...so many tones I've fitted the 35A H-King brushless speed controller before on the Trainstar and, having performed well in that application, I've decided to use it on the Raptor glider as well. However, unlike the Trainstar, the Raptor requires the braking function to be activated, so I got reading through the ESC manual. Most ESC's are a bit tricky to programme, but the H-King has that many steps even before you get to the programming.
So I thought I'd make a quick video of the process as a help to anyone who couldn't be bothered to follow the steps, or for those who ditched the pamphlet and then realised they needed to change something...
...properly quick As I suspected on the first flight, the Radjet with its made-over nose is now significantly faster, especially noticeable this afternoon when the weather was a little warmer than its test flight. The Radjet flew nice and stably, although its extra few yards of pace mean that I'm still not a hundred percent comfortable, finding it going through the turns or sweeping down quicker than expected. I would now call it properly quick.
I also managed a better launch, with a higher angle and enough throttle to get the Radjet up to speed quickly. Having said that, I had to trim the elevators down even more as the Radjet was still climbing in flight, which means that the next launch will be another test. The only hiccup in an otherwise flawless flight was that the motor stopped abruptly. Thinking that likely the ESC had given up the ghost, I tried the motor after a while and the prop spun to life. I think it's probably the thermal cut-out and that the sleeker Radjet needs more cooling slots...
...so you don't break your prop The 1.5m Fox from R2hobbies comes fitted with a 30A Flycolor ESC, the default setting of which is "unbraked". Unfortunately I only realised this as the Fox came in to land off a short approach, with the prop still busily whirring.
The Flycolor ESC is a Shen Zhen Electronics unit, with manual available here. As far as the setting the brake is concerned, it's the second noise-tone heard after you power-up the ESC, with transmitter throttle stick having been set to full "up" beforehand. Flipping the throttle from fully "up" to "down" at this second noise-tone should change the ESC setting from "unbraked" to "braked", what you need for a glider. Additional setting changes can be done as required, following the table on pages 5-6 of the manual...
...not as easy as you'd expect The Canadair 415, whilst claiming to be ARF, does presents some quite challenging issues not clear from the list of required items. Firstly, in order to run two ESC's from a single battery you need a special Y-lead. In fact this lead is so special that it doesn't exist. I decided, in the absence of anything else available, to modify a battery Y-lead, however this requires unsoldering the three connectors and reversing them. However I have discovered, posthumously as it were, that what you really want is an ESC set, which is two ESC's, 30A in this case, already wired together with a single XT60 plug to go to the battery.
This arrangement is actually cheaper than buying two 25A ESC's, a set of XT60 plugs, a battery Y-lead and resoldering. And probably more efficient knowing my soldering. Anyway, as I said, I only discovered this after ordering the above bits, but I think the ESC set is definitely the way to go.
The second challenge is how to mount the motor; I think the 415 was originally set up to have a reduction gearbox, as the motor recess is low in the nacelle. The kit provides sticks but no mounts for the stick. Additionally, these need to be offset mounts, mainly referred to as heat sink type, not those are usually available. Moreover, the diameter of the motor base needs to match the heatsink mount, unfortunately the motors I chose are have are an in-between 9mm. So I am considering installing a plywood firewall for a conventional mounting arrangement, however have still not decided exactly how.
Finally, although I'm yet to get that far, is the kit assumes that bracing wires will be fitted from the wing to the fuselage, to compliment the rather fragile ply spars in the wings. As no one wants to do this, one is then required to somehow brace the wing internally; I have some carbon tubes and rods I plan to use, although exactly how I will install them is still to be decided...
...there's lots of room
The Trainstar has a very roomy fuselage, so there's bags of room for your equipment. The battery is housed under the nose, held in place with velcro and a velcro strap. The supplied ESC also gets mounted to this tray, alongside the battery.
Under the wing is a huge cavity for locating your, um, receiver and satellite reciever, if you want. The picture is taken from the underside as I have the wings attached.
...it's the second tone you want My recently acquired Phoenix 1600 came with a new blue ESC (compared to previous unidentified yellow in the Phoenix 2000), accompanied by an instruction booklet which, amongst other things, provided instruction on how to set the brake on the ESC. It does seem odd that the default is set to "brake off" when most of their products are gliders... Anyway, my attempts at finding the three beeps proved fruitless and had to resign myself to rather compromised gliding, with the large prop whirling busily in the breeze, and with the risk of doing the prop in on landing. Fortunately I came across this forum post #58. To summarise succinctly, the crucial moment is when one hears the second musical tone. Don't bother with trying to identify the tone amongst the myriad sounds the new unit makes, you'll just end up reprogramming random settings like I did. Anyway, I am happy to say, that after the first attempt with the new instruction, the ESC brake is now on and I can look forward to a bit of gliding tomorrow morning. And, by the way, if you were wondering, Volantex is the new Lanyu...
...and the ESC hasn't exploded yet I've fitted the fittedWalrus with an oversize 11x6 carbon propellor instead of the underwhelming white plastic unit 9x6" with which it comes standard. I've previously flown it with a 10x6 carbon carbon prop which went very well.
