...niggling issues On the weekend I took the Raptor glider to the field for what I was hoping would be its second flight, having reinstalled the motor and tidied up the frayed wiring. I was, however, foiled initially by a passing shower and then by a mysterious electrical gremlin. Initially I suspected the battery to be flat, but it turned out that an exposed bit of wiring of the old battery may have contacted the conductive carbon canopy. So, I taped up the battery and yesterday took the Stinger for what I hoped would be its first proper flight.
The motor seemed to be running well as I launched the Raptor into the morning sky, the large glider climbing steeply in the crisp air. The Raptor seemed to be flying well, although the motor seemed a little less powerful than I had thought. Things seemed to be going well until, after a slow flypast, flicking up the throttle effected only an ominous rattle from the motor meaning just one thing; one pole was no longer with us. Taking a whiff in the cockpit after the Raptor had glided down to earth, a faint smell of toasted electronics indicated that the repaired motor may have recently become deceased...
...yes I was desperate Well, It's been almost a week since the maiden flight of the Phoenix 1600 when the motor wiring, incorrectly pre-installed in contact with the outrunner motor, rubbed through. I'm yet to hear from Hobbyking's customer service, in fact my warranty request hasn't even been allocated to anyone yet! Tired of the almost-new Phoenix languishing in a disassembled state on the study desk, I embarked on a project to give it some power. My first call was to the local RC shop, in the hope they might have a suitable outrunner I could install. I say hope as they are geared mainly towards cars but, after some searching, the assistant found a few motors hidden on the bottom shelf, literally. One motor was a close match, a 1000kV versus the OE 1050kV unit, and just slightly bigger. Uncertain I headed home to check the Phoenix's fuselage size just to make sure. I also did a bit of research on motor sizes and specs, not being on to speed on motor jargon. A little while later I decided to give up the quest for a new motor - trying to match speed, mounting hole pitch, motor orientation and shaft size in a hurry wasn't going to happen. So the next option was to use what was available. I didn't have any spare motors, and the only plane I would rob was the Floater Jet of the annoyingly-variable flying characteristics.
This proved less simple than I had hoped. For a start, robbing the motor from the Floater meant I had to remove the connectors from the end as these couldn't fit through the tiny access hole to the motor. Then I discovered the mounting hole pitch was different to that of the Phoenix's stock motor, which entailed having to make up special stiffening bosses to get it to fit. Of course the Floater motor is an external fitting type, unlike front drivers which have the motor inboard.
In the end, after much foraging around, drilling holes and shopping for tiny screws, the Floater motor was finally installed and the Phoenix's prop connected. Of course, the configuration means it's ugly. However, desk testing indicates the motor is capable of running the much-larger prop quite happily, although it is expected it will not have the same grunt in high-demand situations like steep pull-outs. Nevertheless, I expect it will be sufficient to get the Phoenix into the air and flying around, which is all I'm wanting for now - just to get it some air...
