Stambo's Flight Log

[Tony]

It's great when you can have fun like that with minimum cost to damages, unlike a heli, damage those and it's in for expensive repairs...

[Stambo]

It's great when you can have fun like that with minimum cost to damages, unlike a heli, damage those and it's in for expensive repairs...

Agreed, that's why my Trex 500 sits forlornly on a shelf gathering dust.

[danhampson]

It's great when you can have fun like that with minimum cost to damages, unlike a heli, damage those and it's in for expensive repairs...

Agreed, that's why my Trex 500 sits forlornly on a shelf gathering dust.

+1 ive got the 550 doing that.

[Stambo]

It's great when you can have fun like that with minimum cost to damages, unlike a heli, damage those and it's in for expensive repairs...

Agreed, that's why my Trex 500 sits forlornly on a shelf gathering dust.

+1 ive got the 550 doing that.

Hmm, if I sell mine I would probably get enough for parts and batteries for a 4s Miniquad.
Might be enough left for a QAV400 or similar frame too.

[Graham Lawrie]

I still prefer helis, flew them at the weekend and boy the fear of crashing you dont get that with a quad:)

[Stambo]

I still prefer helis, flew them at the weekend and boy the fear of crashing you dont get that with a quad:)

I think that's why I enjoy Miniquads so much, more prepared to takes risks if a stuff up only costs a few props.
The thrill of proximity FPV at high speed keeps me wanting to try harder and go faster.
It's even better when there is a few other quads in the mix.

[Graham Lawrie]

Yes i understand what you mean Stambo:) I am on my fourth soon:)

[Tony]

I would love to have a HELI again, had so much fun and misery with mine...lol

[Stambo]

A while ago I built a largish coreflute (coroplast) wing.
No plans, just looked at a few others and made it up as I went along.
Mistake really.
I have very little fixed wing experience and when I flew it (or tried to) it was a bit of a fail.
I decided I had wasted my time and just put it away.
Recently Bruce at RC Model Reviews did a flight video of a small FPV wing.
Good to see he is flying again.
This renewed my interest in mine so I dug it out again and started looking at it.
After re doing the calculations I discovered I had the CG miles out.
It was back a good 40mm from where it should have been.
Can a few of you more experienced fixed wing guys take a look at this vid to confirm this would be caused by being very tail heavy.
It flew like a dolphin and was very sensitive to elevator inputs.
I am building a pod to get the batteries much further forward and will probably move the motor forward and put the prop through a cutout in the wing. What do you think.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPlMwmD-SFE

[pvolcko]

Yup. Tail heavy CG makes a plane very sensitive to inputs. I imagine that in a flying wing it is even worse than normal since there isn't a whole lot of distance to the control surfaces. If you still have this model you could try adding some weight to the front to see if you can get it more under control, before making any permanent mods.

[Stambo]

I have very limited flight experience with fixed wing aircraft so I have decided to remedy that.
I have been flying my AXN early in the evenings for a week or so because it's the only time the wind is low enough.
Unfortunately the light is also too low for my cameras.
I videoed a couple of flights but when I looked at the results they were garbage so I just deleted them.
I have been using my old 3s 1800 miniquad batteries as I am now running 4s.
I have been flying between 12 and 15 minutes and when I charge them I only put back about 700 mah so I am picking 20 to 25 minutes is possible.
I have been doing loops with it and have got reasonably confident.
Tonight I did my first rolls, I got plenty of altitude and then just did it.
Then I did it again, and again.
Am I correct in assuming one should roll with a bit of up elevator?
I find I lose quite a bit of height as the AXN roll rate is quite slow.

I have flown this plane FPV but I have decided getting more comfortable with LOS is probably a good idea too.
I am gaining confidence with every flight and will soon start flying FPV over my property.
My previous FPV flights were over a large, almost empty industrial development so I had plenty of room.
I think I am close to being comfortable enough to try it at home in a smaller area.
With summer arriving, hopefully I can get in some earlier flights and upload some more vids.
I still have a few MiniQuad flights to upload also.

[pvolcko]

Elevator during rolls: I'm assuming you're talking about jabbing some up elevator right before the roll, so the model will climb or get angled up slightly before you do the slow roll? In general the slower the roll rate the more you will have to compensate for loss of lift by feeding in rudder or elevator as appropriate for the orientation. 90 and 270 degrees of roll you'll be into rudder to maintain a level line. 0 and 180 you'll be into elevator. Obviously switching rudder or elevator direction based on orientation. Of course, using rudder and holding the plane in a 90/270 orientation may lead to coupling or other issues which you'd have to correct for.

Do you have the aileron surface throws maximized? No dual rate on Aileron when trying to roll?

[Stambo]

Do you have the aileron surface throws maximized? No dual rate on Aileron when trying to roll?

Yup, when I set it up I followed Bruces videos at RC Model Reviews I initially had some DR and expo but soon found it wasn't needed.
I think I probably just need more air time with it as I am a bit of a noob when it comes to fixed wing.

[Stambo]

Here is a recent short flight with my repowered 250 quad.
I think this was about my 5th or 6th 4s pack.
It did not end well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uestIsrbbxw

After this I got another kiss ESC locally, I think it was 2 more packs before another one burned up.
When I got my replacement kiss ESC I also got a set of Little bees which are now fitted and working well.
I have since found out that kiss ESCs do not play nice with some Sunnysky motors.

[Graham Lawrie]

Video is private Stambo:)

[Stambo]

Video is private Stambo:)

Oops, try it now.

[Stambo]

Had a quick flight with my AXN this evening and quickly realized the wind at altitude was far more than it was at ground level.
It was way more gusty up there than I was comfortable with, so I landed, sort of.
I came in a little too fast and when I flared it started climbing again, I was going to abort and try again but decided it was to late.
I need to cut myself a smoother landing area.
That fence came real close but it ended ok.
This was LOS only, FPV can wait until there is no wind, and a spotter.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4_LnSxRzes

[Graham Lawrie]

Very cool loved the landing

[Lee]

Great stuff Stambo.
I'm loving the peaceful FPV flying with my easy glider.

[Stambo]

Great stuff Stambo.
I'm loving the peaceful FPV flying with my easy glider.

I'm sure I will too, as soon as this damn wind goes away.
I have flown this thing FPV but it was quite a while ago and in a big open space.
I'll have to be careful flying around my little place without upsetting the neighbours, although I do have permission from 2 of them to fly over their properties.