Replies to This Discussion

ModeratorPermalink Reply by John Church on July 27, 2010 at 3:07pm

Hi!
Well, like our helis, how's the trim? Does it glide level? Do your control rates need taming a bit?

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DeveloperPermalink Reply by jasonshort on July 27, 2010 at 3:09pm

Have you upgraded it to a brushless? That and running Ardupilot on Stabilize will help a lot. You're looking for too things in wind - power to spare and weight as ballast. I fly in 10 mph winds without worrying too much.
Jason

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Permalink Reply by simonl on July 27, 2010 at 4:08pm

Thanks for the replies folks.

@John: Being my first foray into planes, I believe I've set it up as per the instructions - GoG as required and all surfaces straight & true. As for "does it glide level" - dunno, it's never glided; just climbed / descended / generally been a handful! It could be the loose nut on the sticks, but I'd hoped my years with heli's would've tamed that LOL.

@Jason: I've not upgraded to brushless yet, and haven't put any AP in yet either - I was hoping to build it and prove it as a "stock flyer" before entrusting it with any more hard-earned cash! I guess some extra weight should help - I'll give that a try when the wind dies down again (I hate living in the UK!).

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Permalink Reply by Brian Wolfe on July 27, 2010 at 6:11pm

After checking trim and CG, make sure your prop isn't on backwards. It makes a huge difference. Since it's a pusher and not a puller it can be a little non-intuitive which way the prop goes. It'll never get enough airspeed up to be stable so you might be constantly on the verge of a stall. Just a thought.

Brian

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DeveloperPermalink Reply by jasonshort on July 27, 2010 at 8:02pm

San Francisco has brutal winds that keep me on the ground most of the summer. Two months ago I ripped both of the wings clean off of my EZstar while flying on the cliffs along the coast. I even fly with a 3 foot carbon wing spar specifically to keep that from happening. I'm thinking a 25-30 mph gust hit me at just the right moment.

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DeveloperPermalink Reply by Michael Smith on July 28, 2010 at 11:52am

I tend to put up with the trek down to Baylands or Rancho, though the wind's been pretty good at Roosevelt for the last few times I've been out there.

Is there anywhere you go to fly/test APM regularly? I'm working through my first install in a TSII and would really enjoy seeing the system in action, as well as getting myself up to speed...

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Permalink Reply by John C. on July 27, 2010 at 6:28pm

You need a decent amount of weight in the nose. I have a 3S 2200Mah all the way in the nose, and it's just about right.

Does it porpoise, or is it just slow and uncontrollable? (backwards prop)

A little brushless motor is pretty nice on these. Here's a build list that I still use successfully in the air.

JC

Attachments:

• easystar_ardupilot_parts_list.xls, 19 KB

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ModeratorPermalink Reply by Chris Anderson on July 27, 2010 at 8:34pm

Yes, to repeat all the advice here: you have to upgrade to brushless. The stock EasyStar motor is a joke.

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DeveloperPermalink Reply by Michael Smith on July 28, 2010 at 11:54am

The ES flies fine "as intended" with the stock setup. But what most people want from it is not "as intended". It's meant to be slow and docile, giving a beginning pilot time to make plenty of mistakes and still get out OK.

As folks have noted, it hops up well, and when hopped up, is a much more interesting and versatile airframe...

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Permalink Reply by simonl on July 28, 2010 at 10:22am

Hey, thanks for these replies guys.

@Brian: I _think_ I've got the prop the correct way round - I'll check again.

@Jason: Ouch! I've already put a longer carbon spar in the wings, as I want to add ailerons - just seems more intuitive, maybe coz of my heli background.

@John: Thanks for the xls; I'll probably follow some of that - esp. the motor & ESC.

From what I remember it was a bit of both (porpoising _and_ uncontrollable). I think I'll check the prop orientation - I'd not paid that much attention to it as I'd not realised how much difference it would make!

@Chris: Looks like I'll be upgrading then :-)

Thanks again folks.

Cheers,
Simon

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Permalink Reply by Peter Seddon on July 28, 2010 at 12:46pm

Simon,

I've had two and don't like them. I converted both to brushless and added the extra rudder area. They are quite skittish, although glide ok. I always had problems at launch when they wanted to return to mother earth with great haste and never climbed out with great authority. I think the thrust line with the more powerful brushless motor causes the problems. I never got around to trying a smaller prop than the 6 x 4 I was using.

I also found that trying to setup a APilot gave very unpredictable results - one day stabilisation was ok the next it was all over the place. My high wing trainer that I am now using is much more consistent.

Both mine eventually tucked under and went into an unrecoverable vertical dive.

Good lcuk, Peter

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Permalink Reply by simonl on July 28, 2010 at 3:06pm

Well, it's time for me to blush - it turns out that my CoG was forward by about 3cm! I'm sure I checked it at least twice upon build completion, so I really can't explain it, but I can confirm that it now flies OKish - high throttle tends to send it earthwards, and no throttle tends to induce stall, so I guess I need to play with CoG a little more, but at least I can now do reasonably controlled circuits, and land without crashing :-)

Thanks for all your replies folks.

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