Now THAT is a comprehensive review, nice work! I recently got my first FMS plane and was very impressed with the quality. It looks like they're really paying attention to the details which most other companies forget.

Originally Posted by Joker 53150

Now THAT is a comprehensive review, nice work! I recently got my first FMS plane and was very impressed with the quality. It looks like they're really paying attention to the details which most other companies forget.

Thanks for the kind words. I agree on FMS's quality. This is my 1st FMS plane. From what I've ready in other threads, FMS puts in scale details others don't seem to even know exist. That doesn't apply to this non-scale plane but using clevises, wing bolts, robust LG, and hatch placement are small things that add up to a very nice plane.

There are always things one could wish for (lights, better quality clevises) to up the value even more, but this is a nice step up in features for the price.
Don

FLAPERONS
The conversion to DSMX was easy. I took out the FS Rx & installed a DSM2/X compatible Lemon-Rx.com 7-Ch Rx/Stab. Since I wanted the ability to dial in aileron differential, I set the wing type as "Flaperon". But after using the flaperons I think I will go to a "Dual Aileron" wing type setup. Usually when flaps are deployed on a high wing bird such as this, at too high a speed, the bird pitches UP. This one pitches DOWN, regardless of speed. Pitching DOWN on flap deployment is more common on low wing birds. I can't be sure about the actual speed, but it would need more experimenting with slow speeds to confirm if indeed my speed was minimal. The wind was stiff, so it may have been a factor.

LEMON 7CH RX/STAB PLACEMENT
I placed the Rx/Stab on the floor of the Rx bay where it is level, and to the left side so as to not bend the antenna. Placing a Lemon Stab on the sidewall of the Rx bay is not an option. Center placement is not required for a rate gyro like the Lemon Rx/Stab, but it is with attitude gyros that can automatically level, such as the "SAFE" or "WISE" systems. As usual, I secured the Rx/Stab with double-sided foam tape. I do not recommend Velcro to secure the Rx. It has too much play for 3-axis gyros to perform well.

SETTING UP DIFFERENTIAL
I used two 12in servo leads on the ailerons, which will allow easy wing removal. The AIL lead goes from the AIL pins on the Rx to the right aileron servo. The AUX1 lead goes from the AUX1 Rx pins to the left aileron servo. The AUX1 pins are at the opposite end on the Rx board from the AUX2/BIND pins. With the #6 DIP switch ON at the Rx, either dual ailerons or flaperons are enabled, depending on how your Tx wing type is set. That also automatically enables the "DIFFERENTIAL" menu. I've noticed quite a bit of adverse yaw in turns so having differential is a good feature to help counter it and worked well at 10% on all rates for me.

I set up LO, MED & HI rates with expo for each. I haven't settle on what those values should be yet but it's much better than being locked into 1 rate only adjustable mechanically by moving the connector rod ends at the clevis or servo ends.

I don't know if the OEM FS Rx is capable of dual ailerons or not. I would think YES since it is a 6Ch Rx, but maybe someone that has an upgraded FS Tx can comment on it.

IMPROVEMENTS OVER OEM FLYSKY TX
Now I have DIFFERENTIAL and FLAPPERONS (if I want them - not sure yet), THROTTLE CUT, MIXES and TRIPLE RATES & EXPO. Throttle cut disables the throttle stick so no one gets hurt if the TRH is accidentally bumped. That alone is worth upgrading to a better Tx. I got mine used at about half the new price, so you don't necessarily have to sell one of the kids to get one.

WEIGHT DIFFERENCE
The difference is weight is negligible I think. The gain was an increase of 3.1g. Were I to use a wing type of "NORMAL' meaning a Y-harness vs 2 servo leads to connect the 2 aileron servos, the result would actually be a decrease of 4.9g. I would lose the DIFFERENTIAL feature though.

