Originally Posted by Herb

That is one brick of a motor

It is a very lightweight airframe ... Keep in mind that the prototype took off from short wet grass - sliding on it's belly - at 600W !

A video of Joerg's prototype is on the Aeronaut web page.

One problem I heard with setups above 1200W is the intakes imploding, the wings flying off, and the light thin tail flexing

I suppose on yours you don't have gear?

There's an impressive video a few posts back of one flying at 1100W but without gear - handlaunch.

If you add gear then the extra weight and drag requires you to have a bit more power, ca. 1000W or thereabouts.

Did you take a video of yours, that would be nice?

Short video of my Aeronaut Panther at El Toro MCAS in Irvine, 2005 :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HgS94yszg3I

That same day I took a video of Joe McBride's F/A-18 - A couple of months after that the field was closed.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eoipfg8kGAk

I know about the Hacker motor, I originally got it and a Kontronik esc for a speed boat, but the Kontronik esc did not like that use too much so the motor ended up in the Panther instead. Not exactly the optimum use of the motor but it did work out ok, funny thing is my current setup is 250gram lighter, and power and duration have more than doubled, I put 1650mAh back into the 4000 pack after the first flight, and that probably lasted 5-6 minutes of easy flying, it's such a slippery and efficient airframe.

I don't have gear on mine and I use a bungee to launch, the intakes have some carbon tow as reinforcement and the carbon wing tubes has been beefed up as they started to crack on me after a while, I have another thick wall carbon tube epoxied into the existing tube and this has worked well so far.

The only video I have of this jet is very old, besides it looks awful right now as I'm currently prepping it for paint once the weather heats up a bit so it's not exactly pretty with spots of filler and areas where the blue paint have been sanded down all over. But will try to get some video shot once I get it painted and all dressed up.

... without gear it is a very lightweight & slippery airframe.

Did you see this recent A. Panther video (ca. 1000W) ? Panther clip starts at ca. 2:34

http://www.rcmovie.de/video/432ccf20f9fda2492b6f

I seen carl rich's Panther fly at Seff 08' and I was very impressed. His had retracts and yet it was very fast and very nimble. Aeronaut did a great job on this one. I'd like to try the airworld cougar out. Not the large turbine one, but the edf smaller one. Looks very nice.

Originally Posted by Herb

One problem I heard with setups above 1200W is the intakes imploding, the wings flying off, and the light thin tail flexing

I can see where these could be an issue. It took a lot of hysol to keep my ducts from sucking-in. The tail definitely has a lot of flex to it when I grab the horizontal stab and wiggle it. I have not maidened mine yet (maybe next week), but that tail does have me a bit nervous.

Have you looked into any way of stiffening the tail before you fly it?

It seems like it could use another former in the fusleage near the exhaust and maybe some carbon fiber in the tail to stiffen it up.

I filled mine with expanding urethane sealer all around the intake ducts. The kind used for house insulation. Worked great with the applicator tip provided. I also made a former ring to locate and hold the thrust tube in the rear. Mine was midi with Kontronic 600-17 on 6s 3200 cells.

The urethane is a good idea. The weight of all the hysol added up and mine is going to be a bit of a porker.

My Panther got a bit of damage earlier when I was flying it at the Electric Jet meet at Greve in Denmark, so now I have the perfect excuse to do some small modifications to it. I will reinforce the attachment of the tail section, adding some fiberglass to the area around the screw in the back, and I also think I will use a pair of BVM canopy hooks, one on each side halway between the fan former and the rear end. The problem on mine is not lack of strength in the tail itself, but more the fact that the tail is only attached with one dowel in the front, and a single 3mm screw in the rear (as per the instructions) so it can flex a lot from side to side. That's what I will stop by using the canopy hooks, with some reinforcement of the flanges I think that will do the trick.

I will also cut out and make the speed brakes operational as I'm struggling to get this thing slowed down when it's time for a landing. I need some additional drag to help getting it down, our local club field does not permit the long shallow approaches this thing needs now. It should not be too hard hooking them up to a servo and making them functional, only thing I have to remember is to retract them before touchdown

Originally Posted by Arngeir Blakseth

I also think I will use a pair of BVM canopy hooks, one on each side halway between the fan former and the rear end.

Please post some photos of that when you do it.

Here is a photo of my bird's 'innards'. Nothing fancy. I mounted the ESC on the formers that hold the ducting.

For the canopy, I used the latch and dowel they provided. It isn't going anywhere.

I am not going to paint the plane and pretty it up until I see how it flies.

I am running a Neu motor and the Aeronaut c/f fan. I have tested it on 6s-8s. I will probably go with 7s. My batteries are on the big side, which is most of what is making this plane a porker, but I did not feel like buying new batteries, so . . .

Steve

Originally Posted by Socomon

Please post some photos of that when you do it.

I am running a Neu motor and the Aeronaut c/f fan. I have tested it on 6s-8s. I will probably go with 7s. My batteries are on the big side, which is most of what is making this plane a porker, but I did not feel like buying new batteries, so . . .

Steve

Will post pictures here when I get the modifications done.


Now, how much power do you have in your setup? I'm using a 6S and is pulling 72A, power is about 1600W. It is a rocket with this much power so if you have much more on tap on 7S I may suggest using a 6S to start off with.

I think 7s gave me somewhere around 1800w, so I could drop it back down to 6s. I was going to try to ROG rather than bungee, so I wasn't sure of 6s would be enough to get it moving over the grass.

Can any of you flying this plane tell me where your elevator was (relative to the stab) after you trimmed it out for level flight? I ended up with some down-throw and I suspect I did not have the CG quite correct (too far aft maybe).

BTW - ROG was no problem on 6 cells.

About 1/16" down on the elevator, it's a design flaw by Aeronaut, the incidence on the tail is wrong. CG and throws is set per the manual and the plane handles very nicely.

Yep 1/16 down, same on mine(RIP) Herbs and Andrews over here in cali.