Monday 17 February 2014

Phoenix 1600 First Flight. A little Disappointing.

...but at least no disasters!

This morning was the first outing of the Phoenix 1600, resplendent in it's immaculate newness.

It launched happily into the cool still morning, a little nose up despite the 2200mAh battery. It's a big and relatively heavy glider, at least compared to regular foamies, so it's slow response takes a little getting used to. It also seemed a little underpowered compared to the Phoenix 2000, with which it shares the motor and prop.


Having done a first run I brought it in to land, needing a couple of tries due to it floating; I tried it with flaps flaps but that just made it levitate.

I shifted the battery fully forward with improved results, confirming the experience I'd had with its larger brother; if you fly these with a small battery (they suggest as small as 1100mAh) you have to be very careful with the power, otherwise they just nose straight up.

During this second flight I heard a "pop" and the prop stopped dead. On the ground I opened the canopy for inspection which revealed that the cause was that the outrunner motor had rubbed against the ESC leads, resulting in a short and, probably by the sound of it, blowing the ESC.

The friction from the motor contacting the wires probably explained the loss of power I'd noted earlier...

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