rates on the Ailerons , they did seem very touchy .

Question ? Will I need elevator offset ? - Well as long as 6G is set up I have a safe place to go . ( 6G )
Would have been so sweet , if it had flown out of the box . ( Life should be that easy )

XK A430 didn't die again (3 min 37 sec)

Yeah !

Trim changes - Digital trim changes appear to do nothing .
Analogue trim changes appear to do something .
Analogue - Undoing clevis - then rotating to adjust elevator trim .

Came home , and put in some more analogue up trim on the elevator .
Once I get 6G flying the way it should have out of the box , I can then trim 3D .
Trying to fly 3D mode when 6G is Fubar is just silly .

Scout E - Flight 1 Launch + Landing (17 min 43 sec)

Really interesting stuff !

XK A430 did not die today (7 min 18 sec)

That gyro Blows !

Calibrating the gyro does nothing !
I kept raising the nose higher an higher and zip / nada / zero effect on the A430 hunting the ground .
Really is challenging to fly a model when it hunts terrible firmness .

More problems !
Those foam hinges are giving up .. I had to use a fair amount of tape to fix the issue ..
I would recommend taping them before flying , especially as I have only flown twice now .

Why do I keep getting rubbish XK planes .. I have 4 and every one has had issues ( PROBLEMS ) .
And looks like this XK A430 is not the exception to this troubling trend .
I dare say this will be my last XK product . I think XK has gone out of it's way to earn some distain ! ( Well done )

Micro Tundra Flap Servo Dies (6 min 52 sec)

1106 + 10 or 12A esc + 6030 Gemfan = No different to stock with a 6030 GF

Flap servo dies after flaps are deployed for landing .. I kid you not !

I have ordered a 1306 4000kv motor , hopefully . = We can get some power in the nose of the MT .

Now I have more work to do , replacing a dead servo . Dont feel like it right now , especially after all the trouble shooting and soldering I did yesterday !

AAAAAAAaaaargh ! Feel better ?

So , it is confirmed . The 1306 is dead !
I soldered up the MT 6A ESC and the thing has the audacity to still be working .
I would offer a warning about loading this ESC up though .

1106 is back in the Micro Tundra with a 10 or 12 amp esc and the 1106 with a 6030 is pulling 4.2A ( up from 3.8A )
I wont even try a 6040 ...

Pulling the MT apart to solve problems :
The tab that holds the wing to the front , has broken lose ( obviously from my crashing the tundra )
But there was no tell because of the wing struts holding the wing firmly in place .
So when I loosened the struts , the wing got all loosy goosy on me .
It's been like that , one step forward - two steps back .
Now I just have to decide , do I bother buying another 1306 ?
I will fly the MT with the 1106 and new ESC and see if 4.2A makes a difference .. That 1106 sure does sound happy with the 6030 .


Update !
I shelled out for a new 1306 , this time going for a 4000kv motor rather than the same 3100kv ..
I am finding that :
4000kv x Volts = RPM devided by 2 = Usable RPM
4x8=32 devided by two = 16 000 rpm
I will put it on the test stand when it gets here .. I already have the adapter plate , so should be bolt on easy .

Micro Tundra with a 1306 (5 min 19 sec)

There is that butt again !
The entire project has been one step forward and two steps back , and so it continues .

I was really afraid the ESC was a dogs breakfast .
The 1106 was really happy with the 6030 and pulling less than 4A ( Gemfan 6030 @ 3.8Amp )
On the test stand the 1306 pulled 5.5A , and in the Tundra 4.5A .. That is a full AMP down .
So I threw a 6040 on the MT and saw 5.8A and then the ESC died .... ( UPDATE = 1306 is dead ) ESC is ?

Well I was planning a ESC swap , now I have no choice .

I would recommend that anyone with a MT try a 6030 and see if they can be happy with that .

