Yeah that would suck if one of the mains won't cycle while the other does. Then it's hit the deck time as gingerly as humanly possible.

Its just like every other plane some have issues some don't, and if an issue does arise lets just hope your (as in the pilot, not u in particular Aros) ready.

Originally Posted by Aros

Greetings all! I am a proud new owner of this gorgeous bird as of today. I got a screamin' deal on it at the Northwest Hobby Expo...Never flown, brand new, the guy put her together (and did a fantastic job, very meticulous, no glue overruns, et al) but never even put a battery and rx in her.

I got her home, binded her, got the throws and settings as they should be. First off, this is by far the nicest quality foam EDF jet I have ever had. I can see why Boeing endorsed it. Now before anyone throws tomatoes at me, I promise to read through the thread in the following days but for now can I get two quick questions answered? I really appreciate it, and look forward to reading through the thread and maidening this hot bird!

Question 1) What is the proper AOA for the elevators at the neutral position? I couldn't see a frame of reference in the manual.

Question 2) How do I turn on/off the vector thrust quickly? I have a DX7 and programmed it based on the manual recommendations and was wondering if there was an on/off switch instead of unplugging from the rx?

Thank you so much!

I was at the show on Friday first in the door and I did not see this bird. Where do you fly? I love this jet it fly's great.

Originally Posted by velyter

I was at the show on Friday first in the door and I did not see this bird. Where do you fly? I love this jet it fly's great.

Once in the doors he was on the very far left, middle table. It was just sitting there on the table. My buddy saw it first (I would have seen it in about 10 seconds) and says "Oh boy...Move away from the jet..." LOL, he knows me so well. I feel like I won the NW Expo Lotto that day as I have no doubt someone would have snagged it before me in just minutes from when I did.

I fly at Lake Sawyer Hawks club off of Issaquah/Hobart Rd in Maple Valley. I sometimes fly at Flaming Geyser Park as well...

I love how she flies! Even has nice scoot for stock.

Originally Posted by Roswalt

Mine is coming along very well, no major snags thus far. I did a little painting of my own, with some accents thrown in for scale accuracy.

I had to cut the horizontal vectoring pushrods because mine arrived out of alignment and no amount of tightening could fix them, so I cut them to size! Also had to remove the access cover to move the control horn on the vertical vector servos - Mine arrived with significant downthrust built-in, which required all available subtrim in order to bring level. After moving the horns, all is well.

One unpleasant thing I noticed, having owned the previous version and this new V2 - There's no more landing light! I am really bummed about that, it was one of my favorite little touches on the first version. Oh well, I'm hoping they made some other improvements that I haven't noticed, or maybe it was just an even production trade - servo-driven gear doors in exchange for the landing light.

Did we ever compile a rundown of differences between V1 and V2?

So far my list is short:

Landing light - Delete
Gear Door Servo - Add
Main Landing Gear - Slightly modified

the build manual is now glossy instead of black and white.... i actually called hobby lobby and complained about the landing light and they sent me an led for free.... the mains struts are slightly diff along with the axle and now has wheel collars with set screws instead of litttle plastic reatiners

Originally Posted by v8truckin

Yes I have a couple few, but read on there website that "This Voltage Protector is not intended for Aircraft use" so I pulled em out.

so what kind of rx do you run? i have ar7010 with ccbec in carbon z scimitar, and ar8000 with ccbec in f18, both models have a tm1000 going to my dx8. i put the spektrum cap on both... i also read that on there website, im sure its just cya for them. regardless, i still get voltage drops on my min/max screen. sometimes as low as 3.3v!! i have no idea whats causing it and cant repeat it on the ground

Spektrum ar6210, ar7000, ar7010 all with satellite.

Originally Posted by xviper

I know the deed is done (and I haven't even flown mine yet) but looking back, would it have been better to suck the wheels up and do a flat belly landing? My biggest fear when taking off is having some kind of power failure, so I suck up the landing gear ASAP so that if it goes down, less damage is incurred if there's nothing hanging down.

Absolutely. It is always best to tuck the wheels in if you're going to ditch. That's definitely not news to me in my line of work, but in this case I was staying airborne and hitting the gear switch back and forth while trying to find an attitude or airspeed that would allow my nose gear to deploy thus saving the perfect looks of my brand new plane. I actually ran out of power/time during an LG down sequence (2 down/1 up) at low altitude and was forced to land as it was in order to dodge the concrete touchdown. Being my maiden voyage, I had no data on how long the battery would last!