FS-A6 Rx - 8g minus
Y-harness - 4.5g minus
Lemon Rx - 7.6g plus
2x servo leads - 8g plus

Total FlySky parts removed 12.5g
Total Lemon parts installed 15.6g

RCGs link to the Lemon-Rx 7Ch Rx/Stab thread for those interested
Link here to Lemon's Home Page for those interested.

CHANNEL SEQUENCES
If you're converting from a Futaba-based system to a DSM2/X system, the channel sequences are different. Futaba is AETR, i.e. Ail-Ch1, Ele-Ch2, Thr-Ch3, Rud-Ch4. Spektrum (DSM2/DSMX) is TAER, i.e. Thr-Ch1, Ail-Ch2, Ele-Ch3, Rud-Ch4. Gear is usually on Ch5 and the Flaps/AUX1 are on Ch6. With the Lemon 7Ch Rx/Stab, Ch5 is used to turn the stab ON or OFF, so AUX2 on Ch7 is available for Gear.

Don

After the conversion to DSMX, I took 3 birds to the club field and had a great day. I flew 2 batts with the Corsair, a 4S 2200mAh batt & a 3S 3300mAh batt. The lightest of the bunch was a FunFly (1lb) and it got 2 batts, a 1350mAh batt & a 850mAh batt, both 3S. The SuprEZ got 3 batts, my usual 1300mAh OEM batt, my 1800mAh 3S spare and the 3S 2200mAh batt.

SPECS 2200mAh 3S 35C LiPo
The EZ Flite 2200mAh 35C 3S w/Deans conn dimensions are listed at 4.5x 1.63x 0.81in or 114.3 x 41.4 x 20.6mm, 5.8oz or 164.42g. My measurements are 114 x 36x 27mm. My measured weight is 173g with the Velco applied. The max continous output is 77amps. I bought it at HeadUpHobby.com, Item #: G-562.
Link to HeadUpHobby battery I used. It was $19.95. The same batt with an EC3 connector is also available.

THE 2200mAh 3S LiPo FLIGHT REVEIW
I didn't measure the CG for 2200mAh batt with it in the most aft position till I got home. On my balance machine it measured 73mm aft of the wing's LE. The flt time was 8mins 9 secs. My DX18 is set up to start & stop the timer above & below 10% throttle, so the actual flt time is higher when you add back in the glide time with the throttle below 10%.

I flew 2 mins with the batt as far forward as possible. I then moved it aft as far as possible. The forward edge of the wing keeps it from moving aft into the Rx bay. EDIT: The 2200mAh LiPo is a very tight fit.

I tried something with the 2200mAh batt I don't remember trying with this SuprEZ before. Or if I did with another batt, it wasn't memorable. I went vertical to see when it would give out. I gave up before it did. It wasn't like it kept accelerating straight up. But it was climbing slowly at 3 or 4 ft a sec I would guess. I probably held it there about 15 secs, needing to steer with rudder & elevator to keep it pointed up.

A higher capacity Lipo has a higher effective "C" rating than lower capacity batts. It worked well on the SuprEZ.

FLIGHT REVIEW 1300mAh & 1800mAh 3S batts
I measured the CG with the 1300 & 1800mAh batts placed all the way forward using the fingertip method at the field. For me it's actually a thumbtip method. With the batts all the way forward, the bird wants to nose-dive with a reduction in power below 60%. EDIT: Backstick was required to stop the nose-dive whenever the power was reduced below 60%, not throughout the entire flight.

The OEM 1300mAh batt was at a CG of 72mm placed forward in the batt bay.

The OEM 1800mAh batt was at a CG of 60mm placed forward in the batt bay. This seems different from the second flight with this bird so I will have to confirm using my CG machine to see if it is correct.

