Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Wayne on April 27, 2011 at 7:04am

Awesome. I am always up for looking at pics from peoples trials and improvements. Maybe neo mags are not a bright idea then..lol I thought I was so smart when I thought of that. I would like a way of fusing the two halves together that is "clean", can hold strong, but will allow me to separate the two halves at will without damaging the plane or making a huge mess. Guess I may have to go back to the drawing board. :)

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by John C. on April 27, 2011 at 7:08am

Double-sided poster tape works really well for me for the fuse halfs.

I use 8 neo magnets on the canopy to hold it tight.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Wayne on April 28, 2011 at 7:32am

Well last night I decided to try and do more work on getting this together. I have it together and have tested it and so far just as a plane. How ever I have noticed that from the original marks I put under the wing for CG it seems it is now just slightly nose heavy. But I do have a few questions and maybe some of it is that I don't understand some of the dynamics.

1) I found the planes CG but how can you put all sorts of equipment up in the front of the plane without the CG changing?

     A) How to you counter act a new CG?

     B) Do you some how add weight in the tail to counteract a nose heavy plane so you can maintain the original CG marks?

 

2) I don't have a lipo charger. What is a good charger that I can use that would also work with other lipo packs of varius types? (I play airsoft to and would like a charger that works with those packs also is possible)

 

3) I noticed I some how managed to lose the washer,nut, and......the thing that clamps onto the wire that goes to the servo for the flap to move. Would I get something like that just at my local hobby shop?

• ▶ Reply

ModeratorPermalink Reply by Thomas J Coyle III on April 28, 2011 at 8:44am

Wayne,

Keep moving the battery towards the rear of the cockpit as you add weight (gear) to the canopy area.

Regards,

TCIII

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Warren Osborne on April 28, 2011 at 8:23am

Hi Wayne. Hope your Easy Star build is going okay.

 

The plane's CG is a bit of a balancing act. You'll need to try and redistribute weight to maintain the CG of your plane. For the Easy Star that's not necessarily easy (no pun intended) and as you suggest you may have to add some weight to the back

 

But first try moving whatever you have in the canopy section closer to the wings. You might also look to put the heavier components towards the back. For mine I have the battery at the back, the ESC sits above the batteries (velco'ed to the top of the inside of the canopy space) and the receiver is way at the front. I assume if its only slightly nose heavy you wound up not putting the battery where your photo indicates you were going to put it.

 

Your local hobby store should be able to supply you with a stick of lead weights which you can select the right amount and stick somewhere aft of the CG mark. How far back and how much weight required depends on how nose heavy your plane is. With my Easy Star I have 5g of lead stuck into the foam at the very rear of the tail boom. I've just temporary attached a Flycam Eco to my plane and to balance it all out I need another 5g about half way down the boom. I've got a CG machine so its pretty straightforward, I just keep moving the weight back until the plane sits level in the machine - if you're doing it by hand it might be a bit more frustrating.

 

I have a Swallow EQ AC/DC charger. Its probably overkill for what you need, but I also fly nitro planes so it does me fine for the three different types of batteries I have.

 

Your hobby shop should have something you can use to replace the missing parts. You might want to check out the Du-bro or Great Planes components in the store until you find something. If you're referring to what I think you are have a look at the E/Z Connectors.

 

I tried to leave a reply last night but it doesn't seem to have taken. Anyway, my field is a bit windy and the stock Easy Star seems to struggle a bit turning into the wind. If where you're going to fly is windy you might want to check out some of the numerous rudder modifications you can do. Aileron mods seem to be the fancy at my club. I've only done the rudder on mine. Its about three-four times the size of the original, I have no troubles with the wind anymore and I had a fun dogfight with a aileron mod-ed Easy Star the other week.

 

Also you might want to map the rudder controls onto your aileron stick. If you get into trouble and you are used to an aileron equipped plane you'll probably instinctively try to use the ailerons to get yourself out of trouble.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Wayne on April 28, 2011 at 8:57am

Thank you very much for all of this info. I have actually done the CG by hand and I was getting frustrated but I wasn't going to wait to order a machine and I knew I would get it figured out even if I had to ask for help. I did actually keep the battery where it shows in the photo. As of right now I have the motor placed where its supposed to go and the ESC is on top of the plane right behind the motor and above the wings. I also have placed the Rx towards the nose of the plane and since it had an antenna wire that was crazy long I came up with a clever idea on how to run it down the bottom of the plane. Ill post up some updated pics asap.

 

Yeah that Swallow charger might be kind of overkill especially since I don't want to pay $150 I already have a Duratrax 240 for NiMH and NiCd packs so I just need something for different Lipo's I also have a nitro not yet flown...I have 0 fly time..lol But I got a Hobbico Next star I still need to put a few things in and get in the air.

• ▶ Reply

ModeratorPermalink Reply by Thomas J Coyle III on April 28, 2011 at 9:14am

Wayne,

Why the long receiver antenna wire? Most 2.4GHz receiver antennas are fairly short except for the Spektrum AR500 receiver. Are you using a 72MHz RC system?

Regards,

TCIII

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Wayne on April 28, 2011 at 9:20am

Well I dont know why its so long. Its my step sons old $100 JR Tx/Rx he got from somewhere. Dont worry its not permanent. Just till I can afford to get my Hitec Optic 6 2.4GHz w/2 Rx. Then I can have one nice controller and two Rx's for my Easy Star and my Nextstar. :) Maybe his controll is not a 2.4GHz controller?

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Warren Osborne on April 29, 2011 at 2:03am

Wayne

 

Interesting. With the long boom, the motor behind the CG and most of the battery weight there too I would have thought the CG would have be well aft of what they recommend as the appropriate position - 78mm from the leading edge if memory serves.

 

There should be an extra tube in the box and that's for holding the antenna for the lower frequency systems. Again from memory it goes out of the hole in the bottom of the canopy space and into the tube and the tube gets glued into that space that runs along the boom. It protects the antenna from being abraided when you land. At least that's where I put the antenna for my AR500.

 

Good luck with the NexStar. I learnt to fly (on the Realflight simulator) with a NexStar - while I put my Condor 40 together. I thought she was a sweet trainer - or at least Realflight's implementation of her was. :-)

 

 

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Wayne on April 29, 2011 at 7:14am

Here are the pictures I said I would upload.

So this is how everything is set up right now.

• ▶ Reply

• ‹ Previous
• 1
• 2
• Next ›
• Page