Micro Tundra gets a 1306 (2 min 11 sec)

I soldered the motor directly to the ESC ( Lose some weight )
Everything seems fine , still using the factory ESC since the 6030 pulls a little over 5A

Test bench results =

6040 King Kong MT Prop - 6.8A - 55Watt - 8900 rpm - 180 grams
6030 Gemfan - 5.5A - 44W - 11500 rpm - 192g ( Not the same 6030 used on the 1106 )
5040 GF - 5A - 41W - 12000 rpm - 168g
6x4E - 6.6A - 52W - 9100 rpm - 180g
5045 - 5.5A - 43W - 11500 rpm - 162g

Hmmmm , well ! On the test bench it did 190 grams of thrust .. But in the Tundra ?
Anyways , there is a 1306 in my Micro Tundra now .

XK A430 7 seconds to death (1 min 12 sec)

7 seconds after switching to 3D I killed the A430


A) Gyro was way out , hunted the ground bad .
B) This model is so small
C) I lost the model in the background as it flew past some trees , it vanished just long enough to bounce of terrible firmness !

D) Death ! Post mortem !

The nose snapped off so easily - Because the insert for the landing gear was not glued on the forward side . This created a weak spot . So only the sides of the fuse were holding the nose on . Also this foam is weak . Best to not crash one like a Micro Tundra . ( Thats all me ) .

Glued back together / Hopefully Calibrated / hopefully ready for round 2 .
It's not mint anymore !

It's a reality !
I was able to shoe horn in the 1306 motor .
Adapter plate revision 3 .
There was no getting around lowering the motor .
I also had to massage the front of the cowl with a micro torch .
The clearances are tight , they are there , but it's tight . Cowl looks nice and stock , except for the scorch marks .
But who's going to look that close ?
Thats it for today !

Next some soldering so as to apply power to the motor . But not tonight !

One step forward , two steps back .

Ok ! motor is in the plane - BUTT!

There is that butt again ! Geez , just can't be easy can it !

So , the motor is hitting the cowl because its larger ..

A) I could move the motor back
B) I could move the motor lower

Easiest right now might be moving the motor back a little ... 0.5mm at a time I guess ..

Something came in the post !
A XK A430 ...

It was on special , it was in the oz warehouse , so saved on Post+GST and it was on special .
And I wanted one for better or worse ( Hmmm , been getting my fair share of worse lately ) .
Anyways ..

A) Instruction manual bites hard
B) See the bind button in the pictures
C) CG is supposedly 30mm - this means the included battery needs to be as far forward as possible .
D) Weight - Mine comes in at 88grams with the included battery
E) I bound mine S-FHSS to my Taranis ( Multi Module )

Bind process : Turn on the plane and push the button ( Max ) . The red light will go off .
Turn on your Tx ,
I had to frequency fine tune , after range testing I ended up with +38 on the fine tune .
If your multi module is not close enough , there is no bind ..
So just freq fine tune till you get a green light . Then range check and tune .
You dont need to bind mode the Tx . You just need to be on the money with the freq tune .
Havent flown it .
Wind has picked up - was nice this morning when I took the beaver out .
But another brutal hay fever day . ( Peak of the season ) Even with meds my eyes are burning !
So the next plane to be maiden - XK A430

NiceSky DHC2 Beaver Flight 2 (4 min 10 sec)

Trims were almost 100% so I got a little brave with it !

I did have a little issue , the Rx was glitching . When I came home I found the ESC parked too close to the Rx .. That could have been bad !

So had to remove the wing get in there and relocate the ESC away from the Rx .

The BEaver did hang off the prop @ around 75% throttle .. That's got to be nice . Rolled ok and looped ok , also nice .
This plane really reminds me off a Super Kinetic . It's heavy for its size , but flies really nice with no apparent nasty tendencies like death spiralling !
It does how ever land a little fast . Will have to see about Flap-ailerons ( Flaperons ) Since I have split the ailerons over two channels .

But even cutting the motor and pulling back on the elevator , there was no stall and it landed . Fast and bouncy , but it landed .

If you see it on special (?) maybe dont be afraid of it .