EDIT: For clarification, the following comment about backstick, pertains to my 1st 2 flights of the day using the OEM 1300mAh & my 1800mAh batteries mounted as far forward as possible. I don't remember if it also pertains to the first 2 mins of my flight with the 2200mAh 3S batt with it in the most forward position.
Performance was OK, but not optimal based on earlier flights. Keeping backstick pressure on isn't a good setup or fun. I could have trimmed the elevator but decided I wanted to "feel" what was going on throughout the flights. The wind was strong and I measured it with my hand-held portable anemometer. It was 6-9mph most of the time, but bumping up to 9-12mph regularly and up to 14mph in gusts.

REVIEW OF BATTERY CAPACITY USAGE SO FAR
Of the 8 flights where I have recharged the batts so far, I'm only using 35 to 42% of capacity. The average flight times have been 6.7mins on those 8 flights and 6.9mins on all 11 flights. I don't recharge after a flight unless I plan to fly that batt within 48hours usually. If you're a newbie and not familiar with LVC and how to know what your flight time should be, "The 80% Rule for charging LiPos (Lithium Polymer) batteries" is here.

Don

Hifinsword,bare with me I got confused on the post with the different batteries. I know you went vertical with the 2200 battery,but was the 2200 you had to keep back pressure on? I have the other 2200 battery from Headsup RC, is the reason I'm asking. I also have a 1300 mah battery,so I am trying to decide which to go with for the maiden flight. I know I still need to check CG,but man you have some good info and you have been there done that,so just trying to get the best flight I possibly can without other distractions.
Thanks!

Originally Posted by Tman00

Hifinsword,bare with me I got confused on the post with the different batteries. I know you went vertical with the 2200 battery,but was the 2200 you had to keep back pressure on? I have the other 2200 battery from Headsup RC, is the reason I'm asking. I also have a 1300 mah battery,so I am trying to decide which to go with for the maiden flight. I know I still need to check CG,but man you have some good info and you have been there done that,so just trying to get the best flight I possibly can without other distractions.
Thanks!

Sorry Tman. I revised my previous post and reorganized it concerning the 2200mAh LiPo. The backstick pressure was only flying with the batteries in the most forward position with the power reduced. I honestly don't remember if backstick was required on the 2200mAh batt during the 1st 2mins of flight when that battery was as far forward as possible. I suspect it was and probably the reason I moved it aft for the remainder of the flight. Usually bringing power off doesn't affect the attitude of my planes. They sink with about the same angle of attack. But when reducing power on any of these 3 batteries in the most forward position, they would nose over. That's fairly typical of a nose-heavy bird.
Don

Thanks hifinsword. But I have to ask,which battery did you prefer? On the 1300mah,I believe you had to add some weight. Did you still need to do that once you moved the batteries back?

Originally Posted by Tman00

Thanks hifinsword. But I have to ask,which battery did you prefer? On the 1300mah,I believe you had to add some weight. Did you still need to do that once you moved the batteries back?

Because of the windy weather here lately, I prefer the 1800mAh for general flying right now. The 1300mAh is OK and probably better in no or light wind. The 2000mAh batt is hard to stuff in the bay and I would probably need a pee break if I were to fly it down to LVC. The voltage on it is 11.55 volts. There's still plenty of power left there after the 8min 9sec flight.

The voltage of the 1300mAh batt with an almost 6 min flt is 11.48v. The 1800mAh batt with a 8min flt is 11.34v. As you know LVC for a 3S is about 11.1V. You can go lower but I wouldn't.

If you're looking for endurance, the 2200mAh batt is the one for you. If you want some nice T&Gs with gentle circuits around the field, pick the 1300mAh OEM batt. For some oomph in the wind, I'd go for the 1800mAh batt.

I'm still sorting out how the EZ flies best at different CGs. In general I think a CG around 70-75 is best. More to come on that.
Don

I've thought about the CG issue that came up while doing the thumbtip method at the field the other day and decided to do some more measurements.

After the measurements I've come to the conclusion that the thumbtip or fingertip measurements come out with the bottom line of the fuselage level. The CG measurements I've made with my CG machine came out with a level topline of the fuselage. Which is correct?