The 11x6, as you might expect, is a bit of an overkill, being twenty two percent larger than standard, however it does make for very quiet flying as the prop barely needs to tick over to keep the Walrusflying.
I've limited the throttle to ninety percent so the ESC doesn't explode and so far have used full power only sparingly as I want to get the feel for its capabilities first - I certainly don't want the Walrus to end up as a smouldering wreck...
...toasting my electrics I swapped out the PhoenixESC's only to discover the new unit was overheating as well. During the brief window of functioning, I checked the controls and found no response from the ailerons, pointing to a short circuit of some description. I thought the most likely potential to be a smashed servo, however it turned out to be stripped wiring on the servo lead as a result of the crash. Foraging around in my packets of spares I found enough extension leads to make up the length, so now everything seems to be going OK. Unfortunately, having had to strip the propellor, motor and battery tray out and reassemble them, I wasn't able to finish the wing repair on time. However I am hoping that, with no major unforeseen issues (like not being able to get the wing back on), I should be able to finish the reconstruction this evening and hopefully have the Phoenix 2000 ready for its test flight tomorrow...
...with a little help from providence I arrived at the field this morning to find it absolutely still and calm, a perfect sunny morning. So I happily unloaded the Walrus and set about getting it ready. I plugged the battery in then switched on the radio. The receiver lights came on but there was a lot more beeping than usual, and then the ESC started playing tunes...this was definitely not right. A quick glance at my transmitter solved the riddle - it had shifted in the car over the weekend and the throttle was on full, setting the ESC in programming mode. Hastily I flicked the throttle off and checked the controls. Everything was working, excellent. Holding the Walrus aloft for pre-flight throttle check. No response. I'd somehow reprogrammed the ESC to isolate the motor. So, standing at the field with a plane on a perfect flying morning, unable to fly because I'd disabled the plane... I set about trying to reprogram the ESC with little hope of success, considering there are about half a dozen options identified only by a sequence of tones. First attempt made no improvement. Deep breath, yell of frustration and then try again. Mentally picturing when I had changed the throttle earlier, I pushed the lever down and then powered the transmitter off and on.
Lifting the Walrus up I flicked the throttle and success! The propellor powered up, and we were back in business. Prayer of thanks and the glider was flying into the clean morning air...
..but still got the wing cam to go
Well, after a Herculean effort, the Walrus is assembled, packaged, tested and ready to go.
Apart from the usual head-scratching over servo orientation, the cockpit proved the biggest challenge of all. Despite the generous appearance of the fuselage, it doesn't really provide a good packaging.
Yes it is wide; I eventually installed the battery and receiver in a tandem layout. However the the cockpit is only just long enough to fit the 1800mAh battery - it literally butts up against the motor at the front, which is not optimal for cooling, and narrowly misses tail servo arm travels at full stretch.
I also had to make up a battery tray to allow a space for everything and provide a secure mounting for the battery. After having installed the tray for the second time (I removed it to swap out ESC's during my no-power troubleshooting session), I discovered that there was insufficient space for the bundle of servo cables going to the receiver.
So I removed the battery tray again, and cut a large slot through which the cable loom could pass from underneath, now running alongside the ESC under the tray, with the battery velcro'd onto the tray and the Orange R620 receiver velcro'd to the side wall of the fuselage in the canopy area. The R100 satellite receiver I stuck to the rear bulkhead. But that's not all, with all this kit crammed into the cockpit the canopy wouldn't fit. So, I had to do extensive modifications to the canopy, cutting out the lower section, as well as a small cutout to clear the satellite receiver at the back.
However everything is now installed and working, control surfaces trimmed, flap travel set etc etc. Just the wing cam that now needs a home - external mount or internal canopy installation - some deliberation still required. I reckon the Walruscockpit layout would qualify for a packaging award...
The Phoenix 2000 had been resting nose-down against the wall ever since completion of repairs following its disastrous last flight. Walking into the study its presence served as a poignant reminder of the damage I'd inflicted. However its sleek graceful shape also provided aspiration that I might eventually develop skill enough to do it justice in the air.
That evening, its long-held position against the study wall was replaced by the terminally battered form of the Floater Jet.
The Phoenix took up the station on the desk, ready for final flight preparations. Deep breath, very excited...Working again with the Phoenix the great layout of its fuselage compared to the Floater became immediately obvious. The moulded fuselage, while not outwardly much wider than the Flyer has much more space due to its thin-walled nature. It also has a battery tray, meaning that the ESC and the battery can occupy the same zone. The tail servos are also well clear of the “busy” zone as the Phoenix has removable wings with these located directly under. Consequently there’s lots of room left to locate the receivers.
I attached the receiver itself to the sidewall with velcro and taped the antenna running forwards. It certainly looks very neat and is wonderfully accessible. The small satellite receiver I velcroed to the top of the fuselage just aft of the canopy, orientated across the plane. This layout fulfils what I understand to be the requirements for robust signal reception - receivers not blocked, with motors and batteries being the main culprits. Secondly the two antennas (single receiver antenna and satellite in this case) are orientated at 90 degrees to inhabit different radio environments, or something along those lines. So everything's fitted, and the Phoenix's ready to fly, once again...