It really wasn't a huge deal, its not like the plane was totaled or anything, but it was a bummer for the first flight to go that way.

Aros, I suppose it could have been NWS-related - Like I said before, its been over a year now since that happened and my memory of the events is not crystal clear. I do recall writing about it and if we really want to dig up what happened we can have a look at the record, but I do not think I was the only one to experience that problem and I really think the doors played a role - HL even chimed in about it. Maybe the string gets caught on something inside the bay. Why else would the factory introduce that change on the V2 if it worked fine and was cheaper on the V1? I'm guessing there were a few gear door complaints, but I could be wrong about that.

jdubg - That's cool that HL gave you a landing light for free! I ordered mine through Value Hobby, so I'm not sure how they would process a request for the landing light. Guess it never hurts to ask!

Originally Posted by Aros

Once in the doors he was on the very far left, middle table. It was just sitting there on the table. My buddy saw it first (I would have seen it in about 10 seconds) and says "Oh boy...Move away from the jet..." LOL, he knows me so well. I feel like I won the NW Expo Lotto that day as I have no doubt someone would have snagged it before me in just minutes from when I did.

I fly at Lake Sawyer Hawks club off of Issaquah/Hobart Rd in Maple Valley. I sometimes fly at Flaming Geyser Park as well...

I love how she flies! Even has nice scoot for stock.

I love how it flies as well I have had 2 of them because of pilot error I lawn darted my first one. She is fast for a chinese stock fan and motor.

Originally Posted by Roswalt

Aros, I suppose it could have been NWS-related - Like I said before, its been over a year now since that happened and my memory of the events is not crystal clear. I do recall writing about it and if we really want to dig up what happened we can have a look at the record, but I do not think I was the only one to experience that problem and I really think the doors played a role - HL even chimed in about it. Maybe the string gets caught on something inside the bay. Why else would the factory introduce that change on the V2 if it worked fine and was cheaper on the V1? I'm guessing there were a few gear door complaints, but I could be wrong about that.

No I'm sure you're right. Sounds like the string probably does get stuck on something. I'll be sure to cycle my gear several times on the ground to see if I can see any potential problems I can fix before they happen in flight.

Also, what BEC should I get to replace the stock one?

I did accidently break1 of the tabs that hold the string, so had to attach/glue a new one on. When i did this , if the string was too tight when the gear retracted then the gear would get stuck. It was like it kept the gear from fully cycling down. Luckily i tested in the ground before, so did lnt have any problems after. So that my have been an issue roswalt had...just a thought.

firehawkzach, I just received the FA/18 and Aurora 9 radio. How did you connect and mix the electronics. From what I can gather from the plans, I should have two Aux channels:Vector 1 and Vector 2. My mix would then be Elev to Aux 1; Ail to Aux 1 and Elev to Aux 2; Ail to Aux 2. Is this correct. Please advise. If possible, shoot me an email at: revgq@roadrunner.com. Thanks for the help.

Can anyone recommend a good BEC for this bird? I admit I am pretty ignorant to these little devices that seem to be essential for RC planes especially when you get into the higher powered stuff. Truth be told I have used external BECs maybe twice in the six years I've been in the hobby. Seems like it's good insurance but I don't soder so I've been reluctant to add these to my planes, especially when ESCs have them built in. Any advice is greatly appreciated.

You can get away with a cc bec 10a, but a cc bec pro 20a would be better. The cc bec which I had in the plane did the job but it's at the upper end /limit of its specs. I've never had 1 fail in 6s, but it's better to be safe than sorry. I now run cc bec pro 20a on 6s and up. $10-$15 difference between the 2.

Originally Posted by RevGQ

firehawkzach, I just received the FA/18 and Aurora 9 radio. How did you connect and mix the electronics. From what I can gather from the plans, I should have two Aux channels:Vector 1 and Vector 2. My mix would then be Elev to Aux 1; Ail to Aux 1 and Elev to Aux 2; Ail to Aux 2. Is this correct. Please advise. If possible, shoot me an email at: revgq@roadrunner.com. Thanks for the help.

you have it correct, then vector 3 is "y'd" in thru the rudder chan. the rudder TV will always be on as to where you can assign a switch for the two mixes