As I wrote in the CG Post earlier, you have a range of CGs. When I was in the military, we flew missions requiring long on-station times. We also flew missions requiring maximum range for the given fuel. Each one required different settings on Prop Pitch and attitude (angle of attack or AOA) among other things.

Higher AOAs, within limits, gave us longer endurance or on-station time. A high AOA would equate to a level bottom fuselage line.

Lower AOAs, within limits, gave longer range. A lower AOA equates to a level top line of the fuselage.

I have measured these TOP/BOTTOM level for each of the 3 batteries I've used and found the CG range that equates to each. The first value in Column B are for the battery pushed all the way forward. The aft CG in Column C is with the battery pushed all the way aft. In general there's a difference of about 8-9mm between them. That's the CG range.

I plan to use these values below and give a more accurate picture of how the plane flies on TOFF, straight & level at power, with power reduced, and how it loops at each of these CGs.
Don

I think you are making things a bit too complicated. Why not simply use a cg with 'wings level'?

Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk

Originally Posted by Lentar

I think you are making things a bit too complicated. Why not simply use a cg with 'wings level'?

Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk

That's probably as good a measure as any. But from what I've read about it just in the past hour or 2 is to measure with the horizontal stabilizer level. Since I'm going out anyway, and have the reference points, I'll see how it flies with each. I can still use the info with any plane I fly after that.
Don

I was talking to a gentleman who might be interested in getting back in the hobby. He was asking if this plane can be flown as a 3 channel plane? I don't know as I am still green and learning and haven't even maiden my plane yet. He liked this plane and thought it would be a great learning plane to grow with. He said the last plane he flew was a 3 channel trainer-this is the reason he was asking........so has anyone tried this plane as a 3 channel?

Got back in town yesterday and was able to get started on putting the Super EZ together. Nice looking plane. Got most of it completed but kept noticing the tail was really flimsy feeling. Just couldn't figure out why. Got things together and as others had said,powered up to center the servos. Was going through the instructions-just doing a check list and figured it out. I left out the spar for the tail!!! Great now I got to take it back apart. Glad I figured it out before putting it in the air. Just goes to show that when all else fails read the instructions. That's what I get for being in too big of a hurry and excited. Will save that for the weekend.

Originally Posted by Tman00

Got back in town yesterday and was able to get started on putting the Super EZ together. Nice looking plane. Got most of it completed but kept noticing the tail was really flimsy feeling. Just couldn't figure out why. Got things together and as others had said,powered up to center the servos. Was going through the instructions-just doing a check list and figured it out. I left out the spar for the tail!!! Great now I got to take it back apart. Glad I figured it out before putting it in the air. Just goes to show that when all else fails read the instructions. That's what I get for being in too big of a hurry and excited. Will save that for the weekend.

I'd say 90% of my crashes were from being in a hurry and wanting to get out and fly despite knowing everything wasn't just perfect.

I'm getting more patience though.

I haven't flown this plane 3Ch but it would be easy to do. I assume your friend had the rudder on the right stick where the ailerons are and the 3Ch plane he had did not have ailerons. To try this, unplug the ailerons from the Rx, tape the actual AILs in place to the wing, and put the RUD lead where the ailerons were.

But that takes away so much manueverability. Why not do the mechanical adjustment for minimum throws on the AILs, and try not to use them to see how it goes? If you need more control, the AILs are there to use. He could try it on a Flt Sim first. Hobbytowns have one setup in the store for customers to try a plane before buying it.
Don

Yes I explained to him about changing the rudder and ails. Not sure what his plans are for right now. Will pass the info you gave me along to him and he can decide. I am planning on sticking with the 4 channel. I already have everything set for low throws and might even set up my radio for less throws than on the plane. Don't know yet. First I have to take the tail apart and install the rod and check everything again. I am trying to decide if I need to maiden it on 1300 or 2200 battery just to get everything adjusted out.