The best laid plans hu ?

So the adapter plate fits the mount - BUTT ! Not with the motor in place


So I will need to Print out a new adapter plate . Drill out some holes in the factory 1106 mount so I can fit the 1306 screws for the motor from the back . I will have to counter sink the factory screws to clear the motor .

It's late , 11.30pm . Im tired . Hay fever is hammering me . I had to fix the filament feed on the printer ( I should have done it when I got it - better late than never ) .
One step forward , two steps back .
im going to bed ...

before I forget - The spacing on the 1106 mount is 18mm not 17.5mm ..

Bored again !

SO I was thinking about time wasting !

Time to start planning a motor swap ! Especially as I want to see the MT with More Power !

The distance from the prop to the back of the motor is about 16.4mm / 16.5mm ..
This is important , as I want the prop located in the same place with the 1306 that will be transplanted .
This means a 2.1mm thick motor mount to fit the back of the 1306 , that will then mount to the existing holes in the mount in the plane .

So the motor needs to be mounted to the 2.1mm spacer , and the spacer mounted to the plane .

Guess I will have to do some 3D design and printing .
Been a while since I fired up the 3D printer .

Micro Tundra with a 6030 prop (5 min 50 sec)

Woke up this morning , looked outside and no wind !
It's supposed to blow 20+ today !

So out I went !

The 6030 was not bad , better than the 5040 prop for sure . Might even be better than the 6040 .
Motor sounds happy , after 5 minutes the battery ( Zippy 350 ) was 43% when I got home .
Tried some rolls , and @ 60% rates , still a little slow on the roll rate .
I guess we go to 70% rates for the Ailerons next .
There was a breeze , started just as I got there ! And on the vertical the MT did get off track cos of it ..
I did try real hard to hang off the prop , but no go .
What next ? DO I swap out the ESC , I guess one would need to start somewhere and a ESC swap would be the easiest .
Just to see if the ESC is holding the motor back .

I am still using the 1106 the MT came with .. ( In case I have confused anyone )
Next mod - will be a ESC swap ... To see if that perks up the 1106 the MT came with .
My 1106 almost seems to groan at full throttle with the 6040 . and performance sags very quickly . ( Does not hold peak )
On the 6030 , the little 1106 can hold onto peak much better .

Micro Tundra with a 5040 propeller (6 min 18 sec)

Yes , I did it again !

To low . to slow , and my thumb twitched in the wrong direction and

5040 prop ! The motor loves it . sings along really nice !
Whats lacking is Mojo .. Thrust ! Forward momentum .

Really could use some more RPM !
That 6040 just seems to load up the MT too much , good Mojo but we want more ? and we dont want to cook the motor .
Even that 1306 I got . does not improve things much with the 6040 . Though it does spin the prop with less effort but more current .
A higher KV 1306 ? Perhaps .. Spin the 5040 harder ? Or a 6030 harder ?
Either way , I will fly again with a 6030 since at full throttle it does appear to produce the best thrust .
ANd the last time I did kind of break that 6030 , so it never got a look in .

Ruike P801 SF edge retention test (4 min 40 sec)

Honestly , I had high expectations !
Oh how those expectations can come crashing to the ground after a reality slap to the face
Yes , the Ruike P801-SF was a slap in the face .

Cost me $61 Ozzi bananas !

THe knife feels great , locks up tight , is smooth and well made . Just from the way the knife feels in the hand , you know you are holding a decent knife ( SLAP ) .............

You don't know JACK till you actually do a controlled cut test !
And here the knife failed big time ! 14c28n is a halfway decent steel . THe steel on this 801 was not better than 440 . In fact I own a $16 knife that outperforms this $60 knife . Thats why the 801 is a joke ! ( My sample ) ...
Is there a chance this is a counterfeit ? Well , yeah ! There is always that chance . There is an equal chance that what's printed on the blade ( 14c28n ) is a load of premium fertilizer .
If you want to spend more money than you should for a mediocre cutter , then .............. ( Just don't )